Evaluate

Evaluate

Weigh the pros and cons of technologies, products and projects you are considering.

• Why and how to adopt a data-centric architecture

  Data has become one of the most valuable assets in the enterprise. IT teams must make changes -- both culturally and technically -- to ensure their strategy reflects that. Continue Reading

• Top 5 data center technology trends to watch in 2021

  2020 changed how IT pros managed and provisioned infrastructure. In 2021, organizations must find ways to support automation, AI and data analysis in the data center. Continue Reading

• Smart UPS features for better backup power

  Vendors now offer UPSes with functions that help regulate voltage and maintain battery health. Before you upgrade, evaluate costs and confirm infrastructure compatibility. Continue Reading

• Main factors that can guide your UPS selection process

  To choose the right UPS, be sure to figure out business needs, power supply size requirements and how long your backup systems must last during downtime. Continue Reading

• Guide to colocation and how to choose a provider

  It's important to thoroughly evaluate facilities, pricing and contract terms before choosing a colocation provider. Also, consider the challenges that come with going colo. Continue Reading

• Deep dive into NetApp Converged Systems Advisor for FlexPod

  Converged Systems Advisor from NetApp helps FlexPod customers better manage their converged infrastructure deployments. Dive into its features to see if it is right for you.Continue Reading

• 4 data center UPS vendors to evaluate

  UPSes are crucial components to any backup power system. Use power ratings, infrastructure voltage requirements and the UPS type to guide the selection process.Continue Reading

• Composable disaggregated infrastructure right for advanced workloads

  Composability provides the agility, speed and efficient resource utilization required to support advanced workloads that continue to grow ever-more sophisticated and comprehensive.Continue Reading

• Your primer to colocation pricing and rack space rightsizing

  Even with structured pricing methods, there's a lot to consider when making colocation infrastructure purchases. Account for future hardware needs and spend flexibility.Continue Reading

• How to negotiate a fair data center colocation agreement

  It's critical to business operations and your overall budget to know what a good colocation SLA covers, what it doesn't and how to negotiate one for your organization.Continue Reading

• NFV systems converge virtual network services at the edge

  Explore functions, products and use cases that illustrate how NFV and edge computing trends combine SD-WAN endpoints and other network services on single pieces of hardware.Continue Reading

• Colocation pricing guide: Understanding data center costs

  Colocation facility costs can include anything from power fees and bandwidth service charges to connectivity expenses, change fees and support costs.Continue Reading

• Avoid colocation and cloud noisy neighbor issues

  In any multi-tenant IT environment, noisy neighbors can be an issue. Here's a closer look at how the challenges differ in the public cloud versus colocation.Continue Reading

• 9 considerations for a colocation data center selection checklist

  Use this data center selection checklist to make fair and comprehensive comparisons between colocation data center providers before making a decision.Continue Reading

• Retail colocation vs. wholesale data centers: How to choose

  One offers more control, while the other offers more flexible space. If you're considering a colocation facility, how do you decide between wholesale and retail?Continue Reading

• 7 benefits of colocation for your business and 4 challenges

  Colocation is not a silver-bullet solution for everyone. Discover the benefits and drawbacks that come with allowing a third-party to manage your IT equipment.Continue Reading

• What is database refreshing?

  IT testing and software development constantly requires fresh data. It's easy to run a database refresh and generate new data for sandbox or production tasks.Continue Reading

• Extend your power lifecycle with Li-ion data center batteries

  Backup system batteries are critical in any infrastructure. Developments in Li-ion technology can bring more power, lower TCO and a longer component lifespan.Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud infrastructure design for AWS, Azure, Google Anthos

  Learn about infrastructure for tightly coupled hybrid clouds and delivering AWS Outposts, Microsoft Azure Stack and Google Anthos from an on-premises data center.Continue Reading

• Microsegmentation networking: Nutanix Flow vs. VMware NSX HCI

  Explore how microsegmentation improves network security and the differences in how Nutanix and VMware bring the technology to their software-defined hyper-converged infrastructures.Continue Reading

