Tools of the 21st Century Data Centers. For this post, I wanted to continue with my thoughts on what helps make up 21st Century Data Centers. In my last post, I focused on the automation aspect of the modern day data center and since I brought it up, let me take another moment to express my main point from that post. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing which automation engine you will use in your environment. There are plenty of options available and you should make your decision based on which solution will make the most sense for your environment and the systems that are running on it. You should also take advantage of other automation tools or engines that may be provided as part of another solution. In my humble opinion, taking advantage of the native functionality that is vender provided is a gift that should be opened and taken advantage of.