Documenting and Managing Infrastructure Connectivity

Documenting and Managing Infrastructure Connectivity David Cuthbertson Square Mile Systems Ltd david.cuthbertson@squaremilesystems.com www.squaremilesystems.com

Square Mile Background Develop toolsets, training and techniques for operational management of complex IT infrastructure Focus areas Data center management Connectivity management System change impact analysis Documentation techniques Infrastructure visualisation All technologies! Business Processes Departmental, Company Services End user, infrastructure, supplier Applications PC, server, mainframe, SOA Virtual Infrastructure Network, Servers, Storage, DBMS Hardware Infrastructure Network, Servers, UPS, Storage, Other Fixed Infrastructure (Cabling, Power, Cabinets, Buildings) Data Center Infrastructure

Session overview Communicate practices and techniques to colleagues and customers that will aid better management of infrastructure connectivity Recognise good and bad methods of labeling devices and cabling Take into account operational management needs when designing or installing cabling infrastructures

Is it a Problem? Standards already cover cabling design, installation and labelling TIA568A, ISO 11801, EN50173, TIA942 Standards already cover administration ANSI/TIA/EIA-606, EN50174-1, ISO/IEC14763-1, TIA942, BS6701:2004 How many follow these for all cabling implementations? Connectivity is more than just about data cabling! Power is becoming just as complex

Changing Requirements BEFORE AFTER No. of Servers per cabinet 3-6 30-40 Power Dissipated per cab. 300-2000W 3kW - 25kW Current service to cabinet 16A 2x32 A or 3 phase Types of Equipment Servers Blade Servers Monitor Power Distribution Units KVMs MidSpan Boxes Power Strips Disk Arrays (Storage) UPS Smart Power Strips Regular Power Strips Network types 100M 1G, 10G, SAN No. of Cables Power 1 or 2 2 to 6 (per server) Network 1 or 2 5 to 10 Cabinet Total 20-30 300-400

Where Do We Focus? Earthing and bonding Containment Firestopping Spaces (rooms, racks etc.) Vertical wiring Horizontal wiring Power IT equipment Other equipment

Which is Easiest to Document?

Standards Recommendations 1. Class or Hierarchy Structure Class 1 Single equipment room Class 2 Multiple rooms Class 3 Campus Class 4 Multiple sites Example TIA606 Naming conventions and approach will differ with administration systems.

Standards Recommendations 2. Naming conventions and examples Country, site, floor, room, rack, unit, sub-unit, port 1A-AC01/A-01 Floor 1 Equipment Room A Rack AC01 Patch panel A Port 01

Standards Recommendations 3. Standardised Naming & Coding Glossary of terms and abbreviations Symbols for drawing Termination point colour coding Patch cable coding

Standards Recommendations 4. Recommended data sets to maintain Port type - RJ45 Cable type - Cat6A Cable length - 65m User name - Daves PC Test results - U:\Cabletest\1Atest.xls Drawings - Floor, room drawings Work flow - Work orders and changes

Why Does It Happen? 1. Standards have been referenced for the design, implementation and testing of infrastructure 2. Good components have been chosen - which rarely go wrong 3. Is it only a people issue?

How Do We Manage Today? Informal / formal processes Site survey, pre-installation checks, audits Ownership is often on a local basis Create knowledge sets as individuals or within teams Excel, Visio, Word, Notes, Sharepoint, Access Or give the problem to someone else Outsource, out task.

Different Teams, Different Focus Business Processes Departmental, Company Systems Services End user, infrastructure, supplier Applications Service Management Applications PC, server, mainframe, SOA Networks LAN/SAN Mid-range Servers Virtual Infrastructure PCs, Network, Servers, Storage, DBMS Hardware Infrastructure PCs, Network, Servers, UPS, Storage, Other Desktops IMAC Data Centre Fixed Infrastructure (Cabling, Power, Racks, Rooms, Buildings)

Adding a New Server? Structured cabling only LAN diagrams KVM Architecture Inventory list Asset list IIS Architecture Storage diagrams KVM Building wiring diagrams Power architecture WAN diagrams Rack Diagrams Patching spreadsheets Point to Point Cabling Backbone switches Power distribution Computer room layout Circuit breakers PABX port mapping Edge switches Labelling standards Legacy systems LAN Architecture Blade switches PDUs Power strip connections SAN Architecture

LINK 10/100 LAN FEATURE SERIAL CURRENT ON = I OFF = U BLINK = REMOTE OUTLET # I/U TOGGLE 100-240V ~ 50~ 60Hz 1.2A RESERVED STATUS 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 LINK 10/100 LAN FEATURE SERIAL CURRENT ON = I OFF = U BLINK = REMOTE OUTLET # I/U TOGGLE Different Views Copper Firewall Fibre Power Server Managing change at equipment level requires different views of connectivity! Storage KVM Or monitoring results from power, network or storage can t be interpreted Switch

