Switched & Per-port metered PDU

[cheezehead]

Looking for a switched and per-port metered pdu either in a 15A or 20A vintage would prefer networked with some-type of web interface but looking on used market for a home lab (brand doesn't matter)...cheaper the better.

 

[modernist]

I'm looking for the same thing. Best I've found so far is the Echola SPDU-108L. Does just what I want, but at $269 it's not exactly cheap.
SPDU-108L, 15A, 8-outlet, Smart Desktop Power Distribution Unit with Outlet real-time power or energy monitoring

Otherwise, there's a chance of finding datacenter-grade PDUs on the used market, but as far as I can tell most of them only do power monitoring at the entire PDU level. Outlet-level monitoring is still a bit of a special feature.

I also checked the various UPS brands, and those all seem to report the total load rather than individual outlets.

Anyone have other ideas?

 

[MACscr]

Ha. I actually just started looking for this as well. Finding something outlet based is tough. Didnt realize my AP7830 that I hadnt connected yet was only at the PDU level. =(

 

[cactus]

Have you guys looked at the Ubiquiti mPowers? Not exactly commercial grade, but they tick most of your boxes. You need to have a computer/controller running to control it though. I have 2 of the 3 port ones. Was using it to log power usage and test UPSs. I had one with a 1200W copier and a screen on it. They are only 15A though.

 

[MACscr]

I would need something for about 15 servers/devices and actually would be in a half rack colo. looking like most options are $600+ :/

 

[mrkrad]

my dl360e came with that fancy power supply that can do management over the power wire (blue cord). was a freebie. the hp pdu's can them tell you you plugged a server into the same pdu twice and manage the ILO from the PDU. really slick integration.

you can just ask the server for its power information too

 

[cactus]

my dl360e came with that fancy power supply that can do management over the power wire (blue cord). was a freebie. the hp pdu's can them tell you you plugged a server into the same pdu twice and manage the ILO from the PDU. really slick integration.

you can just ask the server for its power information too

Is it just 3 pins like a normal power cable or does it have extra pins?

 

[MACscr]

I personally dont even need the switched part as IPMI can take care of that 99% of the time, but the metering per device/server should would be nice.

 

[mrkrad]

it has extra pins. hence the blue power cable. the front of the server can somehow communicate through the rack too. no idea how that works.

 

[modernist]

Nice, thank you very much for the pointer. The mPower Pro looks like a good alternative to the Echola power strip at less than half the cost. The software looks a bit different, and there's apparently no SNMP currently, but it should get the job done.

 

[modernist]

I just received my Ubiquiti mPower Pro yesterday. They were backordered, but there seems to be some inventory coming in. So far I'm very happy with it. The price is much better than the Echola option, and so far it seems to do what I wanted, which is monitoring the power consumption of the various gizmos in my home office.

Pros:
1. 8 port power strip with port-level monitoring
2. Includes both Wifi and Ethernet networking
3. mFi monitoring software is pretty good and runs on Windows servers (if you have one handy) and apparently there is a cloud version also
4. Monitors watts, amps, volts, total energy usage
5. Can be used to remotely power-cycle individual ports

Cons:
1 No API for custom monitoring solutions, although apparently there is an ssh interface. Info should be available soon via the community forums.

 

[modernist]

I forgot to mention that the price is around $100 for the mPower Pro

 

[cactus]

Management software will run on OSX and Linux also.

 

[vegaman]

Wow that's a nice featureset and price. I'll have to see if they have a 240v version

 

[modernist]

Yes, there is a 6-port EU version as well, at approximately the same price.

 

[cactus]

Wow that's a nice featureset and price. I'll have to see if they have a 240v version

They have a EU version. Not the correct plug for you, but 240v

 

[vegaman]

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately I'm not sure it would get through customs with the EU plugs. I'll have to hope they do an AU or IEC model I guess.
Edit: you wouldn't happen to have measured the power consumption of the mpower itself (I couldn't find any figures in their documentation)? The APC switched/metered PDU's don't seem that power friendly from what I've seen. So it'd be nice if these are.

 

[dukzcry1]

I have 2 of the 3 port ones. Was using it to log power usage and test UPSs. I had one with a 1200W copier and a screen on it. They are only 15A though.

 

[matt_garman]

Bump... anyone know of a rackmount per-port metered PDU? I did a quick search and I see lots of people asking for the Ubiquiti mPower Pro in rackmount form factor, but it doesn't look like they've delivered... of course there are megabuck PDUs that do this, but I'm looking for something cheap.

Or maybe a megabuck smart rackmount PDU with per-port metering that can be had cheaply from ebay?