dcTrack®

OVERVIEW
BENEFITS
FAQ
SCREENSHOTS
APPLICATIONS

OVERVIEW

dcTrack® is an award-winning, easy-to-use data center infrastructure management (DCIM) solution that provides you with real-time information about your facilities, networks and IT. dcTrack clearly visualizes your infrastructure to help you manage placement of your IT equipment, make informed capacity management decisions and keep accurate track of your data center assets. dcTrack is easy to implement, integrate, administer and operate, providing a fast ROI.

Intelligent Capacity Management

Available power, space and network
Search, place and reserve IT equipment
Capacity trend and forecast

Change Management

Workflow for moves, adds and changes
Approvals and status
API's to third-party ticketing

Accurate Asset Management

All data center physical resources and logical connections
Maintenance and lease information
Intelligent rack asset strip

Visualization

Dashboard
Floor plans
Rack and row elevations
Power chain
Network and data ports

Power and Energy Management

Accurate view of power usage
Easily monitor energy trends

Product Documentation, Firmware, and Online Help

BENEFITS

dcTrack Features and Benefits

Solution	Features	Description	Benefits
Asset Management
	Auto Discovery	Allows for automatic recognition and integration into dcTrack asset management system for a newly added asset.	Automatic recognition of make and model of asset makes adding or changing assets a much simpler and less time- consuming process.
	Import of Existing Data	dcTrack uses multiple methods for importing of existing data: 1. SNMP discovery 2. Importing of floor objects from drawings 3. Import wizard using spreadsheets	Quick and easy way to get your system up and running. Easy to migrate from other solutions such as Excel® or other databases.
	Items Details	All items maintained in dcTrack are organized in one report. Information provided includes: item type, function, administrator, port location as well as any custom fields unique to a particular device.	Detailed information in either text or image provides for more accurate asset management and the ability to quickly find various devices when needed.
	Virtual Servers	VM hosts are tracked as any server item, with the exception that there is a “cluster” checkbox and cluster name/number field. Each VM will be created as any server, and will have the VM checkbox selected and “cluster” field filled with the same cluster as its host(s).	Adds flexibility in selecting IT item and adds efficiency.
	Managing Network Blade Server	Servers can be standalone or chassis. If chassis is selected – the ability to add blades to that chassis is available on the same form. Each blade will have its own comm ports and connections.	Adds flexibility in selecting IT item and adds efficiency.
	Models Library	Extensive models library includes datacenter equipment templates from a number of manufacturers. The library is updated approximately once per month. However, users can add to/edit the library or request updates at techsupport@raritan.com	Prepopulated equipment- related data adds efficiency. Routine updates keeps models library up-to-date for new makes and models of the IT equipment. The pictures of actual equipment adds clarity.
	Intelligent Rack Asset Strip*	Once the asset tag is connected to the physical IT item in the cabinet, the unique asset ID is registered with the respective installed IT item in the dcTrack data base. Any changes to the asset tag due to add or remove of a physical IT item will trigger an event in the dcTrack event log. Events are also triggered if the asset tag loses connectivity with asset management strip controller.	Integration between the data in the dcTrack database and the physical existence of IT items in the data center allows for a more accurate view of what’s in the data center. Information is kept current and up to date, and any moves, adds or changes are indicated via immediate alerts. This can save considerable time and money that is spent on capacity management, audits and frequent visits to the data center help defer or eliminate the need for an expansion.
