Design a Practical Consolidation Roadmap: From Assessment to Implementation

1. Design a Practical Consolidation Roadmap: From Assessment to Implementation Prem Jadhwani CISSP, CISM, GIAC Sr. Solutions Architect, GTSI Corp.

2. Agenda • Why data center consolidation? • Data center consolidation recommendations • Choosing appropriate assessments, tools & technologies for data center consolidation planning • Best practices in data center consolidation

3. Why Data Center Consolidation ? • Consolidate 1100+ data centers • Reduce energy consumption • Reduce the costs of hardware, software, and operations Data Center Consolidation

4. Data Center Economics Infrastructure spending is flat, management costs are rising Effect of virtualization Source: IDC, "CIO Strategies to Build the Next Generation Data Center," Doc # DR2007_5VT, February 2007. 4

5. Today’s Data Center Model is Broken • Poor forecasting + low flexibility = excess capacity • Typical datacenter: 3 years excess server capacity • Servers consume >50% of average power when idle • Datacenters are outdated and hugely inefficient • Cooling servers often requires 2x the power consumed • Servers DOUBLING every 5 years • Network Devices DOUBLING every 2 years • Terabytes of Storage DOUBLING every 1 year • $2 – $3 spend on management for every $1 spend on hardware* Over-provisioned Capacity Inefficient Datacenter Design

6. Server/Storage 50% Computer Rm. AC 34% Conversion 7% Network 7% Lighting 2% Where Does the Power Go? Power Consumption in the Data Center Compute resources and particularly servers are at the heart of a complex, evolving system! Source: APC

7. Data Center Priorities: Reduce Costs, Increase Agility 100% business service availability Deliver new business services Maintain compliance Manage application and infrastructure growth Reduce cost of maintenance and support Enhance quality of services THE BUSINESS CIO Office Costpressures Agility Pressures THE DATA CENTER 7

8. Data Center Consolidation Approach

9. Consolidation Approaches & Focus Areas Source: OMB

10. Key Impact Areas Source: OMB

11. Phase 1 : IT Asset Inventory Baseline Source: OMB

12. Phase 2 : Application Mapping Source: OMB

13. Data Center Assessment

14. Inventory & Cost Reports • Catalog of all physical and virtual machines • Candidates and potential candidates for consolidation

15. Network Assessment is the first step in the Data Center Assessment Network Assessment & Analysis Configuration, Design, Validation Network Assessment • Base-Line the Topology and Technology of Your Network • Analyze discovery to propose: • Upgrades • Replacements • Maintenances

16. Network Audit and Discovery Device Information Retrieved : • Serial and catalog number • Addresses: • IP (Inactive & Active) • IPX • MAC (Inactive & Active) • Free and used device memory • Hardware and software (IOS) versions • Device internal configuration including card positions • Host and system names • Configuration files • Physical connections between devices • Device status (EoL, EoS, etc.)

17. Software Asset Assessment • Complete list of all applications, software licenses, patches applied to each system • Software audits to identify all approved and unauthorized software packages • Complete and detailed inventory of all OS’ systems

18. Energy Efficiency Measures Total Data Center Power Consumption PUE = IT Power Consumption Cooling & Power Conv. Cooling & Power Conv. Cooling & Power Conv. Compute Load Compute Load Compute Load Current trend (1.9) Bestpractices (1.4) State of the art (1.2)

19. Data Center Efficiency Calculator

20. GTSI Virtualization Calculator GTSI Virtualization Calculator

21. Thermal Quick Assessment Thermal Intermediate Assessment Thermal Comprehensive Assessment • Visual inspection • Data measurements • Basic report and recommendations • 3D under- and above- floor modeling • Thermal prediction • Comprehensive report and recommendations Power and cooling assessments • Data gathering above floor modeling • Thermal modeling • Extensive report and recommendations

22. Best Practice: Data Center Airflow • Best practices • Hot aisle/cold aisle • Matching server airflows • Eliminate gaps in rows • Use longer rows • Use cabinet blanking panels • Orient AC units perpendicular to hot aisles • Seal cable cutouts • Use 0.8m to 1.0m high floors • Use high and low density areas • ITSM Benefits Lower server temperatures Better reliability Better uptime Extends life of current data center Maximize server density Lower energy usage Lower TCO 40-50% of the inefficiency inside data center is linked to lack of best practices deployment

23. Cooling IN the Row, Close to the Load Hot-aisle air enters from rear, preventing mixing of hot and cool air Variable-speed fans optimize efficiency by closely matching performance to dynamic cooling demand Heat is captured and rejected to chilled water Cold air is supplied to the cold aisle InRow® cooling units Operates on hard floor or raised floor InRow® units

24. Physical Location of the Data Center Still MattersIt’s not all about virtualization Local or remote? Factors in play: • Industry vertical • Frequency of data accessrequirements (eg: real-time data record synchronisation) • Storage needs (by size) & compliance burden (need to store multiple years’ records) • Data storage type • Mission-critical (low latency due to synchronisation needs, close location required, survivability paramount) • Business-critical operational (remote location acceptable, backup paramount) • Archiving (remote location acceptable)

25. Solutions for Data Center Automation 1 Links to IT service management Element automation Comprehensive automation for networks, servers or storage, spanning all tasks from provisioning and change management to compliance enforcement and reporting 1 Automate networks 2 3 Automate servers Runbook automation Automate business services(Data center + client) 2 4 Automate common IT processes Establish runbook automation for common and repeatable IT processes across all infrastructure tiers, IT groups and systems 2 3 Automate storage 2 Links to business service management Links to change, configuration and release Data center automation Integrated automation of all aspects of deploying and managing applications, servers, networks, storage and common processes across the entire data center 3 Automate business services Automate the entire business service with continuous control of each phase of the service lifecycle, across the data center and client end points, from automated operations to monitoring and ticketing 4

26. Improve IT Operational Processes ITIL provides a systematic and professional approach to the management of IT service provision. It provides a cohesive set of best practices and is critical to data center consolidation: • Service Delivery Processes • Service-level mgmt, financial mgmt., capacity mgmt., IT service continuity, availability mgmt. • Service Support Processes • Incident mgmt., problem mgmt., change mgmt., configuration mgmt., release mgmt. • ITIL Benefits • Detailed taxonomy, emphasis on process, process integration, standardization, focus on customer

27. Data Center Consolidation Approach

28. Key Takeaways • Take a phased approach • Follow the best practices & lessons learned • Engage industry partners that can help you with the OMB Federal Data Center Initiative • Assess your infrastructure readiness before you begin your journey to cloud computing. • Start with a Proof of Concept in a lab. • Deploy best of breed solutions that fit your environment.