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IDC Business Management System |
| 1. Brief Introduction |
Along with the development of internet, more and more applications, especially broad band, appear on the internet providing entertainment and convenience for people. The hosting servers coming from Portal Websites, ICPs, Governments, Banks, Education Institutes, Enterprises and etc, are growing fast in recent years, and this makes the telecom carrier’s IDC business prosperous.
The quantity of computer rooms (for hosting the servers), network equipments (such as routers and switches), security equipments (for value-added services), server frames, power-supply equipments (such as UPS), air conditioners, IP address and customer’s servers are steadily increasing, and their status and interconnections between them change rapidly. These are the challenges for the high-quality IDC operation and management.
For example, it is not easy to know the following information quickly if there’s not a real time system to support:
- How many separated areas are there in a computer room? How many server frames are there in each area? How many units are there in each frame? How many of them have been released to customers and how many left?
- How many IP address that the whole IDC has? Which IP address segments are assigned to each computer room? Which have been distributed to the customers and how many left?
- How many customers are there in the whole IDC and each computer room? What’s the number of the VIP customers, bandwidth-sole-using customers and the bandwidth-sharing customers?
- Which port of a switch connects to one of customer’s servers? How much is the flow of each port? Whether it can give an alarm automatically when there is something abnormal?
- What is the total power supply capacity for each computer room? What is the present load and how many is available for using?
- Is there a certificate for the customers’ maintenance engineers? Only the authorized people can enter the computer room and maintain the equipment, and is there a record for each entrance? Is it convenient to check these records?
- When the customer’s equipment is took in and whether it is changed in the hosting period? Is it convenient to check the information?
From all the examples above, it is easily to know that only do we implement a close-looped management system, people of all levels can know, in real time, the quantity numbers and status of customers, equipments and other resources. Therefore, the IDC can be operated safely and the customers’ requests can be responded in the first time. |
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2. Guiding Theory |
A Business Management System (BMS) can help IDC realize a high-efficient and cost-effective management. When developing the IDC BMS, Lansoft used the close-looped management concept in ITIL as guiding theory.
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a suit of best practice for supporting high quality IT service. In fact, ITIL has become an international standard in the IT best practice. ITIL supports integrating best practice in all layers in IT frame, providing “end to end” service management guidance, which related to all the aspects, such as personnel, process, products and co-operations. ITIL can be customized for the business in different industries, and can solve the steadily-occurring problems in the IT system for obtaining the high-quality IT services. |
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IDC BMS includes all the modules in service support fields, and have interfaces with customers management, development and service plan modules. |
3. System Infrastructure |
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4. Features |
1) IDC (inherence) Resource Management
This module includes:
- Computer room: the separated areas, server frame rows, server frames in each row, units in each server frame
- IP address resource: commercial IP, self-used IP and the total IP resource
- Equipment: port, board, slot, network equipments and servers
- Value-added service equipment: some carriers also provide value-added services to the customers, and have domain analytic servers, firewalls, DDos equipments, invasion detection equipments and load balance equipments.
IDC personnel can easily check the number of the total, the occupied and the spare resources. |
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2) Power Supply Management
I Power Supply Equipment:
- Transformer (high pressure): input power supply, location, serial number, type, capacity, valve value
- Diesel generating set: location, serial number, type, capacity, valve value
- Low-pressure system (switchboard cabinet): location, serial number, type, capacity, valve value, the UPS which connect to
- UPS: location, serial number, capacity, valve value
- UPS output cabinet: location, serial number, connected UPS
- Power-supply-cabinet in computer room: the loaded rows and separated areas
- Environmental power-supply-cabinet: provide power supply for illumination and air conditioners
II Load Data Check:
- Check the real time load value of the above equipments, and
- Compare the present load value of each customer to the load value limited in sales contract.
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3) Customer Resource Management
- Customer Information: customer name, the way of hosting (VIP/ sole / share), bandwidth, customer level, contact person, contract, IP address, located frame and row, the port of switch which connects to.
- Customers Equipment: customers name, equipment serial number, equipment type, occupied U (unit) number, hosted time, status, and the related work sheets.
- Customers Historical Information: the system can reserve of the previous customers information, such as customer name, the way of hosting (VIP/ sole / share), bandwidth, customer level, and so on.
- Customers Operation Log: This system allows customer to log in to see all the information about his equipments. The system will auto-record the login time and the operations the customer has done.
4) Monitor Management
Detect of all the ports of the IDC equipment:
- Monitor Diagram: The monitored objects can be divided into different groups according to the habit of business management and various attributes.
- Monitor Point (equipment’s network port): All of the ports of network equipments and servers are assigned to corresponding groups, and monitored in real time. The data collection interval can be flexibly defined by users.
- Virtual Port Monitor /Billing: Since one customer may have many equipments and corresponding ports, the purchased bandwidth is the total flow of all the ports, therefore a virtual port in name of this customer can be established to sum the flows of every ports of this customer, it’s convenient for billing.
- Alarm Manner: Alarm valve value, emergency level and alarming manners can be set for each port or each customer, and an alarm will be given through monitor screen, email or cell phone short message.
- Multi-chart Display: one screen can at most display the flow chart of four monitor points. The date of the chart can be chosen and the reference scale can be adapted in accordance with the number.
- Monitor Report: It can auto-generate weekly/monthly/yearly report; it can also make temporary quick report and send the reports to the customers.
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Workflow Management
A workflow engine is integrated in the system, so:
- The Definition of the Process: In accordance with the business, the process, without reprogramming, can be customized just by organizing the functions provided by the engine.
- Task Distribution: Worksheet is distributed and returned through a defined process, the data changed by each post can be auto-recorded by the system.
- Worksheet Check: It is convenience to check the information of worksheets by multiple searching characteristics.
Distributing resources to customers and equipments’ coming in-and-out-of the computer room, are implemented by electronic worksheet. The system can also auto-record the time used for finishing each task, so it is convenient for auditing the operation efficiency.
6) Operation Management
- Duty Management: Manage duty schedule, duty shift, and so on.
- Work Plan for 52 Weeks: Manage work item, work plan and workday adjustment, and so on.
- Affair Management: in-and-out records in the computer room and parts storage.
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7) Statistics Report Form
- Business Report: the statistics of the share, sole and VIP customers, and the detail information list; the changing information of the customers’ equipments hosted by the IDC; the statistics of the top 10 customers; the statistics of important events, such as server’s resetting of each week and so on.
- Resource Report: the statistics of resource changing information, such as how many server frames, equipment ports and IP addresses have been used, and how many are available?
- Monitor Statistics: The total flow of whole IDC, the in-and-out flow of each computer room, and so on.
- Worksheet statistics: The type and number of the worksheet
The statistics report form can be customized in accordance with the needs of the customer and exported into EXEL.
8) System Management
- Setup
- Authorization
- Data Dictionary
- Operation Log
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| 5 Deployment Manner |
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The servers are logically shown as above, they can be integrated into 2-3 servers depending on the load is light or heavy. |
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