How To Document Campus Infrastructure Offices, Hospitals, Universities, Airports, Etc.

29th November 2012

David Cuthbertson, Director Square Mile Systems Ltd

www.squaremilesystems.com

Some Background

Based in Cirencester, Glos, UK

Customers – worldwide.

Key Skill Areas

Documenting IT infrastructure

Configuration management processes

MS Visio automation

Industry bodies & roles

• BCS-Config Mgmt Specialist Group

• BCS-ITIL Specialist Group – ex Chairman

• LinkedIn – Data Center Engineering

• LinkedIn – Data Center Operations Mgmt

• BICSI, ITSMF, Microsoft guest speaker

Fixed Infrastructure (Cabling, Power, Cabinets, Rooms, Buildings)

Hardware Infrastructure PCs, Network, Servers, UPS, Storage, Other

Virtual Infrastructure PCs, Network, Servers, Storage, DBMS

Applications PC, server, mainframe, SOA

Services End user, infrastructure, supplier

Business Processes Departmental, Company

*BCS – British Computer Society Presentation Scope

Infrastructure Management Maturity

Reactive Repeatable Defined Managed Optimised

1 2 3 4 5

Individual

approach

Some process,

often informal

Process

documented

and explained

Process

checked and

reviewed for

gaps

Process open

to external

review and

updated

regularly

To move to the right we typically need to;

1. Embed infrastructure knowledge in team systems

2. Enable separation of roles – design, implement, operate, risk

3. Plan and allocate resource against demand

4. Feedback on metrics and changes – billing, compliance

The Current State For Many

1. Lots of existing documentation of varying accuracy, formats and purpose which isn’t trusted, updated or generally known about

2. Project teams use individual MS office tools for communicating changes, whereas operations teams need multi-user systems

3. Task or projects often involve reverse-engineering, site surveys, workshops and audits of the same infrastructure

4. Location, business and system dependencies in peoples heads

5. IT teams are targeted to deliver projects faster and minimise disruption, not to maintain systems documentation

6. There is no identified budget for improving process or management techniques for the infrastructure

7. Multiple, repeated audits to get management data on infrastructure capacity and usage

8. Lack of standards – naming, data maintained, Visio shapes, etc

Overlays of Technologies (1)

WAN Video

Conferenci

ng

Voice

Wireless

External

Video KVM

Unix

Servers

Printers

Copiers Storage

Phones

Fax

Power Cabling

LAN SAN

CCTV

Wintel

Servers

Desktop

Laptops Network

CCTV

SAN

Overlays of Technologies (2)

WAN Video

Conferenci

ng

Voice

Wireless

External

Video KVM /

Control

Unix

Servers

Printers

Copiers

Phones

Fax

Power Cabling

LAN

Wintel

Servers

Desktop

Laptops Network Storage

SAN

Overlays of Technologies (3)

WAN Video

Conferenci

ng

Voice

Wireless

External

Video KVM /

Control

Unix

Servers

Printers

Copiers

Phones

Fax

Power Cabling

LAN

CCTV

Wintel

Servers

Desktop

Laptops Network Storage

Document Overload!

1. Update asset/inventory list

2. Update rack diagrams

3. Update network diagrams/patching records

4. Update switch port usage and capacity

5. Update floor plan rack capacity

6. Update power usage spread sheet(s)

7. Update storage / backup system documentation

8. Update systems architecture documentation

9. Update DR lists and documents

10. Update maintenance records

11. Update billing and charging data

12. Update project documentation with the “as built” details

After a project change, what should be updated?

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Document Overkill!

