Console management can help companies leverage colocation effectively

Colocation hosting models are gaining prominence because they can improve an organization's network capabilities, reduce capital costs and complement cloud computing plans. However, colocation depends on housing IT systems in a remote facility,creating management challenges. Console server architectures can deal with these challenges, helping IT leaders get the most out of colocation plans.

Console management and colocation
IT managers that have relied on a good colocation plan in the past probably know what I'm talking about when I say that colocation, though incredibly useful in many ways, can also be really annoying to deal with. On one hand, it makes the entire data center setup more efficient, affordable and dynamic. On the other, having IT assets in a remote facility meant that any time a problem came up, workers had to hop into their vehicles and drive out to the location. This can prove a nuisance at any time, but can be especially annoying when dealing with a simple fix or a problem that needs to be solved as quickly as possible. Console servers can pay dividends dealing with these problems - they deal with the issue of having to travel to the colocation facility.

Console servers can be attached to the network, allowing any device that is connected to be controlled remotely through a central application. This service can be delivered to central consoles within the data center or to remote devices, such as computers in the office or an IT manager's mobile phone. The end result is a situation in which IT managers can respond to problems immediately when they arise instead of having to travel to the data center. If a server goes down, the console server system can be used to adjust the configuration. Alternately, the solution can be used to adjust cooling distribution in the event that hot spots are causing problems in the data center.

Console management systems can work with almostalmost every aspect of a data center, making them incredibly value for any situation in which IT leaders are responsible for overseeing a remote data center. As a service model, colocation delivers incredible value by offering facility and network resources that many companies cannot afford on their own. The downside is having to manage hardware housed in a remote location. Console management eliminates this limitation and helps organizations maximize the value of the technological strategy.

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.