Data Center Infrastructure Management: ERP for the Data Center Manager 1
2 Topics What s DCIM & the ERP Analogy Why DCIM How DCIM Works How DCIM Helps
3 DCIM by Definition DCIM is a system that collects and manages information about a datacenter s assets, resource use and operational status. This information is then analyzed and delivered in ways that help managers meet business objectives, service goals and optimize the datacenter s performance. - Andrew Donoghue (Analyst, Eco-Efficient IT), 451 Research Simpler Definition from GFS: DCIM is the ERP for a Data Center, helping to allocate and optimize key Data Center resources
4 DCIM & the ERP Analogy ERP Manages plant assets Bridges gap between Distributed Control and Manufacturing Execution Systems. Enables production planning and inventory management. Tracks orders, work-in-process, optimizes resources subject to supply chain constraints. Provides visibility for KPIs like Inventory Turns, Inventory Accuracy. Enables lean manufacturing through best practices like Kanban, APICS frameworks. DCIM Manages Data Center Assets Bridges gap between Facilities and IT Management Systems. Enables capacity planning for power, space ; avoids stranded capacities Tracks power usage, Move-Add- Changes and optimizes asset utilization subject to high availability constraints. Provides visibility for KPIs like PUE, watt per rack, watt per sq ft. Enables lean & green IT with best practices frameworks like ITIL, EU Code of Conduct & Green Grid.
DCIM: Manages Data Center Assets 5
6 DCIM: Bridges Gap Between Facilities & IT Management Facilities IT Building Management System Data Center Infrastructure Management IT System Performance Management DCIM: Single solution for end-to-end data center monitoring & data center operations
7 DCIM: Enables Capacity Planning Intelligent Capacity Planning Capacity planning on power and space Capacity planning based on real-time and historical data Capacity planning based on What-if analysis Auto-provisioning based on available capacity Identifying best rack for device provisioning and best row for rack provisioning Based on power & space availability, best racks identified for new device provisioning Based on PDU load, best rows identified for rack provisioning
8 DCIM Monitors, Manages & Optimizes Monitoring Managing & Optimizing Monitors asset base across their lifecycle Monitors power use and environmental parameters Monitors provisioning and Changes through Work Flow Management Monitors & records Move-Add- Change (MAC) of assets Identifies underutilized resources Helps to Predict Failures Becomes a system of controls against unauthorized changes Optimizes floor & rack space utilization Optimizes Power & Cooling Monitors available redundancy paths & identifies Points of Failures across the power chain Enables accurate capacity planning on fact-based analysis.
9 DCIM: Provides 360 View of DC Operations Are the Data Centre Infrastructure & Capital Costs aligned to process improvements? Have we been able to reduce Infrastructure OpEx? DCIM Dashboard Are we maintaining a Risk-free Data Centre Infrastructure? Is the infrastructure delivering on the technology innovation? How Does My Data Center Measure Up to Global Standards
10 DCIM The ERP for Data Center Operations Like ERP, DCIM is a Constraint-Based Planning Software. Data Center Operations can no longer be managed by spreadsheets & Visio tools Maximizing Asset Utilization and Optimizing Power, Space & Cooling subject to High Availability and Physical Constraints
11 Why DCIM? The Data Center Challenge Keeping Up With High Availability Extreme Redundancies for 99.99% Uptime -> Too many assets & complex to manage Huge Population of N+1/N+2 Equipment -> High Capital Costs & Asset Under utilization Chain of inter-dependent equipment -> Multiple points of failures KW per Rack increases as more processing capacity is added -> Trade-offs: need to support more per rack versus extra space & heat loads. Growing Heat Loads, Carbon Emissions & e-waste -> Sustainability Issues High Availability is Inversely Proportional to Asset Utilization & Energy Efficiency
12 Role of DCIM DCIM functions: Data collection Environmental monitoring and reporting Asset, configuration and change management Power management Data reporting Capacity planning, forecasting, simulation and analytics Optimization, operational BI, load management DCIM benefits: By delivering right information at the right time DCIM ensures highest level of availability Allows optimized efficiencies by integrating information from IT and facility assets Future-proof architecture based on Capacity Planning and BMS data that supports design changes
13 How DCIM Works: Single Console for Facilities & IT Facility Infrastructure Transformer AHU DG set UPS PDU Rack Sensors Building Management Network Gateway Device/Protocol Converter Aggregator Switch DCIM Enterprise LAN DC Monitoring Servers Storages Network Devices IT Infrastructure
14 Power Systems Monitoring and Management Monitors real-time power at different levels of the power chain HT/LT Transformer Switch Gears Diesel GenSets UPS Row and rack PDUs IT Devices Cooling & Lighting infrastructure Reports power consumption for Entire data center Facility infrastructure like cooling and lighting IT infrastructure For individual devices/device groups/device classes/sbus or customers Sends threshold based email and SMS alerts on power consumption
15 Data Center Environment Monitoring Monitors critical environmental parameters of the data center such as Temperature (Room and rack level) Return air and supply air temperature Humidity (Room and rack level) Hot spots in the data center and temperature profiling of racks The captured environmental statistics is analyzed and viewed through dashboards and different reports and can also be sent as threshold based alerts on email or SMS.
16 Data Center IT Monitoring Apart from monitoring power consumption and environmental operating conditions of servers, DCIM can actively monitor health, performance, resource utilization and availability of servers. Based on utilization pattern, age and application type, DCIM helps to identify retirement, replacement and virtualization candidates which can be repurposed to reduce server footprint of the data center. Helps in avoiding IT downtime by sending proactive alerts on resource utilization of IT devices to designated IT staffs.
17 DCIM: Managing & Optimizing Base-lining : DCIM, through real-time monitoring of critical parameters, finds out how data center resources are being utilized and how much capacity is remaining. Freeing up stranded capacity: DCIM provides visibility of rack space and power use, thus minimizing stranded capacities to accommodate new IT devices. Projecting future capacity requirement: DCIM helps to accurately forecast rise in energy consumption, cooling and space requirements due to computing growth Auto-Provisioning: DCIM enables auto-provisioning of new customers/new IT infrastructure based on objectives and operating constraints of the data center.
18 DCIM Provides Data Center Manager KPIs KRA: Reports & Analytics DCIM Reports & Analytics on - Uptime and availability - Energy efficiency and health - Data center costs and savings - Capacity/Resource utilization and availability - Operational efficiency and SLA Compliance
19 How DCIM Helps Since DCIM Software dynamically captures information related to asset utilization, power consumption, environmental conditions and other parameters, it Helps Data Center Manager avoid unnecessary over-provisioning Helps plan investments and new capacity Helps reduce the capital costs Helps reduce power use and other operating costs Helps reduce risk of failures through critical alerts Helps adapting to technical and business change more easily Helps improvement plans through real-time metrics & dashboard
20 Thank You http://www.greenfieldsoft.com Email: sales@greenfieldsoft.com See Also on slideshare: The High Availability Mantra: How DCIM Can Help