Visual Navigation Control

There are three ways to navigate to a device. First, you can use the search functionality. Second, you can use the Tree Navigation Control. Finally, you can use the visual navigation control.

The RAMP DCIM visual navigation control allows users to navigate through locations and devices using a visual representation of the location hierarchy.

If you double-click on an asset, a new tab will be created and the asset information will be displayed. To view the visual navigation screen, click on the left-most tab. This tab is the navigation view and will always be available.

If you double-click on a location, you will “drill down” into that location. For example, the following screen shot shows that we have drilled down into St. Louis to get to this data center view.

Locations or assets will be color-coded based on their current status.

The data center layout provides some additional views:

• Status – Displays the status of the racks and devices
• Device Type – Displays the specific device type
• Rack Utilization – Displays the percentage of the rack U space currently filled
• Rack Free Space – Displays the number of rack U positions available in the rack
• Largest Contiguous Space – Displays the largest contiguous space available in the rack
• Temperature Front – Displays the front temperature for each rack
• Temperature Rear – Displays the rear temperature for each rack
• Power – Displays the rack power

To select a different view, select the desired view from the dropdown list.

When you hover over a rack, location, or asset, RAMP DCIM will display additional information.

In the data center view, you can select one or more racks for display. In the following screen shot, multiple racks were selected by clicking on the racks.

Note that the Selected Racks panel will display the selected racks with a column showing the current status of the rack. If a different parameter is chosen from the drop-down menu at the top, this value will be shown. If power is chosen, for example, the selected racks will show the value of the rack power in the Value column.

You can also search for racks using the search panel.

Choose one or more criteria from the search parameters. In this example, I want to find all racks in Row 5 with at least 20 U spaces of Contiguous Space.

Click Get Parameters from Model to fill in search criteria based on a selected model. This will allow you to find potential racks which have enough space and power for a particular server, for example.

Click Find Racks to find racks matching the selected search criteria.

Click Reset to reset the search criteria.

Click View Racks to show a visual view of all selected racks (see screenshot on next page).

Select the rack view (front or rear) by choosing the appropriate radio button and the rack information to display (image, device type, status, power, temperature, humidity) from the drop-down list.

Use the left and right arrows to scroll through the racks.

Visual View Controls

The following actions can be performed by clicking on the appropriate icon in the Visual View header bar:

View the Visual View Layout

Clicking the layout button will open the visual layout view of the location.

View the Location Dashboard

Clicking the location dashboard button will display the dashboard view of the location.

Open and Edit Properties

Clicking this button will open a menu that gives a number of selections:

• Properties – Opens a view that displays all the properties for the location
• Change Log – Displays the change log grid
• Documents – See all linked documents for the given location
• Location Breakdown – View the power and capacity breakdown for the location
• Location Power Breakdown – See detailed information about the power usage of the location
• Notifications – See all linked notifications for the location

Create Detailed Graphs

Clicking on this button opens a view that allows you to create and export custom graphs.

See Active and Past Alarms

Clicking this displays the active alarms for the location.

Refresh the View

Clicking the refresh button will refresh the view of the location with the most current data.

Create Reports

A location report can be generated in one of three ways:

• Click the report icon (will generate the report in PDF format)
• Click the report output type by using the report dropdown menu:
  • PDF Report
  • RTF Report
• Click the Scheduled Reports menu option to schedule the report to be automatically run and distributed

Open Advanced Options Menu

Add to Clipboard – Add the selected location or device to the clipboard (See Planned Moves)

Add New Discovery – Create a new discovery for the given location

Add New Device – Add a new device or location

Delete Location – Delete the location from the system

Connect To – Connect to the location if a connection method has been set

Open in New Window – Open the location view in a new browser window

View Location – Toggle between the location visual view and dashboard view

Asset Information – Open an information dialog displaying asset info

Modifying the Visual View

You can modify the visual view using one of the following controls:

Layers

Click the Layers button to choose what layers are visible on the visual view.

Check boxes for information you want to see on the visual view.

Zoom / Pan

Click the Zoom / Pan button to zoom and pan the visual view. Note that you can also zoom using the mouse wheel and pan by left clicking your mouse on the visual view and then moving it.

1:1 Set visual view back to normal mode (un-zoomed)

+ Zoom in

– Zoom out

Arrows Move visual view left, right, up, or down

Edit

Click the Edit button to switch to edit mode for the visual view.

The following additional controls are available while in edit mode:

Revert

Click Revert to undo any changes made during the editing process.

Snap To Grid

Click Snap To Grid to place the asset in the upper left corner of the tile.

Align To Top

Click Align To Top to align all selected assets to the top most position.

Align To Left

Click Align To Left to align all selected assets to the left most position.

Save

Click Save to save all editing to the visual view and switch back to status mode..

Settings

• Grid – Polygon

  • Draws a multi-sided grid. As you click, lines will connect the points. Once all points are selected, press the *Complete* button. You will then be prompted to enter the length of the highlighted line in order to determine the scale to use for the visual view.

• Grid – Rectangle

  • Draws a rectangular grid. Press the mouse down in the upper left hand corner of the grid and then drag the mouse to the lower right hand corner of the grid area. You will then be prompted to enter the length of the highlighted line in order to determine the scale to use for the visual view.

• Layout Scale

  • Allows you to set the scale of the visual view.

• Grid Settings

  

  Column Format – Set format to use for columns

  Start Column – Set starting column

  Row Format – Set format to use for rows

  Start Row – Set starting row

  To delete the grid, click Delete Grid.

  Click OK to save changes.

• Add New Rack

  

  This option will allow you to create and place new racks on the grid.

  The Name Template allows you to automatically create names for racks based on the row and column on which the rack is placed.

Select the manufacturer and model for the rack.

Set the direction you want the rack to face (up, down, left, right).

Click Create Racks.

Click the row and column you want the new rack to appear. When done adding racks, click Close.

• Add New Tile

  

  This option will allow you to create and place new cold, hot, perforated tiles on the grid.

  Click Add Tile.

  Click the row and column you want the new tiles to appear. When done adding racks, click Close.

• Add Shape

  

  This allows you to add a shape to the visual view.

  Fill in the information in the dialog and click OK to save the new shape.

• Add Label

  

  This allows you to add a label to the visual view.

  Fill in the information in the dialog and click OK to add the new label.

• Background Image

  

This allows you to set the background image. Supported file types are PNG, JPEG, SVG, and GIF.

Select an image from the list or click Add New to add a new image.

Click OK to add the image.

Click Remove Background to remove an existing background image.

Once the background image and/or grid have been set up, you can now place assets and locations onto the visual view.

Drag an asset from the hierarchy, search, or device type tree onto the layout.

Once you have placed an asset, you can now perform additional operations on that asset. You can move the asset by selecting the asset and dragging and dropping with the mouse or by using the arrow keys. Holding the Ctrl key down while using the arrow keys will move the selected asset in very small increments for fine tuning the location.

Once an asset is selected, you can use the right mouse button to display a menu of options for the asset.

Click Remove from Layout to remove the asset from the visual view.

Click Delete to delete the asset. Note that this will completely delete the asset, not just remove it from the visual view.

Click Edit to edit properties for the asset.

This dialog will allow you to edit properties for the asset, including the layer in which the asset will appear (Floor, Ceiling, Under Floor), the direction the asset is facing, and the font size for the asset label. You can also set the absolute X and Y position in the visual view.

Click OK to save your changes.