Online Distribution simplifies datacentre management

Server rooms and datacentres are usually at the very heart of the enterprise network, so any move to improve efficiency or remove costs from the IT infrastructure should place a good deal of emphasis on these components. Over the past five years, companies have been searching for ways to perform the same amount of data processing using fewer, physically smaller systems packed into less cabinet and floor space.

"Regional organisations have now identified that they can save money and boost efficiency by consolidating the number of servers in their datacentres," says Venu Menon, divisional director, Online Distribution. "According to recent reports from IDC, data centres will need to be fundamentally re-engineered to meet the challenges ahead, as companies grow their business. The Middle East is now a manufacturing hub, and remote assistance and control of data is a major challenge."

To help regional companies manage their datacenters, applications, servers and the network from a central point, leading networking distributor Online Distribution is organising a road show across the GCC in December this year.

The seven city road show kicks off in Abu Dhabi on December 5th and covers Dubai: Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia; Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Seminars, at the road show, will present delegates with new tools to redesign core data centre architectures to cope with evolving business models. As part of its strategy to provide resellers and end users with value added support, the event is supported by senior members from vendor partners like Avocent, APW, Corning, APC and Ortronics. The half day event comprises of five sessions and an "open house" session post lunch with the vendors, where delegates can meet vendors for one to one meetings.

Storage, security, in-house or remote management of data are the basic elements dealt with in a data centre and, with segmentation and vertical housing of data, centralisation of data has become a major challenge. Many CIOs and IT directors are opting for a quick-fix solution of buying more servers, but this is not a long term solution.

"Datacentre power consumption has also been a major theme throughout the high tech industry. Energy efficiency is a critical factor today. Datacentres are hitting a technological ceiling where cooling technologies could become the prohibitive factor - for either cost or reliability reasons. With the increase in demands on IT, it is the industry's responsibility to help customers make smarter choices around all data centre issues, including energy consumption. IT vendors have developed products that use less power, decrease harmful emissions and are eco-friendly - we will be showcasing these innovations during the road show," adds Menon.