Manage

Manage

Learn to apply best practices and optimize your operations.

• Use these metrics to manage availability

  Learn about uptime availability metrics that are critical to meeting business goals for your organization's systems and applications. Then, see how to put them into action. Continue Reading

• How Puppet works: Using the configuration management tool

  With Puppet, enterprises can manage configurations and simplify the DevOps process as a whole. Grasp how it works, and see if it's the right choice for your organization. Continue Reading

• Manage a multi-cluster Kubernetes deployment effectively

  To reap the benefits of a multi-cluster Kubernetes deployment, IT admins need to understand its intricate levels of management and if their deployments warrant the strategy. Continue Reading

• Run a DevOps Dojo to improve training and culture

  DevOps continues to reshape organizations through efficiency and collaboration. See why a DevOps Dojo is the next priority for your business. Continue Reading

• Prepare for successful container adoption with these tips

  Enterprises all over the world are making containerized applications a central focus. Learn why your IT organization should be next, and how to prepare. Continue Reading

• CPRA compliance creates complications for IT ops

  Data compliance only gets tougher as new privacy protection laws are passed. California's privacy regulations mean IT ops teams must reconfigure their data collection processes.Continue Reading

• Improve help desk workflows via stronger staff support

  Subject experts can be expensive to retain on the help desk, but they're vital to success. Balance training and task delegation to ensure staff engagement and growth.Continue Reading

• Conduct a blameless postmortem and focus on the problem

  Postmortems don't need to be about who's at fault for a failure. Rather than point fingers, focus on the bigger picture. Nobody wants ridicule, but everyone wants a solution.Continue Reading

• IT observability and monitoring illuminate application data

  Observability extends beyond traditional IT monitoring tools and processes to arm DevOps teams with the level of insight they need.Continue Reading

• Manage cluster resources with Kubernetes requests and limits

  Proper Kubernetes cluster management starts at the pod level. Learn about Kubernetes limits and requests, and how Resource Quotas and Limit Ranges work to control resource consumption.Continue Reading

• How AI in the help desk transforms IT support

  For IT help desk staff, it should no longer be a question of whether AI will transform their jobs -- but when. Prepare for changes around ticket workflows, troubleshooting and more.Continue Reading

• Adapt ITSM workflows for modern IT needs

  To some, IT service management may have fallen out of favor -- especially as cloud computing and DevOps rose to prominence. Don't count out ITSM just yet.Continue Reading

• A guide to KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2020

  Trying to keep up with the latest news out of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2020? Use this comprehensive guide to stay updated and informed.Continue Reading

• How to apologize for server outages and keep users happy

  Nobody panic: The servers are down. How IT communicates an issue often means more to users than resolution speed. An admission of struggle is more forgivable than silence.Continue Reading

• What is configuration management? A comprehensive guide

  Configuration management (CM) is an information governance and systems engineering process to ensure consistency among physical and logical assets in an operational environment.Continue Reading

• These IT automation scripts take little effort and save a lot of work

  Doing some IT tasks by hand is doing them wrong. Whether to provision components, research an issue or report on performance, IT automation scripts are powerful and easy to write.Continue Reading

• Bolster remote IT management with these security tips

  The remote management of IT systems has become essential -- but admins need to uphold that responsibility in a way that doesn't compromise security.Continue Reading

• Tips for attending virtual IT conferences like a pro

  The coronavirus pushed all physical gathering events into the digital realm for public safety. But this completely disrupts our prep patterns. Here are some tips to help.Continue Reading

• How do I audit a Kubernetes environment?

