Tips

Tips

• 10 training courses to prep for microservices certification

  While it's not necessarily easy to become certified in microservices architecture, there are plenty of courses you can take to prep for certification exams like the S90.MSA.  Continue Reading

• Learn what SDN data center controllers do in a network

  In a software-defined network, SDN data center controllers are a crucial component. Consider factors such as performance and compatibility when examining controller options.  Continue Reading

• Amazon EBS vs. EFS: An 'elastic' comparison

  Elastic Block Store and Elastic File System are two of Amazon's most popular storage types. Compare how they store data before deciding which one to use.  Continue Reading

• How to make and use maps in Golang

  Maps are a popular data structure in many programming contexts thanks to their efficiency and speed. But, in Go, some unique features make maps especially useful.  Continue Reading

• Use the CALMS framework for a smooth DevOps transition

  Adopting DevOps can be challenging, especially when communicating across IT and business teams. The five elements of the CALMS framework can help organizations measure progress.  Continue Reading

• Explore network plugins for Kubernetes: CNI explained

  With Container Network Interface plugins, IT teams can create and deploy network options for diverse Kubernetes environments. Learn how CNI works and compare top network plugins.  Continue Reading

• LEO satellite communications come to Earth

  Apple, T-Mobile and others are kicking off early satellite communications projects. Direct satellite communications should become available on some new midband 5G phones in 2024.  Continue Reading

• How does Kubernetes use etcd?

  Etcd is a lightweight, highly available key-value store accessible to each node in a Kubernetes cluster. Find out how etcd works and learn how to use it inside Kubernetes.  Continue Reading

• Cloud experts and their AWS re:Invent 2022 predictions

  As AWS prepares for its biggest event of the year, our contributors predict what the cloud vendor will unveil at re:Invent 2022.  Continue Reading

• Compare Kubernetes StatefulSet vs. deployment vs. DaemonSet

  Kubernetes has several ways to deploy applications, including deployments, DaemonSets and StatefulSets. But each resource type has unique benefits, drawbacks and use cases.  Continue Reading

• 3 types of wireless site surveys and how to conduct them

  Network teams can avoid signal coverage issues by performing different wireless site surveys as they evaluate new spaces, set up sites and operate the network.  Continue Reading

• How to use S3-compatible storage

  Amazon S3 is a popular platform for object storage. Through the use of APIs, though, storage vendors can offer their own take on S3, potentially improving management and cost.  Continue Reading

• Signs of a Golden Hammer antipattern, and 5 ways to avoid it

  The Golden Hammer antipattern can sneak up on a development team, but there are ways to spot it. Learn the signs, as well as some direct steps a team can take to avoid it.  Continue Reading

• Top 11 benefits of cloud computing

  On-premises environments aren't the best fit for all organizations. Discover the top benefits of cloud computing that can save time, money and resources.  Continue Reading

• Dissect open source ransomware code to understand an attack

  To protect your organization from ransomware, it's helpful to know what goes on behind the scenes. Unpack this ransomware code example to understand and defend against attacks.  Continue Reading

• Make a business case for VMware training

  You can outsource infrastructure management to a third party or you can get IT admins the VMware training they need to install, manage and troubleshoot your environment.  Continue Reading

• A comparison of distributed file systems

  There are many different distributed file systems available, so careful analysis of the options, as well as good project management, helps ensure a successful installation.  Continue Reading

• Protect data with these Azure Key Vault best practices

  Enterprises must secure, manage and monitor Azure key vaults correctly to ensure protection. Follow these best practices to effectively protect your data.  Continue Reading

• Follow these steps to remove the last Exchange Server

  Organizations that were unable to uninstall their last Exchange Server from the on-premises environment can now do so if they fulfill the requirements.  Continue Reading

• Compare AWS Global Accelerator vs. Amazon CloudFront

  AWS Global Accelerator and Amazon CloudFront solve similar problems. But users must know when to use one over the other. Discover how they differ to choose the right service.  Continue Reading

