Data Center Summit on March 15th in Philadelphia – Is Trouble Brewing in Your Data Center?

Join us for an afternoon of leading edge Data Center discussions ranging from design through intelligent infrastructure management followed by a tasting of Triumph’s best brews and appetizers.

Register at http://werackyourworld.com/resources/reg/.
This event has limited seating and is first come, first serve.

When: Thursday March 15th from 1:00pm-4:30pm
Where: Triumph Brewing Company, 117 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
19106

Topics on Tap:
- Bala Consulting Engineers – Next Generation Data Centers; Design, DCIM, Relocation, Planning, IT Commissioning
- Great Lakes – The enclosure of the past was used to house equipment and offer some protection with little regard for cooling and cable management – Raritan – Smart and Efficient Data Centers begin with smarter racks
- Bluecat Networks – IPAM in the Data Center
- Fluke Networks – The Silent Killer of High Speed Fiber Networks

Complimentary parking available at Quality Park Parking Lot, 126 South Front Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Simply park and get validation from us before you leave the brewery.

Attendees will be entered into a drawing for an Apple iPad!

Register at http://werackyourworld.com/resources/reg/. This event has limited seating and is first come, first serve.

Posted in Access and Management, Asset Identification and Tracking, Blade Management, Change and Capacity Management, DCIM, Data Center, Data Center Conferences, Data Center Technologies, Data Center Visualization, Embedded Server Management, Energy Monitoring, Facilities Management, KVM, Power, Power Distribution | Leave a comment

Lock it Down with KVM-over-IP !

A recent InfoWorld article entitled “Got remote access?  Lock it down” makes the claim that “poorly configured remote-access programs routinely account for a significant portion of data breaches and network security incidents.”  It further cites RDP and VNC as “the two top culprits.”  Incredibly it estimates 83 million open VNC ports and  230 million RDP ports.

Compare this to the use of KVM-over-IP systems, which do not share the vulnerabilities of standard remote access systems.  Secure appliances such as the Dominion KX II provide out-of-band remote access without the use of hardware or software agents installed in servers or PC’s.  In addition, KVM-over-IP provides BIOS-level remote access and does not depend on applications or even the operating system to be running on the server or PC being accessed.

KVM-over-IP systems are not well known by hackers, do not use standard TCP/IP ports, and have many security features.  For example, strong passwords can be enforced, users can be blocked after failed login attempts, IP access control can limit access, and comprehensive user and group permissions can be set.  Moreover, user access is logged and security events raised for suspicious activities.

With KVM-over-IP you can have full-featured, secure, locked-down remote access!  Check out the Dominion KX II on raritan.com.

Posted in Access and Management, Blade Management, Data Center, Data Center Technologies, Embedded Server Management, Government Security Compliance, KVM, Remote Office Management, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Raritan’s Lab Server Management Solution – Remote Server Management

Many companies have labs to develop, test and evaluate their hardware and software products. How do you keep lab resources available 24/7, even when you are not physically there?  While essential to business operations, managing these lab assets is challenging and remote access is a critical component.

Raritan’s Lab Server Management Solution provides remote and local BIOS-level access for server management and control from anywhere – in the lab, in the office, on the road, or from home – minimizing infrastructure and management costs. Lab managers can quickly and easily reboot, patch or update servers, reducing travel costs and enhancing productivity.

For those labs that do not need 24/7 uptime and are looking to minimize energy costs, scheduling capabilities enable servers to be powered down at night and powered up in the morning.  Additionally, with automated provisioning, lab managers can quickly and intelligently place lab equipment and ensure accurate asset tracking – reducing manual processes and operations costs.

For more information on how Raritan’s Lab Server Management Solution can help your business, contact your authorized Raritan representative or see our website at: http://www.raritan.com/resources/application-briefs/application-brief-lab-server-management.pdf

Posted in Access and Management, DCIM, Facilities Management, KVM, Power, Remote Office Management | Leave a comment

Stop by Raritan’s booth at Datacenter Dynamics Atlanta on February 24th to check our Smart Rack Solution.

Stop by our booth at DCD Atlanta to check out our Smart-Rack Management Solution. It contains intelligent rack PDUs, environment sensors (temperature, humidity, air pressure, airflow, electronic asset tracking and energy management and data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software.

