The Data Center Management Elephant

Transcription

1 The Data Center Management Elephant By David Cle DATA CENTER SOLUTIONS Fr Mre Infrmatin: (866) N Limits Sftware. All rights reserved. N part f this publicatin may be used, reprduced, phtcpied, transmitted, r stred in any retrieval system f any nature withut the written permissin f the cpyright hlder.

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY If yu asked six data center managers t define infrastructure management, yu are likely t get six different answers. It is similar t the ancient stry f the six blind men and the elephant. When each f the men apprached the elephant, they came t the cnclusin that the elephant was like a wall, a spear, a snake, a tree, a fan and a rpe. Wh was right and wh was wrng? Just as in the case f the six data center managers, each blind man was right frm his wn perspective, but in the end all were wrng. Just as an elephant is mre than the sum f its parts, a true slutin fr data center managers is mre than the sum f the varius tl sets that fall under the area f infrastructure management. This white paper will discuss the varius tl sets that make up infrastructure management. N Limits Sftware 2

3 Table f Cntents What is Infrastructure Management?... 4 What are the Gals f infrastructure Management?... 5 Categries f Infrastructure Management Tls... 5 Real-Time Mnitring... 5 Asset Management... 7 CFD Mdeling... 8 Access Management... 8 Cnnectivity Management... 9 Maintenance Management... 9 Where is Infrastructure Management Ging? Abut N Limits Sftware N Limits Sftware 3

4 What is Infrastructure Management? If yu culd summarize infrastructure management in ne wrd it wuld be infrmatin. This infrmatin must be cmplete, accurate, have audit capability, and prvide an integratin layer. Can yu answer the fllwing questins? Hw lng des it take t deply a new server? Wh can yu cntact t get the accurate status fr a prject? Fr any given IT service, can yu name all the servers n which it relies t prperly perate? D yu have the capacity (pwer, cling and space) t add 10 new blade servers? If yu can t answer the questins, it is prbably because yu dn t have the tls yu need t prvide the infrmatin yu need t d yur jb. The fllwing illustratin shws the varius infrastructure management functins, with infrmatin as the cre: Planning Predictive Analysis Design Infrmatin Mnitring Operatins Planning Translate business needs int data center requirements Design Design prper infrastructure t meet data center requirements Operatins Cnsistent, repeatable prcesses fr running the data center Mnitring Cllect data t ensure data center is perating as designed Predictive Analysis Analyze data fr input int planning prcess N Limits Sftware 4

5 What are the Gals f infrastructure Management? While all data centers are different, the primary gals f each are basically the same: Increase availability Meet service level agreements Reduce risk Reduce cst Increase data center efficiency Prvide infrmatin t upper level management Categries f Infrastructure Management Tls Like the six parts f an elephant, infrastructure management tls fall int six general categries: Real-Time Mnitring Asset Management CFD Mdeling Access Management Cnnectivity Management Maintenance Management While many f the available tls crss ver int multiple infrastructure management categries, it is imprtant t nte that n vendr tday has a single tl, r even a suite f tls, that satisfies the requirements f all f these categries. Real-Time Mnitring Real-time mnitring is almst an elephant in itself because its definitin is very dependent upn the perspective f the user f the infrmatin, with subsets including pwer and energy efficiency, envirnmental mnitring and security. There are many benefits prvided by real-time mnitring. Fr example, mnitring the intake temperature at the rack level may allw yu perate yur data center at a higher temperature, saving tens r hundreds f thusands f dllars in energy usage every year. Tracking pwer and cling usage can help t avid ver-prvisining, which is imprtant since right-sizing the infrastructure t the lad has the greatest impact n savings in electrical cnsumptin. Trend analysis prvides data that can be used fr predictive maintenance, helping identify ptential catastrphic failures befre they happen. The three primary areas f real-time mnitring are: N Limits Sftware 5

