The Raritan Blog

In Data Center Planning, It’s the Little Things

Rob Suijkerbuijk
June 24, 2013

Tired of your PDUs in basic black?  How about red and blue?
In an industry known for its indifference to fashion, offering PDUs in a choice of colors might seem like a rather frivolous effort.  But read this story, and the reason behind the product differentiation becomes clear.  The idea actually came from a Raritan client—one with extensive experience in the construction and operation of data centers.

Planning for visual clarity in your data center

That company was eBay, and the idea behind the color spec was very simple: Color makes it very easy to distinguish an A feed from a B feed.  eBay not only ordered their PDUs in blue and red but also the corresponding power cables. The result: a very simple and visually clear way of distinguishing the roles played by different PDUs. In data centers with server densities comparable to eBay, it becomes difficult to tell just how the entire power supply system fits together. With color-coding both mid-size and large data centers like eBay can confidently tell which feed they were dealing with at all times.

Planning to make your data center easier to use

Take another seemingly trivial design tweak: One of our clients, a large multinational company, noted that the little screen on the PDU’s controller was hard to read when it was rack mounted in certain orientations. The information could display sideways, or worse, upside down. We took a good lesson from Apple in its use of accelerometers in iPads and iPhones, and built the same rotation solution into our controllers. Now it doesn’t matter what orientation a PDU is mounted in; the information on the screen turns around to always be legible.

Color and text orientation are small alterations, but it’s the small details that often determine data center managers’ happiness with a product. That’s exactly why we at Raritan never limit ourselves to our existing product portfolio and price list. We make a point of asking and listening carefully to suggestions our clients have to ensure they are satisfied and can accomplish what they need to. Sometimes, the solution lies in a tiny, but important adjustment — one that Raritan is more than willing to execute for their clients.

Learn how to optimize Your Data Center Planning with dcTrack (PDF)

Listen to our Data Center Planning interview with EDI’s Jeremy Gilbertson

Discover more ways that colored rack PDUs reduce costly downtime and improve your data center power management by reading 5 Great Reasons to Use Colored Rack PDUs!

Data Center Infrastructure Management Challenges

Minder Singh
June 13, 2013

Like most emerging technologies, data center infrastructure management—DCIM—has many entrants, varied approaches, and confusing proliferation of market definitions. As a result, there is little common understanding of the problems DCIM solves. There is also a substantial gap between customer expectations and solution vendors’ promises. In my opinion, this is the key roadblock to the advancement of the DCIM industry.

DCIM can be very complex, often crossing different functional domains. Today’s point tools, such as homegrown databases, spreadsheets, and diagramming software—can only take you so far in the direction of the asset, capacity, and change management.

When sites get larger, work processes get more complex. They quickly become ineffective at helping facility managers make informed decisions about additions, moves, consolidations, and relocations.

If data center operators are to remain competitive in the future, they will have to recognize this problem and allocate resources toward its solution.

A key step is an education. Data center operators should clearly understand that DCIM solutions are more than tools or widgets that you simply procure and turn on. Like CRM or ERP deployments, they are process solutions, requiring the alignment of problem s, processes, and people. Successful DCIM deployments often call for fundamental changes in organizational work processes. So companies like Raritan need to educate and provide the tools that help data centers assess their operations and identify the key problems that they want to solve.

I also recommend a phased implementation. Experience tells me that by taking incremental steps, experiencing success, and realizing value, customers gain confidence in further deployments.

We at Raritan help customers take a practical path, first starting with addressing the most pressing need in an initial project -learning and extracting value. For example, our DCIM software suite, called dcTrack, helps a typical data center professional answer questions faced everyday:

• How many servers do I have and where are they located?
• How are they physically connected to the power line and network patch panel?
• Can I place these servers in those racks?

As users dig deeper into DCIM’s capabilities, they can combine power chain and network connection management with workflow to get answers to more sophisticated questions, such as:

• “What is the impact on my power chain?” and “Do I have available power and network connection capacity?”

The answer to these questions is found in Raritan’s DCIM solution. It knows exactly which devices are connected from the UPS to the rack outlet. Additionally, implementing a change management function, combined with a ticketing system, can help customers better manage equipment moves, adds, and changes.

With DCIM you can measure the exact capacity of space, power, and cooling—at a building level, room level, or down to the individual port level in a rack — in order to improve operational efficiency and productivity.

