Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• What are the pros and cons of blockchain in networking?

  While blockchain could be a valuable network management tool, enterprises don't exactly have a driving need for the ledger technology in the networking arena.  Continue Reading

• What are today's top 3 network security challenges?

  A significant shortage of cybersecurity staff, poorly configured firewalls and unmanaged end-user mobile devices are some of the top network security threats.  Continue Reading

• What does GPU hardware do in the data center?

  Once part of the gaming industry, GPUs are gaining traction in data center infrastructures. Learn why the power of GPUs makes them fit virtualization and data-heavy applications.  Continue Reading

• Should I use in-house or SaaS tools to develop APIs?

  It's perfectly viable to approach API development using either in-house or SaaS-provided tooling, but each path has its place. Learn how to choose between these two methods.  Continue Reading

• Setting up Hyper-V replication requires preplanning

  Hyper-V replication is easy to use, but there are a number of steps you should take during Hyper-V replication setup to ensure you stay abreast of potential failures and data loss.  Continue Reading

• Should I use tools that support the OpenAPI Specification?

  Thinking about applying the OpenAPI Specification to API development? Analyze OpenAPI's automation and standardization benefits and see if it will ease your API design difficulties.  Continue Reading

• How do you find Hyper-V nodes with PowerShell?

  Manage Hyper-V clusters more easily with PowerShell cmdlets and scripts that automate the retrieval and display of node information, including node statuses.  Continue Reading

• How do last-mile connections work for SD-WAN deployments?

  SD-WAN technology plays well with existing last-mile connections, and it allows enterprises to use more than one type of transport link. But beware of provider sprawl.  Continue Reading

• What is the status of VNF deployments among service providers?

  Although service providers are undertaking VNF deployments in the network core, they're hard-pressed to deploy them at the network edge due to complexity and cost.  Continue Reading

• Which NVMe fabric will win out?

  Are you wondering how NVMe over fabrics will shake out? Expect RDMA to take the early lead, but storage pros will continue their love affair with Fibre Channel.  Continue Reading

• What is a long-tail DoS threat, and how does it target web apps?

  Fine-grained application monitoring can defend against a long-tail DoS threat. This new kind of vulnerability manipulates service queues within a web application.  Continue Reading

• Why do admins need both powershell.exe and pwsh.exe?

  While the PowerShell development team wants IT to move on to the newer PowerShell version, the powershell.exe executable will remain to avoid breaking changes.  Continue Reading

• What VM automation tools are available?

  There are many different VM automation tools available -- some of them part of much wider product and feature suites. Determine which features you need and find the tool that works.  Continue Reading

• What are the most common virtualization automation mistakes?

  Avoid automation issues by coordinating with the wider organization to ensure employees know how to provision resources and remain aware of evolving business needs and policies.  Continue Reading

• What are the primary use cases for VM deployment automation?

  Automate the deployment of VMs to meet the demand for resources while ensuring each VM remains properly configured and follows lifecycle and governance policies.  Continue Reading

• How do you optimize a virtual database server?

  Avoid virtual database performance hiccups by incorporating monitoring and alerting tools. Stay abreast of any issues and head them off before users encounter them.  Continue Reading

• How do you virtualize database servers?

  Virtualizing database servers has consolidation and efficiency benefits, but you must carefully choose which databases to virtualize and which tools to virtualize with.  Continue Reading

• What are some useful remote server management tools?

  Choosing software for remote server monitoring and maintenance depends on organizational and administrative needs. Here are a few programs to include in your search.  Continue Reading

• How do virtual ADCs benefit enterprise data centers?

  Virtual ADCs bring another level of flexibility, authentication and performance monitoring, moving application delivery controllers beyond load balancing and application acceleration.  Continue Reading

• What do I need to know about remote server management?

