Tips

Tips

• Software-based routing on its way to become the new normal

  SD-WAN took the networking world by storm, and software-based routing aims to do the same in the router market. Here's what to expect from the move to software.  Continue Reading

• Why SASE adoption requires a paradigm shift

  Enterprises preparing to adopt Secure Access Service Edge should understand how the architecture presents organizational and architectural challenges for network and security teams.  Continue Reading

• An overview of how AWS changed Lambda for the enterprise market

  Learn how AWS Lambda has been updated over the years to address shortcomings in its serverless computing platform, and how enterprises have become savvier about when to use it.  Continue Reading

• Improvements in CPU features help shape selection

  CPUs have evolved to meet ever-increasing technology demands. We look at the way performance and power characteristics have shifted in recent years.  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

• Deal with remote software testing challenges

  Is your software QA team new to remote work? Learn what technical, process and culture challenges you will encounter, and how to surpass them to ensure quality.  Continue Reading

• 4 components of a disaster recovery plan to prepare for a crisis

  IT teams must take a proactive approach to crisis management and disaster recovery. Use these four guidelines around communication, monitoring and more to build a plan that works.  Continue Reading

• 4 ways to use record and playback test automation tools

  Many test automation tools offer record and playback testing. Here's how to apply this handy capability for training, usability tests and continuous automated testing.  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

• VMware Skyline Health for vSAN improves system check capabilities

  VMware's announcement to merge vSAN Health and Skyline offers admins a comprehensive portfolio of various VMware support technologies under a common umbrella.  Continue Reading

• Tap into these dark data use cases for IT ops and the business

  Untapped data sources cause enterprises to forgo a wealth of information that benefits both IT operations and the business. Here's why -- and how -- to shine a light on dark data.  Continue Reading

• What is Pivot3 Acuity Intelligence Engine for AI and automation?

  The Acuity Intelligence Engine delivers advanced data and performance management to simplify data protection and system administration for Pivot3 hyper-convergence.  Continue Reading

• Build a migration plan for enterprise edge infrastructure

  Micro data centers are essential to edge computing use cases. Build an effective migration plan through site selection, application inventory and post-move monitoring tools.  Continue Reading

• Consider the pros, cons of AI-based log analysis tools

  Machine learning can help IT teams uncover new insights in system log files. But these advanced analytics capabilities, especially when achieved through on-premises tools, can be costly.  Continue Reading

• How to keep physical backup media storage safe

  Data is your organization's most important digital asset. Here are some tips on how to ensure physical data backups are stored at a safe and secure location.  Continue Reading

• How to plan and execute a migration to microservices

  Ready for a migration to microservices? Here are the steps your development team can take to gradually transition your existing monolithic applications.  Continue Reading

• Lay the groundwork for a SecOps team structure

  A good partnership between IT operations and security teams requires trust, mutual commitment and continual work -- but results in significantly reduced security exposures and a healthier work culture for all.  Continue Reading

• The 3 tenets of microservice messaging patterns

  In a microservices architecture, there's no question that it's tricky to ensure effective service communication. Review these three tenets of microservice messaging patterns.  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

• 5 key software testability characteristics

  How do you design the software components for comprehensive testing? Start with these fundamentals of software testability -- from mocks and stubs to infrastructure-as-code.  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

• How to protect and manage Azure Pipelines secrets with Key Vault

  Follow along with this Azure Key Vault tutorial to securely manage passwords and other sensitive information in an Azure DevOps pipeline.  Continue Reading

• Do you need to make Exchange Online backups?