• How to effectively compare storage system performance

  Your power as a buyer is stronger before the sale closes: Ask for what's required to effectively evaluate storage vendors' system performance.  Continue Reading

• Best practices for a multi-cloud Kubernetes strategy

  Multi-cloud has its benefits, but it also creates complexities. Discover best practices and configurations for a multi-cloud strategy using Kubernetes.  Continue Reading

• Include VXLANs in data centers for quicker network speeds

  VXLANs add network isolation and enable organizations to scale data center networks more efficiently. Consider VXLANs to expand a data center network and improve performance.  Continue Reading

• Who writes acceptance criteria?

  Product owners are usually responsible for acceptance criteria. But everyone who has a say in the final product should be involved in the process.  Continue Reading

• 16 PowerShell commands for network troubleshooting

  These 16 Windows PowerShell cmdlets, including Get-NetIPAddress and Test-Connection, help network administrators troubleshoot their network environments.  Continue Reading

• Troubleshoot wireless network connection problems in 10 steps

  When troubleshooting wireless network issues, several scenarios can emerge. But valuable end-user insights can help network administrators root out problems.  Continue Reading

• How Wi-Fi 6, WWAN and 5G make all-wireless offices possible

  Wireless technology has evolved extensively in recent years to support end-user demands and the possibility of wireless-first network connectivity for business offices.  Continue Reading

• Kusto Query Language primer for IT administrators

  Administrators who use Microsoft cloud services, such as Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft 365, can learn how to pull information from those products with KQL queries.  Continue Reading

• Why and how to use container malware scanning software

  Malware is on the rise, and containers are potential attack vectors. Learn why it's crucial to check containers for vulnerabilities and compare container malware scanning tools.  Continue Reading

• The ins and outs of unstructured data protection

  Protecting unstructured data requires a few extra considerations for backup admins. Growing storage capacity requirements and regulatory compliance are critical.  Continue Reading

• How to build a Windows Server 2022 home lab and why

  It's possible to get to learn about the features in the latest Microsoft server OS in a cloud environment, but there are a few reasons to stay grounded with this approach.  Continue Reading

• Why contract testing can be essential for microservices

  Developers face numerous struggles trying to perform traditional, end-to-end integration testing on microservices. Contract testing presents a potential alternative.  Continue Reading

• How to perform an AD group membership backup and restore

  You can fix some problems with Active Directory with a few clicks, but things get difficult when they involve many layers of group membership. Here's a few ways to avoid trouble.  Continue Reading

• Stay organized with 6 file storage best practices

  File storage can quickly become disorganized without organizational planning. Use best practices like retention policies and naming conventions to easily manage file storage.  Continue Reading

• Configure Azure Load Balancer for session persistence

  Session persistence ensures users connect to the same server for the duration of their session. Find out how and why to set up session persistence in Azure Load Balancer.  Continue Reading

• What Golang generics support means for code structure

  Generics are a relatively recent addition to the strongly and statically typed Go language. Learn the benefits of using generics in Golang and how to get started.  Continue Reading

• How to set up a VPN for enterprise use

  VPNs are nearly ubiquitous, but does your organization know how to deploy one? Learn about use cases, requirements, deployment options and best practices for VPN deployment.  Continue Reading

• CBRS vs. Wi-Fi: What's the difference?

