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Real Time Performance Monitoring and Management

• Forget monitoring alerts, turn to IT root cause analysis

  Alerts get your attention, but they don't always tell you where the core of a problem is to be found. Maybe it's time to shift your IT management strategy. Continue Reading

• 6 tips to master server troubleshooting

  Understand, communicate, monitor, check logs, ask for support. Follow these guidelines, and make troubleshooting server problems quick and easy. Continue Reading

• Apply the K-means clustering algorithm for IT performance monitoring

  Modern machine learning frameworks reduce the heavy lifting in IT performance monitoring. Follow this example, using Apache Mesos and the K-means clustering algorithm, to learn the basics. 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

• Overcome these challenges to detect anomalies in IT monitoring

  Faster and more accurate anomaly detection is a major benefit of machine learning in IT systems monitoring -- but it's not something that enterprises can achieve overnight. Continue Reading

• Perform these steps to monitor Windows Server with Nagios Core

  Nagios is no newbie to the server monitoring world, but setting it up for Windows takes a few extra steps. Learn how Nagios Core, originally meant for Linux, can monitor Windows servers.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

• DevOps security best practices span code creation to compliance

  Developers and operations staff who split security responsibilities as part of a DevOps workflow should apply these best practices to ensure no vulnerability goes unnoticed.Continue Reading

• Build a patch management process to stay cool in an IT crisis

  Time is of the essence during a major IT crisis, but rushing to fix a problem can do more harm than good. Ensure version control, documentation and testing for effective patch deployment.Continue Reading

• Prepare for Industry 4.0 challenges on storage, networks

  With Industry 4.0 poised to grow across industries, enterprise IT organizations must ask what it will take to support this revolution. Learn how to manage the data-led transformation.Continue Reading

• How to measure IT performance, step by step

  While IT performance measurement can be a tedious challenge, done correctly, this process provides essential analysis and assessments. Learn how to optimize these reviews.Continue Reading

• Let an IT and application monitoring strategy drive tool choices

  A monitoring tool that simply gets the job done isn't always the best option for IT ops teams. Use metrics and staff feedback to determine if it's time for a change.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

• Invest in an IT infrastructure upgrade -- or keep fixing it

  Because upgrades to infrastructure equipment can be expensive and difficult, the easier decision is to renew a support contract. But delay comes at a cost, too.Continue Reading

• Anomaly detection methods unleash microservices performance

  When distributed applications run in containers, admins suddenly have a whirlwind of metrics to track instead of just a short list. These methods reach into the heart of the task.Continue Reading

• Find the ideal incident management automation tool or tools

  Unless the data center floods or a digger cuts a network cable, incident management takes place via software tools. The quality of these tools determines how quickly work can resume.Continue Reading

• Three log analytics use cases set better ops in motion

  The path to more resilient, bug-free and available IT deployments is hiding in plain sight, in log data. Parse short- and long-term data these three ways to improve operations.Continue Reading

• Don't panic! The definitive guide to IT troubleshooting

  IT problems can cause distress, chaos and, well, panic -- but they don't have to. These tips and tools guide admins through IT troubleshooting for the best chance of success.Continue Reading

• Sharpen IT effectiveness to go from cost center to business nexus

  IT departments must work to keep user experience positive to avoid a perception as a resource vacuum. If users can't manipulate the app effectively, what does uptime matter?Continue Reading

• Reap IT automation benefits in every layer of the stack

  Automation technologies create an artificial brain for IT operations, but that won't turn skilled admins and engineers into zombies -- far from it.Continue Reading

• IT process improvements lurk in every onerous incident

  When an IT incident arises, the focus is often on what admins can fix in the moment, but unflappable organizations make process improvement the final step of issue resolution.Continue Reading

• Cherry-pick from ITSM frameworks to achieve change control

  Don't let the horrors of ITSM implementations gone wrong turn your IT organization away from quality control and improvement. Discerning ITSM adopters know that the more frameworks there are, the merrier.Continue Reading

• Monitor IT infrastructure with an eye on customer experience

  It doesn't matter how many IT monitoring tools oversee your infrastructure; they're all looking in the wrong direction.Continue Reading

• Simple steps to improve the IT incident management process

  No one notices when there's a solid IT incident management response process in place, but everyone notices when there's not. Improve how you handle issues in three steps.Continue Reading

• Storage performance analysis reveals IT's ongoing bottleneck battle

  Flash storage improves performance for some users, but a flash upgrade won't help if storage isn't your bottleneck.Continue Reading

• Don't let serverless applications dodge performance monitoring

  Serverless applications abstract the app from the underlying infrastructure. And that changes the IT team's approach to application performance monitoring.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

• Simplify your platform with IT systems management tools

  So much effort goes into simply keeping an IT infrastructure up and running. Imagine what more could be accomplished once you automate some of those tasks with IT systems management tools.Continue Reading