  Microsoft has several protective measures in place to let customers restore deleted mail in Office 365, but backup vendors will say it's not enough to cover every scenario.  Continue Reading

• Employ log management best practices to better analyze, protect data

  Log files generate vast amounts of data, which negatively affects performance. As a result, admins should build logging strategies to prioritize and protect data.  Continue Reading

• Get started with a hybrid microservices model

  Enterprises don't always have to choose between a microservices and monolithic architecture -- take a hybrid approach to experience the best of both worlds.  Continue Reading

• What you should know about host profiles in VMware

  Use VMware Host Profiles to keep configuration consistent between hosts and clusters across your vSphere, and avoid common errors and mistakes to maintain stability.  Continue Reading

• The recent key vSphere vMotion innovations

  VMware vMotion is a function of vSphere that enables live migrations of VMs to ease load balancing and maintenance. Explore the innovations in the most recent update of vMotion.  Continue Reading

• Automate security testing and scans for DevSecOps success

  Attackers are knocking at your door. Don't waste time with repetitive, automatable security tasks. Here's how DevSecOps enables code analysis, security testing and more.  Continue Reading

• Reduce these forms of AI bias from devs and testers

  Watch out for cognitive biases in every development and testing decision -- especially AI biases that affect software users. Here are the ways to address common issues.  Continue Reading

• Kubectl commands and best practices for new Kubernetes users

  Kubectl is a simple and powerful means to control containers in Kubernetes. But as with any CLI, it demands familiarity with available operations, resource types and associated syntax.  Continue Reading

• Flash memory standards and interfaces every IT admin should know

  Flash memory standards can be confusing for even seasoned IT pros. TLC, QLC, MLC, SLC flash and so on. SAS vs. NVMe, NVMe-oF among others. Let's make sense of this acronym soup.  Continue Reading

• 802.3cg standard extends single-pair Ethernet range and speed

  IEEE 802.3cg is a single-pair Ethernet standard that aims to support speeds up to 10 Mbps, extend Ethernet range up to 1,000 meters and offer multidrop capabilities.  Continue Reading

• How to set up a chaos engineering game day

  Is it fun to spend the day breaking stuff in a war room with your coworkers? Of course, but more than that, it's vital to the security and stability of certain applications.  Continue Reading

• What is the difference between Python and Ruby?

  In this article, we explore the genesis of these two programming languages, notable characteristics and differences, and where each language might be headed.  Continue Reading

• 6 Amazon SageMaker capabilities developers should know about

  Developers and data scientists should familiarize themselves with these six SageMaker tools meant to simplify the machine learning process. Discover what they offer to your models.  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

• Top hyper-converged infrastructure TCO factors to consider

  A lot of factors for estimating hyper-converged total cost of ownership are fairly straightforward, others less so. Follow these guidelines to get started on this complex process.  Continue Reading

• Micro VM vendors to evaluate for your isolation, security needs

  Amazon, HP, Qubes OS and Authentic8 provide micro VM-based technologies that help increase VM security through isolation techniques, but use varying hypervisors and OSes.  Continue Reading

• 4 trends for Kubernetes cloud-native teams to watch in 2020

  Today's software architectural landscape seems to change like the weather. Stay ahead of the curve with these cloud-related trends, including GitOps and service meshes.  Continue Reading

• What to make of AWS' multi-cloud strategy, or lack thereof

  AWS eventually caved when it came to hybrid cloud. Some experts and partners say the same will happen with its multi-cloud strategy.  Continue Reading

• A concurrent programming faceoff: Erlang vs. Elixir

  Do you want the strong data integrity of Erlang, or the flexibility of Elixir? We explore the pros and cons of each in this head-to-head language matchup.  Continue Reading

• How supporting a remote workforce stresses the network

  Make sure your network can support a remote workforce by analyzing 12 potential issues that can cause stress on your network, including VPN concentrator capacity and traffic routing.  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

• Updated Exchange Online PowerShell module adds reliability, speed

  Microsoft assists Exchange Online administrators who rely on PowerShell by reworking the underlying functionality of several cmdlets used to manage the hosted email platform.  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

• 3 ways IT teams can use PowerShell in AI initiatives

  As they embark on AIOps strategies, IT admins -- particularly those in Windows shops -- can lean on a familiar tool for data gathering and issue remediation: PowerShell.  Continue Reading

