Incorporating RFID Into The Evolution Of Data Center Management

Information is the life blood of any business. Organizations must use information as a strategic weapon to remain competitive. The reliance on information has grown so intense that even the slightest interruption in the flow can make the difference between profit and loss for a day, a quarter, or a year. With this in mind, businesses are spending billions of dollars on the collection, storage, manipulation, distribution, and protection of the information.

So if information is the life blood of an organization, then the data center is the heart of the organization, and the data communications infrastructure is the vascular system. Not unlike human cardio vascular systems, the data center and its infrastructures are vital to the overall health of a business. Yet, the data center is an environment of constant change. Mergers, acquisitions, new business partners, equipment upgrades, lease expirations, marketing programs, natural and man made disasters, and a host of other real world business activities constantly challenge the IT professional to provide the level of data availability necessary to their organization.

As with any component of a company, an IT department must continue to improve efficiency to remain competitive. Traditionally, efficiency in a data center was measured by information availability, and by cost. As systems have become more reliable and the cost of systems has stabilized through competition, the ability to react to a changing business environment has emerged as an equally important third metric in measuring efficiency. Those that can react quickly and efficiently to new business opportunities and operational situations are the organizations that gain a competitive advantage.

This represents what often are two opposing requirements to the IT professional. Information availability is usually associated with system stability. Ability to react usually means change. Providing a balance between stability and change is the challenge all data center managers face today. The key to mastering this challenge for information systems is information itself.

A computing environment is often made up of thousands of assets and thousands of connections between those assets. Individual assets can potentially posses thousands of unique attributes to include: model number, options, date of install, component origin, date of manufacture, number of and location of termination points, physical location, lease and service information, to name a few.

Traditionally, from an operational cost point of view, collection and organization of all the information has been a near impossible task. Keeping this information base current throughout the constant change in a data center is next to impossible.

Currently available commercial software systems, which track asset and connection information, lead to a false sense of security because of the requirement of human interaction to stay current. For example: upon the conclusion of an installation, false data entry or the omission of information regarding an optical cable position may occur. The disparity between information and reality will adversely impact data center operations as each incorrect piece of information may be considered a time bomb waiting to cause a “significant event” affecting the business mission.

The key to making an asset and connection tracking system functional for an IT organization is: an automated method for collecting, organizing, sorting, displaying, and updating correct information.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) will be the key, cost effective, enabler. Over the next five years RFID will revolutionize the way IT environments are managed. Every major hardware vendor and many software vendors have begun RFID initiatives. One example is HP’s “Adaptive Enterprise” strategy, which utilizes RFID technology.

RFID standards grew from the retail and supply chain industries. In these industries, Universal Product Codes (UPC), utilizing bar codes, became the prevailing technology for decades. In the mid 1990’s major retailers funded a group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to research and build the next generation of standards. The MIT lab was known as the Auto ID Center. The MIT lab effort lead to the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Standard, which is RFID based.

Under this standard, all attributes of an instance of a product are embedded in an electronic chip, called a tag, affixed to the object. When the object is place within range of a reader, the chip is power by the antenna and releases its unique information. The reader forwards the information to a software system that sorts and stores the information. The direct result is the extraction of all the information that describes the object and the ability to track the object’s location(s).

RFID readers throughout a facility will automate asset inventory in real time. The same reader network will track and document every instance of a moved asset. RFID based name badges or wrist bracelets may provide access to secure areas and provide a mechanism to associate the movement of human assets with non-human assets. CAD drawings may identify where every asset is, instantly.

Optical and copper cable connectors will contain tags. Devices, routers, switches, and patch panels will all contain miniature readers. When anything is connected, software will instantly learn the connectivity and automatically update the documentation. Auto-discovery logical and physical diagram views of all devises and their connections will dynamically change as cables are plugged and unplugged.

The ascending steps of work orders are verified before the next step may be attempted. Any number of configurations may be designed and the system will automatically generate work orders to build a configuration, walking the user through every step.

Because RFID enables systems to learn about assets and how they are connected, compatibility tests may be automatically run to ensure port speeds, fiber types, and the number of crosses in a fiber optic run support the desired end result(s). One of the more important benefits of RFID implementation is providing management with a physical layer risk management tool that is real time, accurate, and completely non-intrusive.

Managers may be instantly notified via e-mail or text message when an asset or connection under their jurisdiction is altered.

