Evaluate

Evaluate

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

• Mobile Labs adds GigaFox Red, Silver to mobile device cloud suite

  The new GigaFox platforms enable users to create a pool of shareable mobile devices; remotely add, disable, reboot and unlock devices; control and monitor device usage and more. Continue Reading

• Cisco author says new CCNA exam undergoes largest change ever

  Cisco said goodbye to most CCNA tracks, and hello to a consolidated exam. Here's what you need to know about the new CCNA, from the author of every official CCNA guidebook. Continue Reading

• Can next-gen SIEM help cybersecurity initiatives?

  More organizations are using SIEM, AI and cloud technology to minimize security breaches. Though despite interest, this combination is still in its infancy. Continue Reading

• F5 Networks updates NGINX Application Platform, other tools

  Updates include improved security and observability features, a new developer portal, API importing and improved analytics and configuration management. Continue Reading

• Lessons learned from PowerShell Summit 2019

  Want to refine your automation abilities? Learn about some of the insights gleaned from the advanced sessions held at the PowerShell Summit. Continue Reading

• Data center management as a service launches DCIM to the cloud

  DMaaS is an option for organizations that want to use cloud-based management. Though these offerings hold a lot of promise, there are concerns about cost and function.Continue Reading

• Legacy tools encumber modern network infrastructure monitoring

  Many IT teams still use older monitoring tools that provide limited visibility across multiple network environments. AI and machine learning can help, but they'll take some time.Continue Reading

• 5G frequency spectrum forces new look at coverage strategies

  New 5G frequency allocations will help make it an amazing technology, but it will also force a rethinking of how those signals are transmitted.Continue Reading

• How network standards and open source organizations differ

  Both open source and network standards organizations want to develop the next-generation network. Yet their methods differ, and they can benefit different types of organizations.Continue Reading

• How Cisco and Nexenta software defines storage for HyperFlex HCI

  See how Nexenta's virtual storage appliance software can extend Cisco HyperFlex HCI storage capabilities without additional hardware or complex system reconfigurations.Continue Reading

• Top 6 Google cloud certification programs

  The cloud job market continues to grow, but it can be hard to get your resume to the top of the pile. Consider these Google cloud certifications to stand out from the crowd.Continue Reading

• How does 802.11ax security benefit from WPA3?

  Security methods like WPA3 and Opportunistic Wireless Encryption will give a boost to 802.11ax security, but securing the new wireless standard is still pretty complicated.Continue Reading

• What are some examples of embedded hypervisors?

  A virtualization layer in an embedded system provides better efficiency for tasks such as network virtualization. Some examples of embedded hypervisors include the Xvisor and ACRN.Continue Reading

• A close look at different types of hyper-converged architectures

  Learn more about the major kinds of hyper-converged infrastructure available as we explore the evolution of HCI from basic storage-compute nodes to newer disaggregated types.Continue Reading

• What are the best criteria to use to evaluate cloud service providers?

  Many cloud providers are tight-lipped about internal security control details. Learn how to evaluate cloud security providers with certifications and third-party assessments.Continue Reading

• Examine the growing role of VMware in the IoT market

  In a growing IoT market, VMware decided to focus on system management. Although users might not bet on VMware to become an IoT market leader, the company has its strengths.Continue Reading

• Answers to top server lifecycle management questions

  Unsure when to maintain, upgrade or ditch a server? Here's a look at your hardware -- and software -- care options.Continue Reading

• ITIL 4 framework brings long-awaited flexibility to ITSM

  After eight long years, the ITIL 4 framework finally saw the light of day in 2019 -- but what can enterprises expect to gain from the latest version, and those to come?Continue Reading

• Storage strategies for machine learning and AI workloads

  Learn how organizations are using machine learning and AI to create actionable insights and what challenges they face as they develop their storage strategies.Continue Reading

• Are you ready for the Exchange 2010 end of life?

