This is the presentation I made at Freed.In 2009 To a very learned developer audience. It is at times impossible to understand, how those servers are kept running. I run and manage one of the 7 Data centers in India.

1. managing a data center gagandeep s. sapra / freed.in 2009
with open source tools

2. india has more than
2,60,000
web hosting companies

3. tools of the trade
• PING
• TELNET
• TRACEROUTE
• MRTG

4. india has only
7
data center companies

5. why am i discussing
this
• APPLICATION + SERVICE +
MANAGEMENT = SERVER
UPTIME
• SERVER UPTIME = SERVER
EFFICIENCY
• EFFICIENCY = HAPPY
CUSTOMER
• HAPPY CUSTOMER =
REVENUE
• INSIGHT = INTELLIGENCE

6. the commercial angle
• EVERY DEVICE SHIPS WITH
IT’S OWN TOOL
• HP OPEN VIEW WAS
DEFACTO
• UNLIMITED OPTIONS WHEN
YOU GOOGLE AROUND
• SOME TOOLS JUST COME
THROUGH THE BACK DOOR
• LEADS TO SILOS

7. breaking the silos
• MOST OF THEM USE SNMP
• BACK DOOR NEVER CLOSES
• PEOPLE LOVE TO LEARN
• EVERY ONE WANTS TO DO
THEIR JOB FAST, EFFICIENTLY
AND HAPPILY

8. why open source ?
• OPEN SOURCE = EASY
INTEGRATION
• HELPS CULTIVATE CULTURE
OF RESEARCH / TEST /
DEPLOY
• CLEARLY DEFINED
MIGRATION / FAILURE PATHS
• COST AFFECTIVE

9. tools we use
• GROUNDWORK OPEN
SOURCE
• CACTI (MRTG + RRD)
• OPEN NMS
• ZENOSS
• ONE OR ZERO HELP DESK

10. success achieved
• 100% UPTIME ON CORE
NETWORK
• PREDICTION AND PLANNING
FOR FAILURES
• 99.999% UPTIME DELIVERIES
ON CRITICAL APPLICATIONS
• LOWERED TCO BY 30%
• BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE,
WHO / WHEN / WHERE

11. new requirements /
new tools
• INVOICE SYSTEM TO TIE IN
WITH NETWORK
MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR
SLA BASED BILLING
• SCRIPTING FOR CALL
HANDLING PROCESS
• INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
• AUTOMATIC TICKET
GENERATION / TICKET
HANDLING SCRIPTS

12. thank you
• me@gagandeepsapra.com
• www.g-spot.in
• www.system3group.com