Managing data center outsourcing services and vendors

Data center 2010 spending slideshow

In 2010, companies resuscitated data center spending but also prioritized purchases designed to reduce costs, increase efficiency and automation, and handle increased capacity. Continue Reading

How to install Webmin and ease data center server management

In this introduction to Webmin, learn how the tool can make it easier to manage Unix and Linux servers in your data center. An expert describes how to install Webmin and get started with this free systems management tool. Continue Reading

Bus track and busway power distribution: Power anywhere?

Bus track and busway power distribution in the data center is a growing trend that allows for greater flexibility and accommodation of rising power densities. This in-depth exploration of bus-type power systems will help you decide whether this is a good option for your data center power infrastructure. Continue Reading

Rising to the CIO slot requires technology and people skills

If you want to be promoted from an IT staff role to the CIO position, your key task is to drive business through technology innovation. Continue Reading

Booting a Xen virtual machine from CD-ROM or DVD

If your Xen virtual machine fails, you may want to boot it from an installation disk and run the rescue program. Learn the required steps to succesfully boot a Xen virtual machine from a disk on a Linux machine. Continue Reading

Virtualized data centers: A resource library

Data center managers use virtualization for basic data center needs, such as server consolidation and disaster recovery, and much more. Continue Reading

Data center energy efficiency guide

In an already troubled economy, IT managers face growing energy costs and surging data center carbon emissions. In this all-inclusive guide, learn how to improve data center energy efficiency through methods such as maximizing server efficiency and energy-efficient cooling. Continue Reading

How to approach IT staffing in today's data center

Virtualization and tight budgets have changed IT staffing in modern data centers. Find out how to blend skills and technology for the best mix. Continue Reading

Quiz: Data center energy efficiency trends

Take this quiz on data center energy efficiency, and find out how much you know about cutting costs and saving power at your company. Continue Reading

Troubleshooting PGMIDERR/AEI0 ABEND in CICS Transaction Gateway

This tip delves into resolving PGMIDERR/AEI0 ABEND errors within the CICS Transaction Gateway. The solution to these errors isn't always an intuitive one, and may require several additional and lengthy steps along the way. Continue Reading

Common security flaws to check for on your Linux-based Web systems

Your Linux server may have Web application-related security vulnerabilities that should be checked out and repaired. These can include passwords, PHP code injection, weak file and directory permissions and outdated Apache and PHP versions. Learn what to look for and how to fix it. Continue Reading

Fixing Linux I/O write performance problems

Learn how to optimize your Linux server for I/O writes by adjusting I/O scheduler settings and journaling settings along with some advice about partition set-up. Continue Reading

Using common Linux mail clients with an Exchange Server

Begin your migration away from Microsoft Exchange by learning how to set up Linux mail clients, Evolution and Thunderbird, to talk to Exchange. Continue Reading

Linux cloning over the network using netcat

Use netcat to clone Linux images over the network onto multiple servers with a series of simple Linux commands including tar, tee, and dd. This alternative to tools like Clonezilla does not require setting up a separate server. Continue Reading

Dealing with CICS/MQ trigger interface quirks

Despite its simplicity, the CICS/MQ trigger interface has its share of quirks, such as messages left in queues and uneven workload distribution. An expert shares fixes for common CICS/MQ message triggering problems in this tip. Continue Reading

Linux networking: Using ip tool instead of ifconfig

If your server was configured manually, make sure the Linux network is set up with the correct IP configurations and the ip tool is being used to monitor your systems. Continue Reading

Developing a successful mainframe migration strategy

A successful mainframe migration strategy requires careful planning to avoid disruption to end users. This tip discusses best practices for migrating, regenerating or replacing mainframe applications. Continue Reading

Sizing computer room air conditioners for data center energy efficiency

Choosing a right-sized computer room air conditioner (CRAC) is crucial to data center energy efficiency, but there are many variables to consider. Learn more about data center air conditioning design, maintaining humidity levels and temperature, and managing air flow to determine the best CRAC for your facility. Continue Reading

Access and repair an ext3 file system with the superblock

A damaged ext3 file system is accessible and repairable, thanks to the data within either the superblock or the superblock's backup. Continue Reading

Should you pay for support on all Linux servers in your data center?

