Evaluate
Weigh the pros and cons of technologies, products and projects you are considering.
Evaluate
Weigh the pros and cons of technologies, products and projects you are considering.
Virtual servers vs. physical servers: What are the differences?
Virtualization has cemented itself in the enterprise data center, but that doesn't mean physical servers are obsolete. They each have their benefits and uses. Continue Reading
How to find the best server virtualization management software
Choosing the right server virtualization management software is critical to meeting your organization's current and future needs. Continue Reading
Memory management strategies improve VM performance
There are several memory management options, each with their own use cases. Understanding the differences can help admins optimize virtual memory and mitigate resource contention. Continue Reading
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The remote workforce is redefining mission-critical apps
The explosion in remote work doesn't just mean more work calls in your pajamas. IT must be prepared to support application performance and availability as mission-critical. Continue Reading
5 types of server virtualization explained
Hypervisor-based might be the most common form of server virtualization in organizations, but there are other options to consider, including hardware-assisted and OS-level. Continue Reading
Evaluate open source vs. proprietary AIOps tools
Cut through the market hype surrounding AIOps to find the tool that suits your needs, comparing the pros and cons of open source vs. proprietary tools.Continue Reading
Compare some of the top online IT training providers
Everyone learns differently. So, to find the right training provider to match your style, weigh the pros and cons of these five options before you subscribe.Continue Reading
Kubernetes deployments vs. pods: What's the difference?
Pods and deployments are both important to using Kubernetes in production, but they're not the same. Learn the role each one plays in building and managing containerized applications.Continue Reading
Where does NoOps fit in the future of IT Ops?
NoOps might stand for No Operations, but the goal is to improve processes, not eliminate them. Learn how steps toward automation and cloud migration can change IT operations.Continue Reading
Logging as a service isn't SIEM -- so what is it?
What is LaaS and how does it work? Storing logs in the cloud can be a voluminous -- and expensive -- challenge, but the cloud offers a variety of enticing benefits.Continue Reading
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Evaluate Spinnaker vs. Jenkins for CI/CD
Jenkins is one of the most popular CI/CD tools available, but Spinnaker enables IT teams to manage complex pipelines. Is one better than the other, or should 'vs.' be swapped with 'and'?Continue Reading
Explore Bottlerocket's benefits and limitations
Everything has pros and cons, but the question is whether the good outweighs the bad. Evaluate what Bottlerocket has to offer, and how it compares to Alpine Linux as a container OS.Continue Reading
OpenShift Virtualization 2.5 simplifies VM modernization
Red Hat's OpenShift platform enables admins to take a phased approach to retiring legacy applications while moving toward a container-based environment.Continue Reading
Understand the differences between VPS vs. VPC
Both a VPS and a VPC distributes resources and hosts applications, but a VPS is, essentially, a VM used as a server, whereas a VPC is a full private cloud environment.Continue Reading
ITSM and DevOps don't have to be at odds
Is it possible for ITSM and DevOps to coexist within the same organization? It is, but it raises plenty of questions about how and whether they are a good fit.Continue Reading
Containers bring cloud-agnostic workloads closer to reality
Cloud-agnostic workloads have been a largely elusive goal in enterprise IT. But has containerization -- and, particularly, Kubernetes -- made agnosticism feasible?Continue Reading
Configuration management vs. asset management simplified
Configuration management and asset management are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably. While similar in certain ways, they are not the same thing.Continue Reading
What are the differences between OpenShift and Kubernetes?
Red Hat OpenShift and Kubernetes share a lot of similarities -- including the same underlying container orchestration technology. So how are they different, exactly?Continue Reading
VMware NSX vs. Microsoft Hyper-V network virtualization
When comparing VMware NSX to Microsoft Hyper-V network virtualization, it's important to examine the software-defined networking features these two hypervisor platforms offer.Continue Reading
Review the top configuration management tools in DevOps
Configuration management tools ease the IT burden. And if you're implementing DevOps practices, be sure to consider that during the tool evaluation process.Continue Reading
Ansible vs. Chef vs. Puppet vs. SaltStack: A comparison
For teams that oversee ecosystems and software packages, configuration management tools have the power to boost operational consistency. But which products deserve attention?Continue Reading
Notable benefits of private cloud for IT ops staff
Deploying a private cloud could provide more benefits than drawbacks -- although it certainly carries both. Know the specific implications of private cloud on IT ops staff.Continue Reading
Explore the benefits of containers on bare metal vs. on VMs
Advances in container and cloud technologies have morphed the debate over container deployment on bare-metal servers vs. VMs, with strong pros and cons for each.Continue Reading
What are the cost considerations when buying AIOps tools?