• Plan a successful migration to HPC colocation

  If your organization decides to host its HPC hardware in a colocated data center, ensure a smooth migration with proper location selection, security measures and application testing.  Continue Reading

• Fix VMware DNS troubles with proper setup

  To troubleshoot DNS issues in your VMware environment, ensure all components are installed completely, including reverse lookup zones and fully qualified names.  Continue Reading

• How to handle vendor code bugs in enterprise Wi-Fi networking

  Too many features in Wi-Fi devices can breed some serious code bugs. One coping mechanism is to seek help from fellow customers and network integrators.  Continue Reading

• How to pick the right third-party CI/CD tool for the cloud

  Learn the pros and cons of the main types of third-party CI/CD pipeline tools -- managed, self-hosted and code repositories -- and see why they're superior to cloud-native options.  Continue Reading

• What is a microkernel architecture, and is it right for you?

  Apps aren't limited to monolith and microservices architecture. Discover the benefits of a microkernel, common plugins and the apps best suited for this type of architecture.  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

• How HPE SimpliVity InfoSight hyper-converged analytics works

  SimpliVity with InfoSight can predict and prevent hyper-convergence issues, take the guesswork out of capacity management, reduce support calls and lower operations expenses.  Continue Reading

• Dig into the pros and cons of memory ballooning

  Ballooning is an effective VM memory management technique, but it does have its downfalls, such as potential memory overcommitment and halting application performance.  Continue Reading

• High-performance object storage challenges in the modern data center

  Object storage works well for long-term backup and archiving. See how high-performance capabilities are expanding it to high-scale, high-capacity workloads.  Continue Reading

• The convergence of networking and security at the edge

  Networking and security are converging with offerings like SD-WAN and SD-branch. But enterprises and vendors must overcome IT silos that delay innovation and decision-making.  Continue Reading

• Assess managed Kubernetes services for your workloads

  Managed services from cloud providers can simplify Kubernetes deployment but create some snags in a multi-cloud model. Follow three steps to see if these services can benefit you.  Continue Reading

• TDD vs. BDD vs. ATDD and other Agile development techniques

  Agile development doesn't always start with, well, development. Put tests before coding in TDD, BDD and other Agile techniques to minimize waste and focus on the user.  Continue Reading

• Dig into Kubernetes pod deployment for optimal container use

  Improve your Kubernetes deployment strategy with balanced application hosting and sound pod-to-nodes mapping. Learn the ins and outs of resource pools and Kubernetes communication.  Continue Reading

• SAN vs. HCI: 5 questions to ask

  SAN or hyper-converged infrastructure? Which one will become your organization's on-premises technology choice? Discover which approach may ease complexity and control costs.  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

• 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

• Build a SaaS disaster recovery plan for IT automation tools

  While cloud-based IT automation software offers speed and flexibility, it poses the same potential risk of other hosted tools: a loss of availability during an outage.  Continue Reading

• Third-party VM monitoring tools offer alternatives to native vendors

  Many admins rely on native tools to monitor VMs, such as Microsoft System Center, but third-party alternatives can offer improved capabilities, such as cost savings and integrations.  Continue Reading

• Consider these key microservices caching strategies

  Data caching is a key part of ensuring microservices have easy access to the data they need. We review a few key caching strategies.  Continue Reading

• Ansible limitations for network automation

  Ansible can be a powerful tool for network automation, but users should be aware of its limitations with debugging, performance, complex data structures and control flow.  Continue Reading

• How to create clear, collaborative user story maps

  Messy or unclear user story maps quickly lead to confusion and contention. Read on to learn how to structure your maps and create a shared understanding of them.  Continue Reading

• What do 2G and 3G sunset dates mean for business customers?

