IT Expert Voice

You know how well your data center works, but haven’t you always wanted to know how your data center compares to other companies? The problem, of course, is that breaking into Fort Knox might be easier than finding out what’s what at another company’s data center. Fortunately, Google is willing to share information. READ MORE

Monitoring an enterprise environment need not be expensive, or lock you into a single vendor. Open source enterprise monitoring systems stack up favorably next to proprietary solutions – for free or at a much lower cost.

There’s a score of open source monitoring applications, but sifting through the options can be daunting. In this article, I focus on a few standouts that have widespread adoption, an active community, or corporate support. They each have a healthy set of monitoring features that help an enterprise network ensure uptime and reliability. READ MORE

Access to Microsoft’s cloud is strikingly similar to Microsoft’s Active Directory resources, Windows Live, and public-facing web resources – except that a Microsoft data center is likely to be hosting them. Microsoft’s Azure platform is a private cloud development and service platform that supports Microsoft’s user Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) applications (such as online Microsoft Office components) and applications built around various building blocks using Microsoft cloud version “back-end” products like SQL Server. READ MORE

Computing clouds come in different shapes for different purposes. Microsoft’s Azure transcends several types of typical cloud offerings, and the offerings are distinctly Microsoft in branding, use, and philosophy. READ MORE

Smartphones now rival notebook systems for power and productivity, yet these mobile devices are often unmanaged by IT. That’s changing, as more organizations use software tools to manage their smartphone fleets. READ MORE

For a while, “disruptive” architectures were said to be a good thing. But a clash between the way cloud applications want to work, and the way the Web was designed to work, could create a disruption so massive that you’ll need to rethink the way your enterprise licenses its software.

The most distinct architectural difference between “the cloud” and “the Web,” as we have come to understand them, is this: The cloud is a realm of distributed applications that demand identity. The Web is built atop a transport protocol that thrives on anonymity. This fundamental distinction renders the two constructs as separate as oil from water. READ MORE

For private cloud computing to be more than an exercise in glomming on to the latest buzzwords, technology managers need to dodge pitfalls – starting with making sure that they are truly doing something new and useful.

As a market niche, private clouds capitalize on interest in on-demand pools of computing and storage resources, like those offered by Amazon.com, or application and platform technologies like those offered by Salesforce.com. But that interest is tempered by the conservatism of some technology managers reluctant to trust applications and data to external service providers. Software and hardware vendors are quick to suggest enterprises can achieve some of the same flexibility with internal implementations of similar technology. READ MORE

One of the fastest ways to free up budget for new expenditures (or added profits) is to cut expenses. That’s easier said than done these days considering everything has been cut past the bone and down to the marrow already. Recessions are such brutal butchers.

The one juicy budget-hog left to slaughter is energy expense. Certainly the datacenter is adding more than its share to that expense and most of that comes from the need to cool the heat-producing, energy-gluttons squatting there. READ MORE

Novell and Microsoft are more than happy to help you bridge the gap between Linux and Windows.

Once upon a time, bridging the gap between Windows and Linux in the server room or the office was… difficult. Today, while no one’s going to call it easy, Novell and Microsoft have worked hard on ensuring interoperability doesn’t require either a Linux wizard or a Windows expert. READ MORE

In a perfect world, the data center could be completely refreshed on a nice and tidy schedule. But sometimes the world is less perfect, and new equipment must be phased in instead.

“The important thing is to know when to squeeze usability from old hardware — and when to let go,” says Nick Twentyfive, datacenter operations manager at Bureau Veritas, a global quality assurance, health, safety, and environmental company.

If you find yourself squeezed between an increased productivity demand and a budget hard-line, here are some steps Nick suggests you consider to get the most from your old equipment until you can replace it. READ MORE