Data Center Geeks Hub

Websites, web applications, and software in general have been progressively becoming more complex as the industry’s technologies and methodologies advance. Consequently, user-centered design is no longer just about creating a positive experience with the product – above all, it should now aim primarily at the speed, efficiency, and effortlessness of use. Captivated by the premise to keep things simple while still providing further supplementary functionalities, today we are taking another crucial step towards the reconciliation of the ever-expanding arsenal of server-related tools with the intuitiveness and swiftness of browsing through them. Ladies and gentlemen, let us present to you the comprehensively revised EasyDCIM v1.6.4! Rearranged menu layout It is not a rocket science that the main navigation menu is the most important bridge for the customer-software interaction. To be even more precise, the entire relation with the platform starts at this very point. Hence, in order for the administrator to gain immediate access to all the most crucial sections and instruments, we played a little with the already existing menu elements. Firstly, the entire menu layout was utterly redesigned and grouped afresh. Some of the key elements were pushed to the front to make sure that no vital detail contained in them slips your attention ever again, and these include the following: “Dashboard”, “Devices”, “Assets” and “Clients”. What is more, we understand that time is of the essence for every business owner, hence we allowed ourselves to help you save at least some part of it. How? The place where you can access the list of quick actions has been highlighted and can be now immediately noticed at the moment of taking just a single glance at the menu. In order not to overcrowd this quite limited area too excessively, we decided to connect the remaining elements into one, easily accessible "extended" menu. One mouseclick will be enough to display links bracketing the remaining sections together into appropriate groups and making the navigation through the system a plain sailing. No matter if you are a long-established user of EasyDCIM or you are at the very beginning of this exciting journey, the new layout should feel more intuitive and easy to click than ever before. Streamlined navigation through tables The second wave of practical modifications and optimizations ushered for your enhanced convenience, affected tables listing all crucial data about your clients and devices. To start with, it is the asynchronous filters that consist the first major transformation granting you faster access to the pivotal content of a given section. Speaking of which, filtered results are now loaded dynamically, adjusting displayed information to your current needs conveyed in the provided criteria. Other novel addition that we managed to push into motion is the power to decide in what way the tables should be displayed. Depending on your preferences, you will be enabled to choose between the more detailed standard layout and the new compact view. If you are of the restive type and wish to grasp all important details at one sitting, then this option without a doubt will match up to your expectations – in comparison to the standard view, it can display almost twice as many positions to go through. What will come particularly in handy is the ability to establish a given look for all tables in the system or, should you need to adjust the view only for some part of them, you may do so by choosing a specific section configuration for logged-in administrator - the choice is all yours. Let us stay on this subject for a little while longer as there is still one more exciting detail unquestionably worth mentioning. A slight touch of colorful refreshment has exerted influence on the majority of the item types listed in tables. In consequence, once you get acquainted with all the color-item connections, by simply taking a quick fleeting look you will be able to find whatever you need, without the necessity to trawl through the entire list from top to bottom. Greater freedom of item model adjustment There is still one further area of focus in EasyDCIM v1.6.4 and that is one of the entirely new fields implemented into the creation and edition forms of the item model. Just take a look at the handy list below and let us walk you through them: 1. Device Bays - it will be now possible to define not only how many bays a particular device model should have but to set their names as well. This option will prove most useful for the Blade type, hence as of now it is available for it exclusively. 2. Network Ports - you will be free to specify their following qualities: number, names, speed and type. 3. Power Ports - at last, the specification of the quantity and names of power ports will be now also enabled during the creation and edition of item models. After you define the details for all of the above-listed parts, they will be added automatically upon each creation of a new device with the selected model. Assorted tweaks and other adjustments It seems like our bag of novelties is bottomless as we still have a few cards up our sleeve! Just take a look at the series of other upgrades, including the following: The separation of the “Users” and “Administrators” sections, along with the addition of the User Card containing all essential information on a particular client, which will be now displayed in their summary view IPMI Integration For EasyDCIM v1.3.0 – introduced additional driver to manage the KVM console: ASRock Rack IPMI JAVA Console and ASRock Rack IPMI noVNC KVM Console Warranty Information – new field displaying the time left until the moment of warranty period’s expiration Possibility to adjust the level of access rights for the client managing particular, previously ordered, dedicated server As you carefully follow the foregoing record of all introduced enhancements, at some point you surely thought – that must be all for this update. Well, it is – but only for now! Feel cordially invited to visit the official changelog of EasyDCIM v1.6.4 just under the below link to snap the complete picture of this momentous release! Explore More!

