Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• What is a Docker container vs. an image?

  Docker images, Dockerfiles and containers are all instrumental in a Docker setup. Learn what tasks each component completes and how they interact with each other to run applications.  Continue Reading

• When to use canary vs. blue/green vs. rolling deployment

  App deployment strategies such as rolling updates and blue/green environments help IT organizations manage change with minimal risk. See which strategy fits your application.  Continue Reading

• How many Kubernetes nodes should be in a cluster?

  There's no one-size-fits-all answer in terms of how many nodes should make up a Kubernetes cluster. Instead, that number varies based on specific workload requirements.  Continue Reading

• Evaluate 3 ways to run Kubernetes locally

  A local Kubernetes deployment -- enabled by Minikube, MicroK8s or K3s -- is a great option to test code or simply learn the container orchestration technology.  Continue Reading

• Manage the Windows PATH environment variable with PowerShell

  Among many other tasks, IT teams can use PowerShell to manage and edit the PATH environment variable. Walk through these basic steps to access, add and remove system paths.  Continue Reading

• Perform a Windows event log search with PowerShell

  Event log monitoring is vital to an IT environment's health and success, but finding a specific event in the flood is challenging. PowerShell enables admins to simplify this task.  Continue Reading

• How do I manage ACL folder permissions with a PowerShell script?

  PowerShell scripts make short work of repetitive Windows tasks, saving admins time, effort and frustration. One simple area admins can manage with scripts is the access control list.  Continue Reading

• What are the main features of Ansible vs. Ansible Tower?

  Both Ansible and Ansible Tower offer enterprises a wealth of resources for config management, but they aren't equals. Assess their differences in crucial aspects such as security.  Continue Reading

• What's the role of an application load balancer vs. API gateway?

  Application load balancers and API gateways both manage network traffic, but in their own ways. Learn the differences between them and how to use them together in a modern IT deployment.  Continue Reading

• Can I install Ansible for Windows system management?

  Even though Ansible has its roots in open source software and Linux, is it possible to use the configuration management tool for Windows environments?  Continue Reading

• What are Ansible roles and when and how should I use them?

  Roles are one of several functions in Ansible that simplify and streamline IT automation processes. Dig into this quick overview to learn the basics of roles and potential use cases.  Continue Reading

• How do I get started with an Ansible playbook?

  An Ansible playbook boosts admin productivity when they manage configurations across machines. Learn how playbooks work and how to avoid live errors.  Continue Reading

• Does DevOps require end-to-end monitoring tools?

  While basic monitoring services and feedback loops provide critical insight for DevOps teams, an end-to-end monitoring tool gives them a more holistic view of the end-user experience.  Continue Reading

• Is read-only mode a viable approach to container hardening?

  Can containers work in read-only mode, and how does this setup make a difference in security hardening?  Continue Reading

• Is Kubernetes free as an open source software?

  Kubernetes is available open source, but also from IT vendors. As a complex container orchestration tool, Kubernetes brings many benefits to IT shops managing containers at scale. Which version will pay off for enterprise adopters?  Continue Reading

• Can container communication cross over to noncontainerized apps?

  Can an application have Python as a container, run SQL queries on an external Microsoft SQL database and publish the results on an Apache web server container?  Continue Reading

• 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

• What is the best DevOps tool for my career?

  I have no prior knowledge on DevOps. I'm doing an online course and understand Unix. I get the concepts, so what tool should I concentrate on learning to advance my DevOps career?  Continue Reading

• 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

• How do I start on change and release management?

  I have nothing but an IT help desk email inbox, and deployment management is organized chaos. It works well enough to keep the business running, but I’d like to implement ITSM best practices for project management, software changes and deployment, ...  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

• How do I maintain an Azure VM IP address during a reboot?

  I need a persistent cloud application deployment in which the Azure VMs' IP addresses remain the same after a restart or failure.  Continue Reading

• Are there IT jobs in cloud capacity management?

