Everyone knows what a data center outage can mean to a manufacturer: millions of dollars lost in a day as operations grind to a halt.
Emerson Network Power’s job is to prevent such a catastrophe. The unit of Emerson Electric Co. manufactures uninterruptible power supplies used in data centers and other places. Its Liebert Services business remotely monitors massive data centers for some of the world’s biggest manufacturers from two mission control facilities, one in Columbus, OH, and one in the Philippines. These HARCs — High Availability Response Centers — watch for signs that devices such as power supplies, precision cooling equipment, switches, and diesel generators may be in trouble. If Columbus or Manila misses a sign, a meltdown could ensue.
So Emerson in 2005 decided to fortify with a device called the Virtual Ntegrity Gateway from ILS Technology. It let Emerson unplug the slow modems that it had been using to monitor remote equipment and tie straight into its clients’ own intranet and Ethernet networks, elevating its service. Emerson can now warn of pending problems rather than simply sending after-the-fact alerts.
“Before it was ‘you’re in alarm, what do you want to do with that information?’ ” says Frank Bibens, president of Liebert. But, with Ntegrity connecting to up to 200 devices per customer — supporting multiple locations — and relaying encrypted updates every minute, “we can send an analysis of the situation and a recommendation on what steps to take to remedy it, plus maybe send a technician,” Bibens says. He describes the Ntegrity-backed approach as “proactive rather than reactive.” The system also provides greater flexibility, as it allows the customer to set his or her own disaster parameters. It works with Emerson’s own data center equipment, as well as with other brands.