When you think of data center monitoring it is certainly not possible to reach the point where the tools you employ for this purpose could not get any better or more efficient. The past few weeks have been really busy, with us focusing on making the official arrival of the freshly rolled out EasyDCIM 1.6.3 version maximally beneficial and minimally challenging in comprehension. Without dragging things out any more than necessary, let’s get started with a thorough overview of this revamping update, shall we? Ordering on a whole new level The very first wave of sweeping change has exerted influence on the “Orders Summary” section, which has undergone an in-depth rearrangement. Not only does it demonstrate itself as far more legible and user-friendly but what comes of even greater importance are numerous adjustments introduced to the ordering process and mechanism of proper server matching. To start with, two new criteria to define the ordered service have been added. Should one decide to purchase a dedicated server, it will be now possible to choose the “Any Model” value instead of providing a specific one. This way, after such order completion, any server fulfilling given requirements will be assigned to it, regardless of the model. On top of that, you will be enabled to specify the exact number of parts of a given type (e.g. RAM or CPU) according to your needs. With remarkable ease, in the "Activity Logs" tab you will immediately access the record of all sorts of modifications made within the order such as the change of its status, password, username as well as numerous other aspects. You will instantly notice both the current and the previous value, the user responsible for a given activity as well as the date when the change occurred. Another novel feature that we just could not help but push into motion is the capability to determine the sequence of actions performed at the moment of service activation. Not only will you be allowed to decide which one should be executed at first and which at the end, but even more importantly you will be enabled to specify the exact impact a particular action should have on the provisioning process - interruption or continuance. State-of-the-art OS templates For several versions already, EasyDCIM allows admins to install any of the supported operating systems on existing servers in a fully automated manner – from the moment of selecting an installation template up to running post-installation script. But let us place our focus on the first stage today since the range of supported OS templates has just welcomed two spicy additions to include the two most recent ones - CentOS 8 and Debian 10 “Buster”. CentOS 8 It has been a while since we last time enjoyed a major release of CentOS over five years ago. Therefore, its latest release with a bevy of new features and improvements comes as a fine point for all its users. It is another opportunity to enjoy the stability, efficiency, and reliability that is handsomely made available for you with CentOS 8 on the loose. Briefly speaking, major changes include the new versions of YUM package manager and GNOME Display Manager, Cockpit Web Console coming as an integral part of easy server management, plus the content is now distributed in two main repositories: BaseOS and AppStream. Debian 10 “Buster” It goes without saying that Debian over the years has built a well-deserved reputation as a rock-solid distro, valued for its stability, security, and dependency. The all-new “Buster” includes the headlining support for Secure Boot which makes it effortless to install the system on UEFI-enabled machines with no need to disable it in the firmware configuration in the first place. Upon that, AppArmor enabled by default, the ability to sandbox the Apt package manager, support for driverless printing and five years of ongoing support create only a smart part of the multiplicity of reasons making Debian 10 worth the update. Multiple other new features and enhancements Care to have a look at some of the other optimizations brought into EasyDCIM v1.6.3 as well? OS Installation For EasyDCIM v1.6.0 - support for new OS templates: Debian 10 “Buster” and CentOS 8 Ability to define new metadata, such as IP Address or Hostname, and specify their unique, one-off values Capability to start “Rescue Mode” for clients to let them preview their owned partitions automatically installed in the "/home/rescue/partitions" directory Added option to assign network ports to the colocation service Because the list of total changes introduced is of so considerable length that it would be near to impossible to squeeze them all in here, that is as many details as we can share for now. Use the below link and enjoy the first-hand exploration of the official EasyDCIM v1.6.3 changelog! Follow The Change!

