Standardized protocols are a lifesaver. Without them, hundreds of vendors would tackle device communication in hundreds of different ways, convinced their way is “the best way.”
Fortunately, Modbus, SNMP, BACnet, and other protocols have become industry standards, and broad support has forced vendors to achieve some level of compliance. This is a massive win for the customer – you know you can retrieve data from most devices with one of these protocols. Sure, there are a few outliers – but they are typically legacy hardware that can be addressed through various workarounds.
But protocols are only part of the solution. Once you can communicate with a device, you need a map for that data. For Modbus, there are spec sheets for SNMP, the MIB, and BACnet support for point browsing. How do you map these values into your system? How do you address minor variations in hardware from the same vendor? Does your monitoring solution let you quickly adapt to variations in devices and repeat it across your infrastructure? It should be because this is the reality of data center monitoring and a key reason for DCIM solutions.
As devices grow and evolve, the details tend to change. In the newest model of that PDU with 200 units deployed, you may have to change the monitoring configuration. Not because the vendor was trying to trip up your world, but perhaps because they needed more accuracy or greater range for a value. Or maybe it is a step towards better compliance with a published standard. If your monitoring system is locked into code-driven “device drivers,” or if a device firmware update breaks your monitoring and you have to go back to your vendors, the process can be slow, painful — and expensive.
The Modius OpenData collector lets you modify an existing device definition on the fly while monitoring. You can save a device configuration as a template, load it for another device and change it to match a variation – and deploy this new “Made It Myself” template across multiple devices. Again, without code development, new vendor-supplied hardware drivers, or support calls. But, of course, we’re there for you if you have a question.
The Open Data DCIM solution can provide a superior monitoring experience by getting the most value from protocol standards coupled with our Collector and the ability to template these configurations. You can reach us at sales@modius.com to see how we can help you make this work in your critical infrastructure. Whether that be a captive data center, co-lo, telecom networks, or distributed assets located in colo’s or edge data centers
