Systems automation and orchestration
Get expert guidance and practitioner-written tutorials to improve your organization's automation and orchestration processes, offering advice for beginners and pros alike.
Top Stories
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News
21 Nov 2024
WasmCloud makes strides with Wasm component model
After a stall in 2023, this year's WASI Preview 2 pushed server-side WebAssembly forward, turning heads at companies such as American Express -- but it's far from mainstream use. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Conference Coverage
21 Nov 2024
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2024 news coverage
This guide to the North American and European KubeCon + CloudNativeCon events covers updates to Kubernetes and other open source cloud-native technologies. Continue Reading
By- Margaret Jones, Executive Editor
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Tip
15 Aug 2018
IT incident management best practices -- and myths that scare you away
When IT activity inevitably goes awry, admins need to know the best course of action to take to ensure accountability, efficiency and accuracy -- and not get lost in myths. Continue Reading
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Tip
14 Aug 2018
Network capacity planning in the age of unpredictable workloads
When you manage network spaces carefully and make informed choices, the flexible, easily scaled workloads of distributed public and hybrid cloud applications become manageable. Continue Reading
By- Tom Nolle, Andover Intel
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Tip
09 Aug 2018
Adopt these continuous delivery principles organization-wide
Follow these principles to advocate for, adopt and adapt continuous delivery. The work won't always be easy, but well-conceived continuous delivery pays off for everyone involved. Continue Reading
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Tip
08 Aug 2018
Application performance tuning tips and tricks
Tune hardware, resource allocations and prioritizations to make applications perform their best. Just don't do it without tracking the results. Continue Reading
By- Brian Kirsch, Milwaukee Area Technical College
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Tutorial
07 Aug 2018
Write cloud-config automation scripts into the configuration file
Bypass the need for excess infrastructure, and put off the automation languages seminar -- you need to configure the cloud now. Fortunately, you can still do that. Continue Reading
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News
06 Aug 2018
Enterprise IT struggles with DevOps for mainframe
Mainframe automation tools are nascent, and many mainframe experts are reluctant to embrace DevOps. But large enterprises must address legacy platforms to realize app delivery goals. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Feature
02 Aug 2018
Words to go: Incident management KPI categories
Because incident management is a vital task for IT operations departments, admins need a way to measure its success. This list of KPIs offers a good place to start. Continue Reading
By- Emily Mell, Former Site Editor
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Tip
01 Aug 2018
Top continuous delivery benefits and how to get them
Continuous delivery doesn't come without challenges -- like getting every disparate IT team on board -- but its list of perks makes the entire process worthwhile. Continue Reading
By- Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor
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News
27 Jul 2018
Google Cloud Build puts GCP spin on cloud CI/CD
Enterprise DevOps shops have yet another cloud CI/CD choice, as well as additional options for managed Kubernetes, function as a service and service mesh. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Tip
26 Jul 2018
Climb the five steps of a continuous delivery maturity model
The continuous delivery maturity model lays out the five increasingly intense -- and capable -- levels of the process. Know where to start and when to progress. Continue Reading
By- Kurt Marko, MarkoInsights
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News
25 Jul 2018
Insurer accelerates DevOps test data refreshes with Actifio
Data-intensive applications can hobble DevOps velocity, but one IT team makes fresh test data available to its developers with a tool that makes rapid copies of large data stores. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Tip
23 Jul 2018
Troubleshooting application performance: Issues and answers
Workflow congestion, sluggish switches, pointless parameter settings -- application flaws don't come from a single source, but they're easier to solve when you know where to look first. Continue Reading
By- Tom Nolle, Andover Intel
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Answer
23 Jul 2018
Why is Docker's container approach so important?
