Hello -
I would like to know what is required to gracefully shut down a VMware ESXi environment while using APC Smart-UPS for the backup power.
I would assume that I would need a UPS with a network management card (and not a lesser UPS with SmartConnect). Is there a bare minimum with VMware licensing to consider to allow this to work? Is there a virtual appliance involved? Whatever sends the commands to gracefully shut everything down needs to exist at the site, preferably on the host (not something we stick in a remote datacenter).
My Google searching has not given me definitive answers to the licensing. It seems you cannot do this with free VMware, and I found only one result stating you can get by with the $495 VMware vSphere Essentials kit.
The APC UPS units that we typically would run are Smart-UPS 1500 VA to 3300 VA. Some sites will...