  The ability to manage servers requires evaluating WAN connection options, available repair staff and software capabilities. This tip offers insight into how it all comes together.  Continue Reading

• Plan ahead for traffic spikes with AWS CDN

  While Amazon CloudFront can make traffic spikes more manageable, IT teams still need to carefully prepare their environment for these increases in user activity.  Continue Reading

• Docker for Windows shows permission errors on shared volumes

  Understand and work around one of the more common Docker for Windows errors -- permissions for shared volumes -- to read, write and execute to the shared volume.  Continue Reading

• Does software-defined networking architecture use segment routing?

  Segment routing steers packets using a list of instructions, and it can be used in MPLS and IPv6 architecture. But does software-defined networking architecture support it?  Continue Reading

• Use nested virtualization to run a container in a VM

  IT administrators should familiarize themselves with the benefits and limitations of using nested virtualization to run containers in VMs before implementation.  Continue Reading

• Is your VM frozen? Isolate the cause and problem solve

  Many issues cause VMs to become unresponsive, including invoking particular tasks, such as snapshots or migrations, resource configuration and infrastructure unavailability.  Continue Reading

• Common VM network latency causes explained

  There are many potential causes of network performance problems when it comes to VMs. Familiarize yourself with the most common causes to aid in troubleshooting.  Continue Reading

• How do I begin network infrastructure planning for SD-WAN?

  When gearing up for SD-WAN upgrades, enterprises should take their time with network infrastructure planning. These three steps can help get them started.  Continue Reading

• What are the steps for an Exchange certificate renewal?

  An expired Exchange 2010 certificate is one of those issues that catches everyone's attention. Check and replace certificates with these basic commands.  Continue Reading

• Can I use server automation for remote management?

  Depending on your server management workflow, you might want to consider automation and orchestration. Before going forward, you should figure out what scripts are necessary.  Continue Reading

• How can I secure my remote server management tools?

  If you monitor a lot of servers, it's important to make sure the tools you use to remotely manage them are secure. Encryption and password best practices can help.  Continue Reading

• What metrics and tools can accurately measure network performance?

  Several methods and metrics measure network performance and throughput. But IT needs to gauge these measurements on a consistent basis to avoid major service issues.  Continue Reading

• What is multi-access edge computing, and how has it evolved?

  Multi-access edge computing provides the processing capacity needed to support the increase of 'things' at the network edge. But for all its promise, MEC has challenges to face.  Continue Reading

• How does AD DS differ from Microsoft Azure Active Directory?

  On-premises Active Directory or Azure AD? It doesn't have to be an either/or situation, as more cloud services are making their way into traditional data center environments.  Continue Reading

• Does software networking fit modern data center requirements?

  Software networking can support modern data center requirements, private clouds and accompanying applications. But IT teams need to wade through components and suppliers to get there.  Continue Reading

• VMware Network Insight eyes better AWS network visibility

  Some AWS users should consider a third-party tool to find better visibility into their network infrastructure and traffic patterns instead of relying on Amazon VPC.  Continue Reading

• What are the top software testing methodologies?

  Whether you want to discover new software testing methodologies or rejuvenate test cases, QA is all about efficiency. Evaluate these testing techniques and strategies to meet QA goals.  Continue Reading

• Which basic Linux file management commands should I know?

  File management is an essential part of working within Linux. Knowing a few basic commands makes it easier to move content and avoid file misplacement.  Continue Reading

• Open source hypervisor technical support, update considerations

  Even though open source software itself is completely free to obtain and use, effective hypervisor technical support options for production environments might cost money.  Continue Reading

• Is the XenServer hypervisor worth the cost?

  There is a free, easy-to-obtain version of Citrix XenServer, but additional features and commercial support from Citrix -- which some shops might need -- require a license.  Continue Reading

• Are flash workloads suited to handling unstructured data?