1. Update asset/inventory list

2. Update rack diagrams

3. Update network diagrams/patching records

4. Update switch port usage and capacity

5. Update floor plan rack capacity

6. Update power usage spread sheet(s)

7. Update storage / backup system documentation

8. Update systems architecture documentation

9. Update DR lists and documents

10. Update maintenance records

11. Update billing and charging data

12. Update project documentation with the “as built” details

After a project change, what should be updated?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 249 10 11 12 13 14 15 161 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 249 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

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Who, what, where, how, when?

www.assetgen.com

Infrastructure Knowledge

Plan Build Operate Risk Dispose

Project and task Manage and Coordinate

Examples

Project documentation

Equipment lists

Visio/CAD diagrams

Test results

Examples

Asset and Inventory management

Business / service dependencies

Monitoring of performance, status

Risk and Recovery

Ease and speed of creation

Ease of distribution

Flexible to meet task needs

Limited training

Ease of use by many

Structured for integration & reporting

Support for multiple processes

Wide scope – the big picture!

10

Task Resourcing

Desktop

Server

Single Building

Campus

Campus + 3rd party

Plan Request Finish Build Admin

Desktop

Server

Desktop

Server

Why does it take longer?

Change Tasks

Plan

• Surveys, meeting

• Project docs

• Scheduling

• Ordering

• Access

• Change forms

• Costing

Build

• Travel

• Unpack

• Install

• Configure

• Label

• Test

• Dispose

Admin

• Project docs

• Operations docs

• Billing / time sheets

• Project reports

• Service reports

• Payments

Document - Start With Quick Wins

Few elements

Low rate of change

Lots of elements

High rate of change

Site

Rooms / locations

Computer racks, enclosures

Fixed Infrastructure

Core network devices

Hosts and servers

User infrastructure

User devices – desktops, printers, voice

Prepare - Reduce The Workload

1. Establish policies, standards and clarify ownership Make it easy for engineers

2. Have project / operations use common terms & formats Supply templates, naming system, labels, etc.

3. Reduce the numbers of documents / files to maintain Consolidate into centralised systems and make easy to find

Link or create Visio diagrams, reports, excel from databases

4. Update operational systems as part of planning processes

Prepare – Define the Scope and Priority

• Technical space(s) rooms, racks, ERs, TRs, user areas

• Inventory – bigger than “assets”

• Backbone and horizontal cabling, power, voice, etc.

• Pathways, cable routes, capacity

• Attributes / data on inventory elements

• Relationships – location, chassis, links, end to end

• Diagrams – Formats, symbols and shapes

• Change processes and maintenance

Prepare – Define Standards/Formats

• Assess existing conventions and formats to minimise variations

• Align with appropriate external standards / guidelines – Data centers TIA942, ANSI/BICSI-002

– Cabling administration TIA606-B, EN50174-1, ISO14763-2

– Manufacturers Cisco, HP, IBM, installers

Examples Rack U position starts from bottom TIA942

Rack tile - identifier front right corner AH06

Rack name - tile or row/number AH06 or B06

Prepare - TIA606-B Administration

• Classes of administration – Class 1 single ER (equipment room}

– Class 2 single ER with multiple TR (telecom rooms)

– Class 3 campus Multiple ERs, TR

– Class 4 multi-site, multiple campus

• Identifier formats for interchange of information

• Labeling formats – Example cable label within 300mm (12in) from end of cable

– All letters uppercase, machine created without serifs

• Definitions of terms

• Patch panel identifier

Prepare - Example Identifiers

• Space - LON-F1-1A London - Floor 1- Room 1A

• Cabinet identifier

– XY Coord - 1A.AH06 (front right corner tile reference)

– Row/rack -1A.A6 Row A, Rack 06

– Rack number R07

• Always preface with an alpha and add leading zero (excel sorting

issue). A01 – good A1 - bad

• Label rack top/bottom/ front/rear

– Full (LON-F1-1A-A06) , short (1A-A06), simple (A06)

• Patch panel naming – choose one system!