Raritan DCIM solutions provide the information data center and facility operators need to solve complex problems and make informed decisions regarding asset, capacity and change management. If data center managers are to remain competitive, Raritan’s DCIM solution can certainly help guide them.

Learn more about Raritan DCIM solutions

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A New Face at Raritan - raritanDCIM.com

Paula Alves
May 29, 2013

Have you heard about raritanDCIM.com - Raritan’s new way to communicate all things DCIM.  Come visit and check out:

• What’s DCIM:  Learn about the components to consider when selecting a DCIM provider, the benefits from a DCIM and more importantly, how to get started.
• Client Success and Resources:  Learn how you can use DCIM to successfully manage your Data Center.  Try the ROI calculator, download white papers and read case studies on successful customer deployments.
• Services:  When thinking about DCIM, don’t forget service and training.  See a list of key considerations as you plan out your DCIM strategy.  Read about our Quick Start, Turnkey, Integration, and Training Services.

If you have a question, chat live with one of our DCIM experts or if you’d rather see it live, schedule a demo and take Raritan’s DCIM for a spin and see how it can easily support your DICM initiatives.

Visit  raritanDCIM.com and let us know what you think.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Is your IT management solution at risk?

Paula Alves
May 22, 2013

Managing an IT infrastructure is complex, expensive and critical to a company’s success. Many IT and lab managers use CommandCenter^® Secure Gateway (CC-SG) management solution for secure and consolidated remote IP access from a variety of desktop and mobile clients to KVM and power management solutions, blades, virtualized servers, and serial devices.

IT infrastructure management solutions only work effectively if they evolve along with the  IT and computing systems they support.  To address recent security issues and decrease vulnerabilities, many IT and lab managers have recently updated their IT and computing systems.  To support this evolution and the needs of our customers, Raritan has introduced Release 5.4.

With this latest release, CC-SG provides IT and lab infrastructure support for:

• Java 6 and Java 7, to address new Java releases that address multiple Java  zero-day security issues and decrease vulnerabilities.
• Microsoft RDP Client Proxy mode for support the latest Windows operating systems.
• VMware vSphere 5.1, VMware 4.x and 5.0 Remote Consoles for Virtual Media support
• Additional APIs for added integration with customer software systems

With CC-SG IT and lab managers can be responsive to changing needs while reducing downtime, increasing security and reducing costs.   Upgrade now to continue to be responsive and keep your IT infrastructure running.

To learn more about CC-SG Release 5.4 download our data sheet or take a free test drive.

Benchmark Your Data Center - May 23 in Atlanta

Dorothy Ochs
May 9, 2013

Benchmarking your Data Center  

Key Note Speaker: EDI, Ltd.‘s Jeremy Gilbertson, CTS, RCDD  

Topics Covered:
- Why Most Data Center Projects Fail Before They Begin. The importance of benchmarking and accurate statement of requirements
-  State of the Industry – Data Centers: Interesting, unique goings-on in the data center industry  

Jeremy Gilbertson, CTS, RCDD is Vice President of EDI, Ltd.‘s Data Center Practice and is responsible for overall strategic direction, management, and project delivery for the practice. Jeremy’s expertise involves helping enterprise, third-party provider, healthcare, and higher-education clients understand the current state of their data centers and develop phased strategies that address business requirements, risk profile, and budget. 

Join us for an afternoon of leading edge Data Center discussions and real world case studies ranging from design through intelligent infrastructure management followed by a tasting of best brews and appetizers. 

REGISTER HERE
Space is limited.

When:Thursday, May 23rd from 12:00pm-5:00pm
Where: Gordon Biersch Brewery - Buckhead location
3242 Peachtree Road N Atlanta GA 30305
Agenda

Case Studies on Tap:
- Raritan: Deploying High Power at the Rack
- Fluke Networks: Ensuring Performance of Critical, High Bandwidth Fiber Links
- Global Power Technologies: Power Monitoring Systems Enhance the Commissioning Process for a Fully Integrated Facility
- Vigilent Corporation: Too Cool - Changing the Game in Data Center Cooling    

About EDI, Ltd.  EDI, Ltd. is a leading healthcare IT consulting and design firm specializing in medical communication technologies, information systems infrastructure, security, audio-visual systems, and data center.   

Attendees will be entered into a drawing for a Kindle Fire! 

REGISTER HERE
Space is limited.

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