View full announcement here.
Today, we announced the successes Ticketmaster, a leader in online global ticketing service, has achieved with nlyte Software’s DCIM solution throughout its European data centers. Ticketmaster needed a solution to better manage power usage within its data centers, without putting it at risk of power outage. After comparing several vendors, Ticketmaster trialed and selected nlyte Software’s DCIM suite to model, manage and visualize all assets.
“The ease of use and simplicity of the nlyte DCIM suite means tracking the continually changing assets inside our data centers is no longer a headache, as the entire data centre infrastructure is now being mapped and managed using a single version of the truth,” said Terry Arnold, European data centre manager, Ticketmaster. “The unprecedented control the nlyte DCIM suite delivers, to both Ticketmaster and its customers, is a great benefit financially and environmentally. With its intelligent DCIM technology, the nlyte Suite enables us to understand every element of our data centre environment from energy use by client down to individual asset efficiency. We now operate in the most cost effective and environmentally friendly manner, while also delivering quality services to our clients.”
Go to the nlyte Software website to view the full announcement.
Spend the morning with Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) category experts and get the actionable information you’ll need to understand:
- the state of DCIM today
- where to start to meet your IT business objectives
- how to choose the right DCIM solution for your company
The best half-day seminar you’ll attend this year. You’ll leave with a clear understanding of today’s DCIM landscape and how to get started.
There’s enormous pressure to manage your IT infrastructure more dynamically than ever, with deeper energy awareness and absolute control. Top management is asking you to re-evaluate your traditional IT management approaches and look for new ways of being more responsive and more proactive in your Data Center. How will you achieve your business goals of increased availability, more effective resource management, capacity planning and the associated energy efficiency? Consider DCIM.
Is DCIM right for your data center?
Today, there are over 200 vendors of products that loosely fit in the DCIM category. We are all painfully aware that there is a bit of a media frenzy regarding DCIM. Big promises and grand ideas. How do you make sense of it all? How do you wade through the wealth of information and products and get “the whole story?”
Server Technology, Uptime Institute, nlyte Software and RF Code have teamed up to help you separate DCIM truth from hype. Join us as we share our experience in providing DCIM and DCI- enhanced solutions to thousands of customers. Learn how we can put our experience to work for you.
A continental breakfast and a catered lunch will be served.
Continue reading for more details.
The art and science of leaving the spreadsheet behind
By Todd Goldman, VP of product management at nlyte Software
No data center manager wants to get that call from their CIO asking what the @#**@!! is wrong with some critical system. When the call does come, you want to be able to react quickly, find and fix the offending system and get back to running your data center in a controlled, proactive manner. Of course, that isn’t how things really work today. Normally, you take that call and run to one of tens or hundreds of spreadsheets to see where that one server that is the source of your cascading outage is. Most likely, the spreadsheet is outdated and the culprit has long been moved to an unknown location, sending you off on a hectic pin-in-a-haystack search.
This is how most data centers have been managed (mismanaged?) for the past few decades, but today they’ve become too critical for the status quo to continue. Would your CFO close out your quarter-end or year-end financials using a spreadsheet and the back of an envelope? Of course not! They would use Enterprise Resource Planning software. Does your sales team manage clients and prospects using a spreadsheet? Of course not! They use Customer Resource Management software. If you answered, “Of course not!” to any of these, you should be asking yourself: “Where is the software tool designed to make my life easier?”
Your answer is Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software. It automates the management, control and predictive intelligence required to optimize the use of power, cooling and space within a data center.
Getting started with DCIM
The first challenge many companies face with DCIM is it will take too long or cost too much. They think DCIM is complicated. And while a fully mature DCIM implementation can be so, it’s not necessarily the case in the early stages.
Like any other software solution, the value of your DCIM implementation is directly related to how disciplined your staff is at using it and how tightly integrated it is with other IT processes and software.
While your end goal might be to reach the upper right quadrant of the DCIM Maturity Model (see FIGURE ONE above) you don’t need to have a fully mature DCIM deployment to get tremendous value out of DCIM. In fact, just the first step from managing multiple spreadsheets and floor plan diagrams to getting a consolidated view with a single version of the truth is a small step with huge benefits.
Layers of the model build on each other as you progress:
Phase 0 – Managed chaos: This is where most companies are today. Dealing with multiple spreadsheets, one each for servers, power cabling, network cabling, rack space and power consumption. They are often out of sync with each other and with the reality on the floor.
