Data Center Management Software (DCIM)

The main task of Data Center Management Software (DCIM) is to facilitate the work of infrastructure managers of large enterprises in setting up (designing), monitoring and managing a server room. Fulfillment of this task is accomplished by performing analysis of five main parameters of devices that are located in server rooms, namely: space occupied in the rack, heat generation, power consumption, component weight and also the set of physical connections.

Using a simple Data Center virtualization, we quickly find the answer to many important issues, such as whether we have adequate free space for an additional server, whether the rack and floor of the server room can withstand the additional load, and whether we will be able to provide an adequate, connected server to the computer network.

DCIM Software

According to the developers of software for managing a small data center as well as large Data Centers, these solutions are intended to be an attractive alternative to commonly used spreadsheets or diagrams created in Microsoft Visio, for example. They are the ones currently used to store information about the devices in the server room. However, the main problem becomes their updating, which is time-consuming and thus rarely done.

Data center management software

Many analyses show that finding a suitable location in a server room can take 5 hours in the classic way, and using the right data center management software (DCIM) this time can be reduced to just 30 minutes. Similarly, when designing the contents of a new RACK rack from scratch and locating it in the server room - the classical way requires spending nearly 3 days, and using data center management software (DCIM) the time is optimized to 2 hours. When analyzing the time savings, it is worth making calculations in monthly and annual terms, which directly translate into minimizing the costs incurred.

Data center resources monitored by DCIM

Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) tools monitor, measure, manage and control data center utilization and energy consumption of all equipment associated with maintaining IT and Data Center infrastructure operations.

Major resources monitored by DCIM software:

• Computer hardware: Servers, server platforms, computers and terminals
• Network equipment: network switches, routers, KVM switches, console servers.
• Cyber security: Security features such as firewalls, NDR platforms or other IT security-related security systems.
• Storage: RAID disk systems, storage area network (SAN), NAS servers, libraries and tape drives.
• Power and cooling equipment: Inline and perimeter cooling solutions, UPSs, power generators and system transfer switches.
• Physical IT infrastructure components: RACK cabinets, RACK enclosures, and power distribution systems and units(PDUs)

Data Center Management Software - Benefits

Here are ten reasons why you should use Data Center management software:

1. Reduce hardware deployment / installation time;
2. Reduce the risk of power outages;
3. Reduce the average repair time of equipment in the server room;
4. Ability to conduct audits and inspections quickly;
5. Ability to perform impact analyses of planned changes before committing resources;
6. Quick access to both current and historical data;
7. Facilitate effective planning and change management;
8. Ability to track cabinet capacity: space, power and interconnection network;
9. Bridging the limitations of free floor space in data centers (limited access for individuals);
10. Integration and exchange of master data with other IT systems.

This group of products is based on the company's solutions:

Eaton | Vertiv