• Transform your infrastructure to support parallel processing

  Quick, real-time data analysis is a boost to any organization's operations. With the right hardware and software, you can support parallelization in your data center.Continue Reading

• Post-acquisition strategy and why storage mergers go bad

  NetApp-SolidFire and HPE-SimpliVity cuts illustrate some of the pitfalls awaiting large vendors when they spend hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars on acquisitions.Continue Reading

• The state of data center convergence: Past, present and future

  Discover if CI, HCI, dHCI or composable technology is right for your environment and workloads, and how the converged data center continues to evolve.Continue Reading

• Software-defined power offers benefits, but lacks popular interest

  Virtualized power systems promise to ease deployment and maintenance, but the market is still in its nascency.Continue Reading

• Do you know how HPE GreenLake services work?

  IT infrastructure hardware and services delivered through HPE GreenLake takes the cloud Opex spending model and brings it on premises. Test your GreenLake acumen with this quiz.Continue Reading

• Composable, an IoT infrastructure paradigm with potential

  Composable infrastructure can stand up and down virtual servers depending on the varying needs of workloads. Learn why composability is a good for IoT.Continue Reading

• Bare-metal container clusters: Infrastructure for next-gen apps

  Learn the requirements, designs and software stacks used to build bare-metal clusters for containers using dedicated 1-2U HCI hardware instead of existing virtual machine servers.Continue Reading

• The value of an IoT implementation in the data center

  IoT can help with data center management and optimization. Before you embark on an implementation, evaluate use cases, software options and security concerns.Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud vs. hyper-converged: Hybrid wins hands down

  When everything goes to cloud, why do you even need HCI? Who cares where server, storage, virtualization and networking are when IT adopts a 'run any app from anyplace' strategy?Continue Reading

• A look at the main differences of Bourne shell vs. Bash

  Shells help admins run commands from the keyboard to the OS. Though Bourne shell and Bash are similar, there are differences in layout and code compatibility.Continue Reading

• Discover the main differences between COTS vs. GOTS

  When admins compare government versus commercial software options, they must consider cost, use cases and available support as part of the selection process.Continue Reading

• Tips to get colocation contract renewal right

  During your team's colocation contract renewal process, be sure to reevaluate power requirements, spending flexibility and one-time cross-connect fees to gain better services.Continue Reading

• Is third-party threat a viable server maintenance contract tactic?

  When negotiating server hardware and maintenance agreements with vendors, server customers can threaten to go elsewhere. But how effective is that tactic?Continue Reading

• Composable benefits from infrastructure-as-code techniques

  Learn why composable infrastructure is an effective infrastructure as code delivery model and can serve as a foundation for orchestrating and automating IT resource provisioning.Continue Reading

• VMware vs. Nutanix on HPE GreenLake: Comparing approaches

  See how Synergy composable infrastructure with VMware Cloud Foundation and ProLiant DX on Nutanix Enterprise Cloud take different approaches to HPE GreenLake pay-per-use IT.Continue Reading

• Single-socket servers offer cost, utilization benefits to admins

  Different server types bring advantages in processing speed, memory availability and overall cost. See what single- and dual-socket servers can add to your infrastructure.Continue Reading

• HCI vs. cloud: The main differences

  A hyper-converged infrastructure can support cloud deployments, but they are not one in the same; the variances in infrastructure should be noted before potential adoption.Continue Reading

• 10 top hyper-converged infrastructure vendors and products

  Determining which hyper-converged infrastructure platform is right for your organization should include analyzing your workloads and assessing technology from top HCI vendors.Continue Reading

• How GreenLake Central improves HPE's GreenLake program

  Learn about the features and benefits of HPE's GreenLake Central, an online portal that lets users manage and optimize their on-premises GreenLake systems.Continue Reading

• 11 main benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure

  Benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure include simplified deployments and management, easy upgrades, scalability and flexibility, improved performance, agility and more.Continue Reading

• The case against data center consolidation

  Having one centralized data center can bring IT benefits. Use cases such as IoT, edge computing and cloud don't necessarily work with consolidated infrastructure.Continue Reading

• Top 8 hyper-converged infrastructure use cases

  You might be aware of basic HCI use cases, such as server consolidation and virtual desktop infrastructure, but there are other areas where HCI can come in handy.Continue Reading

• What is HPE GreenLake and how does it work?

