One of the most common questions data center operators have is which workloads they should move to the cloud. A frequent follow-up is which cloud is the best destination for each workload. The cloud has become a regular element of most IT strategies. Its flexibility, agility, scalability and budget reliability make it an attractive option…

We are living in exciting times, especially those of us who work in IT. The technological changes going on all around us are, historically, on par with previous leaps in human development. For businesses, technology offers tools that allow them to compete and thrive. It gives them the ability to apply intelligence and process management…

Technologies such as virtualization and the cloud have changed data centers dramatically in recent years. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the need to keep them cool. While many organizations have moved data and workloads to the cloud, most keep some servers on-premises, often in smaller data centers or server closets. Because most physical…

Today’s post covers Eaton’s Integrated Power Management (IPM) software and how it can benefit data center administrators with managing power across a heterogeneous environment. IPM is a software solution from Eaton that provides a set of tools to monitor and manage power devices in both physical and virtual infrastructures. IPM helps ensure data integrity and…

I see more customers considering the adoption of hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solutions in their data centers this year. The primary drivers? For most of them, it’s increased efficiency, improved ease of use and reduced costs – take your pick. HCI is a game-changing solution that simplifies a data center’s infrastructure by integrating server, storage and…

You have aging hardware in your data center, failures are occurring more frequently and maintenance is eating up your time. Perhaps it is time to consider getting out of the hardware business and moving everything to Microsoft Azure. 

I think the classic IT model we are accustomed to today is slowly transforming – and will be mostly marginalized.  In fact, a very clear picture of the replacement of how to run IT is here now. We are used to buying packaged software or even developing in-house software for operating systems, clustering, networking, firewalling,…

In our previous discussion on virtual networking, we explained how virtual networks are replacing the need for virtual local area network (VLAN) configuration in data centers, and simplifying the grouping and isolation of servers. But we never really explained how the virtual networks are actually accessed, since they “ride” underneath physical networks. So, let’s take…

For a long time data center architects have struggled with the requirement to provide connectivity across racks of servers, across multiple locations, while maintaining isolation for groups of those servers.  For example, the Accounting department might not want their servers accessible to someone working on another department’s server.  The Accounting servers need to be isolated,…

Reimagine the Possible Today I want to offer ideas you can use to shake out the IT cobwebs.  These use cases could be exactly your challenge, part of your challenge or just what you need to reimagine what is possible with the world of automation.