Capacity Management
	Dashboard	Colorful 3D gauges, graphs and pie charts provide real-time visualization of all items managed by dcTrack as well as capacity, including: electrical, cooling, floor, cabinet, cable and network.	Provides the ability to quickly see how much capacity is used and how much is available for better capacity planning.
	Intelligent Search, Place and Reserve	Provides the ability to locate a cabinet in the data center that is the best fit for the item that should be added. Allows for any other search by make and model or any other particular search criteria. Once space is detected, reservations can be made.	Allows for quick identification of available space, power and network connectivity, which simplifies change management. Provides the ability to plan for future provisioning of IT equipment.
	Power Management	dcTrack can collect real-time information from any SNMP-enabled device. Integration with Raritan's PIQ SW adds additional information if needed.	Track real-time power consumption for power efficiency.
	Network Management	dcTrack allows for tracking/tracing cable routes from server NIC through the structured cabling to the endpoint switch, tracking which ports of each hop is utilized.	Adds efficiency in network utilization and management.
Connectivity Management
	Power Path*	Monitors the power path from the main UPS and all points in between.	End-to-end view of available power allows for better visibility, more efficiency, streamlined costs and maximized ROI.
	Network Connections	Tracks the physical network layer of Ethernet and Fiber Channel switches.	Reduces the mean-time-to-repair(MTTR) by accelerating theinvestigation process for network failures, resulting in cost savings.
Change Management
	Workflow	Provides the ability to create work orders, approvals and verification to ensure work is done accurately and on time.	Allows for better control over work-order process. Prevents unauthorized changes from being made and keeps data center up to date.
	Web Services API	Allows for integration with third-party ticketing systems. Ticketing application connects with dcTrack to retrieve and update ticket information.	Provides a smooth connection with current ticketing system, helping to avoid the need for a time-consuming, separate entry.
Reports
	Detailed and High Level Reports	Cabinet Detail, Item Detail, and Power are examples of detailed reports. The dashboard displays high-level graphs of utilization for power/rack/cooling/ports.	Frequently used reports add efficiency in quick reviews.
	Custom Reports	Custom reports can also be created with third party tools, such as crystal reports using ODBC access to the dcTrack database.	Easy integration allows the user to generate custom reports and analytics.
Visualization
	Visualization	Ability to visualize floor space, front/rear rack/row as well as the complete power and network connectivity chain. In addition, there is the ability to visualize AutoCAD® and Visio® floor plan drawings in real time. (MAIN ITEMS - FRONT/REAR)	Clear dashboards provide a quick and easy way to determine available assets and capacity. An end-to-end view of the data center simplifies troubleshooting and assists with “what if" scenarios.
	Drawing, Creation and Import	External drawings can be linked to dcTrack via share. This allows the drawings to be edited outside of dcTrack. Floor objects can be linked or imported with the click of a button.	Easy import of drawings helps in timely changes to the floor.
Integration with Raritan Software Products
Integration with Raritan Software Products	Power IQ® Integration*	Seamless integration with Power IQ, Raritan’s software power management solution. Adds, moves or changes made using dcTrack asynchronously update Power IQ. Data containing information on all power and environmental resources are polled every two to three minutes.	Provides a clear picture of available power, energy and environmental trends among all assets. Helps provide accurate information on power usage which can be used to save on energy costs and maintain compliance.

