Infrastructure Management &
Monitoring for
Business-Critical ContinuityTM
Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Made Easy
Contents
3 Introduction
3 About this booklet
4 Chapter 1 – Challenges in infrastructure management
4 Great expectations – The problems facing data center managers
5 What data center managers really need
6 Orientation guide – Which level best describes your data center?
7 Chapter 2 – What is the optimum solution?
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Documentation – The foundation for data center optimization
More knowledge – Fewer figures
Detailed planning – Another key to success
What if? – Reliable planning with reliable forecasts
Visual modeling – How to benefit from visual modeling
12 Chapter 3 – Central management – how to stay in control
12 Central management – Why choose the hard way when there’s a simple way?
12 Remote management
13 Efficient power management – Keeping energy costs under control
15 Chapter 4 – Ten good reasons to ensure efficient
infrastructure management
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Reduce stress
Satisfy new business requirements quickly
Reduce cost-intensive downtimes
Minimize equipment installation times
Prevent wrong decisions
Efficient auditing
Lower costs wherever you look!
Visualization makes your task easier
Simple management
Remote management
18 Chapter 5 – Looking to the future
2
Introduction
Introduction
Do you worry that the physical infrastructure of your data center isn’t
managed efficiently enough? Do you have difficulty keeping track of all
your IT equipment? And do you have days when you wonder which of a
growing set of requirements you should comply with first? Then this
booklet is exactly what you need. The following chapters explain many
ways in which you can save time and money in infrastructure management.
If you follow the tips in this booklet, you’ll be well prepared for the future
of infrastructure management.
About this booklet
This booklet gives tips and advice for optimum infrastructure management in data centers. It is split into five chapters:
Chapter 1 looks at the current situation faced by many data center managers: a continually growing set of requirements
coupled with growing pressure. You will also learn what steps you can take to deal with this.
Chapter 2 explains what you need in order to address current and future challenges in infrastructure management.
Discover the perfect solution and learn how easy it can be to reduce your costs.
Chapter 3 shows how local and remote data centers can be managed easily from the comfort of your desk.
Chapter 4 summarizes the ten main reasons why you should aim for efficient infrastructure management in your
data center.
Chapter 5 takes a look into the future. You’ll discover why data center managers and facility managers will have
the same future objectives and why dynamic optimization is needed for the whole data center infrastructure.
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Chapter 1 Challenges in infrastructure management
Challenges in infrastructure management
In this chapter you will learn
•about the current situation in data centers •why efficient infrastructure management is becoming increasingly important
Great expectations – The problems facing data center managers
Data centers and the people who manage them are facing tougher expectations with each day that passes. Words like
24/7 availability, resource optimization and efficiency are buzzing around and giving rise to a lot of pressure. After all, a
high-performance, high-availability IT infrastructure is an indispensable asset for any organization. In addition, the data
center is usually the most expensive IT resource. This explains why expectations are so high. However, it’s becoming
increasingly difficult to accept responsibility for a smoothly functioning data center, because the factors that cause,
change and therefore more complexity in the data center infrastructure, are becoming more numerous and strongly felt.
This includes advancements such as cloud computing and server virtualization as well as dynamically varying computer
loads and rising energy costs.
In spite of these growing challenges, IT users expect the same or better performance and compliance with service
level agreements. Consequently, you are expected to ensure fast response times during peak loads and infrastructure
availability of 99.999% as everyday requirements. IT infrastructures also have to support smooth business processes
between organizations and adapt quickly and flexibly to changed requirements. But, the structures in most data centers
lack the flexibility required to cope with these constantly changing needs. Data center managers who want to achieve
all-around effectiveness must adapt their management approach to today’s fast-growing and highly diverse
IT environments.
As if all this weren’t enough, data center managers also face the important task of trying to reduce costs in spite
of ever-growing requirements. And since no one these days has a lavish budget at their disposal, this is a great feat.
Keeping operating costs under control means keeping a close eye on equipment purchases, software licence fees
and maintenance, personnel and administration costs. At the same time, you should be looking to identify cost-cutting
potential and reducing energy costs, because participation in green IT initiatives and regulatory compliance should also
be given the appropriate priority.
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To summarize, you face the enormous task of satisfying all these expectations at the same time. This booklet will help
you keep control over growing complexity and overcome current and future challenges. The next few chapters explain
how you can increase the performance of a data center while reducing costs.