• Secure Jenkins for fast and safe app delivery

  Enterprises evaluating a migration to Jenkins continuous integration for quick and agile software development should keep security in the forefront of their decision.Continue Reading

• Manage disk image files wisely in the face of DevOps sprawl

  There are strategies to prevent obsolete disk images from clogging up valuable space, especially in a rapid-change DevOps shop. However, not all VMs will benefit from the same plan.Continue Reading

• Know how to handle IT incident management to avoid chaos

  When an important application goes down, you'd better have the right IT incident management processes and procedures in place to fix it.Continue Reading

• Conduct an honest IT performance review in problem areas

  There are many common signs that the IT estate is unhealthy. These are a few indicators of trouble, with potential changes to consider.Continue Reading

• Patch servers the right way without wasting time

  Apply these server patching best practices to save time, reduce complexity, and build an optimal schedule and toolkit.Continue Reading

• Five hybrid IT infrastructure breaking points

  A hybrid deployment of infrastructure as a service, virtualized dedicated servers, software as a service and other resources is good for the business -- and tough on IT.Continue Reading

• Cloud load-balancing difficulties bog down hybrid-deployed apps

  Cloud load balancing frees application server instances and provide enterprise IT with better overall performance, but current conditions make it hard in a hybrid IT environment.Continue Reading

• Application maintenance keeps legacy systems serviceable

  IT operations needs tools to ensure that it can manage old -- maybe ancient -- applications while deploying new apps with different structures.Continue Reading

• Ensure virtualization containers' security in an app world

  Both containers and VMs offer different ways of meeting an organization's application deployment requirements. And virtualization containers present different security challenges than VMs.Continue Reading

• Justify IT ops' spending with a business value dashboard

  Use business value dashboards to manage the progress of IT initiatives and track IT spending. A business value dashboard visualizes that data so corporate can understand IT value.Continue Reading

• IT4IT modernizes IT and increases business value

  Managing IT isn't just about the right software or skills. The IT4IT reference architecture identifies the problems and offers a path forward.Continue Reading

• Big data testing to production: All Vertica systems not a go

  IT pros at TurboTax spotted trouble with big data search times on Vertica after standing up 40 new servers and the tax deadline just weeks away.Continue Reading

• Enterprise data security best practices mean IT teamwork

  Data center managers take on the burden of protecting the business's data assets. Discover the best strategies to deploy firewalls, encryption and other tactics.Continue Reading

• Log analysis tools join data center management arsenal

  The humble log file, produced by nearly everything in your data center, holds the key to complex troubleshooting, convincing capacity plans and revved up performance.Continue Reading

• Choosing server management tools to fit your data center

  Homogeneous system management tools provide excruciating detail on servers, but in some circumstances, heterogeneous tools are a better choice.Continue Reading

• Scale up vs. scale out: Debate evolves over how to upgrade data centers

  Pick sides on whether to scale up vs. scale out servers. It will establish what method to enhance server performance makes sense for your data center.Continue Reading

• Five tips for selecting system management tools

  Too much granularity? Not enough? Need alerts? Maybe not. There are five considerations for systems management tools -- and cost isn't one of them.Continue Reading

• Tips and tricks to improve memory paging on servers

  Memory paging helps virtual machines share a server's memory resources nicely, but can throttle performance. A few simple tricks will optimize paging.Continue Reading

• How and when to enable hardware-based TPM security on servers

  Most servers include a Trusted Platform Module, but you only want to turn it on and manage TPM when the server handles high-value encrypted workloads.Continue Reading

• How to overcome the limitations of remote server management

  Remote server management tools enable granular server control from anywhere, but they're useless without a network connection or power supply.Continue Reading

• Choosing the right server monitoring tool for your environment

  Before buying a server monitoring tool, assess your data center's needs, plan a budget and choose a deployment plan.Continue Reading

• The requisite and advanced features of performance monitoring software

  All performance monitoring tools must include certain core features, and advanced features can boost application performance and return on investment.Continue Reading

• Tailoring server BIOS settings for cool servers without wasting energy

  A few tweaks to server BIOS settings will keep fans quiet and workloads processing smoothly, allowing data centers to consume less energy.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

• Using Zabbix with embedded devices via SNMP monitoring

  Some devices you want to monitor with Zabbix cannot have software installed. For these appliances, SNMP monitoring may be the right choice.Continue Reading

• How to choose the right server performance monitoring tools

  Advance planning and careful due diligence can help a business select the best server performance monitoring tools for its unique needs.Continue Reading

• Avoiding access issues with Microsoft Network Access Protection

  Configuration problems can make Microsoft Network Access Protection overly zealous and lock out users who need data center access.Continue Reading

• Tips for improving server reliability and available memory

  New memory modules and system capabilities can increase available memory and reliability on mission-critical servers.Continue Reading

• Managing and monitoring server log data

  See how proactive system administrators help themselves avoid a security breach by putting an effective log management policy in place.Continue Reading