Most assets delivered to an IT facility will have factory embedded tags that comply with EPC standards. RFID readers placed above dock doors, store room doors, and located within the Data Center area will automatically read these tags and register the reference information into the tracking system. For assets without tags, the tracking system will assemble the required information and generate labels and tags in a single process. In either case, the tag will track the asset from cradle to grave.

Major system components such as Processors, Storage Area Networks (SANs), Direct Access Storage Devices (DASD), Tape Libraries, and Internet Servers all require network connectivity. It is not uncommon for data center infrastructures to consist of thousands of channels of connectivity (and often tens of thousands), and each of these fiber optic and copper cables must be interconnected in a manner that ensures system functionality. Also important is the components are managed in a manner that minimizes the possibility of a system outage. Cost effective asset and configuration management demands a systematic approach to “infrastructure process management”.

To this end, ConTech has developed the “Genesys” Enterprise Infrastructure Management System. The Genesys system provides to data center managers a powerful tool for planning and managing changes in the infrastructure, as well as accurate asset management and tracking. ConTech’s experience in process management, and investment in infrastructure management products and services, combined with RFID technology, has resulted in a generational leap in infrastructure management.

The Genesys Infrastructure Management System is made up of three components

• Obtain 24/7 Infrastructure Management Software
• Genesys Hardware
• Genesys Interface software

Obtain 24/7 Infrastructure Management Software

The first component in the Genesys system is the Obtain 24/7 Infrastructure Management software suite. Obtain provides enterprise connectivity and asset tracking for both data communications and power distribution. Obtain utilizes information (in database form) to manage information on all components and connections in the environment. Obtain provides a variety of ways to access and display the information, and possesses the ability to create custom reports.

Obtain also facilitates the planning process by providing a snapshot view of the communications infrastructure. This function allows the user to see which assets are in use and which are available. Once the planning process is complete, Obtain’s Work Order Generation capability allows for the creation of Moves, Adds, and Change (MAC) work orders. Once an order is complete, Obtain will update the infrastructure and asset database.

Database software is a powerful tool for managing the infrastructure, but is limited as is all database software. This limitation stems from the lack of an auto-entry mode to enter information into the database (manual data entry is prone to error). When Obtain is combined with the Genesys hardware and software, a system is created that gathers real-time information about the infrastructure in an auto-discovery mode, eliminating manual record keeping.

Genesys Hardware

The second component in the Genesys system is the Genesys hardware. ConTech’s unique Intelligent Connectivity system utilizes the latest RFID technology to facilitate automatic registration of components and connections. This portion of the system is made up of the RFID tag, antenna, and controller components.

RFID Tags

The RFID tags are placed on cable assemblies, some network devices, and infrastructure components (patch panels, cabinets, servers, tray, etc.). The tag will contain manufacturing information and may be programmed with specific identification information

Antennas

The RFID antennas are located adjacent to the couplers of a patch panel. When an RFID tagged cable is plugged in, the chip is energized and read by the antenna. The ports are continuously monitored and changes are recognized immediately.

Controllers

The controller acts as an antenna manager and interface to the network. After a chip is read, the controller converts the collected data into IP format and forwards the packet to Obtain.

Genesys Interface Software

The third and final component of the Genesys system is the Genesys interface software which links the Genesys hardware and the Obtain database over a public or private IP network. The functionality of Genesys is broken down into two main areas.

The first is real time reporting with regard to the appearance or disappearance of an asset or connection. Each time a change is recorded by the controller, the change is forwarded over an IP network to Obtain and the data center managers.

The second is the population of the Obtain asset database. The information forwarded from the tags is placed in files which describe assets configured in the environment, and the information is used to populate the Obtain asset database.

To summarize, RFID technology promises to provide increased operational efficiencies for the entire enterprise. The core components of the technology have become commodities due in part to the retail and supply chain industries. The complexities and the criticality of IT environments are well suited for the deployment of RFID management systems. Investments by major IT suppliers of RFID technology verify the observation that RFID will definitely impact how environments are managed, and the timeframe for implementation is very short. In five years, every asset in an information technology environment will be tagged. RFID technology automates the identification and location of any object, revolutionizing the management of anything and everything.

Genesys is an auto-discovery enterprise infrastructure management and documentation solution utilizing state of the art RFID technology. The Genesys system provides real time asset management, inventory tracking, physical layer infrastructure information, and enables logical and physical views which are auto documented. The Genesys system provides instant retrieval of information detailing all the attributes for each piece of equipment RFID tagged, and provides hardware planning and risk management tools.