The name has become synonymous with containers, but there are other container management tools available. Continue Reading
By- Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor
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Tutorial
19 Jul 2018
Follow a Kubernetes and Go tutorial in your home lab
Learn how to use the Kubernetes Go client, dep for dependency management and other capabilities for Kubernetes and Go in this home lab exercise on Minikube. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Jul 2018
Heuristic automation prevents unmitigated IT disasters
IT automation isn't about doing everything faster -- although that's how it started. Heuristics make automation smarter and responsive to changes in the IT environment. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
12 Jul 2018
Perform this Octopus Deploy tutorial in under 60 minutes
Octopus Deploy extends a variety of agents called Tentacles that manage a wide swath of tasks. In just one hour, create an Octopus Deploy instance in a simple home lab. Continue Reading
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Opinion
10 Jul 2018
Modern service management, DevOps streamline app administration
DevOps and service management are synonymous in modern IT, insofar as their guidelines match. Regardless of the term, ensure organizational practices are built for today's reqs. Continue Reading
By- Kurt Marko, MarkoInsights
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Feature
10 Jul 2018
How infrastructure as code benefits and eases provisioning
Being able to provision services with code means a simplification to sometimes complicated processes. Plus, you won't need to worry about the platform that service will run on. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Jul 2018
IT pursues zero-touch automation for application support
The best and most efficient approach to IT automation features as little human intervention and interaction as possible. Continue Reading
By- Tom Nolle, Andover Intel
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Tip
29 Jun 2018
Use HashiCorp's Terraform tool and companions for production IaC
Developers want isolated systems for prototyping. Testers want mimicry of production. And IT operations wants to configure this infrastructure for them without reinventing the wheel. Continue Reading
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News
29 Jun 2018
Database DevOps tools bring stateful apps up to modern speed
Database DevOps is no longer a contradiction in terms, as enterprises roll out database management and persistent storage software that makes stateful apps more flexible. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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News
28 Jun 2018
IT infrastructure management software learns analytics tricks
Not every enterprise IT shop is ready to take the AIOps plunge, but IT ops automation is increasingly data-driven -- even at mainstream companies. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Tutorial
21 Jun 2018
These Go code examples showcase its main features
Google's golang uses many of the same functions as older code languages, such as key-value pairs and compiling, but is better fitted to modern systems development requirements. Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Jun 2018
Cloud applications demand a new IT operations strategy
Business and software development trends are putting more pressure on IT operations staff and changing the way teams deploy applications. Continue Reading
By- Nick Martin, Senior Director of Content Strategy and Member Engagement
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Opinion
19 Jun 2018
How the three phases of automation dictate human employment
Automation might end human employment as we know it. The final result is in question, but we can draw clues from the relationship between automation and employment. Continue Reading
By- Bob Reselman, CogArtTech
- 18 Jun 2018
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Tip
18 Jun 2018
Three tools enable DevOps for Windows shops
DevOps isn't just the domain of open source Linux experts. These three tool options tailor DevOps to how Windows applications and systems operate. Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Jun 2018
Kubernetes books put container deployments on the right track
Whether you're tasked to set up and manage or deploy applications with Kubernetes, these books offer guidance and support. Co-author Brendan Burns shares insights from the texts. Continue Reading
By- Meredith Courtemanche, Director of Editorial Training
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News
08 Jun 2018
Reflect adds color to Puppet DevOps tools
Puppet plans to add data visualization and analysis to spruce up its DevOps tools now that it has acquired Reflect, but it's still playing catch-up in a crowded, noisy market. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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News
06 Jun 2018
DevOps shops weigh risks of Microsoft-GitHub acquisition
An online outcry about Microsoft's GitHub acquisition seems overblown to enterprise DevOps pros, but that doesn't mean there's no cause for concerns. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau and Darryl K. Taft
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News
04 Jun 2018
Microsoft-GitHub acquisition shakes up DevOps market
Microsoft's $7.5 billion blockbuster deal for GitHub is a sea change for the IT market, as an enterprise software bellwether with legacy baggage snaps up an open source DevOps darling. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau and Ed Scannell
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Tip
29 May 2018
Use load tests to balance IT capacity management and QoE
Simply throwing more resources at an application won't solve scaling issues. IT ops pros must take the time to chart the relationship between IT capacity and software performance. Continue Reading
By- Tom Nolle, Andover Intel
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News
25 May 2018
Chef InSpec users wrestle with compliance as code
Learning the ins and outs of the Chef InSpec product is only half the battle for compliance as code. The thornier task for some enterprises is to bridge the gap between compliance expertise and DevOps execution. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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News
23 May 2018
Chef Automate 2.0 renews appeal to DevOps shops
Chef Automate 2.0 lays the groundwork for tighter integration between the IT automation software and third-party tools, as Chef stakes its claim in the DevOps gold rush. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Feature
18 May 2018
Self-service automation gives WLA maximum power
Users don't want to wait for an admin to run a report. Admins don't want to drop their work to do it. Set parameters on self-service options and let workers help themselves. Continue Reading
By- Emily Mell, Former Site Editor
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Tip
14 May 2018
A Go programming language tutorial for IT ops
Go is a diversely applicable programming language that ops admins can use on distributed systems without the complications of traditional languages such as C or Java. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 May 2018
Which IT security roles fall to the ops team?
