Reduce risk and increase efficiency in data centre

cabinets (a.k.a. DCIM)

Richard May Country Manager UKI & Nordics, Raritan Inc

What is DCIM?

Monitoring. Why?

Do I need DCIM / are we ready?

10 Key project considerations

Agenda

What is DCIM?(it’s alot more than a piece of

software)

Asset Tracking:Spreadsheets, Homegrown DBs

Floor Plan: AutoCAD, Visio

Monitoring: BMS, Airedale ACIS

Cable/Net Tracking:Spreadsheets, Homegrown DBs

Configuration:CiscoWorks, etc.

Monitoring:HP OpenView, IBM Tivoli, Solarwinds

Asset Tracking:Spreadsheets, Homegrown DBs

CMDB:HP OpenView, BMC BladeLogic, etc.

Monitoring:HP Insight Manager, IBM Director

Too

ls

Facilities Networking Systems

Do

mai

ns

Raised Floor,

UPS, PDU/RPP, Rack PDUs

CRACs, Sensors

Mainframe,

Servers, VMs,

Storage,

Apps

Networks

Fibre

Structured Cabling,

LAN, SAN, WAN

Where should I install this server?

Asset Tracking:Spreadsheets, Homegrown DBs

Floor Plan: AutoCAD, Visio

Monitoring: BMS, Airedale ACIS

.

Cable/Net Tracking:Spreadsheets, Homegrown DBs

Configuration:CiscoWorks, etc.

Monitoring:HP OpenView, IBM Tivoli

Asset Tracking:Spreadsheets, Homegrown DBs

CMDB:HP OpenView, BMC BladeLogic, etc.

Monitoring:HP Insight Manager, IBM Director

Too

ls

Facilities Networking Systems

Do

mai

ns

Raised Floor,

UPS, PDU/RPP, Rack PDUs

CRACs, Probes

Mainframe,

Servers, VMs,

Storage,

Apps

Structured Cabling,

LAN, SAN, WAN

Do

mai

ns

Data centre Operations

Executing Work Orders

Racking and Stacking

Power Rack Connectivity

Fiber and Copper Cable Patching

How are Data Centre Operations Evolving?

Why monitor?And whats the return?

“Useful IT Work”

Source: National Resources Defense Council

Why Measure?

Source: greengrid.org, energy measurements survey results analysis

Actions prompted by efficiency metrics

Source: greengrid.org, energy measurements survey results analysis

Causes of Risk &

InefficiencyOften down to people...

• Get it wrong and breakers trip and servers switch off.

• So we play safe, which leads to inefficiency

– Stranded capacity

– Over cooling

– ‘Ghost servers’

– Load inbalance

• Do we really have A & B power feeds?

• Cabinet metering & monitoring, helps improve efficiency.

– Extend the life of the data centre

– Decreases risk

– Saves money

– Introduces accountability

– Enables cross charging to apportion costs or drive user behavior.

Fear & uncertainty cause inefficiency

Real Data v’s Calculated

Source: Principled Technologies Test ReportCalculators: HP Power Advisor & Cisco UCS Power Calculator

You Can’t Beat Real World data

TCO v’s depreciationusing the data......

Why & when do we purchase new hardware?

Source: http://www.spec.org/power_ssj2008/

HP Proliant DL380G5 HP Proliant DL380G6

Reduce facilities costsSafely...

BMS v’s IT Sensors

3T + 1H (ASHRAE)

Pressure

Air flow

Rack power densitiesWhats yours?

High power to the rack

Average power densities increasing.

6-7.4kW per rack now, 12kW by 2017?

Partly due to virtualisation and other utilisation initiatives

PUE reduction initiatives enable load increase (e.g. CAC / HAC)

Therefore there are 2 options

Multiple single phase feeds

3 phase feed(s)

Benefits of 3 phase to the rack

Energy savings due to step down / transmission losses

Less PDU’s

Less copper

Less sub-floor obstruction

Easier load balancing

Raritan PX2-5104X2 - 46kW iPDU (@ 415V)

Customer Use CaseeBay

eBay DSE Dashboard

Source: dse.ebay.com

Do I need DCIM?Or is it the right time to deploy?

Vendor Agnostic Reporting

User Configurable Dashboards

Detailed Rack Views

Floor Maps

PUE Reporting

Forecast: 329 Days of Supply

Actuals

Capacity

Forecast

Today

329 Days

Capacity Planning

Raritan dcTrackIn 2 slides

Asset Management

Automated

What do I have, where is it & who owns it?

How is it configured and connected

Maintenance history & schedule

Capacity Management

How much space, power and network do I have

Where do I have capacity

How do I optimize my current capacity

Connectivity Management

Connectivity for data & power

Trace circuits end-to-end

How do I quickly find infrastructure to application to business dependencies

What does it do?

Change Management

How do I manage moves, adds, and changes (MACs)

Who does the work

When will the work be done

How do I know it’s done correctly

What does it do?

Key Considerationsfor a successful DCIM Project

10

1 Be clear on problems

prioritize over time

Identify business critical data centre

operations problems

Focus on solving top 1-2 most important

problems

“Must Have” as opposed to “Nice to Have”

Avoid doing to much too soon

2

2 Understand current processesand desired outcome

Map current processes

Define desired process state

Identify gaps – systems, resources, information, etc.

Select project resources

3 Don’t get caught in thefeature comparison trap

Evaluate two to three DCIM products/vendors

Challenge vendors to show how your objectives

can be achieved

Focus on those features that address your

pain points

4 Partner with peers in other functions

and gain alignment

Get cross-functional alignment

Appoint a cross-functional and empowerd

project manager

Project cost sharing model

Identify and engage impacted organizational

functions

5 Identify a teamto own and maintain the system

Identify one or more DCIM system administrators

Ensure defined processes are followed

Establish a DCIM team

6 Start small andexpand over time

Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day

Understand whole life costs – up front

Phased project implementation

minimises disruption

Constrain initial project complexity

7

7

Choose an open platform to facilitate

future integration

Avoid unnecessary start-up

complications

Expect integrationmake sure the platform is open

Identify existing systems, processes and

databases

8

8 Take advantage of

expert services

Your vendor should offer services

that will pave the way

Vendor experience with scores of

existing customers will make a positive

difference

Ask your vendor for help and guidance

Ensure people are trained andregularly monitor usage

Consider ease of use during vendor selection

Assign one system administrator to monitor

DCIM usage

Team members should know his/her role and

responsibilities

Consider joining vendor user groups

9

10Select a vendor that is prepared to run

the marathon with you

Partner with a trusted, reliable and

experienced vendor

Look for a vendor that has data centre expertise beyond DCIM alone

Choose a vendor that is there for you

– today and in the future

Raritan have pledged to implement the Code’s ethos through devising products and

services that help organizations to bring their data centres into line with its best practice

recommendations, reduce energy consumption while ensuring business objectives

continue to be met.

Endorser of the EU Code of Conduct on Data Centre Energy Efficiency.

Questions?