AIOps tools can reduce overhead for IT staff, but first, enterprises must decide how they will use the tool to know which features to budget for.Continue Reading
Infrastructure as code benefits and DevOps use cases
Code flexibility, automation and security top the list of reasons to use IaC for DevOps use cases. But without careful management, they can quickly present problems.Continue Reading
Mini PCs for business offer improved performance, reduced costs
Mini PCs are a low-cost hardware alternative to servers that enable organizations to maintain maximum data center features and capabilities in remote office locations.Continue Reading
How to evaluate VDI hardware requirements
VDI has specific hardware needs that servers hosting other virtualized workloads may not meet. Learn how to gauge VDI hardware requirements for servers, storage and more.Continue Reading
Compare runbooks vs. playbooks for IT process documentation
Despite some contextual differences, runbooks and playbooks serve a similar purpose in the enterprise: to document critical processes.Continue Reading
QEMU 5.0 continues a legacy of emulation
Admins looking for an alternative tool for emulating hardware should consider QEMU, which supports x86, PowerPC, ARM and SPARC architectures.Continue Reading
An overview of Xen Cloud Platform components, features
Xen's open source product, XCP, enables admins to perform various virtualization operations, such as live migrations and VM lifecycle management.Continue Reading
3 key ways DevOps benefits a business
DevOps adoption can strain an organization. Is it worth the effort? Here's what a business should expect to gain when implementing DevOps and continuous delivery.Continue Reading
Compare GitOps vs. DevOps for modern app deployments
Despite some overlap, GitOps and DevOps differ in several important ways, especially as organizations embrace containers and application componentization.Continue Reading
5 open source software applications for virtualization
Open source software comes with many benefits, but admins must first determine whether each tool's use cases align with their workload needs.Continue Reading
A beginner's guide to hosted and bare-metal virtualization
Choosing a virtualization approach isn't a matter of competition. Admins must consider their personal use cases to determine which hypervisor type suits their needs.Continue Reading
Understand the pros and cons of the IBM PowerVM
IBM's enterprise virtualization product, PowerVM, offers a host of benefits, but it also comes with challenges that admins should familiarize themselves with prior to implementation.Continue Reading
5 leading data virtualization tools offer integration strategy
Learn which features and capabilities your organization should consider in order to select the data virtualization platform that will best fits its needs.Continue Reading
Tools and techniques to master API management in production
APIs are a cornerstone of modern application development. IT ops teams must monitor and manage APIs in production to resolve issues that hinder performance.Continue Reading
What is a Docker container vs. an image?
Docker images, Dockerfiles and containers are all instrumental in a Docker setup. Learn what tasks each component completes and how they interact with each other to run applications.Continue Reading
When to use canary vs. blue/green vs. rolling deployment
App deployment strategies such as rolling updates and blue/green environments help IT organizations manage change with minimal risk. See which strategy fits your application.Continue Reading
An overview of Knative use cases, benefits and challenges
Knative might be more complex than a serverless platform in the public cloud, but for IT shops already committed to Kubernetes and microservices, it could be worth the leap.Continue Reading
Choose the best programming language for DevOps workflows
DevOps is a rapidly evolving set of technologies and practices; choosing the right programming language -- or languages -- makes a big difference in terms of functionality, efficiency and speed.Continue Reading
Explore common machine learning use cases in IT operations
Machine learning is a hot topic with use cases that span IT and the business. Learn how IT operations teams most commonly apply the technology -- from help desk response to gauging end-user satisfaction.Continue Reading
Compare the roles of SREs and DevOps engineers
Unsure whether your team needs an SRE or DevOps engineer? Or could the company benefit from both? To staff successfully, grasp how the roles differ and intersect.Continue Reading
CPU vs. microprocessor: What are the differences?