  GreenLake allows users to pay only for the IT resources they use. Find out how it works for HCI, composable infrastructure and other purposes, its benefits and potential drawbacks.Continue Reading

• 4 disadvantages of hyper-converged infrastructure systems

  Problems with scalability and cloud compatibility can create major issues for organizations that want to deploy hyper-converged infrastructure systems.Continue Reading

• The basics and benefits of lights-out management

  For remote IT capabilities, lights-out management tools enable admins to power servers off and on, monitor temperatures and remediate potential operational issues.Continue Reading

• The ins and outs of Google Cloud Anthos on NetApp HCI

  Combining NetApp HCI with Anthos from Google enables enterprises to more easily implement and maintain a hybrid cloud infrastructure that supports modern applications and more.Continue Reading

• Understanding VMware Cloud Foundation components, features

  VMware Cloud Foundation enables users to implement an integrated software-defined data center. Version 4 represents a major architectural upgrade integrating Kubernetes in vSphere.Continue Reading

• Illustrated guide to converged infrastructure and vendors

  Prequalified, turnkey systems from converged infrastructure vendors deliver the flexibility of traditional IT approaches with some of the support and management aspects of HCI.Continue Reading

• Vendors investigate chiplets as CPU expansion option

  As chipmakers expand the amount of processing power in CPUs, some are considering the use of chiplets. These modular silicon pieces offer a possible option for scalable designs.Continue Reading

• HCI vs. traditional IT vs. dHCI vs. composable infrastructure

  Compare outcomes of hyper-converged, traditional/converged, disaggregated HCI and composable infrastructures, plus hybrid cloud, to decide which approach best fits your IT needs.Continue Reading

• Get the right SLA for enterprise liquid cooling services

  If you're interested in data center liquid cooling, investigate the technology types, available service providers and outline an effective agreement for successful system use.Continue Reading

• Organizations tackle data center operations during COVID-19

  With an increased remote workforce, organizations must address infrastructure bandwidth, data center access and business continuity. The right software and staffing policies can help.Continue Reading

• An in-depth look at calculating server hardware costs for SMBs

  Servers can be expensive, but there's more to the purchase than just the price of the hardware. Learn what additional items an SMB must factor into the overall cost.Continue Reading

• Pick a data center layout: Raised floors vs. overhead cabling

  There's no definitive design when it comes to data center infrastructure. Cost, manageability and cooling effectiveness are all factors during the selection process.Continue Reading

• 6 converged infrastructure vendors' product options compared

  Converged infrastructure systems help reduce hardware deployment risks by providing a preconfigured software stack, which greatly reduces the risk of configuration errors.Continue Reading

• Traditional vs. converged vs. hyper-converged infrastructure setups

  HCI clusters, converged infrastructure and rack servers all offer benefits for a data center. Still, figuring out which is easier to set up requires evaluation and planning.Continue Reading

• Insight into Big Blue key to better IBM ELA renewals

  Before negotiating a renewal of your IBM enterprise license agreement, get to know Big Blue's sales strategy and which factors influence its deal-making process.Continue Reading

• Data center liquid cooling market heats up

  As organizations increase server rack density, more C-level execs investigate liquid cooling technology. Industry experts see these systems as an operational and cost necessity.Continue Reading

• Considerations for SIEM logging software and storage

  SIEM systems aggregate a lot of data across all types of infrastructure. For regular audits, admins should address notification settings, analysis protocols and storage locations.Continue Reading

• Dell EMC vs. NetApp: Comparing converged infrastructure systems

  The Dell EMC VxBlock and NetApp FlexPod converged infrastructure platforms can help IT reduce the complexities of implementing and maintaining data center systems.Continue Reading

• The coronavirus effect on enterprise technology practices

  Effects of COVID-19 on enterprise IT go well beyond enabling remote workforces. Coronavirus is also changing approaches to IT staffing, projects/initiatives and budgets/spending.Continue Reading

• What is the self-driving data center and how does it work?

