RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower Uninterruptible Power Supplies

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) offerings provide extended power protection with increased efficiency and simplified power management to safeguard high-availability of Lenovo server environments. With efficiency ratings of up to 98%, these compact 6U rack or tower designs can help reduce energy usage without compromising performance or reliability.

The 6U Rack or Tower UPS units can be installed in a data center rack cabinet or can be used as tower UPS units in office and distributed IT environments where extended power protection is required.

The 6U Rack UPS unit (RT8kVA or RT11kVA) is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. RT8kVA or RT11kVA 6U Rack UPS unit (Power module (top) and Battery module (bottom))

6U Rack or Tower UPS units feature Advanced Battery Management (ABM) technology that uses a unique three-stage charging technique that significantly extends battery service life and optimizes recharge time, compared to traditional charging methods.

6U Rack or Tower UPS units come standard with the Maintenance Bypass module, which enhances system availability by providing service continuity during UPS maintenance and upgrades.

6U Rack or Tower UPS units come standard with UPS Manager software that integrates seamlessly with the major virtualization platforms, which enables you to view and manage your entire power system from your current dashboard. It also triggers live migration during power outages and avoids data loss by gracefully shutting down virtual machines and hosts in a cluster if there is an extended power outage.

Table 1 shows the part numbers and feature codes for the 6U Rack or Tower UPS models and options.

Table 1. Part numbers and feature codes

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS models are shipped standard with the Network Management Card (NMC) included in the box and include the following items:

• A power module
• A battery module
• A Maintenance Bypass module (MBP) with the hardwired MBP detection cable and two hardwired power cables for connections to the power module's terminal block
• An accessory kit that contains the following items:
  • Rack-mount kit
  • Rack installation instructions
  • Tower kit
  • Serial cable: 1.2 m (4 ft)
  • USB cable
  • Remote On/Off (ROO) and Remote Power Off (RPO) connector
  • Battery power cable
  • Battery detection cable
• Documentation package

The Extended Battery Modules are shipped with the following items:

• An accessory kit that contains the following items:
  • Rack-mount kit
  • Tower kit
  • EBM power cable
  • EBM detection cable
• Documentation package

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS units have a hardwired terminal block connector for AC input power.

All 6U Rack or Tower UPS models come standard with a NMC included with the models (not installed). The NMC provides convenient, over-the-network UPS remote monitoring and management through a standard web browser or UPS Power Manager UPM software. Figure 2 shows the UPS NMC.

Figure 2. UPS Network Management Card

The NMC includes the following features:

• Versatile connectivity through HTTP, SNMP, SMTP, Telnet, SSL, and SSH
• Simultaneous shutdown of protected servers
• Configuration of automatic email messages in response to UPS alarms and to transmit reports
• Customizable actions, including automatic shutdown if there is an extended power failure with standard UPS Power Protector software
• Control of UPS on/off switching with a web browser
• Adjustment and control of load segments through the HTML interface, including sequential starting of the installation and optimization of backup time by shutting down non-priority systems
• Automatic date and time adjustment through an NTP server
• Dual stack IP v4/IP v6
• Recording of events and measurements in the card log
• Data and event logging in the nonvolatile memory
• Card firmware update through the network
• 10/100 Mb Ethernet (RJ-45 connector) with auto-negotiation
• Measurement of humidity and temperature with the optional Environmental Monitoring Probe (EMP)

A UPS is a device that acts as a defensive barrier between electronic equipment and incoming power problems. It conditions, regulates, and filters out power disturbances to ensure a clean power source for IT equipment. A UPS also provides battery backup if there is a power failure.

In today’s high availability server environments, unplanned power outages or line quality irregularities can have a considerable financial impact on all sized businesses. The typical utility power is 99.9% available, but that means that there can be almost 9 hours of downtime a year, not to mention brownouts and other power quality problems. Selecting the right UPS can help protect against these potentially costly issues.

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS units protect against the following power problems: power failures, power sags, power surges, under-voltage, electrical line noise, over-voltage, frequency variation, switching transients, and harmonic distortion.

