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Learn to apply best practices and optimize your operations.

• Why automated user provisioning still demands a human touch

  IT teams can automate away many -- but not all -- of the tedious tasks associated with user provisioning. A human operator is still essential to ensure accurate account details. Continue Reading

• 10 open source cloud security tools to know

  While cloud providers offer native security tools, there also are plenty of useful open source options. Here's a sample of open source tools for cloud security. Continue Reading

• Steer clear of trouble while following the Office 365 roadmap

  There are literally hundreds of changes coming to the collaboration platform that affect email and other services. Here's what IT can do to help ease the transition for end users. Continue Reading

• 3 lessons microservices developers can learn from SOA

  Microservices developers can learn from past SOA mistakes to build more resilient and high-performance applications today. Take a look at three major lessons for microservices projects. Continue Reading

• Optimize Kubernetes cluster management with these 5 tips

  Effective Kubernetes cluster management requires operations teams to balance pod and node deployments with performance and availability needs. Continue Reading

• Software development must align with your business-side team

  Software development has become a company-wide process, with business teams now offering their input. DevOps must learn to work with them for projects to succeed.Continue Reading

• Use a zero-trust model for container security in the cloud

  Traditional firewalls just won't cut it when it comes to container security in the public cloud. Zero-trust models are a better approach, but they demand some careful upfront work.Continue Reading

• A network automation roadmap to reap tech's best benefits

  Network automation's advantages may be many, but to reap them requires certain IT skills. Learn how to prep your team to get the most out of network automation.Continue Reading

• A comprehensive guide to Open vSwitch and its capabilities

  Distributed multilayer switches are essential to managing several network connections between VMs. Open vSwitch offers admins automated and dynamic network control for virtual systems.Continue Reading

• Gain a broad view of cloud optimization

  Cloud optimization is a broad discipline that involves much more than just cost. Learn why performance, reliability and sustainability should also play a role in an optimization strategy.Continue Reading

• Add tape backup in 2020 to boost a data protection strategy

  Tape has never really gone away. But it can be useful beyond long-term archiving. Learn why IT professionals may want to consider reintroducing tape backup into their data centers.Continue Reading

• Top infrastructure modernization strategy challenges

  Increase the odds of IT modernization success by learning about the challenges and obstacles others have faced when attempting to modernize their infrastructure for their business.Continue Reading

• How to mold HCI appliances to workload requirements

  Ensure the hyper-converged infrastructure appliance you choose matches your workload requirements -- and not the other way around -- to maximize the benefits of hyper-convergence.Continue Reading

• Data storage and management tasks that maintain performance

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• Tools and tips to track server power consumption

  Server power requirements differ for each organization, but it's still essential to monitor peak loads and track how much power your servers consume to avoid outages.Continue Reading

• Remote work technologies to account for in 2020 IT budgets

  In light of a crisis like COVID-19, IT organizations must amend their budgets to invest in technologies that can support remote access and foster employee collaboration.Continue Reading

• Find and lock down lax Windows share permissions

  With help from PowerShell, you can identify the shares that need adjustments across your infrastructure then use a script to fix them to protect sensitive data.Continue Reading

• Remote work infrastructure requires on-prem network changes

  Demilitarized zone, network access control and VPN termination points are some of the on-premises components that need to be addressed in a remote work infrastructure.Continue Reading

• Getting a handle on certificate management in Windows shops

  A certificate that isn't renewed by its expiration date will cause dire consequences for administrators who will need to find a fast remedy when systems can't communicate.Continue Reading

• 5 areas to assess when rethinking storage at the edge

  Does your organization have the right edge storage resources? Here's what you need to focus on to ensure your organization keeps pace with changes at the edge.Continue Reading

• 7 top open source network monitoring tools

  Network is an essential part of infrastructure health and requires constant monitoring. To meet specific OS and hardware requirements, open source tools can be the best fit.Continue Reading

• Maximizing containerized storage performance and flexibility

  Are you taking full advantage of container storage? When properly deployed, containers can bring significant benefits, including better flexibility and performance.Continue Reading

• 5 ways to empower remote development teams

  It's hard to maintain productivity when you work from home. Take up these remote dev and test practices to keep software projects on track despite the obstacles.Continue Reading

• What SD-WAN design considerations are most critical?

