As we move towards becoming a smarter planet and the world becomes more instrumented, interconnected, and intelligent, the demands for data center resources are increasing rapidly. Smaller and more densely packed servers providing greater amounts of computing power can substantially increase power and cooling needs, while growing data volumes necessitate larger storage and network bandwidth capacities. Environmental and regulatory requirements can introduce additional limits on carbon emissions and water consumption. To satisfy these demands while keeping costs in check, our data centers need to be smarter as well. Comprehensive views of data center inventories, operational and environmental conditions, and consumption across multiple capacity types that span both facilities and IT are required. You can achieve greater efficiency using hardware, software, services, and design both in facilities and IT, but you need a comprehensive data center strategy to tie them together and thus obtain a complete picture of your data center environments. This IBM® RedpaperTM publication discusses important considerations when creating and implementing your smarter data center strategy. Notable techniques, best practices, and technological advances that can become critical components of success are included, along with methods for bringing them together to gain in-depth knowledge of data center operations. With such insight comes increased resiliency, rapid responsiveness, profitable access to detailed analytics, and reliable planning for the future. Although not all-inclusive, this document provides a guide to getting started, points you to additional sources of information, and suggests ways IBM can partner with you in your pursuit of a smarter data center.

Data centers must become smarter to meet today's business needs. They need to be more efficient, scalable, and flexible and at the same time keep operational costs in check. A smarter data center must seamlessly integrate IT resources, such as servers, storage, and networking, while also responding quickly to change. Networking plays an essential role in enabling infrastructures for smarter data centers. In dynamic environments with virtualized IT resources, the network must do more than just carry traffic and support the provisioning of new IT services. It must also have the built-in flexibility and capability to adapt quickly while maintaining comprehensive security, visibility, and management. IBM® Flex SystemTM build-to-order (BTO) and Juniper Networks QFabric are key building blocks for a smarter data center infrastructure. They are reliable, resilient, and energy efficient resources that seamlessly integrate to provide the capabilities and flexibility needed now and in the future. This IBM RedpaperTM publication discusses how to build a smarter data center infrastructure with IBM Flex System BTO and Juniper Networks QFabric. It discusses key client use cases that address today's data center challenges: Business continuity and disaster recovery Multitenancy Virtual machine mobility This paper is intended for IT management, IT architects, network planners and integrators, and technical specialists.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication is an IBM and Cisco collaboration that articulates how IBM and Cisco can bring the benefits of their respective companies to the modern data center. It documents the architectures, solutions, and benefits that can be achieved by implementing a data center based on IBM server, storage, and integrated systems, with the broader Cisco network. We describe how to design a state-of-the art data center and networking infrastructure combining Cisco and IBM solutions. The objective is to provide a reference guide for customers looking to build an infrastructure that is optimized for virtualization, is highly available, is interoperable, and is efficient in terms of power and space consumption. It will explain the technologies used to build the infrastructure, provide use cases, and give guidance on deployments.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication is an IBM and Cisco collaboration that articulates how IBM and Cisco can bring the benefits of their respective companies to the modern data center. It documents the architectures, solutions, and benefits that can be achieved by implementing a data center based on IBM server, storage, and integrated systems, with the broader Cisco network. We describe how to design a state-of-the art data center and networking infrastructure combining Cisco and IBM solutions. The objective is to provide a reference guide for customers looking to build an infrastructure that is optimized for virtualization, is highly available, is interoperable, and is efficient in terms of power and space consumption. It will explain the technologies used to build the infrastructure, provide use cases, and give guidance on deployments.