We have a limited number of complimentary passes for end users. If you are interested, please contact me at dorothy.ochs@raritan.com or (732) 764-8886 x1220.

http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/conferences/2012/atlanta-2012

Posted in Asset Identification and Tracking, Carbon Cap and Trade, Change and Capacity Management, DCIM, Data Center, Data Center Conferences, Data Center Technologies, Data Center Visualization, Energy Consumption Measurement, Energy Monitoring, Facilities Management, Green Data Center, Power, Power Distribution | Leave a comment

Introducing Remote Server Management for Kiosks

Businesses that use kiosks such as ATMs to serve their customers have many unique support and maintenance challenges.  ATMs are generally deployed at multiple locations, and across many geographical areas.  Responsive and on-site support is often difficult. To ensure 24/7 secure access, energy, environmental, visual, and security controls are necessary.  Remote support and management become critical to ATM operation and ROI.

Raritan’s Remote Server Management solution enables businesses to efficiently and reliably manage kiosks, from anywhere.   Using remote BIOS-level access and locally mounting of drives and media, IT professionals can effectively diagnose, power cycle, and restore operations.  These remote capabilities reduce travel time and operations cost.

Environmental sensor monitoring, such as temperature, humidity and airflow, ensures reliability.  When a problem is identified or the need to conserve emergency power arises, load shedding and power cycling can also be performed remotely.

For more information on how Raritan’s Remote Server Management solution can help your business contact your authorized Raritan representative or see our website at:  http://www.raritan.com/resources/application-briefs/application-brief-remote-server-management-for-kiosks.pdf

Posted in Access and Management, KVM, Remote Office Management | Leave a comment

Non-Blocked IP Access at Last !

A new Dominion KX II model is now available – the Dominion KX2-808.   The DKX2-808 enables 8 simultaneous remote/IP connections to 8 servers or PC’s.  The DKX2-808 is unique among the KX II models since it provides “non-blocked” access, i.e. users can always connect to a server/PC; they are never blocked by another user.  While most other KVM-over-IP switches provide some level of blocking in exchange for lower costs, the DKX2-808 features non-blocked access which is required for many situations.

The DKX2-808 ideally suited for many types of use cases.  For example, a customer may have “critical servers” that must always be remotely accessible.  For example, in a real-time application, say an operations center or control center, an operator may require non-blocked access to a group of servers.  Many broadcast type environments also have this requirement where the user must always have access to critical servers.  For development or test labs, there may also be critical servers used by a large number of people.

In other cases, the user – possibly an IT administrator or developer – may require simultaneous access to multiple servers at once.  With the DKX2-808, they can have this access without affecting the productivity of other users that may be blocked from accessing other servers.

Access to blade servers is another situation ideally suited to non-blocked access.  A customer can connect 8 blade server chassis to the DKX2-808 and each blade server chassis can always be remotely accessible.  This prevents a user from not being able to access up to 20 individual blade servers.

Similar to this scenario is the tiering or cascading of KVM switches.  In this common use case, the customer connects up to 8 other KVM switches to the DKX2-808.  Since these KVM switches provide access up to 16, 32 or even 64 servers, blocking is not acceptable.

Similarly, many customers IP-enable their Raritan Paragon II switches by connecting them to a Dominion KX II.  Again, since a Paragon switch can be connected to up to 64 servers, and losing access to that many servers is not desirable, the DKX2-808 is ideally suited for this application.

For customers requiring non-blocked access to a large number of servers, for example a customer wanting 64×64 or even 100×100 access, multiple DKX2-808 switches can be used together with Raritan’s CommandCenter Secure Gateway such that a large group of users can have immediate access to each and every server.

So as you can see the DKX2-808 is uniquely qualified for many common situations providing the non-blocked access required.

For more information on the Dominion KX2-808 and the other KX II models, contact your authorized Raritan representative or our website at:  http://www.raritan.com/products/kvm-over-ip/dominion-kx-ii/

Posted in Access and Management, Blade Management, Government Security Compliance, KVM | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Data Center Infrastructure Management: The Case for Automating Data Center Asset Management. Visit the Raritan Booth at DCD Toronto on December 12 to learn more.

There’s no secret that the majority of data center incidents are caused by human error. This can result in: poor capacity planning, manual audits, slow business process and overall operational inefficiencies.