  Learn what steps are involved in making the many decisions -- both technological and financial -- required for implementing an effective and affordable SD-WAN design.Continue Reading

• Support remote workers with front-end cloud computing

  If a company has a lot of remote workers, a standard VPN might not be able to do the job. More companies are turning to cloud computing front ends to ensure secure remote access.Continue Reading

• Quickly repurpose HCI hardware for hosting virtual desktops

  Virtual desktops are tailored for remote work situations, and hyper-convergence makes a great VDI host that stands up quickly in a pinch. Consider these factors, though.Continue Reading

• Anticipate the unexpected with application capacity planning

  Disasters and crises that disrupt daily routines are inevitable. Follow these app capacity guidelines to prepare IT teams for such events and maintain business capabilities.Continue Reading

• Boost cloud storage performance for your work-from-home workforce

  Optimizing cloud storage security and performance are key to transitioning to a 100% remote workforce. Learn best practices to follow as your organization responds to COVID-19.Continue Reading

• Tips to improve network visibility and security

  Network visibility and security can be tricky, especially with the range of products available. These tips help teams pinpoint potential vulnerabilities and gauge the tools they need.Continue Reading

• Microservices availability tips for pandemic's scaling challenge

  Surges in app user activity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have forced architects to make immediate decisions around service availability and performance, especially for distributed architectures.Continue Reading

• Why, and how, to merge your SD-WAN and security strategies

  Putting strong security in place for your SD-WAN is essential but not easy. Make sure you're covering all the bases, from strategy and planning to implementation.Continue Reading

• Why configuration management is important for networks

  Configuration management is essential to keep accurate network configuration records and to help organizations avoid potential challenges or problems within their networks.Continue Reading

• HCI bolsters COVID-19 work-from-home infrastructure

  Redirecting hyper-converged systems or reusing older hardware can help organizations support a sudden influx of many more remote workers. Discover the challenges you might face.Continue Reading

• Avoid resource contention with the help of VMware HA

  Use VMware HA VM-to-VM rules and host groups and avoid resource contention. This can help balance resources between your production and testing and development VMs.Continue Reading

• Two-pronged approach to scaling remote work infrastructure

  Hastily supporting large numbers of workers who all of a sudden find themselves at home requires quick thinking on the part of IT. Just as important is what you do afterward.Continue Reading

• Improve container monitoring with these strategies and tools

  Containerized infrastructure significantly expands the number of available metrics within an IT environment. Take a layered approach to container monitoring and lean heavily on automation.Continue Reading

• Balance the power and challenges of IT monitoring

  Advanced monitoring tools show IT admins exactly what's going on with apps and infrastructure. So, how do you apply those capabilities to solve and prevent real problems?Continue Reading

• Container logging tips for IT troubleshooting and more

  Don't just leave container log data on a host and forget about it. Instead, establish a detailed strategy to index, search, correlate and analyze that data.Continue Reading

• Learn to manage Office 365 ProPlus updates

  The traditional Microsoft Office applications you get from Office 365 might appear to be the same on the surface, but how you administer them differs in several key ways.Continue Reading

• How SD-WAN and cloud exchanges benefit multi-cloud settings

  As more organizations move IT workloads outside of company walls, SD-WAN services can help ease the shift to cloud environments and secure cloud connections, like cloud exchanges.Continue Reading

• Active Directory nesting groups strategy and implementation

  Does your current Active Directory permissions setup spark joy? If not, then it's time to unscramble that confusing design into something that's easier to use and maintain.Continue Reading

• 4 ways to make a distributed Scrum team work

  Distributed Scrum team members must find virtual ways to replicate the workflows, practices, tools and perks that a colocated team has access to -- from the comforts of their homes.Continue Reading

• Can we fully automate our software testing?