  Whether you want to stay on premises with a newer version of Exchange Server or lift that workload into Microsoft's cloud version, there are pros and cons to weigh on each end.Continue Reading

• Get to know Hyper-V 2019 new features and functionality

  Window Server 2019 showed fewer new features than first expected, but Hyper-V admins can benefit from improved support for shielded VMs and the new Admin Center feature.Continue Reading

• Embedded hypervisor use cases and benefits explained

  An embedded hypervisor offers several benefits, such as VM security, system reliability and improved hardware use, and is ideal for admins looking to simplify their environments.Continue Reading

• Consider the when, why and how of a Mesos-to-Kubernetes migration

  Before choosing to migrate to Kubernetes, Mesos users should carefully prepare for the complexity of the move -- and first consider using the two technologies side by side.Continue Reading

• What's the role of metadata in unstructured data management?

  Discover how to expand your organization's use of metadata to improve the management and storage of unstructured data to make it more organized and accessible.Continue Reading

• How client VPN technologies will evolve with AI and automation

  With help from artificial intelligence and automation, client VPN technologies could innovate the way they handle data flows within hybrid cloud environments.Continue Reading

• Considerations for embedded hypervisor implementation

  Before incorporating an embedded hypervisor, admins must consider storage, memory, system performance and scheduling to help prevent latency issues.Continue Reading

• VMware multi-cloud approach becomes next phase of SDDC evolution

  VMware's vision has evolved. The vendor that once focused solely on virtualization now pivots toward the multi-cloud market and hopes to make its cloud products the next evolution of SDDC.Continue Reading

• VMware Workstation vs. VirtualBox: Which is the better hypervisor?

  The Type 2 hypervisor debate between VMware Workstation and Oracle VirtualBox has gotten tougher as the latter has caught up. Examine their advantages to see which fits your needs.Continue Reading

• How citizen developers offer IT relief -- and headaches

  Low-code application development platforms enable citizen development, where anyone can build software. While this approach can be a boon to productivity, it carries definite risks.Continue Reading

• Ciena's Blue Planet automation suite wins TechTarget award

  Ciena's Blue Planet software suite has won SearchNetworking's Network Innovation Award for enabling intelligent automation and network service orchestration across large, multivendor networks.Continue Reading

• How tape backup systems improve data protection

  Have you analyzed your data protection lately? Tape backup could be a savior if you get hit with a ransomware attack or other malware. Learn more about five tape-related terms.Continue Reading

• How Windows Admin Center stacks up to other management tools

  Microsoft is putting a lot of resources into this relatively new tool to manage Windows systems, but is it ready for prime time when compared with more seasoned offerings?Continue Reading

• Sizing up the Office 365 protection options

  Get serious about protecting your organization from ransomware and phishing attacks by taking a closer look at the leading Office 365 security offerings.Continue Reading

• Explore container deployment benefits and core components

  As container adoption grows, the ecosystem of tools surrounding the technology expands as well. Explore the benefits of container systems for enterprise app deployments.Continue Reading

• Unlock hybrid cloud with this AWS Transit Gateway integration

  AWS Direct Connect should be a much more attractive service for enterprises due to some recent changes. See how these upgrades can simplify your hybrid architecture.Continue Reading

• Top hyper-converged platform features to look for in an HCI system

  Know software compatibility, maximum scalability and long-term potential of hardware support from vendors before buying a hyper-converged infrastructure system.Continue Reading

• How to use batch operations to process S3 objects

  AWS ops pros can use Amazon S3 Batch Operations to process and move high volumes of objects between buckets. Find out how Batch Operations on AWS works with this video tutorial.Continue Reading

• What's new with VMware Cloud on AWS

  Updates to VMware Cloud on AWS include improvements to the migration workflow and enhancements to HCX, as well as support for Project Pacific and VMware Cloud Marketplace.Continue Reading

• Gartner report provides reality check on the 5G hype

  The next generation of cellular technology, 5G, is nearing peak hype status, according to a Gartner report. But real, widespread adoption is still several years away.Continue Reading

• How to optimize storage for AI, machine learning and deep learning

  AI and deep learning apps use large data sets and fast I/O. But storage can cause performance issues. See what features your AI and deep learning storage systems should have.Continue Reading

