Avocent Corporation has announced its MergePoint® 5200 family of service processor managers now supports more server models, enhancing IT infrastructure management capabilities for data center managers charged with keeping business operations always on.' The MergePoint products leverage service processors, the embedded "chips inside servers designed to help manage those servers independent of the main operating system processor. This technology can complement in-band server management tools by enabling remote control of server power, hardware monitoring and alerts for improved server availability.
"While hardware health monitoring is an important attribute of service processors, it is the power management capability that has grabbed the attention of our customers today, said Ivan Passos, director of product management. "Embedded service processors send alerts that signal hotspots in a data center, and enable remote power cycling to easily and quickly power down servers when they're overheating. Or if a server is not in use, it can be powered off to reduce utility costs. Adding a service processor strategy to the overall data center management strategy also cuts costs because you are leveraging a technology already paid for when the server was purchased.
There are many different service processors being used in different servers. Added to the list of SP's supported by the MergePoint family are Sun's ILOM and Dell's DRAC 5, and service processors found in the IBM BladeCenter. The open standard IPMI (versions 1.5 and 2.0) and proprietary Dell DRAC 4, HP iLO, IBM RSA II and Sun ALOM technologies have been supported since the MergePoint was introduced. Avocent is the first company to enable IT administrators to manage multiple service processors in Windows, Linux and Unix servers from a single console via Avocent's centralized management software.
The MergePoint appliances help reduce the complexity as well as the cost of leveraging service processor technology through reducing costs, increasing security and easing implementation.
In a separate announcement, the company is to target VARs and systems integrators with expertise in the data center market as it looks to expand its partner base. Owen McKee, UK and Ireland country manager at Avocent, said: "We have about 30 key partners in the UK, but the green issue, soaring energy costs and security are just some of the business concerns that are moving the data center further up the list of enterprise priorities and we want to engage with those organisations at the forefront of this market.
The Data Centre Revolution recruitment initiative will involve two of Avocent's distributors. "The plan is to work with our specialist distributors, Computerlinks and Gamma Global, to identify, recruit and build relationships with data center solutions specialists, McKee explained.