Schneider Electric has released its new White Paper #281, entitled "Essential Guidance on DCIM for Edge Computing Infrastructure."
Available for immediate download at the Schneider Electric website, the paper provides data center operators, channel partners and managed service providers (MSPs) with best practices for the successful deployment of next-generation data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software in edge computing environments.
As they have evolved to leverage innovative technologies including AI and machine learning (ML), DCIM platforms ensure that distributed IT equipment deployed in remote locations, which lack IT staff, are proactively monitored to drive resilience and uptime, contends the company. According to Schneider Electric, such next-generation DCIM platforms are defined by five key attributes, which clearly differentiate them from legacy data center management systems.
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These five attributes are as follows:
-- Next-generation DCIM relies on cloud technologies for ease of implementation, scalability, analytics and maintenance.
-- Next-generation DCIM connects to a data lake, enabling insight and event prediction with AI.
-- Next-generation DCIM utilizes mobile and web technologies and integrates with third party platforms.
-- Next-generation DCIM prioritizes simplicity and intuitive user experiences in its design.
-- Next-generation DCIM serves as a compliance tool to identify and eliminate potential cyber security risks.
The paper contends that that, through adoption of next-generation DCIM architectures such as Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure, today's facility managers can ensure maintenance upgrades and service schedules perform at optimum levels. Schneider says its EcoStruxure platform also allows partners and service providers to more easily extend their visibility and manage multiple edge sites across a larger geographical area; delivering real-time alerts and updates that allow users to proactively mitigate unplanned downtime from anywhere, at any time and on any device.
Authored by Patrick Donovan, senior research analyst for the Data Center Science Center at Schneider Electric, the company's White Paper #281 also highlights the need for a carefully considered Operations and Maintenance (O&M) program, enabling the software to operate in close collaboration with other similarly structured O&Ms across the edge computing environment. Such programs make system maintenance and management more simplified, contends the company, allowing automated device firmware, bug fixes and security patches to update proactively, in real-time.