With a holistic Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution, data center managers can proactively identify operational anomalies before they escalate into problems, says Smrutiranjan Das – Director, ITMS, for Datacenter infrastructure management, Vertiv India, in an interview with CIO AXIS.
CIO Axis: How does DCIM help in managing IT and physical infrastructure for greater efficiency?
Smrutiranjan: As organizations look to improve operational efficiencies and minimize the risk of downtime, facility managers require real-time, accurate insights into the data center infrastructure.
With a holistic DCIM solution, data center managers can proactively identify operational anomalies before they escalate into problems. They can gain insight into asset/system performance to improve processes, increase productivity, and maximize capital resources. This also enables them to model the data center’s configuration, and plan for and accommodate future IT needs.
By implementing a tool that collects the configuration information, along with active monitoring, companies can transform their operation and achieve significant returns on investment. The right combination of hardware and software solutions to manage the data center infrastructure allows superior use of existing IT resources and helps optimize data center functionality. This also leads to reduction in day-to-day cost and time needed to operate and maintain the data center.
CIO Axis: Give a brief on Vertiv solutions
Smrutiranjan: Effectively managing critical facilities starts with visibility and control. Infrastructure monitoring, intelligent controls, centralized management systems, and service support from Vertiv work together to increase equipment availability, utilization and efficiency. Our solutions can be used across multi-site deployments and among various market verticals.
A) Requirement 1:
| Site Spread | Infra Monitoring | Asset Inventory Management | Infra Management |
| Multi-location | High | Low | Low |
Solution:The Liebert® RDU-M is a solution for centralized management of the entire infrastructure, delivering real-time data from room, rack and equipment levels. The Liebert® RDU-M monitoring software comes installed in a server-like, hardware appliance that can easily fit in racks and cabinets. It is also capable of managing multiple monitoring systems, all at the same time, as it easily integrates with environmental and security systems in the data center. Installation is simple with automatic integration of monitoring equipment using standard port connections for power, image and video, environment, and access andcontrol applications.Other variants of the Liebert® RDU-M are Liebert® RDU-MI and Liebert® RDU-MII.
B) Requirement 2:
| Site Spread | Infra Monitoring | Asset Inventory Management | Infra Management |
| Single, Large Location | High | Low | High |
Vertiv Trellis Facility is an easily-integrated, cost-effective, and real-time infrastructure management solution that helps your IT and facilities organizations realize their objectives. It is designed on a simple, modular platform that allows for custom configurations with the ability to scale from a small- to large-sized data center.
C) Requirement 3:
| Site Spread | Infra Monitoring | Asset Inventory Management | Infra Management |
| Multilocation | Low | High | Low |
Vertiv Trellis™Enterprise Platform delivers unprecedented, real-time visibility into critical infrastructures and the impact of changes. It monitors all IT and facilities resources and automates management and control to help IT and facilities organizations achieve their objectives. It is a flexible and accessible DCIM platform, that helps mitigate IT risk, optimize efficiency and support business initiatives. The solution is a single “real-time” platform that allows data integration, filtering and processing (CEP) with temporality.
Requirement 4:
| Site Spread | Infra Monitoring | Asset Inventory Management | Infra Management |
| Multi-location | High | Medium | Medium |
Vertiv Environet software offers a graphically-rich interface and intuitive design that makes monitoring the data center and surrounding facility easier than ever before. With SNMP, Modbus, BACnet, and LONworks capability, Environet communicates in real-time with a variety of equipment from many manufacturers. Users can access Environet remotely through a web-based user interface and receive immediate notifications when an alarm condition is triggered.
CIO Axis: According to you what will be one of the most significant changes in DCIM capabilities that will be visible in the market over the next two to three years?
Smrutiranjan: While earlier data centers used to be data rooms, modern data centers have grown increasingly complex and are more strictly regulated. As data center needs are growing with each step towards digitization, there is a demand for a centralized management structure that enables visibility and control of all data center operations. The following are the most significant changes Vertiv anticipates in regard to DCIM capabilities:
Real-time monitoring
Real-time monitoring enhances analysis of operational data centers to ensure information is up-to-date and as accurate as possible. As alerts and notifications convey the actions to be taken in real time, mangers can monitor the exact location, performance, maintenance history, and condition of data center assets, as well as gain critical insight into environmental conditions that could impact operations. This leads to savings like reduced power costs, more efficient use of energy resources, along with the capability to diagnose and address potential problems when or before they occur.
Efficient use of power
As over utilization can quickly occur and cause outages in data center facilities, DCIM can aid in alerting and reporting, so data center managers understand power usage at any given time and can rebalance power to avoid unplanned downtime.
Managing energy usage
A DCIM solution helps data center managers monitor energy consumption, phase off servers during off hours, and identify equipment for consolidation which supports sustainability efforts.
Efficient management of assets
Data center assets including servers, routers, and UPS and cooling systems, can be complicated. DCIM allows for real-time assessment of all facilities and IT components from virtually anywhere, which can expedite the diagnosis and resolution of network issues.
CIO Axis: What are the benefits and challenges of DCIM?
Smrutiranjan: Increasing efficiencies, decreasing costs, and maintaining accessibility are top priorities for today’s data center administrators. DCIM has the capability to provide real-time insight into power consumption, space utilization, and cooling effectiveness that helps personnel better manage capacity, reduce risk, and increase efficiency.
As the majority of data center professionals choose DCIM software to improve visibility and control, key benefits of its implementation include:
- Improved alerting on potential issues
- Enhanced remote monitoring
- Centralized management of several, dispersed UPS units
- Better capacity planning
- Integrated environmental monitoring
- Streamlined asset management
While DCIM is supposed to solve a multitude of operational inefficiencies, the desired results are often not achieved due to implementation challenges. Integration with existing equipment is one of the major challenges. While DCIM by design is supposed to work with all infrastructure components there may still be issues. Due to the proprietary nature of the equipment, some vendors cannot send data, leading to data fracture. An unrealistic implementation timeline is often an added challenge. The implementation of DCIM into a critical facility requires ongoing service and support from infrastructure experts, and without it, results may be unsatisfactory.