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Virtualization - Call PBM IT Solutions at (888) 233-6471Q. What is a building management system (BMS)? A. In larger data centers, the building management system (BMS) allows for constant and centralized monitoring of the facility, including temperature, humidity, power and cooling. Approximately half of the power consumed by a data center is required for cooling. As heat load increases, more floor space must be reserved for cooling equipment. Without high ceilings (20 feet or more), the hot exhaust air of servers is likely to become in-take air for servers mounted in the upper portion of a cabinet. Energy costs are the fastest-rising cost element in the data center cost portfolio. Recent changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure put IT on the front lines for ensuring a business is complying with regulations, notably Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA. Not only is it necessary to store key data for longer periods, but being able to retrieve information at a granular level –right down to specific emails –is now an IT responsibility, one that if not handled properly could result in a vacation with the local municipal system. Server virtualization is the masking of server resources (including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating systems) from server users. The intention is to spare the user from having to understand and manage complicated details of server resources while increasing resource sharing and utilization and maintaining the capacity to expand later. Application virtualization separates applications from the hardware and the operating system, putting them in a container that can be relocated without disrupting other systems. Many IT departments encourage users to save critical data to available network servers under the control of enterprise software. This policy, in most cases, is not successful, since users store data locally, especially mobile users who are seldom connected to a network. The Cisco UCS uses three adapter types, with four specific models: the Cisco UCS 82598KR-CI 10 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter, UCS M71KR-Q QLogic Converged Network Adapter, UCS M71KR-E Emulex Converged Network Adapter, and UCS M81KR Virtual Interface Card. Each of these cards has a pair of 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections to the Cisco Unified Computing System backplane that support the IEEE 802.1 Data Center Bridging function (formerly called Cisco Data Center Ethernet) to facilitate I/O unification within these adapters. On each adapter type, one of these backplane ports is connected through 10GBASE-KR to the A-side I/O module; then that connection goes to the A-side fabric interconnect. 10GBASE-KR is a copper midplane technology for interfacing adapters and switching elements through these midplanes. The other connection is 10GBASE-KR to the B-side I/O module; that connection then goes to the B-side fabric interconnect. Figure 3 later in this document shows this connectivity. Building green IT systems do come with an added cost. These systems do need to take into account the overall short and long term sustainability, the total cost of ownership and the costs of safe recycling and disposal. But when used with efficient and effective policies, the return on investment can be much greater for the organization, employees and the community. An High Availability Data solution must be practical to implement - minimizing acquisition cost and operational complexity while being able to efficiently scale-out to meet any performance requirement as business needs evolve. Next-generation data centers have specific server networking needs, and the Cisco Nexus 5010 one-rack unit (RU) switch provides an Ethernet-based unified fabric that's designed to meet those needs. |