• Making the most of server performance monitoring

  Performance monitoring tools can produce more accurate and valuable results by following some general guidelines.Continue Reading

• Data center monitoring system considerations

  An effective monitoring system can track environmental variables and alert admins of a potential problem before it becomes a critical emergency.Continue Reading

• Prioritizing alerts with server monitoring tools

  Setting and prioritizing alerts with server monitoring tools can help an administrator respond quickly to critical problems without being bothered by insignificant alarms.Continue Reading

• Weighing the pros and cons of the Trusted Computing Platform

  When used as designed, trusted computing can provide a high level of security, but limitations and potential for abuse prohibits its usefulness.Continue Reading

• Risks and rewards of ignoring Microsoft's hardware compatibility list

  Data center administrators shouldn't disregard hardware just because it isn't included on Microsoft's hardware compatibility list.Continue Reading

• Best practices for remote server management

  Remote server management will continue to be an important part of data centers, but administrators should also take steps to ensure someone onsite will be able to perform tasks as well.Continue Reading

• Configuring the server monitoring tool Zabbix

  Installing the server monitoring tool Zabbix used to be difficult, but Ubuntu 11.04 makes it easier to configure the appliance and monitor a network.Continue Reading

• Turn aggregated syslog messages into OpenNMS events

  Turn syslog messages into OpenNMS events, notifications and alarms to help facilitate network management processes.Continue Reading

• Syslog-ng configuration: Building a log aggregation server

  In this tip, learn how to create a log aggregation server with a syslog-ng configuration, which can organize and simplify interactions with your systems' log messages.Continue Reading

• Using OpenNMS and SNMP for open source systems management

  Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) can allow a deeper look into system information gathered from OpenNMS. This tip walks through network monitoring with OpenNMS and SNMP.Continue Reading

• Configuring OpenNMS for open source server monitoring

  With many IT organizations strapped for cash, OpenNMS is a free, open source server monitoring alternative. In this tip, learn how to install and configure OpenNMS 1.8.Continue Reading

• Using benchmarks for virtualization capacity planning

  Benchmarking tools for virtualization capacity planning allow administrators to find more efficiency and forecast growth in computing resources.Continue Reading

• Improve benchmark performance with simple optimizations

  While benchmarking is great for measuring system performance, benchmarking tools themselves are applications capable of overtaxing the CPU. However, simple optimizations can ensure benchmark performance by preventing these tools from overwhelming ...Continue Reading

• Selecting benchmarking tools for specific needs

  Narrowing down the best benchmarking tool requires testing and a careful evaluation of needs, including system compatibility, level of technical depth and scalability.Continue Reading

• Choosing a server management tool: Hardware vendor or third party?

  The decision of whether to opt for a server management tool from your hardware vendor or a third-party software vendor depends on criteria such as data center budget, the tool's reliability and ease of maintenance.Continue Reading

• Check server specs before upgrading your operating system

  Operating system upgrades can be tricky with the number of variables involved. Users need to research server hardware specifications and OS requirements before upgrading.Continue Reading

• Remote server administration tools: Manage your data center from a distance

  New systems management options are making it easier for administrators to manage servers via smartphones and laptops.Continue Reading

• Using HP Systems Insight Manager (SIM) 5.2 for systems management and monitoring

  Hewlett-Packard (HP) Co.'s Systems Insight Manager (SIM) 5.2 offers systems management and monitoring for HP servers or WMI-, SNMP- or WBEM-enabled systems. SIM works with HP's Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) management modules to detect hardware ...Continue Reading

• Installing Nagios on Solaris for network and server monitoring

  Nagios, a free, open source network and server monitoring system, can benefit your IT infrastructure. Learn how to install Nagios on a Solaris 10 system in this tip.Continue Reading

• Use Nagios to trend and troubleshoot performance issues

  Learn how to use Nagios monitoring tools to track system performance in your data center and use graphs to troubleshoot bottlenecks on I/O-bound or CPU-bound systems.Continue Reading

• Is effective performance management in the data center possible?

  Data centers are increasingly important to the delivery of business services, and performance management is more crucial than ever. IT's challenge is conducting performance management activities effectively and at low-cost. Key to maintaining ...Continue Reading

• Windows Server 2008: PowerShell basics and top commands

  The Microsoft PowerShell team offers up the top commands and usage scenarios for the new command line shell and scripting language for Windows Server 2008Continue Reading

• IPMI Tutorial: Are you using it? Do you know how?

  This short tutorial on the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) will help you take advantage of this monitoring tool.Continue Reading

• Lights out management: How to administer servers from the Bahamas

  While there are many solutions out there to aid an administrator in remote management, I've found the lights out management (LOM) built into many modern servers is superior to many of the alternatives.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

• Systems management checklist: Software upgrades

  Software upgrades are an inevitable part of using technology, and it is likely that even the smallest upgrade will alter your system in some way. Although these changes are simply the price, for example, of security patches or better compatibility, ...Continue Reading