RTA's Blog
Monitoring a Modern Data Center From the Proverbial “Single Pane of Glass”
Jun
I have a colleague who loves the phrase “Back in the day…” and uses it multiple times a day. Marketers and salespeople (not for our company) seem to love that “Single pane of glass” phrase. I’d rate it as the most oversold phrase in data center marketing. It’s right up there with our product is “easy-to-use” and “simple to install”.
All kidding aside, it’s the right idea, badly executed.
The promise is that one screen shows everything happening in the building. The reality is three screens, four logins, two contradictory temperature readings and a CIO who wants to know why the power bill went up. The screens are not the problem. The data flowing into them is the problem, and the data flowing into them is broken in multiple different ways.
The Three Systems That Are Not The Same
Data centers all run three monitoring stacks and each thinks it’s the best and most important.
- The BMS treats the data center like a building. The BMS (Building Management System) runs the HVAC, the cooling, the lighting and the access control. It speaks BACnet to almost everything it touches.
- The DCIM treats the data center like an IT room. The DCIM, or Data Center Infrastructure Management platform, runs the IT side. It polls UPS units, PDUs, switches and servers over SNMP.
- The EPMS treats the data center like a substation. The EPMS, or Electrical Power Management System, runs the power chain from the utility feed to the rack. It speaks Modbus to the power meters and the protective relays.
A modern AI data center needs all three to agree on what is happening. None of them is willing to talk to the other one using the other’s language (communications protocol).
Where RTA Protocol Gateway Sit In the Data Path
The protocol gateway is the translator that lets each stack see the data it cares about, in the communications protocol it speaks, without any of the field equipment being rewired or replaced.
Three concrete data paths show up on almost every new data center build.
The first is chiller data into the BMS. The chillers ship with Modbus TCP. The BMS wants BACnet/IP. An RTA 460MCBS sits in the middle, presents the chiller points as BACnet objects, and the BMS thinks the chiller was always speaking BACnet.
The second is PDU data in the EPMS. The PDUs report over SNMP. The EPMS expects Modbus. An RTA 460 protocol gateway with SNMP and Modbus support takes the SNMP data, restructures it as Modbus registers, and the EPMS treats the PDU as another power meter.
The third is CRAH (Computer Room Air Handler) telemetry for the DCIM. The CRAH unit reports temperature, fan speed and airflow over BACnet. The DCIM polls over SNMP and ingests REST.
None of those paths requires a server. None of them requires an IT ticket. All of them happen in a small, secure DIN-rail box with a web page on it.
The Hidden Cost of Doing This in Software
Most software protocol gateways will translate any of the communications protocols in the previous section. The question is how to do it quickly (saving labor) and with less overall cost.
| Factor | RTA Protocol Gateway Hardware Module | Software Protocol Gateway | European Protocol Gateway Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial cost | One-time hardware purchase | Server hardware plus annual license | High one-time, often plus support contract |
| Five-year total | Hardware cost only | 4 to 10 times the hardware cost | 2 to 4 times the hardware cost |
| IT involvement | None. Browser config by facilities | Server provisioning, patching, monitoring | Often requires commissioning visit |
| Attack surface | Locked firmware, no general-purpose OS | Windows or Linux OS, patched on a schedule | Varies. Often general-purpose OS underneath |
| IEC 62443 readiness | Built around the standard | Compliance is a project | Varies by vendor |
| Lead time | In stock, ships from US | Software is fast, server hardware is not | Often four to eight weeks from Europe |
| Warranty | Five years | Until the subscription lapses | Typically two years |
The software protocol gateway looks cheaper on day one. It is never cheaper on day 1,825.
The Single Pane of Glass Is Real, But It Sits Behind the Protocol Gateway
The screen the operators and executives want to see is not the problem. The data feeding the screen is the problem. Get the protocol gateway architecture right and the dashboard becomes a configuration exercise. Get it wrong and the dashboard becomes a five-year integration project.
Contact the RTA Enginerds today to architect the right solution for your data center. Call 1-800-249-1612 now to get started.
