In last week’s blog, we talked about the first three myths surrounding monitoring and alarming. Now here’s a look at the remaining three.

• Myth #4: You have to keep the data center ice cold to protect the servers.
  
  If you have a DCIM solution, you don’t need your parka anymore!
  
  Here’s why: In the past, data center managers kept the temperature in their facilities really low, because they were concerned about reliability, and had no insight into temperatures in their data rooms. So they used low temperatures as a safety gap to improve uptime.
  
  A DCIM system enables you to close that gap by giving you real-time temperature readings throughout your facilities. That way, if you see a hot spot, you can remediate it before anything overheats. A cold spot? You may be able to put more equipment there safely.
  
  Once you get a handle on your environmental data, you can slowly raise the ambient temperature in your facility, little by little, with pure confidence, because you’re seeing the temperature changes in real- time. After each change, you can monitor the temperature, address the hot and cold spots, check and recheck, then repeat. That safety gap is now history and you can reduce your power consumption and energy spend significantly, and even lower your CO2 emissions.

• Myth #5: You don’t need alarms and alerts.
  
  Just as the “idiot lights” in your car light up to alert you when something is wrong before a total system breakdown, deploying a system that provides alarms and alerts in a data center can smooth operations and decrease downtime. When there’s the potential of something going wrong, you’ll have ample time to correct it and avoid disaster. Examples include an alarm that alerts you when your temperature is too high, your power has switched to a back-up system, or if you’re nearing capacity.
  
  Alarms and alerts will give you the power to increase your data center’s resilience — and ensure uptime even when something goes wrong. Maintain your data center and pay attention to the details, and it will run smoothly for you. Ignore it or let up on your vigilance, and face a disaster or downtime. A DCIM system with alarms and alerts helps data center operators increase uptime with real-time information that helps managers make critical business decisions and avoid disasters.
   
• Myth #6: Getting started with DCIM is a huge project.
  
  It doesn’t have to be. Take it slowly, starting with the easiest, most obvious changes. For example, you can begin with the rack PDUs, which are probably networked at the in-rack PDU already; or with SNMP devices that have IP addresses. Or you can install wired or wireless sensors, and start monitoring your temperature.
  
  Budget your expansion by year. Start in one location, and move to additional sites as you grow.

So there you have it. Six myths about monitoring and alerting, debunked. Did we miss any popular ones? What myths have you heard?