IT systems management and monitoring
Learn about the tools and technologies that enable more visibility into IT infrastructure, integration between IT management tools, tailored alerts for IT professionals and new areas of performance monitoring and management.
Top Stories
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Podcast
12 Sep 2024
CTO challenges software security status quo
A former U.S. Department of Homeland Security researcher argues that software is fundamentally broken from a security perspective. So, where does the industry go from here? Continue Reading
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News
10 Sep 2024
Four zero-days fixed for September Patch Tuesday
Most corrections this month focus on the Windows OS, but enterprises that rely on SQL Server or SharePoint should prioritize deploying the security updates for those platforms. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Apr 2021
Use these metrics to manage availability
Learn about uptime availability metrics that are critical to meeting business goals for your organization's systems and applications. Then, see how to put them into action. Continue Reading
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Tip
08 Apr 2021
Master containerized microservices monitoring
Before IT teams can enjoy the benefits that containers and microservices bring, they must tackle several monitoring hurdles first. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Mar 2021
Understand IT change management vs. configuration management
When examining change management vs. configuration management, it's easy to confuse them. These examples illustrate how they intertwine, but still address different areas. Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2021
Nordic bank fights money launderers with log analytics
The IT team at Lunar created an interface into its log analytics system for the bank's fraud investigators, which helped uncover specific data about questionable accounts. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Mar 2021
Tackle Kubernetes observability with the right metrics
Observability is a natural extension of IT monitoring -- and container environments only get more complicated. Use the right metrics for the greatest return. Continue Reading
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News
11 Mar 2021
Mendix dumps cluttered DevOps monitoring tools for Datadog
The IT teams that run Mendix PaaS sped up incident response by tossing out a confusing mix of DevOps monitoring tools and settling on one vendor. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Mar 2021
6 virtual server management best practices
When overseeing virtual servers, take advantage of self-service VM management, VM templates, monitoring tools and permissions groups to ease the management burden. Continue Reading
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Tip
08 Mar 2021
The keys to an efficient help desk staffing model
Hiring skilled staff alone to fill help desk roles is not enough to improve workflows. Learn how to unlock a help desk's full potential with these tips. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Mar 2021
CPRA compliance creates complications for IT ops
Data compliance only gets tougher as new privacy protection laws are passed. California's privacy regulations mean IT ops teams must reconfigure their data collection processes. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Mar 2021
How to perform a Hyper-V to VMware migration
Before you migrate from Hyper-V to VMware, you should take a comprehensive inventory, set an agreed-upon schedule and communicate the potential effects to all relevant parties. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Feb 2021
Improve help desk workflows via stronger staff support
Subject experts can be expensive to retain on the help desk, but they're vital to success. Balance training and task delegation to ensure staff engagement and growth. Continue Reading
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News
24 Feb 2021
Observability updates target DevOps pipelines
LogicMonitor's Airbrake acquisition and a new Dynatrace product strengthen correlations between code releases and IT infrastructure performance. Continue Reading
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Tip
23 Feb 2021
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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Tip
12 Feb 2021
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
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News
12 Feb 2021
Dynatrace expands observability tools with an eye toward BI
With new features and roadmap plans, Dynatrace looked past IT observability toward becoming a broader business intelligence platform. Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Jan 2021
IT observability and monitoring illuminate application data
Observability extends beyond traditional IT monitoring tools and processes to arm DevOps teams with the level of insight they need. Continue Reading
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Tip
22 Jan 2021
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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Tip
07 Jan 2021
4 monitoring and alerting best practices for IT ops
Monitoring is vital in modern IT environments, but the variety of metrics to track can swiftly overtake admins' capacity -- and sanity. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Jan 2021
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
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Tip
30 Dec 2020
Get to know Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 and learn to install it
Oracle VM VirtualBox offers a host of appealing features, such as multigeneration branched snapshots and guest multiprocessing. Continue Reading
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Tip
22 Dec 2020
How AI in the help desk transforms IT support
For IT help desk staff, it should no longer be a question of whether AI will transform their jobs -- but when. Prepare for changes around ticket workflows, troubleshooting and more. Continue Reading
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News
