HOW RAIN RFID CAN HELP YOU MANAGE YOUR DATA CENTER
AGENDA: -MANAGING DATA CENTER ASSETS -WHAT IS RAIN RFID -RAIN RFID TAGGING -RAIN RFID HARDWARE -ASSET MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE -RFID EXAMPLE
SPEAKERS: JOHN ROMMEL HEAD OF CHANNEL PROGRAMS RFID GLOBAL JOHN FREDERIKSEN VP PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, IMPINJ GEORGE REYNOLDS SENIOR DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC ACCOUNTS, OMNI-ID
CHALLENGES MANAGING YOUR DATA CENTER ASSETS?
Data Center $ Spend Is Growing 27% CAGR growth rate over next five years 1 Fueled By: Growing Data Needs: IOT, Cloud, AI, Analytics, Big Data Mergers and Acquisitions Technology Enhancements, Faster and Cheaper Protection from Security Breaches, Cyber Assaults Bottom Line: Many More IT Assets to Manage. 1 CAGR - Forbes 9/17
Assets on the Move IT Assets do not remain static. They are constantly on the move: Equipment Replacement Equipment Maintenance Data Center Reconfiguration/Optimization Facility Expansion/Consolidation Equipment moves are often not reported properly Bottom Line: Do you really know where everything is?
The Need for Security In 2016, reported data breaches increased by 40%. 1 In 2017, major breaches from Equifax, D&B, UNC Healthcare, Verizon, SEC, Gmail, Deloitte, Uber, ebay to name a few. 2 66-75% of information breaches stem from outright theft of servers and hardware, unauthorized access or use of computers and servers, and damage caused by the loss and/or improper disposal of equipment. 3 Bottom Line: Are you prepared? 1 IdentityForce 2 IdentityForce 3 Navigant
A Few Other Things Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules require firms to have documented knowledge of where depreciating assets are located. Data tapes and hard drives are the least secure items in a Data Center. 1 IT assets located outside of the Data Center also have their own tracking needs. Bottom Line: So how do you track assets? 1 Safeware Insurance
The Trouble with Audits Manual Audits can take days to perform, subject to human error. Barcodes help, but are slow as they read one item at a time and require line-of-sight visibility. All audits become inaccurate shortly after completed. Bottom Line: Quarterly audits cannot provide real-time information.
The Answer Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Small tags attached to each asset. Mobile and fixed readers record movements Why RFID: Barcodes RFID Read 1 at a time Read 1,000 s at a time Require line of sight Read even when not visible Require a human Read automatically
How It Works RAIN RFID Tags attached to assets contain a unique ID
How It Works Fixed reader portals automatically record all movements in and out.
How It Works Handheld readers take inventory in minutes vs hours.
How It Works RAIN RFID Software tracks and filters all reads, generates alerts and reports, and can interface with existing systems.
RFID Benefits Track movements of all assets More rapid inventories, more frequently Reduce costs Inventory labor Lost, misplaced or stolen assets Equipment replacement costs Intrinsic value of lost data
WHAT IS RAIN RFID?
Digitizing the Physical World with RAIN RAIN RFID is a passive wireless system that connects billions of everyday items to the internet. Tagged Item Readers
How RAIN RFID Works RAIN RFID solutions include three main elements: Endpoints Reader Software Tag Chip RFID tag Tagged item Fixed Reader Software
Why use RAIN RFID? What is it? Where is it? Has it moved? Which direction is it traveling?
RAIN and the Internet of Things Over 20 Billion 1 Items Connected with RAIN RFID 1 RAIN RFID Alliance
RAIN Market Adoption RAIN is Established Market has Adopted (1) RAIN Industry Alliance Worldwide Spectrum & Standards Global Tagging Ecosystem Complementary and Expansive Items Beacons Internet Payment 12B 10B 8B 6B 4B 2B 0B RAIN Tag ICs in Billions 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Blue Chips are Deploying
RAIN RFID TAGGING
Tag Considerations Frequency - Regional or global deployment? Substrate - Metal, Off-metal, Free air? Size Footprint? Height? Use Case Quality The best performing tag in terms of read range may not be the best performing tag in your application
Frequency There are two UHF passive RAIN RFID frequencies worldwide: US (FCC) and EU (ETSI). If a global response is required, the maximum read range will be compromised. There are also differences between countries on how the reader communicates with the tag that can also affect read range. Any of the sponsors of this webinar can cut through this on your behalf as we all monitor these complex developments globally.