What data center managers really need
The list of requirements we have just described probably sounds intimidating. The bad news is that it’s also potentially
very damaging if these requirements are not met. The efficiency of an IT infrastructure can determine whether a
company survives and grows. But the good news is that there is a solution.
Data center infrastructures are often still managed using a range of ad hoc tools and techniques. But for businesses, it is
no longer practical to tackle special problems with special tools. In the long term, relying on a large number of different
solutions is inefficient and drives costs up. They usually don’t satisfy all the necessary criteria and carry a high risk of
error. In other words, short-term solutions, large number of consoles, systems limited to specific areas of the company
and project-based servers are no longer adequate. The time has come for a new approach with which the increasingly
complex infrastructures of the future can be efficiently managed.
What data center managers need in the battle against growing complexity is a central, complete solution that provides
a comprehensive overview of all the information needed to manage the infrastructure effectively*. Infrastructure
management software of this type combines all the necessary optimization functions in a single solution. It allows you
to document your entire IT infrastructure and implement visual planning and management, with exact information
about equipment location, current capacity requirements and predicted growth rates. You can also ascertain energy
consumption and the associated costs. With a tool like this at your disposal, the growing list of requirements suddenly
doesn’t seem so intimidating. Combining all the IT infrastructure management processes for a data center into one
central solution significantly reduces complexity and makes IT management more effective and reliable.
*
vocent® Data Center ™ as well as the Aperture™ Suite are software solutions for data center planning and infrastructure management.
A
They are part of the Emerson Network Power strategic framework for data center optimization.
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Orientation guide – Which level best describes your data center?
Now it’s time to ask yourself how efficiently your data center is managed and what the current state of your IT infrastructure
is like. To help you, take a look at our guide below. The different levels reflect different stages of development.
See which one best describes your data center to see what degree of optimization your data center needs.
Level 1: Manual
In this data center, very little is documented. There is no standard process for implementing changes; decisions are made
on an individual basis. The management team is frequently faced with system failures and cannot make any forecast as to
planned changes. There are no security measures to control access to the facility.
Level 2: Reactive
This data center has some documentation, but it is patchy and imprecise. Changes are associated with a high error rate.
Errors are addressed on a case-by-case basis instead of using a structured process. When it comes to troubleshooting, the
management team is heavily dependent on a few experts. There is no prevention and monitoring is limited.
Level 3: Proactive
This type of data center has central documentation and a standardized management process avoids high error rates in
the event of changes. The management team has access to reliable services and is able to measure and monitor energy
consumption. Appropriate security measures are in place.
Level 4: Serviceoriented
This data center has intelligent management of (business) capacities and an infrastructure monitoring strategy. The
management team pursues a service-oriented approach, is able to allocate costs to different areas or individual pieces
of equipment and uses an integrated change management system.
Level 5: Optimized
This is the ideal that all data center managers are aiming for. There are no unused capacities and the infrastructure
management system in place exhibits the necessary flexibility in relation to the dynamic infrastructure. Even complex
requirements do not present a challenge. Analyses are performed to allow the management team to
predict developments, which keeps wrong decisions to a minimum.
Once you have identified which level best describes your data center, you can develop an optimization strategy to
achieve your target status. If you want to achieve efficient infrastructure management, you should aim for at least level 3.
Moving from a reactive to a proactive environment brings a whole host of benefits and sets you on the path to achieving
consolidation, virtualization and energy efficiency objectives. You can achieve this by opting for a fully integrated
solution which, as a minimum requirement, offers logging of the infrastructure configuration, project management
and calculation of current space, power and cooling requirements. If that isn’t enough and you’d like to move up to the
highest efficiency level described above, then read the next chapter. It explains the optimum solution with which you
can achieve level 5.
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Chapter 2 What is the optimum solution?
What is the optimum solution?
In this chapter you will learn
• how to lay the foundations for data center optimization
• about the benefits of precise planning and visual modeling Documentation – The foundation for data center optimization
If you were asked the following questions, how confidently could you answer?
Do you know exactly what equipment is installed in your data center? What is the current capacity status of your
infrastructure in terms of space and networks? Could you, at short notice, prepare a report showing which equipment
is from which manufacturer and where it is located in the data center? Do you know the exact power consumption of all
pieces of equipment? How will the capacity change over the next three months?
