Leading Data Center Infrastructure Management Platform Integrates Kepware Server to Expand Connectivity

ABB, a technology and automation company, provides power and automation technologies for organizations around the world. Its process automation business developed an industrial-grade data center infrastructure management platform that gives operators the visibility, decision support, and centralized controls needed to automate and manage power, cooling, building infrastructure, and IT systems.

Designed for extensibility, the platform helps data center operators integrate infrastructure systems, scale their operations, and respond to evolving data center automation requirements.

Data centers bring together power equipment, cooling equipment, building infrastructure, and IT systems. These diverse systems often communicate independently through a wide range of standard and proprietary protocols. As data center operations grow across additional facilities and geographic locations, supporting those communications becomes increasingly complex.

Many systems used in data centers were also originally designed for commercial environments rather than mission-critical operations. They may lack the redundancy and controls required for high-availability applications. At the same time, operators must learn and manage complex, constantly changing systems across facilities and IT.

ABB needed to develop a unified data center infrastructure management platform that could:

• Break down legacy silos between facilities and IT
• Support the wide range of protocols found in data center environments
• Connect equipment and systems across the data ceneter
• Aggregate information into a consistent operating environment
• Extend to legacy and custom equipment without off-the-shelf drivers

To accomplish this, the company required a comprehensive, flexible communications platform capable of extending the reach of its data center management solution.

ABB integrated Kepware Server into its data center infrastructure management platform to provide the connectivity tools it needed through a single, consistent interface.

With more than 150 communications drivers, Kepware Server enabled the platform to communicate with a wide range of standard and proprietary protocols. Engineers could install the platform and implement drivers without having to learn new communications protocols or use separate applications.

User-Configurable and Custom Interface drivers also allowed engineers to connect legacy and custom equipment for which off-the-shelf drivers were not available. These connections could be established through serial, Ethernet, or shared memory interfaces.

The resulting platform can collect information such as temperature and humidity from devices and systems throughout the data center, including building management systems. It then normalizes that information and incorporates it into a more comprehensive data set for analysis.

By extending connectivity across a wider range of devices and systems, the solution gives organizations: 

• A single data set drawn from multiple data center sources
• A consistent interface for interface and IT information
• Greater visibility into asset, power, and environmental data
• A unified, real-time operating environment 
• Controls for automating workflow and physical infrastructure processes

With Kepware Server, ABB expanded its platform’s ability to connect with a growing range of infrastructure systems and applications. The unified environment helps data center operators make more informed decisions, improve capacity planning, and continuously optimize operations.

The solution helps organizations automate and manage networks of power, cooling, building, and IT systems so they can deliver data services reliably, efficiently, cost-effectively, and sustainably.

Key benefits include: 

• More consistent data: A single data set from multiple sources reduces the opportunity for calculation errors.
• Improved operational control: Operators can automate workflow and physical infrastructure processes.
• Greater visibility: Integrated asset, power, and environmental information supports more informed decision-making. 
• More accurate capacity planning: A clearer view of day-to-day operations helps organizations make better use of existing data center capacity.
• Lower operating costs: Improved energy and HVAC efficiency can help reduce data center expenses. 
• Faster time to market: Built-in support for key protocols reduces the need to develop individual connectivity solutions for different customer environments. 

In one deployment, the platform was used to manage building, power, and IT systems across five data centers representing more than 20 megawatts of energy. The company expected improved visibility into day-to-day operations and capacity planning to help extend the life of its existing facilities, while greater energy and HVAC efficiency was expected to lower operating costs. 

In another deployment, the solution monitored control room air conditioning, uninterruptible power supplies, automatic transfer switches, generators, fuel systems, water leak protection, breaker positions, and fire alarm systems. It also interacted with chiller systems and automated tasks such as activating circulation pumps and opening or closing dampers.

The platform’s connectivity capabilities additionally supported the monitoring and control of lighting, HVAC, power, safety, security, and SNMP-supported Ethernet network devices, helping data center operators better understand the cost of delivering comprehensive data center services.