6 Netwrk Management System (NMS) Building Management System (BMS) Data Center Mnitring System (DCMS) Of the three, the first tw areas are fairly well understd and there are a number f excellent tls available. Fr netwrk management, CA Unicenter, Cisc CiscWrks, HP OpenView, IBM Tivli, Ipswitch WhatsUp Gld and Hitachi IT Operatins Analyzer are sme f the tls ne wuld likely find running in a data center. Fr BMS systems, sme f the familiar names are Hneywell Excel, Jhnsn Cntrls Metasys, Siemens Apgee, Andver Cntinuum, Liebert SiteScan and Tridium Niagara AX. The wildcard area is that f Data Center Mnitring System (DCMS) smetimes referred t as Data Center Infrastructure Mnitring (DCIM). While BMS tls had their rigin in mnitring and cntrlling the equipment in an entire building, with data center facilities management becming an ffsht f the riginal functinality, DCMS tls were designed frm their inceptin t mnitr the data center infrastructure equipment and, in sme cases, the IT equipment as well. The vendrs fr these crssver tls include bth lngtime and well-knwn stalwarts in the data center industry (APC and Eatn, fr example) as well as a number f new players in this area. Sme f the cmmn tls include APC ISX Central, Eatn Freseer, Mdius DCiM, Optimum Path Visual Data Center, Raritan dctrack and Geist Envirnet. In additin, there are a number f hardware manufacturers that ffer tls t mnitr and manage their wn hardware prducts. The primary disadvantage f these prducts is that they are a pint slutin fcused nly n ne hardware platfrm and, as such, may nt integrate well int an verall management slutin. Real-time mnitring slutins vary greatly in hw cmplete a slutin they can ffer. It is imprtant t determine hw the slutin is ging t fit in yur envirnment. Questins t ask the vendr include the fllwing: Can the slutin manage the equipment yu have deplyed? What functinality des the slutin prvide? Hw custmizable is the prduct? Hw well des the slutin scale? Is the prduct delivered as an appliance r sftware slutin? What cmmunicatin prtcls des the slutin supprt? Is it a vendr-neutral slutin? Can the slutin integrate with ther mnitring systems? What reprting and graphing capabilities are prvided? N Limits Sftware 6

7 Mst real-time mnitring systems rely n a number f data cllectin pints and methds including bth sftware and hardware. Mst data center infrastructure will prvide sme means fr retrieving data and alarms. SNMP, Mdbus, OPC, LON, BACnet and IPMI are the primary cmmunicatin prtcls used. Envirnmental mnitring is an area that is grwing rapidly in the data center arena. Sme prminent envirnmental mnitring slutins include APC NetBtz, Geist IT Watchdg, RLE Falcn, Sinetica Hawk-i and SynapSense LiveImaging. Wireless sensrs are becming mre prevalent in the data center. Slutins frm SynapSense and Arch Rck are used fr mnitring pwer and envirnmental cnditins such as temperature, humidity and airflw. Asset Management Asset management and change management play imprtant rles in the data center. It is imprtant that management has an intimate knwledge f the equipment running in the data center. Fr smaller, less sphisticated rganizatins, this is typically accmplished thrugh the use f spreadsheets and Visi r AutCad drawings with crdinatin handled thrugh and infrequent change meetings. This is nt necessarily bad; it really depends n the size f the data center and, mst imprtantly, n the accuracy f the data. The decisin t mve t an asset management system is usually driven by the ttal number f assets, the frequency f mves/adds/changes, the prcesses invlved in keeping the data accurate and the need t knw the relatinships between the assets. While spreadsheets, custm databases and visual rganizers are relatively inexpensive, they usually prvide less functinality and require higher management. Asset management sftware, n the ther hand, prvides a much higher level f functinality but can be mderately t highly expensive. One area that is ften verlked when implementing an asset management system is the cst and time t gather the data the first time. This is a critical step in ensuring the initial data is accurate. In rder t maintain accurate data, it is essential that change cntrl prcesses are strictly fllwed. Other asset management best practices include the fllwing: Get rganizatinal buy-in Ensure prcesses are well defined up frnt Stakehlders shuld see reprts n a regular basis s they cntinually buy int the prcess Set up a centralized CMDB-based repsitry Avid different grups taking their wn inventry and string it their wn way G deep, then g wide Start inventry practice arund ne asset class Put prcesses in place and test them t make sure they yield the right results Once successful, implement the same prcess fr ther equipment N Limits Sftware 7