  The storage of unstructured data is a hurdle for many organizations. Object storage keeps it organized but lacks speed thanks to hard disks. Luckily, a better way is on the rise.  Continue Reading

• Evaluate Oracle VM Server as a potential hypervisor

  Oracle VM provides useful features such as high availability and live migration, but it's important for admins to size the server for the workloads it's intended to host.  Continue Reading

• Red Hat Virtualization hypervisor adoption considerations

  IT admins considering Red Hat Virtualization might inadvertently overlook certain system requirements or forget to consider whether they need support.  Continue Reading

• Which data center KPIs are the most useful?

  As admins evaluate data center performance, they need ways to look at both short-term and long-term data. KPIs offer one way to evaluate components, such as storage.  Continue Reading

• Understand Active Directory basics for enterprise success

  You can't get the most out of a tool unless you understand its features. This tip explains the basics of Active Directory and how it controls access and maintains order.  Continue Reading

• How do I troubleshoot network performance with traffic monitoring?

  When undertaking network performance troubleshooting, organizations can benefit from a mix of passive and active network traffic monitoring to identify issues.  Continue Reading

• How do compression and deduplication affect performance?

  Data reduction methods, such as compression or deduplication, can have a positive effect on performance, but the significant CPU resources required could overshadow the benefits.  Continue Reading

• What key network performance issues spark service disruptions?

  From cabling to capacity issues, IT professionals need to consider all possibilities when rooting out the underlying cause of network performance problems.  Continue Reading

• Which SD-WAN security concerns should I tackle first?

  IT teams thinking about software-defined WAN technology should assess a few SD-WAN security concerns before deployment to make sure it's worth the investment.  Continue Reading

• What network security methods do I need to keep data safe?

  How can you maintain network security beyond the standard firewall and blacklisting tactics? Encryption and digital rights management can ensure organizational data stays safe.  Continue Reading

• How do I protect my OS with Linux security features?

  Linux has a security framework with multiple layers, which makes it hard to maintain permissions and privileges. User-based profiles and whitelisting can help you oversee OS access and give you peace of mind.  Continue Reading

• Can container communication cross over to noncontainerized apps?

  Can an application have Python as a container, run SQL queries on an external Microsoft SQL database and publish the results on an Apache web server container?  Continue Reading

• How do I integrate storage into a blade server architecture?

  Blade servers come in a variety of configurations. In order to effectively manage your data center, you'll want to consider your storage needs, blade location and types of data workflows.  Continue Reading

• What's a cloud migration factory, and how does it work?

  When properly implemented -- and understood -- a cloud migration factory combines the right mix of people, processes and tools to smoothly transition an app into the public cloud.  Continue Reading

• How do you decide to scale up or scale out a workload?

  Scaling up or scaling out is not a decision to be made lightly. Use monitoring data to determine the strategy that fits your use case and to inform future decisions.  Continue Reading

• How do you analyze the costs of virtualization scalability?

  It's easy to allocate more resources to a VM, but scaling decisions require careful deliberation. Without retrospective analysis, scaling can quickly become costly.  Continue Reading

• When should data normalization occur in Amazon DynamoDB?

  Not sure when to normalize data in Amazon DynamoDB? Follow these three examples to learn more about the normalization process and how it can play a role in this AWS database.  Continue Reading

• How can network analytics tools benefit IT staff?

  Network analytics tools can help IT managers proactively pinpoint network performance issues and trends -- even before the underlying problem is revealed.  Continue Reading

• Does software-defined networking architecture need network overlays?

  Network overlays and software-defined networking architecture share a history. But while overlays offer flexibility, they also bring extra overhead and troubleshooting complications.  Continue Reading

• How do I know if cloud-based archiving is the right choice?

  If you don't need to access old data much, cloud archiving could work out well. That's just one consideration, though, for deciding which archival platform to employ.  Continue Reading

• Why is Docker's container approach so important?

  The name has become synonymous with containers, but there are other container management tools available.  Continue Reading

• Can hyper-converged systems benefit from SDN architecture?

  Hyper-convergence combined with software-defined networking architecture might seem like hyper-hype, but SDN offers many network capabilities required of hyper-converged systems.  Continue Reading

• How do I find my career path in software testing?

