Virtualization and private cloud

Disaggregated HCI solves compute, storage, network scalability

Despite the deployment and cost advantages of hyper-converged infrastructures, learn how disaggregated HCI can overcome compute, storage and network resource scalability issues. Continue Reading

Why hyper-converged infrastructure simplifies IT management

As fractured data center landscapes shift to HCI environments to consolidate IT operations, learn the many advantages, disadvantages and challenges of hyper-converged deployments. Continue Reading

On premises vs. cloud: The major similarities and differences

An organization deciding whether to run a workload on premises or in the cloud must carefully evaluate security, reliability, costs and other factors -- and ask four key questions. Continue Reading

Understand the 5 main benefits of hybrid cloud for businesses

Why choose between public cloud and private systems when you can have both? With hybrid cloud, enterprises can address workload requirements, business demands and budgetary needs. Continue Reading

Multi-cloud vs. hybrid cloud similarities and differences

Organizations sometimes struggle to understand the difference between hybrid cloud and multi-cloud. Check out this video and tips to get familiar with these architectures. Continue Reading

Intel CEO Bob Swan to be replaced by VMware's Pat Gelsinger

Facing delays of critical products along with superior offerings by AMD and Nvidia the past couple of years, Intel CEO is stepping down to be replaced by VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger. Continue Reading

Top enterprise hybrid cloud management tools to review

Here's an overview of the types of hybrid cloud management tools available, along with tips on what to look for in each tool category. Continue Reading

IBM Spectrum protects OpenShift container data

IBM seeks to outdo Tanzu; Spectrum Protect for Red Hat OpenShift launches as new containers are spun into operation, and protects OpenShift Container Storage with snapshots. Continue Reading

6 tools to know for private cloud monitoring and reporting

Cloud reporting helps admins address capacity issues and reduce outages. Effective tools should include role-based dashboards and track virtual and physical hardware. Continue Reading

Adjust these 4 server BIOS settings to improve performance

You can configure BIOS settings to get more productivity out of servers, but some high-performance settings could increase power consumption or put reliability at risk. Continue Reading

NetApp hybrid cloud infrastructure management hits the Spot

NetApp makes its third cloud-related acquisition of 2020; the company says it will buy Spot, which uses machine learning to optimize cloud capacity and reduce infrastructure costs. 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

New Dell hybrid cloud pricing offers VxRail by subscription

Dell will offer monthly VxRail subscriptions in hopes of appealing to customers that want a more flexible way to create and pay for hybrid and private cloud environments. Continue Reading

The key VMware acquisitions and announcements in 2019

In 2019, VMware acquired Intrinsic, Carbon Black and others as it branched into new markets. It also improved its well-established virtualization line and introduced new products. Continue Reading

VMware Cloud on AWS cost and capabilities -- then vs. now

When you compare VMware Cloud on AWS' initial release to its state in 2019, the cost of entry has lowered, the feature set has expanded and it now meets most compliance standards. Continue Reading

Will replication help spur adoption of VMware vVols?

Virtual Volumes -- now known as vVols -- have gained Storage Resource Management support for array-based replication, plugging a gap that hindered adoption. Continue Reading

Essential private cloud migration steps

Executive buy-in, application evaluation and tool configuration are all important parts of cloud selection. With these steps, admins can ensure a smooth move to private cloud. Continue Reading

How to keep VM sprawl in check

Virtualization improves hardware use, but the pendulum can swing the other way and result in an overallocation of resources. Here's how to maintain the balance. Continue Reading

New details emerge about AWS Outposts as launch nears

AWS Outposts will ship later this year. In advance of that launch, AWS has given customers a sense of what they can expect from the first release of the private, on-premises version of its public cloud infrastructure. Continue Reading

Should admins learn about serverless computing?