Is It Just Too Difficult? For many organisations, the internal culture does not enable more coordinated team practices Why is it difficult? Creating a start point or baseline is costly Defining update processes Will involve multiple technical teams Disinterest by project teams

Connectivity Costs! It is easy to use technical teams and suppliers inefficiently! Travel to check on existing connectivity or site survey Meetings to communicate local cabling architecture Reconciling differences in systems documentation Creating build and patch instructions Drawing diagrams which become out of date and uncontrolled Audit connectivity to check on resilient paths / SPOF Tracing connectivity to help with fault diagnosis Manually produce reports on numbers of changes / installs Switch port tracing to identify free and pre-patched ports Producing risk and test plans as part of projects Risk and recovery tasks creating additional knowledge sets

What s the upside? 1. Reduced operational expenditure Optimise existing infrastructure 2. Reduced cost of changes Planning, implementing, reporting 3. Faster implementation of changes Power Project SLAs Reducing planning and communication Forward planning and capacity control 4. Reduced risk of disruption Impact analysis is easier, less mistakes 5. Less effort to keep accurate documentation Time Year

What Types of Documentation? Specific path connectivity End Points and paths Definitions Types of ports, addressing, naming, labelling Diagrams Views of physcial locations, physcial and logical paths Capacity reports Fixed infrastructure (patch panels, power strips, PDUs) Active infrastructure devices (network switches, SAN, PBX) Management & Workflow Reservation, build instructions, audit trail, changes

Example - Cable Labeling A B C D E SW01 Patch Panel Patch Panel Patch Panel Patch Panel 01 02 13 14 F UX01 SW02 Patch Panel Patch Panel Patch Panel G 03 23 24 UX02 SW03 UX03

Cable Labeling Examples Possible Options - Some 1. No Label 2. Port number at each end (SW01/P01) 3. Local end points of cable (SW01/P01 PP01/01) 4. Device end points of cable (SW01/P01-UX01/ETH0) 5. Unique label on each cable (04567489) 6. Common path label on cable (1123238) Benefits No administration requirements Easy to ensure cable is in right port Easy to trace ends of patch cable Easy to know impact of disconnect Easy for software tools to reference Easy for workflow and end path tracing

Recommended Labeling Our recommendation is; Unique labels at both ends of a patch cable Why No re-labelling if devices change names Cables can be re-used, pre-patched Easy to audit recent changes Needed by software tools as a reference But you need to look for a software tool that accepts (and can create) cable labels

Reducing The Amount of Data Before - uncoordinated data Word Visio Word Word Excel Visio After Less data sources Consistent views & reports Capacity & audit trails Workflow and reservation Excel Excel Visio Word Visio Excel Word Word Word Visio Excel Visio Word Excel Excel Excel Word Visio Word Visio Reporting Visio Excel Excel Excel Excel

Define the Level of Detail 1. Local patch 2. End to End path Patch Panel Patch Panel Patch Panel 3. All devices connected to the switch Patch Panel Patch Panel

Example Do This Yourself Assets/Inventory Network G10-3 SW-BHAM- G10-4 CORE2 Excel SFP1 SFP1 11 SW-BHAM-05 9 1 SW-BHAM-04 27 23 SW-BHAM-02 15 Visio ETH 0 ETH 0 ETH 2 ETH 0 ETH 2 ETH 0 Port Connections Excel Power UK_BIRM_UX06 UK_BIRM_UX07 UK_BIRM_UX04 UK_BIRM_UX08 UK_BIRM_UX10 1. Draw diagram using Excel data 2. Refresh Visio for updates

More Sophisticated Specialist DC Management Toolset Outputs Data Feeds Monitoring, Discovery, Test Results, Project Plans, Other 1. Paths Physical Logical Device 2. Diagrams Physical Logical Multi-technology 3. Capacity Fixed infrastructure Active components Power 4. Workflow Reserve, design Build instructions It is wise to develop your own requirements before choosing any specialist toolset!

Steps to Success - Build Ensure hand over documentation reflects the built environment Insist that format and content are consistent with the standards or systems adopted Why not get suppliers to deliver the operational processes as well as infrastructure data? They do it already for HVAC and power systems Any further works should result in updates to existing documentation sets

Steps to Success - Operate 1. Create an inventory - All components involved in connectivity 2. Document the fixed infrastructure - Backbone, power, SAN 3. Record the connectivity - Paths, ports, labels 4. Create reports and diagrams to suit the need - Capacity, topology diagrams 5. Embed in project workflow

Are We Working Too Hard? Reverse engineering existing systems Producing different views of connectivity Travelling and meeting unnecessarily Coping with inconsistent information Be smart work more as a team! Save on cost, time and effort Increase the level of control

Thank you for your attention Questions or feedback? David Cuthbertson Square Mile Systems Ltd www.squaremilesystems.com www.assetgen.com