Tag Archives: DCIM
Fun Network Diagrams? Use Visual Overrides
By Jason Sherman - February 5, 2018Network documentation can be fun and fulfilling…never thought I’d say that. Truth is…maybe it’s not exactly the same fun as, say, Superbowl Sunday (depending on which team you’re rooting for, of course)… but it can be a little more fun when you have the right tools for the job at hand. Using netTerrain, our network…
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Intro: netTerrain’s API for DCIM, Network Documentation, and Outside Plant
By Jan Durnhofer - January 26, 2018Despite all the recent hoopla, API’s have been around for a long time. Without realizing it, we use API’s all the time: we use them when we make an airline reservation…we use them when we check the weather on our phones. API’s bridge together several moving parts to serve up a desired result to the…
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Connect & Automate Your Data Imports in Under 2 Minutes
By Jan Durnhofer - January 24, 2018Most DCIM or Network Mapping software gives users some discovery features — which we also do. That’s all nice and dandy…but it’s very limited: every time you want to ensure your data is up-to-date, you have to manually schedule a discovery. When you have data that’s frequently changing, this becomes a hassle. What if you…
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U.S. Army Awards netTerrain Certificate of Networthiness (CoN)
By Fred Koh - January 19, 2018Press Release: The U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM) has awarded the netTerrain IT visualization software suite from Graphical Networks with a Certificate of Networthiness (CoN). The CoN certification confirms that netTerrain meets — or exceeds — the criteria set forth by the Army and Department of Defense (DoD) standards for security, compatibility, and…
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Dear Prospect: If You Want Everything, You Need Nothing
By Jan Durnhofer - January 17, 2018“The demo with Jan was incredibly unprofessional. It seemed like he refused to go into any detail about the product. He wanted me to narrow down the focus of what he demo’ed to only what I immediately was interested in.” — Feedback from a Recent Prospect Ouch…that was a first. Apparently, I am unprofessional. Ok,…
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Pickaxe Causes Data Center Outage (Yes, a Pickaxe)
By Jason Sherman - December 22, 2017‘Tis the season…for generosity, cheer, and…apparently…massive data center outages (ok, ok: it’s always the season for massive data center outages). Are you prepared for the worst? Your outside plant cabling is, well, outside…as a result, it’s vulnerable. Let’s face it: stuff happens. Take a British cloud hosting company’s recent perils on December 13th: they suffered…
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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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DCIM Hierarchies & Layers: Just Double-Click & Drag-and-Drop
By Jan Durnhofer - December 18, 2017In this blog (and video), we’ll explore how you can easily create hierarchies and navigate in and out of them using netTerrain (our network documentation network mapping tool and data center infrastructure management tool). Many DCIM solutions offer users just two or three predefined layers; with netTerrain, you can create an unlimited number of your…
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3D Views in DCIM – Still Just Pretty Pictures
By Jan Durnhofer - December 5, 2017DCIM: hype or substance? There’s been a healthy amount of debate in recent years about whether DCIM is more hype than substance and reports of failed DCIM installations have only sparked the debate further. The resounding consensus on the question of hype — from both analysts and the users themselves — is that DCIM can…
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Does Data Center Automation Pay Off? Federal Agencies Release ROI Reports
By Jason Sherman - December 3, 2017Recently, I stumbled upon the current DCOI optimization dashboard — which is an overall look at how data centers in federal agencies are performing across different categories. If you’re not familiar with the DCOI yet, here’s some background: DCOI is short for the Data Center Optimization Initiative. It’s a federal initiative that falls under the…
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DCIM Vendor Taking Too Long to Model a Device? Read This.
By Jan Durnhofer - October 12, 2017Rod Stewart once famously penned, “time is a thief”; Tom Petty (RIP) proclaimed, “the waiting is the hardest part.” If you’re a DCIM user who’s been kept on hold by your DCIM vendor when you just need a new device type modeled (a new make/model that isn’t already in your catalog), you can probably relate…
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Reducing IT Costs….Made Easy (with the Most Interesting Man in the World)
By Jason Sherman - September 13, 2017As a manager, you are under pressure not to overextend your IT resources — but how can you do that when you don’t know what you have (and what you’re going to need)? The Most Interesting Man in the World is a minimalist: he likes one kind of beer, one outfit and one phrase. He…
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