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Server Technology and Opengear Deliver Remote Access Solution for System Administrators to Securely Manage Power Infrastructure
By Rachel Ramsey TMCnet Web Editor
Data center uptime is not just important for the data center; it’s critical for your business’ success. Managing and monitoring power in the data center not only helps eliminate downtime but it also helps keep control of power capacity and improve energy efficiency, keeping costs down.
Server Technology, a provider of data center power management and monitoring solutions, has teamed up with Opengear (News - Alert), a provider of secure remote infrastructure management solutions, to offer a complete remote access cellular solution that is ideal for both data centers and remote locations. The solution, which includes power and out-of-band management, integrates control of Server Technology’s (News - Alert) smart power distribution units (PDU) with Opengear’s infrastructure management solutions to allow network administrators out-of-band control of systems connected to and powered by those products.
"Power is a key element of remote management. Combining Server Technology’s power solutions with cellular out of band access from Opengear provides total control of the environment," commented Rick Stevenson, CEO of Opengear, in a statement.
Sever Technology’s more than 400 smart PDUs allow users to monitor power, temperature and humidity levels through any Web browser, and receive simple network management protocol (SNMP) alerts or E-mail alerts when any of those things – power, temperature or humidity – exceed thresholds already pre-assigned. A smart PDU is basically a metered PDU that is IP-addressable. The Ethernet connectivity makes smart PDUs the true workhouse in your data center, as you can control them through a network interface.
Combining Server Technology and Opengear gives system administrators the ability to securely manage their entire power infrastructure, no matter where it is located or how it is connected. Opengear’s Web interface monitors all the Server Tech PDUs in the data center or remote office. Authorized users have secure outlet control to power on, power off and power cycle at the managed device level from within the console management screens or using the simple Web-based graphical interface. Power metering and temperature monitoring are coupled with logging and alerts.
Calvin Nicholson, Server Technology’s senior director of software and firmware, said, “System administrators can not only have complete control over their infrastructure equipment connected to Opengear devices but now are also able to control power utilizing Opengear's integrated cellular technology. Not only does the solution provide power control directly, the solution is self aware, allowing devices to take action based on a user defined ‘rule book,’ which now includes the option to power cycle individual or all of Server Technology’s Smart PDUs.”
Combining the two companies’ solutions help resolve common network management challenges, such as maintaining complete control with true out-of-bandd power monitoring and control, easily provisioning, deploying and maintaining remote infrastructure, reducing time-to-repair with event-triggered log retrievals and simplified messaging, minimizing downtime with on-site preventative maintenance and health monitoring and improving infrastructure efficiency with smart M2M auto response and elevation.
Users of the solution can also reduce power consumption by allowing for an easy way to remotely shutdown devices, ensure quality of service by escalating alert notifications for protracted outages and simplify remote control with SMS and Web-initiated custom local actions.
Edited by Ashley Caputo
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