Topics Archive

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

OpenShift on OpenStack aims to ease VM, container management

In this Q&A, Red Hat's Brian Gracely discusses managing a virtual environment that has both VMs and containers and how OpenShift on OpenStack can help. Continue Reading

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

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

Container orchestration tools ease distributed system complexity

Containers simplify some aspects of enterprise apps, but the deployment process is no walk in the park. Orchestration tools bring standardization and automation to complex hosting scenarios. Continue Reading

How to choose the best hardware for virtualization

Selecting the best hardware for virtualization is the foundation of maintaining or designing a robust, reliable and scalable data center. Continue Reading

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

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

Are DevOps responsibilities in production unfair to developers?

When Nike.com gave developers live production support responsibilities, the shakeup unearthed fundamental questions about app design and support processes. Continue Reading

Bulk manage a Hyper-V server group with PowerShell

With only a few steps, you can use SCVMM to bring a Hyper-V server under management. This is limited, however, so use the SCVMM Command Shell to bulk manage Hyper-V servers. Continue Reading

Hyper-V cmdlets for daily operational tasks

With simple scripts, enable or disable VM Integration Services and Live Migration on Hyper-V hosts, reset VM replication stats, grant or revoke VM access, and optimize VHD files. Continue Reading

Copy files from the host to a Hyper-V machine

There are many ways to copy files from the host to a Hyper-V machine, including Enhanced Session Mode and the Copy-VMFile PowerShell cmdlet. Follow these steps for each method. Continue Reading

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

Ensure container monitoring and control via smart tooling

Don't try to stick with traditional monitoring tools when your organization matures to containers; they won't do enough. Seek out monitoring and management tools with targeted capabilities. Continue Reading

It's tough to explain DevOps, that nebulous IT concept

DevOps is more about goals and aspirations than any set of practices or tools. Right? Or is it just about collaboration and culture? Either way, it's tough to define DevOps. Continue Reading

Docker Enterprise Edition prospects mull vendor strategy

Uncertain about Docker's future business growth, some enterprise IT pros are on the fence about whether to invest in its container orchestration tools. Continue Reading

Use virt-install to install VMs from the command line

Learn the basics of virt-install, including standard use cases, executing it on CentOS 7, different command-line options and the creation of kickstart files. Continue Reading

Container infrastructure a silver lining amid Intel CPU flaw fixes

Containers aren't immune to Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, but they could lighten the operational burden of fixes for IT pros. Continue Reading

It's critical to create the correct DevOps team structure

With new-to-DevOps enthusiasm, some companies go too far when it comes to creating teams or dividing responsibilities. Chris Tozzi outlines the warning signs of too much DevOps. Continue Reading

Quiz yourself on Red Hat virtualization pricing and updates

The Red Hat Virtualization platform can be a powerful tool in your arsenal. Take this quiz on RHV pricing, updates and functionality to see if you know your stuff. Continue Reading

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

Address bulk VMM agent updates with PowerShell automation

The SCVMM agent upgrade process is a regular, but sometimes laborious, part of VM management. Use PowerShell to make light work of bulk updates through commands and loops. Continue Reading

IT ops pros predict routes to DevOps efficiency in 2018

Operations admins have a lot on their plates already, and they'll pile on more in 2018. These IT pros and analysts share what's coming and how to handle it. Continue Reading

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

Master the seven key DevOps engineer skills for 2018

We all know DevOps is hard, but complex new technologies are going to make the development methodology even more challenging. Expert Bob Reselman outlines the skills you'll need. Continue Reading

Time-series monitoring tools give high-resolution view of IT

DevOps monitoring tools based on time-series databases create a steeper learning curve than traditional monitoring software, but arm IT pros with richer data for troubleshooting. Continue Reading

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

The future of DevOps in 2018? More people, more integration

From DataOps to function as a service, DevOps adoption is going to mean acquiring some new skills in 2018. Contributor George Lawton asks the experts. Continue Reading

