IO Blog
The Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) market is heating up like a Phoenix summer. DCIM is the term used to describe a set of tools created to monitor and manage a data center. DCIM integrates facets of system management with building management and energy management, with a focus on IT assets and the physical infrastructure needed to support them. Your typical DCIM solution measures resource usage in real time, accounting for how and where these resources are used. But IO.OS® is an operating system.
What are the Differences between traditional DCIM and IO.OS?
IO.OS is known as a “Data Center Operating System” or DCOS. Although there are many similarities between DCIM and a DCOS, IO.OS goes far beyond monitoring and reporting of data center assets. As a DCOS, IO.OS provides a single management platform for resource sharing, data sharing and application development. Just like a PC operating system, IO.OS is unifying and managing disparate components of the data center from quality of service for applications to fan speeds that control temperature.
Resource Sharing
IO.OS has the ability to allocate data center resources based on quality of service requirements. A mission critical application can be configured to receive the highest priority for redundancy and speed, for example. The physical location of an application can be based on pre-defined policies and can be relocated, if necessary, to maintain redundancy.
Data Sharing
Because IO.OS is an operating system, it has the ability to gather critical infrastructure and IT data across the enterprise. This data can be used with sophisticated algorithms for predictive analysis, business intelligence and modeling of data center resources. Sharing data gathered between devices is a key to improving application and hardware efficiencies.
Application Development
IO.OS provides a development platform that allows additional functionality to be created to solve specific requirements for the data center. A command line interpreter allows objects to be created and configured by non-technical personnel to represent devices in the data center. A software development kit (SDK) is also provided with extensive API’s to extend the reach of IO.OS to virtually any legacy device.
IO.OS is being marketed as a stand-alone operating system to data centers that may not be using IO.Anywhere® hardware. Enterprises are purchasing IO.OS to help them visualize and manage their data center resources including cooling and IT infrastructure across multiple locations. IO.OS provides the same functionality as a traditional DCIM solution, but goes far beyond monitoring of data center components. A data center operating system provides a platform to monitor, manage, and control all resources across your entire data center footprint.
