Avocent Case Study
Profile
Neo Telecoms
Company
Neo Telecoms
Optimizes its data centers and deploys new
services for customers with Avocent’s help
Business Challenge
• To monitor and manage data center devices and their power consumption
• To distribute power efficiently while saving space at the rack
• To engage with a vendor offering a comprehensive power management solution
Location
Paris, France
Industry
Telecommunication
Website
www.neotelecoms.com/en/
Didier Soucheyre is a happy CEO and with good reason. Every year since 2003, his
company, Neo Telecoms, has recorded annual growth of 25 to 30 percent.
What is his secret? Being in the right market with the right IT services and meeting
customers’ needs while exceeding their expectations.
One of the “right” IT services offered by Neo Telecoms is Web hosting. Since
spinning off from AboveNet in 2003, the company has developed a reputation as
a trusted and reliable host of IP services. Using a secure IP network connecting
25 data centers and managing over 106 miles of fiber optic network, Neo Telecoms is able to ensure the consistent distribution of bandwidth to its customers
in western Europe.
Neo Telecoms’ business infrastructure is based on IP transit, hosting and managed
services. The company also offers a dedicated pan-European network, known as
AS8218, and plans to expand its reach to additional countries in Europe and to New
York City. As a result of evolving customer needs, Neo Telecoms recently broadened
its offerings to include additional communication solutions built around IP, hosting
and connectivity services.
Currently, Neo Telecoms operates five primary data centers in the Paris region,
including nearly 20,000 square feet of data center floor space, and offers co-location
services with 16 or 32 Amp power supplies and private suites ranging from 150 to
1,600 square feet.
“Our customers use a lot of bandwidth as well as a lot of electricity,” says Lionel
Gabison, Operations Director at Neo Telecoms. “In fact the services and equipment
used by our customers is getting ever smaller and more numerous [fitting more appliances into each rack]. Therefore, while most data centers provide 2 kW per rack,
our customers asked us for 5 kW or more. At the time, we couldn’t find the right fit in
terms of power consumption.”
That’s why, in 2009, Neo Telecoms issued a power management-focused request
for information. After reviewing plans submitted by several solution providers, Neo
Telecoms selected a comprehensive Avocent power management solution.
Solution
Avocent DSView® 3 Management
Software
DSView Software Power Manager
Plug-in
Avocent Power Management
Distribution Unit (PM PDU)
“Avocent was clearly
ahead of the competition
in terms of taking outlet
measurements, and
their strips helped us
open up our racks.”
Lionel Gabison
Operations Director
Neo Telecoms
[Avocent Case Study] Neo Telecoms
“We were looking for power outlet strips that can go beyond the
usual 16 Amps and can support 32 Amps,” says Gabison.
The Avocent PM 3000 PDUs meet the amperage requirements
of Gabison and go even further. These PDUs make it possible to
measure each power outlet and manage them individually. This allows
administrators to have the necessary tools for monitoring, measuring, reducing and managing the energy used by hosted equipment.
Alarm thresholds can be created to predict potential problems and
minimize downtime caused by overloaded circuits. Furthermore, the
outlet measurement and management features provide Neo Telecoms
with the necessary tools to pass on the costs of hardware power
consumption to customers.
“Avocent was clearly ahead of the competition in terms of taking
outlet measurements, and their strips helped us open up our racks,”
says Gabison.
Indeed, a special feature of Avocent PM PDUs is that they are positioned vertically against the racks. This prevents unnecessary space
utilization that would be better used for hosting active equipment
where space is at a premium.
“And all this was accompanied by a quality of service that was very
important to our high-end customers,” says Gabison. “Additionally,
we have provided our clients with access to DSView 3 management
software, which we have installed at our redundant data center.”
For their part, Neo Telecoms manages quality of service, costs and
trends at all levels of its data centers. But, thanks to Avocent power
management solutions, this information can be monitored all the
way down to specific rows of racks, individual racks and even select
pieces of hardware, enabling the consumption, capacity and cost of
every segment of the data center to be tracked and analyzed.
“DSView [software] Power Manager [plug-in] is now installed at the
redundant data center, where we host equipment for our largest
customers,” explains Gabison. “These are the customers to whom we
offer the DSView [software] Power Manager [plug-in] services: remote
administration, equipment management, cost control, etc. For our part,
DSView [software] Power Manager [plug-in] enables us to optimize
on-site interventions and therefore our customer service as well.”
The redundant data center currently hosts 50 bays, along with approximately 80 Avocent PM 3000 PDUs, but the number of bays will
soon double; and the number of Avocent PDUs will grow along with
the data center.
About Avocent Corporation
Avocent delivers IT infrastructure management solutions that reduce
operating costs, simplify management and increase the availability
of critical IT environments 24/7 via integrated, centralized in-band and
out-of-band hardware and software. Additional information is available at www.avocent.com.
DSView 3 management software is a unique Avocent solution for
securely running all data center equipment. It offers optimized access
and control of virtually all the hardware at Neo Telecoms’ redundant
data center.
Neo Telecoms also chose to install the DSView software Power
Manager plug-in, which expands the functionality of the software to
include power monitoring. Now, the data center manager can offer
his customers the ability to monitor and measure the energy use of
their IT and telecommunication equipment.
Avocent PM 2000/3000 PDU and DSView software
Power Manager plug-in
Avocent, the Avocent logo and DSView are registered trademarks of Avocent Corporation or its
affiliates in the US or other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
© 2010 Avocent Corporation. Each customer’s results may vary based on its unique set of facts
and circumstances.
0310-NEOTELE-CS-EN