5 DCIM Solutions for Local Government

Each government or agency has its own set of unique data center requirements based on business needs and the infrastructure in operation. No single DCIM solution will be best in every scenario. A wide range of systems on the market can cover a variety of different needs. Here are a few examples of solutions of optimize your data center infrastructure:

• Schneider Electric’s StruxureWare Data Center Operation: This DCIM framework offers interfaces to virtualization systems (such as VMware vSphere or Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager) to ensure virtual loads always have healthy host environments. It predicts the optimal location for physical infrastructure and rack-based IT equipment based on the availability and requirements of physical infrastructure capacity and user-defined requirements such as redundancy, network and business use grouping. It also includes a PUE calculator, which supplies information on daily energy use to help monitor and streamline consumption. StruxureWare’s tenant management tool, of particular interest to service providers, provides detailed power draw and total energy footprint figures, including an in-depth analysis of tenant impact in the event of downtime.
• IBM Maximo Data Center Infrastructure Management: It provides real-time monitoring of the IT and facilities within the data center. It can create a data center map with hot spots, air-conditioning zones and 3D environmental monitoring, and is especially suitable for Tivoli customers because it integrates well with Tivoli Monitoring for Energy Management and Tivoli Asset Management. Together, these products also include reporting on energy consumption, financial cost of energy, carbon footprint driven by the data center, real-time PUE calculations and analytics for making better decisions on everyday tasks, such as where to place virtual machines for optimal energy efficiency.
• CA ecoMeter: This solution is able to monitor UPS systems, air-conditioning units, power distribution units, IT equipment and generators in real time. Unlike most other systems, it can change the data center environment based on information collected and calculated by its software, and it is able to pass on energy data to virtualization software for use at the orchestration layer.
• Raritan dcTrack: This is a software-only solution that offers capability as an asset manager, visualization tool and the means for capacity and change management. dcTrack reads power use and distribution in real time and has an auto-discover function for mapping the data center in terms of servers and network devices as well as environmental conditions, power consumption and floor load.
• Emerson Network power’s Trellis: The platform monitors everything in the data center, providing an understanding of system dependencies to help IT and facilities organizations keep the data center running at peak performance. It also maps out the data center so that all changes can have their effects predicted — from shifting virtual machines among servers to adding loaded racks into a corner of the room. Advanced event processing detects user-defined events and can automate device management.

DCIM remains an emerging technology, so keep in mind that solutions are evolving constantly, generally improving functionality and integration capability with each release. The pace of change makes it important to keep an eye on the competitive landscape, but also presents an opportunity for larger organizations to influence vendor product roadmaps and the direction of the technology.

For more information, download our free white paper, DCIM: Total Management Insight.