Make the case to follow a container strategy at your company

Sorting through container management software can be overwhelming. Determine what your organization actually needs in terms of security and cloud capabilities before leaping in. Continue Reading

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

Be wary of DevOps evangelists preaching a culture change

There are many reasons to adopt DevOps, and there are many challenges involved in getting it right. But don't buy into the culture myth that many DevOps evangelists are selling. Continue Reading

PowerShell commands for Hyper-V update bulk VM configuration

Admins who don't have access to SCVMM can make configuration changes to multiple Hyper-V VMs at once with a few PowerShell scripts and the ForEach loop approach. Continue Reading

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

Want to understand DevOps? Look to open source's history

Studying the past in order to not repeat it is something that can be applied to DevOps, too. Expert Chris Tozzi outlines how to understand DevOps by studying open source. Continue Reading

Evaluate ChatOps tools and bots for the right fit

ChatOps is still a niche in IT operations and DevOps shops, but organizations that have set it up love it. That means you should join the fun and give it a try. Here's what you need to know about ChatOps tools. Continue Reading

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

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

Use virsh commands to manage KVM networking

Virsh commands enable you to manage network properties and can be used alongside brctl commands to help you create additional virtual bridges in your KVM environment. Continue Reading

Why you need to think carefully about DevOps certification training

A certificate can be a career blessing, but the wrong one can be a curse. Expert Bob Reselman explains how to make the right choices for DevOps and other areas. Continue Reading

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

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

Abstract thinkers have the most vital nontechnical DevOps skill

Take a close look at a Picasso, and explore how those abstract shapes form a complete picture. You'll be flexing an important DevOps skill: abstract thinking. Continue Reading

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

With continuous security, SecDevOps deconstructs CI/CD

Nothing is set in stone when an organization follows a DevOps methodology -- a DevOps security model pushes developers and ops to constantly retune, slow down and speed up. Continue Reading

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.

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Enterprise shops look to AIOps for IT root cause analysis

IT ops pros look to AIOps tools to help find the smoking gun in failing IT stacks, but some call automated root cause analysis more dream than reality. Continue Reading

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

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

Systems thinking principles: Building a DevOps support model

It's time to embrace a DevOps support model. Everything we do has consequences, good or bad. We're interdependent. That's why no team should work in isolation. Continue Reading

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

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

To build or to buy? That is the DevOps toolchain question

An organization should assess its strengths and weaknesses before choosing a DevOps toolchain. A pre-made pipeline is simpler than individually collected tools, but it sacrifices flexibility. Continue Reading

Container OS options abound: Make the right selection

There is an assortment of OSes that support containerized applications, so go into the decision with a set of wants, needs and must-avoids. Continue Reading

The future of cloud computing looks foggy

The concept of cloud, while never sharply defined, may be growing even less clear. The intenet of things, for example, means more connected devices are showing up in more places, an unstoppable trend that will affect the future of cloud computing.

These edge devices and related functions further blur lines between what's cloud and what isn't. To be sure, there's a good reason these initiatives are often talked about as fog computing.

TechTarget contributor Alan Earls explores all this in the cover story of this issue of Modern Infrastructure. He speaks with experts and IT professionals about how edge and fog computing make a difference in how business is conducted. The ability to meaningfully process data as close as possible to the source is potentially powerful for certain types of organizations, though not an easy task to execute. Having both data and the capability to process it so widely distributed -- rather than collected and centralized -- is a shift in thinking. It's also an acknowledgement that the future of cloud computing is headed in some unexpected directions. IT infrastructures will need to adapt.

The cloud will be a key component in this evolution, a fact that may further stretch our understanding of what -- and where -- cloud computing is.

