MergePoint® Infrastructure Explorer

MergePoint Infrastructure Explorer - Know, Plan and Manage your Data Centre

Data centre managers wrestle daily with how to do more with less including reducing costs and managing rapid change with fewer resources. In a complex infrastructure environment, this is a daunting task without information and tools to speed analysis and guide action. Avocent's MergePoint Infrastructure Explorer offers data centre managers both.

MergePoint Infrastructure Explorer software provides data centre managers with a solution to quickly assess current assets, including power and HVAC utilization, and visualize changes in real-time to accommodate new technology (e.g. virtualization) and changes in infrastructure configuration.

Avocent's MergePoint Infrastructure Explorer can also leverage the power of Avocent's management software, DSView 3 and the associated infrastructure hardware (access and control, power and serial device management). No other vendor offers the combination of robust data centre planning, change management and integration with Avocent's active infrastructure products.

KNOW - The authority you need to command all your assets.

• Validation, reconciliation, and aggregation of data from multiple heterogeneous sources into a central asset repository.
• Quickly assess the "state of IT," with information such as power and HVAC utilization.

PLAN - The power to visualize "what if".

• Keep track of and manage relationships between assets and dependent data, including the transition between lifecycle stages.
• Virtually move and alter data centre layouts from the floor to the rack to the individual component, then see what effects those changes have.

MANAGE - The insight you need to reduce risk.

• Proactively manage compliance with tracking of operational, financial and contractual aspects of each IT asset.
• Actually see how an asset is working (or not). See whatever is being displayed by currently running programs.
   

Avocent's MergePoint Infrastructure Explorer allows you to Know, Plan and Manage your data centre. Many of the issues in today's data centres revolve around an incomplete or inaccurate view of what resources are available. Being out of space or out of power are factors of what IT believes is being used verses what is actually available. Devices are no longer used but still in racks. There are power ports open on a PDU but the max power supported is already being pulled by other devices. How full will the new data centre be at opening? Mid-to-large sized businesses will benefit from accurate information that is in a usable model, meaning that it can easily be kept up to date.
Plan view illustrates critical information on the data centre, providing an overview of capacities and potential issues.	The usual spreadsheet model becomes out of date shortly after completing an inventory as it is a passive data log and not used as a daily tool for planning and design of the data centre. Infrastructure Explorer is designed as an easy-to-use visual model of a working data centre; the design as an active system ensures more accurate and reliable data on the infrastructure.

Features and Benefits

New for Version 2.2! Reservations, Intelligent Asset Placement and Rack Timeline offer a unique view into capacity management.

Visual Modeling: Provides a graphical view of the data centre(s), racks and individual IT elements within a rack. Detailed visual information aids in the day-to-day operations of the physical data centre.

Planning and Design: Allows for creating multiple "what-if" scenarios to understand the impact of a change or addition to the data centre.

Impact Assessment and Analysis: Allows for comprehensive analysis of all Requests for Change by identifying the equipment, applications and business lines that may be affected by that change.

Asset Identification and Location: Enables you to search for assets by type, domain name, IP address, etc., providing the physical location in addition to other general asset information. Also provides specific information for locating a device (i.e., recalled power supply type-x and visual indications of which racks and servers need to be worked).

Capacity Visualization and Planning: At-a-glance view of available capacity and potential issues for space, power, weight, heat/cooling and network ports. Provides accurate information for planning and reduces time needed to implement additions and changes to the data centre.

Asset Library: High-fidelity images of assets provide data on size, weight, power usage, heat output, etc. Feeds data centre capacity metrics and shows details of assets for hands-on operations and maintenance support.

Data Import: You can import data centre information in a Microsoft Excel® format for an ease of implementation. In addition, Infrastructure Explorer offers standards-based integration via Web services.

DSView 3 Software Integration: You can launch KVM or serial sessions to assets connected with Avocent hardware, transforming the tool from a visual-planning and recording tool to a functional interaction with the environment.

Reporting: Provides visibility into assets, business line costs, capacity utilization and impact analysis.

Ordering Details

Ordering Tips: