A Cross-platform Network Configuration and Management Tool for Small/Medium Server Spaces built upon the Netbox DCIM and IPAM platform. See the User Manual for more information.
This is the Dissertation Project for Jozef Sieniawski at The University of Nottingham.
A unique set of challenges are faced by small and medium companies that host their own server spaces. Although these devices are typically business-critical, they are squeezed into encumbered spaces, with lacklustre lighting and limited access. Additionally, and critically, this makes the maintaining and documenting of these devices inherently more difficult. Current solutions for data centre infrastructure management software (DCIM) fail to focus on in-situ use and are typically bloated with features for large data centres. This project has investigated the needs and requirements that can solve these challenges, with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). From these requirements, this project then implements a cross-platform mobile application that satisfies these needs. It was found that the tool should be easy to use, intuitive, and make use of HCI best practices to improve upon existing software experiences. The prototyping process allowed for the discovery of new requirements which helped increase intuitive interactions, such as searching for a device by hierarchy. Notably, there were drawbacks found in the use of Netbox as a backend system and open-source software in general. The project's human-centred design and development process has produced a tool that can be integrated well into existing server spaces and can be used to improve the management of server hardware and networking.