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Learn to apply best practices and optimize your operations.

• Growing cloud capabilities influence IT capacity planning

  IT capacity planning must take into account the decrease hardware space requirements, ramping up densities and the potential to interface with cloud services. Continue Reading

• Thread safety isn't the only way to boost mainframe performance

  Thread safety boosts the performance of DB2 and other mainframe apps, but could unnecessarily complicate code. Continue Reading

• The top Linux commands for server administrators

  Managing Linux servers requires command line skills. Keep a list of the top Linux commands to schedule tasks, check statuses and see open files. Continue Reading

• The Linux ip command makes network config easy

  The Linux ip command makes monitoring a Linux network configuration easy, but you need to know what to look for. Continue Reading

• New data storage methods broaden IT horizons

  Data center managers have more choice than ever with SSDs, object storage and more, which means evolving ideas about the best methods of data storage. Continue Reading

• Server uptime and hardware failure guide

  Follow this guide to build server uptime into your data center, from facility redundancy to high availability virtualization to designed-to-fail architecture.Continue Reading

• Six steps to better data center skills

  Head into 2016 with a positive outlook, a plan for new projects, and a well-rounded set of data center skills.Continue Reading

• Eight emerging data center trends to follow in 2016

  Data center facilities are undergoing tremendous change, with trends such as open standards and DCIM catching on, and emerging technologies pushing the limits of density and power.Continue Reading

• High server throughput leads to better utilization, lower costs

  Higher throughput means fewer servers to handle a given workload and potentially lower licensing costs as well.Continue Reading

• SUSE Manager handles more than just SLES

  SUSE Manager maintains control over server patching on SUSE and Red Hat OSes, but what happens with Red Hat's shift away from Spacewalk?Continue Reading

• Try a hyper-converged infrastructure setup alongside servers

  Introducing a hyper-converged infrastructure setup in your data center doesn't have to be an all-in endeavor.Continue Reading

• International data centers face Safe Harbor loss

  Think your company doesn't use international data centers? The servers used in colocation and cloud outsourcing could be just a warrant away from the U.S. government peeking at your corporate data.Continue Reading

• Two key aspects to consolidating data centers after an acquisition

  When consolidating data centers after a corporate merger, scrutinize custom software applications and security. You may improve IT operations.Continue Reading

• Data center metrics and standards guide

  From energy use to server performance, data center metrics form a foundation for improving IT operations.Continue Reading

• Data center humidity recommendation falls dramatically

  An ASHRAE study's conclusions are disproving the conventional wisdom around data centers' relative humidity levels.Continue Reading

• Traditional IT employees must adapt to cloud way of life

  Traditional IT employees need to understand the big business picture and what the cloud offers to remain relevant.Continue Reading

• Data awareness gives storage pros new insights

  Early adopters of data-aware storage arrays see better management and analytics, as well as compliance assurance from the technology.Continue Reading

• Adopt this battle-tested IT implementation plan

  New business initiatives live or die by the quality of their IT implementation plan. Experienced IT teams share their methodology.Continue Reading

• Are you stuck in a legacy data center state of mind?

  Legacy data centers with proprietary code and outdated business practices are familiar, labyrinthine and difficult to leave behind.Continue Reading

• Linux mount command reveals storage device access path

  New Linux server administrators will find mounting storage devices very different than they have seen on Windows servers.Continue Reading

• How do you verify a HA server or cluster is working?

  I want to ensure server high availability in my production IT environment. Is it better to test server HA and risk disruption, or trust in the systems' reliability?Continue Reading

• What switched PDU should I buy?

  Our latest firewall/VPN firmware upgrade left CPU usage at 100%. A malfunctioning DHCP-Server means people aren't getting IPs. I have to pull the plug to restart the firewall. What size switched PDU do I get?Continue Reading

• Cut data center sprawl to improve IT capacity

  This guide offers tips and strategies to corral all types of sprawl -- VM, server and automation -- as well as other drains to data center resources.Continue Reading

• SUSE makes Btrfs stable, flexible SLES file system of choice

  Btrfs proves a viable and more flexible file system for production Linux servers, with proper configuration and setup.Continue Reading

• Data center water usage whets appetite for change

  Will drought dry up the digital economy? With water scarcity a pressing concern, major data centers are re-examining water use for cooling.Continue Reading

• Managing shadow IT risk to the business

  With more users turning to external IT platforms to meet business needs, IT professionals must take steps to start managing shadow IT.Continue Reading