If you’ve got the answers at your fingertips, then give yourself a pat on the back. But if any of these questions proved hard
to answer, we recommend reading on to learn more about documentation for data centers. Unless you have detailed
knowledge of your IT infrastructure, efficient management of the IT environment will never be achievable and careful
planning will be impossible. In other words, accurate documentation of all data center systems is absolutely essential
and a prerequisite for the efficient use of resources. Only with an exact knowledge and transparent representation of all
resources can you make smart decisions. But, these are impossible if you use a whole series of different documentation
systems or indeed rely on manual updates.
According to the Aperture Research Institute (ARI) Report 2010*, almost half (49%) of the 100 respondents used between
3 and 5 systems for infrastructure documentation. Sixty-seven percent of the data center managers reported that they
used manual updates. In cases like these, the information that is essential to efficient management is buried in the depths
of the data center and cannot be located fast enough (or at all). Here is an example to illustrate the ineffectiveness of this
approach: In a large data center, without detailed documentation of IT resources, it can take between one to four hours
to locate a particular piece of equipment. Obviously, there are much better things you could be doing with this time.
*
For the report, the ARI surveyed 100 data center specialists and management-level staff from different industries.
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Chapter 2 What is the optimum solution?
The solution is to use a software tool* that quickly and efficiently provides the management team with detailed
information about the site, floor area, rack capacity, power consumption, heat output, weight and network connections.
Then, the data center team has accurate data on equipment performance and know exactly at which locations
equipment is functioning optimally. When team members need to know which resources are in productive use and
which are freely available, the answer is immediately at hand. If the software has a standard repository, there is no need
for time-consuming checks and manual spreadsheet updates.
Knowledge is power. If you know your data center down to the smallest detail and have instant access to detailed
information, you can satisfy all business requirements and consistently do an efficient job. With a central information
source such as this, you can easily answer the questions listed at the start of this chapter. It also allows you to reduce
costs.
More knowledge – Fewer costs
As far as long-term cost reduction is concerned (in relation to IT infrastructure and operation in data centers), the
analysts at Gartner agree that documentation is extremely important. As the first step in any data center optimization
process, Gartner recommends making a complete inventory of all equipment, systems, hardware and software and
documenting them. This is the only way to keep costs under control. Here are just a few examples that show how
accurate documentation can contribute to cost reduction.
Reduce cost-intensive downtimes
Detailed documentation provides you with information on the energy consumption of individual items of equipment,
reducing the risk of overload on key power supply units. Appropriate software provides device managers with access
to an extensive device library that records the heat output and power consumption of individual devices. This makes
it possible to model energy consumption, thus providing the necessary data to make informed decisions on load
distribution. The crucial advantage of this is the ability to prevent cost-intensive downtimes caused by overloading.
Efficient auditing
If with just a few clicks you can view a list of all resources in your data center, then in just a few steps you can generate
up-to-date reports and diagrams with detailed lists of resources in productive use or available in stock. This saves a lot
of valuable time because there is no need for time-consuming data gathering and reporting, and the associated costs of
third-party service providers are eliminated.
*Avocent Data Center Planner and the Aperture Suite document physical equipment in data centers (site, floor area, rack capacity, heat output, weight,
connections, network)
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Eliminate costs for unnecessary software licences
Software licences and renewals can play an important role in cost-cutting. To turn this into reality, once again accurate
documentation is extremely useful. It tells you what resources are available, where they are, how they are being used and
how they should be written off when they are no longer in continuous use. For example, after a system consolidation,
particularly the implementation of virtualization technologies, IT managers often do not know which resources are
available and which are really necessary. If a business application is transferred from a physical server to a virtual server,
for example, the software licence costs still apply. This should not be necessary. If you know from your documentation
what technologies are implemented in the IT landscape and how they are used, you can eliminate unnecessary
expenditures for licences and renewals.
Eliminate servers
As mentioned in the last section, IT environments often contain unused resources. And since server consolidation
is becoming more popular, there needs to be a functioning process for taking servers out of service. This is because
eliminating unused or non-functioning servers results in immediate and tangible cost savings. But before you can do
this, you need to know where each server is being used, or not as the case may be. As servers take up valuable space in
the rack and also gobble expensive energy for power and cooling, removing unused servers can have a dramatic financial
impact.
Detailed planning – Another key to success
According to a recent study by Gartner*, half of 1000 companies surveyed intend to enlarge their current data center
capacity. Google reports that there are 74,000 searches worldwide per month for “capacity planning.” That’s about
2390 searches per day! These facts support the argument that professional, reliable capacity planning is essential if an
organization is to overcome the challenges mentioned at the beginning.
