Data centre
Deciding where and how to build and operate a datacentre is one of the most important decisions your organisation will make. This section covers how to build a solid datacentre infrastructure, including selecting the right location to build your new facility, best practices for designing a new datacentre, and cooling and air flow techniques. Learn about green IT, data management systems, servers and operating systems.
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Tip
02 Jul 2025
The pros and cons of geothermal energy use
Data centers continue to strain the grid, stressing the need for alternative energy. Admins should weigh the pros and cons of using geothermal energy as a clean, reliable option. Continue Reading
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Opinion
02 Jul 2025
Technology’s true test - serving people, society, economy, and the planet
The TechUK President's Awards reflect the ambitions that everyone in technology should be striving for - to improve, not simply transform, the world in which we live Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2025
Law professor urges CMA to take swift and urgent action over Microsoft cloud licensing
University of Leeds law professor has published an academic paper calling on the UK Competition and Markets Authority not to drag its heels on correcting Microsoft’s controversial cloud licensing habits Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2025
DDN targets enterprise-shaped hole in its AI storage offer
Specialist in AI and HPC storage DDN has oriented towards higher performance array products more suited to the enterprise as it aims at $1bn in turnover for 2025 Continue Reading
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News
01 Jul 2025
The road to quantum datacentres goes beyond logical qubits
Industry experts gathered in London to explore the missing pieces needed to deploy quantum computing at scale in datacentres Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Jul 2025
NetApp: Not just NAS filers, and a comprehensive cloud strategy
NetApp market share has slipped, but it has built out storage across file, block and object, plus capex purchasing, Kubernetes storage management and hybrid cloud Continue Reading
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Podcast
01 Jul 2025
Podcast: AIOps in storage management, security and sustainability
Dell’s Stewart Hunwick explains why AIOps – artificial intelligence for IT operations – is key to gaining efficiencies in storage management and sustainability, and discusses reactive and proactive data security Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Jun 2025
Precision-bred veg from Phytoform Labs: Meet the AI startup looking to boost the UK’s food security
Phytoform Labs is on a mission to shore up the nation’s food supplies using artificial intelligence-backed biotechnology – and the humble tomato Continue Reading
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News
30 Jun 2025
Second AI Energy Council meeting looks to forecast future demand
Given Labour’s ambition to use AI to drive economic growth, questions need to be answered on how the nation’s energy grid will cope Continue Reading
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News
30 Jun 2025
How modular design is reshaping India’s datacentre landscape
Modular datacentre infrastructure can help Indian enterprises build faster, greener and more flexible datacentres to cope with the demand for local data storage and growing use of AI and edge computing Continue Reading
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Blog Post
27 Jun 2025
Quantum Computing: A UK moon shot or £670m research indulgence?
Among the questions raised during the inaugural Quantum Datacentre Alliance forum held at Battersea power station in London, was one from a delegate from the government’s Quantum testbed programme, ... Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Jun 2025
8 things to know when switching from Windows to Linux
Switching to Linux from Windows can present new challenges for beginner Linux admins. Here are eight tips to keep in mind when adopting a Linux OS if you've only used Windows. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jun 2025
UK IT infrastructure processes images looking back 20 billion light years
A UK team prepared infrastructure to process images from world’s largest digital camera and provide on-demand access to global science community Continue Reading
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Definition
26 Jun 2025
What is a power distribution unit (PDU)?
A power distribution unit (PDU) is a device for controlling data center electrical power. Continue Reading
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Definition
25 Jun 2025
What is a qubit (quantum bit)?