Free Linux distributions are gaining popularity, but choosing whether to adopt paid or free Linux depends on your support staff's level of expertise and the workloads you expect the Linux distro will handle. Continue Reading

Troubleshooting Logical Volume Manager boot problems

If Logical Volume Manager (LVM) boots incorrectly, logical volumes are inaccessible and you can't manage server disk space. In this LVM how-to, we offer some simple steps to troubleshoot boot issues with LVM. Continue Reading

How to choose the right uninterruptible power supply for your data center

This tip discusses how to choose the right-sized uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for your data center. It also explains common mistakes in UPS sizing and why UPS power ratings can be so confusing. Continue Reading

Avoid common pitfalls when calculating data center power load

For data center pros trying to size an air conditioning system or UPS, accurately estimating data center power load is critical. But there are many common pitfalls to avoid. Continue Reading

Open source mainframe software: Two perspectives

Would open source mainframe software allow systems programmers to make their systems work better and fix the mainframe pricing problem? Or would it open up shops to self-inflicted problems for IBM to fix? Continue Reading

Comparing Unix versions: AIX, HP-UX and Solaris

In this comparison of the top Unix versions, learn what distinguishes the file systems, management tools and virtualization products in Sun Solaris, Hewlett-Packard HP-UX and IBM AIX file systems. Continue Reading

How to install and use RRDTool to speed up MRTG monitoring

When monitoring a large number of hosts or devices with the MRTG graphing tool, the system experience frequent CPU spikes. In this RRDTool tutorial, learn how to install RRDTool and convert MRTG to use RRD storage to avoid system overload. Continue Reading

Troubleshooting Linux boot problems

If your Linux server fails to show the login screen at startup, you have a boot problem. Learn some tricks on how to diagnose and fix a Linux server boot problem from Grub failure to init and runlevels. Continue Reading

How to install and configure MRTG, an essential sys admin tool

Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) is an essential tool that allows systems administrators to monitor and graph network traffic and more. In this tutorial, an expert explains how to install and configure MRTG on Solaris 10. Continue Reading

Capacity planning tools tutorial for Linux and Unix

Effective capacity planning is a proactive way of ensuring that your data center servers will not prematurely run out of space or horsepower. Learn the tools available to help you, both native to Linux and Unix platforms including Solaris, Red Hat, HP-UX, and the free-form products that will work with any Linux or Unix distribution. Continue Reading

Air flow management strategies for efficient data center cooling

To achieve efficient data center cooling, you must reduce your facility's air flow waste. In this tip, an expert outlines air flow management strategies and best practices that can improve data center air flow, including the installation of blanking panels, raised-floor tiles and hot-aisle/cold-aisle design. Continue Reading

Optimizing server energy efficiency

Reducing data center energy consumption is a hot topic in the IT industry, but server energy efficiency has only recently become a focus of discussion. Improving server efficiency means optimizing the main components that impact a server's overall power consumption: power supply, fans, CPU, memory, hard drives, I/O cards and ports, and supporting chipsets. Continue Reading

Using CICS dump tables to manage problems in online systems

The CICS dump table feature, which maintains tables for transaction and system dumps, can be useful for diagnosing and managing problems in online systems when the information you need isn't available through default channels. Continue Reading

Server cluster failure considerations to maintain a fault-tolerant data center

Server clustering can help you achieve a fault-tolerant data center, but cluster failures can cause problems if your heartbeat monitoring system is on the same network as your production workload. An expert discusses the problems he encountered with VMware High Availability (HA) heartbeat monitoring and VM host failures and how his company decided to solve the problem. Continue Reading

Manage CICS workloads with transaction classes

Using transaction classes is a great way to manage CICS workloads that come in varying or unpredictable increments. Learn how to define transaction classes, calculate a maximum active number and get examples on how to use transaction classes in this tip. Continue Reading

Using z10 HiperDispatch for vertical CPU management

The new HiperDispatch feature for the IBM z10 mainframe manages CPU vertically instead of horizontally. This new feature could boost performance on large transactional workloads. Continue Reading

Solve the startup error 00161 and 00163 with IBM TP600?

Error 00161 on an IBM TP600 may be due to a faulty CMOS battery, and 00163 may relate to your version of utility PS2 EXE. Continue Reading

FTP, JCL to append several files simultaneously

Use FTP and the Job Control Language to place several files on the same directory and append them all to the mainframe. Continue Reading

COBOL, VS-COBOL-II and MFCOBOL: What's the difference?