  I've been a tester for many years and want to progress professionally. Yet, I'm struggling to find chances for advancement and a career path in software testing. Any pointers?  Continue Reading

• How have disk backups changed in recent years?

  Disk-based backup provides newer features that can speed and ease recovery. IT should take advantage of instant recovery and virtual lab capabilities.  Continue Reading

• What are the Microsoft IRM requirements for Exchange 2016?

  Before a company can take advantage of information rights management on the Exchange 2016 platform, administrators must ensure the server setup meets the technical requirements.  Continue Reading

• How do you use Outlook IRM to protect email content?

  The information rights management feature in Exchange prevents unauthorized parties from viewing sensitive content. Admins can tailor the settings to fit the company's needs.  Continue Reading

• Use SQS to trigger functions in Lambda -- finally

  The wait is over, as you can now trigger Lambda functions with SQS messages. Follow these steps to get up and running with this new capability.  Continue Reading

• What are the Windows Defender management tools?

  If you're using Windows Defender AV to protect your company, it's imperative to configure the malware protection properly. This tip lays out the management options for admins.  Continue Reading

• Use AWS tags to sharpen your cloud visibility

  AWS resource tags provide admins with more visibility into their cloud deployment. Learn how to implement them with these best practices.  Continue Reading

• Can virtual SAN performance create VM performance issues?

  Monitor the performance of your VSAN and VMs to ensure one isn't affecting the other. Performance metrics and alerts can make it easy to spot VSAN issues before they affect VMs.  Continue Reading

• How can VSAN network requirements affect performance?

  Virtual SAN network configuration problems can detract from performance and availability. Update your drivers and check that no security products are blocking connections.  Continue Reading

• Is there an alternative to error correction and detection codes?

  Errors in NAND flash memory can be corrected, but that becomes more difficult as NAND reaches the end of its life. Are you utilizing every available error correction tool?  Continue Reading

• How do VSAN compatibility issues affect performance?

  Effective VSAN performance requires compatible hardware and software. Review compatibility guides and use diagnostic tools to keep your system updated.  Continue Reading

• How many Hyper-V virtual processors should I configure per VM?

  There isn't a set number of virtual processors you should configure for a Hyper-V VM, but there are steps you can take to ensure your workloads receive enough processor resources.  Continue Reading

• How do I get access to Office 365 preview versions?

  Your power users will want to be the first in line to try out upcoming features through the Office 365 targeted release program. Set up early access with this step-by-step guide.  Continue Reading

• What is the Hyper-V VHD Set format and how is it optimized?

  VHD File Set -- a file format new to Windows Server 2016 -- is helpful for IT administrators using guest clusters. Get up to speed on the basics and learn how to optimize it.  Continue Reading

• What is the best DevOps tool for my career?

  I have no prior knowledge on DevOps. I'm doing an online course and understand Unix. I get the concepts, so what tool should I concentrate on learning to advance my DevOps career?  Continue Reading

• How can SSD garbage collection help preserve drive speeds?

  The rumors are true: SSD speeds can slow down over time. Luckily, there are processes available that can help prevent this from happening and maintain the speedy nature of SSDs.  Continue Reading

• Avoid data loss during AWS Spot Instance termination

  While Spot Instances can be economical, they can also cause data loss without proper backup. Use databases to save instance data, and set up interruption notices to be warned.  Continue Reading

• What cloud compatibility issues can arise with VM migration?

  Many compatibility issues can arise when moving VMs to the public cloud. Watch out for compatibility problems with partitions, OSes and image formats to ensure a smooth migration.  Continue Reading

• How do you use forklift migration to move VMs to the cloud?

  To migrate a VM and its dependencies from a local data center to a public cloud, use the forklift method to prepare the VM for migration, deploy the right tools and import.  Continue Reading

• Which VM migration techniques prepare VMs for the cloud?