• Stop being IT heroes and take the low-key approach

  It's fun for IT to save the day, but a low-key approach is the most effective way to get things done.Continue Reading

• How learning Linux jumpstarted my career

  Choosing an alternative to Windows 98 and learning Linux -- back in the 90s -- led Jack Wallen to his current career. How did you get started with Linux?Continue Reading

• ITSM tools no silver bullet for data center service delivery

  ITSM tools can simplify and streamline the service delivery process, but don't forget the critical steps that also must be taken to help IT meet businesses' goals.Continue Reading

• Network bottleneck looms when data center storage improves

  The high-IOPS, low-latency potential of SSDs moves bottlenecks to the network. SDN offers provisioning adjustments to avoid any slowdown in the data center.Continue Reading

• Is IT service continuity only for the rich?

  Technologies like cloud and virtualization mean IT service continuity no longer requires an extra data center or two.Continue Reading

• External penetration testing still critical in cloud

  By moving to the cloud, a business can offload some responsibility for lost or stolen data, but external penetration testing in the data center remains critical.Continue Reading

• Get the best mix of servers and storage in the data center

  A fleet of servers is only as good as its connected storage. The right storage design for your data center depends on cost, simplicity and performance requirements.Continue Reading

• Expect big changes from Red Hat Satellite 6

  Red Hat overhauled its Satellite server management tool in version 6, which means a lot more functionality and features but a complex adjustment period for server admins.Continue Reading

• Improve data center energy management with this guide

  The revised 2015 version of the E.U.'s best practices guide for data centers provides up-to-date tips on data center energy management for everyone.Continue Reading

• Software testing techniques to address distributed databases

  Data that lives across multiple IT infrastructures makes software testing difficult. New technologies in virtualization offer some relief.Continue Reading

• Connectivity to remote offices drives vWAN development

  Remote offices demand connectivity with the central data center, data-rich services, and cost-effective IT deployments. Enter the vWAN.Continue Reading

• Extend UPS battery life, avoid catastrophic data center failure

  Are you managing your UPS battery life expectations? Just because the warranty says it will last doesn't mean you should take their word for it.Continue Reading

• Expert tips for a next-generation data center

  There are many steps between where your data center is today and its ideal form in the future. These tips will help guide your journey.Continue Reading

• Data center spending continues climb, led by power, DCIM

  Purchases of racks, cabling, power equipment and data center infrastructure management software top the list for data center spending.Continue Reading

• RHEL developer preview moves ARM servers closer to reality

  RHEL on ARM servers has developers envisioning new apps, but the hardware and software ecosystem for 64-bit ARM is still just a vision.Continue Reading

• Five quick data center best practices

  Some controversial topics leave data center managers with lingering questions, but DCIM and power and cooling queries were met with best practice tips at AFCOM.Continue Reading

• IT automation changes the game, but limits remain

  Automation tools give admins ways to automate routine or even complex tasks, but some limitations mean IT must keep their hands on the wheel. Heuristic automation will take over areas where traditional deterministic rule sets cannot keep up.Continue Reading

• Data center physical security gets a tougher look

  Organizations seeking colo data center space are now asking more questions -- many of them detailed -- about the physical security of the data center.Continue Reading

• Six ways to lower IT infrastructure costs

  It's the right time for another round of IT cost-saving initiatives, and here are six areas where data center managers can reduce IT expenses.Continue Reading

• Intro to machine learning algorithms for IT professionals

  Machine learning -- supervised and unsupervised -- tracks data patterns that help businesses build improved predictive models and make smarter IT decisions.Continue Reading

• Server performance and benchmark testing guide

  The right back-end servers, tuned for maximum efficacy, make the difference in business-critical applications and services.Continue Reading

• Purging zombie servers saves AOL money, energy

  AOL shares the lessons it learned from a project to rid its data centers of 14,805 zombie servers that saved the company about $10 million.Continue Reading

• How the brave virtualize DNS, AD and other core IT services

  Critical IT infrastructure services -- DNS, DHCP servers -- don't need to live in the physical realm.Continue Reading

• Consolidating operating systems

  This chapter examines the role of operating systems within a multi-vendor data center, and how software and personnel are intertwined within an organization. In an ideal world, training wouldn't be attached to a tangible cost. Since expenditures do ...Continue Reading

• Build Linux from scratch to improve admin skills

  There's a sure-fire way to increase your knowledge about the Linux kernel and how to troubleshoot Linux servers: Build one yourself.Continue Reading

