COLOVIEW. Changing the Face of Colocation Through Transparency and Visibility Into Data Center Infrastructure Management COLOVIEW 01

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1 COLOVIEW Changing the Face of Colocation Through Transparency and Visibility Into Data Center Infrastructure Management COLOVIEW 01

2 Several years ago, FORTRUST developed COLOVIEW, an advanced and innovative way to enable customers to gain the necessary oversight of their colocation environments through the use of FORTRUST s comprehensive DCIM systems. Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) has become more vital than ever to data center operations as efficiency and technology advancement cycles move at an increasingly rapid pace. The insight provided by these essential systems has historically only been accessible to the data center operations team, not the end user or for that matter the colocated customer. Now that the technology sector as a whole is becoming increasingly user friendly, transparent and hands on, it makes sense for colocation data centers to offer a higher level of insight and transparency into their clients individual environments. The insight that a robust and comprehensive DCIM system can offer a customer or end-user is incredibly valuable, and can help that business gain more granular control of their colocated IT environment. This increase in transparency, management and visibility ensures the customers are getting the most out of their colocation investment. Several years ago, FORTRUST developed COLOVIEW, an advanced and innovative way to enable customers to gain the necessary oversight of their colocation environments through the use of FORTRUST s comprehensive DCIM systems. The technology and service offers a wealth of information not previously visible to customers, and the technology is fundamentally changing the way clients interact with and manage their colocated IT infrastructures. FORTRUST has always operated its colocation data center in Denver with the philosophy of complete transparency and visibility into its operational environments to its customers. COLOVIEW was the natural progression of that philosophy. COLOVIEW 02

3 DCIM: In the Beginning DCIM is quickly becoming an industry standard for data center operators, enabling a number of benefits for the overall management of a data center facility. DCIM can provide actionable, real-time data pertaining to both the current and future needs of the facility. In addition, the technology can help operators better understand the overall state and availability of the data center s critical systems infrastructure, putting them in a better position to respond to equipment, systems and customer needs. While these advantages are substantially important, they have traditionally only been accessible to the data center operations team. Now that client-facing applications have become more common and other industries are offering more hands-on capabilities for users, it is only natural for the data center colocation industry to follow suit. Bryon Miller, FORTRUST s senior vice president of operations, noted that the DCIM marketplace has considerably evolved in recent years due to a general need for more advanced monitoring, visibility and resource tracking capabilities. There are thousands of data centers out there that don t have comprehensive infrastructure monitoring tools, Miller said. It s difficult to track capacities and costs, especially for power and space, when you can t monitor it. Issues Arise From Lack of DCIM and Visibility Visibility into DCIM enables customers to ensure that the service level that was agreed to is, in fact, being met. Monitoring equipment and costs are not the only problems that come as a result of a lack of effective infrastructure management. Without a robust DCIM system in place, operators have little visibility over the current state of the data center s capacities, as well as its upcoming needs. This makes it incredibly difficult to plan for the future or provision additional resources and capacities where needed for end users or customers. Comprehensive DCIM systems can provide infrastructure resource and capacity management and help ensure that redundant components and capacities are not infringed upon. COLOVIEW 03

4 Not only do you have to know what you re using at any point in time, you need to be able to forecast as much as you can, Miller pointed out. With COLOVIEW, users not only have access to up-tothe-minute data about their colocated environment, but they can also access historical trends to help them better plan for future upgrades or expansions. If a customer comes to the provider with plans for adding additional equipment to their environment how do they know how much to ask for? Providing the customer with visibility to their current and historical usage through DCIM tools allows the customer to order only what they truly need and decreases the chance of the customer ordering more resources than they need. The case is similar with Service Level Agreements: Visibility into DCIM enables customers to ensure that the service level that was agreed to is, in fact, being met. A lack of transparency and visibility into the SLA parameters and resources being consumed including power, cooling, temperature and relative humidity could cause the client to be in the dark about their SLA unless their service provider informs them of a breach. Without the ability to monitor and validate the level of service being provided, customers will have a hard time ensuring that they are getting the most out of their colocation agreement, resources and services. COLOVIEW offers the solution COLOVIEW offers the customer real-time visibility into their colocated IT environment via DCIM. With an industry-leading technology and service like COLOVIEW in place, data center operators and clients alike are able to address these and a host of other issues while ensuring that the customer s requirements are met. COLOVIEW was specifically designed to provide the most granular level of control and oversight possible, enabling clients to monitor their resources by logging into the service from any PC, tablet or mobile device anytime, day or night. COLOVIEW offers a real-time look at all of the factors included in the Service Level Agreement, ensuring that clients are never unsure when it comes to their resource usage and service level adherence. We have never had a Service Level breach on temperature and relative humidity or power availability and our customers are able to access a real-time report card of our service level achievement at any time through the COLOVIEW service, Miller noted. COLOVIEW 04

5 FORTRUST has alerts in place to guarantee that facility operators are continually abreast of the data center s current condition. In this way, operators are notified before a problem ever occurs, and can work to mitigate the issue long before it breaches the SLA. Perhaps best of all, COLOVIEW ensures that customers have all the data they need and that it is obtained in the most efficient way possible. In addition, COLOVIEW offers a level of oversight of equipment and the overall colocated IT environment that was previously unavailable to clients and FORTRUST is currently one of the only organizations providing this information and insight to their customers. COLOVIEW allows colocation clients to view the power they consume for their IT equipment by individual circuit, per rack or cabinet, as well as combined total power for the client s entire colocated IT environment. COLOVIEW also displays average temperature and relative humidity for the colocation room that the client s equipment resides in. With COLOVIEW, users not only have access to up-to-the-minute data about their colocated environment, but they can also access historical trends to help them better plan for future upgrades or expansions. Perhaps best of all, COLOVIEW ensures that customers have all the data they need and that it is obtained in the most efficient way possible. Without this type of technology in place, a provider would be forced to take manual readings of every critical aspect of the data center s operations, including temperature, relative humidity, power and cooling resource usage. This process is incredibly time consuming when it is carried out manually, and therefore not cost efficient for the facility operator or its clients. FORTRUST s DCIM monitors over 180,000 data points in real-time or near real-time, related to the entire data center s critical infrastructure. It ensures complete infrastructure capacity management, power, cooling and critical systems monitoring for the best oversight, control and management of a data center environment possible. With visibility into this information via COLOVIEW, clients can better manage their capacity and make informed decisions about provisioning and planning. Customers are offered the highest level of transparency, ensuring peace of mind and that they are making the most of their colocation investment. To find out more about COLOVIEW and data center infrastructure management, contact FORTRUST today. COLOVIEW 05