A server is a central component of your infrastructure, and choosing one can be daunting. If your workload tends to be seasonal or varied or if you have some applications that have migrated to the cloud, your the choice is even more complex.There are some considerations that can help streamline your decision-making process and lead you to a server choice that works for your company now, but also in the future:Your company’s future IT goals: You need a server to answer your current needs, … [Read more...]
The Relevance of the Data Center in the World of “as a Service”
The increase in migration to the cloud and the accompanying shift to paying for technology investments “as a service” is changing the outlook for how IT is structured and staffed -- including changes for your data center. Everything from software to platforms and infrastructure is being sold as a service, and soon it may be possible for your company to adopt an Everything as a Service (XaaS) structure for your technology needs.How will a data center look if XaaS takes off as a … [Read more...]
Cut Data Center Costs With the Third Party Maintenance (TPM) Advantage
When you're faced with End of Service Life (EOSL) hardware, data center costs can seem astronomical. Fortunately, there's a solution: utilizing a third-party maintenance (TPM) provider. TPM providers allow businesses to effectively ignore the EOSL condition -- and more. … [Read more...]
Do you need a disaster recovery plan for your data center?
Data centers are perceived as meccas of constant uptime, housing the most mission-critical applications. In reality, data centers are vulnerable to a variety of threats.There are many ways a data center can fail: power outage, halted cooling, broken equipment, underground cable disruption, natural disasters, and, increasingly, cybercrime. It only takes one incident to cause an outage for your business.UPS Failure (the very interruptible power supply)Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) failure is … [Read more...]
What Should You Consider When Thinking About Colocating?
Not all colocation facilities are created equally, but most of them offer greater stability than hosting equipment on-site. If you are considering colocating, there are a few compelling reasons to do it.Security - Your average office building is not equipped with the same level of physical perimeter security that you will find in a data center. Data centers are built with the intent to protect millions of dollars of customer equipment and have security in mind from the blueprint on. These … [Read more...]
How to Get More Out of Your Data Center
The data center is a major part of everyday operations for many firms and helps provide a slate of vital services, from analysis to customer experience measures and beyond. Thankfully, there are some simple methods to consider that might keep your data center running just a little more smoothly.Focus on the PowerThe data center isn't going anywhere without the necessary kilowatts to drive the network equipment, servers, and other systems that run therein. Thus, addressing issues of power use -- … [Read more...]
Third Party Hardware Maintenance Means Value for Businesses
Most every business needs a certain amount of hardware in order to continue operations. Whether it's a handful of desktop PCs or a complete data center, that hardware helps perform the functions that translate to profitability. Turning to a third-party hardware maintenance system could mean the difference between a system that runs smoothly and one that costs future opportunity.The Advantages of Third-Party Hardware MaintenanceSome might balk at the notion of letting someone else handle their … [Read more...]
Not a Death Sentence: What to Do with EOSL Hardware
Obsolescence is a fact of life. Every piece of hardware that rolls off an assembly line today will eventually reach its End of Service Life (EOSL) date. While most have accounted for this possibility mentally, it can still be a bit of sticker shock to find that a system that was running quietly for precious little incremental cost suddenly needs to be replaced for heavy cash. So what can a business do with hardware when EOSL arrives? There are some surprising options to consider.Not Dead … [Read more...]
The Hybrid Cloud: A Best of Both Worlds Approach?
When setting up a data center, there are generally three ways to establish it: it can be done totally on-premises, it can be done totally in the cloud -- which some call a hosted data center -- or it can be done as a mix of the two. Many see this hybrid cloud approach as optimal. Others, however, aren't so sure. Though opinions are split, there's little doubt this approach is having a major impact on the data center as we know it.Having Your Data Center Cake and Eating It TooThe hybrid cloud … [Read more...]
Why Even Try to Get More Life Out of the Data Center?
Trying to replace a data center can be a costly process, but some comparatively simple maintenance measures can help prevent sticker shock.With so many demands on a business's budget, it would be tempting to just let some basic maintenance issues slide, particularly in the data center. (If it's not broken, why fix it?) Some very simple answers exist on this point, though, so for anyone wondering why bothering to get more life out of the data center is worth it, here are a few reasons.Save … [Read more...]