INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Data Centres
Netshield adds intelligence
directly into data centre cabinets
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N
etshield SA has announced that it
has integrated its range of intelligent
handles into its Smart Zero U Power
Distribution Units (PDUs) as well as added
additional IoT features to its PDU units. This
integration enables a customer to better
track and monitor activity in a data centre,
while at the same time providing a client
with the visibility and monitoring capabilities
woven into its Smart PDUs.
The addition of its handles is perfect for
existing infrastructure where there is little
to no control of a cabinet in a data centre.
The Netshield intelligent handles replace an
existing handle and add RFID, biometric or
keypad capabilities to the point of entry.
When coupled with a Netshield Smart Zero
U Power Distribution Units (PDUs), clients
can now create a dashboard for full visibility
into access control within the data centre,
alongside the environmental monitoring
and management capabilities inherent on
its PDUs.
“Infrastructure management is one of
the biggest challenges facing IT,” said
Inus Dreckmeyr, CEO at Netshield South
Africa. “While teams spend a lot of time
ensuring that virtual machines are being
spun up and that network connections are
stable, the health and security of the actual
infrastructure that our data and apps is
housed on, is sometimes overlooked.
of our intelligent handles, even provide for
effective access control.”
With the units, a client can monitor the
exact consumption of a cabinet, track power
management and environmental factors
and gain insights into all of this through the
Netshield IoT Interface, which has also been
added as a feature to some of the products in
its PDU range. Sensors, such as temperature,
humidity and flood monitoring sensors, can
be added depending on the nature of the site
where a cabinet is housed, and user-defined
alerts can be determined for each iteration.
Customers looking to deploy a Smart PDU
are spoilt for choice with the Netshield range
as the units are available in a no frills option
(popular amongst large-scale Cloud Solution
Providers), right through to smart metering
units with either just SNMP capabilities
or full integration into the Netshield IoT
monitoring software interface.
According to Dreckmeyr, customers can
customise their deployment throughout
a data centre depending on the needs
of each cabinet. The company has even
added the option of adding the Netshield
Airconditioning Control Unit (Naccu)
into the PDUs. “Being able to set alerts,
define security access and monitor the
environment in a data centre ecosystem
allows a customer to efficiently and
effectively manage the infrastructure
therein,” he said. “This helps to lengthen the
life of your infrastructure through energy
optimisation and metering as well as ensure
that possible disastrous events are stopped
before they occur.
“Putting the intelligence into the actual
infrastructure that is the very foundation of
your data centre ensures the longevity of
your equipment.”
The Smart PDU units also provide remote
monitoring of current, voltage, power,
energy usage and environmental conditions.
As a result, users are warned of potential
circuit overloads and nominal consumption
increases. In addition, they offer remote
power switching for emergency shutdowns
or to reboot hanging servers and the
intelligent handles can be retrofitted to a
range of cabinets. n
“At Netshield, we have looked at ways at how
to bring intelligence into the infrastructure
of the data centre without a client having
to rip and replace what they already have.
Ultimately our Smart PDUs are a plug and
play way for a client to get visibility and
smart metering added to the data centre.
They enable environmental monitoring and
management and now with the integration
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