  Your boss has jumped on the bandwagon to automate software testing. Don't despair. Software testing expert Matt Heusser walks through what to say -- and do -- to keep everyone happy.Continue Reading

• Make remote SAN management work in the age of coronavirus

  SANs usually aren't configured to allow remote management. Find out what storage admins can do during the COVID-19 crisis to ensure their organization's SAN can be managed remotely.Continue Reading

• How to manage the surge in remote video internet traffic

  As more people work from home and create more internet traffic, enterprise network managers should adjust bandwidth levels and consider connectivity upgrades.Continue Reading

• Open Compute Project influence, open source hardware gain momentum

  With open source hardware more feasible than ever, catch up on how Open Compute Project consortium uses open source to develop more efficient server and infrastructure designs.Continue Reading

• Amazon moves into autonomous vehicle market

  Amazon aims to lower transportation costs and complete the last mile of delivery with autonomous technology. COVID-19 could accelerate its adoption.Continue Reading

• 5 tips that can lead to Azure cloud management success

  Many factors go into managing Azure resources, and they vary based on a company's needs. Explore five pieces to the larger cloud management puzzle to optimize your environment.Continue Reading

• Maintaining network infrastructure in a pandemic and beyond

  Network infrastructure that supports remote workers is essential today and will be far into the future. That includes VPN connectivity, agile collaboration apps and more.Continue Reading

• Test automation maintenance requires knowledge sharing

  An important but overlooked aspect of test automation maintenance is the institutional knowledge of how the testing is done. Don't restrict that information to just a few people.Continue Reading

• What the breakup of data management and storage means to you

  There are distinct advantages to abstracting data management from storage. Find out how this new approach makes these operations simpler and cheaper to run.Continue Reading

• How do you run effective standup meetings?

  When it comes to Agile standups, throw out the rulebook. Effective standup meetings result from flexibility, not rigidity. Follow these five guidelines to get more engagement.Continue Reading

• Configure advanced VM settings in vSphere 6.7

  Configuring advanced VM settings is no easy task. Some common questions admins ask include where to place VM swap files and how many sockets and cores they should use.Continue Reading

• Amazon in Europe -- German retailers demand better terms

  German third-party sellers have challenged Amazon business practices. Here's how it may lead to changes that influence Amazon's growth across Europe.Continue Reading

• 14 top mobile app KPIs that advance development

  No matter its purpose, a mobile application must meet expectations from users and corporate stakeholders. Here are 14 mobile app KPIs that you need to know.Continue Reading

• Amazon smart devices to expand in homes and businesses

  Amazon's smart devices range from kitchen appliances to AI-powered assistants. Find out how the tech giant plans to extend its reach into more settings and capabilities.Continue Reading

• 7 tips to manage cloud sprawl in your enterprise

  Cloud sprawl can lead to all sorts of unwanted surprises. Review these recommendations to get control over all the cloud resources across your business.Continue Reading

• Discover key OpenStack deployment methods for networks

  In this book excerpt, explore best practices for OpenStack deployment methods, and glean expert advice on how to achieve an efficient OpenStack network deployment.Continue Reading

• Business culture is key in OpenStack network requirements

  Network teams should expect a shift in their day-to-day routines if their organization embraces OpenStack. However, if the business culture is flexible, changes will be positive.Continue Reading

• Remote work tests corporate pandemic plans

  IT leaders share what's working and how they are supporting remote work mandates for employees as part of their corporate pandemic plans, as well as social distancing among IT.Continue Reading

• What's the purpose of a Gantt chart for large-scale projects?