  If a company moves only 30% of workloads from its data center to the public cloud, that will reduce IT ops demand. Is there still a role for the ops engineer?  Continue Reading

• What CMDB benefits can we expect beyond a network management system?

  An NMS provides real-time feedback about operations and performance. A CMDB maintains relationships between components of an environment. Should we have both?  Continue Reading

• Could IT change control have prevented an IT deployment failure?

  An IT shop experiences performance issues in a long-running deployment that's been operational through many changes. The culprit is probably a build-up of IT configuration artifacts.  Continue Reading

• Should I allow SSH tunneling connections through the firewall?

  Allowing users to tunnel through a firewall to access any site creates a security risk. How big of a risk is it? It depends on how much you trust your users.  Continue Reading

• What options exist for IT infrastructure management services?

  What kinds of as-a-service IT management options are available? Are IT management services only coming from startups, or do established management software vendors have options?  Continue Reading

• What IT alerting strategy will cut down daily monitoring noise?

  I'm the new IT ops manager at my company, and I'm bombarded by IT alerts from our monitoring software. What do I need to look at first and what can I ignore? Who on my team needs to be on the alerts?  Continue Reading

• Can switching to all event-driven applications cut IT infrastructure?

  Event-driven computing means no IaaS provisioning and no data center to run. Can I migrate all enterprise apps to be event-driven?  Continue Reading

• How is runtime as a service different from PaaS or IaaS?

  What is runtime as a service and how does it differ from platform as a service and infrastructure as a service?  Continue Reading

• What mistakes throw off VM load balancing?

  I track VM performance on my IT infrastructure, and want to optimize the distribution of virtual workloads.  Continue Reading

• How do I size capacity for VMware oversubscription?

  What best practices and tools can I use to allocate the right resources in an oversubscribed virtualization deployment?  Continue Reading

• How can we move containerized apps among clouds?

  Our business wants to stay cloud-agnostic, and we think containers are our best option. How complicated is it to move applications from one cloud platform to another?  Continue Reading

• How can active-active clustering use load balancers?

  Active-active clustering and cloud services enable IT workload resilience or redundancy in the enterprise. How does load balancing influence these setups?  Continue Reading

• Hardware vs. software load balancer: Which is better for an enterprise?

  Can a software load balancer perform with the same capabilities as a hardware load balancer? Decide which aides enterprise the best in this hardware vs. software load balancer comparison.  Continue Reading

• How do I set up a file sharing server for three clients?

  If I want to share files between three client machines and a Windows server, what are my options?  Continue Reading

• Where do APIs fit in a microservices design?

  Our enterprise wants to connect users with microservices-based applications. How can we improve communication between app components and users?  Continue Reading

• What works for daily event log monitoring?

  I have 80 Windows servers in the data center. What can I use for daily event log monitoring?  Continue Reading

• Why should I use a configuration management system?

  Configuration management frees up the IT team's time when combined with additional automation. So why are some data centers shying away from this particular discipline?  Continue Reading

• Which container platform should my organization deploy?

  Despite the buzz around Docker, it's not the only container platform. So how do I know which container technology is right for my organization?  Continue Reading

• Is container technology right for my organization?

  Container technology, like Docker, has become increasingly popular with cloud providers and enterprises. But are containers right for my organization?  Continue Reading

• What's the effect of network switch buffer in a data center?

  What's causing buffer? How much buffer should ideally be available in a network switch? Is there any standard available for buffer?  Continue Reading

• Can you verify software compatibility on IT systems?

  If you're thinking about deploying an application software package, how do you know if it is compatible with your particular systems and hardware?  Continue Reading

• What do you need to roll out application containerization?

  Containers have a significant following these days, thanks to Docker. Find out how containers can help and what you need to get started.  Continue Reading

• How KVM over IP makes remote systems management easier

  Remote systems management using KVM over IP is helping businesses avoid the costs associated with travel while improving support response times.  Continue Reading

• A general list of data center cost components

  Data center strategy specialist Charles King offers one reader a list of questions and considerations for setting up and running a data center.  Continue Reading