Emerson unleashes 'data centre-in-a-box' to Australian resellers

Emerson Network Power has released its new SmartCabinet, boasting that it would deliver distributors and partners an opportunity to deploy complete computer room solutions faster than ever before.

The 42RU rack integrates power protection, active thermal management, power distribution unit, and infrastructure management and monitoring in a single unit. Integrators and distributors can design complete solutions including compute, storage, switching and other equipment, install them into the rack and deliver.

All that is then required is the mechanical installation of the air conditioning, connection of power and linking back to the rest of the network.

The SmartCabinet, according to Emerson Network Power’s ANZ managing director, Robert Linsdell, is well suited to small businesses, schools and branch offices. He said it is quiet enough to run in an office area, negating the need for a dedicated computer room.

“In an office area, you could have a SmartCabinet running a couple of servers, some switching all without having to build a computer room,” he says.

The distinction for SmartCabinet from a provisioned rack is an integrated monitoring solution that delivers information to a LCD display integrated into the front of the unit. If a company grows and installs more SmartCabinets, all the monitoring is integrated so all the SmartCabinets can be monitored and managed from a single interface.

The monitoring system can be managed, monitored and maintained remotely and, in the event of a system failure, users will be notified through an SMS or email alert.

As well as the chance to deliver full IT infrastructure solutions to customers, Linsdell said there were opportunities for distributors and resellers to put together custom solutions using the SmartCabinet and deliver managed services.

“A reseller or distribution partner is looking where they can add value. Certainly, they can sell a widget. We believe the big thing for is them to add value and not just sell it as an integrated solution – sell it as a full IT solution,” says Mark Deguara, Emerson Netowrk Power’s director for data centre solutions.

The real sell, says Linsdell, is done at the end user. This can be initiated by the distributor, a systems integrator or by Emerson Network Power. Once the solution is designed, Emerson Network Power delivers the SmartCabinet to the distributor who, with the integrator, assembles and delivers the solution.

“What’s neat about this is that it’s a data centre in a box,” Linsdell says.

As well as being able to sell the SmartCabinet as a “ready-to-use” solution, one of the other benefits, says Linsdell, is the rapid deployment capability. With all the management and monitoring solutions integrated into the cabinet, Emerson Network Power is working with a customer who expects to deploy a fitted out SmartCabinet in about two days – down from the 60-90 days such an installation usually takes.