Virtual Data Center E-zine

For data center managers who have embarked on virtualizing a data center or for those already engaged in the process, Virtual Data Center E-zine explores the challenges—and the benefits. Take a look every month at the biggest issues for virtual environments, including virtualizing major applications such as databases and email, weighing storage architectures or mapping a VMware strategy based on business needs.

For more in-depth news and advice on next-generation data centers, check out our comprehensive resource collection on virtualized data centers.

Virtual Data Center, August 2011 issue (Vol. 34)

Virtualization has been transformed from a tactical technology that organizations adopted to save space, cooling and power into a corporate strategy used to respond to business demands. Mike Laverick offers his insight on what's next for this versatile technology. Also in issue, learn how to proceed when it’s time to secure virtual machines. Danielle Ruest and Nelson Ruest outline security best practices in the host server environment and for the VMs themselves:

Reaching for the Cloud at VMworld by Christine Casatelli
The Evolution of Virtualization by Mike Laverick
How to Keep Virtual Machines Secure by Danielle Ruest and Nelson Ruest

Virtual Data Center, June 2011 issue (Vol. 33)

As organizations expand their virtual environments, they’re discovering that one hypervisor isn’t always enough. But deploying a second hypervisor can pose some significant risks. Stephen J. Bigelow helps you carefully consider the pros and cons of a multihypervisor environment. Also in this issue, Bill Kleyman offers tips on tuning up performance in your virtual data center, and Mike Laverick shows how to whip badly configured applications into shape to make the best use of resources:

Time to Consider a Second Hypervisor? by Stephen J. Bigelow
Rev Up Virtualization Performance by Bill Kleyman
Managing Virtual Resource Oversubscription by Mike Laverick

Virtual Data Center, April 2011 issue (Vol. 32)

Private clouds and public clouds are making steady headway in today's enterprises. But deciding between the different cloud architectures can be a challenge because each one is not appropriate for every application, user group or organization. Stephen J. Bigelow pushes aside the hype in his realistic comparison of the cloud computing models. Also in this issue, Mike Nelson shares his exprtise on which applications to run on virtual servers, and Brien M. Posey tells how to make sure your applications are performing adequately in a cloud environment:

Public vs. Private: Comparing Cloud Architectures by Stephen J. Bigelow
How to Set Priorities for Virtualizing Applications by Mike Nelson
Measuring and Optimizing the Cloud by Brien M. Posey

Virtual Data Center, February 2011 issue (Vol. 30)

Business software performance and practicality drive the need for remote servers. But making sure users get a good experience while keeping costs down can be a challenge. A variety of remote server management technologies are available today, with more on the way. Stephen J. Bigelow helps you sort out which tools are best for your organization. Also in this issue, Carl Brooks reports on where to get reliable information on cloud performance, and Frank J. Ohlhorst shows how to squeeze even more savings out of virtualization:

Exploring Remote Server Management Options by Stephen J. Bigelow
New Services Offer Data on Cloud Performance by Carl Brooks
How to Reduce Virtualization Costs by Frank J. Ohlhorst

Virtual Data Center, December 2010 issue (Vol. 29)

As virtualization becomes widespread, storage demands have escalated, driving up costs while raising concerns about performance. The good news is that technologies and practices are available today that can help organizations reduce storage use and overcome management hassles. Stephen J. Bigelow offers tips on how to trim storage needs in virtual data centers. Also in this issue, Bill Claybrook lists open source tools that can benefit cloud users, and Brien M. Posey shares his expertise on ways to build your server virtualization infrastructure with redundancy and fault-tolerance in mind:

How to Reduce Storage Requirements in Virtual Data Centers by Stephen J. Bigelow
Building and Managing Clouds with Open Source Tools by Bill Claybrook
Real-Life VM Failover and Disaster Recovery Testing Techniques by Brien M. Posey

Virtual Data Center, November 2010 issue (Vol. 28)

Consolidation is probably the single most important consideration in a virtual data center. But too much server consolidation is not beneficial for data centers or their users. The problem is that over-consolidation is becoming more prevalent as organizations try to stretch their resources farther than ever. Stephen J. Bigelow helps data center managers strike a balance with his well considered consolidation tips. Also in this issue, Eric Siebert sets the stage for a private cloud, and Mike Laverick focuses on getting the most out of hardware resources to boost connectivity:

Achieving the Right Level of Server Consolidation by Stephen J. Bigelow
Get Ready for a Private Cloud by Eric Siebert
How to Optimize Network Performance to Improve Server Consolidation by Mike Laverick

Virtual Data Center, October 2010 issue (Vol. 27)

No virtualization deployment is complete without a careful consideration of storage. Shared storage is often a minimum requirement. The real choice is between network-attached storage and other storage area network architectures such as Fibre Channel, Internet SCSI and Fibre Channel over Ethernet. Stephen J. Bigelow evaluates the pros and cons of each storage technology. Also in this issue, Phil Cox points out five areas to consider when moving applications to the cloud, and Greg Shields describes the best tactics to elevate copper Ethernet cabling into a more desirable solution:

Choosing the Right Storage Network for Virtualization by Stephen J. Bigelow
How to Deploy Applications in a Public Cloud by Phil Cox
Tactics for Managing iSCSI and FCoE by Greg Shields