8 Sme f the prminent prducts in the asset management arena are Align AssetPint, AlphaPint AssetCentral, Aperture VISTA, Avcent Data Center Planner, nlyte Sftware nlyte and Rackwise Data Center Manager. Radi Frequency Identificatin (RFID technlgy is being used t autmate the tracking f assets in the data center with prducts such as CTI Asset Tracking System and RFCde Asset Manager. CFD Mdeling Cmputatinal Fluid Dynamics (CFD) mdeling is a key tl in the initial design f a data center but shuld als be used t evaluate prpsed changes such as increased rack densities r adding, mving r remving equipment. The data center designed in 2003 may nt be cnfigured crrectly fr the IT equipment being used in CFD mdeling allws yu t cmpare varius cling appraches, view an airflw mdel f the cmputer rm and anticipate ptential ht spts based n mathematical mdeling. The primary CFD mdeling prducts fr the data center are Future Facilities 6SigmaDC, Mentr Graphics FlVENT, Innvative Research TileFlw and Applied Math Mdeling ClSim. It shuld be nted that CFD is nt fr the faint f heart. The tls are relatively expensive and require sme expertise in crrectly interpreting the results. As a CFD expert nce tld me, CFD isn t difficult anyne with a PhD in thermdynamics can d it! Befre deciding whether t purchase a CFD mdeling tl r t use a cnsultant trained in CFD mdeling, cnsider hw ften yu will need t run a CFD analysis and whether r nt yu have staff trained t crrectly interpret the results. Access Management While KVM ver IP, serial ver LAN, cnsle prt servers, service prcessrs and remte cntrl sftware prvide flexibility and ut-f-band functinality, these access pints als add management cmplexity. A centralized access management is imprtant t prvide centralized mnitring f servers and netwrk hardware, real-time, ut-f-band BIOS level access and cntrl and simultaneus access by different users frm different wrkstatins (including authenticatin and event lgging). Prducts in this space include Avcent DSView3, Epicenter Centerline, Manage Operatins IT & Server Management, Minicm KVM.net II and Raritan Cmmand Center NOC. Access Management is nt cnstrained slely t KVM slutins. Mst next-generatin servers and blade cmputers have a management r service prcessr n the mtherbard r n a plug-in card. These prcessrs prvide a cnnectin t the server s management prcesses and can be used t N Limits Sftware 8

9 mnitr and cntrl the pwer, prvide sensr infrmatin (temperature, current, fans, etc.), redirect serial cnsle and manage the BIOS, as well as t prvide full remte cntrl using embedded Virtual KVM ver IP. Sme f the mre ppular fferings in the market are: Intelligent Platfrm Management Interface (IPMI) HP, IBM, Dell, Sun, and many thers IBM Remte Supervisr Adapter (RSA) HP integrated LightsOut (ilo) Sun Advanced Lights Out Manager (ALOM) Dell Remte Access Cntrller (DRAC) Virtual machines als have their wn management cnsles. Virtual systems have the added cmplexity f nt always having the same hardware cnsle access assciated with the sftware cnsle access. The majr management cnsles include fferings frm VMWare, Citrix and Micrsft. The fcus fr access management tday is n merged cnnectins that enable a user t view a unified, centralized management cnsle which displays all f the types f access and cntrl regardless if it is physical r virtual. Cnnectivity Management While smetimes cnsidered a subset f asset management, cnnectivity management actually plays a large enugh rle t warrant its wn data center management categry. With cnnectivity management tls, data center management can track the relatinship between assets bth pwer and netwrk and trace the cnnectivity path frm beginning t end. This is a valuable surce f infrmatin fr helping t reslve issues that may actually be caused upstream frm the device r t prevent issues frm ccurring dwnstream frm the device. Prducts in this space include itracs Physical Layer Manager, Patchmanager PatchManager and Raritan dctrack. Autmated cnnectivity management systems such as CTI Cnnectivity Management System can autmate the tracking f cnnectr changes using RFID tags in the cables and specialized patch panels which act as RFID antennas. Maintenance Management One area that has been largely neglected in the data center arena is the tracking f maintenance fr critical data center equipment. While there are a number f Cmputerized Maintenance Management Sftware (CMMS) slutins n the market, nne are fcused n the equipment in the data center. PTS Data Center Slutins DCMMS des just that, prviding the user with the ability t schedule and track preventive maintenance n data center infrastructure, create wrk rders and keep track f assets and spare parts required fr maintenance. It als prvides a number f reprts t allw yu t track csts and system dwntime due t maintenance activities. N Limits Sftware 9

10 Where is Infrastructure Management Ging? Infrastructure management tls are cnstantly changing t fill ever-changing needs. New tls cntinue t emerge and current tls are enhanced t prvide new functinality. Perhaps mre imprtantly, the lines between the functinal areas are becming increasingly blurred as vendrs begin t understand that data center managers are lking fr a hlistic tl t manage the entire infrastructure. Like pening the eyes f the blind men t see the entire elephant, infrastructure management vendrs are seeing the need t pen up their tls fr integratin with ther prduct segments, s the data frm an asset management system can be used in a CFD mdel r the utput f a real-time mnitring tl might be used t prvide infrmatin fr cnditin-based maintenance management. The result will be mre efficient, mre actinable, mre accurate infrmatin fr the data center manager. Abut N Limits Sftware N Limits Sftware was funded in 2009 by industry experts in the field f data center mnitring and management slutins. Fr mre infrmatin, cntact [email protected] r visit DATA CENTER SOLUTIONS Fr Mre Infrmatin: (866) [email protected] N Limits Sftware 10