A large multi-national financial services institution was building a new data center in the eastern United States. In their existing data centers all over the world, they had tried a variety of data center infrastructure monitoring (DCIM) tools, but weren’t totally satisfied with any of them for a number of reasons. Chief among these reasons was that none could handle the sheer volume of data that generated in a typical data center.
Because of this experience, the client decided to test the FieldView solution in their new environment. They knew that they needed a DCIM solution that would provide capacity planning, ease of use, custom alarming on critical systems (both IT and facilities), outstanding security, and especially, scalability to accommodate their huge portfolio of global data centers.
FieldView Solutions' FieldView is a software solution that helps all types of data centers run at peak efficiency. It provides real-time information about all the critical systems in a data center — both IT and facilities systems — in a format that is designed to empower management to make great decisions based on facts, not guesses. The goal of the software is for users get the most out of the equipment and space available, reduce energy and cooling consumption, and proactively plan for future expansion.
THE RESULTS
Implementation of the DCIM progressed along with construction, and personnel were always available for testing and validation. The company’s full suite of DCIM tools helped the client place and install their servers, PDUs, generators and CRAC units, in addition to the major points on the HVAC systems, to their best advantage, maximizing both space and energy utilization.
When the data center opened, FieldView was already at work. Everything worked properly, and it was easy for both IT and facilities staff to see and manage their respective responsibilities. The DCIM’s custom alarming on critical IT and facilities systems alerted the proper personnel so small problems could be attended to, to prevent major disasters.
Financial institutions have extremely strict security protocols. The DCIM system is 100% secure; there’s no remote access required to log on the system and the software resides on the client’s network, behind firewalls.
By benchmarking the energy usage after installing FieldView against other data centers, the vice president responsible for the DCIM implementation conservatively estimated a 20% energy savings in the new facility within the first year of operations. “We’ve never had a start-up go so well,” he added.
As the data center grew to include two new additions, tripling the size of the site, FieldView and the client’s staff were able to add the necessary points for the new equipment and seamlessly integrate it into the existing system.
The client discovered that the DCIM system delivered a wealth of information on one screen. Real-time power and capacity data, as well as historical reporting, gave management the ability and confidence to plan future expansions. Also, the clarity of the system’s reporting “completely eliminated” the disagreements about data interpretation, which used to plague the IT and facilities teams.
This multi-national firm was so impressed with the performance of the DCIM system, that it deployed the software in all its facilities across three continents for a total of 145,000 points and 135,000 sq ft of white space. No other solution that management had evaluated had the scalability to handle this massive operation as well as plan for future expansion. Since FieldView handles multiple locations within a network, these remote sites were added seamlessly, and the system was able to produce metrics, analytics and alarms globally — by country, by state, and by location — providing a standard view for the entire portfolio, for everyone the world over.