To help secure data and applications, an IT ops team needs to do much more than put up firewalls and apply other traditional security measures. Here's where to begin. Continue Reading
By- Chris Moyer, ACI Information Group
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Tip
07 May 2018
Blue/green deployment on the cloud makes updates easier
App deployment in the cloud operates differently than it does on physical infrastructure. The blue/green deployment model has a couple variations, each of which can save on time and errors. Continue Reading
By- Kurt Marko, MarkoInsights
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Tip
03 May 2018
Get started with AIOps tools
Instead of admins doing all the tedious work to resolve issues reactively, AIOps tools promise predictive analytics, health assessments and preventative action suggestions. Continue Reading
By- Muddu Sudhakar, Startup companies
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Tip
27 Apr 2018
A proper DevOps feedback loop includes business leaders
What the modern IT organization needs isn't DevOps -- it's BizDevOps. IT exists to serve the business, but that relationship must be fully reciprocal. Continue Reading
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Answer
24 Apr 2018
Is IT workload management easier on software-defined infrastructure?
Our IT organization uses deployment automation, monitoring tools and virtualized resources. What do we need to do to manage IT workloads? Continue Reading
By- Brian Kirsch, Milwaukee Area Technical College
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News
20 Apr 2018
Cloud Foundry PaaS shops hone software delivery process
Enterprises that have deployed Cloud Foundry platform as a service found it catalyzed new thinking about the application delivery process and other organizational practices. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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E-Zine
19 Apr 2018
Who put the AI in software?
With artificial intelligence, anything seems possible. And that leaves a whole lot of room for the imagination to wonder about how the use of AI in software tools can change how the work gets done -- and who does it.
The anxiety is understandable. The hyperbole is harder to sort out because, well, when it comes to AI, no one knows quite where to put the line between rational and irrational worries. Will AI at some point control every aspect of your life? Probably not. Will AI push you out of a job? Quite possibly.
Using AI in software development is one way to make your IT resources more intelligent and more automated. If AI can test software faster and better, shouldn't you be doing it that way? That's a question we take up in this first issue of Modern Stack. Also included are articles and columns delving into multi-cloud management, serverless computing and how operations teams can hold up their end of the DevOps bargain.
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Tutorial
17 Apr 2018
Resolve issues between Python and Linux with virtualenv
While Linux OSes favor Python 2, Python 3 is the widely preferred version. Install virtualenv to isolate Python 2 and 3 and prevent IT issues. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
12 Apr 2018
Try these Salt commands to master the config management tool
The command line is an IT administrator's best friend. Salt users should try these commands to understand how the configuration management tool works. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Apr 2018
SaltStack Enterprise GUI features outreach Salt Open territory
For enterprise IT shops that require a mix of reports on systems, and audit compliance, SaltStack Enterprise offers more than the pure open source version of Salt. Continue Reading
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News
21 Mar 2018
CloudBees Jenkins Enterprise snags raise roadmap questions
CloudBees' Jenkins software is slated for major updates after strong revenue growth in 2017, but customers and partners report struggles with upgrades, pricing and support. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Tip
20 Mar 2018
Automated continuous deployment tools produce successful code
Continuous deployment skips the operations oversight step in software production. So, automated tools must ensure code success in administrators' stead -- before mistakes go live. Continue Reading
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Tip
16 Mar 2018
Three steps to plan a self-service IT portal that actually works
There's no point to a self-service IT portal if the offerings are out of touch with how its users conduct business or the instant builds are on hold while additional capacity spins up. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
13 Mar 2018
Assess Salt configuration management's capabilities and limitations
Salt's benefits for IT operations include fast configuration and flexible, responsive functioning. Get a handle on the basics of Salt, then install it to explore the tool's capabilities. Continue Reading
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Photo Story
22 Feb 2018
Data center and cloud computing products that make an impact