Inefficient planning may result in data centers that are unable to satisfy growing performance requirements and
therefore withstand increasing competitive pressure. To avoid this, there is infrastructure management software
designed to help with growth planning and the installation of new equipment. A suitable solution will generate a model
of the data center and log the requirements for all the equipment inside it. If you then need to install a new piece of
equipment, the software will suggest the optimum location for it. This significantly reduces the time required to plan
new installations, allowing your team to make more efficient use of its time. Read on to discover other ways in which
software solutions can support you in the planning process.
*For the study “User Survey Analysis: Key Trends Shaping the Future of Data Center Infrastructure Through 2011,” Gartner surveyed 1000 companies in
Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Russia, the UK and the USA.
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Chapter 2 What is the optimum solution?
What if? – Reliable planning with reliable forecasts
Imagine you knew exactly when and to what extent planned changes in your data center would impact on factors
like power consumption, space required and other available resources. You’d be able to eliminate potential errors
and wouldn’t make any more planning decisions with potentially negative impact to the company. For example, if
you knew that your planned change would cause energy consumption to shoot up, you would steer clear of that
particular measure. In other words, you can minimize the number of wrong decisions by analyzing the impacts of
planned changes beforehand.
To predict these future impacts, you can use complex modeling and analysis features that use a simple drag-and-drop
function. Rather than looking into a crystal ball, the software provides a clear visual representation of the effects of the
planned change on a selected room plan. These “what-if” scenarios have tremendous potential and myriad benefits. It is
possible to predict energy and cooling demands and sustain the necessary functions and capacities. The risks associated
with change can be dramatically reduced, as can the risks associated with the installation and decommissioning of
equipment. And if there is more than one planned activity on the agenda, you can assign priorities so you can always
be confident your making the right decision.
Would you also like to know what positive effect a planned change would have on rack capacities? Then you need what’s
known as a rack schedule.* This shows when and how changes impact on rack capacities over a specified period. Both
current and future capacities can be seen at a glance. The configuration and project planning functions integrated in the
solution ensure that the information in the system is always correct and up to date. Armed with this information, you can
install new equipment and implement device changes with complete confidence, without jeopardizing availability.
And if you need to analyze the past as well as the future, you can choose suitable software with a calendar function.
This way, you can trace the growth of your data center. The function shows both previously implemented and planned
configuration changes arranged in chronological order. The exact time of all changes in the data center is recorded and
you can retrieve and view these changes at the click of a button. This functionality is guaranteed to optimize project
processes.
Visual modeling – How to use visual modeling to your benefit
In many situations, it is helpful to represent abstract data in visual form. This is equally true in data center infrastructure
management. People are visually oriented and conveying information using pictures is more effective and efficient than
using words. A visual representation of a complex data center is much easier to understand than statistics, reports and
complicated, Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheets full of numbers. Or to put it another way, a diagram says more than a
thousand spreadsheets.
* Avocent Data Center Planner is the first software solution to include a rack schedule, showing the progress of changes over a given period of time.
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Whether you want to view a summary of the current status of your data center infrastructure or, as described in
the previous section, see the likely impact of a planned change, software with visual modeling provides graphic
representations of the data center, the racks and all individual IT elements within the racks. The geographical view allows
you to see the locations of one or more data centers on a visual map, which also shows the characteristics and capacities
of each. The plan view shows the position of racks and other floor-standing resources and their corresponding capacities.
If you are interested in the details of a particular rack, you can view the front and back of the rack in detail in the rack
view. Or if you need to check the connecting cables between resources, you’ll find the connection view the most helpful.
Because the data centers of today are subject to constant change, modern infrastructure management software
comes with graphics which are easy to update when equipment is installed, taken out of service or moved within the
infrastructure. With the help of an extensive device library,* data center managers can easily remove or change devices
in the rack and floor-standing devices using the drag-and-drop function in the user interface. This library contains all the
manufacturer’s information on power consumption, dimensions, weight, connection options and ports. So if you need
to know the capacity parameters of a particular server quickly, you can see the details at a glance.
The graphic user interface also uses visual signals to alert you to potential problems, for example relating to unusually
high power consumption on a rack, and therefore helps you to reduce energy costs or increase reliability.