A lot of improvements that make their way to our data center control panel come directly from the experience of running our own company. For example, there is this one thing we learned a while back. Mainly, that the better you organize your business management straight from the get-go, the easier it is later on for you to handle all your daily tasks. Hooked on this compelling idea, we are taking today another crucial step toward simplifying the interaction with our software. Ready to jump into our newly rolled out EasyDCIM 1.6.2 version and monitor your data center assets effortlessly like never before? Re-engineered logs and dashboard intelligence Initiated in the previous version, the process of remastering the entire system interface continues on. One of the most visible alterations you will spot right on is the whole new "Activity Logs" tab. Created from the combination of two previous sections - "Revision History" and "Notifications", it will archive all sorts of modifications within a device such as its rack assignment, power status, or change of metadata items including IP Address, Hostname and HDD Size. No matter what type of action was performed on your data center devices, you will momentarily view both the current and the previous value, the user responsible for a particular activity as well as the date when the change happened. With equal ease you will now also access the record of unsuccessfully carried out actions, reported back by such protocols like SNMP, IPMI and others. All you need to do is move on to the newly available "Error Logs" section and get up to speed with each matter that requires your attention. Next practical addition planted in the Dashboard is a dynamic widget with a history of most recent activities. What is more, you can freely filter the results by the exact notification type (Info, Error, Success, Warning) plus the priority level (Normal, Important, Urgent). Having problems with tracking various tasks that are being performed on your devices or items? With this ever up-to-date widget aiding you daily, you can devote to the monitoring of your data center as little time as possible, and yet stay perfectly aware of every single change taking place. Why do everything on your own while you can automate your work to perfection, right? And finally, when talking about user-oriented modernizations, we played a little with the already existing menu elements. We rearranged a few sections to push those most frequently used ones to the front and make sure no key detail slips your attention ever again. Whether you are a long-established user of EasyDCIM or just start your adventure with our system, you should have no problems with finding your way to the appropriate areas whatsoever. Quite the contrary, the new layout should feel even more intuitive and easy to click through than ever before. Streamlined performance of remote agents Another small victory of our 1.6.2 update was the improved communication between remote agents and the main application. The pooling process is basically carried out on the remote agents servers and the data is being sent to the master application for proper storage. What we did was to significantly reduce the number of queries sent to and retrieved from the main application, which in result allows you to collect the data now faster and from even more devices at the same time. Numerous system tweaks and adjustments Interested in some other possibilities the brand-new EasyDCIM v1.6.2 equips you with? Be sure to look over this convenient features list: DNS Management For EasyDCIM v1.3.0 - automated set up of DNS zones and rDNS records during order activation OS Installation For EasyDCIM v1.5.1 - added provisioning tasks history and means to define the "ComputerName" value based on the "Hostname" field Enhanced security of most vital password types (Access Control List) Added option to upload files straight from the device summary view More flexible management of remote agents As your company expands, you need to think of ever more efficient ways to keep all your assets in a firm grasp. Luckily, with EasyDCIM v1.6.2 on the loose you may take the bother of routine data center check-ups entirely, and do something more exciting in the meantime. Like, for example, exploring the full depths of our newly released update and dropping us a comment on how you feel about all the changes we have made! View The Changelog! Updating from EasyDCIM version prior to 1.6.0? Since EasyDCIM 1.6.0 was the first version ever to fully support the Debian 9 “Stretch” operating system only, the direct upgrades to 1.6.2 from any version prior to 1.6.0 may be a little bit tricky. Therefore, we would strongly encourage you to contact our Support Team and let us assist you with the whole process. No need to worry, this should take just a moment. To make sure everything goes as smooth as possible, please take the below steps: Open a new support ticket with "EasyDCIM v1.6.0 update" as its title. Provide access data to the SSH server on which your current EasyDCIM version is installed (account with root privileges required). Provide access data to the SSH server you want to migrate to (account with root privileges and Debian 9 system required). Please kindly stand by as we perform a back-up of your EasyDCIM and migrate the data. Switch the application to live after verifying the correctness of the 1.6.2 version. We are at full readiness to lend you a helpful hand in updating your EasyDCIM any time!

