Modius Data Center Blog

Recently someone asked me, "What are the consequences of not adopting a DCIM solution for my data center? Does it really matter?" Good question; here's my perspective:

In its 2011 Data Center Industry Census, Datacenter Dynamics reported that data center operators still cite energy costs and availability as their top concerns. This insight--coupled with the fact that enterprises will continually compete to grow market share with more web services, more apps, and more reach (e.g., emerging markets)--indicates that data center operators need to run their data centers much more efficiently than ever to keep up with escalating business demands.

Therefore, the disadvantages of not using a DCIM solution becomes evident when enterprises can't compete because they are taxed by data center inefficiencies that curb how quickly and adeptly a business can grow; for example:

• Unreliable web services that frustrate customers
• Limited or late-to-market apps that hinder the workforce
• Unpredictable data center operating costs that squeeze profitability

This is where OpenData software by Modius can help. OpenData provides both the visibility of and real-time decision support for data center infrastructure, so you can better manage availability and energy consumption. OpenData helps data center operators optimize the performance of their critical infrastructure, specifically the entire power and cooing chain from the grid to the server. For instance, with OpenData, you can arrive at a power usage baseline from which comparisons can be made to determine the effectiveness of optimization strategies. OpenData also provides a multi-site view to manage critical infrastructure performance as an ecosystem vs. isolated islands of equipment--from a single pane of glass. And, because OpenData monitors granular data for the entire power and cooling chain, you can validate--or invalidate--in near real-time whether day-to-day tactical measures to improve data center performance are actually working.

We’re proud to announce Modius will be joining Intel at its Gartner Data Center Conference booth at the annual show, taking place Dec. 5-8 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.   

Earlier this year, Modius and Intel announced their plans for integrating OpenData Enterprise Edition with Intel DCM to capture power and temperature data from a broad range of servers with Intel processors.

Intel DCM enhances our OpenData platform with increased visibility and analytics of server-level performance by providing thermal and energy intelligence from the CPU and power supply. This helps both IT and facility managers better understand and manage the power consumption at the rack and server levels, as well as the cooling and airflow distribution requirements of their computing sources.

Gartner show attendees will be able to experience first-hand how our OpenData® Enterprise Edition integrates Intel® Data Center Manager (Intel DCM) to capture and manage server-level power and thermal data.  By combing server-level data with performance data captured from other infrastructure equipment (e.g. CRACs and Air Handlers), the OpenData system will allow data center managers to analyze many rack-level challenges in the data center, including cooling and airflow distribution—which can be impacted by system power density, variable system processing loads, asset turnover and malfunctioning or broken equipment.

The integration of Intel DCM data-capture capabilities directly into Modius OpenData enables a set of functionality not previously available before, including:

• Device- and rack-level capacity analysis with real-time alarming for power deviations

• Device- and rack-level temperature analysis with real-time alarming for temperature deviations

• End-to-end visibility of the power chain from the UPS to individual servers

• Floor-level cold spot and hot spot identification and remediation

The benefits to data center managers from this technology integration include:

• Improved data center efficiency and lower power costs

• Expanded data center capacity

• Early warning of data center problems and potential outages

If you’re going to be in Vegas at the show, please stop by Intel’s booth (booth #J) and see us.  We’d love to show you, firsthand, how OpenData Enterprise Edition with Intel DCM can help you better manage power and thermal management at the rack and server.

Donald Klein, VP Marketing & Business Development

Modius customer, Dave Shroyer of NetApp, will be a featured panelist at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s Annual Data Center Efficiency Summit, taking place today at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose.

Shroyer, a work place resources (WPR) manager with NetApp’s Integration & Technology Group, joins executives from Triton, IBM and Cisco in presenting “From the Killer App to the Chiller Tap: Holistic Management of IT and Facilities.”     

The panel discussed the fact that the management and monitoring of IT and facilities increasingly needs to be done in a coordinated fashion in order to achieve the maximum IT performance and the maximum facilities efficiency. Historically, separate IT management tools have managed IT's killer apps, and separate facilities management tools have managed power and cooling. A new generation of monitoring and management tools is emerging that source data from everywhere in the data center – apps, servers, switches, storage, UPSs, CRAC units, air handlers and chillers – that promise to deliver a holistic approach for managing the data center as an integrated unit.

Shroyer and his colleagues shared their insights on exactly how far away we are from such an ideal end-state, as well as when we will we be able to report data center metrics in terms of billions of SpecWeb per GigaWatt. They discussed their own integration of such tools, how they use them and where these promising data center management software tools are headed.

Marina Thiry, Director of Product Marketing
Different isn't always better, but better is always different.