The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

A short poll about server architectures

Readers, we need you

  • print
  • alert

Cloud based data management

Tech Panel Reg readers, we're interested in finding out what your server architecture looks like, and how this might map onto what we have uncovered as some of the core challenges. Is it hub-and-spoke, all in one place or highly distributed? Let us know.

READER POLL

1. If you add up everything in the boxes, racks and blade chassis, roughly how many servers do you think there are in your environment?

Over 1,000
50 to 1000
10 to 50
Under 10

2. What would you say was the primary server architecture in your environment? (Tick the one you think fits your own environment most closely)

The vast majority of servers are centralised in a single place (with a few outliers)
We have more than one centralised data centre where the majority of servers are concentrated
We have one or more central data centres, then a number of smaller server rooms for branches/remote offices
We don't have a central data centre as such – servers are collocated in multiple office buildings (though they may have a room to their own)
Other (please state)

3. To what degree are the following a challenge at the moment? (1 - 5 where 1 = Not a problem; 5 = Major Challenge)

  Not a problem   Major Challenge
  1 2 3 4 5
Maintaining/patching servers
Server monitoring, e.g. for performance and health
Operations staff being overstretched
Data backup and recovery
Software distribution and provisioning
Problems with network bandwidth and latency
General issues around data security
Responding to challenges of data growth

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

Latest Comments

One assumes this includes virtual machines?

We've a bit over 50 Virtual servers at the moment, counting the ones for development and disaster recovery. the rest of our ~50 odd machines are largely parked in a central data center. Due to how one of our critical apps is configured, it runs on dedicated hardware at our branch offices. The majority of the other hardware sits in a data center.

I'll cheerfully admit that VMs are a lot easier to manage and maintain, at least within our environment.

As far as Operating systems- largely windows based, with the odd AIX and AS/400 dinosaurs here and there.

Anon for obvious reasons...

0
0

@freeform dynamics folks

I assume that this is asking for the metal boxen we all have? Not OS installs on those boxen? 30 Metal boxen == 150+ server OS installs 'round here...

0
0
Anonymous Coward

You forgot OS and architecture

The OS you are running definetely influences a lot into everything from work load to HW-costs. Almost as much as the others combined. Some OSes are easier to maintain than others and it's definetely part of the architecture. Also the architecture was missing completely.

Everybody doesn't use Intel-PC, have you heard? Cheapest of el cheapo, no matter what the price tag says.

We can run 10 to 20 virtual machines in one, not very powerful hardware (rack mounted pc, in this case) as this solution adds only about 10% overhead compared to non-virtualised server.

Compare that to 50-90% of some virtualisation services or Windows, which explicitly forbids running in virtualized environment: One hardware, one machine.

Justifiable as no machine can run 50 parallel windows-instances, even 5 is a lot as we learned from Terminal Server a while ago.

0
0

More from The Register

Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Proof the pen is mightier?
Sammy’s iPad Mini killer has a stylus to stab other rivals too
Microsoft lures buy-curious vixens, corduroys with a cheap fondle
Surface slab sales latest: Will no one rid Ballmer of these turbulent tabs?
First look: iOS 7 for iPad
No, Apple hasn't released it yet, but that doesn't stop intrepid devs
 breaking news
Curtain drops on Apple Store ahead of WWDC: What lies behind?
Steve Jobs watching from on high. No pressure, lads
 breaking news
Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us
Billionaire biz baron's death clears way for uber-shiny iOS 7
Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves
Point your mobe at your smalls to track their every move
Surprise! Intel smartphone trounces ARM in power trials
Tests show equal performance while sipping significantly less juice
Samsung plans LTE Advanced version of Galaxy S4
1Gbps download capability could stiffen drooping S4 sales forecasts
Apple said to be 'exploring' 5.7-inch iPhone
Who's the copycat this time, Mr. Cook?