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Posted on February 22, 2013 by Gento
You’re invited to stop by the Raritan table to see what’s new and exciting with our power management and DCIM solutions. Register at http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1131144
Posted on February 20, 2013 by Gento
There are many ways companies can become more environmentally friendly such as using technology to cut down on travel, minimizing product packaging or using environment friendly packaging materials, and changing manufacturing processes to mention only a few. So is the emphasis on data center efficiency an easy way to have some green program that can be used in PR efforts? I say no.
Data centers consume an enormous amount of power, the generation of which produces greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming. Even if corporate data center efficiency is a relatively easy and well defined problem, easy and well defined compared to reworking a manufacturing process for example, the benefits are still very real. With some large data centers consuming megawatts of power even small efficiency gains have a material impact. But we are not talking about small improvements.
With the advent of the Green Grid’s Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), many companies are trying to achieve ever lower PUE numbers. Sometimes the figures seem like corporate bragging in the information technology trade press. But corporate boasting or not I’ll gladly take the improvements and the pressure to do better such announcements place on everyone in IT.
A few years ago, the common PUE was 2.0, i.e. half the power going to IT equipment and half going to IT support infrastructure such as computer room air conditioning (CRAC units). Now, major companies such as eBay and Google are publishing PUE figures around 1.2. That is a stunning improvement.
Not every data center will be able to achieve very low PUEs. There are practical considerations, especially for smaller data centers. For example, it may not be possible to rework a small data center to take advantage of airside economizers or cost effective to replace an existing UPS with a more efficient one. But with so much IT industry attention being paid to improving PUE and other measures to reduce power consumption in the data center, data center managers and their facilities counterparts can be proud of their accomplishments.
There may be greenwashing going on in other parts of the company but, the data center is leading many corporate sustainability efforts and making a real difference.
Posted on February 1, 2013 by Gento
The TCC is a one-day educational conference where IT, Facilities, and Data Center professionals and executives come together to learn from each other in a unique collaborative setting. Discounted passes are available.
How Shands HealthCare Saved 50% in Asset Tracking Efficiency
2:35 – 3:15 pm in Track A/General Session Room
Abstract: This presentation will cover the challenges Shands HealthCare faced in managing and tracking data center IT assets across multiple data centers. The traditional method of tracking, using Excel spreadsheets and Visio floor plans and vertical layouts, was not flexible enough to support their multiple data center ever changing needs. Read more at http://www.teladatatcc.com/sessions.html#a235pm.
Minimizing the Hidden Costs of Managing IT Racks
1:00 – 1:30 pm in Track B/Breakout Room B
Abstract: You’ve built out your data center, installed cooling systems, run power feeds and filled your racks with IT equipment. But have you thought about the ongoing costs of managing or upgrading those racks? Read more at http://www.teladatatcc.com/sessions.html#b100pm.
To buy a ticket at the discounted rate of $175 (regular price is $499), go to http://www.teladatatcc.com/register.html and use promo code: RaritanDisc2013.
Where: Santa Clara Convention Center
Date: February 7, 2013
Posted on February 1, 2013 by Gento
Paragon II release 4.8.3 with SIPRNET (Secret Internet Protocol Router Network) support provides secure, remote access and control of multiple SIPRNet systems. With this new release, Raritan’s Paragon II meets the DoD Chief Information Officer, October 14, 2011 memo “DoD SIPRNet Public Key Infrastructure Cryptographic Logon and Public Key Enablement of SIPRNet Applications and Web Servers” which mandates the use of SIPRNet tokens to access classified systems.
Paragon II offers:
To read more about Raritan’s support for SIPRNET, please go to http://www.raritan.com/resources/application-briefs/.
The upgrade is free for customers. It is recommended that all customers upgrade to this new release.
Release 4.8.3 firmware and documentation can be accessed at Raritan’s Paragon II support page: http://www.raritan.com/support/Paragon-II/.
Posted on January 30, 2013 by Gento
An article in Network World, “Want to telework? Not so fast, IT,” emphasizes that many IT Professionals would like to telecommute, but are unable to for a variety of reasons. It even mentions a particular company for which “IT workers are expected to live within close enough proximity to the office to be able to get there quickly.”
While there are a variety of factors that may gate the ability to telecommute (including trust, technology and culture), remote access tools are readily available for IT to effectively telecommute and perform virtually all IT tasks not requiring a wrench or a screwdriver !
Remote access tools for telecommuting must meet the following requirements:
Technologies such as KVM-over-IP, secure console servers, intelligent PDU’s, embedded service processors, and in-band access, when integrated within a centralized management system, can meet the above requirements. Complete and comprehensive access includes BIOS-level access, access to serial devices, virtual media and remote power control.
The Network World quotes a CIO who says: “If their job is to stack racks or power-cycle servers, then they need to be in the data center.” While “rack stacking” via telecommuting is beyond the state of the art in data centers, remote power cycling is completely possible via today’s intelligent rack PDU’s such as Raritan’s PX rack PDUs. Power, energy and environmental management are also supported.
So while there may be many “soft” reasons gating IT telecommuting, remote access solutions are available to securely support today’s IT professionals dreams of working from wherever they are.