APC teams up with IBM on efficiency

For the enterprise IT executive, combining APC, TAC and IBM products will allow sharing of key data points such as alarm notifications, historical data and asset tracking. "Once we complete the integration . . . IT administrators will have the ability to make informed decisions about critical business processes, their physical infrastructure and building management systems and how to efficiently deploy their infrastructure," APC Senior Vice President John DiPippo said in a press release.

If a user wants to move business applications to a different row, rack or data center due to a cooling problem, the integrated system will make it easier to determine the ideal location based on historical and real-time data on energy use and availability of power and cooling, APC says.

APC says other benefits of the integration include:

• Real-time analysis of changes in power and cooling and how they affect related IT systems and business applications.

• Prediction of potential downtime due to hardware failures or energy problems.

• Centralization and integration of data center security tools such as access control, intrusion detection and digital video management.

• Visibility into HVAC systems.

In addition to the IBM integration, APC on Friday announced two new products to improve data center manageability. One is a metered rack Power Distribution Unit (PDU) that minimizes cable congestion and provides advanced warning of unplanned power overloads. The other new product is a remote console manager designed to reduce IT support costs by automating tasks like operating system upgrades, password updates and device configuration changes.