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Dorothy Ochs
September 15, 2010
We will be displaying our intelligent PDU’s, KVM-over-IP switch, and DCIM solutions in our booth. Stop by and visit us - you’ll be entered into our drawing for a Canon digital camcorder. For more information and to register: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/conferences/.
James Cerwinski
September 14, 2010
You should consider the following steps if think you are over-cooling your data center or lab — this will likely result in significant energy savings.
1. Start monitoring — Deploy temperature and humidity sensors according to industry recommendations(the top, middle and bottom of the server inlet side of the rack). You can conveniently connect sensors to rack PDUs.
2. Determine if you are over-cooling — Deploy a system to chart your readings to indicate if you are operating within the ASHRAE 2008 recommended range. In 2008, ASHRAE increased their recommended upper temperature limit to 80.6F.
3. If you are over-cooling consider gradually increasing your temperature.
4. Monitor for hot spots — Use a system that will generate events and notifications when non-critical and critical temperature and humidity thresholds are violated.
5. Be aware of long term trends — Chart maximum and minimum environmental readings for long term trend analysis.
James Cerwinski
September 14, 2010
USB 2.0 already allowed connecting additional Displays to Desktop PCs and Notebooks thanks to a technology provided by DisplayLink. The most recent devices offer screen resolutions beyond the 1600x1200 barrier and the next evolutionary steps are in front of us. On the upcoming Intel Developers Forum IDF DisplayLink and SMSC will show Video over USB 3.0. This does not only mean even more speed and even more pixels, DisplayLinks chip family DL 3000 and DL1000 integrate Graphics, Network, and Audio functions on one chip. This allows to transmit HD video and Gigabit Ethernet over one single USB 3.0 cable. One imaginable application should be USB docking stations connected to PCs/Notebooks with one single cable. Once the mobile handset vendors agree to this the mobile plus such a docking station will form almost a PC environment on the desktop.
What does all this mean for Desktop KVM? It gets simpler, cheaper, and hopefully more feature-rich and on our Desktops is a little bit more space for more gadgets.
Richard Dominach
September 14, 2010
There are many types of “disasters” that can occur in a data center. These can range from an all encompassing failure to the loss of certain critical IT services. These can happen at any time related to human error, system breakdowns or natural disasters. Time is of the essence when these disasters strike, with the need for quick troubleshooting, diagnosis and repair. Modern KVM-over-IP systems with centralized management and remote power control are key tools to help data center managers and IT administrators recover when disaster strikes.
Since disasters by their very nature are unpredictable, the probability is that they will occur out of working hours! Hence a reliable remote access method is critical to a quick response. KVM-over-IP switches and serial console switches can provide the anytime/anywhere, secure, remote access required for recovery personnel to respond immediately when disaster strikes. KVM-over-IP switches provide BIOS-level server access including support for remote virtual media. This expanded level of remote access may be required in a disaster when servers need to be rebooted, software re-installed, servers re-imaged or BIOS options changed.
It is possible in a disaster that a server or other equipment will completely shut down. In this case, remote power control can be the only way to re-start the equipment without going into the data center. Intelligent rack based power distribution units (PDU) can be connected to the KVM equipment or directly to the LAN in order to remotely restart or power-cycle servers and other devices.
Serial console switches provide access to equipment managed by serial ports. This includes networking equipment as well as headless servers running UNIX or LINUX. The serial console switch provides remote console level access to troubleshoot and re-configure equipment. In addition remote power control is an option.
In a disaster, the corporate network can be affected either partially or completely. Many serial console switches and KVM-over-IP switches have a modem option so that they can be used over a PSTN connection. While a PSTN modem may seem very old fashioned, it can be very useful in a disaster situation if the corporate network is not in full operation. Another alternative is to have a separate backup or management network that connects to the KVM-over-IP and serial console switches.
Since a disaster can be the result of human error, it is useful to which servers have been recently changed . Modern KVM and access systems produce a comprehensive log of server accesses, so that the recovery staff understands which equipment has been changed, when it was changed and even why it has been changed.
Disasters are unpredictable and the managers responding to the emergency must have the ability to quickly access virtually any equipment in the data center. Centralized access management systems like Raritan’s CommandCenter Secure Gateway (CC-SG) can be used to provide centralized remote access to thousands of servers (physical and virtual), networking equipment as well as the ability to do remote power control. The result is that recovery workers can quickly access virtually any server or serially controlled device using a single IP address.
And finally, for larger disasters, responders may need to go into the data center to fully recover. In this case the KVM-over-IP and serial console switches provide a local port capability such that managers can access equipment while in the data center. Through a technology called “tiering” or “cascading” the local ports of multiple switches can be consolidated such that from a single console hundreds of servers can be accessed.
September 13, 2010
With the release of the U.S. federal government’s HSPD-12 directive a few years ago, many CIO’s and IT managers found themselves with a key issue to address: how to authenticate both local and remote IT personnel as they access government servers and networks. HSPD-12 mandates secure, authenticated access to all federal information systems and buildings. While smart cards were already in use in several industries worldwide, their use really exploded when the U.S. Department of Defense responded to HSPD-12 by utilizing smart card technology as the basis for implementing its Common Access Card program (CAC). More recently, the DoD introduced a new type of smart card known as a Personal Identity Verification card (PIV), which must conform to the FIPS-201 standard.
Using a smart card to access a PC or server that’s within arm’s reach is easy. However, a major challenge is to support this directive in the data center or any application in which users must access multiple servers or PCs that are often located in a separate room, let alone several feet away. It’s inefficient to connect a smart card reader to each device and insert the card each time access is needed. In fact, it’s usually not possible to do so. In many cases, users need to access servers in inaccessible rooms – and with different security levels.
To meet this need, several smart card-enabled KVM solutions have been introduced by the industry’s primary vendors. Of course, no two are exactly alike, so what do you need to look for? It’s important to choose not only a solution that fulfills the basic requirement of supporting smart card authentication to multiple servers from a single location, but also one that makes the necessary feature adjustments that meet and exceed the highly secure operation requirements inherent of a smart card environment.