  IT teams should audit their Kubernetes configuration files to uncover -- and address -- coding mishaps and vulnerabilities. Fortunately, third-party and native Kubernetes tools automate the process.Continue Reading

• 3 DevOps antipatterns to avoid at all costs

  A DevOps initiative is not a single task, but an evolution of an organization's technology, processes and culture -- and without a collaborative mindset, it will likely fail.Continue Reading

• Manage containerized microservices with a service registry

  It's easier than ever to spin up a containerized app, but that ease has created a problem: How to keep track of containerized microservices. Turn to service registries and orchestrators.Continue Reading

• Tips for a smooth DevSecOps transformation

  DevSecOps is a natural progression of DevOps and spreads security responsibilities to other IT teams. Where to begin? Here are core concepts, helpful tools and ways to learn more.Continue Reading

• How to manage technical debt in IT organizations

  "Debt" is a scary word even without "technical" before it. We can't help you with dollars and cents, but we can share what IT technical debt is and how to create a debt reduction plan.Continue Reading

• Evolving DevOps roles demand Kubernetes, CI/CD skills

  The rapid rate of change in IT coupled with the newness of many DevOps practices and technologies creates barriers for those who seek a career in DevOps. These skills can open the door.Continue Reading

• 10 DevOps engineer skills to add to a resume

  A DevOps engineer plays a critical role in modern IT. As app development and deployment practices change, orgs will seek pros with hands-on experience -- and the skills to show for it.Continue Reading

• Threat identification is IT ops' role in SecOps

  IT operations teams can take steps to improve security as part of their daily tasks. Learn about the ways to identify threat incidents and reduce false positives.Continue Reading

• 5 critical help desk KPIs to track and manage

  IT operations teams shouldn't view help desk KPIs in isolation, but rather as a set of closely related metrics that work together to track the user experience and costs.Continue Reading

• Lessons learned: Strategies to adjust IT operations in a crisis

  Curious how other businesses adjusted their IT operations strategies in light of COVID-19? Look back at these five recent SearchITOperations news stories to find out.Continue Reading

• Why automated user provisioning still demands a human touch

  IT teams can automate away many -- but not all -- of the tedious tasks associated with user provisioning. A human operator is still essential to ensure accurate account details.Continue Reading

• Optimize Kubernetes cluster management with these 5 tips

  Effective Kubernetes cluster management requires operations teams to balance pod and node deployments with performance and availability needs.Continue Reading

• Use a zero-trust model for container security in the cloud

  Traditional firewalls just won't cut it when it comes to container security in the public cloud. Zero-trust models are a better approach, but they demand some careful upfront work.Continue Reading

• Remote work technologies to account for in 2020 IT budgets

  In light of a crisis like COVID-19, IT organizations must amend their budgets to invest in technologies that can support remote access and foster employee collaboration.Continue Reading

• Anticipate the unexpected with application capacity planning

  Disasters and crises that disrupt daily routines are inevitable. Follow these app capacity guidelines to prepare IT teams for such events and maintain business capabilities.Continue Reading

• Improve container monitoring with these strategies and tools

  Containerized infrastructure significantly expands the number of available metrics within an IT environment. Take a layered approach to container monitoring and lean heavily on automation.Continue Reading

• Balance the power and challenges of IT monitoring

  Advanced monitoring tools show IT admins exactly what's going on with apps and infrastructure. So, how do you apply those capabilities to solve and prevent real problems?Continue Reading

• Container logging tips for IT troubleshooting and more

  Don't just leave container log data on a host and forget about it. Instead, establish a detailed strategy to index, search, correlate and analyze that data.Continue Reading

• Container training can help admins stay relevant

  IT admins might be good at managing IT systems -- until those systems are replaced with newer technologies. One way to keep pace with the changes is to learn container skills.Continue Reading

• Weave DevOps continuous learning into a CI/CD toolchain

  DevOps shops can bake training materials into CI/CD workflows to ensure IT and development staff constantly advance their skills -- but be sure to keep those materials up to date.Continue Reading

• Modernize ops practices to manage hybrid IT infrastructure

  Hybrid IT management requires ops teams to rethink everything from networking to the way they oversee system configurations. Third-party tools, including those for IaC, can help.Continue Reading

