Data centre networks are getting flatter and fitter
Shed the layers
We have all come across the traditional corporate network with three distinct layers: the core layer dealing with heavy-duty switching and routing, which runs on socking big switches and routers; the distribution layer dealing with lighter (but still intelligent) tasks such as packet filtering and some routing; and the access …
Time to put 'Big Data' on a forced diet
There ain't nothing cheap about big storage
Data is big business. These days they've even started calling it “Big Data”, just in case its potential for unbridled magnitude had escaped anyone. Of course, if you have Big Data you need somewhere to put it. Hence storage is also big business.
On the one hand this is a good thing, but that's just because several of my …
Don't believe the IT hype: Ye cannae change the laws of physics
Don't expect any miracles from the shiny new database you've bought (or compiled)
It's fun to be on the receiving end of IT advertising. The vendor's ads start by promising to solve your business problems better than the competition can, and then the superlatives begin to snowball until an answer to global warming and a solution for war in Iraq are both in there among the plug-ins you can buy to make your …
Don't get 2e2'd: How to survive when your IT supplier goes titsup
Analysis Why you should always see it coming
I used to know a finance director who had a favourite mantra: “Minimise fixed costs.”
The concept's a simple one: by all means use permanent staff to deal with the aspects of your business that don't change much, but where your revenue streams go up and down, think of ways of allowing the cost of servicing those revenue streams …
SLAs keep demands for business applications under control
Measure out the portions
It is not uncommon for the IT department to find itself some way down the food chain. You know how it is: the business guys decide to implement their shiny new applications and the IT department somehow has to find the platforms to run it on.
The first step is to define the requirements for the application – both those that aren …
Help - my desktop in the cloud has evaporated!
Desktop You don't want to do it like that
If everything is in the cloud, desktop and apps, then what does support do for a living and what are the new set of challenges this presents?
On the face of it, cloud computing solves a lot of problems. Centralised computing, ease of management and update, a managed service approach that reduces the need for in-house expertise …
Measuring the datacentre as a service
Data Centre Yardstick, abacus, measuring jug
The precise nature of a company's datacentre varies from place to place.
In some cases it will simply be a server room in the company's own premises; in others it may be multiple dedicated buildings many miles apart with robust, resilient interlinks. Whichever it is, the metrics or service measurement are the same.
The first …
Growing your web server farm to cope with fluctuating demand
Datacentre Peaks and Troughs
Thanks to support for multi-core processors and terabytes of memory, servers have never been more scaleable. When it comes to hosting web sites and applications, however, server farms based on relatively modest hardware still dominate because they make dealing with fluctuations in demand easier.
Host a web site on a single …
How do you quantify service performance
Datacentre ...and how does the customer pay for it?
Service availability and performance are key to running businesses efficiently, given today’s massive reliance on computing systems. How do you determine how a system should perform, and how do you measure that performance?
The measurement aspect is relatively simple. All modern operating systems come with basic in-built …