Substrate Inexpensive paper tags designed for retail/apparel do not work on or near metal On-metal tags require a unique design. These tags can be optimized for performance on-metal or can be balanced so the tag responds uniformly no matter what the substrate is made of: metal, plastic, cardboard, even in free air
Tag Size Tag size in on-metal tags is largely determined by the dielectric material used inside the plasmonic structure Cost goes up as size goes down due to the increasing cost of the dielectric. IQ400 (foam dielectric) Prox NG (plastic) Fit 400 (ceramic) Balanced Balanced On-metal only Up to 4.2m 1.8m +/ 25% Up to 4m 3.78 x 0.49 x 0.04 1.48 x 0.49 x 0.177 0.52 x 0.28 x 0.12 ~$0.50 ~$1.00-$1.50 ~ 2,50 -$3.00
Use Case Tag selection is largely driven by the use case and the read range required to meet it. Examples: Automated receipt of preconfigured racks Taking inventory of individual items in a rack with a handheld Perpetual inventory with a cart or robot
Quality The cost of inconsistent, dead, or duplicate tags is significant: The total cost of deploying 3 sigma tags (96.7% good) costing $0.65 is $3.98 each The total cost of deploying 6 sigma tags (five nines) costing $1.05 is $1.38 each On-metal labels can be printed and encoded on-site, but we recommend preprogramming for large deployments, referred to as Service Bureau There are many other quality considerations
RAIN RFID HARDWARE
Impinj Platform for RAIN RFID Integrated High performance Versatile Easy to deploy and use Enterprise class Software-defined capabilities
Impinj Readers and Gateways Connect, locate and engage endpoints Fixed Infrastructure Bidirectional, wireless communications between items and applications Industry leading reliability and performance Gateway Readers Combined Infrastructure Speedway Readers
Fixed Infrastructure Examples 1. 2. 3. 4.
Reader and Gateway Capabilities Readers and gateways communicate with tags that are within its field of operation, performing any number of tasks. Track location and movement including direction Filter or search for tags that meet a certain criteria Always-on monitoring of tagged items Senses and adapts to the environment
ASSET MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
RFID Software Features Asset Management Track, filter and manage thousands of tagged items simultaneously Dashboards & Reports Customized to your requirements Data Analytics Measure data and provide operational insights Interface with Legacy Systems Link with existing ERP and Asset Management systems Self Service Capabilities Monitoring and Reporting
RFID Data Analytics
EXAMPLE
Business Case for RFID Business Requirement: Implement an IT Asset Tracking Solution that works on or off metal, is fast, cheap and low maintenance (including reader system handheld and portal) Improved asset visibility Streamlined and accurate inventory management Greater compliance with financial and accounting requirements Reduced number of lost/missing IT assets Speed of inventory time & $ savings
Financial Impact to Inventory Inventory Method Racks Audit Hours Techs Cost / Tech / Hour Audits Total Cost Manual 500 192 2 $50 3 $57,600 RFID 500 32 1 $50 3 $4,800
Return on Investment The ROI of prfid Tagging in IT DC's RFID Feature Operational Benefit Financial result Improved asset visibility Increased asset utilization Reduced capital expense Faster physical inventory More time for value-add activities Order of magnitude improvement 5% - 15% of total spend Reduced physical inventory labor costs 75-% - 95% Reduced item search labor costs 50% - 70% Reduced compliance effort (SoX, HIPPA, etc.) 25% - 50% More accurate physical inventory 100% of assets are 100% defined Eliminate property tax on disposed assets 100% Eliminate lost or missing assets Better compliance to lease termination and EOL management 5% to 10% of asset base 10% to 20% of asset base Visibility into assets off line for repair and/or maintenance/calibration downtime reduced 20% to 40%
The Cisco Experience Spot audit of 400 assets in a 20,000 unit data center Techn. People Time frame hours %/# of assets found Barcode 2 2 weeks 80 46% 184 RFID 2 4 hours 8 99.8% 399 %/# of assets not found 54% 216 RFID Benefits 0.2% 1 time savings 90% # found assets incr 2.2X # missing assets from over 50% to less than 1% inventory accuracy from 65% to over 97%
Q&A
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