Running a data center business is a tough challenge as it is. Why complicate it even more by designing a control panel that is overflowing with features, but features arranged so poorly that you do not know where to start? During the creation and ongoing development of EasyDCIM we were always guided by three golden rules: intuitiveness, simplicity and purposefulness. Today we are both excited and proud to announce that we pushed this idea much further ahead with our freshly released 1.6.1 version! Buckle up, we are going for a ride through all the most important attractions of this game-changing new update! Modernized design of main dashboard Are you the kind of person who likes to grasp all the details of a situation with just a single glance? You will definitely enjoy the whole new look and feel of our control panel then. Especially noticeable in the two most vital areas – main dashboard and server summary, this massive interface redesign is meant to guarantee even smoother interaction with the application. Thanks to the more comprehensive information about your locations and devices gathered in one place, you no longer need to switch between the tabs to keep your data center under control 24/7. Let us have a quick overview of the new dashboard layout: 1. Locations - here you can see the list of your locations along with such specifics as traffic from last hour, rack cabinets occupancy, power usage from last hour as well as the number of currently active and inactive servers. Moreover, using the handy widget to the right you can easily view the traffic and usage statistics from a chosen time period, for each location individually. 2. Recent Activity - no operations on your devices will slip your attention ever again since all system notifications will be nicely archived and organized in this section. 3. Top Servers - this widget was designed to let you instantly see your top six servers, additionally sorting them out according to used transfer for the last day as well as uptime. 4. Selected Reports - would you like to keep a sharp eye on the specific statistics at all times? In this area of the dashboard you can gain quick insight into the reports that interest you the most. Network ports traffic from the past five minutes? There it is, right at your fingertips! 5. EasyDCIM License - the last piece of information that you may want to have always at hand. It will inform you on such details of your license as, for example, type of the chosen pricing model and billing status, number of owned devices or current system version. Overhauled server summary view The second section of the system which was rebuilt for enhanced convenience is the summary view of a server. 1. Device Details - the most basic information about the server presented in a compact form. One click on the neighboring, built-in tab and you can preview some more specific parameters or even initiate the installation of a new operating system. This section also contains fully editable notes and comments on the servers. 2. Connections - from here you can check really quick your server’s connection with IPMI, switches and PDU devices. 3. Traffic Aggregation - a practical graph illustrating traffic aggregation from the selected time frame. 4. Assigned Metadata - considering the importance of this particular widget to users, we rearranged it a little bit and grouped metadata into categories. This should make the information even more easily accessible than before. 5. Important Notifications - just like in the dashboard, all notifications on servers appearing in the system will be logged here as well. ACL – extended set of user permissions ACL (Access Control List) has become an integral part of EasyDCIM as with the release of 1.5.2 version. It allows you to greatly increase the security of your infrastructure by creating custom user groups and defining their access to various parts of the system. The scope of available permissions has been further widened up with plenty of new options revolving around: 1. Devices Management: Device Bays, Monitors, Power Usage, VLANs Notifications Graphs 2. Orders Management: Activate, Suspend, Unsuspend, Terminate Service Delete, Create, Edit, Accept, Reject Order 3. API: Devices, Racks, Floors Users Inventory Of course this is just a snapshot of the areas that you will have full control over. For the rest of them, feel free to see the official changelog. Assorted improvements and other features Optimizing the transparency of the interface was our primary, but not the only focus in the 1.6.1 release. We have compiled a series of other upgrades as well, including the following: Quick Search Tool - look up with a single click the desired IP address or subnet whenever you need it and no matter in which section of EasyDCIM you currently are Location Power Consumption report - display power consumption from one of four available time intervals Location Usage (GB) report – trace the changes in your transfer usage from any available