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS models offer the following features:

• High-efficiency protection delivers more real power (Watts) in a compact tower or 6U rack design, which lowers power and cooling consumption
• Graphical Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) provides intuitive configuration, management, and monitoring capabilities in the following languages to reduce management complexity:
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Russian
  • Portuguese
  • Italian
• Hot-swappable batteries for maximum uptime, availability, and ease of maintenance
• Standard UPS Power Manager software provides effective local or remote power monitoring and management for servers and virtual machines, and allows for graceful remote system shutdown
• ABM technology significantly extends battery service life and optimizes recharge time
• Optional external battery modules (EBMs) provide extra run time to critical systems during a prolonged power outage
• Standard NMC provides enhanced UPS monitoring and control over-the-network through a standard web browser
• Optional Environmental Monitoring Probe provides thermal management requirements (temperature and humidity)
• Standard Maintenance Bypass enhances availability by providing service continuity during UPS maintenance and upgrades
• Provides dual channel communication through the USB or RS-232 port and an NMC at the same time to maximize communications flexibility
• Flash upgrades firmware for both the UPS and the NMC, which makes it an ideal solution for remote locations
• Includes ROO and RPO connectors to control power of the UPS unit through a wired remote switch

Table 2 lists the technical specifications for the 8kVA and 11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS models.

Table 3 lists the expected period that the 6U Rack or Tower UPS models operates only on batteries, depending on the load.

Note: Battery backup times are approximate and can vary with equipment, configuration, battery age, and temperature.

The 6U Rack or Tower UPS units have a 5-button graphical LCD on the front. It provides useful information about the UPS itself, load status, events, measurements, and settings.

Figure 4 shows the control panel on the front of the 6U Rack or Tower UPS.

Figure 4. Control panel on the front of the 6U Rack or Tower UPS

The following functions are available on the control panel:

• Status information: Displays the battery status, load percentage, output power, operational mode, and load group information.
• Measurements: Displays the output Watts/VA, amperage, power factor, voltage, frequency, input voltage, input frequency, battery voltage, efficiency, and power usage.
• Control: Displays the battery test, reset error state, configure load segments, clear power usage measurements, and restore settings.
• Settings: Allows you to change product general parameters and set input and output parameters, on/off conditions, and battery configuration.
• Event log: Displays the stored events, selects faults, alarms and events to display, and clears events.
• Fault log: Displays the event log and alarm history.
• Identification: Displays the machine type, model, and serial number of the unit, and the firmware level of the UPS, including the NMC’s firmware level and IP address.

Figure 5 shows the rear view of the RT8kVA or RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS (200-240VAC).

Figure 5. Rear view of the RT8kVA or RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS (200-240VAC)

Figure 6 shows the rear view of the RT8kVA or RT11kVA 6U 3:1 Phase Rack or Tower UPS (380-415VAC).

Figure 6. Rear view of the RT8kVA or RT11kVA 6U 3:1 Phase Rack or Tower UPS (380-415VAC)

Figure 7 shows the rear view of the 8kVA/11kVA 3U Rack or Tower Extended Battery Module (55949BX).

Figure 7. Rear view of the 8kVA/11kVA 3U Rack or Tower Extended Battery Module (55949BX)

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS Power Modules have the following physical specifications (approximate):

• Height: 130 mm (5.1 in.)
• Width: 441 mm (17.4 in.)
• Depth: 700 mm (27.6 in.)
• Weight:
  • 8kVA 1-phase (55948KX): 19 kg (42 lb)
  • 8kVA 3-phase (55948PX): 23 kg (51 lb)
  • 11kVA 1-phase (55949KX): 21 kg (46 lb)
  • 11kVA 3-phase (55949PX): 23 kg (51 lb)

The 8kVA/11kVA 3U Rack or Tower Extended Battery Module has the following physical specifications (approximate):

• Height: 130 mm (5.1 in.)
• Width: 441 mm (17.4 in.)
• Depth: 680 mm (26.8 in.)
• Weight: 65 kg (143 lb)

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS units are supported in the following environments:

• Temperature (operation): 0 - 40 °C (32 - 104 °F), with linear derating for altitude
• Relative humidity: 0 - 95%
• Maximum altitude (operation): 3,000 m (9,843 ft)

Note: These UPS units are not supported in a maritime environment.

