Schneider StruxureWare For Data Centers
Schneider's StuxureWare solution is not specific to data centers but the company does offer a package that is aimed at data centers aptly called StruxtureWare for Data Centers. The tools packaged under this title are currently considered one of the best in the DCIM segment. The StruxtureWare for data centers solution is split into four main components:
- Data Center Operation,
- Data Center Expert,
- Power Monitoring Expert.
- Resource Advisor.
The Data Center Operation solution offers a number of different capabilities including but not limited to: planning, asset management and inventory tracking, capacity monitoring (e.g. power), as well as simulation capabilities to futurecast the state of the data center at a point in time in the future based on the currently known future changes. This piece is focused on the planning of the current and future data center, but also has a number of different operational capabilities. Some of these include the ability to view power usage reports, monitoring and configuration of rack power capping, Workflow management (Moves, Adds and Changes), and live center analytics.
The Data Center Expert solution is more focused on the day-to-day operations of the data center including the ability to monitor, manage and control many of the deployed devices in the data center across a number of different device types and vendors. This also extends across the traditional data center silo boundaries from IT systems, power systems to security and the environment.
The Power Monitoring Expert solution is focused on the electrical systems and their management; this differs from the other solutions because they offer a closer, more fine level of monitoring and control. Some of its abilities include the ability to view real-time power usage and efficiency, the ability to view the live status of each of the different monitorable pieces of the electrical distribution system including generator status and power, UPS power status, branch circuit power, and current power losses.
The Resource Advisor is the last piece and is focused at the executive level. It is offered as a software as a service (SaaS) and provides a high level view of energy use and efficiency, environmental reporting, carbon use and any offsets, water use, waste use and a number of different reports and summaries that can be used to summarize the specific highlighted data known through the previously discussed solutions.
Emerson Network Power - Trellis
Emerson is another major player in the DCIM space since it acquired both Aperture and Avocent in 2008 and 2009 respectively. However, in June 2015 Emerson announced changes to its strategy, including a spin off of its Network Power business unit; the success or failure of this new venture will greatly affect the viability of the future of the company's DCIM products.
Emerson's Trellis solution is its new DCIM solution that is primarily split into a number of different individual products, which can then be tightly integrated together depending on the specific deployment. These solutions include:
- Trellis Inventory and Change Manager,
- Trellis Site and Energy Manager,
- Trellis Power System Manager,
- Trellis Process Manager.
Trellis Inventory and Change Manager is a real-time inventory and asset tracking solution that provides customers the ability to know exactly where the different assets of the company are and with this knowledge allow changes to be made faster and with less hands-on planning. It also has a futurecast of the status of the various components in the data center; a common application is to view the status of a specific rack and its state at a specific time in the future to help in planning other center changes.
Trellis Site and Energy Manager is focused on operations and site conditions of the data center. This includes the ability to monitor events and alarms as they occur within the data center as well as the ability to view real-time and historical metrics that allow operational staff to help predict how changes affect the various systems surrounding the changed device or devices.
Trellis Power System Manager provides an extended view of the power systems that are deployed in and coming into the data center. This includes the ability to view the status of all of the monitorable devices throughout the power path from the power coming into the building to the power being delivered to a device or server. It also has the ability to track and monitor thresholds throughout these same devices. This provides the ability to monitor capacity and state so that problems can be predicted and mitigated before they occur.
Trellis Process Manager provides a workflow process manager that can be used to increase the predictability and efficiently of the various moves, adds and changes that occur within the data center.
CA Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)
CA has been around for a long time and has solutions in a number of different areas, but the company is best known for its IT solutions offerings. Over the last couple of years, CA has invested considerable time and effort into building its DCIM offering. This offering has been purpose built to easily integrate into other CA offerings as well, which makes the purchasing decision easier for organizations that already deploy other connecting CA solutions.