A qubit, short for quantum bit, is the basic unit of information in quantum computing and the counterpart to the bit, or binary digit, in classical computing. Continue Reading
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News
24 Jun 2025
Interview: Pure Storage on the AI data challenge beyond hardware
We talk to Pure Storage’s vice-president of AI infrastructure about data quality for artificial intelligence and the need for data engineering to ensure the integrity, completeness and appropriateness of data for AI training Continue Reading
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News
23 Jun 2025
Industrial strategy: Takeaways for UK tech innovations
Labour wants to put the UK at the forefront of tech innovation. Its industrial strategy offers a funding boost for tech and lighter-touch regulation Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Jun 2025
Clouded judgement: Resilience, risk and the rise of repatriation
Geopolitics, data sovereignty and rising costs are driving a change in cloud thinking, but it’s slow progress Continue Reading
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Blog Post
18 Jun 2025
Mass migration: Why the public sector’s IT estate needs a modern home
In this guest post, Rob Horne, client engagement manager at the Cabinet Office-backed colocation firm Crown Hosting Data Centres, sets out why it is high time the public sector revamped its ... Continue Reading
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16 Jun 2025
Can regulatory oversight alone unlock cloud competition?
CCS Insight analyst Bola Rotibi looks at UK plans to regulate public cloud Continue Reading
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News
16 Jun 2025
CNCF eyes open source Cuda alternative as AI’s influence grows
Open source leaders highlight breakthroughs in projects like OpenTelemetry and discuss the open source community’s role in shaping the future of artificial intelligence workloads and fostering global collaboration amid geopolitical tensions Continue Reading
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Definition
16 Jun 2025
What are the Uptime Institute's data center tier standards?
Data center tiers are a system created by Uptime Institute LLC to describe the availability of infrastructure resources in a facility. Continue Reading
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News
15 Jun 2025
Qualtrics targets ‘action gap’ with AI copilot
The company’s Assist for CX tool aims to help organisations act on customer feedback, with one Australian airline already using it to slash insight times from months to hours Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2025
AWS touts AI building blocks as key to customer innovation
At the recent AWS Summit in Singapore, company executives and customers showcased how cloud and artificial intelligence are enabling organisations to scale, transform and tackle business challenges Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2025
NHS IT the big winner in Reeves’ Spending Review
The chancellor of the exchequer has significantly upped spending on digital and technology initiatives in the current Spending Review period, with the NHS receiving a 50% tech funding increase Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Jun 2025
Liquid and dry cooling in a water-stressed world
Liquid cooling efficiently manages AI-driven heat in data centers, but water scarcity poses challenges. Water restrictions force data centers to find alternative cooling methods. Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2025
UK government recommits to Edinburgh supercomputer plan with £750m funding pledge
After pulling the plug on plans by the previous government to build a supercomputer in Edinburgh, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology commits £750m to a very similar initiative Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2025
How breaking things builds resilient systems
To prevent and recover from outages in today’s complex, cloud-native world, enterprises must proactively and deliberately inject failure into their systems though chaos engineering practices Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Jun 2025
Tariff turmoil: IT procurement and the public sector
In the first of a two-part series, we look at the current tariff turmoil in public sector IT procurement, the particular challenges faced by public sector procurement, and how the cloud and pay-as-you-go can help Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Jun 2025
IBM reorients storage to cloud, containers and as-a-service
Storage profile: We look at Big Blue’s storage offer, which spans file, block and object, on-premise, in the cloud, and mainframes, while also embracing containers and the cloud Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2025
Cisco reimagines infrastructure for the AI era
Cisco is betting on an AI-driven, agent-based future for infrastructure management with AI Canvas and a raft of network security capabilities at its Cisco Live 2025 conference Continue Reading
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Definition
10 Jun 2025
What is computer room air conditioning (CRAC)? CRAC vs. CRAH unit differences?
