As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to evolve and Edge Computing, which pushes applications, data and computing services away from centralized data centers, becomes more common, managing assets and white space remotely becomes more challenging. A comprehensive and reliable solution that works together to simplify operation, costs and labor, as well as allows for network expansion is key.
Chatsworth Products (CPI) recommends a cabinet ecosystem that addresses the following solutions:
- Airflow management: A cabinet should be capable of supporting and protecting valuable IT equipment, while reducing energy consumption and maximizing cooling efficiency. CPI’s F-Series TeraFrame® Cabinet leverages CPI Passive Cooling® technology to support densities above 30 kW.
- Efficient power management: Boost operational efficiency by managing and monitoring power at the rack- and device-level. CPI’s eConnect® Power Distribution Units (PDU) integrate power management, environmental monitoring and electronic access control into one consolidated user interface. Additionally, overall networking costs can be dramatically reduced with Secure Array™ Technology, which supports up to 32 PDUs under one IP address.
- Environmental monitoring: Further enhance efficiency through environmental monitoring, which provides the ability to remotely monitor, record and analyze environmental security and safety conditions. eConnect PDUs environmental probes measure temperature and humidity at the rack level, while CPI’s Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM) provides temperature, humidity, airflow, pressure and leak detection at the rack or room level.
- Access control: Extend security to the rack-level for better control and record keeping of access and assets. eConnect Electronic Access Control (EAC) allows users to remotely program, monitor and control each cabinet access and keep a log entry for security and regulatory compliance purposes.
Lastly, in order to simplify management of multiple cabinets at a single site or multiple edge sites, it is important to consider an easy-to-use, centralized data center infrastructure management (DCIM) solution, such as CPI’s Power IQ® for eConnect, that can auto discover all integrated manageable hardware within the cabinets. Power IQ maps out all cabinets and in a snapshot, provides health status information covering power and environmental parameters, as well as the status of the electronic locks and the cabinet door. It also provides time-stamped filterable events and data logs for audit and troubleshooting purposes. It also can be used to make bulk configuration changes, and push firmware upgrades to all integrated devices across sites.
“A complete cabinet ecosystem approach that incorporates an integrated hardware solution, all networked through very few IP addresses and managed centrally through a plug–and-play software is the key to simplified remote management,” states Ashish Moondra, CPI Sr. Product Manager of Power, Electronics & Software.
For more information on how CPI’s solutions can provide the key elements for a successful data center solution, click here.
Shannon Erdley, Public Relations Specialist