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

VMware acquisition of Intrinsic denotes bigger strategic plan

VMware has acquired Intrinsic, a maker of virtualization technology that secures Node.js applications on serverless environments such as AWS Lambda. Continue Reading

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

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

IBM-Red Hat juggernaut seeks to boost multi-cloud deployments

IBM and Red Hat executives believe they are well positioned to capture a generous share of shops yet to implement hybrid clouds. Some analysts say that is easier said than done. Continue Reading

Design a VMware environment with CPUs, storage in mind

A solid infrastructure is critical to smooth operations in the data center. Admins designing a VMware environment should think about CPUs, storage and reference architectures. Continue Reading

VMware on Google Cloud deal gives users another choice

VMware's deal with Google is the latest among top-tier players supporting each other's cloud. The question now is: How will Microsoft and IBM-Red Hat respond? Continue Reading

Beer maker brews up cloud alternative with Dell EMC VxRail

With breweries in Colorado and North Carolina, New Belgium Brewing Co. moved shared production apps from cloud to local cluster of Dell EMC hyper-converged infrastructure. Continue Reading

Red Hat-IBM deal closes, both promise a friendly coopetition

IBM and Red Hat formally signed off on its $34 billion deal as the combined company sets off to make its mark in the hybrid cloud market. Continue Reading

Microsoft Azure Bastion service seeks to secure VMs

Microsoft's Azure Bastion managed service provides a means for companies to remotely access their VMs without touching the public internet. Continue Reading

When moving cloud on premises, ask these important questions

In this recap of industry blogs, networking analysts discuss moving cloud on premises, per-application ADC innovation and how cyberattackers target the C-suite. Continue Reading

Hyper-V vs. vSphere: How do the latest versions stack up?

Microsoft recently released Windows Server 2019, so how do the features in this version of Hyper-V compare to VMware's virtualization platform? Continue Reading

Open source virtualization expands VM hardware and OS options

Dive into open source virtualization software with VirtualBox, KVM or QEMU. Each offers customizable VM management capabilities and legacy hardware support. Continue Reading

What roles do vCPE and uCPE have at the network edge?

As service providers look to virtualize the edge and deliver network services faster, they're turning to vCPE and uCPE that run services as software on generic hardware. Continue Reading

How to realize server virtualization energy savings

Virtualizing servers is one of the most effective steps to reduce energy consumption, especially when the hypervisor and VM placement are taken into account. Continue Reading

Kubernetes on VMware gains a lifeline with Heptio acquisition

VMware's Heptio buy brings it Kubernetes chops that will help it make a multi-cloud bid, but it will struggle to raise its profile in open source container management, industry watchers predict. Continue Reading

Nvidia partnership bolsters VMware live migration capabilities

As part of vSphere 6.7.1, admins can now live migrate virtualized workloads supported by vGPUs. The Nvidia and VMware partnership improves high-capacity management capabilities. Continue Reading

Choose the cloud computing deployment model that fits your data center needs

Organizations looking to the cloud to update their data center should consider the future development of systems management providers when selecting a cloud computing deployment model. Continue Reading

Google Cloud Services Platform moves hybrid approach on premises

Google has focused its hybrid strategy around containers and microservices, as Cloud Services Platform extends some of the public cloud provider's software to users' data centers. Continue Reading

HPE's HCI system takes aim at space-constrained data centers

HPE has complemented its recent high-end hyper-converged system with another HCI system to fit the space-constrained environments of branch offices or SMBs. Continue Reading

Build an IT infrastructure plan from the ground up

IT infrastructure improvements require careful planning that includes evaluating new technologies, such as converged and hyper-converged, and building for future flexibility. Continue Reading

Dell's return to public markets sidesteps VMware query

In a complex stock deal Dell once again becomes a public company to flex its muscles against major legacy IT rivals, but sidesteps questions about VMware's autonomy. Continue Reading

IBM's Cloud Private for Data brings on-prem data closer to the cloud

IBM rolled out its Cloud Private for Data platform designed to make it easier for users' on-premises data to interact with not just IBM's public cloud, but those of AWS and Google. Continue Reading

VMware NSX portfolio aims to unify local and cloud workloads

VMware's NSX strategy aims to help enterprises stitch together data centers and cloud environments, though it could be overkill for IT shops with simpler needs that are more specific. Continue Reading

Organizations don't have to pick private or public cloud

Organizations don't necessarily have to decide between using a public or private cloud. For some companies, the answer is both. For others, it's neither. Continue Reading

End of general support for vSphere 5.5 forces IT shops' hands

To position themselves for future needs and technologies, many vSphere 5.5 customers may have to move out of their comfort zones and upgrade to version 6.5. Continue Reading

How can IT asset management tools aid in virtualization era?

IT asset management tools allow businesses to track resources effectively. Platform organization is increasingly necessary in a virtualized enterprise. Continue Reading

Can niche cloud players take on hyperscale cloud providers?

