Opengear today announced that it has partnered with Server Technology (STI) to implement Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) into Server Technology's popular PRO1 and PRO2 PDU models. This partnership enables Server Technology to utilize technology from Opengear -- known for its pioneering application of ZTP in console servers -- and become the first PDU manufacturer to offer integrated ZTP as part of its solutions.
As enterprises increasingly need to quickly deploy and manage large quantities of units in order to serve growing network infrastructure requirements, the automation, orchestration, and intuitive self-correcting network capabilities that ZPT technology provides help meet this critical IT demand.
Modern data centers contain thousands of devices that must each be properly provisioned and configured. However, most PDU solutions still require one-at-a-time configuration by a network engineer using a command line interface, completing what has traditionally been a slow, manual, and often error-prone process.
Opengear's ZTP technology transforms these network operations by introducing powerful automation and the ability to deploy devices rapidly through a streamlined, hands-off process. This automation saves enterprises time and money, and eliminates the need for personnel to be involved with device setup.
With the introduction of Server Technology's ZTP-enabled solutions, enterprise customers deploying PDUs to the data center -- as well as businesses operating remote network sites, labs and co-locations -- can now take advantage of ZTP to automate the provisioning and configuration of the PRO1 and PRO2 model PDUs.
Opengear is a recognized leader of ZTP in the console server industry, having engineered the feature into its own product line in 2015. Through this partnership, Opengear lends its long-standing expertise, assisting in the architecture development and initial ZTP testing for Server Technology's enhanced PDU deployment and automation.
Opengear further provides its console server, management LAN, and 16GB firmware image storage, which give Server Technology customers a powerful ZTP environment wherein they can deploy hundreds of PRO1 or PRO2 PDUs with a few mouse clicks.
Opengear's technology also acts as Server Technology's cellular gateway into the data center, instantly allowing enterprise and hyper-scale customers to perform zero touch provisioning on Day One -- without any need for circuit provisioning or POTS line installation.
"The original catalyst for implementing Opengear-powered Zero Touch Provisioning into our PDU solutions came from a large customer who was very familiar with how Opengear had successfully brought ZTP into the console server space," said John Fauteux, Global VP of Sales and Marketing at Server Technology. "It made sense to connect this technology to PDUs, and we're excited to demonstrate the results of partnering with Opengear by bringing its best-of-class ZTP implementation to PDUs."
"Zero Touch Provisioning is a hugely beneficial technology, reducing deployment times and costs, minimizing errors, sparing technicians from inefficient work, and allowing for hyperscale deployments that are challenging to achieve otherwise," said Todd Rychecky, VP Sales Americas at Opengear. "We're proud of our partnership with Server Technology, and glad to play this key role in introducing ZTP technology to the PDU industry."