– 1A-AH06-A (a panel)

– 1A-AH06-30 (u position)

– 1A-AH06-F30 (front u position or nsew, abcd)

• Ports

– 1A-AH06-A-001 (put in leading edge 00s)

– 1A-AH06-F30:015 or 1A-AH06-F30:010-020

• Backbone panels

– 1A-AH06-30:001-010 / 2C-AH06-30:001-010

– 2C-AH06-30:001-010 / 1A-AH06-30:001-010

• Outlets

– EO / TO / CP /SP

Prepare - Patch Panels

Prepare - Patch Cable Labeling

1. No label 2. Local port 23 3. Local port to port SW1:23 to PPA06:12 4. Remote port to port SW1:23 to ServerB:Eth0 5. Path/work order ref WO33432 6. Unique cable label C000232 A201201/322

All have their benefits though we recommend 6. easy to create/print doesn’t change with device name easy to read good reference for work instructions

Prepare – Exception Handling

What about active equipment? Use logical name as reference, or equipment type and location id

SW-BHAM-01 or Cisco 3750 LON-F1-A1-AH06-U23

What about passive hardware? Cable management, blanking plates, trays – use location ID

CM LON-F1-A1-AH06-U2

What about cards, plug in modules, blade systems, etc Parent device and then slot/card number

SW-BHAM-01.Slot05

Preparation Summary

• For physical infrastructure develop a convention

like TIA606B and ISO14763-2 recommends.

• Have a short name for convenience, as the

unique administration identifier may be unwieldy.

• For active components it is often best to use the

logical name

– makes it easier to understand

– easy to import data from other sources

– other identifiers such as asset tag numbers will result

in a lot of work cross referencing if not careful.

Capture - Audit Process

• Scope, depth, schedule of visits

• Develop data capture tools Planning

• Check the process works on a trial building

• Refine data capture tools and process Prototype

• Data capture using workbooks / teams

• Upload as soon as possible in case of data or process erros Bulk Capture

• Check for gaps and inaccuracies across teams and cultures

• Combine with other data source Reconciliation

• Project and site reports

• Produce diagrams, sharepoint portals Presentation

Capture - Inventory

• Defined scope – infrastructure, desktops, printers

• Naming – use existing naming or new?

• Labelling/tagging – required – if so how do you create?

• Categorising equipment

• Exception handling

– Equipment on top of rack?

– Still in boxes

– Surplus bits – disks, panels, cables

– No name, partial name, wrong name, multiple names

• Defined scope – network, voice, power, video?

• Must have completed fixed infrastructure and inventory!

• Labelling/tagging – required? How do you create?

• Exception handling

– Can’t find ends

– Damaged

– One end connected – the other not!

– Multi-cable joins

– And so on

Capture - Connectivity

• It is likely that the quality of data capture will vary – Expertise increases with each audit

– Rescheduling and coping with local site/user/team issues

– Local decision making and exception handling

– Descriptions will be based on what is seen

– Comparing inputs before upload often highlights differences

• Other data sources may overcome missing audit data as well as add in additional device data. – Choose what is best for ongoing use, not stick with

previous format

Capture - Reconciliation

Presentation - Desired Outputs?

1. Asset/inventory list

2. Rack diagrams

3. Network diagrams/patching records

4. Switch port usage and capacity

5. Floor plan rack capacity

6. Power usage spreadsheet(s)

7. Storage / backup system documentation

8. Systems architecture documentation

9. DR lists and documents

10. Maintenance records

11. Billing and charging data

12. Project documentation with the “as built” details

Are we just recreating the same problem we started with?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 249 10 11 12 13 14 15 161 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 249 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

PP01-03-01

UID

HP

ProLiant

DL380 G5

COMPACT

1 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

POWER

SUPPLY SUPPLY

POWER

SPAREONLINE

MIRROR

CAGE

RISER

PCI

PROC PROC

LOCKINTER

TEMPOVER

FANS

PP

M

PP

M

DIMMS

UID

HP

ProLiant

DL380 G5

COMPACT

1 2

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SUPPLY SUPPLY

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MIRROR

CAGE

RISER

PCI

PROC PROC

LOCKINTER

TEMPOVER

FANS

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COMPACT

microsystems

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USER

COMPACT

microsystems

UK_BIRM_UX01

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SERVERWIN0001

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PROLIANTPROLIANT

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Support Different Needs

© AssetGen Limited 29

Claims

Processing

Payment Module

ACCOUNTS

Accounts Module

SVRWIN001

Accounts

Payable

Accounts

Receivable

PAYROLL

Sage Payroll

Payroll

SW-BHAM-

CORE1

SW-BHAM-

CORE2

SW-BHAM-01 SW-BHAM-03 SW-BHAM-05 SW-BHAM-02SW-BHAM-04SW-BHAM-06

UK_BIRM_UX01 UK_BIRM_UX02 UK_BIRM_UX09 UK_BIRM_UX04UK_BIRM_UX05 UK_BIRM_UX03 UK_BIRM_UX06 UK_BIRM_UX07 UK_BIRM_UX08 UK_BIRM_UX10

