Console management can ease data center concerns as hurricane season sets in

The 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially began on June 1, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association expects this year to be an active one for hurricanes. For businesses in regions that could be impacted by a hurricane, this means preparing employee safety strategies and getting the data center ready a storm. Console management technologies could play a key role in this process, as they give IT leaders the tools they need to manage the data center efficiently.

Distance and the data center
Many data centers do not require constant supervision to function properly. In many cases, a small IT staff can manage the data center on a day-to-day basis, while most of the IT department focuses on development and end-user requirements. Some data centers are extremely active, while others may be left for days at a time working properly without supervision. The need for oversight will vary from one organization to another. However, one common thread is that workers have to be able to get to the data center as quickly as possible in the event of a disaster. So what does a company do during a hurricane?

Consider a hypothetical situation: A hurricane is expected in a region and the office closes for the day so workers can stay home, off of the roads and at less risk. However, customer-facing systems are still running and an extended data center outage is not allowable because company leaders want people back at work as soon as possible after the storm. However, IT managers are not necessarily going to camp out at the data center during a hurricane. Console server systems can resolve the issue of distance and responsiveness. With console management systems in place, a data center can be managed from any location with internet access. This means that an IT manager with a smartphone app that works with the console server setup can move virtual machines around the data center and adjust the configuration to minimize the impact of the outage, all without setting foot in the data center.

Console servers and hurricanes
Console management architectures are an invaluable tool because they enable organizations to maintain a constant ability to manage the data center without forcing workers to take on risk during disaster events. Having console servers in place can help IT leaders manage the data center effectively in response to a disaster, positioning organizations to avoid the severe negative consequences of an extended outage.

Perle's wide range of 1 to 48 port Perle Console Servers provide data center managers and network administrators with secure remote management of any device with a serial console port. Plus, they are the only truly fault tolerant Console Servers on the market with the advanced security functionality needed to easily perform secure remote data center management and out-of-band management of IT assets from anywhere in the world.