  A 2G and 3G shutdown probably won't affect businesses much, but embedded IoT devices may see some problems as these two older cellular technologies fade away.  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

• The future of UX research: Measure the unquantifiable

  Applications capture more information than ever about their users, from heart rate to tone of voice. Prepare for a connected software future with qualitative UX measurements.  Continue Reading

• Get to know VMware Pulse IoT

  Use VMware's edge management platform, Pulse IoT, to manage IoT devices at scale. With it, you can stay on top of upgrades and patches, analyze collected data efficiently and more.  Continue Reading

• Optimize Docker images for improved efficiency and security

  There are several ways -- ranging from Dockerfile adjustments to vulnerability scans -- that IT teams can ensure their Docker images are both efficient and secure.  Continue Reading

• 5 IT security measures to safeguard distributed environments

  In today's complex IT landscape, it's easy to make mistakes that leave applications and data vulnerable. Follow these five tips to create a comprehensive security plan.  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

• Fundamental patterns for service discovery in microservices

  Service discovery is a huge part of managing a microservices-based application. We examine helpful service discovery patterns developers can use for clean service interaction.  Continue Reading

• Why to use staging environments for IT infrastructure testing

  A well-built and efficient staging environment pays off in a more stable production deployment. For this reason, IT ops teams should perform isolated infrastructure tests in staging.  Continue Reading

• Why projects fail in the citizen developer model

  It's easy for citizen developers to start a software project, but difficult to augment or maintain it. Watch out for these four issues that ruin most no-code projects.  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

• Top 10 VM backup tools for VMware and Hyper-V

  Admins who rely on VMware and Hyper-V workloads might have trouble choosing the right backup tool for their VMs. Admins can use this article to better inform their purchasing decisions.  Continue Reading

• IT tool selection criteria to guide emerging tech navigation

  The IT industry is almost always in flux. For organizations to keep up, they must invest in the right tools, which takes asking the right questions.  Continue Reading

• Cloud, Linux vendors cash in on KVM-based virtualization

  Vendors such as Red Hat and Google provide products that rely on KVM technology, but picking the right vendor depends on admins' choice of OSes and cloud providers.  Continue Reading

• Compare web and mobile testing tools from AWS, Microsoft and Google

  Compare and contrast the mobile testing tools from the big three cloud vendors -- AWS Device Farm, Google Firebase Test Lab and Microsoft Visual Studio App Center Test.  Continue Reading

• How to use Selenium IDE for record and playback testing

  Testers can use a tool like Selenium IDE for test automation to efficiently check web app interfaces. Here's how to put the open source tool to work in no time.  Continue Reading

• Lessons corporate users can learn from FedRAMP

  FedRAMP provides a standardized approach to cloud security across the U.S. federal government, but it can also serve as a guidepost for corporations in search of better practices.  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

• 5 big microservices pitfalls to avoid during migration

  Too many development teams make these failure-inducing mistakes during a switch to microservices. Learn where things go wrong, and the best ways to avoid problems.  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

• Compare hyper-converged, converged infrastructure monitoring tools

  Better monitor your hyper-converged infrastructure systems with tools from Zenoss, Uila, eG Innovations and ManageEngine than with the proprietary tools of hyper-converged vendors.  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

• Optimize platform costs, use with an IT asset management strategy

  Without a thorough asset management plan that accounts for the complexities of today's IT environments, organizations risk cost inefficiencies and suboptimal support for the business.  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

• Watch for these 6 wireless networking trends in 2020

  No doubt you've heard about 5G and Wi-Fi 6. But don't forget other wireless trends emerging in 2020, such as CBRS, dynamic spectrum sharing and Open RAN.  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

• Practical advice to integrate IT systems after a merger

  A merger or acquisition can devour an IT administrator's time in many ways -- from running and supporting parallel sets of infrastructure to managing automation and security.  Continue Reading

• What is Intel Rack Scale Design and how does it work?

  Find out what Intel's Rack Scale Design architecture is and how its reference code and APIs enable Intel-partner products to compose on-demand virtual servers for specific workloads.  Continue Reading

• Choose the right storage management interface for you

  While older storage interfaces were created to meet international standards at the time, storage has evolved, and updated interfaces may be required to manage your infrastructure.  Continue Reading