AWS, Azure and GCP are top of mind for public cloud market share, but companies lower down the ranks want their piece of the pie, too. Continue Reading

The window to be a hyperscale cloud provider is closing

A handful of companies will control the majority of the public cloud. Is there still room for big-name companies to join the club, or are they already too late? Continue Reading

Dell HCI portfolio dismantled to improve chances in the CI market

Market pressures and manufacturing synergies drove Dell to integrate its HCI and CI products with its core business units, but opinions differ whether users will benefit. Continue Reading

Transition to a hybrid cloud platform from a private cloud

Consider factors like security, platform compatibility, data usage requirements and management when transitioning from a private cloud to a hybrid cloud. Continue Reading

Creating a private cloud with minimal issues

If you consider security, performance, scalability, expertise, network visibility and service management when creating a private cloud, you avoid problems down the road. Continue Reading

Explore private cloud platform options: Paid and open source

There are many different factors to consider when choosing a private cloud platform. Evaluate the different paid and open source options to figure out which one is best for you. Continue Reading

The case for private cloud vs. public cloud implementation

Take security, compliance, cost and scalability into account when deciding between a private and public cloud. Also, think about the future potential of hybrid cloud adoption. Continue Reading

Follow these steps to assign vSphere permissions and roles

Admins can use vSphere permissions to assign VM controls to different IT groups within their enterprise. Follow the networking example below to get started. Continue Reading

How do I size capacity for VMware oversubscription?

What best practices and tools can I use to allocate the right resources in an oversubscribed virtualization deployment? Continue Reading

How can active-active clustering use load balancers?

Active-active clustering and cloud services enable IT workload resilience or redundancy in the enterprise. How does load balancing influence these setups? Continue Reading

How do you verify a HA server or cluster is working?

I want to ensure server high availability in my production IT environment. Is it better to test server HA and risk disruption, or trust in the systems' reliability? Continue Reading

Big data workloads live on-premises

Seven years after its birth, the frenzy around cloud is beginning to subside. IT organizations have embraced public cloud for some workloads, and built private clouds for others.

IT is having productive discussions about which applications to leave where they are, and which applications to re-platform. They're considering the pros and cons of renting shared infrastructure rather than buying dedicated on-premises resources.

You may not get the raw performance from a virtualized cloud instance that you could from dedicated bare-metal hardware -- you need to weigh that against the cost of hiring data center operations staff.

Meanwhile, the hype around big data and social media has just begun. The technology for doing this kind of analytics exists today. You can build a Hadoop-based repository to store the untold amounts of raw data that can later be used to discover unimagined relationships and patterns. It all sounds very promising, but for now, the jury's still out about the value of these initiatives.

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How do I configure vSphere HA for automatic failover?

I want to install a virtualization environment with physical servers for failover and a storage server to boot up some virtual servers in our network. How can I do this? Continue Reading

How do I size the physical server to host virtual machines?

I want to convert a physical machine to a virtual machine. How can I select and size the right server infrastructure to host VMs? Continue Reading

Can you virtualize a NetBackup master server?

I have only seen companies deploy a NetBackup master server on a physical server. Are there any drawbacks to using a VM as a NetBackup master server? Continue Reading

Seven data center blogs you should be reading right now

Stay connected on trending IT topics on Twitter and Tumblr. Follow these seven experts who express news, opinions in data center blogs. Continue Reading

Does data center size matter in virtualization, DCIM decisions?

Are you big enough to take advantage of DCIM or virtualization for the power and cost savings? When it comes to certain moves, size is an advantage. Continue Reading

How many VMs per host is too many?

The ultimate host server welcomes hundreds of virtual machines. But that doesn't mean consolidation should outrank performance. Continue Reading

Traditional IT silos face a hostile software-defined environment

Think you got rid of data center silos when you adopted virtualization? Not so fast. Software-defined data center tools promise more silo-busting. Continue Reading

TCP offload's promises and limitations for enterprise networks

TCP offload products free up limited CPU resources in network-intensive data centers. But TCP offload is no panacea and can introduce more problems. Continue Reading

Tips and tricks to improve memory paging on servers

Memory paging helps virtual machines share a server's memory resources nicely, but can throttle performance. A few simple tricks will optimize paging. Continue Reading

