Data Center Infrastructure Management

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What Does Data Center Infrastructure Management Mean?

Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) refers to the processes, guidelines, tools and methodologies used for the provisioning, governance and overall management of data center assets and infrastructures. It provides a comprehensive approach to operating and maintaining an enterprise class data center and encompasses IT resources like hardware, software, networks and facilities, including power, cooling, lighting and overall physical infrastructure.

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Techopedia Explains Data Center Infrastructure Management

DCIM provides a suite of different services and dynamics for modern data centers. Typically, DCIM is considered an amalgamation of IT and facilities management.

DCIM addresses factors, such as:

  • Data center energy management (power, cooling, carbon footprint)
  • Resource provisioning
  • Capacity planning
  • Availability of critical IT systems and resources
  • Integration of virtualization and cloud computing technologies
  • Risk management
  • Asset management
  • Automation

DCIM-centered tools and applications are geared toward the centralized management of entire data center resources, such as hardware, software and power, etc., regardless of vendor/manufacturer.

DCIM-based tools are also designed for data center managers. This requires more simplified insight into how a the complexities of a data center relate to its overall operations and business.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.