Eliminating Human Error During Data Center Moves
It’s 11:30 on Friday night. Your move team is un-racking hundreds of devices, loading them on a truck and moving from one data center to another. Fans are blowing, CRAC units are running at full-tilt, and groggy eyes are trying to sort out dozens of visually identical devices with 15 digit host names. And then it happens – the wrong server gets pulled from the rack and placed on the truck! Sound like a possibility?
Not with Transitional Data Services and not with TDS TransitionManager.
TDS TransitionManagerTM – Real Time Logistics Oversight
To improve communication and reduce risk, TDS uses, and provides its customers access to, our unique TDS TransitionManager system, providing all parties with real-time visibility into relocation activities. TDS TransitionManager is web based and can be used as a hosted service or installed on-site. Move engineers are equipped with barcode scanning devices, enabling them to review a list of servers to be moved, check-off tasks as they’re completed and flag issues. Move project managers review workloads, recognize bottlenecks, and direct floor teams as needed without the delays inherent in manual processes.
Each server is tracked through a multi-step move process immediately after the client releases a server or set of servers to the move team.
Through the use of filters, the client management and application teams can review the status of the entire server farm or of any subset. As individual servers are relocated, the Asset Tracker system is updated to show real-time progress. If issues arise, they are highlighted and appropriate remediation resources are engaged.
As the project progresses, the move team takes actions such as un-racking, cleaning, and loading servers onto the truck. As multiple engineers work throughout the data center, TDS TransitionManager provides real-time status on every device to every person on the relocation team.
The client team can review project progress on their dashboard and identify when and where application resources will be needed. After a system is placed in its destination location and passes initial QA, the client team continues to use TDS TransitionManager to track the progress of client application tasks such as allocation start-up and testing.
Asset Tracking DashboardDetailed Step-by-step view of individual or groups of devices
Asset Tracking Dashboard
(click to enlarge)
If issues do arise, such as a device not being powered down or displaying warning lights, the move engineers enter notes into their handheld device and flag the issue for the move supervisor to resolve. The supervisor gets the issue resolved, makes any additional notes, and puts the server back on track.
After a move is complete there are a number of reports available for review, including detailed timelines, task duration averages, task exceptions and incident summaries. These reports allow the combined team to learn from issues that arose and better predict resource needs for the next move cycle.
Learn how TDS TransitionManager can oversee your relocation, reducing mistakes, and downtime