18 Nov 2020
Observability standards emerge as Kubernetes matures
Enterprise IT pros have tackled how to handle Kubernetes deployments. Now, they're relying on open source observability standards to help keep cloud-native apps healthy. Continue Reading
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News
18 Nov 2020
IBM buys observability vendor Instana
IBM intends to purchase Instana, maker of application monitoring and observability tools, and then couple its technology with the Watson AIOps portfolio. Continue Reading
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Tip
16 Nov 2020
7-step pandemic return-to-work IT infrastructure checklist
As employees return on site, ensure your HCI can handle the changes. Follow these steps for checking system hardware and storage, as well as securing software and firmware. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
16 Nov 2020
How to use Slack and Fluentd to demonstrate social output
Phil Wilkins provides step-by-step instructions on how DevOps teams can enable Slack to capture log events from the open source data collection tool Fluentd. Continue Reading
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Answer
12 Nov 2020
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
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Tip
06 Nov 2020
Bolster remote IT management with these security tips
The remote management of IT systems has become essential -- but admins need to uphold that responsibility in a way that doesn't compromise security. Continue Reading
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News
29 Oct 2020
Observability blitz intensifies with Grafana, AppDynamics
Grafana and AppDynamics are the latest monitoring vendors to try to capitalize on the hype around observability, as users face more complex choices than ever in this market. Continue Reading
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News
22 Oct 2020
Splunk Observability integrates acquisitions, boosts AIOps
Splunk opened the product update floodgates this week with a new Observability Suite that integrates recent acquisitions, enhanced AIOps and the purchase of two more companies. Continue Reading
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News
13 Oct 2020
Optimiz taps Moogsoft AIOps platform
Moogsoft's relationship with Optimiz, a partner based in Toronto, expands the company's IT channel relationships in the growing AIOps market. Continue Reading
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Tip
12 Oct 2020
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
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News
08 Oct 2020
Sumo Logic ships tools for AWS, Kubernetes observability
Sumo Logic has rolled out AWS and Kubernetes observability tools with automated root cause analysis. Users say they offer easy setup at an affordable price. Continue Reading
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News
07 Oct 2020
Oracle launches Cloud Observability and Management Platform
Oracle's new Cloud Observability and Management Platform seeks to appeal to customers with complex multi-cloud and on-premises environments. Continue Reading
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Tip
07 Oct 2020
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
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Tip
28 Sep 2020
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
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Tip
14 Sep 2020
How to approach IT logging in the cloud vs. on premises
IT organizations must monitor cloud infrastructure and apps with a process that's different than they're used to for on-premises environments. Learn how to do cloud logging here. Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Sep 2020
Just what can AI in IT operations accomplish?
How should the 'AI' in 'AIOps' work? The idea is for it to identify and solve problems in ways similar to how the human mind would -- except faster and without prompting. Continue Reading
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News
03 Sep 2020
Kubernetes monitoring eases migration, security at scale
IT pros in high-scale environments have found that moving to Kubernetes-based infrastructure called for a fresh approach to monitoring for performance and security. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Sep 2020
Threat identification is IT ops' role in SecOps
IT operations teams can take steps to improve security as part of their daily tasks. Learn about the ways to identify threat incidents and reduce false positives. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Aug 2020
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
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News
21 Aug 2020
OpenTelemetry aids distributed tracing, Kubernetes monitoring
OpenTelemetry combines multiple CNCF observability projects, as well as multiple enterprise data collection mechanisms, simplifying Kubernetes monitoring. Continue Reading
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Tip
21 Aug 2020
How to build a successful IT service desk
The IT service desk has a lot to manage. With a strong foundation and the right steps in place to handle issues, it can take on anything users throw at it. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Aug 2020
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
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Feature
12 Aug 2020
Memory management techniques improve system performance
Prior to using memory management strategies, admins should familiarize themselves with approaches to ensure they implement techniques suited to their specific circumstances. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
11 Aug 2020
Implement simple server monitoring with PowerShell
Administrators who build a server monitoring framework with PowerShell can develop their own customized checks for deeper insights into their environment. Continue Reading
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Feature
31 Jul 2020
4 FAQs to help master KVM management
When it comes to managing KVM, admins should do their homework and research common questions to better understand the technology and ensure peak performance. Continue Reading