* Indicates a new feature in the 2.6 release.

Product Documentation, Firmware, and Online Help

FAQ

dcTrack FAQs

Question	Answer
What is dcTrack?	dcTrack software is an effective tool to manage data center capacity, assets and change. dcTrack helps improve staff efficiency, database accuracy and data center utilization. dcTrack’s asset tags, intelligent capacity search and placement, and powerful connectivity management tools help accurately track assets down to the 1U for better overall space, power and cooling utilization.
Is dcTrack a “DCIM” solution?	Yes, dcTrack is part of Raritan’s total DCIM (Data Center Infrastructure Management) solution, encompassing asset, capacity, change, power, environment and energy management.
Who can benefit from dcTrack?	Data center managers and engineers, network managers and technicians, server managers and administrators, and facility managers and technicians who lack effective tools and processes to mange capacity, assets and change.
What is a simplified benefit provided by dcTrack?	1. dcTrack replaces outdated and cumbersome Excel® spreadsheets and Visio® diagrams and allows for a more automated process to track and manage data center assets. 2. dcTrack provides a “complete” solution for asset, capacity and change management that is easy to install and use.
What type of ROI does dcTrack provide?	dcTrack extends the life of your existing facilities by easily revealing valuable stranded power, space and network capacity, reducing capital and operational expenses, energy costs, unplanned interruptions and increasing service levels.
How many data centers can dcTrack manage?	dcTrack can manage an unlimited number of data centers.
Is dcTrack Web based?	Yes
Does dcTrack provide Web Service API for Ticket Systems?	Yes. dcTrack 2.5 and later releases offer Web Service API.
Does dcTrack manage network infrastructure?	Yes. dcTrack can track the physical network layer of Ethernet and fiber channel switches, chassis-based and stackable switches and Mac® and IP addresses.
Is dcTrack ODBC compatible?	Yes.
Can dcTrack manage VLANs?	Yes. dcTrack allows for the logical mapping of IP subnets to network switches or switch blades. It also allows for the assignment of VLANs to network interfaces.
Does dcTrack manage power infrastructure?	Yes. dcTrack supports single phase and 3-phase power distribution, traditional breaker panel-to-outlet distribution, busway distribution and a variety of electrical socket types and standards. It supports all elements in the power chain, from a device power supply to UPS.
Does dcTrack manage the cable plant?	Yes. dcTrack can manage virtually any common architecture, including centralized network distribution, distributed end-of-row, network racks or top-of-rack switching. It can also manage multiple hops of patching and connectivity.
Can dcTrack auto-discover servers and host systems?	Yes. dcTrack can auto-discover systems that are SNMP v1, v2 or v3-enabled using the standard RFC 1213 MIB.
Does dcTrack do real-time monitoring?	Yes. dcTrack can monitor in real time the power and environmental readings from SNMP-enabled power and environmental devices, such as UPS, PDU, rack PDU, power supplies, CRAC units and temperature and humidity probes. dcTrack can update these readings down to one second intervals.
Can a user retrieve dcTrack System health information using SNMP?	Yes, SNMP MIB-II can be used to retrieve dcTrack system health information, such as application up time, system contacts, number of processes running, CPU, memory and storage utilization, and more.
How do dcTrack and Asset Strips work together?	dcTrack 2.6 offers intelligent asset tracking with the addition of Asset Strips. When unauthorized assets are added or removed, dcTrack will alert users of the change.
What are the requirements for deploying dcTrack?	dcTrack is available as a VMware® Virtual Appliance which contains the dcTrack application software, database and operating system simplifying installation. A Windows®-based client that runs on Windows XP, Vista® and Windows 7, which is easily accessed via popular Web browsers such as Internet Explorer® and Firefox®. See the documentation for more information.
Is there a maintenance plan for dcTrack?	Yes. The plan includes telephone and e-mail support documentation, online training, bug fixes, maintenance releases and library updates. The first year maintenance plan is included in the Virtual Appliance Bundle pricing. Annual maintenance plans are optional after the first year at 18% of list product price.
Is dcTrack software available as a free trial download?	No. But if you qualify for an on-site evaluation, you will be able to download dcTrack software from Raritan.com/support
Will dcTrack now integrate with Power IQ®?	Yes.
Where can I get dcTrack Users Guide, Quick Setup Guide, etc.?	All dcTrack materials can be found at the Raritan.com/support Website. You will need authentication to download these materials.
Are additional services available for dcTrack?	Yes. Additional training, implementation and integration services are available from Raritan and our certified partners.
How is dcTrack licensed?	dcTrack is sold as a perpetual license and offers pay-as-you-grow pricing based on the number of cabinets in your data center. A cabinet is an open bay rack or enclosure that may contain computing devices such as servers, minicomputers, appliances or data storage devices, network equipment, KVM switches, communications panels and/or rack PDUs or other devices that can be managed by dcTrack.

Product Documentation, Firmware, and Online Help

SCREENSHOTS

The most comprehensive and easiest to use data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tool to efficiently manage IT assets, capacity and changes.

