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Why DCIM?


By Andy Barrett, Head of New Technologies at COMPUTERLINKS, Next Generation Distribution


WORLDWIDE demand for new and more powerful IT-based applications, combined with the economic benefits of consolidation of physical assets, has led to an unprecedented expansion of data centres in both size and density. Limitations of space and power, along with the enormous complexity of managing a large data centre, have given rise to a new category of tools with integrated processes – Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM).


Once properly deployed, a comprehensive DCIM solution provides data centre operations managers with clear visibility of all data centre assets along with their connectivity and relationships to support infrastructure – networks, copper and fibre cable plants, power chains and cooling systems. DCIM tools provide data centre operations managers with the ability to identify, locate, visualize and manage all physical data centre assets, simply provision new equipment and confidently plan capacity for future growth and/or consolidation. These tools can also help control energy costs and increase operational efficiency.


The trend for consolidation and construction of ever larger data centres has been basically driven by economy-of-scale benefits. This trend has been accelerated and facilitated by technological advances such as Web-based applications, system virtualization, more powerful servers delivered in a smaller footprint and an overabundance of low-cost bandwidth.


Not many years ago, most computer sites were sufficiently small so that the local, dedicated IT and facilities staff could reasonably manage most everything with manual processes and tools such as spread sheets and Visio diagrams. It has now become painfully clear that IT and facilities professionals need better tools and processes to effectively manage the enormous inventory of physical assets and the complexity of the modern data centre infrastructure. Experience shows that once a data centre approaches 50-75 racks, management via spread sheets and Visio becomes unwieldy and ineffective.


At the highest level, the enterprise data centre should be organized and operated to deliver quality service, reliably, securely and economically to support the corporate mission. However, the natural evolution of roles and responsibilities among three principal groups within the data centre – facilities, networking and systems – has


Louise Fairley, DCA PR & Marketing Manager


IN the last few months I have seen a steady increase in both DCA membership and member participation. With opportunities for event sponsorship, regular blog spots, webinar broadcasting and of course article submission for our official journal, interest has been growing.


All of these activities whether taken independently or as part of overall long term plan are excellent opportunities for promotion, networking and ultimately increasing profile awareness and we have further plans afoot, watch this space…….. Please do


48 www.dcsuk.info I May 2012


contact me with any thoughts and/or questions surrounding the initiatives we are running for this year.


May I now take this opportunity to extend a very warm welcome to some of our latest DCA members namely, Nextconnex, Portal Data Centres, Goethe-Universitat Frankfurt, Sentrum, IXcellerate, University of East London, Vtesse Cirrus, University of Hertfordshire, Spherical Cow SL, 8Solutions, Nominet and GlassHouse Technologies. We very much look forward to working with you now and in the future for continual development of standards, guidelines and programmes to support the data centre industry.


What Is DCIM?


Basic DCIM components and functions include: £ A Single Repository: One accurate, authoritative database to house all data from across all data centres and sites of all physical assets, including data centre layout, with detailed data for IT, power and HVAC equipmentvand end-to-end network and power cable connections.


£ Asset Discovery and Asset Tracking: Tools to capture assets, their details, relationships and interdependencies.


£ Visualization: Graphical visualization, tracking and management of all data centre assets and their related physical and logical attributes – servers, structured cable plants, networks, power infrastructure and cooling equipment.


£ Provisioning New Equipment: Automated tools to support prompt and reliable deployment of new systems and all their related physical and logical resources.


£ Real-Time Data Collection: Integration with real time monitoring systems to collect actual power usage/environmental data to optimize capacity management, allowing review of real-time data versus assumptions around nameplate data.


£ Process-Driven Structure: Change management workflow procedures to ensure complete and accurate adds, changes and moves.


£ Capacity Planning: Capacity planning tools to determine requirements for future floor and rack space, power, cooling expansion, what-if analysis and modelling.


£ Reporting: Simplified reporting to set operational goals, measure performance and drive improvement.


£ A Holistic Approach: Bridge across organizational domains – facilities, networking and systems, filling all functional gaps; used by all data centre domains and groups regardless of hierarchy, including managers, system administrators and technicians.


A comprehensive DCIM solution will directly address the major issues of asset management, system provisioning, space and resource utilization and future capacity planning. Most importantly, it will provide an effective bridge to support the operational responsibilities and dependencies between facilities and IT personnel to eliminate the potential silos.


in itself made this objective less achievable. Responsibilities have historically been distributed based on specificexpertise relating to the physical layers of the infrastructure: £ Facilities: Physical space, power and cooling £ Networking: Fibre optic and copper cable plants, LANs, SANs and WANs


£ Systems: Servers, virtual servers and storage.


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