IP Expo 2009 - Monitoring Your Next Generation IT

Next GenerationIT Monitoring

Dr Andy Murray

CTO Mutiny LimitedOctober 2009

Has IT Become More Reliable?

• Windows improves with every release– It’s pretty unusual for Windows to crash on

its own.– Still issues with some applications.

• Network equipment is definitely more reliable– Switches can still lock up and cause

devastating effects.– Errors in Firewall configuration are rare.

So Can I Reduce My Monitoring?Overall - Probably Not

• There will always be a need to be alerted when a failure occurs.

• There will always be a desire to be pro-active.

• There will always be a need to gather statistics – network and server.

However, you should, perhaps, reconsiderwhat you are monitoring

Consider What to Monitor

• Think “What should I monitor?”, NOT “What can I Monitor?”

• Don’t monitor things that you are not going tolook at.

• Needs change, so be prepared to adapt.• Spinning parts will fail eventually.• Think about presentation of data to

others. “We’re not all Techies”

Environmental Monitoring

• Environmental monitoring is becoming vital.

• High temperature is the cause of many IT failures.

• Is the air-conditioning working?• Is there power to the racks?• What is the temperature and humidity?• How much energy is being used?

Energy Monitoring

• Quite rare today – but it’s going to be essential in the future.

• Three steps to optimizing your power usage:

1. Monitor– Need to understand how power is being used.

2. Control– Need to be able to turn off something.

3. Report– Prove that your policy is having an effect.

Energy Monitoring

• Need to understand power usage in a far more detailed way – by server, by time, by floor, by rack etc.

• Carbon credits for reducing your emissions.

• Cost savings from lower energy bills.• Managers are soon going to be asking

for the reports – if they are not already.

Questions You Should be Able to Answer

• Have I reduced my energy consumption?• Which rack is best for this piece of

equipment?• If the air-con fails, is my equipment

protected?• If the motherboard cooling fails, will I be

notified before the equipment fries?

Your network-monitoring system must be able

to provide the answers

Isn’t This Going to be Expensive?

It doesn’t have to be

• The prospect for ROI is excellent.• Most devices support SNMP.• Motherboard protection using HP SIM, Dell

OpenManage and Cisco Env-Mon.• Needn’t take a lot of time.

Isn’t This Going to be Complicated?

• The Eagle-i system from our partner Unite Technologies offers cost-effective monitoring and control of power, temperature, humidity and more from a single appliance.

• Cisco EnergyWise will provide solutions for PoE.

The Mutiny network-monitoring appliance is:– quick to deploy (less than 1 hour).– automatically starts monitoring the devices it

recognises.

Mutiny is an Easy-to-Use Appliance

Mutiny is an Easy-to-Use Appliance

Mutiny is an Easy-to-Use Appliance

Graphs are a Good way to Present

Graphs are a Good way to Present

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