• 3 ways to react to an IT system failure avalanche

  In complex IT infrastructures, a system or resource failure can spur follow-up issues. Compare three approaches to prevent these dreaded domino effects and reach the root of the problem.Continue Reading

• ICYMI: Kubernetes ecosystem updates IT teams should know

  Need to catch up on some recent developments within the Kubernetes vendor and tool ecosystem? This roundup of articles can help.Continue Reading

• Kubernetes taints and tolerations optimize pod-to-node mapping

  In complex Kubernetes environments, admins must navigate pod-to-node mapping carefully. Try using taints and tolerations -- but be sure to closely oversee the process.Continue Reading

• PowerShell 7 features set to address some, not all, functionality gaps

  While PowerShell 7 is set to unify the cross-platform and traditional Windows versions of the tool, it might not check all the boxes in terms of features IT admins want to see.Continue Reading

• Gain deeper IT insight with machine learning for log analysis

  As the log analysis tool market evolves, machine learning plays an increasing role in helping IT teams discover significant anomalies and outliers in their data.Continue Reading

• Four must-haves in Kubernetes security best practices

  When it comes to Kubernetes security, IT teams must look beyond their containerized workloads, and consider code and cloud infrastructure as well.Continue Reading

• Review top container deployment and management tips from 2019

  Check out our top advice for container technology throughout 2019 -- and use it to shape your 2020 plans.Continue Reading

• Optimize application deployments with this expert advice from 2019

  As the year comes to a close, review SearchITOperations' most popular tips on app deployment and support, covering topics such as DevOps automation, SLAs and tool tutorials.Continue Reading

• Enable automated failover with a highly available CMDB

  A resilient CMDB helps drive automated failover processes. Explore several approaches to prepare your configuration management database for DR scenarios.Continue Reading

• Emphasize app modernization in 2020 IT budget plans

  IT budgeting can be stressful and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. Communicate with business leaders and users to identify -- and capitalize on -- the right opportunities.Continue Reading

• IT security best practices for DevOps, cloud and more

  Technology is in constant motion, making it difficult for enterprise IT shops to maintain steadfast security. Explore ways to protect DevOps, microservices and cloud environments.Continue Reading

• Rising use of Kubernetes in production brings new IT demands

  Kubernetes as an enterprise IT service is still in its infancy, but the market has reached a turning point from developer-maintained to IT-provided Kubernetes deployments.Continue Reading

• How a rules engine can drive -- or derail -- an IT automation strategy

  To benefit fully from a rules engine -- and minimize the risk of chaos -- IT organizations need to carefully define system metrics and be diligent about documentation.Continue Reading

• How to achieve continuous feedback in DevOps pipelines

  Continuous feedback is critical to optimize DevOps processes. While tools can enable feedback loops, DevOps teams still must reduce unnecessary noise and continually measure success.Continue Reading

• 12 DevOps KPIs you should track to gauge improvement

  What's missing from your DevOps workflow? Cold, hard, impartial numbers. Track these key metrics to ensure DevOps processes achieve stated goals.Continue Reading

• Infrastructure-as-code testing strategies to validate a deployment

  IaC, when implemented correctly, can benefit enterprises' CD pipelines. But, when IT teams fail to test the code before deployment, things can go awry. Learn several testing strategies here.Continue Reading

• A GitOps workflow won't benefit every IT organization

  A move to GitOps is a major transition for an IT team and offers a wealth of perks, but it also carries significant challenges and a steep learning curve.Continue Reading

• Conduct an incident post-mortem for ongoing DevOps improvement

  A thorough and effective post-mortem process can strengthen a DevOps organization -- but first, teams must be ready to dig deep and leave blame behind.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

• Use centralized encryption methods in large-scale IT environments

  Whether data is stored in a VM or in the cloud, centralized encryption key management is critical to prevent theft and protect data from unwanted eyes.Continue Reading

