The rise of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, virtualization and the energy transition has heightened the need for data center operators to effectively manage technology assets and resource consumption. According to “The Intersection of Digital Transformation and the Energy Transition,” a research report commissioned by Eaton and developed by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 40% of data center operators are seeking to leverage digitalization to lower their overall energy costs, while more than a third see opportunities to reduce waste such as heat or materials. Additionally, when it comes to reporting sustainability metrics, 46% of operators are using or plan to use digital technology to track performance relative to their sustainability goals.
In response to these industry issues, Eaton has developed its Brightlayer Data Centers suite. Eaton said this software is “the first in the industry to unite asset management, IT and operations technology (OT) device monitoring, power quality metrics and advanced electrical supervision in a single, native application.”
Eaton’s Brightlayer Data Centers suite provides a single application to manage, monitor and control critical site power management assets. These include uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), power distribution units (PDUs), switchgear, generators, cooling equipment, battery storage, solar equipment and more. The platform offers three applications that can be used alone or together:
• Data Center Performance Management software: Monitors assets; provides trends, alerts and reports; and manages power, space, connectivity and cooling resources to maximize IT application uptime while minimizing capital and operating expenditures.
• Electrical Power Monitoring System software: Delivers real-time and historical visibility into a data center’s electrical power system to resolve and identify the root cause of unexpected issues and understand a facility’s use of water, air, gas, electricity and steam to reduce operating costs and meet sustainability goals.
• Distributed IT Performance Management software: Manages and controls network-connected assets such as PDUs and UPSs, regardless of vendor or where they are located, and proactively identifies and automates actions to prevent IT equipment from going down. With cybersecurity protection built in, users can execute remote firmware upgrades and configuration changes to safeguard critical data from potential cyber threats.
“Point solutions are no longer sufficient to provide data center operators the visibility they need into their increasingly complex ecosystem of IT and OT assets,” said Mike Jackson, global director of product, data center and distributed IT software at Eaton. “This is especially the case as operations expand beyond the core data center to hyperscale, multi-tenant and various types of edge locations.”
Eaton noted that, as user needs evolve after initial implementation, they can add functionality, eliminating the need to migrate data or integrate multiple software platforms. The Brightlayer Data Centers software can also be combined with third-party software, such as building management systems, configuration management database and IT service management applications.