Optimal BIOS settings for server virtualization

The ideal mix of performance and reliability starts with learning which server BIOS settings you should configure for a virtualized system. Continue Reading

Squeeze out maximum virtualization performance

Get your virtual deployment done right by following the tips from our experts. Continue Reading

Keeping virtual machines secure

Discover considerations and best practices for securing your virtual environment and get a sneak peak at what will be covered at VMworld 2011. Continue Reading

Monitoring and managing virtual servers

Learn the essentials of virtual system management and follow guidelines that can help you manage your virtual servers more effectively. Continue Reading

Case studies show the benefits of virtualization

These case studies demonstrate how businesses have deployed virtual machines to improve efficiency and add computing power, while also saving money. Continue Reading

Time to consider a second hypervisor?

Adding a second hypervisor may be key to expanding virtualization in the enterprise, but it can introduce some challenges. It is also important to properly allocate resources to virtual machines. Continue Reading

Selecting a server for virtualization

Selecting a new server is always a crucial call, but virtualization adds some wrinkles. Criteria should emphasize attributes that demand consideration in a virtual environment. Continue Reading

CA Spectrum replaced by AccelOps: News in brief

Texas radiology clinic replaced CA Technologies’ Spectrum monitoring suite with AccelOps to save on maintenance. Continue Reading

Dell Viking micro server recast as PowerEdge C5000

The Dell Viking started out as a custom box for low-end dedicated hosting and has graduated to a full-fledged micro server platform. Continue Reading

Virtualization and management classroom 201 quiz

This brief quiz on server virtualization tests your knowledge of virtualization platforms, management tools and virtualized infrastructure performance. Continue Reading

1U servers: Features and capabilities introduction

1U servers are well suited to many everyday business tasks. This overview considers the key features -- from processor and memory support to network ports-- of various 1U server offerings. Continue Reading

Increasing network bandwidth available to virtual machines

These three tips on increasing the amount of network bandwidth available to your VMs, including virtual network creation, can also potentially increase a host server's VM density. Continue Reading

Improving IT efficiency with server virtualization technology

The Motley Fool turned to server virtualization technology as its answer to improving IT efficiency and flexibility in the wake of rampant data center growth. Continue Reading

Have data center careers hit the skids?

Has virtualized infrastructure derailed data center careers? IT managers say they now spend too much time troubleshooting environments and not enough time on strategic projects. Continue Reading

Managing virtual data center growth and virtualization challenges

With careful testing, planning and management, virtual data center growth doesn't have to be an issue, even with problems that crop up with some virtualization technologies. Continue Reading

Cisco et al. push memory-dense servers; but at what cost?

Today’s x86 servers offer impressive memory densities, but some IT shops want even more. Continue Reading

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 licensing for virtualization

Choosing the right Windows Server 2008 edition can save big money in a virtual data center. 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

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

Server sales suffer on economy, virtualization; vendors branching out

HP, Sun and Dell are offering more data center services this year for fear that the economic slowdown and the growing popularity of virtualization will turn their server hardware products, of which sales are down 5.2%, into a commodity. Continue Reading

Disruptive technologies of 2009: Virtualization and cloud computing

Gartner, Inc. analysts highlighted the top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations in 2009 during the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo. Virtualization and cloud computing were obvious picks at the top of the list. The advancement of virtualization in storage and client devices is rapidly moving toward eliminating duplicate copies of data on the real storage devices. This can significantly decrease the cost of storage devices and media to hold information. The flexible cost of cloud computing is advantageous for small companies, but the biggest benefit is the built-in elasticity and scalability, which not only reduce barriers to entry, but also enable these companies to grow quickly. Continue Reading

Elevating cloud computing: Citrix and 3Tera

Centered around the Citrix XenServer Cloud Edition, Citrix and 3Tera launched a partnership providing solutions in the cloud at VMWorld. The companies are promising enterprise-compatible levels of security and reliability, addressing some of the fears data center managers have expressed. 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

New Windows licensing simplifies server virtualization

In a radical shift that may spur the adoption of emerging virtualization technology, Microsoft is moving away from licensing per instance of Windows on a physical server, at least for its premium server editions. Continue Reading

Virtualization, open source threaten proprietary models

Rising interest in virtualization could mean the decline of traditional software pricing plans. Continue Reading