• Five COBOL interview questions to land a new job

  Time for a new job on the mainframe? Brush up on your COBOL basics and prepare for these strategic interview questions.Continue Reading

• Guide to software-defined everything in the data center

  It's time to start thinking about a software-defined infrastructure in the data center. Here are benefits of software-defined architectures, tips for implementation and tools to help.Continue Reading

• Checklist of IT KPIs for responsive data center ops

  The right metrics, aligned with business needs, strengthen data center monitoring and capacity planning. KPIs orient IT performance to specific goals.Continue Reading

• Data aware storage yields insights into business info

  Storage isn't just a bunch of dumb disks anymore. In fact, storage infrastructure is smarter than ever.Continue Reading

• How SDN in the data center shapes Ethernet's future

  Ethernet's future lies in smarter software working alongside new materials and silicon advances. SDN and NFV promise exceptional flexibility and management.Continue Reading

• Give the Linux quagga router a try for SDN

  The open source quagga router is garnering attention as a flexible choice for SDN. It's easy to set up with the right hardware.Continue Reading

• How do I avert database security issues in match/merge?

  Our IT organization needs to secure customer names, but also needs to conduct searches on the entire customer database to match and merge records.Continue Reading

• Cutting data center power costs

  Reining in energy costs is one of the top concerns for data center managers everywhere. And since power consumption represents a significant cost for organizations, data center managers need to have solutions in mind when they get called into ...Continue Reading

• Suss out, solve pesky server utilization problems

  If it's time to tune your data center hardware, consider fixes like DRAM expansion, SSDs or container virtualization.Continue Reading

• New eco UPS systems save energy, minimize operational risks

  Eco UPS installations promise higher energy efficiency in the data center, with new designs that respond quickly to an outage.Continue Reading

• Guide to managing data center costs and the IT budget

  Daily data center operations, upgrades and purchases cost a business a lot of money. Save some dough -- and get value for your IT spend -- with these tips.Continue Reading

• What are the best ways to prep for CompTIA exams?

  I took the CompTIA Security+ online exam once and wasn't able to clear it. How can I prepare to pass the test next time?Continue Reading

• Why big data servers stay on-premises in data centers

  Compute- and I/O-intensive big data workloads won't stray to the cloud yet as security and existing infrastructure keep analytics in the data center.Continue Reading

• Vendors race to provide big data infrastructure

  Enterprise big data workloads demand a lot from storage and network bandwidth. Storage, cloud and as-a-service vendors are developing the infrastructure to support them.Continue Reading

• SDN efforts increase agility

  Network engineers and data center administrators need to be able to respond quickly to changing business requirements, and software-defined networking helps to facilitate these responses. Agility is often used as a buzzword at higher levels of an ...Continue Reading

• Small updates meet big data center requirements

  Not all IT infrastructure projects require a large budget and lengthy schedule. These relatively inexpensive updates boost performance and reliability.Continue Reading

• What kind of VM management tools help plan growth?

  What tools can I use to manage capacity to accommodate further VM growth in a complex IT environment?Continue Reading

• Fill in skills shortages with mainframe outsourcing

  New deeply skilled mainframe staffers won't pop up overnight, so use a mix of in-house and outsourcing tactics to support another decade on big iron.Continue Reading

• What's yours is mine: Sharing DCIM

  It's hard to avoid the growing importance of data center infrastructure management technology (DCIM) within the world of IT. Data center managers are increasingly looking to merge the management of servers and facilities, and DCIM generates a number...Continue Reading

• Data center improvements extend its life 10 more years

  Space, power, cooling and equipment improvements give your data center design new life. Do it right to keep costs down.Continue Reading

• Wasted energy = wasted money

  Smart IT teams are continually looking for more ways to eliminate energy waste in their data centers. A well-run data center is one that uses only the energy it absolutely requires. Because of what they do, data centers require significant ...Continue Reading

• Make the mainframe system part of your business continuity process

  Mainframe systems need comprehensive preparations to maintain business continuity during a disaster. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to accommodate the mainframe in BC.Continue Reading

• Virtualized firewall servers and other bad ideas

  Virtualization is a great idea, but not for everything in the data center. Even if your goal is 100% virtualization, leave these servers off the list.Continue Reading

• Disaster recovery as a service wipes out traditional DR plans

  Disaster recovery planning and infrastructure builds vex IT managers. Cloud services offer lower costs and more flexibility, but not without risk.Continue Reading