The CA DCIM offering is a web based centralized solution that enables the ability to do everything from monitoring power and cooling to managing rack capacity and asset tracking. The solution is comprised of two primary components and a third component that is focused on the executive decision makers:
- CA ecoMeter,
- CA Visual Infrastructure,
- CA Executive Insight for Service Assurance.
CA ecoMeter provides the ability to monitor information coming from both facilities and IT infrastructure in real-time using a number of different potential methods, from Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), to Modbus and BACnet. Because of the support of these different methods, CA's solution can be deployed to monitor a number of different elements that exist within the data center regardless of the manufacturer. Some of the information that can be gathered includes power and energy status, temperature, humidity and airflow.
CA Visual Infrastructure provides an integrated 3D interface that allows users to both plan and operationally manage the various devices within the data center. This includes everything from high level building views to rack/device level status information and location. This solution also provides the ability to view the power path from when it enters into a building until it is delivered to a specific device; this connection allows users to know which downstream devices will be affected if a specific device upstream fails or is having issues. This solution also provides capacity management as well as asset tracking, so that administrators know where each of their resources are, the resources they are using and if they will be affected by any current troubles.
The third component is focused on executive management. At this level, the individual status of each specific device becomes much less important and a wider view of the efficiencies and use of the data center become very important. CA Executive Insight for Service Assurance provides executives the ability to view real-time information from strategic sources within the data center. Some of the most used information includes:
- Transaction health and end user experience metrics;
- IT service health, quality and risk status;
- Infrastructure availability, utilization and response times;
- Energy consumption metrics.
There are some concerns over whether CA will continue to sell its DCIM solution as a standalone offering; as of this writing the information available is mixed
Nlyte Software - Nlyte 7
Nlyte software is a smaller player than the other DCIM rivals on our list, but it has a long history with a highly rated product that is the company's only focus; this in itself makes it a player that should be carefully evaluated. Nlyte has been around for over 10 years and was founded by data center managers who knew the market and developed a solution that they believe will solve the problems that they saw.
Nlyte 7 brings a number of different modules that when used together offer a comprehensive DCIM solution. Some of these modules include:
- Asset Management,
- Connection Management,
- Floor Planning,
- Dashboard & Reporting,
- Capacity Planning,
- Workflow Management.
The Asset Management features include the ability to model Moves, Adds and Changes (futurecasting), to map the complete power chain from supplier to power strip, model device power connections as well as the ability to model which devices would be affected by a power failure or change. It also includes asset location and visualization within the specific data center and rack.
Connection Management provides the ability to trace power and data connectivity for all tracked assets. The interface extends its usability by allowing the operator to filter based on the type of view and connection type targeted.
Floor Planning provides a CAD-like interface that can be used to manage the physical layout of the floors, rooms and assets within the data center. The interface allows the layering of the different types of devices. It also provides a color coded interface that can provide a real-time view of the performance thresholds throughout the viewed map.
Dashboard & Reporting provides a streamlined reporting interface that includes the ability to use both predefined and customizable dashboards and reports. It also provides the ability to automatically generate reports that can be sent and focused to the specific user's needs from IT, facilities, finance or executives.
Capacity Planning provides the ability to forecast and predict the future state of a data center's functions including power, space, cooling and network capacity. The user enters the elements of a potential change and it provides an analysis of whether the resources are currently available to perform the suggested changes.
Workflow Management allows an organization to follow a consistent process when performing the various changes that occur within the data center. This can be integrated into a number of popular ticketing systems to further increase consistency.
As with all IT solutions, there are a number of different factors that come into play when performing the analysis of which product best fits your specific environment. The solutions covered in this article are currently some of the top DCIM tools available today and each has its own respective advantages and disadvantages, which greatly depend on the environment and what is or will be deployed. All of these tools offer similar functionalities but with different models for deployment and each has its own interfaces that will need to be assessed for usability with existing staff.
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Source: http://docphy.com/technology/computers/software/data-center-infrastructure-management-dcim-tools.html
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