Cross-Connect Blog

Get Greater System Insight, Stability and Security without the Cost, Complexity of DCIM

March 23, 2015

Cooling Innovations - AFCOM InfographicData center traffic is expected to grow three-fold within three years. To support this demand, data center managers are turning to a variety of actions to improve and respond to the new reality with success.

According to a survey by AFCOM Data Center Institute, a large percentage of data center managers are looking to implement DCIM solutions to provide greater insight, stability and security.

Chatsworth Products (CPI) provides a variety of efficient solutions that will allow you to monitor many aspects of data center operations without the cost and complexity of full DCIM implementation.

Power/Energy Management 

As you can see in this AFCOM infograph, 79% of data center managers expect to implement solutions for monitoring power and energy within the next three years. 

One way to address this is with CPI's eConnect® Power Distribution Units which allows you to monitor and control power at the rack or device level. eConnect features a one of the highest inlet temperature ratings in the market at 65 C. 

  • Rated for use in hot aisle environments.
  • Allows IP consolidation of up to 20 PDUs, reducing networked cost.
  • Optional temp/humidity monitoring allows one network connection to monitor power, temperature and humidity, and control power at the rack and device level.
  • Some models provide a local display with an interactive screen that displays as well as remote monitoring and outlet control through a network connection using a web browser.
  • Can also be used with third-party DCIM. 
Additionally, CPI's Power Management Tool, can be used with eConnect PDUs to aggregate power and temperature measurements from the PDU or servers at the rack or device level. 

  • Allows users to associate devices with racks, and quickly determine remaining capacity and rack-space. 
  • Accesses information through a simple, intuitive web-based interface.
  • Equipment hierarchy mapping from data center level to rack-mount space.
  • Shows the physical location of rack-mount equipment in a rack elevation.
 

Environmental Monitoring

As a third alternative, CPI also provides the Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM) solution, a series of stand-alone environmental monitoring devices (middleware) that also provide a single interface for environmental monitoring, at lower cost than typical and complex DCIM. 

  • Supports a wider range of sensors: temperature, humidity, water, pressure and airflow.
  • Can also receive readings via BACnet or Modbus from facilities equipment.
  • Can be used with a third-party DCIM. 
  • A wireless version is also available that supports temperature and humidity monitoring.
If you are seeking to move forward with an infrastructure management implementation without the stress of a complex DCIM tool, take advantage of these three solutions by CPI. For additional information about these products or to see how they may fit in your data center plans, please contact one of our Sales Managers or Field Applications Engineers.

Raissa Carey, eContent Specialist

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