Physical Layer Management (PLM) is an emerging technology that can potentially improve efficiency and reliability in our Data Center operations, by ensuring accurate management, monitoring and ongoing optimization of the physical infrastructure. This document is a high level introduction to the technology, how to achieve it, and some key vendors in this field.

Reliability and efficiency are among the most critical aspects in our data center operation. Efficient resource utilization ensures optimal use of power, cooling and space, leading to cost savings, reduced environmental impact and scalability to accommodate future growing demands. And when it comes to reliability – any downtime or performance issues can have severe consequences, such as financial loss, damage to our reputation and customer dissatisfaction or even churn. Maintaining consistent and uninterrupted operations is therefore a top priority for our DC engineering team.

The potential of PLM:

1. PLM can help us maintain high uptime and reliability by actively monitoring the physical layer components. It will give an early detection of potential faults or failures, which will help us facilitate quicker issue resolution, and therefore reduce the risk and impact of downtime to the users.

2. By providing a more comprehensive view of our physical infrastructure, PLM will enable more efficient utilization of costly resources such as power, space, and cooling. It can help us identify underutilized or overburdened equipment, enabling ongoing optimization and cost savings.

3. In the event of an infrastructure issue, PLM tools can provide real-time alerts and detailed visibility into the affected components, which helps with faster troubleshooting and reduces MTTR.

The road to PLM:

1. The first step in implementing PLM is to document the “As Is” situation, and create a reliable inventory of all physical assets, including things such as PDUs and floor mounted assets. Part of it is already available on our DCIM, and other parts can potentially be achieved using auto-discovery tools, but we will definitely also require a comprehensive manual audit and clean-up of data in existing systems.

2. As a second step, and an outcome of the manual audit, we should create an accurate map of all physical connectivity. This involves documenting all cabling routes, patch panel connections, and interconnections between equipment. Acquiring tools such as cable management software and visual mapping solutions could somewhat help with this process, but not sure that in our situation it is worth the cost and effort. This needs further assessment.

3. Real-time monitoring of physical layer infrastructure is essential to identify undocumented changes, anomalies and potential areas of concern. Developing more advanced analysis can potentially help us detect patterns, predict failures, and optimize power distribution. We have to assess the feasibility of integrating more monitoring tools that to collect real-time data on power consumption, temperature, humidity levels, etc..

Available PLM Tools of interest:

1. Data Center Infrastructure Management: our existing DCIM platform already provides visibility and management across our DC infrastructure, offering features like asset tracking, high-level environmental monitoring, capacity planning and real-time physical visualization. Some PLM functions that can be further integrated into DCIM will allow us to keep a more accurate and close watch, in real-time, over power, cooling, space, and connectivity.

• Cable Management Software: These tools assist the DC technicians in the management and documentation of physical connectivity. They automate the creation of new cable routing, track changes, and provide visual representations of cable connections, enhancing accuracy and helping with troubleshooting.

• Intelligent Patching Systems: These systems offer more advance PLM functionality (at a much higher cost). They can completely automate patching operations and provide detailed information about the connections and cabling status. They support efficient deployment of changes and simplify the identification of faulty connections. However – their impact and cost are something to carefully consider.

The recommendation for a first stage would be to consider options for tools in categories #1 and #2 above, and for the time being not spend time and effort on evaluation solutions in category #3.

Some Key Vendors:

In initial research it’s easy to find quite a few players in this domain, but it seems that the most dominant in the market at the moment are the following:

1. CommScope: provide a few solutions for PLM, including cable management systems, smart patching solutions (FiberGuide and InstaPATCH), and intelligent infrastructure management software (SYSTIMAX iPatch). Since we already use CommScope’s DCIM platform – this could be our first vendor to research further and evaluate
2. Schneider Electric: offer a range of PLM solutions, including their own DCIM software (StruxureWare for Data Centers), intelligent PDUs, and physical infrastructure management tools like EcoStruxure IT.
3. Vertiv: also offer their own DCIM solutions (Trellis), intelligent PDUs, and seem to have a comprehensive software suite that enable holistic monitoring, maintenance, and optimization of DC physical infrastructure.