computing hardware within your data center so everything will run as efficiently as possible. Let’s say your cooling can handle a concentration of blade servers, but only if the CRACs run at maximum speed. A different deployment might use less energy, but you won’t know that unless you can see the power draw and operating points of everything in the chain. And you won’t really know what would improve operation unless you can model the alternatives and see what they would mean. In short, the significantly expanded role of DCIM also brings with it a considerable
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increase in complexity which requires a well-integrated solution.
Taking a Robust DCIM Approach There are two major things to
consider when examining modern, robust DCIM approaches: 1) The first consideration is
universality and data handling. A truly universal DCIM product must meet two huge requirements. First, the system must be able to connect to air conditioners, UPS systems, power strips, PDUs, servers, chillers, pumps, sensors for temperature, humidity
and pressure, flow meters, cooling towers, generators, battery monitors, lighting controls, fire protection and security systems, computing hardware, and anything else involved with the operation of the data center. Second, it must do all this while being vendor agnostic. It must seamlessly interface to every manufacturer’s hardware and pass all the data available to the DCIM system with complete transparency. That can be difficult considering all the different equipment in the complex infrastructure of a data center and the variety of data and alarm protocols used. And, of course,
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