A computer room air conditioning (CRAC) unit is a device that monitors and maintains the temperature, air distribution and humidity in a data center, network or server room. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2025
IBM updates path to fault-tolerant quantum computing
Two academic papers show how the company plans to provide quantum error correction using a technique that can run in real time Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2025
Open source a ‘force multiplier’ for AI innovation
From powerful large language models to the next wave of AI agents, the open-source community is driving innovation and setting the agenda for the entire field, according to leaders at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2025
Microsoft given until 25 July to respond to UK cloud licensing legal claim
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has given Microsoft just over a month to prepare a response to a group legal claim over its cloud licensing practices Continue Reading
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10 Jun 2025
HMRC’s hunt for hyperscaler to lead £500m datacentre exit project deemed ‘anti-competitive’
HMRC is seeking a hyperscaler to manage a decade-long migration of its server workloads to the cloud, but the proposed deal is raising eyebrows among UK IT market experts. Caroline Donnelly reports Continue Reading
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News
09 Jun 2025
Starmer opens London Tech Week with £1bn AI boost
Prime Minister unveiled plans to boost UK’s high-performance compute capacity 20-fold, along with funding to bolster skills Continue Reading
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News
09 Jun 2025
Barclays rolls out Microsoft Copilot to 100,000 employees as AI adoption gathers pace
Barclays is doubling down on its adoption of artificial intelligence tools by moving to embrace Microsoft Copilot with a large-scale roll-out of the technology to 100,000 staff Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jun 2025
Local council devolution: Could it accelerate the pace of local government cloud adoption?
The UK government is on a mission to rationalise the number of local councils through its devolution agenda, which will see authorities gain autonomy over their budgets. We weigh up the impact this could have on cloud adoption in local councils Continue Reading
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Feature
06 Jun 2025
In conflict: Putting Russia’s datacentre market under the microscope
Russia’s war with Ukraine has created a whole host of problems for the growth of the country’s datacentre market Continue Reading
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News
05 Jun 2025
FairPrice taps Google Cloud for AI-powered store
The supermarket chain will leverage generative AI and cloud technologies to enhance customer experience and streamline in-store operations, starting with its upcoming Punggol Digital District outlet Continue Reading
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Definition
03 Jun 2025
What is carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint measures the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, product or activity. Continue Reading
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News
03 Jun 2025
HMRC aims to improve customer service with £1.5bn IT investment
The department is on the hunt for customer relationship management system and contact centre as a service suppliers, following criticism of its customer service Continue Reading
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News
03 Jun 2025
National Grid starts building large-scale substation to support growth of West London datacentres
The National Grid has started work on building a new substation on the outskirts of Greater London to ease pressure on local electricity transmission and distribution networks Continue Reading
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News
02 Jun 2025
Planning permission sought for UK’s largest AI datacentre campus
North Lincolnshire Council has received a planning permission application for another large-scale datacentre development, in support of its bid to become an AI Growth Zone Continue Reading
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Tutorial
30 May 2025
A guide to switch from Windows to Linux
Switching from Windows to Linux can seem like a daunting task. Follow this guide to seamlessly migrate to Linux, from premigration practices to installation. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 May 2025
How cyber security professionals are leveraging AWS tools
It’s now essential for IT security teams to have oversight of cloud computing, and AWS offers a plethora of tools to make managing it easier. Find out how cyber pros are using them in the wild Continue Reading
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Opinion
30 May 2025
What VMware’s licensing crackdown reveals about control and risk
An assessments of the risks VMware customers on perpetual licences now need to consider Continue Reading
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News
30 May 2025
Cloud migration demands contractual safeguards and clear strategy
Cyber security experts urge organisations to define clear objectives, understand shared security models and implement strong data governance when migrating workloads to the cloud Continue Reading
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News
29 May 2025
Nvidia takes $4.5bn hit due to export restrictions
Nvidia warns it could miss out on $50bn market opportunity as China ramps up its AI capabilities Continue Reading
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Feature
28 May 2025
AI and compliance: What are the risks?
We look at the areas of risk in artificial intelligence. Potential exposures abound, and include security and privacy issues, bias, accuracy and complete fabrication of results Continue Reading
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News
28 May 2025
DSIT tells Ofcom to prepare to expand regulatory remit to include datacentres
During a recent audience with the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, Ofcom confirmed preparations are underway for it to start regulating the datacentre sector Continue Reading
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News
28 May 2025
VMware and Oracle licensing: Time to consider alternatives
With so much Java code running enterprise IT, we consider the benefits of adapting existing systems to make them more cloud-native Continue Reading
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News
28 May 2025
Infor bets on ‘micro-verticalisation’, sees uptick from SAP customers
Infor’s head honcho in Asia-Pacific and Japan details how the company's deep industry focus and cloud-native business applications are driving growth and attracting customers, including those rethinking their SAP roadmaps Continue Reading
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News
27 May 2025
Government launches search to link UK to European supercomputers
As part of Horizon 2020, the UK recently signed up to an EU initiative to support the expansion of high-performance computing for AI Continue Reading
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Feature
26 May 2025
What are the best practices for securing AWS tech stacks?