The Modern Infrastructure Impact Awards recognize the best IT infrastructure and cloud computing products in seven categories, from cloud to DevOps to converged infrastructure. Continue Reading
By- Modern Infrastructure staff
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Tip
21 Feb 2018
Terraform best practices that aid DevOps infrastructure builds
Create the right configuration for any DevOps setup, and then, fluidly replicate and scale as necessary with infrastructure-as-code tools and strong management policies. Continue Reading
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News
21 Feb 2018
Chef InSpec widens the compliance-as-code possibilities with v2.0
Chef InSpec 2.0 adds infrastructure tests for compliance policy enforcement, and the tool's expansion into more areas of the DevOps workflow won't stop there. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Tip
20 Feb 2018
SaaS support challenges IT ops admins to shift gears
SaaS means no more app support, right? In practice, IT ops teams enter a new realm of upgrade management and capacity planning when their user base migrates to a SaaS offering. Continue Reading
By- Brian Kirsch, Milwaukee Area Technical College
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News
16 Feb 2018
Enterprises identify 10 essential DevOps tools
Products branded with DevOps are everywhere, and the list of options grows every day, but the best DevOps tools are already well-known among enterprise IT pros. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Tip
14 Feb 2018
Cloud ops doesn't solve your problems, it creates new ones
There are many reasons to consider a cloud migration, but if you expect to cut costs or dramatically ease management, you'll be disappointed. Continue Reading
By- Brian Kirsch, Milwaukee Area Technical College
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Tip
09 Feb 2018
Automation and orchestration elevate scripts from helpful to essential
Did you automate a server update, only to realize another script for configuration compliance has to run first? Orchestration tidies up the messy piles of automation that grow out of IT scripting. Continue Reading
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Guide
07 Feb 2018
Explore Ansible for DevOps configuration management
The configuration management tool is adept at managing workloads across different infrastructure environments. This Ansible overview preps admins to automate apps and infrastructure. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
05 Feb 2018
Create a self-signed certificate to control PowerShell scripts
Signing code ensures that every change is official and approved. This helps to prevent errors and security breaches. Write a PowerShell self-signed certificate for code testing. Continue Reading
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News
02 Feb 2018
Kubernetes hybrid cloud emerges from Google-Cisco partnership
A Kubernetes partnership from Cisco and Google widens IT pros' container orchestration options in hybrid cloud deployments, but its advantages depend on future software integrations. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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News
01 Feb 2018
Kubernetes storage projects dominate CNCF docket
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation will host the Rook distributed container storage project -- the first move in a pivotal year for Kubernetes stateful app support. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Definition
30 Jan 2018
Chef (software)
Chef is an open source systems management and cloud infrastructure automation platform. Continue Reading
By- David Carty, Site Editor
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News
26 Jan 2018
ServiceNow Kingston troubleshoots IT tasks with AI, machine learning
ServiceNow delivers AI and machine learning capabilities to its core platform to eliminate time-consuming manual help desk tasks. Continue Reading
By- Ed Scannell, Freelancer
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Opinion
25 Jan 2018
An IT automation strategy wilts under cloud's shadow
Organizations have been striving to keep abreast of IT automation trends, but with the ongoing cloud takeover, operations must consider new skill requirements instead. Continue Reading
By- Brian Kirsch, Milwaukee Area Technical College
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Tip
24 Jan 2018
Learn YAML through a personal example
Some code languages take countless hours of formal training and practice. YAML strikes out in the opposite direction. To comprehend its hierarchical format, follow this coding example. Continue Reading
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News
23 Jan 2018
AI apps demand DevOps infrastructure automation
Businesses look to AI apps to gain a competitive edge, but IT teams must make rapid application changes through a DevOps process and embrace infrastructure automation. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Feature
23 Jan 2018
Catch the IT automation technology wave
IT automation is taking over in operations as tasks get bigger and more complex, handling distributed systems. Stay current with these five big trends. Continue Reading
By- Emily Mell, Former Site Editor
