Webinar: Automated Server and Power Management Solutions presented by Minicom & Server Technology

Minicom and Server Tech are pleased to invite you to join us for a live webinar that will focus on device management and increasing efficiency in the Data Center.

Thursday, October 1, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

As the number of critical servers and applications continues to increase , companies have made significant investments in tools to access, monitor and manage them. These include PDUs, IP KVM, console servers, and in-band remote access tools like RDP, VNC, SSH, Telnet, ILO and many more.

With multiple resources at the administrator’s disposal it has become increasingly difficult to keep track and locate these assets when and where they are actually needed. This leads to increased server downtime and the inefficient use of IT staff’s time.

It is therefore imperative that each of these valuable tools is made easily available to ensure IT staff can quickly access, evaluate, and fix a server problem and minimize server downtime.

Additionally, as power densities and cost increase and power availability decreases it has become increasingly important for organizations to ensure proper power monitoring, management and control of these servers and devices to both keep costs down and to maximize utilization of the hardware.

This webinar will include:
1. how Minicom and Server Technology can dramatically increase your IT staff’s efficiency and reduce server downtime.
2. how you can provide IT staff with a secure, single pane of glass for remote management while leveraging existing hardware and software tools.
3. how you can quickly, securely and seamlessly manage power using Server Technology’s cabinet Power Distribution Units (PDUs)
4. device level power monitoring to determine PUE/DCiE metrics, identifying zombie servers, energy usage for cost allocation and power monitoring for capacity planning
5. a demonstration of the integrated solution in action

Thu, Oct 1, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Minicom Interview: Calvin Nicholson Server Technology

Following the announcement that our AccessIT is integrated with the SentryTM Cabinet Power Distribution Unit from Server Technology, I wanted to take a closer look at the power industry and had a chance to ask Calvin Nicholson from Server Technology a few questions. Server Technology designs and manufactures intelligent power distribution products for enterprise data centers, service providers and branch office locations. Founded in 1984, Server Technology is recognized as a leader in innovative Remote Power Management solutions.

What is your position at Server Technology?

I am the Director of Product Marketing


Can you give me an overview of Server Tech’s method of selling?

We have both direct sales people as well as working through the channel. So the option is up to the customer as to whether they want to work direct or through a partner that they are comfortable with. We have an opportunity registration program through our web site that allows our partners to register opportunities. This lets us reward the partners that are pushing our products and who bring in the opportunities.

Do you have international customers? If so, what is the percentage of international sales compared to North America?

We do have international customers and we have offices in Canada, UK, Germany and Singapore along with a strong channel of partners throughout the world. I can’t give percentages but this is a strong a growing portion of our business.

How does Server Tech differentiate itself from your competitors?

Server Technology just focuses on power distribution, monitoring, management and control within the data center cabinet. We have been in business over 26 years and have the largest number of engineers in the industry focused in this area. We provide high quality products that are very feature rich along with a superior level of support. Being the leader in our industry we are requested to produce cutting edge products for new data center projects well ahead of the industry norm. These products then become part of our standard product line.

What are your unique selling points?

You can manage two power in-feeds (power distribution units PDU’s) and two temperature and two humidity measurements all under a single IP address through our unique linking technology. We offer the largest product line and have a number of 3-Phase products and 60A products focused on high density applications. Our temperature and humidity probes are on 10 foot cards so they can be placed in any locations within the cabinet. We offer a tool to monitor and manage all of the PDU’s in you DC called SPM.

What’s popular with your customers today?

Right now the new trend is 415 V 3-Phase power delivered to the cabinet for North American data centers. Efficiency gains with this technology are in the 4-6% range and offer significant efficiency gains and cost savings. Most products supplied a Zero U technology with some kind of intelligence. Customers don’t always and to turn things on and off or reboot them but monitoring power is becoming a significant trend.

What specific features are your customers looking for in your PDU’s?

Solutions that deliver the amount of power that is required with the proper outlet types and features/functions that they desire.

With regards to monitoring power usage, why is it so important to your customers?

