Future Facilities, Inc. and No Limits Softwarehave announced the integration of No Limits’ RaMP DCIMsolution with Future Facilities’ 6SigmaFM.

The integration combines the auto-discovery, automated change management, and real-time monitoring capabilities of RaMP with 6SigmaFM’s ability to continuously model the impact that data center changes will have on server availability, capacity, and efficiency (ACE).  

RaMP provides data center managers with accurate, timely data about virtual machines, IT equipment, and facilities equipment to present a detailed view of the current state of the data center. 6SigmaFM has full predictive modeling capabilities, allowing for scientifically based capacity planning. It warns about thermal or electrical issues that could be encountered in these future plans, and it allows IT and Facilities teams to modify these plans to mitigate such risk before a deployment goes ahead.

 “Our RaMP DCIM solution can produce the most complete picture of the current state of the data center, from virtual servers to servers and network equipment to the power and cooling infrastructure,” said Dave Cole, president of No Limits Software.  “We found the predictive capabilities of 6SigmaFM to be a natural extension of our RaMP solution, and the combination of the two systems is the best solution for data center managers to know what’s going on today while also accurately planning for the future.”

“There is intense focus on improving efficiency and reducing cost in the data center, but mitigating a data center’s lost capacity remains a key performance indicator. Financially, the impact of lost capacity (CapEX) far outweighs the cost of running an inefficient data center,” said Sherman Ikemoto, director of Future Facilities, Inc. “By combining the predictive capabilities of 6SigmaFM with RaMP, data center managers can accurately assess the impact of new technologies, IT refreshes, and other energy efficiency measures, allowing them to be confident that steps to reduce operating costs and extend the life of their data center won’t compromise the availability of the data center.” 

The RaMP DCIM solution provides the following benefits:

  • Auto-discovery of detailed device information
  • Power and environmental monitoring down to the device level
  • Server monitoring to identify servers which should be retired, virtualized or consolidated
  • Software and operating system license management
  • Automated change control to reduce MTTR and increase availability
  • Web services API for integration with other systems
  • PUE, DCiE and CADE energy management calculations
  • Accurate capacity planning data helps to reduce stranded power and shutdown risks
  • Device type roll-up views for an easy way to quickly compare device performance
  • Full-featured workflow and task management
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Future Facilities 6SigmaFM provides the following benefits:

  • IT Demand Management – considers the impact of proposed installs, moves, and decommissions
  • Capacity Management – use thermal simulations to reset cooling limits on racks as the IT layout changes
  • Design Upgrade – test effectiveness of new technologies (rack cooling, containment, etc.)  before deployment
  • Troubleshooting – diagnose the cause of overheating equipment
  • Facility Management – assess the impact of equipment downtime due to maintenance or failure
  • Energy Efficiency – test whether cooling setpoints can be raised without compromising resiliency