CPUs and microprocessors can execute many of the same tasks, such as arithmetic and I/O processing. However, there are some tasks CPUs can't execute effectively.Continue Reading
4 FAQs to better understand a paravirtualization interface
Admins are using paravirtualization because of its ability to improve system performance and reduce virtualization overhead, but its challenges can cause issues for some.Continue Reading
Evaluate 3 IT ops use cases for the Aternity monitoring tool
Operations teams can use data from an IT environment to detect, prevent and remediate issues. With Aternity, they can specifically track metrics and manage tasks related to user experience.Continue Reading
Compare Nutanix AHV vs. VMware ESXi in the hypervisor battle
Though Nutanix AHV and VMware ESXi offer similar feature sets, admins' decisions will depend on several factors, such as virtualizations needs and workload size.Continue Reading
ServiceNow vs. Jira Service Desk for ITSM workflow management
ServiceNow and Jira Service Desk are both big names in ITSM, but which one is better for your workflow management needs? Compare the two tools in terms of flexibility, integration support and more.Continue Reading
The definitive guide to enterprise IT monitoring
This comprehensive IT monitoring guide examines strategies to track systems, from servers to software UIs, and how to choose tools for every monitoring need.Continue Reading
Proxmox VE 6 and later offers container features, better security
Proxmox VE, an open source virtualization management product, provides admins with several features, such as VM live migration, backup abilities and high availability.Continue Reading
Evaluate Grafana vs. Kibana for IT data visualization
Take a deep dive into how Grafana and Kibana can help IT admins visualize critical system data through this database monitoring example.Continue Reading
3 options to use Kubernetes and containers for edge computing
While every deployment is unique, these general guidelines can help IT teams determine whether -- and how -- to incorporate Kubernetes and containers into an edge computing strategy.Continue Reading
Understand the differences in VM vs. container vs. serverless
VMs, containers and serverless computing provide organizations with application development flexibility, but they add management complexity.Continue Reading
A comprehensive guide to Open vSwitch and its capabilities
Distributed multilayer switches are essential to managing several network connections between VMs. Open vSwitch offers admins automated and dynamic network control for virtual systems.Continue Reading
Optimize your VM monitoring strategy with these tools
Keeping track of hundreds of VMs and applications can be difficult. However, monitoring tools such as OpManager and vSphere can help admins ensure successful system performance.Continue Reading
Reduce IT burdens, costs with on-premises storage as a service
Most organizations automatically associate storage as a service with the cloud -- but emerging, on-premises STaaS offerings can benefit IT ops and the business just as much, if not more.Continue Reading
5 free virtual appliances for data analysis, app creation
Virtual appliances can execute specific IT tasks, such as data analysis and application creation. There are several free offerings available, but admins must be wary of risks.Continue Reading
5 container security tools to safeguard apps, environments
Learn how five container security vendors monitor and protect container delivery and implementation, regardless of where the container sits in the application lifecycle.Continue Reading
Kubernetes vs. VMware: Drive the choice with IT architecture
It isn't easy to classify Kubernetes as the superior product for managing VMs and containers compared to vSphere 7. The decision depends on how widely admins use containers.Continue Reading
Outsourced DevOps brings benefits, and risks, to IT shops
Lack certain DevOps skills? Consider outsourcing as a way to fill the gaps, but be sure to understand the potential risks, which vary with each DevOps pipeline stage.Continue Reading
How zero-touch IT operations can be a burden, not a benefit
In their pursuits of end-to-end automation, IT operations teams should be careful not to downplay the importance of human staff.Continue Reading
Expand your knowledge of Hyper-V virtual switch types
Admins can create three Hyper-V virtual switch types: external, internal and private. The need for internet access and a secure network can help admins decide which one to use.Continue Reading
Evaluate 3 ways to run Kubernetes locally
A local Kubernetes deployment -- enabled by Minikube, MicroK8s or K3s -- is a great option to test code or simply learn the container orchestration technology.Continue Reading
Find value in real-time application monitoring
What started as a way for administrators to know if a system went offline has morphed into a broad combination of monitoring that involves admins, engineers and operations staff.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
Set IT vendor selection criteria to evolve with the times
As enterprises' IT tool sets expand to include more specialized providers for cloud and DevOps deployments, they face new vendor management challenges.Continue Reading
Embedded hypervisor use simplifies hardware, improves performance
Admins who use embedded systems generally see improved performance in VM instances, but improper implementation of hypervisors can lead to system and processor latency.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
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
Compare Grafana vs. Datadog for IT monitoring
Before committing to either Grafana or Datadog, understand how the two monitoring tools compare in terms of supported data sources, visualization features and more.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
Understand the role of infrastructure as code in DevOps
Infrastructure as code plays a prominent role in enterprise DevOps shops. Use this chapter excerpt to understand why -- and to learn the basics of some common IaC tools.Continue Reading
GPU virtualization eases system workloads, boosts efficiency
