What if you could shop for cloud with a plethora of choices from an array of vendors just like you’d find in a farmers market or a modern mall? Mark Thiele of Switch explores the concept of an open marketplace that is be independent from the...
Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards – any one of these natural disasters could wreak havoc on a data center, leading to power surges, leaks or, worst of all, data loss. The good news is there are some relatively simple things SMBs can do to...
Can a data center truly be software-defined? Richard Unger, of ABB Decathlon writes that he's been in a lot of data centers and not one of them has given any hint that it might be "software-defined." He gives an overview of how the new buzzword is...
A system which is “oil fouled” must work harder to reach necessary temperatures to keep the data center equipment from breaking down. These longer run times result in the use of more power and less useful life from your equipment. And lost...
Outside air economizers seem simple and attractive to cool the data center with "free" outside air. Unfortunately, if not designed properly bringing in outside air can actually put the data center operation at risk, Rob Sty of SmithGroupJRR's...
To make virtualization predictable for tier-one apps and end-user desktops and enable mixing and matching workloads, storage should be intelligent, writes Sachin Chheda of Tintri. Also, data reduction techniques to maximize the usage of expensive...
DCIM is essential for optimizing the efficiency of data center operations, for mitigating risk and for enabling IT agility, writes Laura Greden of CA Technologies. But DCIM can also help IT get maximum value out of its colo providers.
Our current facilities-centric approach has fostered one very large blind spot, stopping short of a truly holistic view of the data center, writes Aaron Rallo of TSO Logic. The reality of the situation is that there is an equally large opportunity...
We love our toys, but mixing business with pleasure presents Excedrin-sized headaches for data center managers responsible for keeping company data secure and knowing who has what apps, why and where, writes Tom Roberts of AFCOM. So what's the...
Increased adoption of virtualization in today’s data centers is uncovering the significant mismatch between the capabilities of traditional storage platforms and the specialized demands of virtualization, writes Sachin Chheda. This column...