DataCenter Infrastructure Management

A few years ago, the only way to manage the datacenter was by painstakingly reviewing resources, doing routine checks ... and all of this had to be done manually. Technicians had to spend a lot of time checking individual servers to assess health and performance, and like all work done by hand, there was the possibility of errors.

It became clear that better methods of heat and cooling control, capacity, management and usage, and rack space were needed.

Thanks to the evolution of data centers and changes in technologies, these problems have been reduced. This solution is called Datacenter Infrastructure Management.

DCIM

This solution refers to the processes, guidelines, tools and methodologies used for provisioning, governance and global management of the assets and infrastructures of the CPD. It provides a comprehensive approach to operating and maintaining an enterprise-class datacenter and includes IT resources such as hardware, software, networks, and facilities, including power, cooling, lighting, and general physical infrastructure.

DCIM provides a different set of services and dynamics for datacenters. Typically, DCIM is viewed as a fusion of IT and facilities management, including features such as the following:

• Management of energy consumption. Power, cooling ...

• Provision of resources.

• Capacity planning.

• Availability of critical systems and resources.

• Integration of virtualization technologies and cloud computing.

• Risk management.

• Asset Management.

• Automation.

Tools

The tools and applications focused on DCIM are aimed at the centralized management of datacenter resources, such as hardware, software, power, etc. There are several known solutions: Nlyte Software, Device42 or Sunbird DCIM are some examples.

In this case, taking into account the popularity that Cisco has, a solution proposed by this company will be explained.

Cisco ACI

Cisco ACI or Application Centric Infrastructure simplifies, optimizes and accelerates the life cycle of application development in next-generation cloud and data centers. Cisco ACI is a specific hardware solution for cloud computing integration and data center management.

The ultimate goal of this solution is to allow control of the network and its operation, so that the software can automate and change the network based on current network conditions.

ACI is made up of 3 elements:

• The APIC or Application Policy Infrastructure Controller would be the centralized controller of the datacenter network and devices.

• The Nexus 9000 switches, which are prepared to work with APICs to manage the physical and virtual infrastructure of the network.

• The ecosystem, which would be the integration with other solutions such as Cisco ASA, VMware vCenter, F5 controllers…

Today’s datacenters are more complex than ever, with thousands of connections connecting a wide range of devices, cards and ports. And because data centers are the center of all businesses, whether it’s a small to medium-sized, enterprise data center or a cloud environment, managers need strategic, efficient solutions, and one of them is DCIM.

Pol Centelles Perxés