10 Reasons to Migrate
Infrastructure Management
& Monitoring for
Business-Critical ContinuityTM
If you struggle with meeting the service level demands of your business and are finding it to be more challenging than ever to make IT a more
strategic, business relevant function, you have most likely outgrown your current data center infrastructure system. Moving to a new system
can be costly, and more often than not, the new system requires investment in other assets. With the Avocent MergePoint Unity® KVM over IP
and serial console switch, ACS advanced console server and Power Management Distribution Units (PM PDUs), you can get more out of existing
computing assets and dramatically improve your ability to meet the service level demands of the business.
Make the switch. Here are 10 reasons why:
HARDWARE BENEFITS
MIGRATION ADVANTAGE
MergePoint Unity, ACS advanced console server and PM PDUs
1
Get the finest infrastructure management
system at the lowest possible cost
Drastically reduce the new system acquisition costs through high-value rebates and transition
service incentives. In addition, benefit from a faster return on investment through training options.
2
Significantly reduce your cost of system
transition with a complete, turnkey
approach
Avocent offers an end-to-end, fully planned process to decommission the installed system, remove
it from the premises, properly dispose of the old removed system and deploy the new system.
3
Receive rapid and improved return on
your investment through a quicker and
complete adoption of the new system
On-premises training from Avocent experts helps you harvest the full benefit of a new system
quickly and shortens the time to realize a return on your new Avocent investment.
4
Break the performance barriers associated
with your current legacy technology
limitations
New Avocent technology and systems help IT managers realize the service level agreements expected
by the business by driving out waste associated with nonproductive, non-business-driving activities.
Improved use of the existing computing assets also helps you achieve a better return on those assets.
5
Enjoy a future-proof system that easily
scales to meet the needs of tomorrow and
helps you take advantage of new features
in the future
Benefit from the strong heritage of innovation and proven track record in pioneering access and
management technology as well as a road map for future product enhancements.
6
Reduce the risk of down time and mean
time to repair associated with out-of-date
warranties and older technologies
With a new Avocent system, you’ll have full warranty coverage which will eliminate the wasted time
searching for warranty records, contacts and more. The new system provides a rapid response,
diagnosis and resolution of data center infrastructure problems.
HARDWARE BENEFITS
7
MergePoint Unity
Enhance your data center security beyond
the basic security measures
ACS advanced console server
Receive increased efficiency through
flexibility in order to work with your
existing technologies in the manner IT
administrators wish to work
PM PDUs
Reduce management of all PDUs with a
single browser
8
MergePoint Unity
Future-proof your data center
infrastructure access and management
and achieve faster and measurable
returns on your investments
ACS advanced console server
Improve security to help restrict the
access to valuable computing assets and
obtain an audit trail
PM PDUs
Enjoy power management via simple,
always available access to historical
data related to PDUs, even when power
management software tools are not used
9
MergePoint Unity
Reduce the high cost associated with
allocating, acquiring and maintaining
physical space
ACS advanced console server
Dramatically reduce wasted time
associated with isolating errors and
system changes
PM PDUs
Significantly reduce the time an IT
administrator must spend addressing
nonproductive activities by diminishing
errors and accidents
10
MergePoint Unity
Receive more robust and auditable
compliance capabilities on your
investments
ACS advanced console server
Increase intrusion prevention capabilities
PM PDUs
Significantly reduce the time needed to
complete installation and lower cost of
management
MIGRATION ADVANTAGE
The MergePoint Unity switch helps you restrict the personnel access to appliances and their resident
data by taking advantage of built-in security technologies such as IPV6 and Common Access
Card (CAC). You can also reduce risks associated with human error and intellectual property theft
by restricting the physical access to the data center. Using the virtual media capabilities of the
MergePoint Unity switch reduces the need for IT staff to physically enter the data center.
IT administrators can receive notifications and alerts, proactively, by multiple means (not just
e-mail). At the same time, Avocent serial console appliances offer IT administrators numerous and
flexible options such as PCMCIA, wireless LAN and many other options.
DSView® 3 management software, combined with the Power Manager™ plug-in application,
provides a unified interface for power management. This eliminates the need of having multiple
applications for power management and remote access.
Onboard the MergePoint Unity switch, you’ll find: redundancy and scalability such as power,
network, onboard storage and memory; dedicated support to control and manage power
distribution at the rack; and flexible port configurations to manage all connections. Thoughtful
features help you scale today and into the future with a single, unified platform so that you may take
advantage of today’s features and tomorrow’s.
Authenticate using Local, Radius, TACACS+, ActiveDirectory, LDAP, NIS, Kerberos, OTP and SecureID.
Time stamp and buffer data to IDE or Compact Flash to gain Syslog Data Logging.
Onboard logging helps IT administrators perform baseline power consumption analysis down to a
granular level, such as the outlet level.
The MergePoint Unity switch offers the most efficient and flexible use of the ports by allowing you
mix port configurations: serial and KVM all-in-one appliance. The MergePoint Unity switch also
offers true serial access providing the highest access performance possible. This efficient and unique
approach reduces the physical need and the added expense of more appliances and their associated
energy costs. Now you’ll have a uniform, flexible and low-cost approach to managing both the rack
space and its power consumption.
Eliminate the time wasted hunting down errors and changes via a complete audit trail using the
event log in conjunction with DSView 3 management software.
Lock and unlock outlets to avoid accidentally turning on and off the PDUs. Reduce the chance of
overload situations; however, if these do occur, recover quickly by turning off outlets or resetting
them remotely using the over-current protection feature.
Compliance is increasing in importance for businesses of all sizes. Achieving compliance with the
multitude of technologies in the data center is increasingly more challenging. The MergePoint Unity
switches offer a single platform enabling you to standardize access, monitoring and management. It
also simplifies the implementation of best practices, such as ITIL, and increases accountability.
Cluster up to 1,024 ports securely to help restrict access, prevent undesirable access and prevent
malicious intrusion.
Mount PDUs easily and quickly using the onboard, toolless mounting buttons provided in order to
rapidly install and daisy chain up to five PDUs across a KVM or serial port. This leads to a reduction in
the use of IP ports, yet maintains management of all PDUs.
* Note: Actual specifications will vary based on platform and software configuration.
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