  Citizens Broadband Radio Service enables private LTE networks and supports enterprise WAN deployments. But that doesn't mean Wi-Fi is going away anytime soon.  Continue Reading

• 7 NAS encryption best practices to protect data

  Data storage security is as important now as it's ever been. Encryption is one way to make NAS devices more secure against such threats as ransomware.  Continue Reading

• Best practices for data center network optimization

  Data center network optimization can improve business impact and promote long-term equipment health. Look to pilot new equipment, consolidate servers and improve energy efficiency.  Continue Reading

• Tips to build a data center airflow management strategy

  Airflow in data centers is crucial for equipment health. While the hot aisle/cold aisle is popular, examine other options like side-to-side airflow and top-of-rack switches.  Continue Reading

• An overview of data-driven API testing

  API testing -- including data-driven API testing -- differs from other software tests in its overall process and relevant metrics. Analytics and automation play a key role.  Continue Reading

• Learn how to bootstrap Kubernetes clusters with kubeadm

  In this guide, learn to create, configure and run a Kubernetes cluster from scratch with kubeadm, a command-line tool that simplifies and automates cluster setup and management.  Continue Reading

• The future of VPNs in the enterprise

  VPNs have been the workhorse of online connectivity. Enhancements to software and processing power in end devices will transform how companies use the technology going forward.  Continue Reading

• How to perform VLAN troubleshooting

  Common VLAN issues include physical connectivity problems, duplex mismatches, forwarding loops, unicast flooding and Layer 3 configuration errors. These troubleshooting steps can help.  Continue Reading

• What is a Raspberry Pi used for?

  IT infrastructure can get expensive fast, making single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi appealing for small projects. Learn what a Raspberry Pi does and explore IT use cases.  Continue Reading

• What DevOps teams need to know about API management

  Managing today's sprawling API ecosystems is increasingly daunting for DevOps teams. Learn what to look for when choosing a tool to reduce the complexity of API management.  Continue Reading

• Best practices for network documentation and auditing

  Network documentation helps enterprises resolve problems more quickly and create more reliable networks. But documentation needs to include various components to be effective.  Continue Reading

• How to avoid common GPO backup and restore problems

  Group Policy Objects help admins maintain control of the enterprise environment, but it takes some planning to understand how to properly protect and recover GPOs to avoid trouble.  Continue Reading

• Combat ransomware with continuous backup software, strategy

  No IT organization is safe from a ransomware attack, making backup maintenance critical. Learn the pros and cons of continuous backups in terms of costs, storage and recovery time.  Continue Reading

• How to integrate and monitor Kubernetes with New Relic

  New Relic might be best known as a DevOps monitoring tool, but it can also help improve observability into your Kubernetes clusters. Follow this tutorial to get started.  Continue Reading

• Explore the benefits of Docker for testers, QA teams

  From simplified test setup to enhanced isolation, Docker containers offer a range of advantages to QA engineers. Containers also encourage earlier, and more frequent, testing.  Continue Reading

• What is zero-trust network access? ZTNA basics explained

  Zero-trust network access is touted as the solution to replace the VPN. As the potential future of network security, learn more about ZTNA, including its benefits and challenges.  Continue Reading

• What IT pros need to know about low-code limitations

  Low-code environments promise to simplify and speed up software development, but their limitations can create challenges for enterprise IT. Compare models for low-code adoption.  Continue Reading

• The role of the T-shaped software tester in modern dev

  While a T-shaped tester delivers a powerful and specialized skill set, continuous learning should be an ongoing priority for all software team members.  Continue Reading

• DPUs vs. SmartNICs: What storage admins need to know

  To determine whether a SmartNIC or DPU is right for their organization, admins must understand the capabilities of different kinds of NICs and DPUs.  Continue Reading

• Compare container orchestrators Apache Mesos vs. Kubernetes

  Exploring options for container orchestration? Kubernetes' popularity doesn't mean it's always the best choice. Discover the tradeoffs and use cases of Mesos vs. Kubernetes.  Continue Reading

• How to manage stateful containers with Kubernetes

  Organizations can reap the benefits of containers for stateful applications by using Kubernetes to maintain state in application processes and components.  Continue Reading

• What to include in a network disaster recovery plan checklist

  A network disaster recovery plan should include components like documentation, emergency contacts, step-by-step procedures, provider and vendor details, backup info and more.  Continue Reading

• How to build a zero-trust network in 4 steps

  While network teams are responsible for deploying the elements of a zero-trust network, security teams should also be involved in developing the overall zero-trust framework.  Continue Reading

