Provider of data center services IO has started offering the data center operating system it originally developed to run its modular data centers as a stand-alone product.

IO OS, built to control IO Anywhere modules, can be used to operate both modular and traditional data center infrastructure, the company said. The system automates the power infrastructure supporting IT, with controls accessible through PCs or mobile devices.

Katherine Broderick, an analyst at the research firm IDC, said IO OS was “advanced DCIM software” both IT and facilities staff could benefit from.

"IO OS uses logic within the system to trigger actions based on critical set points which is otherwise known as 'control.' The autonomic data center is starting to happen today," she said.

The operating system provides real-time monitoring of the entire data center infrastructure, including mechanical and electrical systems. It can be used to optimize data center operations on a global scale.

Hundreds of devices can be accessed from one view and customers can chose how the data is presented to them: physical, logical or infrastructure. IO OS gives visibility of generators, switchgear, paralleling systems, chillers and other supporting systems.

In addition to power-use optimization capabilities, the system has service-level management functionality, including continuous monitoring, control and managed-services integration.

IO started with providing traditional colocation space in the Phoenix market, eventually introducing its modular data center product IO Anywhere. It now provides space within IO Anywhere modules at multiple sites it owns, but also offers to deliver and operate the modules at customers’ own locations.

Image: IO OS screenshot. Image courtesy of IO