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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

Windows Server containers and Hyper-V containers explained

It's important to not only understand the differences between these two container types but also the specific requirements, deployment considerations and management practices. Continue Reading

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

Paravirtualization advantages, disadvantages and use cases

Despite a promising start, paravirtualization comes with significant disadvantages that limit the number of use cases that make sense for enterprise IT, but it still has its place. Continue Reading

ITSM processes must take this chance to help the business

ITSM implementations still have value in today's DevOps world, but only if admins can get their processes aligned with the grander business goals. Continue Reading

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

Learn DevOps techniques in a home lab

Not allowed to put work projects on GitHub? Want to run containers even though your company is still virtualizing servers? Get ahead with techniques and tools in a DevOps home lab. Continue Reading

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

HashiCorp DevOps tools add Sentinel for IT policy management

As DevSecOps grows, policy as code will take over where infrastructure as code left off through new tools such as HashiCorp Sentinel. Continue Reading

An IT operations job description written for the future

Forward-looking IT ops jobs require more Python and less cable management. To reach valued positions in the IT organization, align your skills with these popular job requirements. Continue Reading

Early adopters of technology belong in every organization

In today's rapidly changing tech environment, avoiding new opportunities means falling behind. Thorough research into newly available tools leads organizations to success. Continue Reading

Rethinking your place on the early adopter curve

The best-run organizations will have a technology infrastructure in place to thoroughly support the business and all its goals. While most companies fall short of that perfection, even an operation that's close to the ideal should feel good about its technological capabilities. The trick is to not feel too good for too long.

An IT environment won't continue to perform at a high level without some help, so it's worth thinking about where you are on the early adopter curve. IT decision-makers should be open to deploying new products and services.

The cover story for this issue of Modern Infrastructure explores the questions around how an IT team should approach new technologies and strategies. The accepted wisdom in most organizations has traditionally been to let the risk-takers chase the latest, coolest thing hitting the market. It was wise, went this way of thinking, to let others figure out if a new product works -- or doesn't. If that tempting new thing proves its value, then the smart money would step up and give the go-ahead for implementation.

But now, as the pace of change in both business and IT continues to accelerate, the greater risk might be to implement a technology too late rather than too early. An organization that is willing to take some risk stands to gain an advantage, possibly a significant one, if it figures out how to capitalize on a fresh technology before its competitors do. For this reason, it might be time to rethink your position on the early adopter curve.

So even if your infrastructure is as good as it can be now, don't get too comfortable. What's true today might not be true tomorrow.

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Early adopters of technology belong in every organization

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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

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

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

Know how container host machine resources get used?

What's a container's resource limit? How do they scale? What OS does a host machine need? Answer 10 questions to prove your container deployment knowledge. Continue Reading

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

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

Docker-supported OS list expands with Enterprise Edition update

Docker Enterprise Edition fired back at Kubernetes with new support for mixed clusters and applications, as well as advanced security features that target large enterprises. Continue Reading

Do ops skills fall into an IT engineering job description?

What are some ways to level up from an IT operations or administration role into an IT engineering one? Will my experience in IT operations translate into engineering tasks? Continue Reading

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

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

A serverless architecture could live in your data center

Just because you don't see the server doesn't mean it's not there. Serverless frameworks are superseding containers, but is the extra abstraction worth it? Continue Reading

Are meetings part of your DevOps strategy? They shouldn't be

Your time is precious. An effective DevOps strategy makes use of all the tools and tricks to make sure you're not stuck in meetings instead of getting things done. Continue Reading

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

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

Should you run MySQL on VMs or physical machines?

Take stock of your current environment, including instance types, orchestration systems and storage devices, before deciding whether to deploy MySQL to VMs or physical machines. Continue Reading

Configure NIC teaming with different modes in Hyper-V

The switch independent mode uses different switches and can support both active/active and active/standby operation, while the dependent mode only uses one switch. Continue Reading

Step up from ops on your IT career path

IT operations professionals with accumulated skills in application management, cloud migration or security enforcement could make a forward move to one of these specialist roles. Continue Reading

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

The art of managing IT risk is never quite mastered

Risks abound, and no amount of preparation or caution will eliminate them entirely from our lives. This is as true now as it was in the past, and it likely will remain true in the future.