• What IT admins need to know about cloud application patching

  When they host apps in a SaaS or PaaS environment, IT teams offload some patching duties to cloud providers. But other responsibilities become even more important.Continue Reading

• Tips and tools to achieve a serverless DevOps workflow

  Serverless functions bring the benefits of event-driven computing to a CI/CD pipeline -- but to get there, DevOps teams might need to lean heavily on services and tools from the major cloud computing providers.Continue Reading

• Secure configuration management tasks with a certificate authority

  A CA server is a limited shield for the data that configuration management tools collect, but IT admins can use one for many tasks -- like to create custom certificates -- and boost security.Continue Reading

• Embrace an app-centric approach to monitoring in the cloud

  Cloud computing minimizes the need for IT teams to worry about infrastructure hardware -- which means their monitoring strategies can, and should, hone in on apps and the user experience.Continue Reading

• MIS (management information systems)

  MIS, or management information systems, is the software and hardware to support critical business applications. MIS also refers to the staff who select and manage these systems.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

• Cloud adoption questions every IT admin should ask

  For all of a cloud service's benefits, there are limitations, such as restricted access to infrastructure, that cause IT teams to be leery of adoption.Continue Reading

• Apply automation for streamlined IT asset management

  Without accurate data, IT asset management processes fail. But, with automation and self-service capabilities, admins can efficiently track assets -- from onboarding to end of life.Continue Reading

• Combat these common DevOps challenges and mistakes

  A DevOps transition is hard enough, so don't make it harder. Watch out for common pitfalls, such as missing metrics, leadership missteps and automation mistakes.Continue Reading

• When you create a DevOps workflow, avoid these missteps

  How can DevOps help? And how can you apply it correctly? These are important questions to consider before you attempt to create a DevOps pipeline.Continue Reading

• Avoid chaos with an IT crisis management playbook

  A minor IT issue can quickly snowball into a major catastrophe without a carefully constructed crisis management plan, but just what details should an organization include?Continue Reading

• Don't neglect your IT architect skills in public cloud projects

  Public cloud infrastructure is beyond the veil for IT admins: unknown and untouchable. But depending on the deployment -- and the cloud -- admins still have architecture to manage.Continue Reading

• Assess AIOps benefits and challenges for enterprise IT teams

  To successfully reap the benefits of an AIOps implementation, IT teams first have to navigate some crucial cultural and technical shifts.Continue Reading

• Reality strikes when enterprises deploy Kubernetes in production

  It's easy to run containers with Kubernetes, but Kubernetes in production -- with enterprise security, monitoring and compliance demands -- is a different story.Continue Reading

• DevOps for networking hits chokepoints, tangled communications

  NetOps complements DevOps in enterprises that need to scale application delivery efforts up and out. Networking tools -- and teams -- need to advance to find their place in CI/CD pipelines.Continue Reading

• Adapt IT operations skills for QA roles

  IT admins who want to transition into a QA role can lean on their existing skill sets around data analysis, documentation and more, but the move still presents a learning curve.Continue Reading

• Combine containers and serverless to optimize app environments

  Rather than pick a side in the debate around containers vs. serverless computing, DevOps shops would benefit from putting both of these complementary technologies to use.Continue Reading

• Enterprise DevOps growth evident in CI/CD, container data

  CI/CD tool sets combine with containerization development to create fertile ground for IT organizations to grow into DevOps practices.Continue Reading

• Implement these 5 ALM best practices from dev to deployment

  Enterprise applications are anything but simple. To wrangle the software, resources and code of these critical apps, be smart with IT tooling, management and other aspects of support.Continue Reading

• How DevOps teams use a CMS for documentation, collaboration

  DevOps teams should choose a CMS that enables continuous, integrated content management, and select tools for internal document sharing that build an easily searched and categorized knowledge base.Continue Reading

• Bookmark this expansive guide to DevOps for Windows

  Native Windows DevOps tools and Azure DevOps services enable Microsoft shops to keep pace with Linux setups.Continue Reading

