IT management software

Rittal and Microsoft partnership shows that when "two giants of the data centre" start working together how real energy savings and business efficiency can be achieved. This is made possible by the interplay of RiZone, Rittal's new management software for the IT infrastructure and Microsoft's System Center Operations Manager (SCOM).

The RiZone software monitors and controls the cooling from chillers, computer room air-conditioning (CRAC) systems, liquid cooling packages and free cooling, power supply (UPS, power distribution, etc.), the energy consumption and other physical parameters such as temperature, access or security of a data centre. The Microsoft System Center Operations Manager monitors the performance of the server and also provides an event display and event evaluations. Rittal and Microsoft have created a management pack to facilitate the sharing of data between IT infrastructure and servers.

Together they represents the first commercial software which extends beyond the infrastructure components and allows the power consumption monitoring of all devices for real energy savings to be easily achieved. If demand within the application layer is higher, the software interacts with the physical layer to provide more power or more cooling. Conversely, if IT demand is low, the physical layer can effectively hibernate which can significantly reduce valuable power consumption. An added benefit is a holistic view of the overall network infrastructure is provided via the SCOM intuitive graphical user interface.

Integrating systems can improve long-term efficiency and energy savings. RiZone, in conjunction with SCOM, gives the IT Manager the tools to significantly drive down the PUE of their data centre.