time frame Possibility to filter servers based on the IP address and subnet address in CIDR notation Added means to create a graph with traffic statistics generated from all devices assigned to a specific user From overhauled UI interface giving your control panel a modern and fresh look to almost doubled set of ACL permissions now at your disposal. These are still just the highlights of features that make the new EasyDCIM v1.6.1. Which ones are your personal saviors? Be sure to see the complete record of changes available in the changelog right below! Reveal More! Using EasyDCIM version prior to 1.6.0? EasyDCIM 1.6.0 is the first version that officially supports the newest Debian 9 "Stretch" only. All new installations of EasyDCIM as well as updates from the 1.6.0 version will be fully automated thanks to the dedicated installer and application updater. No worries there. As for the older systems (from v1.6.0 down), it is advised to contact our Support Team so as to carry out the update in the most safe and comprehensive manner. Lots of our clients have already got in touch with us and switched to the 1.6.0 version. If you do not want any of the new opportunities pass you by, be sure to follow their footsteps and perform each system update easily on your own after that. Open a new support ticket with "EasyDCIM v1.6.0 update" as its title. Provide access data to the SSH server on which your current EasyDCIM version is installed (account with root privileges required). Provide access data to the SSH server you want to migrate to (account with root privileges and Debian 9 system required). Please kindly stand by as we perform a back-up of your EasyDCIM and migrate the data. Switch the application to live after verifying the correctness of the 1.6.1 version. We look forward to lending you a helpful hand in updating your EasyDCIM!

While today’s exciting release of EasyDCIM v1.6.0 may not come entirely as a surprise, its scope and significance certainly will. In our previous Blog article we shed a bit of light on the upcoming, performance-oriented improvements already, but why not delve into some further details? This way, you will have all the background needed to find your way around this milestone EasyDCIM update real quick. Let’s get started! Dispersed architecture model It goes without saying that the construction of modern network devices monitoring systems poses a lot of challenges to the administrators. One of them is round-the-clock accumulation of large amounts of data such as transfer and power consumption, or current device load. In EasyDCIM the speed with which this data is fetched depends mainly on the total number of devices managed. That is why it is crucial for the information gathering system to be maximally scalable. In the 1.5.5 version, this task was assigned to a single server - the very same one on which EasyDCIM was installed. The single-threaded architecture had certain limitations however as it allowed to send only one request at a time, which might have caused tangible delays while handling large numbers of devices. EasyDCIM v1.6.0 approaches the data collection process in a slightly different way, empowering the administrator to share out this task between many external servers via remote agents. The biggest advantage of dispersed architecture model is that it allows to effectively distribute the load, which ultimately leads to much reduced response time of the system. Being able to switch from one server to a more powerful one whenever needed and without interfering with the main server on which EasyDCIM is installed ensures greater scalability of the application as well. Data collecting agents based on a multi-threaded architecture and closer to end devices are much faster in fetching the information, and more optimal with more devices. Summing up, the newly introduced solution allows you to run many threads at a given time, thanks to which the number of completed tasks increases even a few times, successfully resolving the problem of network latency. NETCONF protocol support The basic network protocol EasyDCIM relies on is SNMP. It allows you to remotely disable and enable network ports for most of network devices such as switches or routers. But some devices, like those provided by Juniper and Cisco brands, are not supported by SNMP. To let administrators remotely manage the devices of those manufacturers in the same manner, we then implemented the integration with NETCONF. NETCONF management protocol is an XML-based protocol used by client applications to request and change configuration information about network devices. The way it works is that a NETCONF server sends a request to the appropriate software modules of the device, encrypts the response and returns it to the client application. Briefly speaking, NETCONF provides a robust API for interacting with network nodes and can be easily used to insert or download structured data from the device, thus facilitating the automation