Ports Menu & Forms > Virtual Ports

Virtual Ports
When Virtual Ports is selected under Ports > Virtual Ports in Expert mode, the following form appears.
Expert > Ports > Virtual Ports
The virtual ports form allows you to perform clustering of ACS units. The ACS clustering is designed to allow a large number of serial ports (up to 1024) to be configured and virtually accessed through one IP address.
Note: Clustering only works for ports that are configured as CAS profile.
You can use one ACS as the “master” unit to control other ACS units as “slaves”. The ports on the slave unit(s) appears as if they are part of the master unit.
Note: Multiple IPDUs should only be connected and daisy-chained through the serial port of the master ACS unit when you are configuring a cluster.
This section shows you how to define and configure the slaves.
When you click the “Add” or “Edit” button on the Ports > Virtual Ports form, the following dialog box appears.
Expert > Ports > Virtual Ports > New/Modify Port Dialog Box
The following table describes the fields available in the Virtual Ports New/Modify Port dialog box.
Expert > New/Modify Port Dialog Box Fields
Number of ports on each slave unit. Choices are 1, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 48.
The first unallocated port number for the slave. For example, if the master unit has 16 ports, ports 1-16 are allocated. The “First Local Port Number” is then 17.
The IP address for the master ACS or it can be the global IP address of the cluster in the network.
The first TCP port number for the slave. For example, if the master unit has 16 ports, the allocated TCP port numbers to the master are 7001-7016. The “First Local TCP Port No.” is then 7017. This is a virtual TCP port number.
The first TCP port number of the slave. The default is 7001.
The communication protocol used by the slave. The options are Telnet or SSH.
Once you have configured the “Slave” ACS unit and defined the cluster parameters, the slave serial ports and the connected devices are accessible from the master ACS unit under Applications > Connect > Serial pull-down menu as shown in the following figure.
Expert > Applications > Connect > Serial pull-down menu
To Cluster ACS Units or Modify Cluster Configuration
Use this procedure if you want to cluster ACS units and add or modify ports.
Note: ACS boxes should be connected individually to an IP network. The units should not be cascaded.
1.
Go to Ports > Virtual Ports in Expert mode, and click the “Add” button to add new slave ports, or click the “Edit” button to edit a slave port.
The New/Modify Port dialog box appears.
Expert > Ports > Virtual Ports > New/Modify Port Dialog Box
2.
Choices are 1, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 48.
3.
This is the first port number on the master, after the last port number on the master.
4.
This is the IP address of the master.
5.
This is the first TCP port number on the master, after the last port number on the master.
6.
This is the IP address of the slave.
7.
This is the first TCP port number of the slave. The default is 7001.
8.
The options are Telnet or SSH.
To Assign Names to Slave ports in the Cluster
Pressing the “Port Names” button on the New/Modify Port dialog box, brings up the form shown in the following figure.
Expert > Ports > Virtual Ports > New/Modify > Port Names Dialog box
Use this form to assign a name or alias to the slave ports in the cluster. Use a naming convention for effective management of the ACS units and the connected devices on your network.

Ports Menu & Forms > Virtual Ports