The original COBOL compiler grew into greater addressability with VS- COBOL-II MFCOBOL and increased functionality in MFCOBOL. Continue Reading

Override a SYSIN DD DSN in the proc from the JCL?

Override the SYSIN DD Domain Name Source (DNS) in proc using the Job Control Language (JCL) this code syntax. Continue Reading

Improving data center cooling capacity with chilled water plants

With a chilled-water plant, you can improve your data center cooling capacity and possibly prevent more drastic measures, such as having to build a new facility. Continue Reading

How to solve abend code 4038

A user faces the abnormal ending abend code 4038 in the process of migrating from VS COBOL runtimes to LE. Continue Reading

Repairing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server using a Rescue CD

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server offers a Rescue CD for repairing the system if your hardware causes a crash at reboot. This tip shows you how to use it. Continue Reading

Ensuring server time synchronization with NTP on SLES

Synchronize your SUSE Linux Enterprise Server times using NTP time server. Two servers are recommended for enterprise situations, as redundancy will save the day in case of a disaster. Continue Reading

Use DFHLS2WS to expose CICS applications as a Web service

DFHLS2WS is one of the Web services assistants that allows traditional CICS applications to provide or consume Web services without significant changes and without getting into the details of SOAP or XML coding. Continue Reading

How to troubleshoot RHEL performance bottlenecks

This tip provides a step-by-step approach to application-tuning, troubleshooting bottlenecks and enhancing performance on RHEL 5 systems. Continue Reading

Using OpenSSL to create and manage certificates

Establishing an independent certificate authority with OpenSSL enables you to create public key certificates and to verify that these public keys are authentic and that email messages are secure. Continue Reading

Uninterruptible power supply load bus synchronization: Yes or no?

Should you consider paying the additional cost of a Load Bus Synchronization system for your uninterruptible power supply? Data center experts Syska Hennessy weigh in. Continue Reading

Selecting a general contractor: Data center construction runbook, Chapter 3

When you're building a new data center, it pays to bring the general contractor onboard early, rather than bidding out the process and ending up with unqualified subcontractors on your project. Continue Reading

Are you prepared for the Unix 2038 problem?

All 32-bit Unix/Linux-based systems store the system clock time internally as the number of seconds since the "Epoch." The latest time and date that can be represented as seconds-since-the-Epoch in that 32-bit signed integer is 3:14:07 UTC on Tuesday, January 19, 2038. Current applications will interpret the negative number that is subsequently produced as an older year (1901), or will freeze the system clock at 03:14:07 on 1/19/2038, causing applications and operating systems to fail. Bill Bradford explains some options for preventing this eventuality. Continue Reading

Data center cooling optimization in the virtualized-server world

How many hamburgers can you cook on a blade server? If your servers are literally cooking there are a variety of systems to consider to keep your equipment cool. Continue Reading

Clarifying the GPL: Why Linux distros cannot be copyrighted

Confused about copyrights? Our expert explains how Linux can be copyrighted, but proprietary plans for Linux distributions are a pipe dream. Continue Reading

Do dual-power supply servers increase redundancy?

Implementing servers with dual power supplies is a common practice in mission-critical environments. But improper implementation can result in a false sense of power redundancy. This tip explains what can go wrong in your data center. Continue Reading

Oracle on RHEL 5: Installation and configuration

Install and configure Oracle 10 on RHEL 5. This tip shows how to set up a database with Oracle's Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) and Oracle Enterprise Manager. Continue Reading

SUSE Linux Enterprise troubleshooting: Fixing boot problems by repairing a broken initrd

Having a problem booting SUSE Linux Enterprise on your server? It may be that you have a problem with your initial RAM disk. Expert Sander van Vugt troubleshoots the problem with this step-by-step guide to fixing a broken initrd. Continue Reading

Using SETools to manage SELinux policies

SETools can help SELinux administrators with the daunting task of writing, managing and reporting on policies with the help of tools such as apol, sediff, seaudit and sechecker. Our expert shows you how to setup SETools on your system and introduces you to its graphical and command-line utilities. Continue Reading

Data center cooling and humidity control: CRAC or AHU?

