Mapping Networks For Day 3 Management

Mark Dansie, IT Infrastructure Consultant

Inflectiontech Ltd

mark.dansie@inflectiontech.net

www.inflectiontech.net

David Cuthbertson, Director

Square Mile Systems Ltd

david.cuthbertson@squaremilesystems.comwww.squaremilesystems.com

Mapping Networks For Day 3 Management?

Day 1 Planning an infrastructure– Requirements, proposals, tenders, contract award– Lots of standards!

Day 2 Building the infrastructure– Scheduling, detailed instructions, testing, verification, sign off

Day 3 Managing and Operating– Ongoing moves/adds/changes, risk management, optimisation,

transformation, outsourcing

• Help understand systems and techniques that make mapping network / data centre infrastructure easier– Physical infrastructure – , data centres, cabinets, power, cabling– Active components – switches, routers, servers, storage, etc.– Technical groupings – LAN, VLAN, SAN, application, domain– Business groupings - Applications, services (ITIL), contracts – Automation techniques that help handle scale and complexity

• Share experiences of process and approach– Case Studies– Set realistic expectations on approach and resources required

Webinar Objectives

© AssetGen Limited4

Inflectiontech - Square Mile Systems

Inflectiontech

UK based – London

IT Infrastructure consultancy, project andchange management

Data centre, campus and building auditing and ITS assessment services including implementation of infrastructure database(s)

Infrastructure Transformation / Engineering

Industry bodies & roles• BCS- Data Centre Specialist Group• BICSI UK Member• LinkedIn – Intelligent Building Technologies

Square Mile Systems

UK based – Cirencester

Infrastructure documentation softwareAssetGen) and Visio automation

Mapping physical and logical components and dependencies – data centres, campus, networks, applications, services

Infrastructure Change and Support

Industry bodies & roles• BCS- Configuration Management SG• BICSI UK Committee• LinkedIn – Data Center Engineering /

Data Center Operations Management

Days 1 & 2

• Use standards / reference skills where possible• Communicate clearly

– Requirements, Proposals– Project plan(s)– Testing and verification– Ongoing support and maintenance (O&M) manuals

• Infrastructure built – everyone is happy

Day 3 Activities

• Installing & connect equipment• Add/change some infrastructure

– New requirements & technologies– Fibre, power, copper

• Refurbish / upgrade existing infrastructure• Develop operational management systems

– Workflow and change processes– Monitoring, performance, capacity

• Re-organise teams– Centralise expertise, outtask/outsource, replace

Sometimes We Get

Some Of The Root Cause(s)Bad design

Over length cables

Inadequate supervision

Lack of planning

Limited training

Change process

Lack of time for task

Lack of interest to fix

Fault finding

And Occasionally We Get

A06

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BT-R03

BT-R04

CAB1

CAB7

CAB3

CAB19

CAB2

CAB1

Which Results In

• Change tasks taking longer and cost more– Site surveys, emails, meetings– Increased risk of unplanned disruption– On site supervision

• Constant rechecking / auditing– Capacity of backbone and network switches– Asset verification– Inadequate records and documentation– Tracing cables with every change

• A project with Inflectiontech to get a baseline!

Case Study 1

What – Mapping a campus environment

20+ buildings

Why – Change of managed IT service provider

Handover of support roles – understanding of current estate

Resolution of network performance issues

Site development and refurbishment

How - Assess existing sources of knowledge – none!

Naming convention – building/devices, connections

Manual audit – inventory, space, connectivity, plans

Capture into AssetGen infrastructure database

Report to both technical / non-technical people

Case Study 1 - The Physical Reality

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Case Study 1

• Deliverables– Lists of equipment and configurations– Visio schematics – network, campus, rack diagrams, floor

layouts– Photos where appropriate to show installation quality and best

practice– Backbone infrastructure layout and capacity – fibre / copper

• Standards, distances, quality– Issues list

• Core fibre location not known• Remediation /testing required

The Logical Dependency View

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The router hasone link to the switch

Easy to Understand!

The Physical Connection View

14

Equipment RacksMDFInter Room ODFInter Room ODFMDFEquipment Racks

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PPF-326-E20-U38 to E10

PPF-336-E22-U40 to I02

PPF-336-E23-U39 to I02

PPF-336/F02-U47 PPF-336/I15-U47 to ODF12PPF-336/I02-U47

to F02

PPF-336-I02-U40 to E22

PPF-326-I02-U39 to E23

PPF-336-I02-U38 to E20

PPF-326-H06-U45 to E10

PPF-326-K23-U46 to E10

PPF-326-K24-U42 to E10

PPF-326-N04-U41 to E10

PPF-326-Q02-U44 to E10

PPF-326-Q03-U43 to E10

PPF-300/ODF12-U42 to 336/I15

PPF-300/ODF01-U47

PPF-326-E15-U47 to 300

ODF01

PPF-326-E10-U46 to K23

PPF-326-E10-U45 to H06

PPF-326-E10-U44 to Q02

PPF-326-E10-U43 to Q03

PPF-326-E10-U42 to K24

PPF-326-E10-U41 to N04

Data Hall 1 Data Hall 2

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Case Study 2

What – Mapping multi-site server/equipment rooms 50+

Why – Server and network refresh

Migration to IP telephony

Remediation – safety issues, cooling, power

Increased focus on security and governance

How - Assess existing sources of knowledge – some data

Naming convention – building/devices, connections

Manual audit – environment, inventory, space, ports

Capture into AssetGen infrastructure database

Updated their information sets

Case Study 2 - The Physical Reality

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Case Study 2

• Deliverables– Lists of equipment and rack positioning– Assessment of power sockets and UPS loads – before/after– Assessment of cooling capacity– Rack power delivery – redundancy and options– Energy efficiency of layout and cooling system set points– Photos and videos where appropriate to show installation quality

