Has IT Become More Reliable?
• Windows improves with every release– It’s pretty unusual for Windows to crash on
its own.– Still issues with some applications.
• Network equipment is definitely more reliable– Switches can still lock up and cause
devastating effects.– Errors in Firewall configuration are rare.
So Can I Reduce My Monitoring?Overall - Probably Not
• There will always be a need to be alerted when a failure occurs.
• There will always be a desire to be pro-active.
• There will always be a need to gather statistics – network and server.
However, you should, perhaps, reconsiderwhat you are monitoring
Consider What to Monitor
• Think “What should I monitor?”, NOT “What can I Monitor?”
• Don’t monitor things that you are not going tolook at.
• Needs change, so be prepared to adapt.• Spinning parts will fail eventually.• Think about presentation of data to
others. “We’re not all Techies”
Environmental Monitoring
• Environmental monitoring is becoming vital.
• High temperature is the cause of many IT failures.
• Is the air-conditioning working?• Is there power to the racks?• What is the temperature and humidity?• How much energy is being used?
Energy Monitoring
• Quite rare today – but it’s going to be essential in the future.
• Three steps to optimizing your power usage:
1. Monitor– Need to understand how power is being used.
2. Control– Need to be able to turn off something.
3. Report– Prove that your policy is having an effect.
Energy Monitoring
• Need to understand power usage in a far more detailed way – by server, by time, by floor, by rack etc.
• Carbon credits for reducing your emissions.
• Cost savings from lower energy bills.• Managers are soon going to be asking
for the reports – if they are not already.
Questions You Should be Able to Answer
• Have I reduced my energy consumption?• Which rack is best for this piece of
equipment?• If the air-con fails, is my equipment
protected?• If the motherboard cooling fails, will I be
notified before the equipment fries?
Your network-monitoring system must be able
to provide the answers
Isn’t This Going to be Expensive?
It doesn’t have to be
• The prospect for ROI is excellent.• Most devices support SNMP.• Motherboard protection using HP SIM, Dell
OpenManage and Cisco Env-Mon.• Needn’t take a lot of time.
Isn’t This Going to be Complicated?
• The Eagle-i system from our partner Unite Technologies offers cost-effective monitoring and control of power, temperature, humidity and more from a single appliance.
• Cisco EnergyWise will provide solutions for PoE.
The Mutiny network-monitoring appliance is:– quick to deploy (less than 1 hour).– automatically starts monitoring the devices it
recognises.