Join our presentation at 12:30 p.m. and learn how automation of your data center assets is simpler than you think but can help you avoid costly errors and provide huge cost savings.

To register visit http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/conferences/2011/toronto-2011.

Posted in Asset Identification and Tracking, Change and Capacity Management, DCIM, Data Center, Data Center Conferences, Data Center Visualization, Green Data Center, Power | Leave a comment

A Thanksgiving Message

Dear Data Center Manager,

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the USA. I’m finishing up this blog before heading to the grocery store to pick up the few things I forgot to purchase earlier in the week. How did I manage to forget mushrooms for the gravy?

The global economy is bad, many people are out of work, those fortunate enough to have work are stretched thin trying to get everything done and there is more than enough conflict in the world. But despite all that there are many things for which we can be thankful.

Those of us in the IT world have a lot to be thankful for. Data centers are being upgraded. Despite economic problems IT spending has stayed strong for 2011. There is growing interest in data center infrastructure management (DCIM) and the promise of DCIM solutions to make large and complex data centers easier and more efficient to manage and operate.

But, it is you who is finding ways to cut costs while providing better services. You are reducing energy consumption at the same time that you are improving reliability. You are able to postpone the huge capital expenditures associated with data center expansions and yet grow at unprecedented rates.

These amazing accomplishments are possible because you are thinking hard about how to get the most and the best out of your IT assets. You have become the evangelist who preaches, “The way it’s always been done is not the way we should do it now.” Then you have had to bring about the new order by planning, testing, deploying, implementing and improving products, processes and practices. And you have had to make these changes while maintaining live, 24×7, mission critical systems.

Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Greg

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Gartner Data Center Conference

Gartner Data Center Conference
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
Monday, December 5-7, 2011
Booth # 42

Come to our booth to see Raritan’s Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution – dcTrack.

dcTrack brings an even stronger asset, capacity and change management solution, while also incorporating PowerIQ®, our energy management solution, to complete the DCIM solution.  Power IQ provides a clear picture of available power, energy and environmental trends amongst all assets. This helps provide accurate information on power usage that can be used to save on energy costs and maintain compliance.

Posted in Asset Identification and Tracking, Carbon Cap and Trade, Change and Capacity Management, DCIM, Data Center, Data Center Conferences, Data Center Visualization, Energy Consumption Measurement, Energy Monitoring, Green Data Center, KVM, Power, Power Distribution | Leave a comment

Announcing Dominion LX – Affordable KVM-over-IP for SMB’s

Raritan has just announced the Dominion LX series of KVM-over-IP appliances.

The Dominion LX is a family of affordable, high-quality KVM-over-IP switches with single power, single LAN and virtual media. Targeted towards small and midsize businesses (SMB) with less than 75 servers under management, they provide BIOS-level, IP control of 8 or 16 servers with one or two user remote IP access, as well as local, at-the-rack access.

The Dominion LX family includes three KVM-over-IP models:

  • The DLX-108 – an 8-port switch, one remote user session and one local user
  • The DLX-116 – a 16-port switch, one remote user session and one local user
  • The DLX-216 – a 16-port switch, two remote user sessions and one local user

The typical customer, usually an IT administrator or software developer/tester, works for a small or midsize business that needs remote, KVM-over-IP access to their PCs, servers and computer equipment, at an economical price.

SMB’s have had to settle for entry-level KVM-over-IP switches with limited features,  out-dated platforms, and old-school OSD user interfaces.   The typical SMB KVM-over-IP switch has an On Screen Display (OSD) on its local port.  This OSD has an entirely different interface from the IP user interface.   The user must learn two completely different user interfaces!  In addition, many administrative features are missing from the OSD.

The Dominion LX sets a new standard for SMB KVM-over-IP switches with:

  • A common, browser-based user interface for remote and local access
  • Independent local and remote access
  • The most secure switch in it’s class
  • Optional virtual media and absolute mouse synchronization
  • A modern platform with 1920×1080 remote video, gigabit Ethernet LAN, and dual stack IPv6/IPv4 networking

Click here to learn more about how the Dominion LX can give you affordable, anytime/anywhere IP access to your IT equipment

Click here to watch the Dominion LX Video

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