Phase 1 – Information and application consolidation: Consolidating your spreadsheets and diagrams into a single application. Entry-level DCIM products can import spreadsheets directly into their database. From there, users get visualizations of the data center floor and individual racks. At this level, users should also be able to see available space and power, get snapshot reports on precise utilization at a single point in time, simulate rudimentary “what-if” scenarios for deploying individual assets (like servers) and perform basic move, add and change (MAC) management.
The organization and consolidation of the raw data in Phase 1 significantly increases accuracy of the data center model. As a result, managers can make better decisions and reduce human errors. Making the jump to Phase 1 is simple and takes from a few hours to a few days.
It is crucial to get a strong Phase 1 deployment, however. If you have “dirty” data in your DCIM database, everything you layer on top will be based on faulty assumptions. It is important to build on a solid foundation.
Phase 2 – Process optimization and historical reporting: The next phase of DCIM maturity requires a greater commitment to changing your management processes. This is where data center workflow processes are programmed into the DCIM software and where the software is used to reinforce them. This level is also where you can begin tracking data center utilization rates over time. It allows for better forecasting based on historical results. Some managers chose to inject real-time information into their DCIM software at this stage, increasing precision of the database.
Phase 3 – Strategic data center planning: This is where you begin performing multiple “what-if” planning scenarios with large numbers of servers, using the DCIM solution to identify potential failure points in the power chain and using predictive analytics to fully optimize the use of power, cooling and space. This is also where auto-discovery software can be used to automatically audit devices in the data center and identify potential errors in the DCIM database without a manual audit. While integration with other IT solutions and processes often happens in Phase 2, the third phase is when the DCIM solution should be integrated with helpdesk, configuration management database (CMDB) and other IT management software solutions.
Final word of advice
One very important factor to consider when choosing DCIM software is to look for a product line that allows you to move seamlessly from Phase 0 up without changing the software platform. Staying on the same foundation makes it easier to progress up the Maturity Model.
There are many DCIM solutions in the market that only offer products that don’t go beyond Phase 1. This means you will be forced to change vendors once you are ready to progress. Similarly, there are vendors that only offer enterprise-class solutions that make you deploy Phase 2 and Phase 1 aspects of the Maturity Model simultaneously. The problem with this approach is it forces you to make too many changes to your data center processes too quickly before letting the foundational aspects of Phase 1 get settled. This puts your DCIM deployment at a higher risk of failure.
The key to success is to start small but think big as you move up the model. You can move through the steps quickly but never in parallel. Like most IT projects, you want to take DCIM step by step, adding layers of sophistication gradually. This will increase the likelihood of a successful implementation and demonstration of the value a well-run data center can provide to the entire IT organization and enterprise.
About the author: Todd Goldman is VP of product management at nlyte Software
View the original article at datacenterdynamics.com.
nlyte Software is pleased to announce its nomination to win a few awards at the Green IT Awards this year. The categories nominated are:
- One to Watch Product of the Year
- Environmental Accounting & Management software of the Year
- Product of the Year
- Editors Choice
Please vote for us at http://www.greenitawards.com/ (then click on “vote” on the left). Last year nlyte Software won the Editor’s Choice Award and was also recognized in the One to Watch Product category for the second consecutive year. Let’s make it three years in a row!
by Paul Goodison on Data Center Journal
View the original article at datacenterjournal.com.
Data Center Infrastructure Management
Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) is about more than just managing environmental data for the assets inside the live data center space. DCIM must include all aspects of the equipment in the data center, extending to the entire lifecycle of the asset from purchase to end of life. In fact, I would suggest that DCIM is actually a pretty poor term for what should really be ITIM (information technology infrastructure management), as it’s really about managing in terms of the IT, not the data center. Data center managers face more challenges today than ever before, including increasing demand for IT applications and equipment, pressure to avoid downtime and demand from upper management for better operational efficiency. With the majority of companies still using spreadsheets to manage their data centers, it’s no surprise that IT leaders grossly underestimate the impact a poorly managed data center has on the bottom line.
Imagine your staff is ordering equipment for your data center and the equipment is going right to the store room, not just without being deployed, but also without being inventoried. Then it sits there, depreciating in value and collecting dust. This is just one of the horror stories I’ve heard in the field. The company this was happening to ultimately discovered that, in just a six week period, it had accumulated more than $700,000 in depreciation costs for assets that were not being used.
