Energy Efficient Workload Automation

It takes a lot of energy to run a data center. Today, there is increased focus on the energy being consumed to physically power today's data center, in terms of electrical power and even carbon emissions. But what many data center managers are overlooking is the amount of "people" energy being required to keep some older technology running. We're not talking about the physical machines; those have been upgraded or replaced with more efficient technology over the years. We're talking about the older 'job scheduling' software that is still used to manage the business data, using the same core principles of batch scheduling that is was built upon 25-30 years ago!

While physical energy reduction is very important on a much grander scale. The human energy consumption must also be addressed. As technology has advanced over the years, there are many new types of workload processes that must be managed across the enterprise. New technologies have emerged to enable consumers to conduct transactions from anywhere at anytime, using smart phones and iPads, even on airplanes. But, many data centers, while trying to keep up with the technical advances, have locked themselves into a situation that is spiraling out of control. They are continuing to rely on aging technology, with expensive maintenance bills from the vendors, steep learning curves, and limited functionality. Yes, many of the older technologies are receiving some improvements, but in some cases, the customer has waited years for new functionality, and some customers are still waiting on new enhancements to their products, even though they pay regular maintenance bills.

While data centers have swapped out physical machines several times over the years, few have realized the need for a more advanced workload automation solution. Many have failed to realize the growing "people energy" required to keep the workload going using the older technology. In many cases, it has taken years for the staff to become knowledgeable of the software terms and quirky usage techniques. Many of the current users were probably submitting the workload manually prior to the automation implementation in the 70's and 80's, so they retained some knowledge of the workload requirements and importance. Some data centers are also wondering about the aging workforce, knowledge in these solutions, reaching retirement, and the ability to quickly replace that knowledge with today's workforce skills.

It's kind of like owning that automobile that you have loved and it has served you well for years. Parts are becoming harder to find, you can't retrofit newer capabilities, there is a greater need for better fuel efficiency and safety is becoming a concern with stricter government mandates. As much as you hate to admit it, it may be time to find another method of transportation.

It used to be said that "all job schedulers do the same thing", but what was often overlooked was HOW they did those things, and more importantly what the benefit was to the consumer, as well as the data center. Today's innovative, advanced workload automation, specifically Opswise Automation Center, can drastically minimize redundant definitions, simplify complex terms and techniques to allow for self-initiated workload processing, and reduce the operating expense for the data center all while improving customer responsiveness.

Today's Workload Automation capabilities are well ahead of the batch scheduling methods that many of today's most widely installed products still use as the foundation for their solution. While 'batch scheduling' is still a common method for 'legacy' processing, it simply cannot conform to the business-initiated needs of today's consumers. There is a fundamental, architectural requirement that must be in place for workload to efficiently be initiated as soon as the customer transaction occurs. Waiting for a date/time, or constantly scanning a VSAM database over and over just waiting for something to happen will not serve today's business needs. There must be sensor technology deep within the core of the automation that enables random, business-initiated tasks to be able to trigger a workload process, at the second the transaction occurs, even if it means initiating an extremely large, enterprise-wide workload process, with a variety of operating systems and platforms involved.

Entry Permalink

Tweet