• Improve help desk management for smooth IT operations

  A streamlined help desk benefits both IT ops teams and end users. Learn how to improve your organization's help desk with these expert tips on templates, automation and AI.Continue Reading

• Assess the micro VM market with AWS Firecracker

  Consider the benefits of AWS Firecracker as it compares to other micro VMs and system containers, but be wary of its limitations before installing this virtualization technology.Continue Reading

• Get familiar with these SLA maintenance tips

  The basics of SLA management come at the intersection of business goals and the reality of possibility. IT teams must learn how to strike a balance between specific and conditional promises.Continue Reading

• GitOps provides an answer for complicated IT deployments

  Version control isn't a new concept in IT, but ops pros are applying it to distributed environments for declarative configuration management.Continue Reading

• Steps to safely build and manage a preproduction environment

  A well-run testing lab is a true asset to developers. An uncontrolled one, on the other hand, is a massive liability that can cost dearly. Plan lab builds along these guidelines.Continue Reading

• Add Elasticsearch nodes to a cluster in simple steps

  Elasticsearch, part of the Elastic Stack with Logstash and Kibana, uses YAML for configuration scripting. Follow these steps to configure an Elasticsearch cluster with two nodes.Continue Reading

• Determine the cost of app customization in the cloud

  Cloud applications are like icebergs: There's a lot users don't see below the surface. One apparently small change could have a massive ripple effect on operations.Continue Reading

• Non-IT software vendors stir up IT tool selection process

  Many non-IT vendors now offer homegrown software -- a model that carries benefits and risks. Weigh the pros and cons around support, availability and other factors before making a decision.Continue Reading

• Get informed of the risks associated with docker.sock

  Container security is a new area for many IT admins, and enterprise IT organizations can easily set up Docker in ways that compromise access control -- potentially exposing the host.Continue Reading

• Create Vagrant boxes with Packer for rapid IT environment builds

  Vagrant boxes enable IT admins to test infrastructure updates in production-identical QA environments. Follow this Vagrant tutorial to build a machine and export it to a Vagrant box.Continue Reading

• How to update configurations via the Salt state file

  Salt users must grasp the concepts around state files for configuration changes and updates. Follow along with this tutorial, which also features Cassandra, to get started.Continue Reading

• Control Docker containers with the Nginx load balancer

  Docker is an efficient container platform, but it isn't perfect. Follow this Nginx load balancer tutorial to provide your container environment with high availability across multiple nodes.Continue Reading

• Manage application log files with the right tools and guidelines

  IT operations teams face costly and complicated steps to monitor the crucial data in log files. Learn to use log management and aggregation tools to interpret trends without waste.Continue Reading

• How to improve help desk support via knowledge management

  Your organization's help desk support system could be more efficient. Find out how knowledge management and natural language processing solve hidden IT woes.Continue Reading

• 10 tips to approach IT operations processes with confidence

  Stuck in the NOC over the holidays? To pass the time, improve your ability to plan projects and quash production infrastructure incidents with confidence.Continue Reading

• Bookmark 10 popular tips on containers and Kubernetes

  Should we go with an open source or commercial option? What about DevOps? These 10 essential tips explain how containers fit into complex modern IT environments.Continue Reading

• Without DevOps metrics, forget about DevOps glory

  DevOps doesn't provide easy comparison points to quantify improvements. So how do you know if you're on the path to success or just spinning your wheels?Continue Reading

• A configuration management plan can unite tools and teams

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• Manage Salt minions in large environments in symphony

  IT organizations must create, enforce and update configurations in a standardized manner. Learn how to direct Salt minions to install software without repetitive manual work.Continue Reading

• Use Puppet for Windows ops automation with dsc_lite

  With DSC and dsc_lite, as well as a native option, users operate in Puppet within the familiarity of PowerShell settings. Here's how each approach works.Continue Reading