Capacity planning is an integral part of any data center operation and presents some of the most important, and challenging questions data center teams face. Do we have the right people and tools in place? Can we maintain uptime while maximizing computing resources? How do we keep our projects on time without increasing cost or risking outages?

Data Center Managers are tasked with establishing a workflow that answers these questions. In trying to establish such a workflow, many Data Center Managers face the following scenario:

• A business unit would like to update their application.
• The IT department investigates an alternative solution that will run on the standard platform. Regardless, hardware is ultimately purchased, and the project begins.
• The Data Center Manager receives the project request, which will need a specified amount of power, a number of rack units, cooling capacity, and communication ports for structured cabling.
• The Data Center Manager is concerned that the project requirements cannot be met due to a number of capacity constraints.
• Either Facilities will need to be involved to re-engineer the space to accommodate the equipment, or the equipment must be relocated to a co-lo or public cloud.
• Solving the dilemma will likely result in project delays, increased costs, and outages.

While the above scenario sounds less than ideal, it seems to be a surprisingly common occurrence in the data center industry. This blog shares an alternative workflow using Tri-Paragon’s DCIM as a Service.

Establishing a Cohesive Capacity Planning Workflow

Establishing a smooth, cohesive workflow is easier with the right tools in place. Utilizing Tri-Paragon’s DCIM as a Service solves the dilemma of the above scenario before it occurs.

The new workflow would look like the following:

• A business unit would like to update their application.
• The IT Department checks with Tri-Paragon to see if the equipment can be installed using the available capacity immediately identifiable using Tri-Paragon’s DCIM as a Service.
• The impact of the new equipment on the data center’s power, space, cooling, and airflow capacity is immediately identifiable from the visualizations and dashboards.
• The cost and timeline of the equipment install are finalized. Tri-Paragon informs the Data Center Manager.
• The new equipment is delivered and installed with no delays, unexpected costs, or outages.

This scenario is noticeably smoother, and the teams are working together more cohesively. The primary difference between the two scenarios is that the teams in the second scenario know exactly how their data center will behave when new equipment is installed. Tri-Paragon’s Sunbird DCIM as a Service coupled with our Data Centre Shared Operations Playbook makes all the difference.

Data Center Capacity Planning with Tri-Paragon’s DCIM as a Service

Being able to test new equipment virtually using DCIM as a Service technology and see the equipment’s impact on power, space, cooling, and airflow capacity removes guesswork and risk. Teams are better equipped to make informed, data-driven decisions that can easily be conveyed to one another using Tri-Paragon’s Sunbird DCIM software and following our Data Centre Operations playbook.

Capacity Planning Made Easy with Tri-Paragon’s DCIMaaS and Machine Learning

• Easy, Automatic Power Budget Calculations - Power budget profiles are automatically calculated for each device instance based on how they are used in your environment running your applications.
• Highly Accurate to Find Stranded Capacity - Achieve greater utilization of existing cabinet resources to defer building out unneeded new capacity that costs $15,000-$20,000 per cabinet.
• Capacity Planning with No Risk of Human Error - Machine learning algorithms you can trust are based on measured readings over long periods of time and updated every week. Set your policy once and you're done.
• See What You're Missing with Modern Capacity Planning
• See space, power, cooling, and connectivity capacity across all sites in a single dashboard
• See 3D visual Capacity reports on your floor map that you and management will understand
• Intelligently find the optimal cabinet space for new equipment in seconds

Tri-Paragon’s “DCIM as a Service”

For additional information on Tri-Paragon’s “DCIM as a Service” using DCIM Software from Sunbird please click the button below and you will be redirected to a form to capture your contact information so we may reach out to you to answer any questions you may have. You will also receive an overview of our DCIM as a Service (DCIMaaS) document. 

Thank you to our guest blogger: Paul Brin, CEO, CDCDP, CDCEP, Data Centre Consultant, Creative Facility Design

with contributions from Tri-Paragon.