• ICYMI: How to select and manage serverless APIs effectively

  Explore how API selection and API management in a serverless architecture can make all the difference between getting results and having your project fall flat.Continue Reading

• What the VMware VCP certification backtrack means for you

  In 2019, VMware rolled back its VCP certification policy. This means that expired VCP 4 and 5 certificates have gone live again, and VCP names now correlate with year.Continue Reading

• Simplify SaaS integration with an IT service aggregator

  SaaS management can cause as many headaches as SaaS apps prevent. Poor integrations between disparate tools can create bottlenecks and failures, but aggregators can help.Continue Reading

• 5 ways NVMe storage benefits your business

  Increased performance and reduced latency aren't the only benefits of NVMe flash storage. Find out other advantages, such as allowing more VMs on a physical server.Continue Reading

• Know the performance hang-ups of AWS' IaC tool

  AWS customers and industry experts have reported a range of CloudFormation concerns. Take a closer look at the issues surrounding the native IaC tool and AWS' response to frustrations.Continue Reading

• A comparison of 6 speech-to-text services

  AWS, Microsoft and Google can add speech-to-text capabilities to apps, but they're not your only option. Compare those cloud-based tools to other AI-infused transcription services.Continue Reading

• Should admins learn about serverless computing?

  Serverless architecture is beneficial to organizations that use virtualization and function-as-a-service models. Here's what admins should know about it.Continue Reading

• Multi-cloud vs. hybrid cloud: What's the difference and why it matters

  Both multi-cloud and hybrid cloud architectures provide businesses with flexibility. Find out what differentiates them and makes one better than the other for your business.Continue Reading

• Evaluate low-code app development strategies, tools and practices

  Developers perpetually have too much work on their hands, which is why low-code app development tools are in style. Use this handy essential guide to make low-code implementation low fuss.Continue Reading

• Gartner Hype Cycle deems software-defined networking obsolete

  A Gartner report on enterprise networking has declared the definition of SDN and its architectural approach as deceased. Cause of death? Well, the hype didn't help.Continue Reading

• Assess the pros and cons of citizen developers in the enterprise

  When it comes to citizen developers and no-code/low-code, there really is no one-size-fits-all approach. Determine their value, as well as their limitations, for your specific app development needs.Continue Reading

• The top 5 capabilities your edge infrastructure should have

  The network edge plays a vital role in the future of networking and digital transformation. Make sure your infrastructure has these five components to help it on its way.Continue Reading

• Software reliability engineering practices for distributed apps

  Learn how these four software reliability engineering concepts -- inventories, monitoring, observability and Pareto analysis -- can aid API management and application performance.Continue Reading

• What to expect in the next 10 years of VMworld's future

  The future looks bright for VMworld. Experts Brian Kirsch, Alastair Cooke and Rob Bastiaansen discuss what they hope to see from the VMware conference over the next decade.Continue Reading

• Public cloud services grow HPC market, but work remains

  HPC applications need a lot of resources, but not all enterprises can meet those requirements. However, new cloud services are emerging to address that gap in the market.Continue Reading

• What semantic monitoring can and can't do for microservices

  Semantic monitoring can identify microservices performance problems, catch bugs in transactions and ensure uptime. But when you test in production, you'd better know what you're doing.Continue Reading

• AWS Lambda alternatives for flexible cloud workloads

  Experts share points of comparison for Lambda vs. the competition, and what other options AWS has for elastic computing without the serverless hassle.Continue Reading

• 3 elements to consider for a hybrid cloud deployment

  Hybrid cloud uptake is increasing, as organizations demand greater infrastructure freedom across on- and off-premises environments and more control over the application layer.Continue Reading

• How to choose hyper-converged backup for data protection

  Data protection is essential for any hyper-converged infrastructure. How you back up data -- natively, agentless or using agents -- depends on your environment and other factors.Continue Reading

• What you need to know about Cloudera vs. AWS for big data

  Enterprises in need of a big data platform must run some analytics of their own to choose a vendor. AWS' integration between services can't be beat, but is Cloudera a better choice?Continue Reading

