Tag Archives: data center infrastructure management
Need Data Center Diagrams? How to Start
By Fred Koh - October 28, 2022If you’re reading this, you probably need data center diagrams. If that’s the case, any of the following could apply to you: You’re the new data center manager…maybe you’re the network guy or gal that manages the network equipment for your organization…perhaps your company recently acquired a new entity and you don’t have any documentation…
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ROI for Network Documentation & DCIM Software: DCIM Analysis
By Jan Durnhofer - December 30, 2021In this blog, the fourth part in our ROI series, we’ll do a return on investment (ROI) analysis for Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software. If your main pain point is a lack of control over your Data Center spending, inefficient use of your space, power and cooling — and/or overall deficient asset and cabling…
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Scanning QR Codes in Your Data Center Using netTerrain
By Jan Durnhofer - December 21, 2021With the release of version 9.1, netTerrain has a new feature for scanning QR codes using the netTerrain mobile app. The ability to scan QR codes is most useful in a data center environment (as you may want to quickly identify and locate a device in your IT inventory — for example: you may want…
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Unlock Your Data Center’s Hidden Capacity with DCIM
By Fred Koh - November 25, 2020Planning for data center capacity? Sick of playing, ‘eenie meenie minie mo’ everytime you need to lay down a new piece of equipment? You’re not alone. Most data centers have slowly grown up over time. They’re like an old farmhouse: things are tacked on here and there as needed. Data centers have quirks…and sometimes these…
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Successful DCIM Implementations: Our Top Tips
By Fred Koh - February 24, 2020As the sales director for a DCIM/Outside Plant/Network Diagram software (netTerrain), I answer many questions each day. One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “well, how do we get started?” as well as, “If we decide to go ahead and use netTerrain, how can people get netTerrain up and running and get trained?”…
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Buying DCIM? Don’t Overlook Customer Service
By Jason Sherman - April 4, 2018In general, the importance of good customer service can’t be overstated: with DCIM, it’s crucial to a successful implementation. Unfortunately, with DCIM — it can prove hard to find. I manage customer support for our documentation suite: DCIM, network mapping, and outside plant. I think one reason we have had success is being able to…
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Does This Make My Server Look Fat?
By Jason Sherman - March 13, 2018Does this make my server look fat? Is my floor starting to bulge? Yeah, we have all been there. The server room is starting to look a little heavy…or is it? Hey, we’ve all told ourselves a few little white lies from time to time, ‘maybe it’s just the way the light is hitting this…
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The DCIM Competitive Analysis Gone Wrong (Part Two)
By Jan Durnhofer - February 27, 2018This article continues our previous blog on why we don’t engage in competitive analyses; it is designed to give you an example of why an ‘us vs. them’ DCIM vendor comparison fails. Let’s break it down. First, here’s a link to a competitive analysis on netTerrain from another vendor (who’s never used netTerrain). Now, let’s…
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Why We Won’t Waste Your Time with a DCIM Competitive Analysis (Part One)
By Jan Durnhofer -Sometimes a prospect asks us if we can give them a competitive analysis: you know, how we stack up against some other DCIM competitor. I totally get why we’re asked for these; it is part of the usual song and dance and many organizations want them. We’re not immune: in fact, we have something like…
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The 12 Days of DCIM
By Jason Sherman - December 20, 2017‘Tis the season….in the spirit of the holidays, we’re bringing you the “12 Days of DCIM”: a look at 12 days in the life of an engineer who goes from zero documentation to using DCIM software. Day 1: ♫ On the 1st day, my boss gave to me: a network without documentation and a whole…
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Documenting with Visio or Excel Driving You Crazy?
By Jason Sherman - October 24, 2017Do you use Visio or Excel to document the network? If you do, you’re not alone: they are the number one and number two top tools for network documentation. If You’re Documenting with Visio… Truth be told, Visio isn’t meant for network documentation. Visio network diagrams cause three major headaches: no easy way to keep…
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Automation for Data Center Managers
By Fred Koh - July 1, 2017The myriad promises of automation loom large over today’s technological landscape. Whether the discussion is around reducing costs or upping efficiency, one thing is crystal clear: automation is here to stay. For data center managers and network engineers, automation is far more than hype: when done right, it delivers on its promises of big ROI….
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