How to remotely reboot after a system lock-up

When a piece of LAN/WAN, telecom or other control equipment has ‘locked up’ and is no longer responding to normal methods of communication, it is often necessary to perform a cold boot. After the power has been cycled on and off, normal communications via the network can resume.

This can be difficult at unmanned sites or when the problem occurs outside business hours. Even if a reboot is needed while someone is around, you still have to hope that the employee is savvy enough to reboot the right device.

For systems administrators, the ability to perform a power cycle or remote reboot is also a means of avoiding communication disasters. One solution is a ‘remote power reboot switch’, which can be controlled by the systems administrator to ensure correct booting sequences in the event of system failures.

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Such a remote reboot power switch is controlled via ASCII commands. This means you can reboot with a standard external async modem or over the TCP/IP network using a terminal server, comm. server or local server with terminal software.

ASCII commands sent to the reboot switch can either query the current status, turn on/off or cycle (reboot) the AC power of any AC equipment attached to the switch. Since the reboot switch is controlled using these commands and standard modems, only terminal emulation software is required to dial the site and switch the power. Also, real-time communication with the reboot switch provides a response after each command has been accomplished.

Applications for the remote reboot switch can range from common scenarios to more complex ones. Centrally controlled WAN environments have a range of equipment, such as server routers and dial-up equipment that frequently lock-up and require a reboot. More specialised scenarios involve satellite-controlled equipment at communication towers, cellular towers or radio equipment.

The units can switch any AC powered device. Heaters and air conditioners have been remotely turned on and off at unmanned sites to protect computer equipment.

Remote power reboot hardware is suitable for cluster management, where services are distributed across a number of computer systems.

For applications that require high amperage, heavy-duty/high-amperage reboot units have also been developed. The convenience of remote AC power control can be a welcome addition to your current network management strategy, and can also save time and expense of off-hours service calls.

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