No matter how complex your IT infrastructure is, with visual modeling you always know exactly what is happening and
can design planned changes with complete freedom. First, you look at your project on the room plan. You can easily see
what would happen if a rack were moved from location A to location B. And if that isn’t efficient enough, then move it to
location C. Visual modeling makes all this possible without incurring any costs.
*A
vocent Data Center Planner contains a symbol library with over 9500 devices. The Aperture Suite enables access to around 32,000 devices in the
symbol library.
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Chapter 3 Central management – how to stay in control
Central management – how to stay in control
In this chapter you will learn
• how reliable and central management can be easily achieved
• how to solve problems remotely and cut energy costs
Central management – Why choose the hard way when there’s a simple way?
In the last two chapters, we saw how data center managers are facing enormous challenges in infrastructure
management, which they can counter with the aid of the right software solution. In the following sections,
we will look at how you can manage all IT resources in one or more data centers with a single user interface.
You can connect and communicate with all IT equipment and monitor it through integration into a management
software solution*. This way, you have a centralized, complete overall picture of data center operations. The
management software presents the numerous heterogeneous devices and systems together in a user-friendly format
for remote access via KVM over IP, console servers or service processors. In other words, a wide range of IT equipment
such as physical servers (with or without integrated service processors), blade servers, virtual servers and network
devices can all be reliably managed from a single central console. Users can use views that they define themselves on the
browser-based user interface. Management tools of this type also give you the option of creating reports and performing
audits of access instances, events and communication. They also simplify and speed up the provision of
new management appliances by providing configuration templates, preconfigured with known parameters. This
wide range of functions makes data center management very straightforward.
Remote management
Good management software should also allow you to access all IT equipment at any time from anywhere in the
world. You should be able to perform diagnostics and modifications, regardless of the status of the operating system
or network in which the equipment is integrated. If the software provides out-of-band functions, problems can be
identified and solved even if servers are no longer able to communicate across the network or gateways or routers and
other equipment needed for IP connectivity are unavailable.
* The Avocent DSView™ 3 software combines various data center management functions in a single user interface, providing the required level of control
for high-availability data centers. This management software can be integrated in Avocent Data Center Planner.
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This kind of remote management is one of the elementary functions of any management software, and in the case of
highly complex data centers and branches spread over various sites, it is absolutely indispensable. Because this solution
removes the need for staff to be physically present in the data center for many tasks, it also has the effect of increasing
security and enhancing the effectiveness of troubleshooting. This in turn impacts positively on both the operational
continuity of your IT systems and staff productivity. And because malfunctioning equipment can be located and repaired
more quickly, downtimes are shortened too.
Efficient power management – Keeping energy costs under control
Most data centers consume too much energy, and as energy prices continue to rise, costs can shoot up. To prevent
costs from soaring, more and more companies are seeking ways of reducing energy consumption. Optimizing power
consumption requires an effective power monitoring and alert function such as the one found in the Power Manager
Plug-in.* Intelligent power distribution units** measure and monitor the energy consumption, energy costs and energy
trends of IT equipment at different levels.
Using these measurements, plus the collected data on IT power consumption, it is possible to define the most suitable
size for the upstream electrical infrastructure. This is extremely useful when installing new racks, for example. The
electrical infrastructure is optimized and the efficiency of the entire power supply chain enhanced, which in turn reduces
power costs. Another key benefit of power distribution units with a measuring function is that you can identify “energy
guzzlers,” systems that consume above average levels of power, and thus considerably reduce energy consumption.
Precise real-time monitoring of all connected equipment allows you to solve problems before they arise. How? Because
you can define a threshold for power and ambient parameters and the power distribution unit does the rest by issuing
a message should imminent overload problems arise. This allows problems to be detected in good time and minimizes
downtime resulting from overloaded power supplies.
*T
he Avocent Power Manager Plug-in can be integrated in the Avocent DSView 3 software and provides automatic alerts, logging and reporting for
IT power consumption.
** T
he Avocent PM 2000 and PM 3000 power distribution units give data center managers the tools they need to control, measure and manage the rising
energy requirements of IT equipment in data centers.
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You can even measure and monitor power consumption remotely, which is essential in “lights-out” data centers. These
unmanned facilities have extra high security and are becoming increasingly popular for various reasons. The motivation
is usually to cut costs, for example in a smaller data center in a branch.