Data center physical environment expert Robert McFarlane discusses the best temperature and humidity control choices for a reader's data center. Continue Reading

Data center facility control systems

Data centers are mission-critical environments with serious consequences for failure, but many employ the same commercial-style control systems as office buildings. Contributor Steve Blaine discusses why data centers can benefit from industrial PLC/SCADA control systems. Continue Reading

CICSPlex System Manager basics

In this brief overview of CPSM, CICS expert Robert Crawford describes the risks and rewards of using it for system management, automation and workload management. Continue Reading

Setting up SSH2 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Find out how to set up SSH2 (Secure Shell) on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), using encryption keys instead of passwords in this tutorial. You can use this with either RHEL 4 or RHEL 5. Continue Reading

SPARC/Solaris vs. Intel/Linux

A Unix-Linux migration expert describes the differences between Solaris on SPARC as compared to. Linux on Intel. Continue Reading

Dual booting vs. virtualization: Using Windows and Linux on the same server

Interoperability between Linux and Windows can be achieved in two ways: one, by installing each operating system separately via dual booting -- which allows both operating systems to run on the same hardware -- and two, by running one system inside another with virtualization. In this tip, Serdar Yegulalp explains when to use each option. Continue Reading

Alert vs. log in the Snort /var/log/snort directory

A Linux security expert explains that the difference between the Snort alert and log logs in the Snort /var/log/snort directory is based on how rules are written. Continue Reading

HP UNIX performance monitoring fundamentals

UNIX system performance monitoring involves more than just keeping an eye on the amount of free space or the number of users who are logged in. With the right system performance monitoring know-how, you can look into various files to find out anything about the system. Continue Reading

OpenOffice 2.0 tutorial: Using SQL View, Query Design and more with Report Writer

Learn how to use the Query Design and SQL View tools, handle report-specific fields, print fast reports and more in this tutorial on OpenOffice's Report Writer. Continue Reading

Linux clusters vs. grids

Can Linux clusters outperform grid computing? Expert Ken Milberg compares them -- covering Beowulf, HPC, Linux Virtual Server and the Globus Toolkit for grids -- and chooses a winner. Continue Reading

CICS program list tables: PLTPI and PLTSD programs

CICS expert Robert Crawford describes the two types of program list tables (PLT) Continue Reading

MySQL full outer join workaround

A MySQL expert offers a workaround for the lack of syntax support for full outer joins. Continue Reading

Data center design and infrastructure final exam

This quiz tests knowledge about data center design, site selection, power and cooling and other material related to the data center's physical infrastructure. Continue Reading

Data center facilities all-in-one-guide: Final exam answers

Here are the answers to the SearchDataCenter.com's all-in-one-guide on data center facilities. Continue Reading

Do dual-corded servers connected to separate uninterruptible power supplies draw power from both?

Dual-corded servers are intended to share the load from UPS systems for overload protection. But do they really work? Expert Robert Macfarlane discusses dual-corded equipment and why data center managers need to be careful when shopping for them. Continue Reading

What is the minimum ceiling height in a data center?

Assessing appropriate ceiling height in the data center can be tricky. It depends on, obviously, how much space you have to work with and factors such as your fire suppression system and cabling. Expert Robert Macfarlane offers some advice. Continue Reading

CICS trace: Getting started, formatting and externalizing

CICS expert Robert Crawford describes the handy CICS trace tool and gives code for externalizing its output. Continue Reading

Running Windows as a VM on Linux with VMware Server

If you don't want to spend money on an expensive Citrix setup for running Windows and Linux, then try running Windows as a virtual machine (VM) on Linux with VMware Server. Continue Reading

Calculating costs of data center cabling infrastructure

In part two of our series on data center cabling decisions, data center infrastructure expert Carrie Higbie offers a cost calculator for determining TCO on a cabling project. Continue Reading

Migrating Microsoft Internet Information Server to Apache on Red Hat Linux

If you're moving to Apache server from Microsoft Internet Information Server, be aware that this migration involves more than just copying files. In this tip, users will learn how to move a site from IIS to Apache on Red Hat, although this is applicable to other Linux distributions. Continue Reading

NFPA 75: Raised floor fire protection

Utilizing separate suppression 'zones' for both above floor and sub-floor spaces is a common practice in areas where the subfloor contains a significant hazard/fuel load. Continue Reading

The pros and cons of IPsec

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Data center raised floors and ceiling height

In this question, Bob McFarlane explains the benefits and drawbacks to different data center designs pertaining to cooling and airflow. Continue Reading

HP CEO Fiorina resigns

Hewlett-Packard dumps CEO Carly Fiorina as it struggles with its storage and server strategy. Continue Reading

What's the difference between a COLD start and a WARM start in CICS?

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