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Definition
22 Jan 2018
SaltStack
SaltStack, often referred to as simply "Salt," is an open source configuration management and orchestration tool for automating repeated system administrative and code deployment tasks. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jan 2018
Jenkins pipeline as code example demonstrates DevOps coordination
Ellucian, which makes software for colleges and universities, offers a pipeline as code example that unifies the release process for multiple generations of apps and brings IT security into the DevOps fold. Continue Reading
By- Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer
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Opinion
10 Jan 2018
The ITIL 2018 update better catch up to modern IT
When ITIL last updated, DevOps was in its infancy. In the face of rapidly evolving IT practices and technologies, ITIL 2018 must be powerful and usable for diverse IT organizations. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Jan 2018
Application support best practices involve all teams
There's more to app support than making sure the bits and bytes are in order; the user's experience is vital to uphold. Creating a smooth process takes more than just operations. Continue Reading
By- Brian Kirsch, Milwaukee Area Technical College
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Opinion
08 Jan 2018
Error budget instills reckless IT project management mindset
Just how many errors is the IT operations team allowed to make? Trendy organizations are answering this question with a budget, but it possesses some admins to push the envelope. Continue Reading
By- Tom Nolle, Andover Intel
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Tip
04 Jan 2018
Unleash application dependency mapping tools to combat outages
Create a detailed map of application dependencies from the CMDB and cloud resources and help prevent unexpected outages. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Jan 2018
Embark upon ITSM asset management with systematic tagging
The journey to an organized data center begins with a single tag. Start using IT tags today to apply updates, control access and help automate management. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Dec 2017
Know when to implement serverless vs. containers
Containers save resources and reduce deploy times. So does serverless. Containers are a great host for microservices. So is serverless. But the deployment options are more different than they are alike. Continue Reading
By- Tom Nolle, Andover Intel
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Tip
19 Dec 2017
A good IT orchestration system saves time for users and admins
Rather than fight with business workers about runaway IT resource consumption and complex demands on tight deadlines, let an orchestration platform control the process. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Dec 2017
Two Ansible playbook examples illustrate config management
Configuration management enables automation for many operations tasks. Ansible uses a simple structure and a dynamic language to enable admins to easily complete jobs, once they get the hang of a playbook. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Dec 2017
Centralize Ubuntu server management on Landscape
Canonical Landscape brings centralized server management to Ubuntu on physical and virtual machines, as well as cloud systems. See how it works, and explore features such as tagging. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Nov 2017
Get serious about patch validation and deployment -- fast
Zero-day exploits are more dangerous than ever, but so is applying an untested patch to live systems. Without a strategy to quickly validate patches -- outside of production -- you're playing with fire. Continue Reading
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E-Zine
16 Nov 2017
What you'll build with software-defined architecture
It's been two years since Gartner declared that the future of the data center was software-defined. And while we're still a ways from that reality, there's plenty of reason to think IT is indeed moving toward the software-defined architecture.
The ability to compose your infrastructure puts components where they're needed -- but only for as long as they're needed there. Then those resources become available again for another task. IT professionals aren't crazy to look at the speed and efficiency advantages of that type of software-defined architecture and think, "We need that."
To reap those rewards, however, means orienting the data center around software. That's a big shift both in strategy and execution. And it's not easily achievable.
The cover story of this issue of Modern Infrastructure digs into these possibilities and challenges. TechTarget's Erica Mixon talks with experts about the software-defined architecture, what it can achieve and what an organization will want to take into account before heading down that road.
With a truly composable infrastructure and products with cloud-like capabilities, an organization can pool its data center resources and put them to work with utmost efficiency. If that's the future, maybe it's time to start figuring out how you'll get there.