• How to stop ransomware: 4 steps to ransomware containment

  Even with the best security efforts, ransomware sometimes breaches organizations' defenses -- but IT teams can prevent a ransomware attack from escalating with these four steps.  Continue Reading

• 4 tips for network capacity planning and provisioning

  To avoid network overprovisioning, teams should review baselines and roadmaps, assess limitations and consider business strategy changes when focusing on network capacity planning.  Continue Reading

• How to decide on what Office 365 add-on licenses to use

  Missing certain functionality and want to supplement your subscription to Office 365 or Microsoft 365? Find out what extras make sense for your organization.  Continue Reading

• Open core vs. open source: What's the difference?

  Open core software has gained attention as an alternative to open source and proprietary models. Learn how open core differs from open source and the two approaches' pros and cons.  Continue Reading

• Implement these 6 Azure cost optimization best practices

  From resource tagging to serverless deployments, there are several ways cloud admins can optimize Azure spending to stay within their company's budget.  Continue Reading

• Consider Azure AD group-based licensing for Office 365 users

  Administrators who manage many users can go one step further toward streamlining license assignments by taking advantage of a new feature from Microsoft.  Continue Reading

• Creating an effective change management process for IT ops

  Handling changes is challenging in complex virtualized environments with extensive automation and dependencies. Learn what IT teams need to know for effective change management.  Continue Reading

• Cloud storage vs. data center: How to choose

  It's essential to have efficient and cost-effective data storage. Both cloud and data center storage offer good options, so understand your needs before you choose.  Continue Reading

• The major differences between QA and SDETs

  How do SDET and QA roles differ? The similar positions both focus on code testing, but it's their unique focuses that makes them a valuable part of an Agile team.  Continue Reading

• Azure cost management tools to control cloud spending

  With alerts, cost analysis dashboards and other features, Azure cost management tools can help admins more clearly see their cloud usage and optimize their spending.  Continue Reading

• Compare Azure Data Factory vs. SSIS

  Discover the differences between Azure Data Factory and SSIS, two ETL tools. These contrasts include key data management features, GUI layout, performance, data volumes and more.  Continue Reading

• Consider the advantages and disadvantages of NAS

  NAS devices provide file sharing that is easy to manage but may be harder to scale than other storage types. Get to know the advantages and disadvantages of NAS.  Continue Reading

• How to use Kubernetes' self-healing capability

  Self-healing is a quality that enables software to autonomously resolve issues based on a desired state. Kubernetes' self-healing is built in, but it demands observation.  Continue Reading

• How to bolster vulnerability management with DevSecOps

  DevSecOps pushes security work into every stage of the software delivery lifecycle. Vulnerability management is a critical element to this security posture.  Continue Reading

• Tips to prepare for a network disaster recovery audit

  Enterprises can audit their network disaster recovery plans to ensure thorough protection and preparation. Consider factors like documentation, management support and audit type.  Continue Reading

• Make quality a priority in your software engineering culture

  A software team needs quality to ensure a strong product. Here are some ways to implement quality in all facets of development and build it into every software release.  Continue Reading

• Compare AWS Glue vs. Azure Data Factory

  AWS Glue and Azure Data Factory have key differences despite being similar services. Learn which best suits your organization's data integration and ETL requirements.  Continue Reading

• Help desk documentation: Best practices for DevOps teams

  Creating accurate, up-to-date documentation for help desks is critical to software development and adoption -- but it also poses challenges for DevOps organizations.  Continue Reading

• Tips to achieve compliance with GDPR in cloud storage

  GDPR compliance can be tricky in the cloud since organizations aren't the owners and processors of cloud storage. Research cloud vendors, and craft a plan to ensure compliance.  Continue Reading

• Build AI into the DevOps maturity model for smooth sailing

  AI has promising applications in DevOps, but organizations must account for the maturity of their teams, processes and tools to ensure the success of their AI initiatives.  Continue Reading

• Prepare for ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure

  Prevention and protection are often the focus of ransomware discussions, but IT teams must understand ransomware's effects on operations and how to react in an attack scenario.  Continue Reading

• What is K3OS and how does it relate to K3s?