So, if you have a management system that supports out-of-band functionality and power distribution units that allow
remote restarts, activation and deactivation, you can control power management conveniently from your desk. Detailed
information about power levels and the equipment’s surroundings comes straight to your desktop. This means that you
can access all the data you need on power consumption, capacity utilization and energy costs from the comfort of your
own office.
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Chapter 4 Ten good reasons to ensure efficient infrastructure management
Ten good reasons to ensure efficient
infrastructure management
In this chapter you will learn
• the benefits of central infrastructure management software at a glance 1) Reduce stress
Opting for a complete infrastructure management software solution that gives access to all the information needed
to manage a data center effectively has one very important general benefit: it allows you to work more effectively with
much less stress. This is because the software combines all the features required to optimize infrastructure management
in a single solution. It allows you to address many different challenges at the same time and noticeably reduces the level
of day-to-day pressure. High availability, security, resource optimization or increased efficiency: you can rise to all these
challenges and more with a single tool.
2) Satisfy new business requirements quickly
If the data center management team has rapid access to detailed information about the site, floor area, rack capacity,
power consumption, heat output, weight and network connections, they can adapt quickly and flexibly to changed
business requirements. Even when complexity takes on overwhelming dimensions, having this precise knowledge about
a data center—from the overall picture to the smallest detail—enables you to adapt quickly.
3) Reduce cost-intensive downtimes
Businesses rely on data center operators to provide an adequate power supply. To satisfy this requirement, the data
center team must know how much power each device is consuming. If this is the case, the risk of overload on key power
supply units is reduced. Most importantly, cost-intensive downtimes are circumvented.
4) Minimize equipment installation times
When it comes to installing new equipment, many data center teams rely on the past experience of the staff. Experience
is very valuable, but when installing new equipment, it’s better to know for certain that you are doing the right
thing. Infrastructure management solutions generate a model of the data center and log the requirements for all the
equipment inside it. If you then need to install a new piece of equipment, the software will suggest the optimum location
for it. This significantly reduces the amount of time involved in planning the installation of new equipment. It also allows
team members to make more efficient use of their time.
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Chapter 4 Ten good reasons to ensure efficient infrastructure management
5) Prevent wrong decisions
If efficient planning is not possible in a data center, for whatever reason, this can have serious consequences. Often it will
be impossible to satisfy capacity requirements, which affects your competitive position. But if you know exactly when
and to what extent planned changes will impact on factors such as power consumption, available space and resource
support, you are ideally placed to prevent potential errors from arising. You can do this by a process of analysis, using
“what-if” scenarios. In this way you can avoid decisions that could have a negative business impact.
6) Efficient auditing
Often, important business decisions will depend on your contribution. Data center management teams are expected to
supply reliable figures on capacity and predicted growth. By using a suitable infrastructure management tool, with just
a click, you can view a list of all resources in your data center. In just a few steps, you can generate accurate, up-to-date
reports and diagrams with detailed lists of productive resources and resources in stock.
7) Lower costs wherever you look!
Data center management teams are under constant pressure to reduce costs in spite of growing requirements and
growing complexity. The right infrastructure management software can help you reduce costs in many ways. For
example, when you have an accurate picture of your infrastructure capacities, you can reduce costs for surplus capacities
and reduce the risk of a capacity shortfall. When you know the energy consumption of individual pieces of equipment,
you can take specific energy-saving measures. Accurate documentation tells you what technologies are installed in the
IT landscape and how they are used, so you can eliminate unnecessary expenditure on licences. The current popularity
of virtualization technologies, in particular, often results in licences being paid for unnecessarily. These are just a few of
many examples.
8) Visualization makes your task easier
Infrastructure management software that presents data in the form of detailed diagrams is user-friendly, because it takes
account of the fact that most people are visually oriented. A visual representation of a complex data center is much easier
to understand than endless Excel spreadsheets and reports. So no matter how complex the IT infrastructure is, visual
modeling of the data center, the racks and all individual IT elements within the racks means that the management team
always has a clear overall picture. Whether for the purposes of documentation, analyzing the potential impact of planned
changes or searching for available capacity, visual modeling facilitates countless different tasks.
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9) Simple management
Deploying a suitable infrastructure management tool with remote management software allows you to connect and
communicate with all IT equipment and monitor it. This gives you a complete picture of data center operations and
enables all equipment to be managed securely from a single central console. Management tools of this type also provide
automatic alerts and the option of generating reports and diagrams with just a click. You can perform audits of access
instances, events and communication. They also simplify and speed up the provision of new management appliances
by providing configuration templates, preconfigured with known parameters. Efficient data center management is
made effortless.