Continue Reading -
Tutorial
08 Nov 2017
Follow a PXE boot tutorial to increase OS configuration automation
PXE boot servers are simple to set up and can aid in IT operations' goals toward high-level efficiency and automation. This tutorial runs through setup and optimal settings. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Nov 2017
IT capacity planning takes new shape in the cloud
Migrating applications off premises to the cloud requires a new capacity planning approach: Develop a detailed cloud strategy, and carefully track upgrade schedules. Continue Reading
By- Brian Kirsch, Milwaukee Area Technical College
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Tip
02 Nov 2017
Infrastructure as code benefits range from audits to ops
When an auditor asks to see how the entire application stack is configured, you'll recognize the benefits of an infrastructure-as-code implementation. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 Nov 2017
The application runtime environment is as important as the app
To avoid cascading failures and never-ending troubleshooting, take the time to understand the software and hardware -- the runtime environment -- that keeps an app ticking. Continue Reading
By- Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor
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Tutorial
19 Oct 2017
A Red Hat Satellite tutorial to install an update server
With Red Hat Satellite, IT ops can deploy an update server to simplify patching. Follow this step-by-step tutorial to install the server, attach subscriptions and devise a sync plan. Continue Reading
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Tip
12 Oct 2017
Use Azure availability sets for patching to achieve the best uptime
Ops' responsibility doesn't end once in a public cloud; in fact, it can get more confounding. Learn the best route to update Azure cloud instances and what mistakes to avoid. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Oct 2017
Standardize configuration management software for smoother DevOps
If your organization uses different configuration management software for development and operations, you're not alone. Even better, it's no engineering feat to migrate to one main tool. Continue Reading
By- Kurt Marko, MarkoInsights
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Tutorial
25 Sep 2017
PowerShell scripts enable automated cloud deployments
This step-by-step tutorial walks through the process to automate an Azure deployment; start with launching the virtual server, and finish with the deletion process. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Sep 2017
Configuration management processes take down GRC challenges
Configuration management processes speed deployments, but tools that know effective licenses and data storage details aid in another area that businesses are keen to get right. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Sep 2017
Build a DevOps version control process for IT infrastructure
Infrastructure admins can turn to the DevOps version control process for all IaC updates. Learn the basics, then follow along with an example in Git. Continue Reading
By- Mike Pfeiffer, CloudSkills.io
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Tip
11 Sep 2017
Ansible variables give structure to playbook execution
Ansible playbooks tell the IT automation system how to complete a task. Use variables in a playbook to tell Ansible how to interact with the available resources. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Aug 2017
A deployment pipeline keeps infrastructure ducks in their rows
IT infrastructure is difficult to get right. Whether to stand up a test/dev server or deploy a new app to production, infrastructure developers turn to a deployment pipeline to build IT. Continue Reading
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Tip
22 Aug 2017
Come to grips with immutable infrastructure in production
Immutable infrastructure is a developer approach to application hosting that's made its way into the IT ops lexicon. It's time to understand the changes it brings to application support. Continue Reading
By- Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor
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Tip
04 Aug 2017
Chef Habitat offers a different take on configuration management
Chef Habitat's strategy focuses on the dynamic application environment instead of static servers, approaching configuration management with a new focus. Continue Reading
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Tip
04 Aug 2017
IT automation software: Top five common mistakes
IT automation software projects can involve a great deal of risk, but avoid these common mistakes and it will increase the chances for automation success. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Jul 2017
Simple steps to improve the IT incident management process
No one notices when there's a solid IT incident management response process in place, but everyone notices when there's not. Improve how you handle issues in three steps. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Jul 2017
Agentless Ansible structure opens up configuration management potential
Ansible is easy to use for IT ops pros, and it supports multicloud functionality within its automation structure. This simple walkthrough gets sys admins started with the tool. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Jun 2017
Server OS patching doesn't have to be as painful as you fear
OS patching is like a mechanic's job -- you need different tools for different makes and models. SCCM, Satellite and Landscape provide upkeep for IT's sports cars and SUVs. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Jun 2017
Three DevOps toolchain options refine IT automation
DevOps tools that don't interconnect form a bottleneck that teams can easily avoid -- or retroactively remedy -- if the CI/CD workflow merits the time commitment. Continue Reading
By- Kurt Marko, MarkoInsights
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Tip
24 May 2017
IT asset tracking informs better capacity, management decisions
Detailed IT asset inventories are a result of granular asset tracking and lead to better server and storage management -- among other benefits. Continue Reading
By- Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor