A Customer Success
from the Experts in
Business-Critical ContinuityTM.
Avocent® Success Story: Microsoft Research
Breakthroughs in Data Center Management
With 12 labs across four continents, Microsoft Research has grown into one of
the largest and most respected software research organizations in the world. Its
lab in Cambridge, United Kingdom has more than 130 researchers who focus on
advancing computer science and developing innovative computational approaches
to further scientific research in a variety of different areas. Some of the recent
technology developments that the Cambridge team has been involved in include
the functional programming language F#, AdPredictor features in Bing and the body
part recognition algorithm used in Kinect for Xbox 360.
Company
Microsoft Research
Location
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Type of Business
Research and Development
Business Needs
Extend researchers’ access to experimental
equipment while enhancing overall data center
management and deployment efforts
Solution
Avocent® DSR™ KVM over IP switch
Avocent® DSView™ management software
Avocent® Data Center Planner
Business Benefits
• Provides the support team secure, remote
management and access to all data center
resources from any location anytime
• Enables researchers to work on, access and
demo their experimental computing devices
from anywhere
• Dramatically lowers overhead and time spent
managing the data center infrastructure
• Eliminates hot spots, minimizes power
consumption and optimizes space in the data
center
• Simplifies data center design and planning by
taking into account and visualizing space, heat
and power concerns
• Facilitates data center moves and deployments
by providing clear and concise documentation
on what and where equipment needs to be
deployed
• Facilitates in the answering of “what-if”
scenarios by enabling informed decisions that
save time and prevent downtime
Operational efficiency and performance of the Cambridge lab’s data center are
essential to its researchers’ ability to solve some of the toughest computing
problems and discover new ways for technology to enhance our world. That’s why
Microsoft Research Cambridge relies on the industry-leading portfolio of Avocent®
data center control and manageability solutions from Emerson Network Power,
including the Avocent DSView management software and the Avocent Data Center
Planner software.
“The Avocent Data Center Planner software and the
Avocent DSView management software give us a very deep
understanding of all our systems, our entire data center and
our entire lab. Together, the solutions make it easy for us to
answer the big ‘what-if’ questions, enabling us to make the
right decisions, save time and prevent downtime.”
– Andy Slowey, Research Support Specialist, Microsoft Research
Greater Access, Control and Innovation
Four years ago, the Microsoft Research Cambridge lab brought in the Avocent DSR
digital KVM over IP switch and the Avocent DSView management software to give
the lab secure, centralized management over all its data center IT assets. The Avocent
DSR appliance freed up about two racks worth of equipment space while the
Avocent DSView software opened the door to significant productivity advancements
for the researchers at Microsoft Research Cambridge.
“The Avocent DSView software was a real gain in terms of the service that we were
able to roll out to our researchers,” says Andy Slowey, Research Support Specialist
at the Microsoft Research Cambridge lab. “Some of the equipment we have here
are really experimental. It might be just a circuit board with a keyboard and a mouse
plugged into it sitting on a shelf in a rack, which meant our researchers could only
work while they were in the lab. But, with the Avocent DSView software, we’ve
literally unbound our researchers. Whether they need access to their equipment to
do a demo at a conference in the U.S. or to work from home, it enables them to work
from anywhere they please.”
A Customer Success
from the Experts in
Business-Critical ContinuityTM.
That same secure, remote access that the Avocent® DSViewTM software
gives the researchers at Microsoft Research Cambridge also extends to
the support specialists at the lab.
“The Avocent DSView software gives me the power of being there,”
Slowey says. “If I get an alert at 2 a.m., I don’t need to drive down to
the lab to toggle that particular device. I can get access to the console
from the corporate network—independent of the main network that the
system might be on—and take care of it. And because of the granular
control of security with AD authentication and access to each individual
device, I can provide that same access to the owner of that device and
not have to worry about him or her accidentally getting unauthorized
access to other devices.”
particular layout will put them over budget on power or create hot spots.
It even provides an asset rollup that takes into account assets within an
asset. So, if they add an additional disk to a blade chassis or a card to a
server, the Avocent Data Center Planner software will be able to tell them
how much more power it will draw and the heat it will generate.
To ensure that the actual move and equipment deployments happen
as planned, the Avocent Data Center Planner software also produces
detailed documentation on the rack layout for technicians to use in order
to avoid mistakes and errors. It also provides the needed information to
work out the best way to de-rack its existing infrastructure and pack it
onto pallets to make the re-racking effort more efficient.
Slowey adds, “The Avocent DSView software allowed us to apply
effectively all of the same standard principles for commissioning servers
to that of any resource. That dramatically dropped the management
overhead for our infrastructure, saving us an awful lot of time while
giving us much more granular control over who has access to what.”
“The Avocent Data Center Planner software gives us clear and concise
instructions on what needs to be done for our move,” Slowey says. “It
gives us an idiot-proof guide and picture of what the rack is supposed to
look like when it’s done. That helps us ensure the data center will be built
the way we designed it, so we can avoid weeks of firefighting and instead
get the predictable and trouble-free outcome that we want.”
Optimizing Space, Cooling and Energy
Seamless Infrastructure Management
With the success that Microsoft Research Cambridge had with the
Avocent DSView management software and KVMs, the lab turned to
Avocent again when it came time to move its lab to a new building. One
of its main concerns with the move was being able to plan the data center
layout and placement of racks and equipment in a way that eliminated hot
spots and optimized power consumption.
“When it comes to building a data center or placing equipment in racks,
too often people just think in terms of space,” Slowey says. “But since
today’s equipment is so dense in terms of thermal outputs and power
requirements, you can’t think just space. You have to think space, energy
and heat. Considering all three parameters at the same time is challenging
for most people, especially since most tools only give you a straight rack
design that only tells a third of the story. The Avocent Data Center Planner
gives us the whole picture so we can avoid power and heat issues from
day one.”
The Avocent Data Center Planner software gave Microsoft Research
Cambridge the ability to drop any piece of equipment into its design
plan to see what it looks like all at once from the space, heat and power
point of view. The Avocent Data Center Planner software not only helps
users optimize the space they have but also tells them immediately if a
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits that the Avocent DSView software
and the Avocent Data Center Planner software provide Microsoft
Research Cambridge is the way the two solutions seamlessly work
together to enhance its data center infrastructure management (DCIM)
efforts today while opening the door to even greater capabilities in the
future.
“The Avocent solutions as a whole give us a lot more confidence in the
consistency and quality of the planning, installation and administration
of our data center,” Slowey says. “The Avocent Data Center Planner
software and the Avocent DSView management software give us a very
deep understanding of all our systems, our entire data center and our
entire lab. Together, the solutions make it easy for us to answer the big
‘what-if’ questions, enabling us to make the right decisions, save time
and prevent downtime.”
Slowey continues, “The Avocent technologies we’re using today also
facilitate our natural progression toward the complete DCIM that the
Emerson Trellis™ platform will give us in the coming months. The way
that the Emerson Trellis platform pulls everything together into one
integrated solution will give us even greater levels of data center insight,
control and automation.”
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