Monitoring power is critical on so many different levels:
1) If you don’t know the amount of power that you are using then it is easy to overload the circuit and possibly bring down some of the equipment in the cabinet.
2) For three phase loads it is critical for load balancing and efficiency.
3) In today’s market where power costs are going up, power availability is going down and in some cases our customers cannot get enough power you need to understand how much power you are using and how changes within your facility affect this. This information is also used for efficiency calculations like the PUE and DCiE metrics from The Green Grid. To identify comatose or zombie servers that can be shut down or possibly virtualized. For power capacity planning (where do I have the power to install a new device.)

What percentage of your customers requires remote power capability as a feature?

Switched products where you can turn devices on or off is our biggest selling products.

Do you see any increase with customers dealing with support issues when there are problems with a server?

Facilities today have much smaller staffs and must use their resources wisely to be competitive in today’s market. I am not sure if the issues are going up but the ability to resolve these issues as fast as possible and move onto the next task is required.

Are you finding an increase in requests for consolidated remote access for power, kvm, console and serial?

Since we don’t actively sell these products we don’t see a lot of these requests. We do see a desire in customers to want to go to one central location and manage a number of devices. For servers it is our combined solution. If it is just the PDU’s then they use our Sentry Power Manager product.

What can we expect to see from Server Tech in the future?

Continued innovation, a number of 415 V products for North America and expansion of the device level power monitoring solutions

Thanks Calvin!

To contact or learn more about Server Tech – visit their website>>

Minicom’s New Remote Access Management Solution Expands Power Management Capabilities

Press Release:

Integration with Server Technology’s Sentry™ Switched PDU Provides seamless access to power management features.

Minicom, developer of IT & KVM remote access and management solutions for the server room and datacenter - today announced the integration of the Sentry™ Cabinet Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Switched product family into its remote access management solution- AccessIT . Access to the Server Technology Sentry PDU remote reboot features are made directly through the AccessIT interface without a separate login and password. IT Administrators now have centralized access to servers via KVM and industry leading remote access services, as well as the power controls of the PDU through one intuitive interface.

As a result of this integration, if a user is accessing a server through AccessIT and a reboot is required, a simple click on the power icon next to the server name performs the function. No longer does an administrator require multiple spreadsheet, IP addresses, passwords and user names to do their jobs. All access is managed from a single point, increasing efficiency and reducing downtime.

“The increasingly heterogeneous nature of corporate server rooms and data centers requires cross-platform support.” said Rami Sasson, VP, Sales of Minicom. “The expanded capability of AccessIT addresses this trend making it even more flexible and compelling for IT managers to deploy. The integrated functionality of AccessIT that includes remote power control of PDUs from Server Technology’s not only delivers tremendous versatility that has a direct impact on IT efficiency, but can reduce hardware management costs by as much as seventy five percent when compared to alternative KVM over IP solutions.”

“The integration of the AccessIT management platform and Server Technology’s PDU Switched product family greatly expands power management accessibility within the evolving data center environment,” said Brandon Ewing, President of Server Technology. “Power access, management and control within the data center are critical.” AccessIT consolidates all in/out-of-band services thus providing highly secure, web based, on-demand remote access at all times. Its open architecture prevents the dreaded vendor lock-in by supporting the seamless integration of 3rd party serial, power and KVM switches and devices. Other supported Access Services are VMWare, RDP, VNC, SSH, Telnet, HP iLO, web access and custom applications. AccessIT continues Minicom's unique Real Needs approach of repurposing installed analog KVM systems by simply adding a layer of KVM IP devices.

About Server Technology
Server Technology, Inc., designs and manufactures intelligent power distribution products for enterprise data centers, service providers and branch office locations. Founded in 1984, Server Technology is recognized as a leader in innovative Remote Power Management solutions. The company’s line of Sentry™ power products eliminates unnecessary trips to remote locations and minimizes the impact of locked-up internetworking equipment on business critical networks, combining intelligent power distribution, remote management and power measurement. Server Technology is headquartered in Reno, Nevada with worldwide distribution and regional offices in the United Kingdom, Germany and Singapore and can be reached at 775-284-2000 , or on the Web at http://www.servertech.com/

*****

Related Material:

White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology

Webcast: "Achieving Remote Server KVM Access to your data center" (22 min)

Online Test Drive: AccessIT Online Demo