Virtual GPUs help boost data center efficiency and provide a better user experience, but admins must determine whether their workloads justify implementing the technology.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
Emerging tools to help create virtualized test environments
Tools from Parasoft, HyperQube and CloudShell let admins virtualize their test environments, but admins should exercise caution as product direction and design continue to evolve.Continue Reading
Edge virtualization manages the data deluge, but can be complex
Virtualizing at the edge introduces device management benefits to admins, but they must ensure edge computing is worth the time and effort.Continue Reading
Explore native and third-party VM automation tools' features
VMware and Microsoft offer native tools that provide VM automation capabilities, but admins should also look at third-party vendors, such as Chef, Puppet and SolarWinds.Continue Reading
Evaluate if serverless cost benefits are worth the upfront price
Before an IT shop adopts serverless, it must fully grasp how the technology operates, and prepare for the upfront -- and potentially costly -- app refactoring efforts it requires.Continue Reading
AIOps meaning to expand throughout DevOps chain
AIOps means artificial intelligence to aid in IT operations. But it could mean much more than that, bringing in development, business, security and other application stakeholders.Continue Reading
Red Hat Virtualization 4.3 updates to Cockpit are minor, but beneficial
Cockpit hasn't seen many changes with the latest RHV 4.3 update, but it still provides beneficial capabilities, such as the ability create a VM from a template or migrate a VM to a different host.Continue Reading
Virtualization automation challenges underscore AI usefulness
Automation helps reduce the complexity of virtual systems, but admins might find that adoption challenges and temporary resolutions underscore its usefulness.Continue Reading
Containers, automation and AI shape 2020 IT trends
In 2019, Kubernetes took Docker's crown and DevOps matured. As IT operations teams ring in the New Year, they should keep an eye on these 2020 IT predictions.Continue Reading
Compare Red Hat OpenShift vs. Cloud Foundry in a Kubernetes faceoff
Looking for a container ecosystem platform? OpenShift and Cloud Foundry have similar roots as PaaS platforms, but this comparison identifies a clear winner for most organizations.Continue Reading
Emphasize app modernization in 2020 IT budget plans
IT budgeting can be stressful and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. Communicate with business leaders and users to identify -- and capitalize on -- the right opportunities.Continue Reading
Get to know the Kaspersky Light Agent app for virtual systems
Kaspersky's Security for Virtualization Light Agent application provides multilayered protection for virtual servers and VDIs as well as their VMs and OSes across multiple hosts.Continue Reading
Decide between SAN vs. hyper-converged for your virtual storage
Shared storage provides admins with virtual storage benefits such as storage migration, high availability and redundancy. But the right storage option depends on cost and performance.Continue Reading
Why it's time to rethink the DevOps vs. ITIL debate
As organizations look to more closely align their business and IT goals, they should combine DevOps and ITIL practices, rather than commit exclusively to one methodology over the other.Continue Reading
Compare 3 distinct types of Kubernetes platforms
There are three types of Kubernetes deployment options, each with its own benefits and challenges. Use this in-depth comparison to choose the best fit for your organization.Continue Reading
5 steps to evaluate and perform a service mesh implementation
Service mesh adoption is a long process that starts with careful evaluation of the technology and its deployment models. And that requires the involvement of both IT ops and dev teams.Continue Reading
Types of Hyper-V scheduler for simultaneous multithreading in VMs
Hyper-V's classic and core schedulers both enable use of simultaneous multithreading in VMs, but the core scheduler prevents VMs from ever reserving an entire CPU core.Continue Reading
Capitalize on the advantages of open source software in IT
Open source tools, including those for IT management, might be free, but there are broader pros and cons that might tip the scales for some enterprise buyers.Continue Reading
3 Kubernetes platforms for your application needs
Admins must consider their application needs when choosing a container strategy and decide between a full PaaS offering built on containers or a fully compliant Kubernetes service.Continue Reading
The true private cloud debate: Do labels matter?
The debate around authentic private clouds continues as more organizations adopt the model, but labels might not matter in the end.Continue Reading
When to use Jenkins vs. Jenkins X for pipeline automation
Three primary factors -- flexibility, Kubernetes adoption and the need for a GUI -- should shape an organization's decision between Jenkins and Jenkins X as a pipeline automation tool.Continue Reading
Adopt an SDDC architecture with caution and proper planning
Software-defined components such as networking and storage help achieve data center flexibility, but organizations might come across product and security issues.Continue Reading
Edge virtualization tools make strides in the edge market
Vendors are cashing in on edge computing popularity, and organizations are faced with an influx of new virtualization tools that help manage the computing paradigm.Continue Reading
The history of virtualization and its mark on data center management
Virtualization was a huge leap in data center technology with software such as hypervisors and virtual switches that expanded organizations' capabilities and redefined IT.Continue Reading
Kubernetes use cases extend beyond container orchestration
Enterprises use Kubernetes for much more than they did when Google released the platform in 2015. Discover how Kubernetes' uses have grown, and where it might be heading.Continue Reading