Infrastructure Management & Monitoring forBusiness-Critical ContinuityTM

Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Made Easy

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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? 7 Documentation – The foundation for data center optimization 8 More knowledge – Fewer figures 9 Detailed planning – Another key to success10 What if? – Reliable planning with reliable forecasts10 Visual modeling – How to benefit from visual modeling

12 Chapter 3 – Central management – how to stay in control12 Central management – Why choose the hard way when there’s a simple way?12 Remote management13 Efficient power management – Keeping energy costs under control

15 Chapter 4 – Ten good reasons to ensure efficient infrastructure management 15 Reduce stress15 Satisfy new business requirements quickly15 Reduce cost-intensive downtimes 15 Minimize equipment installation times 16 Prevent wrong decisions16 Efficient auditing 16 Lower costs wherever you look!16 Visualization makes your task easier17 Simple management17 Remote management

18 Chapter 5 – Looking to the future

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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.

Introduction

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Challenges in infrastructure management In this chapter you will learn•aboutthecurrentsituationindatacenters•whyefficientinfrastructuremanagementisbecomingincreasinglyimportant

Great expectations – The problems facing data center managersData 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.

Chapter 1 Challenges in infrastructure management

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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 needThe 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.

* Avocent® Data Center ™ as well as the Aperture™ Suite are software solutions for data center planning and infrastructure management. They are part of the Emerson Network Power strategic framework for data center optimization.

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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: Service-oriented

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.

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.

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Documentation – The foundation for data center optimizationIf 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.

Chapter 2 What is the optimum solution?

What is the optimum solution? In this chapter you will learn•howtolaythefoundationsfordatacenteroptimization•aboutthebenefitsofpreciseplanningandvisualmodeling

* For the report, the ARI surveyed 100 data center specialists and management-level staff from different industries.

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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 costsAs 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 downtimesDetailed 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 auditingIf 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)

Chapter 2 What is the optimum solution?

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Eliminate costs for unnecessary software licencesSoftware 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 serversAs 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 successAccording 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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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.

Chapter 2 What is the optimum solution?

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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.

* Avocent 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

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 managementGood 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.

In this chapter you will learn•howreliableandcentralmanagementcanbeeasilyachieved•howtosolveproblemsremotelyandcutenergycosts

* 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 controlMost 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.

* The 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.

** The 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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1) Reduce stressOpting 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 quicklyIf 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 downtimesBusinesses 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 timesWhen 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.

Chapter 4 Ten good reasons to ensure efficient infrastructure management

Ten good reasons to ensure efficient infrastructure managementIn this chapter you will learn •thebenefitsofcentralinfrastructuremanagementsoftwareataglance

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5) Prevent wrong decisionsIf 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.

Chapter 4 Ten good reasons to ensure efficient infrastructure management

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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

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.

In this chapter you will learn •whyeffectivemanagementofthephysicalinfrastructureisimportantbutnotenoughonitsown •howtobewellequippedforthefutureofinfrastructuremanagement

* 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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