Minicom announces the successful implementation of their Data center RAM solution at Daimler Trucks North America

Daimler Trucks faced the challenge of managing thousands of servers, dozens of KVM switches from multiple brands and after a competitive evaluation and test installation, they chose to install the AccessIT - Minicom's DCRAM solution.

Said Nathaniel Sukkau, Daimler's management team's senior infrastructure analyst, Essentially AccessIT® is a layer on top of our infrastructure that links everything together through a common interface. It replaces dozens of individual interfaces.”

The Minicom RAM solution includes Minicom KVM IP switches and Mincom's AccessIT™ remote management software, and is capable of providing remote access and control of servers and devices via in-band software (i.e. RDP, VNC) and out-of-band tools including KVM server access, console servers, PDUs and service processors (such as ILO, DRAC, and IPMI).

Savings and operational efficiency were key factors in the selection, according to Sukkau. Each time anyone needs to access a device, AccessIT shaves five minutes or more off the time it used to take. In a large center like ours, where there is a constant need for console access, AccessIT saves an hour a day, maybe more.” As for security, he says “In a corporate data center, security is always an issue. With ‘one console to rule them all’ we’ve obviously tightened up our security of access.”

In addition, the AccessIT system is non-vendor-specific, and was installed and deployed without any removal or replacement of Daimler’s existing servers, PDUs, KVM switches or console servers. Says Sukkau, “This product is great! We can tie into just about anything-our HP equipment, our equipment from Dell, Digi and Cisco. Cisco was a surprise to me, I didn’t think it would work, but it did.”

Out-of-band access was essential to Daimler, because they require many brand-specific features. “Our HP products are specific to our x86 environment, our Digi devices are specific to our Solaris environment, and our Cisco switches are network associated. To be able to access the complete feature sets of all the equipment, from one console-it’s light-years ahead of what we had before

With the success of AccessIT, Daimler’s Data Center Management Team is considering extending their access to the company’s many remote data centers. Sukkau summarizes, “The product is so good, and it can service so many different devices. The only reason you’d need more than one is for redundancy.”