Data Center Pulse: An exclusive group of global datacenter owners, operators and users. The goal of this community is to track the pulse of the industry and influence the future of the datacenter through discussion and debate.

DCIM - Its not about the tool; its about the implementation

Posted Wed, 05/08/2013 - 18:01 by jan.wiersma

 

Failure Success Road Sign

So you just finished your extensive purchase process and now the DCIM DVD is on your desk.

Guess what; the real work just started…

The DCIM solution you bought is just a tool, implementing it will require change in your organization. Some of the change will be small; for example no longer having to manually put data in an Excel file but have it automated in the DCIM tool. Some of the change will be bigger like defining and implementing new processes and procedures in the organization. A good implementation will impact the way everyone works in your datacenter organization. The positive outcome of that impact is largely determined by the way you handle the implementation phase.

These are some of the most important parts you should consider during the implementation period:

My Data Center Drives Faster Than Yours

Posted Thu, 04/11/2013 - 14:00 by mark.thiele

I jumped on my data center the other day and rode into town for a beer at the local saloon. I tell you, these data centers keep getting bigger and faster every year. Did I confuse you? What does a data center mean to you? Is it some converged infrastructure with virtualization on it or is it a container with some racks of computers?


Why am I Bothered?

Before you jump in to the DCIM hype...

Posted Wed, 04/10/2013 - 13:57 by jan.wiersma

dilbert-information-strategy

 

You’re ready to enter the great world of DCIM software and jump right into the hype ?

Do you actually know what you need from a DCIM solution ? What are your functional requirements ?

So before you jump in, let’s take a step back and look at DataCenter Information Management from a 40,000 feet level: the datacenter facility information architecture.

Where is the open datacenter facility API ?

Posted Tue, 04/02/2013 - 00:03 by jan.wiersma

For some time the Datacenter Pulse top 10 has featured an item called ‘ Converged Infrastructure Intelligence‘. The 2012 presentation mentioned:stack21-forceX

Treat the DC infrastructure as an IT system;

- Converge in the infrastructure instrumentation and control systems

- Connect it into the IT systems for ultimate control

Standardize connections and protocols to connect components

With datacenter infrastructure becoming a more complex system and the need for better efficiency within the whole datacenter stack, the need arises to integrate layers of the stack and make them ‘talk’ to each other.

This is shown in the DCP Stack framework with the need for ‘integrated control systems’; going up from the (facility) real-estate layer to the (IT) platform layer.

So if we have the ‘integrated control systems’, what would we be able to do?

The green PUE monster

Posted Sat, 03/30/2013 - 09:41 by jan.wiersma

green-monster_thumb

My fellow Datacenter Pulse (DCP) colleague Mark Thiele wrote a good article on the use of PUE in the datacenter industry. He basicly argues that you should look at the TCO of the datacenter and have a holistic view (like we promote with the DCP stack)

He opens with the ‘my PUE is better than yours remark’ we see going around in the industry. As mentioned before by the Green Grid; the misuse of PUE. (I have written several articles about this issue on my Dutch datacenter blog)

Well guess what… we kinda created this monster ourselves;

Server Power Consumption Cost Exceeds the Cost of the Server – SO WHAT!

Posted Thu, 02/21/2013 - 18:50 by mark.thiele

Saying a modern server uses too much power is like saying a train uses more power than a horse drawn wagon. Of course it does, but it also does way more work. Let's not forget what's important to the question of cost and that is simply how much work is the server performing?

No Man is an Island and neither is a Data Center

Posted Mon, 01/07/2013 - 09:32 by mark.thiele

Is it safe to build a data center anywhere along the coast? Can you really protect the availability or accessibility of your systems in the face of hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters? Just because you've built a solid structure, doesn't mean you can guarantee accessibility and your data center is nothing without connections.

Keeping the Data Center alive

Announcing eBay Inc.'s Renewable Energy RFQ

Posted Thu, 09/06/2012 - 10:27 by geekism

Back in March, I wrote about the 2012 Data Center Top 10, the current pulse of what is hot, interesting, challenging or emerging from the DCP community. “Renewable Power Options” came in at Number Five but for eBay, it’s near the top of the list.


We fundamentally believe that the future of commerce can be better than it is today; not only more convenient and accessible to consumers, but greener, cleaner and more efficient. The technology infrastructure and energy behind eBay’s commerce platforms are core to this vision. I’ve written here many times about the radical efficiency measures and innovative design approaches that my team, in tandem with our industry partners, has integrated into our data center portfolio. But as remarkable as those accomplishments have been, we are still using more carbon-intensive electricity than we would like. For the last three years, we’ve traversed the complicated regulatory environment and ever-expanding technology arena to source clean energy where we operate. Today, I’m excited to announce our next step in that journey.

Is building a data center more sustainable than building a soccer field?

Posted Sat, 04/28/2012 - 16:37 by mark.thiele

I fully expect controversy will be created by this blog especially amongst some of my awesome friends in the Sustainability/Green space and I am not actually advocating putting away the cleats and buying a game console.

DCP 2012 Top 10

Posted Wed, 03/14/2012 - 01:50 by geekism

Have you ever wondered what is on the mind of Data Center End Users? Why they make the decisions they make? What problems they are trying to solve?  What keeps them up at night? Back in 2009, Data Center Pulse took a shot at capturing those thoughts through the 2009 Top 10. Over the last three years, this list has morphed as the interests, challenges and solutions emerged.

Today we are pleased to release the 2012 Top 10 that I was able to present at the Green Grid Technical Forum on March 7, 2012 in San Jose, CA. The 2012 Top 10 was vetted with the attendees of the DCP Summit held in conjunction with the Green Grid. DCP members discussed and debated the Top 10 along with the primary topics selected by attendees - The Green Grid Case Study on Project Mercury (video) and the Service Efficiency Metric Proposal. You can see the results from the Summit on my latest blog entry, DCP 2012 Summit Results.

 

2012 Top 10

  1. Facilities & IT Alignment
  2. Top Level Efficiency Metric
  3. Standardized Stack Framework
  4. Move from Availability to Resiliency
  5. Renewable Power Options
  6. "Containers" vs Brick & Mortar
  7. Hybrid Data Center Designs
  8. Liquid Cooled IT Equipment Options
  9. Free Cooling "Everywhere"
  10. Converged Infrastructure Intelligence.

The Top 10 is the current pulse of what is hot, interesting, challenging or emerging from the DCP community. We were able to record the Top 10 presentation I gave at the Green Grid Technical Forum closing session. The presentation showed how the Top 10 list has morphed over time as End User interests and challenges have changed, as well as provide context on each of the entries.

The DCP charter is to influence the industry through end users. We hope this latest Top 10 will give you insight into what is important right now - i.e. The Pulse.

 

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