  Discover the potential benefits of adopting K3OS, a lightweight Linux distribution developed to run Kubernetes workloads in low-resource environments.  Continue Reading

• DNS server troubleshooting for Linux and Windows

  Steps in DNS server troubleshooting include checking the DNS status, looking at zone configurations and evaluating logs. Follow these best practices for Windows and Linux servers.  Continue Reading

• Continuous data protection advantages and disadvantages

  Continuous data protection can eliminate your backup window. However, there are many issues to consider, including application and operating system compatibility.  Continue Reading

• Learn to work with Microsoft's New Commerce Experience

  With some extra effort in the planning stages, it's possible to control costs in Office 365 and Microsoft 365 with the new seat-based licensing model.  Continue Reading

• NAS vs. server: Which storage option should you choose?

  NAS and server-based storage have unique attributes that support a variety of storage and DR applications, and each can be supplemented by cloud-based storage as needed.  Continue Reading

• What IT admins should consider when licensing a VM

  Licensing for virtual machines can be particularly tricky to navigate for IT admins, who must ensure proper licensing for hosts -- as well as software running inside VMs.  Continue Reading

• How you can incorporate lean coffee for Agile, QA meetings

  Don't let formal meeting agendas turn away attendees. The lean coffee format encourages participation and idea sharing on topics to drive conversation in numerous settings.  Continue Reading

• New data center demands reshape enterprise app delivery

  Discover how modern application delivery controllers and web application firewalls can improve network provisioning processes and help secure distributed workloads.  Continue Reading

• Emerging approaches to HCI for IT services

  Hyper-converged infrastructure's increased support for containers, composability and hybrid cloud deployments has attracted IT teams with reduced costs and improved efficiency.  Continue Reading

• 3 common CQRS pattern problems, and how teams can avoid them

  While CQRS can provide a lot of value when it comes to structuring an event-driven architecture, improper practices can cause this pattern to be more of a burden than a blessing.  Continue Reading

• Break down Azure VM pricing models and discounts

  Azure offers three VM pricing models. Learn the benefits and drawbacks of each, which model works best for you and discount options to help you save.  Continue Reading

• The 5 prevailing Agile pitfalls that prevent true adoption

  To successfully implement Agile and maintain its momentum, teams must often overcome a predictable series of both technical and cultural adoption challenges.  Continue Reading

• 7 guidelines to secure network storage

  These practices, including firmware and VPN guidance, protect NAS devices. Use these steps as standalone procedures or incorporate them into your overall security process.  Continue Reading

• Compare running Kubernetes on VMs vs. bare-metal servers

  Planning to run a cloud-native application with Kubernetes? Compare the advantages and drawbacks of deployments on VMs and physical servers.  Continue Reading

• How to establish a Kubernetes governance strategy

  Because Kubernetes is a large, complex tool that touches so much of the IT ecosystem, governance policies are important to meet both internal and external standards.  Continue Reading

• Why security chaos engineering works, and how to do it right

  While 'chaos' doesn't sound like something software security managers would want, chaos engineering has an enticing amount of value when it comes to identifying potential threats.  Continue Reading

• How does SD-access work?

  SD-access is a combination of two elements: SDN and the access edge. The result is a network with a centralized management system and improved security policies.  Continue Reading

• What to do when a VM is compromised

  When security incidents arise -- and they will -- IT administrators can restore, reset or completely wipe VMs to return them to health and get them back into production.  Continue Reading

• VXLAN vs. VLAN: What's the difference?

  VLANs offer security and traffic management benefits but have limitations in routing and scale. VXLANs address those challenges by creating a Layer 3 network overlay.  Continue Reading