  Prepare your VMs with cloud migration best practices that examine how suitable a VM is for migration, what groundwork needs to be prepared for it and the costs of migration.  Continue Reading

• How do you prepare for a VM migration in cloud computing?

  Prepare for a VM migration by examining the requirements of your VMs and your cloud provider. Configure the VM for migration and match the settings to the cloud provider.  Continue Reading

• How can learning scripting languages help junior testers?

  As a junior tester, I think learning scripting languages could make me more valuable to my team and enhance my career. But how do I pick the scripting language to learn?  Continue Reading

• How do I improve my network programming knowledge?

  When it comes to SDN and programmable network skills, combining training with practice and hands-on experience can help advance your programming knowledge.  Continue Reading

• Remove AWS security credentials for outgoing employees

  Personnel changes are inevitable at an enterprise, and security teams need to revoke AWS credentials accordingly to ensure the integrity of their cloud data.  Continue Reading

• How can network analytics tools be used to improve performance?

  With pressure and expectations for network and enterprise performance rising, IT professionals are turning to network analytics tools that use machine learning to remain ahead of the game.  Continue Reading

• How do I convert VMDK to VHDX using PowerShell commands?

  Download and install Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter to gain access to several PowerShell commands that enable VMware VMDK to Hyper-V VHDX conversions.  Continue Reading

• How do I avoid Windows Defender compatibility issues?

  Microsoft offers a free antimalware tool for client and server systems, but administrators need to tune the layers of protection to avoid problems.  Continue Reading

• How is RHEL in the cloud different than in the data center?

  Implementing RHEL in the cloud isn't exactly the same as using cloud technology in the data center, especially when addressing swap and support concerns.  Continue Reading

• SIEM benefits include automated monitoring, malware mitigation

  SIEM tools deliver automated alert actions, normalize log data and provide intelligent filtering, all of which can help IT administrators lighten their workloads.  Continue Reading

• Does SSD overprovisioning have storage benefits?

  While overprovisioned SSDs have less usable capacity available, that space is put to good use. The majority of SSD manufacturers overprovision their drives, and for good reason.  Continue Reading

• Which Windows Server deployment features work best with HCI?

  There are features in Windows Server 2016 that are specific to hyper-converged infrastructure, but many of the more basic functions also can be used to customize and improve HCI.  Continue Reading

• How do the benefits of SDN improve network automation?

  The ability to automate networks isn't new, and while the benefits of SDN reach out to encompass aspects of automation, SDN and network automation don't mean the same thing.  Continue Reading

• How can I attend software testing conferences?

  You want to attend a software testing conference, but your employer said it's too expensive. Here are some ways to improve your chances to attend.  Continue Reading

• How do admins check the Exchange IRM setup?

  Testing Exchange information rights management functionality can be tedious, but Microsoft offers a dedicated cmdlet for Exchange 2016 administrators that streamlines the process.  Continue Reading

• How do I choose between open source and commercial SDN?

  Commercial SDN offers vendor-backed support, while open source platforms can be upgraded more quickly. Whether an enterprise chooses one over the other depends on its preferences.  Continue Reading

• What are System Center DPM 2016 limitations?

  Not every tool is right for the job of backing up data. Find out what limits System Center DPM 2016 protection and which alternatives cover what it lacks.  Continue Reading

• What tools are needed to build a DevOps management model?

  Amy Larsen DeCarlo answers why so many businesses are combining their development and operations teams and what tools are needed to make effective DevOps management happen.  Continue Reading

• How do you reconnect a Hyper-V virtual switch to your VMs?

  Save time by using PowerShell commands to reconnect your VMs to a new Hyper-V virtual switch. Different commands can access single VMs or many VMs whether they are local or remote.  Continue Reading

• How do you extract an ISO file before booting a VM?

  Take advantage of PowerShell commands to clear ISO files from your VMs before booting and ensure their configuration is set to boot from the virtual hard drive, not the ISO.  Continue Reading