Press: RiZone available now

In a data centre, the software, hardware and IT infrastructure must interact to provide users with stable IT services as cost-effectively as possible. What has so far been missing in data centres is a bridge between applications and servers on the one hand, and the IT infrastructure with power supply and climate control on the other. With its new RiZone management software, Rittal has now succeeded in closing this gap. The application monitors and controls all the components of the IT infrastructure, displaying their status and energy consumption via a graphic interface.

RiZone can be connected to the Microsoft System Center Operations Manager by a management pack jointly developed by Rittal and Microsoft. This way, information on the IT infrastructure can be linked to the server management, increasing security and helping improve data centre efficiency. Rittal presented RiZone for the first time at Cebit 2009. Since then, it has successfully completed a nine-month programme of field tests. RiZone is being demonstrated live at this year's Cebit in Hall 11 (Stand E06), where it will be monitoring the "Transparent Data Centre" in conjunction with Microsoft and other partners.

Eight months of field testing

In all, seven customers from different sectors have participated in the field testing programme, and their experience has benefited the final product. They include the Rittal subsidiary Loh Services, as well as a financial services provider, a public media institution and Stadtwerke Bielefeld GmbH (a municipal utility). The latter organization hosts - in a total of 600 racks - the entire IT services for the "Stadtwerke" municipal utilities group, the Bielefeld municipal administration, 100 schools in the city of Bielefeld, and other municipal ventures including a hospital. The software monitors the power consumption and the cooling capacity required by the 100 servers and network enclosures that have already been connected. The Stadtwerke can then analyze these enclosures and so determine the power consumption and cooling capacity needed for the individual services. If a problem should arise, RiZone will inform those responsible, who can then see at a glance which servers and services are affected. Uwe Waterbör, responsible for the Stadtwerke Bielefeld's data centre infrastructure of the, praised the positive cooperation with the Rittal team: "With our specific requirements, we were able to actively participate. I always felt I was being well served and look forward to us solving further challenges together".

RiZone Version 1.3 is being market launched now, and it will be initially available in Germany in conjunction with the Rittal Management Pack. After that, world markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and countries in South America and Asia will follow. Rittal will be conducting a further three-month field test phase for the international market.

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Rittal

Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, which has its headquarters in Herborn, Germany, is one of the world's leading system suppliers for housing and enclosure technologies, power distribution systems, system climate control and IT infrastructure. Customers from all sectors of industry, from mechanical and plant engineering, as well as from the IT and telecoms market, are making use of system solutions from Rittal.

Its broad product range also includes complete solutions for modular and energy-efficient data centres: from innovative security concepts for data systems (formerly known as Litcos) through to physical data and system security for IT infrastructures (formerly known as Lampertz). The leading software providers Eplan and Mind8 - Rittal subsidiaries - are supplementing the Rittal product portfolio with interdisciplinary engineering solutions.

Founded in 1961, Rittal is now active worldwide with 13 production sites, 63 subsidiaries and 40 agencies. With 9,000 employees worldwide, Rittal is the largest company of the proprietor-run Friedhelm Loh Group of Haiger, Germany. The entire group employs more than 10,500 people and generated revenues of more than € 2.2 billion in 2008. Further information at www.rittal.com and www.friedhelm-loh-group.com.