  Self-driven data centers require little intervention to handle daily operations. Explore their inner workings, benefits, and what HPE and VMware are doing to make them a reality.Continue Reading

• Quickly repurpose HCI hardware for hosting virtual desktops

  Virtual desktops are tailored for remote work situations, and hyper-convergence makes a great VDI host that stands up quickly in a pinch. Consider these factors, though.Continue Reading

• Advances in server hardware components speed up data centers

  Server hardware has consistently evolved since the 1980s. Now, IT professionals can implement the latest in CPU and GPU technology in their ever-growing data centers.Continue Reading

• Improvements in CPU features help shape selection

  CPUs have evolved to meet ever-increasing technology demands. We look at the way performance and power characteristics have shifted in recent years.Continue Reading

• Dive into the quantum computing qubit with IBM's Bob Sutor

  The quantum computing industry is entering a new era. IBM's Bob Sutor discusses the technology's importance and how his latest book can help readers better understand the qubit.Continue Reading

• HPE Primera storage makes Synergy, Composable Rack more intelligent

  See how intelligent all-flash Primera storage with InfoSight predictive analytics brings a more cloud-like resilient, agile, scalable experience to HPE composable infrastructures.Continue Reading

• Open Compute Project influence, open source hardware gain momentum

  With open source hardware more feasible than ever, catch up on how Open Compute Project consortium uses open source to develop more efficient server and infrastructure designs.Continue Reading

• What is Pivot3 Acuity Intelligence Engine for AI and automation?

  The Acuity Intelligence Engine delivers advanced data and performance management to simplify data protection and system administration for Pivot3 hyper-convergence.Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged use cases beyond VM stacks: A hardware guide

  Explore best hyper-converged appliance and cluster configurations for containers, machine/deep learning, streaming analytics and specific products supporting each of these workloads.Continue Reading

• What is AI-defined infrastructure, and does it work?

  Software-driven hyper-converged, composable infrastructures and incorporation of AI technologies into compute and storage has brought more intelligence to enterprise IT than ever.Continue Reading

• Top hyper-converged infrastructure TCO factors to consider

  A lot of factors for estimating hyper-converged total cost of ownership are fairly straightforward, others less so. Follow these guidelines to get started on this complex process.Continue Reading

• Build up your knowledge of leaf-spine network technology

  As organizations deal with challenges of single tree path networks, many admins are considering leaf-spine architectures. Learn the ways its topology helps latency and data flow.Continue Reading

• Disaggregated hyper-converged infrastructure vs. traditional HCI

  A technical examination of what the pending demise of hyper-converged infrastructure 1.0 and rise of hyper-convergence 2.0 means for planning, buying, deployment and management.Continue Reading

• HPC services bring computational power to more organizations

  Navigating HPC colocation requires knowledge of power, uptime and security demands. Deploying such services can bring innovative opportunities for organizations.Continue Reading

• Want an HPC data center? Colocation could be the answer

  Colocation can offer the space, HVAC and security an organization needs to implement high-performance computing and delve deeper into its data. But not every provider is a match.Continue Reading

• Plan a successful migration to HPC colocation

  If your organization decides to host its HPC hardware in a colocated data center, ensure a smooth migration with proper location selection, security measures and application testing.Continue Reading

• How HPE SimpliVity InfoSight hyper-converged analytics works

  SimpliVity with InfoSight can predict and prevent hyper-convergence issues, take the guesswork out of capacity management, reduce support calls and lower operations expenses.Continue Reading

• A guide to how digital transformation IT infrastructure works

  Explore requirements, goals and issues around digital transformation plans and modern IT infrastructures such as hyper-converged, disaggregated hyper-converged and composable.Continue Reading

• Compare hyper-converged, converged infrastructure monitoring tools

  Better monitor your hyper-converged infrastructure systems with tools from Zenoss, Uila, eG Innovations and ManageEngine than with the proprietary tools of hyper-converged vendors.Continue Reading

• Best hyper-converged systems win Products of the Year 2019

  Datrium, Western Digital and HiveIO win praise for ground-breaking products that led the way in a year of hyper-converged and composable infrastructure evolution and change.Continue Reading

• What is Intel Rack Scale Design and how does it work?

