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Data center management with Ralph
Taking Control
Often the excellent products in the open source community for operating and maintaining IT infrastructures are specialist tools that can do one thing well, but nothing else. Therefore, an admin's toolbox usually comprises a large number of tools with partly overlapping functionality. Bucking this trend is Ralph [1], a well-designed and powerful asset management, data center infrastructure management (DCIM), and configuration management database (CMDB) system for data centers and back offices.
Whereas the IT asset management department is responsible for the efficient management of IT devices throughout their entire life cycles, the CMDB component, as the central database, takes care of IT service management (ITSM). These two functional areas are supplemented by the DCIM component, which provides functions for managing, monitoring, and planning the data center infrastructure and the IT systems installed there. DCIM in particular makes a significant contribution to the optimization and efficient operation of data centers because it also includes functions for planning the power supply, air conditioning, cabling, and space utilization.
Thanks to Ralph, you can track your IT investments and their life cycles, giving you a complete picture of the cash flows for these assets. Data center and back-office functions optimize your environment. Moreover, Ralph comes with a data center visualization tool that lets you map arbitrary objects. The interplay of these various functions holds a promise of efficient data center operation and a proactive approach to countering any disruptions caused by infrastructure problems.
Quick Start
At first glance, it seems that Ralph can be used to solve various problems in data center administration and optimization with a single tool, but it's not quite that simple, because the Ralph developers have
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Ralph, the open asset management tool
As IT infrastructure grows more complex, IT asset management tools become essential. They track an IT asset's life cycle from the purchase order, through practical usage, to disposal or reuse. One promising newcomer is Ralph, the open source specialist tool.
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