  A Gantt chart's selling point is that it's simple to understand at a glance. But a large-scale project, such as a DevOps transformation, quickly turns that advantage into a flaw.Continue Reading

• An introduction to VMware Tanzu Mission Control

  You can now implement Tanzu Mission Control to manage and set policies on Kubernetes clusters across an entire environment -- on premises and in the cloud.Continue Reading

• Before deploying SD-WAN, assess your underlay network components

  If enterprises are to reap the benefits of SD-WAN, they better pay attention to the SD-WAN underlay network. Learn what you should take into consideration.Continue Reading

• Data center power infrastructure essentials prevent downtime

  Power infrastructure upkeep is essential to reduce damage in an unplanned outage. UPS and generator maintenance, plus disaster planning, should be a part of regular operations.Continue Reading

• Find and filter Windows event logs using PowerShell Get-EventLog

  Use the Get-EventLog cmdlet in PowerShell to pinpoint problems among thousands of entries in Windows logs, on both local and remote systems.Continue Reading

• Container training can help admins stay relevant

  IT admins might be good at managing IT systems -- until those systems are replaced with newer technologies. One way to keep pace with the changes is to learn container skills.Continue Reading

• 5 stories on the Amazon effect across industries and society

  Amazon drives economic, tech and social change. See our coverage of the company's broad impact and growth strategy with these five stories.Continue Reading

• Plan a VPN and remote access strategy for pandemic, disaster

  Disasters and pandemics occur unexpectedly, affecting companies, workers and networks alike. Plan a remote access strategy that covers VPN requirements, bandwidth demands and licenses.Continue Reading

• Network traffic analysis best practices: Assess and repeat

  Network traffic analysis best practices require network teams to work closely with security teams and constantly assess their tool sets, analysis processes and traffic patterns.Continue Reading

• 3 microservices resiliency patterns for better reliability

  The flipside of microservices agility is the resiliency you can lose from service distribution. Here are some microservices resiliency patterns that can keep your services available and reliable.Continue Reading

• A look at software-defined networking upgrade guidelines

  SDN brings the benefit of a mostly software-based update process. However, admins still must consider which updates are necessary and if a hardware refresh is required.Continue Reading

• VRealize Automation 8 removes key features, adds new services

  VRealize Automation 8 lacks approval policies and some XaaS functionality, but it introduced ABX scripts, Cloud Accounts and Cloud Assembly as part of its cloud optimization.Continue Reading

• Plan for a successful ITIL implementation

  Corporate buy-in and training are essential for organizations that decide to adopt the ITIL framework. Admins should also help decide if the library is the right service option.Continue Reading

• Don't miss these multi-cloud management tools and tips

  Multi-cloud adoption is growing throughout the IT industry. Boost your multi-cloud strategy with third-party tools for management, container orchestration, infrastructure automation and more.Continue Reading

• How to fortify your virtualized Active Directory design

  It takes a little work to fine-tune your Active Directory deployment, but the benefits will result in little to no service interruptions to your users if an outage occurs.Continue Reading

• Weave DevOps continuous learning into a CI/CD toolchain

  DevOps shops can bake training materials into CI/CD workflows to ensure IT and development staff constantly advance their skills -- but be sure to keep those materials up to date.Continue Reading

• Lower your cloud bill with these AWS cost control tips

  Without an AWS cost management strategy in place, cloud bills can spiral out of control. Explore these tools and best practices to optimize your AWS spending.Continue Reading

• How to create and deploy a VMware VM template

  Learn how to create VM templates in your VMware environment to automate the process, simplify configuration tasks and standardize VMs across your ecosystem.Continue Reading

• Know your role in the cloud shared responsibility model

  The shared responsibility model of cloud security keeps data safe -- except when it doesn't. Prevent your workloads from being the next target of hackers.Continue Reading

• Is the cloud's shared responsibility model broken?