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS units conform to the following regulations:

• FCC
• UL
• CSA or cUL
• CE Mark
• NOM
• GOST
• BSMI Taiwan
• CB Report
• VCCI
• C-Tick (Australia)
• IRAM (Argentina)

The RT8kVA and 11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS models and the Extended Battery Module (EBM), including batteries, have a 3-year limited warranty. Optional features have a 1-year warranty. 

Optional software can be downloaded to be used the UPS units. This software is the UPS Power Manager (UPM) and UPS Power Protector (UPP) software. The UPM software can manage multiple devices. The UPP software is used to manage a single device. Note that a device refers to a UPS or a PDU.

UPS Power Manager

The UPS Power Manager (UPM) software is free to use for up to 10 devices (PDUs or UPS units). It is available either as a Windows application or a virtual appliance (OVF file). Download the software from:
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/lnvo-ups-mgmt

For up to 100 devices, a Silver license can be purchased. For up to 600 devices, a Gold license can be purchased. The following table shows the part number ordering information for each version of the UPM software.

The purchase of a Silver or Gold license adds additional management features not found in the Basic license. The following table shows the UPM licenses and features for each license when managing Lenovo UPS units.

(1) Support for SNMPv1 required at target device
(2) Requires UPM v1.65.221 or higher

UPM brings managing various power and environmental devices under control through a single, web-based interface. The UPM software solution ensures system uptime and data integrity by allowing you to monitor, manage, and control the devices on your network remotely.

The UPM user interface is shown in the following figure.

Figure 8. UPM User Interface

The UPM software offers the following features:

• Monitors and manages multiple power and environmental devices from a web browser or your virtual machine management dashboard
• Seamlessly integrates into popular virtualization infrastructures, including VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer, and Linux KVM
• Triggers live migration for virtual machines during power outages
• By using a user-definable tree structure, enables grouping, access, and management of multiple devices across multiple locations
• Monitors power consumption, which helps track ways to improve energy efficiency
• Uses auto discovery to provide fast installation by automatically detecting devices on the network
• Mass-upgrades firmware, which reduces network management card setup and maintenance time

UPS Power Protector

The UPP software is free to download and use. Download it from the following links (v1.52.007):

• Windows: https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/DS119231
• Linux: https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/DS119230

UPP software facilitates automatic, graceful shutdown of computers, servers, and network devices that are powered by a UPS, which saves all work-in-progress and ensures data integrity. UPP's user interface provides detailed information about connected servers and UPS units through USB and serial or network communication.

The UPP user interface is shown in the following figure.

Figure 9. UPP User Interface

The UPP software offers the following features:

• Helps avoid data loss by gracefully shutting down computers and virtual machines or servers that are powered by a UPS during an extended power outage
• Keeps servers running smoothly by automatically identifying hang-ups and rebooting the machine by using a watchdog capability
• Provides redundancy capability for dual-cord servers
• An easy-to-use web browser interface
• Communicates with the protected device directly (via USB or serial) or through the network (via NMC)

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS offerings are compatible with all ThinkSystem, System x and ThinkServer systems and other devices that require AC power.

To determine the best fit UPS for a particular configuration, the following needs to be considered:

• Total power load of the hardware that will be connected to the UPS
• Number and type of outlets required
• UPS outlet and group limitations for connecting the hardware to the UPS

To determine chassis, node and server overall power capacities, use the Power Configurator tool. The tool can be downloaded from http://support.lenovo.com/documents/LNVO-PWRCONF

To determine the power draw of other devices such as storage and switching that will be attached to the UPS, refer to the products user manual for the maximum power draw. 

For additional technical information on the UPS line cords, outlets and grouping refer to the UPS Technical Reference, https://support.lenovo.com/docs/UM104477

The RT8kVA and RT11kVA 6U Rack or Tower UPS units can be installed in the compatible rack cabinets that are listed in Table 4.

Table 6. Rack cabinets

For more information about this topic, see the following resources:

• Power and Cooling Technical References:
  http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/lnvo-powinf
• Power Configurator Tool:
  http://support.lenovo.com/au/en/documents/LNVO-PWRCONF
• Installation and User's Guide - 6U Rack or Tower UPS
  http://systemx.lenovofiles.com/help/topic/com.lenovo.sysx.racks.doc/rk_6u_ups_iug.pdf
• Network Management Card User Guide
  http://ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-5085199