  Find out what Intel's Rack Scale Design architecture is and how its reference code and APIs enable Intel-partner products to compose on-demand virtual servers for specific workloads.Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged data center vendors innovate, evolve products

  Review notable hyper-converged, HCI 2.0 and composable disaggregated product news to gain insight into data center convergence technology as you make infrastructure decisions.Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged and composable architectures transform IT

  Hyper-convergence and up-and-coming HCI 2.0 and composable infrastructure can help you achieve your IT and business goals. See why, how and where their strengths and weaknesses lie.Continue Reading

• Get to know Dell EMC hyper-converged infrastructure products

  Gain insight into Dell EMC's hyper-converged portfolio, including VxRail and XC Series appliances, VxRack System Flex plus vSAN, VxFlex and Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes.Continue Reading

• Illustrated guide to hyper-converged edge computing

  Hyper-converged systems can help reduce network strain by making it possible to send only the most valuable and relevant data to centralized remote data centers or the cloud.Continue Reading

• Top data center skills admins can use in 2020

  The 2019 tech job sector saw consistent growth and job availability. In 2020, admins should develop expertise on cloud architectures, edge computing deployments and automation.Continue Reading

• Are attitudes toward edge computing architecture changing?

  Edge computing has many advantages over the centralized running of applications and processing of data on premises and in the cloud. Are IT leaders getting the message, though?Continue Reading

• Organizations try to predict the effect of 5G infrastructure

  With more 5G and IoT devices emerging, admins must prepare their data centers to support low-latency apps and edge computing with the right network and processing hardware.Continue Reading

• Why hyper-converged edge computing is coming into vogue

  Hyper-convergence helps enterprises better provision applications at the network edge and more efficiently process enormous amounts of data generated by IoT devices and smart sensors.Continue Reading

• Features distinguish leading composable infrastructure systems

  Before selecting a composable architecture, compare the different platforms' processing power, latency rates, supported IOPS, size and type of memory.Continue Reading

• AWS Outposts vs. Azure Stack vs. HCI

  See how AWS Outposts vs. Microsoft Azure Stack hybrid cloud offerings work and where they can and cannot take the place of traditional hyper-converged infrastructures.Continue Reading

• How vSAN hyper-converged infrastructure software works

  Delve into important aspects of VMware vSAN to help clarify its features and how it works to see if the hyper-converged infrastructure software is right for your organization.Continue Reading

• Gartner analyst lists application migration strategy essentials

  Application prioritization, risk assessment and cost evaluation are key migration strategy components for organizations looking to move workloads from on prem to the cloud or a colo facility.Continue Reading

• How is HCI market fragmentation affecting buyers, vendors?

  An increasingly crowded market and the technological limitations of standard HCI have led to innovative new takes on hyper-convergence to the benefit of vendors and buyers alike.Continue Reading

• Comparing Linux distributions: Red Hat vs. Ubuntu

  Before selecting a Linux distribution, compare Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu when it comes to features, ease of use, licensing and documentation.Continue Reading

• What does HCI 2.0 mean for hyper-convergence?

  Like composable infrastructure, next-gen hyper-convergence promises to ease procurement and management by, among other things, enabling users to add disparate IT resources independently.Continue Reading

• Top 4 open source automation tools for admins

  Open source offerings are an easy way to bring automation into your organization. When selecting software, evaluate the user experience, main features offered and Linux support.Continue Reading

• 5 reasons why hyper-converged infrastructure could be right for you

  The reasons for going hyper-converged vary. Often, however, organizations deploy HCI technology to effectively address one or more of the five issues outlined in this article.Continue Reading

• Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct simplifies converged, HCI storage

  Storage Spaces Direct in Windows Server packages several different Microsoft technologies to lower TCO and simplify storage in converged and hyper-converged deployments.Continue Reading