IT Operations: Page

Monitoring thresholds determine IT performance alerts

An IT monitoring strategy depends on the applications and systems it governs. Static and dynamic thresholds each have benefits and drawbacks, but it's possible to find a balance.

By Alastair Cooke • April 16, 2018

Bharti Airtel overhauls test/dev with container infrastructure

Startup AppOrbit's approach to container infrastructure deployment beat out Red Hat's OpenShift as a large Indian telco overhauled its test environments for speedier development.

By Beth Pariseau • April 16, 2018

Azure PowerShell cmdlets monitor, manage VMs

PowerShell gives administrators a way to customize reports that hone in on the details that matter to the business, such as the configuration of production VMs.

By Nirmal Sharma • April 16, 2018

Enable resource metering in Hyper-V to collect usage data

Easily monitor resource utilization for your Hyper-V VMs by first enabling the resource metering feature and then collecting data with a few PowerShell commands.

By Nirmal Sharma • April 13, 2018

Exchange IRM helps enterprises lock down information

Exchange Server's information rights management features put boundaries on messages and documents to avoid the mishandling of restricted content.

By Stephen Bigelow • April 13, 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.

By Walker Rowe • April 12, 2018

Windows out-of-band patches overshadow April Patch Tuesday

Microsoft delivered out-of-band security patches to address the Total Meltdown and malware engine exploits as a precursor to its regularly scheduled April Patch Tuesday fixes.

By Tom Walat • April 10, 2018

Migrate virtual machines from development to production

Administrators must prepare carefully before moving test or development VMs to production. Check connectivity, security, compliance and licensing before beginning a migration.

By Brien Posey • April 10, 2018

Become an infrastructure developer to get code to production faster

Wondering where to take your IT career in a future that is increasingly software-defined? Learn the role of an infrastructure developer from one expert with experience in the field.

By Adam Bertram • April 10, 2018

AWS’ managed Kubernetes service faces tough competition in GKE

Amazon's native integration of Kubernetes puts all the major cloud providers on the same playing field, but it's not an even match.

By Kurt Marko • April 10, 2018

Microsoft Project Honolulu shows promise but needs work

Microsoft Project Honolulu is still in the technical preview stage, but it needs to resolve a number of issues before it's a viable alternative to manage production machines.

By Richard Siddaway • April 9, 2018

Hunt zombie VMs and control virtualization sprawl

VM tagging is an effective tactic for discovering and eliminating zombie VMs. Cut useless VMs, redundant data and confusing configurations to enable efficient resource consumption and limit VM sprawl.

By Brian Kirsch • April 6, 2018

Select the best container monitoring tools for your environment

Organizations that run containers should monitor them, too. Choose container monitoring that integrates into other systems monitoring tools, or take a different route.

By Sander van Vugt • April 6, 2018

What types of VHD files does Hyper-V support?

Fixed VHD files, dynamic VHD files, and differential or differencing VHD files are all supported by Hyper-V. Learn more about these file types and the best use cases for each.

By Stephen Bigelow • April 5, 2018

Cloud-based email security tools barricade entry to Exchange

The pressure is on Exchange administrators to avoid a ransomware outbreak that cripples the on-premises email system. Cloud-based security tools can help blunt trending attacks.

By Reda Chouffani • April 5, 2018

Seven steps to move a DevOps team into the ML and AI world

Artificial intelligence and machine learning can bring a lot to the software development and deployment table. But patience and experimentation will be key to make it work in an enterprise.

By Torsten Volk • April 4, 2018

512e disks attempt to bridge the gap between 512n and 4Kn

It's important to ensure that your OS and hypervisor support 512e and 4Kn disks, but there are always alternatives to work around any incompatibilities.

By Stephen Bigelow • April 4, 2018

IT’s application support model depends on everyone outside IT

IT wants to reduce application outages, boost performance and make users more productive. The best way to achieve these goals is to welcome outsiders onto the app support team.

By Adam Fowler • April 3, 2018

Migrating public folders requires extensive planning

Do your homework to find the right option for public folders when making a move to Exchange Online. Here are guidelines to help you navigate the requirements and limitations.

By Neil Hobson • April 3, 2018

What are the best log consolidation and storage methods?

Storing log data is an important part of the log management process. Maintain performance, security and backup policies with careful log consolidation.

By Stephen Bigelow • April 3, 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.

By Walker Rowe • April 3, 2018

Azure AD B2B offers a secure way to grant external access

Organizations that open up their resources to external users can restrict access using the Azure AD B2B service with minimal effort on the part of the administrators.

By Adam Fowler • April 2, 2018

What logging best practices can help with log management?

Logs can produce immense amounts of data, but logging standards, such as standardized formats and security procedures, can help IT professionals minimize information overload.

By Stephen Bigelow • April 2, 2018

PowerShell 6 expands reach but lags behind Windows version

Cross-platform PowerShell arrived without all the functionality that's available in Windows PowerShell -- but it brings the ability to manage Linux and macOS systems.

By Richard Siddaway • March 30, 2018

Microservices management tools harmonize polyglot chaos

IT ops must replenish its toolkit to standardize infrastructure management and let developers experiment with the latest programming languages and application designs.

By Beth Pariseau • March 30, 2018