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News
30 Jul 2020
New Relic pricing plummets with product overhaul
New Relic dropped pricing for a newly unified set of IT monitoring tools, as it faces fresh competitive pressures and users adjust to cloud-native complexity. Continue Reading
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Video
17 Jul 2020
Windows Server System Insights steers admins from trouble
The predictive analytics feature in Windows Server 2019 gives administrators a heads-up to potential problems to avoid the scrambling when help desk tickets start to pile up. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
16 Jul 2020
Follow this Grafana Loki tutorial to query IT log data
IT pros evaluating log data should try tools like Grafana Loki. Follow this tutorial to see how it works firsthand, exploring LogCLI and LogQL. Continue Reading
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Feature
06 Jul 2020
Modern IT KPIs emphasize cloud, DevOps and user experience
When it comes to KPIs, IT ops teams have typically prioritized process-centric metrics, but recent technical and cultural shifts have started to change that. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Jul 2020
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
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News
02 Jul 2020
AIOps tools expand as users warm slowly to autoremediation
AIOps tool vendors keep expanding the environments they can support with automated remediation features, but users are taking their time to move beyond root cause analysis. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Jun 2020
5 critical help desk KPIs to track and manage
IT operations teams shouldn't view help desk KPIs in isolation, but rather as a set of closely related metrics that work together to track the user experience and costs. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Jun 2020
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
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Feature
17 Jun 2020
Lessons learned: Strategies to adjust IT operations in a crisis
Curious how other businesses adjusted their IT operations strategies in light of COVID-19? Look back at these five recent SearchITOperations news stories to find out. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
16 Jun 2020
A Graylog tutorial to centrally manage IT logs
Graylog enables IT admins to manage and analyze log data from multiple sources. Use this tutorial to set up the tool and learn its primary features, such as pipelines and extractors. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Jun 2020
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
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News
05 Jun 2020
New ServiceNow workflows extend into more markets
ServiceNow continues to direct its workflows toward vertical markets with new offerings for telecommunications, financial services and healthcare markets. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
04 Jun 2020
How to set up Prometheus for Kubernetes monitoring
Prometheus enables IT teams to automate and quickly configure infrastructure monitoring with open source tools natively in Kubernetes. Follow this tutorial to get started. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 May 2020
How to integrate DevOps into an IT monitoring strategy
When it comes to IT monitoring, a DevOps toolchain presents opportunities and challenges. Follow best practices to ensure your teams see and fix problems appropriately. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 May 2020
Why automated user provisioning still demands a human touch
IT teams can automate away many -- but not all -- of the tedious tasks associated with user provisioning. A human operator is still essential to ensure accurate account details. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 May 2020
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
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Tip
27 May 2020
Get started with threshold monitoring
IT monitoring doesn't have to be difficult to set up and use. Learn how to set thresholds and dashboards, know when and how to escalate responses, and keep IT systems humming along. Continue Reading
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Opinion
19 May 2020
Forget monitoring alerts, turn to IT root cause analysis
Alerts get your attention, but they don't always tell you where the core of a problem is to be found. Maybe it's time to shift your IT management strategy. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 May 2020
How -- and why -- to add SolarWinds modules
SolarWinds is known for its capabilities in network monitoring, but flexible modules give IT operations staff the ability to monitor systems far and wide. Continue Reading
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News
15 May 2020
Essential firms forge on with AIOps for incident response
AIOps systems for incident response have helped a bank and a provider of care services in the home streamline operations amid a pandemic emergency and an ongoing IT skills shortage. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 May 2020
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
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Tip
07 May 2020
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
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Opinion
05 May 2020
Remote work technologies to account for in 2020 IT budgets
In light of a crisis like COVID-19, IT organizations must amend their budgets to invest in technologies that can support remote access and foster employee collaboration. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Apr 2020
6 articles to modernize an IT log management strategy
Enterprises must adapt IT log management best practices and tools to handle an ever-growing volume of log files. Here are several modern approaches to tackle IT logging efficiently. Continue Reading
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Tip
20 Apr 2020
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