• Words to go: Data center design standards bodies

  Need a handy reference sheet of the various data center standards organizations? Keep this list by your desk as a reference.Continue Reading

• Guide to building a better IT team structure

  The right IT team structure can pump up daily operations -- and morale. For a better environment, replace silos for DevOps and keep data center employees happy.Continue Reading

• Take data center efficiency to the max on three-phase power

  Three-phase circuits provide considerably more power efficiency to data center equipment, but phase balancing can trip up deployments.Continue Reading

• Master Linux service management on System V and systemd

  Managing services on Linux is an essential task for administrators. Learn to work with either System V or systemd.Continue Reading

• Explore information technology budget plans for 2015

  The TechTarget IT Priorities Survey asked how companies plan to spend 2015 IT budgets, and if IT teams expect more money allocated to technology this year.Continue Reading

• Power and cooling checklist for a better data center PUE

  Data center power consumption eats up a large portion of operating costs. These cooling and power changes can help cut back energy use without lessening IT performance.Continue Reading

• Five tips to prep for a Sarbanes-Oxley audit

  For IT organizations in public U.S.-operating companies, SOX audits are a fact of life. Look forward to a compliance audit with these immediate and long-term preparations.Continue Reading

• Micro data centers keep businesses competitive from next door

  A fleet of micro data centers can conquer the latency and resiliency of one centralized data center. Is the edge model right for your enterprise?Continue Reading

• Can you virtualize a NetBackup master server?

  I have only seen companies deploy a NetBackup master server on a physical server. Are there any drawbacks to using a VM as a NetBackup master server?Continue Reading

• Ten ways to optimize IT team structure

  The data center teems with unpredictable equipment -- about 42U tall and prone to failure -- but is also loaded with on-board intelligence: its IT team.Continue Reading

• Can an Oracle database update from mainframe jobs?

  Can administrators set IBM mainframe jobs to update Oracle databases directly, or are there incompatibilities between the systems?Continue Reading

• Avoid growing pains with infrastructure capacity planning

  Follow these guidelines to expand data center capacity without the terror of wasted space or, even worse, tight capacity after move-in.Continue Reading

• Tips to standardize your next data center move

  With colocation and centralization on the rise, you're likely to take on multiple data center moves in your career. It's time to standardize your process.Continue Reading

• A disaggregated server proves breaking up can be a good thing

  Split up and go your separate ways for cost efficiency. With disaggregation, systems separate CPU, memory and I/O for more flexibility, no hard feelings.Continue Reading

• Make this your most modern IT year yet

  No one sticks with their New Year's resolution -- where is that gym card anyway? -- but you can pick up seven modern habits and feel good about fit, healthy IT ops.Continue Reading

• Master the art of RFP writing for data centers

  Writing a biased RFP is a great way to get everything you want, and nothing you need. If you want to address an IT or business demand, sometimes it pays to leave out specifics.Continue Reading

• Big data and analytics advice from an operations pro

  You don't need to employ special IT personnel for big data analytics. One company uses big data for developers to modify ads and find and adjust pain-points in a game application.Continue Reading

• Linux pro imparts how to get ahead in IT careers

  According to longtime Linux pro Sander van Vugt, RHEL skills will take you furthest. Follow van Vugt's 10-year plan to a successful IT career.Continue Reading

• Implement these data center security best practices

  Proper data center security standards help prevent dangerous, costly breaches to the business. Follow these steps for a safe and secure facility.Continue Reading

• Should you ionize air in the data center?

  Is air ionization in the data center justifiable for preventive equipment maintenance? Is it worth the hassle and cost?Continue Reading

• Three novel approaches to building a data center

  Factors from PUE and build time, to accessibility and amenities, will influence your data center design and construction decisions. Here are three routes to consider.Continue Reading

• This data center cost calculator keeps you on budget

  Calculating every data center expense can be challenging, but with the right spreadsheet -- and formulas -- you will accurately assess the total cost.Continue Reading

• Data center maps lead IT to server treasure

  Can't find the server that needs repairs or the right reboot button when the host blue-screens? A data center map is vital when disaster hits.Continue Reading

• What's the best way to measure data center airflow?

  You can't measure airflow from raised floor tiles in the same way as any other air duct. Optimize data center airflow with the right tools.Continue Reading

• Server form factors: A guide to rackmount, blade servers and more

  Which type of server is right for you? The data center's budget, technology and reliability will steer you toward rackmount or blade servers.Continue Reading