• Data center performance requirements spur 25 GbE upgrades

  Enterprises are upgrading their data centers with 25 GbE to achieve better throughput and support I/O-intensive applications. Here are some best practices for making the switch.Continue Reading

• Features of vSAN that improve storage and security

  You can combine vSAN with an HCI appliance to streamline operations, and use its many features -- such as ReadyNodes and Performance Diagnostics -- to improve storage and security.Continue Reading

• The future of VMware and Kubernetes integrations

  Kubernetes has become the most popular platform for managing containers. VMware might have a few opportunities to cash in on that, including vSphere-integrated Kubernetes.Continue Reading

• ALM tools face-off pits SpiraTeam vs. Jira

  Development teams must adopt an ALM tool that supports its procedures and objectives. Atlassian and Inflectra cater to different size dev teams. Which tool fits your needs?Continue Reading

• Do multi-tenant environments still create noisy neighbors?

  A noisy neighbor isn't just a real-world problem. Learn how a noisy neighbor can affect workload performance and how the public cloud has changed to address this issue.Continue Reading

• API workflow design patterns for microservices scenarios

  When it comes to workflow systems for microservices, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. Learn about the API workflow pattern options that can set you straight.Continue Reading

• Compare Google Cloud Firestore and Firebase Realtime Database

  Managed NoSQL databases are increasingly popular for app development. Compare two such options from Google -- Realtime Database and Cloud Firestore -- to see if they meet your needs.Continue Reading

• 4 QLC workloads and why they're a good fit for QLC NAND flash

  Find out about the read-intensive applications that work best with QLC NAND. Analytics, data archiving, streaming media and database workloads are all good options.Continue Reading

• Support for production-level hybrid cloud use cases on the rise

  A recent Taneja Group survey reveals that hybrid cloud and multi-cloud are the preferred cloud storage architectures for a variety of enterprise storage use cases.Continue Reading

• Larger, expandable HCI nodes bring big infrastructure benefits

  Discover why a larger node strategy enables enterprises to better consolidate workloads in a hyper-converged infrastructure environment while reducing complexity and cost.Continue Reading

• Machine learning for data analytics can solve big data storage issues

  Discover how AI and machine learning -- with support from major vendors and technologies like Lambda architecture, FPGAs and containers -- address big data analytics challenges.Continue Reading

• When converged and hyper-converged -- and cloud -- converge

  Price, ease of management and use cases should determine if you use hyper-converged, converged infrastructure or on-premises public cloud stacks. There are differences, however.Continue Reading

• Machine learning for data storage optimizes data analysis

  Continue Reading

• The realities of unstructured data management revealed

  Managing and gleaning business value from unstructured data is of utmost importance to enterprises today. Our infographic outlines the challenges respondents face.Continue Reading

• What effect will 400 GbE have on enterprise networks?

  400 Gigabit Ethernet is the next hurdle for Ethernet capabilities to surpass. But enterprises may not be prepared for this technology yet, due to its immaturity.Continue Reading

• NSX-T 2.4 could surpass NSX-V as VMware's primary SDN platform

  VMware NSX-T now includes High Availability, a simplified UI and firewall updates. If it can provide your data center the same functionality as NSX-V, consider making the switch.Continue Reading

• Move data with these Google cloud migration tools

  From physical appliances to professional services, here's a quick rundown of the tools your team might want to consider for a migration to Google Cloud Platform.Continue Reading

• Are there tools or platforms that support AWS Firecracker?