  An organization that doesn't fully participate -- or even understand -- its role in securing its data in the public cloud takes unnecessary risks. You need to do your part.Continue Reading

• The future implications of VMware Project Pacific

  VMware's Project Pacific aims to add Kubernetes functionality to vSphere, a move that will create greater support for cloud-native applications and enable more cohesive management.Continue Reading

• Time to rethink IT for containerized workloads

  Employing IT tools that span on- and off-premises hybrid environments is a first step toward optimizing infrastructure design and management for container-based environments.Continue Reading

• Illustrated guide to containerization security

  Container security concerns are keeping IT pros up at night. Discover why and what they're doing to secure containers as well as the applications and data that run within them.Continue Reading

• Nvidia helps conceptualize VMware GPU virtualization

  Nvidia and VMware announced a plan to bring vGPUs to VMware Cloud on AWS, which will provide customers with more options for implementing GPU-accelerated workloads.Continue Reading

• Use these CloudWatch features to improve AWS app monitoring

  Amazon CloudWatch ServiceLens, Synthetics and Contributor Insights give users more ways to monitor their AWS applications. Find out how these features work before you get started.Continue Reading

• Using on-premises object storage beyond secondary storage

  On-premises object-based storage is replacing traditional storage in areas such as streaming, big data and IoT. Get the latest on how this technology is being used.Continue Reading

• Right-sizing VMs improves performance, combats resource contention

  Admins looking to reduce resource contention and improve system performance can right-size their VMs, but application owner pushback and software restrictions can pose issues.Continue Reading

• When assessing SD-WAN benefits, don't ignore SD-WAN costs

  SD-WAN offers several benefits, but companies also need to understand SD-WAN costs. Organizations need to consider some critical areas -- and not all of them are obvious.Continue Reading

• Key components for negotiating an HPC colocation contract

  When it comes to HPC colocation, there are specialized areas to cover in a service-level agreement. Review provider protocols for power, security and network connectivity.Continue Reading

• Popular microservices testing tools developers should know about

  Testing microservices gets messy as services are independent and communicate often. Here are tests necessary for microservices, and popular tools developers use to perform them.Continue Reading

• Rethinking change control in software engineering

  The traditional method of application change control won't fly in a modern, DevOps environment. Here's how we can rethink the process in a time where rapid app development rules.Continue Reading

• Maintain multi-cloud security parity with these practices

  Establish consistent security measures across distributed environments. Automate configuration management and increase monitoring and training to reduce multi-cloud vulnerabilities.Continue Reading

• Infrastructure modernization via hyper-convergence can equal success

  How hyper-convergence can help modernize IT infrastructures to better meet challenges like the digital transformation of the business and the adoption of edge computing.Continue Reading

• What to include in a network services agreement

  Network teams that create MSP contracts for their managed network services should cover delivery lead times, network performance, adds and changes, network uptime and escalation.Continue Reading

• How to build a successful cloud migration plan in 3 steps

  Migrating to the cloud is not a simple task. Not all workloads benefit from the move, so hammer out a solid cloud migration strategy first.Continue Reading

• Pick user-centric software performance testing metrics

  Unlike other types of tests, performance tests gauge how well an application works -- not whether it fails. Testers must pay close attention to these metrics to keep end users happy.Continue Reading

• Modernize ops practices to manage hybrid IT infrastructure

  Hybrid IT management requires ops teams to rethink everything from networking to the way they oversee system configurations. Third-party tools, including those for IaC, can help.Continue Reading

• How Python makes automating security tasks a snap

  Security professionals with coding skills can get a lot done in not a lot of time. Hear why Python suits beginners and how it puts security and developers on the same team.Continue Reading

• 5 tips to optimize your hybrid cloud management

  Hybrid can be an appealing -- yet daunting -- cloud architecture for IT teams looking for flexibility. Review these five best practices to ensure you maximize the benefits without compromising your workloads.Continue Reading

• Windows Server 2008 end of life means it's time to move

  Your organization has a few options to migrate from unsupported Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 systems to avoid becoming another cyberattack statistic.Continue Reading