Raritan Announces Power IQ Software with Smart Rack Views and Quick Charts for Getting and Sharing Key Data Center Energy Information Easily

SOMERSET, N.J., Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of Raritan's Smart Rack initiative to help data centers improve operations and energy efficiency by adding intelligence throughout data center racks, the company today introduced Power IQ® 3.1 Energy Management Software with Smart Rack Views and Quick Charts.  These new features provide one-click access to key energy and operations information in a rack  -- including power, cooling, humidity, airflow, and events -- and, the ability to further drill down to detailed information on rack assets, such as PDUs, IT devices, and breakers.

The new features in Power IQ 3.1 help data center managers obtain information and answers easily to key questions, such as: Are there hot spots?; What is the relationship between power load and temperature in a rack?; Is my 3-phase power in balance?; and When do I run out of capacity?  The Quick Charts in the Smart Rack and PDU view, for example, show trend line relationship between rack power load and temperature, and the three phases of a 3-phase PDU. 

Power and rack environment information gathered by Power IQ is also useful to DCIM solutions, such as Raritan's dcTrack® software that provides real-time information about facilities, networks and IT in order to more efficiently place IT equipment, manage capacity and track assets.  With today's software release, Power IQ and dcTrack automatically share information about racks, PDUs and outlets.  When a rack is added in dcTrack, for example, it automatically updates Power IQ.  Conversely, dcTrack displays rack PDU and sensor data collected by Power IQ.  Synchronization of data between Power IQ and dcTrack is automatic on configuration items, such as sites, racks, IT devices, PDUs, and their associations.

"Power IQ 3.1 provides more answers with less work to increase operational efficiency.  It provides one click access to answers to key questions on rack power, cooling, airflow, events and much more," said James Cerwinski, Manager, Raritan Software Products.  "Power IQ 3.1's enhanced dashboard, for example, indicates if you have hot spots, displays your potential cooling savings and tells you when you will run out of power capacity.  With 3.1, you can easily identify the PDUs drawing the most power or view a list of PDUs drawing more than a specific load."

Power IQ 3.1 in Action in Phoenix

Power IQ's Quick Charts and Capacity Gauge is helping AECOM, a global provider of professional technical and management support services who recently moved one of its data centers from Los Angeles to a hosted facility in Phoenix.  The firm wanted visibility to its servers' energy performance in the new remote site, because change in energy usage is a harbinger of potential performance problems in servers and in the racks that house them. 

Using Power IQ software and Raritan's intelligent rack power distribution units, AECOM's IT staff is able to measure and monitor power in real time; view graphs and charts on key metrics on a dashboard accessible from anywhere; and receive early-warning threshold alerts.  According to Michael Bradvica, Director, Network Planning at AECOM, accurate data from Power IQ also ensures that they are optimizing power at the rack and paying for what they use.  "We have confidently de-rated to 40 percent of nameplate," says Bradvica.   With intelligence on energy performance and accurate capacity information, AECOM was able to streamline operations.  "We are now buying less power than before; and, we are now using two circuits per cabinet instead of six."

Other new operational efficiency features in Power IQ 3.1 include:

• Cooling chart (ASHRAE) enhancements -- Three custom ranges – inlet (cold), outlet (hot) and outside air -- are provided on one screen.  Understand if you are compliant with manufacturer and industry-accepted recommendations, and project how much energy you can save by increasing room ambient temperature.
• New Web Service API -- Easily integrate into your systems and tools: power and sensor data, data center modeling, and information for event management, PDU management, asset strip management and outlet management.  
• Support for PX Airflow and Pressure sensors.

About Power IQ® 
Power IQ Energy Management Software is a comprehensive solution to obtain the most out of a data center's existing power supply and infrastructure.  Enterprise-wide data collection at the device level enables Power IQ's analytics to calculate and chart active power, energy consumption, cost, and carbon footprint for servers and other IT devices.  The configurable dashboard provides a vendor-agnostic centralized view of power and environmental health, energy capacity and consumption, weather services and maps.

Graphs and reports depict a wealth of information, such as which devices are consuming the most energy, whether power conservation efforts are working, and if there are hot spots or over-cooled areas.   Power IQ collects a wide range of energy data – amps, volts, PF, watts, kWh, temperature, humidity – from multi-vendor rack PDUs, environment sensors, UPSs, branch circuits and other data collectors.

Available as a VMware-ready virtual appliance, Power IQ is easy to install and use.  Within minutes of installation, useful power information, from SNMP- and Web Services-enabled servers and devices, is delivered to Power IQ's intuitive Web-based dashboard, which can be accessed easily from anywhere, even from iPhones and iPads.   Power IQ's simple agent-less approach enables graceful shut downs and start ups of servers connected to any rack PDU, without needing to load additional software on target servers. 

Test Drive PIQ 3.1 at www.raritan.com/energy-reporting/

About Raritan (Raritan.com)
Raritan is a proven innovator of power management, infrastructure management, KVM and serial solutions for data centers of all sizes.  In more than 50,000 locations worldwide, Raritan's award-winning hardware and software solutions -- including intelligent rack PDUs; energy management software; DCIM software solutions to effectively manage data center capacity, assets and change;  KVM-over-IP, and Serial-over-IP access products -- provide IT and facility directors, managers and administrators with the control they need to increase power management efficiency, improve data center productivity and enhance branch office operations.  Based in Somerset, N.J., Raritan has offices worldwide serving customers in 76 countries.  Visit us at Raritan.com  or follow us on the Raritan blog.   Raritan is an active member of the Green Grid, Climate Savers Computing Initiative, and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design associations.  The company has been recognized by the EPA for its contribution to the agency's data center initiative. 

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SOURCE Raritan