and best practice – Issues list – overcome current challenges – short term– New design and comparison against internal best practice needs

And In The Next 10 Years

• We’ll all probably have different jobs/roles• Removing “physical” constraints will continue

– Computing, networks, storage, applications

• More efficient use of power and resources• Fewer people, less change - memory leakage• Even less tolerance of system disruption• Increasing sets of controls – just to make sure..• Another few visits from Inflectiontech

Develop policy, best practices and support systems!

1. Reduced time and cost to implement changes

2. Faster time to identify and resolve faults

3. Common understanding of change risks and impacts across project and operations teams

4. Improved interfaces between technical teams, outsource partners and 3rd party suppliers

5. Separate design, build and operate teams - system

6. Infrastructure capacity management and optimisation

7. Maintenance of risk management and recovery systems

Reasons To Map Network Infrastructure

Overloading on spreadsheets and diagrams doesn’t work!

© AssetGen Limited20

One Device - Multiple ViewsClaims

Processing

Payment Module

ACCOUNTS

Accounts Module

SVRWIN001

Accounts Payable

Accounts Receivable

PAYROLL

Sage Payroll

Payroll

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Floor Plan

Rack Position

Application/Service impact

Power Supply

Network Connections

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H/W Build

Complex Devices - Chassis

Equipment build- Chassis- Cards- Power supplies- Connection types- Firmware- Software

21

Mapping Above The Physical Layers

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Fixed Infrastructure(Cabling, Power, Cabinets, Rooms, Buildings)

Hardware Infrastructure PCs, Network, Servers, UPS, Storage, Other

Virtual InfrastructurePCs, Network, Servers, Storage, DBMS

ApplicationsPC, server, mainframe, SOA

ServicesEnd user, infrastructure, supplier

Business ProcessesDepartmental, Company

Inventory & ConnectivityMapping

“Connect”

System & ServiceMapping

“SysMap”

SQL Server platform

The AssetGen System

Integrating Processes & Data Sets

© AssetGen Limited25

Planning / AuditsLocation and positionResource reservation for projectsPhysical connectivityAudits and manual data gatheringImpacts and dependenciesAdds, moves and changes

AssetGen

Visio

Visio

Excel

Visio

AssetGen Outputs

Capacity management – space, power, connectivity

Inventory extractsCustom reporting

Physical plansFloor and rack diagrams

Topology diagramsNetworks, power, storage

System & Architecture MapsITIL services, applications

Change impact analysis – impact, risk, audit trails

Outputs

Updates

References

Word

Trusted sourcesDiscovery systemsMonitoring toolsService desk CMDBSpreadsheets – risk, contractsRecovery plansProject handover

Excel VisiodB

What Day 3 Should Look Like

1. Established policies, standards and ownership Makes it easy for engineers

2. Project / operations use common terms & formats Common templates, naming system, labels, etc.

3. Less documents / files to maintain Use of centralised systems and internal portals

Visio diagrams, reports, Excel from infrastructure databases

4. Infrastructure knowledge is maintained by process

Overcoming “The Barrier”

Plan Build Operate Risk Dispose

Project and task Manage and Coordinate

ExamplesProject documentationEquipment listsVisio/CAD diagramsTest results

ExamplesAsset and Inventory managementBusiness / service dependenciesMonitoring of performance, statusInfrastructure portal

Ease and speed of creationEase of distributionFlexible to meet task needsLimited training

Ease of use by manyStructured for integration & reportingSupport for multiple processesWide scope – the big picture!

27

The “Barrier”

What to Aim For

© Square Mile Systems28

While you sleep

Changes to the IT systems and infrastructure are updated into various Visio diagrams and Excel outputs overnight – automatically!

On day 3, 4, 5, 6 and for ever…..

Mapping Networks For Day 3 Management

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• Defined naming conventions across the enterprise• Defined equipment, groupings and lifecycle processes• Replacement of Excel with database driven systems

– Infrastructure database for mapping complexity– Workflow (ITIL service desk, SCM/ALM)

• Presentation of data and views to suit information need– Views by building, floor, device, network, service, cable, system

• Verification processes– Manual and automated checks of both data and process

Additional Material

www.squaremilesystems.comWebinars Visio automation, documenting cabling, etc.

Videos Free SMS Visio utilities

www.assetgen.com Evaluation software Free “DCIM/CMDB” evaluation version

Videos Visio automation, change impact analysis

www.inflectiontech.net

Case Studies Covering projects and infrastructure upgrades