Computing Security - Paragon II KVM Smart Card Reader solution

Verdict: Neatly combining the convenience of KVM with the security of smart cards, a solution like this is bound to appeal to government bodies and corporates alike. And in institutions where Paragon KVM is already deployed, the upgrade path will be very attractive. Overall, a commonsense combination of convenience and security at various levels.

eWeek - Raritan Goes Virtual with CommandCenter NOC 250

Engadget - Raritan intros smart card-reading KVM switch system

Processor Magazine - The Zen Of Data Center Energy Efficiency

The rising cost of energy consumption by computing equipment in general, and those found in data centers in particular, has become a tremendous concern to everyone-not just people in the computer industry. Awhile back, the government got involved when the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) formed the Energy Star Association; the group is currently working on a report on data center efficiency. A study funded by AMD found that U.S. electrical consumption in the data center (including servers, cooling, and auxiliary equipment) totaled about 45 billion kWh in 2005, leading to utilities bills of $2.7 billion. Worldwide, the cost of data center power and electricity consumption is estimated to top out at $7.2 billion annually....

Use Outlet-Level Power Metering

It is important to remember to engineer a data center rather than use educated guesses or marketing hype to select products. Greg More, senior product marketing manager for power management solutions at Raritan (www.raritan.com), notes, "Use a power distribution unit [PDU] with outlet-level metering to determine the actual power a device consumes. For servers, this is typically 30 to 50% of the power stated on a server's nameplate. Outlet-level power metering can also identify inefficient equipment for decommissioning. UPS units are most efficient when they are operated near their maximum capacity. Determining the actual power consumed means UPS units can be sized correctly for the load.

"Within More's tip on outlet-level power metering, there is yet another important piece of information: how to tell which servers to decommission so that their software applications can be virtualized onto another physical server. This way, you are not just speculating about which machines to get rid of and which to put the load on; you can actually see where the load should be based on readings from the outlet-level power meters. This tells you where your infrastructure is distributing and utilizing power, which in turn provides a wealth of information to work with when you sit down and begin the process of deciding what you need to do in order to increase the efficiency of your data center.

EASIEST TO IMPLEMENT: Support For Power Sequencing With Memory

Your choice of PDUs can be more important than you think. You should use a PDU that does power sequencing but also "remembers" the state of outlets before a power cycle. Raritan's (www.raritan.com) Greg More describes in more detail why this will increase the efficiency of your data center: "If the PDU remembers the status of its outlets before a power failure, then when the power is reset, the outlets that were on turn back on and the outlets that were off remain off. This prevents power being consumed by equipment that should remain off."

TechTarget - ITIL at SMBs challenging but rewarding

Raritan Computer Inc. began adopting ITIL standards in spring 2005 to quicken reaction time to the needs of its data centers in Somerset, N.J., and in Asia, said Neil Liu, director of global IT. The company has 400 employees worldwide, including a global IT team of 21. The company is a leading global supplier of analog KVM, KVM-over-IP, remote server management, power management and network monitoring and management technologies....