RFID Asset Management for Data Centers
The modern era has made technology outgrow its ancestral period. The new age demands efficiency and eloquence in all domains of the world. Individuals and companies have no other option than to be at par with the policies and fundamentals of the new era. More advancements in technology have evolved data and how it is processed.
Data centers are data warehouses both in physical and virtual form and contain the ability to store amounts of data and manage it. A typical data center security can maintain, collect, and store exabytes of data. Data centers are growing rapidly and have become a pivotal aspect of the modern technological world.
Data is growing more and more every day, and the use of mobile devices, the internet, and IoT (Internet of Things) have made data grow to massive amounts; hence appropriate measures should be taken for storing and managing such data. RFID data center asset management helps data centers in solving all these issues.
Why Is Asset Management Important?
A typical data center is not a single entity consisting of heaps and heaps of data but is a dynamic and flexible facility having both software and hardware managerial tactics. It is a complete data environment and provides the full efficient maintenance of its data reserves. Managing all these assets is critical, and asset management is an important part of data centers.
A data center constantly undergoes damage as they are often huge facilities and require acres of space. A data center is quite often repaired, and its maintenance is an asset. It also consists of software reserves that constantly undergo updates due to the modern era and are an essential asset.
All these assets need management to ensure the smooth overflow of the data center and its facilities. The on-time and profound asset management of all these resources are vital.
If the assets are well managed and protected, then the data center will flourish in the future. If this asset management is not done accurately enough, this could result in loss of resources, and expense could be pretty drastic.
RFID Asset Management
The solution to all the asset management problems of a data center is ideally addressed by RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). This method allows electromagnetic waves to detect and identify items with RFID tags automatically.
The system consists of a radio system with a receiver and detector at both ends. When the EM wave is triggered by a tag present in its radius, it automatically gives out a signal which detects that item. RFID is one of the methods practiced under AIDC (Automatic Identification and Data Capture).
RFID essentially works by helping the data centers keep track of the systems and the resources present. It uses RFID tags that send radio frequencies and electromagnetic signals when something gets in contact.
RFID tags are allocated on the spots such as doors, hallways, and all around the site, and every time anything gets out of place, a signal is generated. It can also keep track of the resources in the database. It not only helps in improving the security and asset management of the overall data center but also provides many other compelling advantages such as:
- Better health opportunities as human contact are minimized
- Better accountability and security
- Easier to maintain and repair
Working of RFID Asset Management in Data Centers
In data centers, typically, passive RFIDs are used and are mounted on every IT device. Every tag has a unique ID that is stored in the database of the system, which contains all the necessary information about that specific device. Also contained in the database may be financial information about the device, its useful/expected/financial life, its end-of-life date, and rack-level location information.
Data about the devices is also maintained when they are taken out of service, using RFID portals at warehouse locations to record when devices are taken to or from the warehouse.
In addition, tags for RFID IT asset management must be capable of working properly despite a substantial amount of metal in the close environment. While many IT devices have plastic front covers, there is almost always metal close behind these covers, which will cause many RFID tags to perform poorly. Hence, selecting a multi-surface tag, which performs consistently when mounted either on metal or non-metal.
Advantage of RFID Asset Management for Data Centers
RFID has proved to be the most profound and efficient method for inventory tracking and asset management in the most complex situations. RFID can handle complex environments more efficiently.
It has helped data centers regulate and manage their resources better. Moreover, this allows tracking of the important aspects of the data centers and helps to provide better management.
RFID asset management can also provide a critical role in storage as it can store large chunks of data and information. It generally contains a lot of memory and hence can help in this procedure.
Following are some of the advantages RFID provide to asset management:
- Helps in the creation of bespoke systems
- Economical
- Creates systems addressing a wide variety of modern data center problems.
Two Major Types of RFIDs
Data centers typically use two significant types of RFIDs in asset management:
Active RFID:
Active RFID tags take this asset management onto the next level. It involves two-way communication between the operator and the hardware. The hardware is more secured, and the operator is surer about their role than ever.
Passive RFID:
For improving the accuracy of the barcode systems, cost-effective passive RFID tags are beneficial as they frequently replace them. In the case of linking tags with chosen hardware, the assets will be able to get tracked as they move through strategically placed “gateways,” where users pick up on their frequency wirelessly.
A data center is quite a complex environment for RFIDs to work in as it contains a substantial amount of very sensitive equipment which detects signals quite accurately. RFIDs, however, manage such intricate environments positively and appropriately. The wide variety and vast and effective methods of RFIDs provide more straightforward and effective strategies for asset management.
Conclusion
Data has become a crucial part of human life in the past years, and the near future will continue to do so. Data centers are responsible for that data, and hence maintaining and managing those data centers is quite essential. On-time and effective data center asset management is crucial. And, the methods or IT techniques which help in the management are in great demand.