  Although there are a handful of tools to help run Firecracker more easily, admins might find issues with the lack of major tool integration for the software.Continue Reading

• Get the most out of version control in software engineering

  Version control is a key concept in software engineering, as it enables dev teams to make code changes without overwrites or miscues. Learn version control basics with this guide.Continue Reading

• Top 10 VMworld 2019 sessions to consider

  The catalog for VMworld 2019 has more than 900 sessions. Whether or not you already planned your schedule, take a look at our top picks to see what you might have missed.Continue Reading

• Industry grapples with new Wi-Fi naming conventions

  What's in a name? As the industry gets accustomed to the WFA's new Wi-Fi naming conventions, networking pros discuss pros and cons -- and when to use Wi-Fi 6 vs. 802.11ax.Continue Reading

• Pros and cons of buying used networking equipment on eBay

  To buy or not to buy used networking equipment on eBay, that is the question. Here are the pros and cons, as well as best practices for making a gray market purchase.Continue Reading

• Weigh infrastructure as code risks against the benefits

  Infrastructure as code can transform the modern data center, but maintain a healthy dose of caution -- and thorough documentation and testing environments -- to prevent chaos.Continue Reading

• What is the difference between TCP/IP model vs. OSI model?

  Use this expert advice to learn the differences between the TCP/IP model vs. the OSI model, and explore how they relate to each other in network communications.Continue Reading

• Cloud exchange provider deploys Blue Planet orchestration

  In this case study, a Denver-based colocation and cloud exchange provider explains how Ciena's Blue Planet orchestration technology has helped make over its cloud exchange.Continue Reading

• Get to know data storage containers and their terminology

  Looking into containerization? You're going to need these key terms to better understand the technology, how it works and which vendors are offering it.Continue Reading

• Why would I use Micronaut framework instead of Java?

  Micronaut is JVM-based, so what does it bring to application development and test that the Java framework doesn't already address?Continue Reading

• What is network automation, and what can it do for you?

  This feature explores what network automation is and its influence on organizations. It also discusses assumptions about its effect on network engineers and similarities with SDN.Continue Reading

• Which SD-WAN features truly comprise SD-WAN technology?

  How do you protect your organization and network against SD-WAN washing? Here are four key SD-WAN features that your system must have in order to be called SD-WAN.Continue Reading

• Where integrated hybrid cloud storage makes sense in the enterprise

  Is your organization ready to do more with hybrid cloud storage? Find out how to integrate this technology and put all the hardware, software and services to work effectively.Continue Reading

• Explore Azure interface options for cloud developers

  All cloud providers, including Microsoft, offer a range of resources to aid cloud development, deployment and management. Explore the various interfaces Azure developers can use to accomplish these tasks.Continue Reading

• Cloud experts weigh in on AWS container capabilities

  Learn where AWS container services stand today: what limitations AWS needs to improve upon and where Amazon's container capabilities are headed in the future.Continue Reading

• Compare Linkerd vs. Istio for service mesh technology

  To decide between Istio and Linkerd for a service mesh platform, consider everything from performance and ease of use to support from major public cloud providers.Continue Reading

• The essentials of refactoring a monolith to microservices

  Enterprise apps are complex, long-lived and vital to the business. In short, they're excruciatingly difficult to modernize. If you address these prerequisites, it will hurt less.Continue Reading

• How can network security analytics detect and thwart threats?

  Network security analytics gives organizations an additional level of protection against malicious attacks. It works closely with network analytics tools.Continue Reading

• Sizing up network edge switch offerings for a campus LAN

  Learn the difference between traditional and open network switches, how to assess your organization's need for edge switches and what features leading switches offer.Continue Reading

• VMware cloud services span several partnerships, integrations

  VMware stakes a bigger claim in the cloud market with VMware Cloud on AWS, VMware on Azure and VMware Cloud on Dell EMC, in addition to cloud management and multi-cloud tools.Continue Reading

• Discover the leading mobile app development platforms

  Explore the many factors that go into considering a mobile app development platform, such as cost of deployment and Android versus iOSContinue Reading

• Check out this free chapter excerpt from ITIL 4 -- A Pocket Guide

  In ITIL 4 -- A Pocket Guide, author Jan van Bon walks readers through the core updates to the ITSM framework, and how they apply to the modern enterprise IT landscape.Continue Reading

• CASB tools evolve to meet broader set of cloud security needs

  When choosing a CASB, enterprises face two primary options: a stand-alone service from a third party or a bundled tool set from some of the large cloud providers. It's important to pick your flavor wisely.Continue Reading