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Permalink Reply by Robert Schmidt on July 22, 2009 at 19:01

If anyone would like to reach out to me directly regarding questions etc. on DCM tools, please use the email below.

I am familiar with all the key players as I have worked with a few of the mentioned companies directly.

rschmidt@teamsilverback.com

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Permalink Reply by Alex Champion on September 25, 2009 at 16:41

Hi Ken

Having inherited and managed a number of large infrastructure systems, you are not alone in trying to keep up to date records. A number of products are available from Excel which is £0 cost, through to Itrac's RIT, Aperture..... all of which come with a hefty price tag. Having used most i can see the benefits but if you are looking for something to give you connectivity records, Excel is as good as any.

It doesn't matter if you have a standard or intelligent patching system installed, the information is only as good as the people who update the information. The biggest problem in keeping up to date is getting all staff who work in these environments - cabling, network and voice engineers, to work to the same set of rules. Unfortunately all to often this is not the case and the system very quickly becomes redundant due to poor house keeping.

If you have a number of staff doing this kind of work you should consider having a dedicated documentation management person (admin person). Cost is always the argument I hear, however when you look at the cost of an outage which, in some data centre's can run into 6 or 7 figures per hour, the documentent management role becomes indisposable. It will also reduces the risk off creating further issues when trying to trace cable and work in the rear of active cabinets and can help with planing future works

It is one of those areas where us managers have to police!

Hope this is of some help Alex

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Permalink Reply by Al Edlund on September 26, 2009 at 18:45

Having spent time both marketing and implementing this environment, I have to add that one of the mantras for success has to be "tools don't manage infrastructures, managers do". Until management steps up and says it has to be done (condition of employment ?) it probably will end up in pieces all over the floor.
al

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Permalink Reply by David Cuthbertson on September 26, 2009 at 7:09

When you takes a step back and start looking at why so many have problems with documentation, you'll probably find it for a number of reasons.

1. What is good documentation? - There are so many aspects diagrams, reports, history, capacity etc.
2. What level of detail is sufficient? - The needs for planning, building and operating are all different
3. Who will use it and what format is best? - Integated tools are great, but all must be trained to a high level
4. Who will update the documentation? - A new server will change rack layout, power, network, storage, asset, recovery and other documentation. The person who installs it will not typically have access to all those other sources, or the skills to know each tool.

We've found the best way is not to update the documentation after a change, but to plan it well enough that the toolset you use creates the build and change documentation. So the person installing has enough direction to do it as planned, and a quick QA check confirms it is installed as planned. That way you can separate design from install to take account of the outsourcing, out-tasking, sub-contracting way IT works. It is good to have a person responsible for documentation, not to do all the updates themself, but to make sure others complete projects properly. Minor changes will still need the ad hoc approach.

I've submitted a few videos on the site to show newer alternative ways by linking Visio / Excel to an infrastructure database. Depending on scope you might be able to do the same with the tools you already have.

There are more videos if you go to www.youtube.com and type in Assetgen as the search criteria. Next week there should be two more - documenting data center power and managing cabling infrastructure.

At the end of the day improving documentation is a combination of culture change and shared systems. The software is only part of the solution.

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Permalink Reply by Al Edlund on December 2, 2009 at 21:16

Some thoughts on documentation using Visio


Visio Network Drawing Requirements
Stage one - Link to data
v2007 Professional, SDK, David Parker's book ("Visualizing Information...")
http://bvisual.spaces.live.com/

Stage two - RoundTrip information (visio as input)
SDK (vb.net port over on Chris' site)
http://visguy.com/vgforum/index.php?board=16.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiN4IO_lq8w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVMpOKmsZVQ

Stage three - Interact with Device
Examples on Chris Roth's site (www.visguy.com)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak6M_n3UTCc

Stage four - Drawing via automation
SDK, David Parker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU9v_8Vv3zs

Reference - DataModel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el3ei__XtBg

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Permalink Reply by Robert Schmidt on April 26, 2010 at 1:19

AssetPoint by Align http://www.asset-point.com/

Asset Central by AlphaPoint http://www.alphapointtech.com/

Some other tools that weren't listed below.

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