Data Center Articles

Data Center Articles from Industry Experts

Data Center Management

• Improve Energy Efficiency - Managing heat is one of the most important factors in ensuring the optimal performance of your datacenter. Learn how to improve energy efficiency and decrease hot spots with rack-level cooling solutions.
• Applying Data Center Performance Measurement to Mitigate Challenges - Measuring data center performance is vital to maintaining the network and system availability that internal customers expect.
• Capacity Planning - Capacity planning is an essential aspect to creating, expanding, or optimizing a datacenter. There are five main factors that you need to consider when performing capacity planning.
• Environmental Monitoring - Environmental monitoring appliances, also called rack monitoring appliances, allow administrators to proactively monitor multiple conditions in their datacenters or server rooms and alert administrators when conditions exceed established thresholds.
• Data Center Power Technologies - Understanding the latest power technologies is key for energy efficient Data Centers. This article discusses Power System Modules (PSM), Power Distribution Rack (PDR) and Power Distribution Module (PDM) for power management between IT racks, and single-phase vs. three-phase power.

Data Center Cooling Articles

• Effective Cooling Strategies For Today's Datacenters - Excess heat in a server room adversely affects equipment performance, shortens its lifespan, and leads to a premature end of life for equipment.
• Ambient Air & Liquid Cooling for Data Centers - Heat is an important factor that significantly affects IT performance. Compare the two main approaches to datacenter cooling: ambient air cooling and liquid cooling.

Remote Power Management Articles

• Put Remote Management to Work in Your Branch Office -  IT professionals are increasingly implementing intelligent management solutions at branch offices and remote sites.
• Simplify Datacenter Management with Centralized Control of Service Processors - From a single interface, centralized server management platforms let administrators effectively control multiple devices with integrated onboard technologies such as iLO, RILO, DRAC, and IPMI.
• Key Advantages of Remote Power Management - Remote power management products, or intelligent power solutions, reduce server downtime, outages, and losses, and shorten the Mean Time to Repair (MTTR).
• Remote Reboot Power Management - Remote power management solutions allow administrators to remotely power cycle servers and devices. Organizations use remote power management solutions to manage servers at offices where there are no IT personnel, offering cost-efficient lights-out operation at those sites.
• Innovations in Intelligent Power Management - Minimize data center downtime with the latest innovations in remote power over IP strips and remote power management.
• Rack Power Management - High level discussion on power management distribution and control technologies for server rack enclosures in your data centers

Remote Server Management / KVM Over IP Articles

• Remote Server Management Best Practices - Discusses best practices in remote server management, including the use of service processors in remote management solutions.
• Frequently Asked Questions About KVM Switches - KVM switches come in different sizes and can be used in a variety of environments. Applications range widely. A simple KVM switch with a few ports can permit an administrator to manage several servers, while an integrated KVM switching system can provide hundreds of administrators KVM, console, and remote power control of thousands of servers.
• Top Ten Things to Consider When Choosing a CAT5 KVM Switch - Higher-end analog  CAT5 KVM switches allow a user and a server to be up to 1,000 feet apart.
• Server Management: Upgrade Your KVM Technology - Upgrade your current KVM architecture and clean up your server room.
• Remote Access Comparison -There are two remote management approaches available for controlling computers over IP: hardware-based KVM over IP devices and remote desktop client-based software.
• KVM Switch Checklist - As you browse through the KVM switch product pages to decide which KVM switch solution best meets your requirements, carefully consider several KVM Switch features.
• Multi-User KVM Switch Feature Comparison - Multi-User KVM switches (see our Multi-User KVM switches page) range from smaller 4-Users KVM switches able to handle dozens of servers, to an integrated KVM switching system.
• What is a KVM Splitter? - A KVM splitter, also called a reverse KVM switch, creates two or more keyboard, mouse, and monitor access points to one computer, and allows all attached keyboards, mice, and monitors to function as though they were connected directly to the target computer.
• Raritan Paragon II Z-CIM Product Development - Raritan Computer has expanded its Raritan Paragon II CAT5 KVM Computer Interface Module line by introducing three new Z-CIM models  USB, SUN and PS2. The Raritan Z-Series.
• Rose RackView/UltraConsole 1U LCD Drawer - Rose Electronics has recently merged two appealing products into one ideal KVM solution to help manage complicated rack mount installations.
• KVM Switch Feature Comparison - Key features to look for when comparing Multi-User KVM over IP and Analog KVM Switches

Server Rack Articles

• The Top 5 Things to Keep in Mind When Buying a Server Rackk - Selecting the right server rack will help effectively power, cool, and protect your equipment. There are dozens of server rack manufactures all claiming to produce the best rack product.  This article details the most important considerations to keep in mind when determining which server rack would be best for your data center needs.
• Rack Level Cooling - Managing heat is one of the most important factors in ensuring the optimal performance of your datacenter. Learn how to improve energy efficiency and decrease hot spots with rack-level cooling solutions.

Video Splitter Articles

• What is a Video Splitter? - A video splitter is a device that takes one signal from a video source and replicates it over multiple monitors.

Case Studies

• KCSM Expands Television Studio Environment With Help From 42U - 42U helped KCSM, a public television and radio broadcaster located in the San Francisco Bay Area, optimize workflow in its master control environment with an Avocent AMX solution.
• 42U Assists Catholic Healthcare Partners With Datacenter Upgrade and Optimization - 42U has helped CHP update and maintain its server technology in an ongoing effort to provide high-quality healthcare to patients.

Data Center Solution Cut Sheets

• Intelligent Power Management - As IT environments become more diverse and geographically dispersed, intelligent power management solutions provide IT professionals with the information and tools necessary to manage and maintain operations. These solutions leverage hardware and/or software to monitor and control server-level power state and condition.
• Environmental Monitoring - In today's business environment, server and network downtime can paralyze an organization. Excessive power consumption, heat, and other environmental factors are leading causes of equipment failure. To insulate the datacenter from such issues, IT professionals require environmental monitoring solutions to proactively monitor and respond to changes.
• Centralized Datacenter Management - With ever-increasing data center size and complexity, data center managers and IT professionals require remote management solutions that enable them to quickly and effectively access servers, networking devices, and other mission-critical equipment. A complete management solution integrates KVM-over-IP technology, serial console management, and service processor management to provide console level access for true lights out operations.