It's inevitable. As your business grows, so too do your server needs. We discuss when it makes sense to build a data center and when it makes sense to move to a hosted environment and outsource your hardware.
As the 2.6 kernel nears release, Linux is finding its way into data centers in organizations of all sizes. For many enterprises, cost is the most compelling reason to consider deployment.
Data Center Markup Language is a fledgling XML-based standard designed to facilitate communication among the various devices in a data center. The ability to communicate in a standardized format is vital for the future of utility computing, and this standards-based, non-proprietary effort may represent the clearest trek yet.
As SANs become more widely deployed, securing them is becoming increasingly critical. We review a number of strategies to keep both the hardware and data safe, as well as touch on some key management tools.
Unsure of the difference between iSeries and zSeries? Don't know where to begin the search for the best server for your organization? In our first server vendor profile, we explain the ins and outs of IBM's four server lines and include a detailed chart.
On-demand computing has become the technology du jour due in no small part to a shower of vendor hype. Carl Weinschenk comes clean on some of the not so shiny aspects of this new technology.
With the freewheeling days of profligate spending long gone and the hunt for bargains in high gear, the used equipment market is flourishing. Carl Weinschenk elaborates on when taking the refurbished route is the best path.
Intel last week unveiled version 2.0 of its Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) specification, which provides a standardized way for enterprises to monitor the mechanical elements of a computing device's operation. Carl Weinschenk explains the basics of IPMI and describes what's new in 2.0.
The white box market is going mainstream as it shifts from serving a low-end niche to being the technology of choice for a growing number of small and midsize enterprises. Carl Weinschenk discusses why some organizations are passing on a branded box and picking up a less decorated one.
KVM switches have been steadily moving from the background to the foreground of the data center. Carl Weinschenk explains the reasons for this as he steps through the basics of KVM.
Grid computing is a hot topic these days. Carl Weinschenk weaves his way around, explaining buzzwords, basic uses, and reasons for the surge in the technology's popularity.
Carl Weinschenk continues his discussion of best practices for keeping the data center secure. This time he focuses on protecting hardware from the human component -- whether it be terrorism, employee sabotage, or other internal and external threats.
The impact of the power outages that swept across the Northeastern region of North America last week were felt throughout the United States and the world. From a disaster recovery standpoint, if September 11, 2001 was a wake up call, August 14, 2003 was a report card. Carl Weinschenk provides a checklist of questions and considerations for enterprises that have not yet begun to learn their lessons.
Carl Weinschenk kicks off his new weekly hardware feature with a discussion of the movement of computing power from mainframes to rack mount servers to blades, and explains where each is best suited in the data center.
The application server market of today is not the same as the one of five years ago. A troubled economy and commoditization of product through J2EE standardization is transforming the application server market of yesterday into the application platform market of tomorrow.
As the volume of spam and viruses in circulation continues to proliferate, small and midsize enterprises are opting to outsource their anti-spam and anti-viruses efforts. Carl Weinschenk examines this latest trend.
As IT managers attempt to squeeze more out of their budgets, cramming more services on fewer servers is an attractive proposition -- which is why server-virtualization tools like VMware are proving to be a hit in the datacenter.
When first introduced, blade servers were lightweight servers on a card that were fast, cheap and out of control. Today's blade servers are still fast, but they're designed for more complex tasks and can be better managed.
Clustering's not a new idea, but as the concept picks up steam, it's important to cut through hazy language and commonly confused concepts to learn what clustering can do, and where it's headed. Carl Weinschenk explains.
An influx of smaller players and a focus on total cost of ownership is sculpting the shape of the groupware and collaborative applications space. This overview examines these and other trends, including the connection between e-mail and other applications, the growth of corporate instant messaging, and changing usage patterns among end users.
There's no denying spam is a pervasive and tricky problem that continues to proliferate. From an enterprise perspective, the strongest cure for spam is prevention. This tutorial outlines a variety of spam prevention tactics -- from specific products to general techniques -- that can be taken on the mail server, desktop, ISP, or network edge level.
