This presentation shows that Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Software to a Data Center Manager is what ERP software is to a VP - Manufacturing. This is the 2nd presentation from a series of 3-part series from GreenField Software on the subject: DCIM for High Availability.
DCIM Software charts out the relationship maps for assets by identifying various dependencies among them. Threshold-based alerts on critical parameters, combined with impact analysis of Move-Add-Change, mitigates risks of DC failures.
GreenField Software’s Mission is to help Data Centers control capital expenditures reduce operating expenses and mitigate the risks of Data Center failures. Besides DCIM Software, GFS offers Data Center Advisory Services in the areas of best practices, capacity planning, energy efficiency and business continuity of data centers.
3. 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. 4
DCIM & the ERP Analogy
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
ERP DCIM
6. 6
DCIM: Bridges Gap Between Facilities & IT Management
DCIM: Single solution for end-to-end data center monitoring &
data center operations
DCIM: Single solution for end-to-end data center monitoring &
data center operations
Facilities IT
IT System
Performance
Management
IT System
Performance
Management
Building
Management
System
Building
Management
System
Data Center
Infrastructure
Management
Data Center
Infrastructure
Management
7. 7
DCIM: Enables Capacity Planning
Capacity planning on power and space
Capacity planning based on real-time
and historical data
Capacity planning based on ‘What-if’
analysis
Intelligent Capacity Planning
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
Auto-provisioning based on available capacity
8. 8
DCIM Monitors, Manages & Optimizes
Monitoring Managing & Optimizing
Identifies underutilized resources
Helps to Predict Failures
Becomes a system of controls
against unauthorized changes
Optimizes floor & rack space
utilization
Optimizes Power & Cooling
Enables accurate capacity planning
on fact-based analysis.
Identifies underutilized resources
Helps to Predict Failures
Becomes a system of controls
against unauthorized changes
Optimizes floor & rack space
utilization
Optimizes Power & Cooling
Enables accurate capacity planning
on fact-based analysis.
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
Monitors available redundancy paths
& identifies Points of Failures across
the power chain
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
Monitors available redundancy paths
& identifies Points of Failures across
the power chain
9. 9
DCIM: Provides 360°View of DC Operations
How Does My Data Center Measure Up to Global StandardsHow Does My Data Center Measure Up to Global Standards
Are the Data Centre
Infrastructure & Capital
Costs aligned to process
improvements?
Have we been able to
reduce Infrastructure
OpEx?
Are we maintaining a
Risk-free Data Centre
Infrastructure?
Is the infrastructure
delivering on the
technology innovation?
DCIM
Dashboard
10. 10
Like ERP, DCIM is a Constraint-Based
Planning Software.
Data Center Operations can no longer be
managed by spreadsheets & Visio tools
Like ERP, DCIM is a Constraint-Based
Planning Software.
Data Center Operations can no longer be
managed by spreadsheets & Visio tools
DCIM – The ERP for Data Center Operations
Maximizing Asset Utilization and Optimizing Power, Space & Cooling subject to
High Availability and Physical Constraints
Maximizing Asset Utilization and Optimizing Power, Space & Cooling subject to
High Availability and Physical Constraints
11. 11
Why DCIM? The Data Center Challenge
Keeping Up With High AvailabilityKeeping Up With High Availability
Extreme Redundancies for 99.99% Uptime -> Too many assets & complex to manageExtreme Redundancies for 99.99% Uptime -> Too many assets & complex to manage
Huge Population of N+1/N+2 Equipment -> High Capital Costs & Asset Under utilizationHuge Population of N+1/N+2 Equipment -> High Capital Costs & Asset Under utilization
Chain of inter-dependent equipment -> Multiple points of failuresChain of inter-dependent equipment -> Multiple points of failures
Growing Heat Loads, Carbon Emissions & e-waste -> Sustainability IssuesGrowing Heat Loads, Carbon Emissions & e-waste -> Sustainability Issues
KW per Rack increases as more processing capacity is added -> Trade-offs: need to
support more per rack versus extra space & heat loads.
KW per Rack increases as more processing capacity is added -> Trade-offs: need to
support more per rack versus extra space & heat loads.
High Availability is Inversely Proportional to Asset Utilization & Energy EfficiencyHigh Availability is Inversely Proportional to Asset Utilization & Energy Efficiency
12. 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. 13
Servers Network DevicesStorages
IT Infrastructure
Enterprise LAN
Building Management Network
UPS PDUDG set
Rack
Sensors
Facility Infrastructure
Gateway Device/Protocol
Converter
Aggregator
Switch
AHU
Transformer
DC Monitoring
How DCIM Works: Single Console for Facilities & IT
DCIM
14. 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. 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. 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. 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. 18
DCIM Provides Data Center Manager KPIs
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
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
KRA: Reports & AnalyticsKRA: Reports & Analytics
DCIMDCIM
19. 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