10) Remote management
Data center managers need to have access to every networked device from any location at any time. They must be
able to perform diagnostics and modifications regardless of the status of the operating system or network in which
the equipment is integrated. Management software with out-of-band functionality does exactly that. Problems can
be identified and solved even if servers are no longer able to communicate across the network or gateways or routers
and other equipment needed for IP connectivity are unavailable. Remote management of this type is particularly
crucial in the case of data centers spread over various sites. Another advantage is that there is usually no need for
staff to be physically present in the data center, which has the effect of increasing security and enhancing the
effectiveness of troubleshooting.
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Chapter 5 Looking to the future
Looking to the future
In this chapter you will learn
• why effective management of the physical infrastructure is important but not enough on its own
• how to be well equipped for the future of infrastructure management
The steps described in the previous chapters for achieving effective data center planning and efficient management of
the physical infrastructure are important. They will help you install new equipment efficiently; efficient documentation
and planning will ensure you have enough space and power for future requirements; and you will always know which
equipment is located where and how it is connected.
However, these aren’t the last steps you should take if your goal is to optimize the entire data center infrastructure,
including the IT systems. Current trends, be it scaling, rationalization, compression or virtualization, make it essential
to adopt a holistic approach to data center infrastructure management to assure the future success of the company.
Unfortunately, there is a problem: the current gap between IT infrastructure and physical data center infrastructure.
Critically, most data centers are designed with static requirements in mind. Currently, both IT equipment and the
physical infrastructure are managed with static applications. However, the circumstances and requirements currently
impacting data center infrastructures can only be addressed with the help of an equally dynamic platform*. The
silo-type operating and decision-making processes so common today also create obstacles to dynamic infrastructure
management. Current efforts to enhance efficiency also focus on IT equipment and physical infrastructure as two
separate areas.
So, there are two conditions that need to be met to guarantee future success: the removal of the current boundaries
between the isolated infrastructure components and absolute flexibility. Bridging the gap between management of the
physical infrastructure, including power supply, cooling and floor space, on the one hand, and IT management, including
virtualization, storage and computing, on the other hand, will enable data center managers and facility managers to
work together effectively. They will be able to obtain information from the same source and make informed decisions as
to the balance between efficiency, availability and capacity utilization.
* The future dynamic TrellisTM platform for infrastructure management optimization is based on a family of hardware, software and services.
It bridges the critical gap between IT equipment and physical data center infrastructure.
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Adopting a holistic approach to infrastructure management enables you to make faster, more specific and more effective
decisions and make optimum use of all data center capacities. It also paves the way to continuous availability with
optimum performance.
So, we can see that the dynamic optimization of the entire data center infrastructure only requires a few additional steps
and gives you the peace of mind of being well equipped for the future. The analysts at Gartner affirm the need for a
holistic solution for data center infrastructure management and the associated high demand. By 2014, they anticipate a
market penetration of 60% —compared with 1% in 20101.
1
Gartner: “DCIM: Going Beyond IT”, p. 4; published on 29.3.2010
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Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), is the
global leader in enabling Business-Critical ContinuityTM from grid to
chip for telecommunication networks, data centers, health care and
industrial facilities. Emerson Network Power provides innovative
solutions and expertise in areas including AC and DC power and
precision cooling systems, embedded computing and power,
integrated racks and enclosures, power switching and controls,
infrastructure management, and connectivity. All solutions are
supported globally by local Emerson Network Power service
technicians. Aperture and Avocent solutions from Emerson Network
Power simplify data center infrastructure management by
maximizing computing capacity and lowering costs while enabling
the data center to operate at peak performance. For more
information, visit www.Aperture.com, www.Avocent.com or
www.EmersonNetworkPower.com.
Emerson Network Power.
The global leader in enabling Business-Critical ContinuityTM.
AC Power
Connectivity
DC Power
Embedded Computing
Embedded Power
Infrastructure Management & Monitoring
Outside Plant
Power Switching & Controls
Precision Cooling
EmersonNetworkPower.com
Racks & Integrated Cabinets
Services
Surge Protection
Emerson, Business-Critical Continuity and Emerson Network Power are trademarks of Emerson Electric Co. or one of its affiliated companies. All other marks are the property of their respective
owners. ©2011 Emerson Electric Co. 0611-DCIMME-BRO-EN
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