	Capacity Management and Dashboard dcTrack provides real-time resource utilization data for better electrical, cooling, floor, cabinet, cable and network capacity planning. Quickly see how much capacity you’re using and more importantly, how much is available.
	End-to-End Multi-Hop Connections Server to patch panel Patch to patch Patch to switch Connector types
	Intelligent Asset Tracking Integration With Raritan’s unique Asset Management Tags and Asset Management Sensors (AMS), dcTrack provides an accurate, automated, real-time inventory of all IT assets and their locations, down to the 1U level.
	Intelligent Search, Place and Reserve Quickly find space, power and network connectivity for IT devices, simplifying capacity planning and change management. Reserve capacity for future provisioning of new IT equipment.
	Visualize Floor Map The data center floor map is linked in real-time to the AutoCAD® or Visio® floor plan. Any changes made to the CAD background are immediately visible and recognized as new objects in dcTrack. dcTrack users can define their own custom views for quick access to their resources. A management dashboard offers several color-coded charts to easily view heat and power load distributions as well as data network and cabinet resources throughout the data centers.
	Visualize Cabinet Elevations dcTrack provides a quick and simple method for data center managers to visualize a group of cabinet elevations on a single screen. Cabinets can be grouped by physical adjacencies such as data center rows or logical groupings based on cabinet content. With another click, the elevation views can be changed to front, rear, or descriptive text views. Whether viewing the cabinet row from the front or rear, the cabinet left to right order can be set to match actual order or alphabetical order.
	Visualize Item and Port Trace Once the cabinet elevation is visualized, dcTrack provides extensive views to drill down on item and port details. By simply clicking on an item in the cabinet view, a detailed image of the item is presented depicting all ports with dynamic labels. This image can be changed to front or rear views with a single click. The end-to-end circuit map of a port is visualized by clicking on a port label for further drill down.
	Visualize Power Path dcTrack offers a unique tool to visualize the full electrical circuit dependency beginning with the data center power source downstream to the rack PDU receptacle. dcTrack automatically calculates the power load at intermediate points in the electrical circuit path including UPS, PDU, breaker panel, outlet, power strip and power strip branch fuses. The PDU and related cabinet will be highlighted on the floor plan.
	Cabinets In this screen, the user manages the cabinet location assignment and can easily and quickly view its contents both visually and in text format. This eliminates the need to maintain separate drawings in third-party applications such as AutoCAD or Microsoft Visio®. This screen provides a quick summary of the cabinet’s network and environmental metrics such as network ports, power usage, heat dissipation, and weight.
	Server and Network Items These screens allow the user to view, edit and add serve rand network items. From a single server screen, dcTrack can support standalone servers, blade servers, and virtual servers. The user can assign an unlimited number of network and power ports and applications to each device, which can be instantly visualized on the device front and rear views. Built-in intelligence will allow the user to assign IP addresses and VLANs from available networks as well as assign color codes.
	Network Connectivity and Data Cabling Items In this screen, the user can manage the cable infrastructure as it is installed in the data center. dcTrack supports all known cable types, connectors and topologies. It supports various design architectures such as distributed and centralized topologies. The system is flexible to support and manage real-life labeling scenarios. Cable panels can be any size and can be assigned to any rack unit or to positions above or below the cabinet. Horizontal wire managers are also supported.
	IP Address and VLAN Management dcTrack simplifies IP space management in the data center thus eliminating cumbersome and error-prone spreadsheets. It defines subnets using an intelligent IP address calculator and assigns each subnet a name, a location, a VLAN number, and color codes. Then it assigns subnets to switches to manage VLANs. Remembering subnet ranges and default gateways with complex subneting is a daunting task. Let the IP query identify the subnet and its details for any IP address with ease.
	Complete Power Distribution Management dcTrack is unique in that it offers complete management of the power infrastructure in the data center. Power management begins with the UPS power feeds. It handles virtually any power distribution design whether it is PDUs or RPPs, whether it is homerun distribution or overhead power busways, or whether it is single phase or 3-phase sources and loads. This screen helps visualize the circuit breaker panel as it exists in the PDU. This is critical in keeping all three phases in the data center balanced.
	Power Outlets and Power Strips Management dcTrack offers advanced power management to help data center managers achieve maximum efficiency in power consumption. Real-time SNMP plug-ins allow users to capture actual power draws, temperature, and humidity from smart power strips. dcTrack is also capable of tracking power strip branch circuit fuses. Users have maximum flexibility in tracking virtually any power strip attribute: voltage, phase, plug type, port density or mounting position.
	Automate Data and Power Connections Once items such as servers and network equipment are assigned, dcTrack’s built-in intelligence and automation tools simplify the building of relationships between these items. Whether it is a single or multi-hop connection, whether it is a network, SAN, point-to-point, or power connection, dcTrack can build these end-to-end connections based on user-defined rules. Such rules can include IP subnets, VLANs, cable color code, cable labeling, and power circuit diversity.
	Automate Move Management When moving a device or a server from one cabinet to another, a chain of related tasks occurs. dcTrack’s built-in automation tools do the hard work. The process begins by suggesting a suitable cabinet that has sufficient rack unit space and power resources. Additionally, based on user-defined rules, it will guide the user in finding the optimal network resources such as IP subnet, VLAN, and cable color code. Disconnect and new connection work orders are then automatically generated.
	Change Management dcTrack change management offers a clear and well-defined workflow to support and enforce best practices throughout the data center organization. Any significant change such as adding, deleting, or moving an item requires the user to follow a structured request process. Once requests are reviewed and approved by dcTrack’s gatekeeper, then work orders are issued to affect the requested change. Each step in this process is tracked by date, time and user name for future audit trail.
	Library dcTrack comes loaded with an extensive visual library of items including servers, hosts, network equipment, PDUs, power strips, and data cabling panels. It also includes a comprehensive library of power and data connectors. Each item comes ready with attributes such as manufacturer name, model, size, rack units, power draw, and heat dissipation. It also includes front and rear views of each item. Users can also edit and add items to the library as needed.
	Reports and Search Utilities dcTrack includes many valuable and well-laid out reports that include text and graphics to provide system details and environmental capacity metrics for proactive and effective management. The reports’ user interface has a comprehensive filtering and sorting utility. The search and trace utilities provide quick methods for looking up items or connections by providing key information about the item or any component of the connection path. The results can be exported to an Excel file.