While technology enables us all to work more effectively and productively, the necessity of managing IT risk remains. Risk follows wherever we go -- from the data center to the cloud, from virtualized workloads to containers. Smart IT organizations are continuously assessing threats and then devising ways to minimize them. That's the goal, at least.

This issue of Modern Infrastructure examines some of the current approaches to managing IT risk, from maintaining security to handling costs.

In our cover story, TechTarget's Beth Pariseau writes about the particular challenges of container security. IT shops have been reluctant to put containers in production in large part because of the uncertainty about how secure they might be. Updates from Docker and more disciplined app development practices are making containers less risky, Pariseau writes. And there's reason to think that containers could be even more secure than VMs.

Getting comfortable with containers is a process not unlike how technology professionals learned how to safely use cloud services. It takes some time and effort, but managing IT risk can bring exciting and powerful new tools safely into the fold.

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Machine learning algorithms make life easier -- until they don't

Algorithms govern many facets of our lives. But imperfect logic and data sets can make results worse instead of better, so it behooves all of us to think like data scientists. Continue Reading

Securing containers keeps IT jumping through hoops

Container isolation doesn't cut it in production. Instead, beef up security from the infrastructure to the application code, and be prepared to use some new tools to do it. Continue Reading

Machine learning algorithms make life easier -- until they don't

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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

Why HR has a key role supporting DevOps skills

If HR isn’t hiring team members fluent in proper skills and familiar with the duties across the delivery chain, then successful DevOps will remain just an ideal. Continue Reading

When to use Docker alternatives rkt and LXD

Docker can't meet the needs of every IT scenario. LXD and CoreOS rkt are additional container formats to try out when Docker doesn't make sense. Continue Reading

Welcome to DevOps Agenda

It’s not hyperbole to claim the DevOps movement affects every level of the IT organizational chart, and exploring it requires a new way of looking at enterprise IT. Continue Reading

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

ServiceNow roadmap extends ITSM technology with AI, machine learning

A leader in the IT systems management market, ServiceNow looks to expand into new applications markets. Farrell Hough, in charge of ServiceNow's product operations, lays out the roadmap. Continue Reading

Lessons fall from the cloud, changing data center strategies

The transformative power of cloud computing is long past the point of being news. The cloud model, after all, has irrevocably changed how IT functions. What's interesting to consider is how cloud technologies and methodologies are changing even how on-premises data centers operate. Lessons learned in the cloud are now being applied on site, adjusting data center strategies in surprising ways.

When it comes to resource efficiency, the things that hyperscale cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform accomplish might seem like heroic feats. For sure, server utilization rates in an on-premises environment won't reach the 50%, or better, marks that hyperscale providers hit. Still, rates can be improved by emulating those cloud operators.

So how has cloud computing altered data center strategies?

New classes of products, most notably hyper-converged infrastructure and software-defined networking, now exist primarily because large cloud providers built environments that showed the value of these technologies.

Redundancy architectures, too, are not nearly as rigid as they were. The traditional 2N scheme, in which an organization maintains double the number of infrastructure components needed to run critical operations, is no longer considered the mandatory standard.

Further efficiency is found in rethinking high availability expectations. With more resilient applications, experts argue, a hardware failure shouldn't be the disruptive event it was in an earlier age.

These are lessons brought down from the cloud, ones that noticeably alter data center strategies. They show again how the quest for efficient and effective data centers is never quite complete.

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Deploy patches safely and sanely in a CI/CD workflow

Enterprises engaged in a CI/CD workflow must patch systems and apps strategically. There are multiple technologies to consider, including immutable infrastructure and automation. Continue Reading

Deploy patches safely and sanely in a CI/CD workflow

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Log management systems benefit greatly from AI

Organizations with massive volumes of IT operational data need log management tools that can quickly and adeptly process it. AI embedded into tools might be the answer. Continue Reading

Justify CMDB ROI with these strategies

IT pros can easily list off CMDB benefits. But when it comes to convincing the business to pay for a CMDB implementation, you'll need to discuss ROI. Continue Reading