of everyday device management. A solid package of new gear Let us also have a quick overview of some other utilities that may capture your interest: IP Address Management For EasyDCIM v1.6.0 – streamlined management of VLANs, subnets, IP addresses, and orders OS Installation For EasyDCIM v1.5.0 - added post installation scripts for Debian "Jessie" and Debbie "Stretch" plus new VMware ESXi 6.5 U1 OS installation template More advanced support for remote agents Means to export QR codes for devices and items Possibility to easily create and update device types through API Since the list of total changes is too long to squeeze them in here, make sure to visit the official changelog of EasyDCIM v1.6.0 just under the below link! Explore More! The final major change - Debian 9 support In its previous versions, EasyDCIM offered support for two operating systems: Debian 8 "Jessie" and Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS (Xenial Xerus). Since both have grown slightly out of date, soon the support for their most important service updates as well as security improvements will be ceased. In light of this fact, the only operating system that EasyDCIM v1.6.0 can be installed on is Debian 9 "Stretch". Why Debian? First off, it is one of the oldest Linux distributions prized for its stability, security as well as excellent package management system that automatically solves dependency issues. Another fact that acts in favor of this operating system are regular releases of new stable versions and full 3-year client support for every following release plus 2-year support for previous versions as part of the Long Term Support project. Further steps Specially for the release of 1.6.0 version we have created a dedicated installer and application updater that will automatically detect the current operating system at the time of EasyDCIM set-up. New installations will require then no extra effort on your part. However, if you want to update your application from the previous versions (regardless of the OS EasyDCIM was installed on), we strongly encourage you to follow the below instructions in order to perform the update in the most secure manner. Open a new support ticket with "EasyDCIM v1.6.0 update" as its title. Provide access data to the SSH server on which your current EasyDCIM version is installed (account with root privileges required) Provide access data to the SSH server you want to migrate to (account with root privileges and Debian 9 system required) Please kindly stand by as we perform a back-up of your EasyDCIM and migrate the data. Switch the application to live after verifying the correctness of the 1.6.0 version. As you can see, you are only a few steps away from delving into all ingenious tools this revolutionized EasyDCIM edition has to offer. Ready to make the first one? Get In Touch!

For the past few weeks we have been really busy, with our focus set on the soon-to-be-released EasyDCIM v1.6.0. But before it is ready for the official arrival, would you like to hear some spicy details about the variety of novel tools we prepared for you guys? If so, be sure to read on! Along with the increase in number of devices added to EasyDCIM, the amount of resources needed to collect all information about these devices significantly rises as well. As you can easily figure out, this in turn may lead to network latency and unwelcome delays in data fetching. To counteract this problem, EasyDCIM v1.6.0 will rely on the dispersed architecture model where the data collection process will be distributed to external servers via multiple remote agents, capable of performing many more queries in a given time interval. Speaking of remote agents, if you ever installed OS in several separate data center locations via EasyDCIM, you might be quite familiar with this term already. Given their sheer practicality, we extended support for remote agents in the 1.6.0 version even further, securing their integration with the IP Address Management For EasyDCIM module, enabling Post Installation Scripts for Debian 8 and Debian 9, and adding an extra OS installation template: VMware ESXi 6.5 U1. Next on our list of scheduled implementations is support for a completely new protocol type – NETCONF. Its main purpose will be the remote management of those network devices that the current SNMP protocol does not support. This includes mainly switches of Juniper and Cisco brands. Summing up this brief features overview, we can safely say that the 1.6.0 release of EasyDCIM will have much to offer in terms of improved performance across virtually every section of the application. But, so as not to lose the element of surprise and spoil the fun of first-hand exploration for you, that is about as much early details as we can share for now. As soon as the EasyDCIM update becomes officially available, we will release a follow-up article so keep your eyes peeled! Stay Tuned! See also our latest Case Study articles on LibyanSpider and Blazing SEO.

Do you know what links a data center without a proper device monitoring system and a car with a faulty engine? They are both doomed to fail – and rather sooner than later. Luckily, EasyDCIM supplies you with all the tools you need to keep your inventory well-organized and easily accessible. The 1.5.5 release we have the pleasure of announcing today, makes this process even more automated and time-effective that ever before! Quick device and user overview Our very latest edition of EasyDCIM all gravitated toward more intuitive forms navigation enabled by useful helpers and placeholders. Wanting to push this idea some further, we now added equally handy tooltips for at least several different device types in EasyDCIM. Owing to this, every time you hover over a certain device from your inventory, a pop up notification will appear with all crucial details on the given item. Of course, the tooltip contents will vary depending on the device kind, including always the most essential information you may need on the fly. For example, the tooltip of the server on the below screen includes such data as location, assigned client, status and bandwidth usage. While here you may quickly pick such specifics of the chosen PDU like its label, model, location, number of outlets, or power usage from the set interval. The complete list of supported device types includes: Server Blade Server Network (Switches & Routers) PDU Colocation CPU, RAM and HDD Items But that is not all. In the same manner you will be able to preview summary of each user and with a single glance access the list of their devices along with specific location plus aggregated traffic from last month. Extended QR codes support Another area of focus in EasyDCIM v1.5.5 are QR codes. Each data center consists of multiple interconnected appliances which most of the time are handled remotely, ensuring maximum administrative supervision. But what if you need physical access to a certain device? Unless you have your equipment properly systematized, finding the right item to work on may take more of your time than you can probably spare. For this very purpose, we introduced the possibility to label each hardware component with designated QR codes that contain the most vital information on the device and can be easily printed out from the EasyDCIM panel. To best illustrate how this simple function can optimize the management of your entire physical inventory, let us walk you through a real-life scenario: The administrator prints out the QR code for a device (a server in our case). Then, the QR code in a paper form is placed on the corresponding physical device in the server room. The data center technician scans the QR code using his smartphone. After clicking the link, a window opens up with all specifications about the device. The technician is able to quickly check which parts are to be manually added to the server, without even having to log in to the application. And here is how the entire process looks like in a live demonstration: Numerous other novelties and improvements In addition to the already mentioned cornerstones, the toolkit of EasyDCIM has been further boosted with some other practical features as well. Assigning metadata for such items like CPU, RAM or HDD Possibility to define bulk metadata values for SNMP Settings and IPMI Settings Power to block certain actions within a particular device (boot device, install operating system, activate service and more) Maintaining order in your data center inventory is one of the chores that we cannot get rid of entirely. Just yet at least. But we definitely can make it as automated, effortless, and labor-saving as possible. As always, we would love to hear what you think about the type of Admin Experience we are striving towards with each next release of EasyDCIM. If there is anything you feel like sharing with our team, the comments section is all yours! Oh, and do not forget to follow up on the remaining points of our 1.5.5 update! View The Changelog!

For the past few years we have been really busy collecting ideas and implementing new features to make your experience with our software not only maximally beneficial, but enjoyable as well. Recently we came to the realization that the more options we pack into our system, the greater the need to keep things simple. Otherwise, what would be the point of having tons of functionalities stacked one on top of the other if you had to waste precious minutes every time when trying to find something? Finally, after a series of readjustments and tune-ups we managed to reconcile the expanding arsenal of server-related instruments with the ability to navigate through them in a still intuitive and swift manner. Get ready for an intense gust of refreshment triggered by the release of EasyDCIM v1.5.4! The first wave of a sweeping change has affected several forms that you use on an everyday basis to regulate all bits and pieces of your data center operations. What we did was add practical placeholders and helpers in suitable places so that you could know instantly what the given field is responsible for, and what type of information is supposed to be provided within. No need to worry any more that you may misunderstand a vital setting and be forced to start the configuration all over again. Among the forms that were immensely simplified you will find: Add/Edit Device Form Add/Edit Item Form Mass Create Form Auto Discovering Form SNMP Device Settings Form IPMI Device Settings Form Traffic Aggregation Settings Form Base Settings Form Having all details on your clients stored in one place proves of invaluable service when you wish to monitor the status and usage of their key resources in real time. From this day on you will have the opportunity to benefit from one more type of statistics and that is the traffic aggregated on each device assigned to a specific user. Another novel feature that we just could not help but to push into motion is the automated installation of Windows Server 2019 via the Remote Provisioning Module. Care to have a look at some of the other optimizations as well? Possibility to start the noVNC session in a new window, plus stop the active noVNC session directly in the active session window. Added support for HP iLO4 and Dell iDrac 8 console Capability to paginate the API results for a series of specific endpoints Smoother device-to-rack assignment A new popup informing about the termination of a service Enhancing admin experience has been the primary guideline for further development of EasyDCIM since the get-go, and always more of a feedback-reaction kind of process for us rather than a pursuit of some arbitrarily set standards. We hope our newly born 1.5.4 update to bring your way all the flexibility needed to exploiting your company’s potential to maximum. But enough from us. Let’s now hear in the comments your thoughts on the progress we have made and all those things that you like the most about EasyDCIM v1.5.4! Tap into the full changelog!

Starting today’s post with a little trip into the past, we believe our several previous releases to be the best testament to the completely fresh approach we have taken towards the continued development of our control panel. The direction of which we are immensely proud because it is dictated in large part by the people having most experience with EasyDCIM, that is you dear customers! And so, per your special request, we are back with the release of EasyDCIM v1.5.3 that makes remote OS installation in dispersed and separate locations your new real! Automated OS installation in multiple locations While benefits derived from fully automated OS installation have been already discussed in one of our previous articles, the possibility to remotely set up a desired operating system in other independent locations and subnets through EasyDCIM is a brand-new feature and thus deserves a more detailed mention. As from the 1.5.3 version, EasyDCIM guarantees flawless support for remote applications (called slaves) that can be installed in selected locations around the world to carry out the exact tasks issued by the master application (EasyDCIM in our case). Following the freshly implemented Remote Provisioning Module, end-to-end OS installation on a server located in another country and operating within a totally different subnet than EasyDCIM, is now one of those processes that can be easily ordered from the EasyDCIM panel, sparing you the hassle of advanced switch or router configuration. Loving your newly gained powers already? Hang on in there – the list of improvement continues on! Raising the bar of Admin Experience Among the most crucial aspects directly affecting Admin Experience in any piece of software is always the integrity of its interface – how well various functions are organized, how accessible and intuitive they are, and how much time you need to spend on navigating through its different sections. Bearing this mind, we have done a thorough refreshment of our tool so that it could serve your needs even better on so many different levels. Apart from numerous adjustments focused around UI, we have also smoothed the working of several forms such as SNMP Device Settings, IPMI Device Settings, Quick Create Device, or Quick Create Item. Other components that made it on the list of our extras include: Capability to start a new noVNC session for the JAVA KVM console from the client area Widget with informative statistics on particular reports BMC Cold Reset option using the IPMI protocol now available to the client A list of practical shortcuts leading to official video guides available on our YouTube channel that will vary depending on the EasyDCIM section you are at the moment. With each new EasyDCIM update, we do our best not to fall into such traps where we focus on the big picture so much that smaller, but no less important details slip our attention completely. Hopefully, we have managed to pinpoint at least a portion of the elements that still needed some tweaks done here and there, and successfully make them an integral part of the 1.5.3 release. Be sure to expect more in the future updates as well! View The Changelog! Eager to broaden your knowledge on the ever-so-exciting topic of automated OS installation through slave applications? Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming article where all the secrets will be revealed! UPDATE (Dec 13th): The article describing our new master/slave architecture model is ready! See also: Unattended OS Installation and Windows Servers OS Installation in EasyDCIM!