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Tip
16 Apr 2020
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
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Tip
10 Apr 2020
Container logging tips for IT troubleshooting and more
Don't just leave container log data on a host and forget about it. Instead, establish a detailed strategy to index, search, correlate and analyze that data. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Apr 2020
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
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Tip
07 Apr 2020
AI pen testing promises, delivers both speed and accuracy
AI is making many essential cybersecurity tasks more effective and efficient. AI-enabled penetration testing, or BAS, technologies are a case in point. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Apr 2020
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
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Tip
06 Apr 2020
Using AIOps for cybersecurity and better threat response
AIOps platforms, when properly tuned, can benefit all of IT in important ways. Learn how these advanced security tools improve threat detection and response in myriad ways. Continue Reading
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News
31 Mar 2020
Log monitoring refinements control data growth, costs
Whether it's pricing according to access frequency or reducing the volume of logs sent by IT infrastructure, fresh IT monitoring approaches make cloud-native visibility manageable. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Mar 2020
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
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Tip
30 Mar 2020
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
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Feature
26 Mar 2020
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
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Tip
24 Mar 2020
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
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Feature
23 Mar 2020
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
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Video
19 Mar 2020
Perform Nagios configuration step by step
Nagios Core helps IT teams monitor system uptime and availability -- but first, they have to install and configure the tool properly. Follow this video tutorial to get started. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Mar 2020
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
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News
05 Mar 2020
Biometrics firm fights monitoring overload with log analytics
Log analytics tools have become more popular as enterprise IT pros contend with complex, continuous microservices application deployments at scale. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Mar 2020
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
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Answer
28 Feb 2020
Virtualization skills admins must have in 2020
Industry experts Sander van Vugt, Brian Kirsch and Stuart Burns weigh in on what skills virtualization admins must have in 2020 to better meet growing industry demands. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Feb 2020
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
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Tip
25 Feb 2020
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
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Tutorial
21 Feb 2020
Use this Nagios monitoring tutorial for proactive IT monitoring
Learn how to install and run Nagios to monitor your organization's IT assets. Follow these steps so you're prepared to catch problems before they get out of hand. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Feb 2020
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
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Tip
14 Feb 2020
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
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News
12 Feb 2020
Grafana Loki users reap log data savings, with tradeoffs
Grafana Loki won't replace advanced log analytics tools, but it may be a boon for shops that want to collect massive amounts of log data for troubleshooting applications. Continue Reading
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Answer
12 Feb 2020
What should I know about IP address management systems?
As networks continuously gain more devices, outdated IP address management methods face new challenges. Despite this, IPAM is still crucial for any organization's network. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Feb 2020
Right-sizing VMs improves performance, combats resource contention
Admins looking to reduce resource contention and improve system performance can right-size their VMs, but application owner pushback and software restrictions can pose issues. Continue Reading
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Tip
04 Feb 2020
Use secrets management tools for centralized security control
Improper secrets management leaves IT orgs vulnerable to attacks. A secrets repository can help -- but it requires commitment, along with a willingness to change existing workflows and processes. Continue Reading
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Tip
31 Jan 2020
Modernize ops practices to manage hybrid IT infrastructure
Hybrid IT management requires ops teams to rethink everything from networking to the way they oversee system configurations. Third-party tools, including those for IaC, can help. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
30 Jan 2020
Best practices for Hyper-V template creation
Admins can streamline template creation through Hyper-V SCVMM with a few best practices, such as evaluating whether a VM is the right fit for template creation. Continue Reading
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News
28 Jan 2020
Cisco folds AppDynamics AIOps into its infrastructure tools
Cisco shops might welcome new integrations between AppDynamics AIOps tools and Cisco Intersight management software, but whether they will draw in other users is uncertain. Continue Reading