Aperture Technologies Inc., the leading global provider of software for managing the physical infrastructure of data centres, has launched Aperture VISTA Capacity Management, a new application that enables data center managers to better understand and predict the consumption of power, cooling, space and other physical resources.
In order to effectively manage the data center, it is essential that managers are able to understand the capacity remaining within critical infrastructure resources such as power, cooling and (floor/rack) space. If the data center is not managed proactively, resource conflicts can occur which increase the likelihood of a disruption in service. When capacity is poorly managed, there is a greater risk of under-provisioning (which can delay the roll-out of critical systems) or over-provisioning (which makes operations inefficient and unnecessarily expensive). With the lead time to acquire, provision or build new data centres measured in years, organisations need a long term plan for forecasting when and what type of infrastructure resources they will need.
Aperture collaborated closely with its leading Fortune 100 customers to develop this new application which is the industry's first full-function capacity management tool. Aperture VISTA Capacity Management enables organisations to track infrastructure usage over time and apply forecasts of future application pipelines to predict the consumption of data centrt resources. It enables data centers to determine when key resources will run out, providing plenty of lead-time for future data center planning and minimising the risks associated with outages or service disruptions. By enabling data center resources to be managed accurately, Aperture VISTA Capacity Management enables organisations to minimise operational cost without running the risk of under-provisioning. Organisations can also save the costs associated with short term leased or rented space or other stop gap measures resulting from inadequate forecasting and planning.
Using Aperture VISTA Capacity Management, businesses can capture their past infrastructure usage, understand future trends based on past use and report on key capacity metrics and thresholds. There are processes for modelling planned projects impacting the infrastructure, which include the flowing of those projects into equipment provisioning work requests when committed. The software enables managers to maintain the Capacity Management Plan, assign capacity to business units for budgeting purposes, investigate scenarios around infrastructure use, and support new infrastructure build-outs. By understanding the number of months remaining on key parameters of capacity, managers can build a business case for how and when new infrastructure should be provisioned and deliver the services required to support the business in a cost effective manner.
"Facilities management and IT management have typically not cooperated on data center planning to the level needed for today's enterprise, said Bill Clifford, chairman and CEO of Aperture Technologies. "Historically, capacity management of the data center only considered floor and rack space, and did not have to cover power and cooling capacities. IT did not need to communicate with Facilities to understand when capacity would be exceeded. Today, with high density equipment changing the way data centres are operated, IT and Facilities must cooperate in planning how resources are allocated, ensuring they are aligned with the needs of the business. This requires the tools and capabilities that Aperture is providing.
Clifford added: "Aperture VISTA Capacity Management furthers the vision of Aperture VISTA to bring these groups together under a professional data centre management practice, which significantly improves the efficiency and capability of the data center.
"Our data centres are absolutely essential to the success of our business and so in this area we only work with companies which we know and trust, such as Aperture, says Mark Scott, head of customer data centers at Fujitsu. "The foundation for managing the data center is based on the management of capacity: whether its cooling, power, or space. Aperture Capacity Management will allow us to accurately and meticulously plan the growth and lifecycle of our data centers and all of its components while understanding the effects different scenarios have on future capacity. This will prevent downtime, ensure the longevity of our data centres, help us manage projects and save us money.