This is where managing the complete lifecycle of assets comes into play. IT managers need to be thinking about planning where each new asset will be used from the moment it has been ordered and well before it has arrived. They need to be able to look at the data center and see real-time, historical and future data related to all aspects of management, including power, space, environmental factors, location, connectivity and ownership. Then they can plan and allocate space for the new asset and ensure it is deployed and correctly verified as ready to enter an operational state as soon as possible. The data center manager needs to document this process so that when a problem occurs, he or she can use the same information to troubleshoot the issue and resolve it as quickly as possible. Even virtualization is involved here. As severs are virtualized, the same data is needed to decommission the right servers at the right time.
One of the most common, and costly, issues facing IT managers is data center downtime. Studies show that it costs companies more than $5,000 per minute, with the average incident lasting 90 minutes, resulting in an average cost per incident of approximately $505,000. [1] But all of this can be minimized if the IT infrastructure is properly managed.
The key point to remember is that managing is different than documenting. Documenting is gathering the data, and if the vehicle for this documentation is spreadsheets, that is often where the process stops (if it happens at all). In my experience, even with great spreadsheet records, each planned change to the data center is accompanied by a comparison of the real infrastructure and the infrastructure records, just to be “sure”—that is hardly management! Management is when you can look at the data center from a holistic point of view and say things like, “Let’s look at what has been deployed recently, what capacity is available, what planned deployments are coming up and what are the capacity constraints.”
Case in point: one company I spoke with had a smaller data center of about 80 racks. It was keeping records in an MS Access database and was convinced the records were accurate. This company was more diligent than most, running monthly checks to ensure the data was correct. These checks, however, were being performed on the basis of paper printouts of the data, which in theory was updated into the Access database from hand-written updates made to the records. When a proper full audit was performed, the team found 63 servers and switches that were not recorded anywhere, further illustrating that home-grown or spreadsheet management is not suitable for enterprise-level infrastructure management, nor can it yield maximum efficiency.
From the C-level executive down to the IT manager, data center efficiency is top of mind for everyone these days, as energy, people and space efficiency are business imperatives. It’s no secret that data centers consume a lot of power, with estimates putting it at about two percent of global energy consumption. [2] IT managers can take several steps to improve energy efficiency, starting with an assessment of the current data center conditions. Are there unused servers that could/should be shut down? What are the best candidates for virtualization? What, really, are the least efficient pieces of equipment in the data center? Without truly managing the infrastructure, determining problem areas can be next to possible.
I was recently talking with an IT manager who was having issues with power overloads to the point where electrical breakers were tripping because of current overloads. The data center was an older design and did not have end-of-row power panels; rather, it used power fed from distribution boards. His first step to fix the issue was to commission an auditing and tracking exercise of each power circuit, using spreadsheets to document the information. After spending approximately $20,000 for external electricians, and after moving equipment (at the cost of additional internal staff time and some service downtime), the problem was resolved. But within three months the problem started again, as new equipment had been deployed, and the spreadsheets, having not been maintained, did not reflect the current deployed equipment status, leading to another costly audit.
The Manifesto
Steps must be taken to manage the IT infrastructure (whether you call it DCIM, ITIM or something else) more efficiently. Start by deciding what data is important to managing the data center efficiently. There is no single list and no one-size-fits-all answer. It all depends on the age, size, scale and equipment in each unique environment. Then, pick a management system that will truly consolidate all the data currently managed in spreadsheets, as well as the data that should be managed but isn’t because it’s too difficult. Strongly consider whether the solution requires hardware to be purchased and whether this will add to your problems or lock you into one system. Next, ensure that real, positive processes are in place to keep the data up to date; no tool is of any use if keeping it accurate is too much trouble. Some systems make this easier than others. This step is critical, as no tool by itself—no matter how fancy and regardless of what the vendor says—is going to solve problems by itself. The next step, using the data for planning and further change, requires trust in the data. Avoid falling into the trap of using the tool and still doing a physical audit each time change is required. All of this can be achieved, but it’s not easy, and there are no magic bullets. Do not believe a vendor that says its system will solve all your problems without process changes; it won’t!
Properly managing your infrastructure is critical to avoiding downtime as well as meeting operational efficiency demands. If you are cutting your data center short on proper management to conserve money today, it is almost certainly costing you more in the long term, both in resources and downtime. Whatever the future plans for your data center, whether it is a move to virtualization, trying to become more green or adopting a cloud model , having up-to-date, central records of all aspects of your assets, the facility, connectivity and historical data (not in spreadsheets!) will help you make those transitions more smoothly. Although no two enterprises are ever the same in what they want to manage, the principle that change cannot be managed effectively without accurate consolidated data and a truly effective infrastructure management system applies to everyone.
References [1, 2] Ponemon Institute, Calculating the Cost of Data Center Outages, 2011.
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