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APPLICATIONS

Automate Data Center Provisioning

Intelligent and Efficient Capacity Management

Data Center Builds, Moves and Consolidations

Reduced Manual Effort for Compliance and Audits

Automate Data Center Provisioning
Rapid change in the data center is the order of the day due to the enterprise’s increasing reliance on IT services. Timely provisioning of the many data center resources to meet the corporation’s service needs is a major challenge. Because data centers often suffer from inaccurate or incomplete inventory records, provisioning cycles are much longer than necessary, and can result in missteps, re-work, missed deadlines, and service outages.

Using Raritan’s dcTrack Data Center Infrastructure Manager you will have an up-to-date view of all data center assets, a controlled change/workflow process and rules based tools to automate and accelerate the provisioning process.

An automated, well-managed provisioning process will lead to faster delivery cycles, increased staff productivity and reduced error-rates. You can meet your deadlines and SLA’s, while minimizing the possibility of service outages. And on-time rollouts of reliable IT services will delight your internal and external customers.
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Intelligent and Efficient Capacity Management
Your data center is likely the most expensive square footage in your company, with today’s large data center builds costing tens of millions of dollars. With new builds so expensive, there are enormous incentives to make optimum use of existing capacity. Ad hoc management of capacity results in many issues: space and power shortages, stranded capacity and fragmented resources. On the other hand, over-provisioning can lead to an enormous waste of capital and expenses. Finding the right balance is difficult without the right tools.

The dcTrack Data Center Infrastructure Manager gives you the tools to do intelligent capacity management. dcTrack’s powerful floor plan visualization tools and color-coded capacity views highlight the available space, power, networking and cooling resources. But it doesn’t stop there – with dcTrack you can also drill down to the most granular level to view individual power and data connections. Plus, dcTrack enables complete power chain management, so that you can properly manage power distribution – even balance 3-phase power loads.

And the benefits are enormous – by carefully managing and utilizing existing capacity, and evenly balance power cooling and space to avoid stranded and fragmented resources, you can make full use of your existing resources. dcTrack will enable you to defer costly equipment purchases, delay costly, new builds and minimize capital expenditures.

And the benefits are enormous – by carefully managing and utilizing existing capacity, you can defer costly equipment purchases, delay new builds and make full use of your existing resources. By evenly balancing power cooling and space, you can avoid stranded and fragmented resources. You’ll make optimal use of your data center assets, minimize capital expenditures and put an end to the constant reorganizations to free up resources.
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Data Center Builds, Moves and Consolidations
Like it or not, major data center changes – whether new builds, moves or consolidations – are a continuous headache for data center managers. They are further complicated by the data center’s multiple, inter-dependent organizations --IT, networking and facilities--needed to plan and construct the modern data center. Coordination of these “silos” is a major obstacle, especially with the multiple (often out-of-date) spreadsheets, databases, CAD drawings and systems that “document” the average data center.

dcTrack’s integrated facilities and IT database can help you to plan and organize major data center changes. dcTrack provides detailed, real-world modeling of racks, servers, network, cabling, power cooling and floor space. And with its change and work-order management, you can control, coordinate and manage the many technicians and contractors involved in a major data center project. dcTrack’s powerful visualization tools break down the barriers between the data center “silos” to enable a “shared, single version of the truth” that can unite your project team.

With dcTrack, you can accurately and efficiently plan, manage and complete your data center project. With the increase in productivity and quality, you will meet, or even beat, your project deadlines and budgets, to the delight of your internal and external stakeholders.
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Reduced Manual Effort for Compliance and Audits
Most data center managers do not have an up-to-date inventory of the equipment in their data center, not to mention the connections between this equipment. And, if they do, then it is typically spread across multiple spreadsheets, drawings, files and systems. So, how do they respond to the constant requests for compliance, regulatory, financial and energy information, including requests related to Sarbanes-Oxley, FDA regulations, EU Code of Conduct, as well as internal regulatory organizations? The standard approach is time-consuming, periodic physical inventories as well as ad hoc trips to the supposedly “lights-out” data center.

Managers of data centers equipped with dcTrack have up-to-date inventory records of facilities, devices and their interconnection. This data can be used to generate accurate, timely reports which can help you to respond to internal and external requests for information – quickly and without trips to the data center.

The result is timely, accurate compliance and reporting with reduced staff effort. You will save money, increase productivity and be prepared for the next, last-minute request. And possibly even keep the lights out in your lights-out data center.
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