99999

99999

UK_BIRMCC_PDU1

UK_BIRMCC_PDU2

PWR01-

03-A

PWR01-

04-A

PWR01-

05-A

PWR01-06-

A

PWR01-

07-A

PWR01-

03-B

PWR01-04-

B

PWR01-05-

B

PWR01-06-

B

PWR01-07-

B

UK_BIRM_UX01 UK_BIRM_UX02 UK_BIRM_UX09 UK_BIRM_UX10 UK_BIRM_UX03 UK_BIRM_UX04

UK_BIRM_UX05

UK_BIRM_UX06

UK_BIRM_UX07

UK_BIRM_UX08

PP01-02-01

RTR-BHAM-01

PWR01-02-A

PWR01-02-B

NTU-BHAM-01

NTU-TEST03

Floor Plan

Rack Position

Application/

Service impact

Power Supply

Network Connections

BLADE_BIRM01

UK

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IRM

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LA

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H/W Build

Reduce The Workload!

Excel Visio

Floor box list Floor plan

Cabinet list Equipment room floor plan

Patch panel list Backbone cabling diagram

Inventory Network diagram

Inventory Rack diagram

Inventory Server connectivity diagram

Capture – Our Data Capture Approach

1. Document / survey buildings and spaces and put into an infrastructure database.

2. Capture racks and enclosures using paper and then into a spreadsheet format. Enables production of Visio floor plans and supports audit packs

3. Capture inventory into an upload spreadsheet. Creates rack diagrams, floor box layouts, architecture maps

4. Capture connectivity into an upload spreadsheet. Create network, path and other topology diagrams

Capture – Difference In Approach

• Data capture focusses on delivering 3 files

• Visualisation is either created automatically, or by combining data

with existing backdrops - floor plans

• No need to check across multiple documents for consistency and

format

A faster, less complex and less costly audit, which doesn’t require high

skill levels within the audit team

And delivers an operational system that can be maintained easily!

Excel Excel Excel

Rack Device Cable

Maintain - Infrastructure Knowledge

Project and task Manage and Coordinate

Ease and speed of creation Ease of distribution Flexible to meet task needs Limited training

Ease of use by many Structured for integration & reporting Support for multiple processes Wide scope – the big picture!

33

Record planning decisions in the operational system Produce project docs for/from the operational system

Plan Build Operate Risk Dispose

Maintain – Keeping Data Up to Date

• Project teams can assess current state and capacity without the

need to survey for every request.

• Design teams can allocate and manage existing infrastructure

resource capacity.

• Projects go faster, less change conflicts, reduced cost of meeting

infrastructure change requests.

• Operations teams do not have to maintain detailed data, they feed

off project updates.

– Overnight updates of inventory / diagrams

– Ad hoc query / checking to help resolve service problems

• Management and capacity data is always available

– Space, connectivity, power, changes, audit trails

Summary

• Campus infrastructure is physically dispersed, supports multiple services and scale / complexity limits MS office tools suitability.

• Reducing multiple spreadsheets into a database helps, even more so when that same system creates a variety of Visio outputs automatically.

• A systems approach to documentation directly reduces change costs and project delivery times – with the starting point being a baseline!

Additional Material

www.squaremilesystems.com Training/workshops Technical / management aspects of data centers

Webinars Visio automation, documenting cabling, etc.

Videos Free SMS Visio utilities

www.assetgen.com Evaluation software Free “DCIM” evaluation version

Webinars Data center practices, Visio integration

Videos Visio automation, change impact analysis