An AWS tech stack can aid business growth and facilitate efficient operations, but misconfigurations have become all too common and stall this progress Continue Reading
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Feature
26 May 2025
AI and networking: the two sides of the future infrastructures coin
Industry experts discuss how artificial intelligence is being used to support network management - and the growing requirements on networks to support AI. Continue Reading
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News
26 May 2025
Gartner: VMware users face multi-hypervisor future
With two-thirds of organisations reportedly negative about Broadcom’s VMware licensing changes, Gartner analyst Michael Warrilow advises IT leaders of multi-year migrations and an inevitable shift towards multiple hypervisors Continue Reading
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News
26 May 2025
Gprnt platform to ease sustainability reporting
Singapore businesses can now automatically generate basic sustainability reports free of charge using Gprnt, a platform aimed at simplifying reporting and unlocking green financing Continue Reading
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News
23 May 2025
Data embassies and US embargo halt give Saudi AI hope
Gulf autocracy gets access to powerful AI chips subject to export ban and pursues legal reforms to make foreign computing firms feel comfortable about putting their data there Continue Reading
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Opinion
23 May 2025
Microsoft's ICC email block reignites European data sovereignty concerns
Why Microsoft's rhetoric on protecting European users from US government actions does not quite ring true Continue Reading
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Feature
23 May 2025
AI storage: NAS vs SAN vs object for training and inference
Artificial intelligence operations can place different demands on storage during training, inference, and so on. We look at NAS, SAN and object storage for AI and how to balance them for AI projects Continue Reading
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News
23 May 2025
HMRC’s hunt for hyperscaler to lead £500m datacentre exit project deemed ‘anti-competitive’
HMRC is seeking a hyperscaler to manage a decade-long migration of its server workloads to the cloud, but the proposed deal is raising eyebrows among UK IT market experts Continue Reading
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News
22 May 2025
HMRC begins escape from Fujitsu’s grip through £500m contract
HMRC looking for a supplier to support its planned exit from three Fujitsu datacentre contracts Continue Reading
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News
22 May 2025
How to tackle your infrastructure technical debt
Gartner analysts explain how infrastructure and operations teams can address the accumulation of outdated systems and make a compelling business case for upgrades Continue Reading
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News
22 May 2025
Agentic AI to drive heavy infrastructure demands
As organisations begin to explore agentic AI, Dell’s Soo Mei May warns that scaling these intelligent systems will have higher compute, memory, storage and networking requirements, far exceeding those for generative AI Continue Reading
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Podcast
21 May 2025
Podcast: RSA 2025 – AI’s risk surface and the role of the CISO
We review RSA 2025 with Vigitrust CEO Mathieu Gorge who looks at the impacts on compliance of AI’s expanding risk surface, the role of the CISO, and a changed supplier approach Continue Reading
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News
21 May 2025
Vast Data launches into AI stratosphere with AgentEngine
Vast has built out into data management from its roots and will now offer customisable agentic AI agents that can tap into its existing storage, database and messaging capabilities Continue Reading
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News
21 May 2025
Red Hat touts OpenShift Virtualization momentum
Enterprises are increasingly adopting Red Hat’s OpenShift Virtualization, driven by Broadcom’s VMware licensing changes and a desire for a stable, AI-ready platform, company executives revealed at the Red Hat Summit this week Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2025
Dell unveils disaggregated infrastructure strategy
Dell makes push for disaggregated infrastructure, aiming to offer enterprises the independent scaling of three-tier architectures with the operational benefits of hyperconverged systems Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2025
Hacking contest exposes VMware security
In what has been described as a historical first, hackers in Berlin have been able to demo successful attacks on the ESXi hypervisor Continue Reading
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Opinion
20 May 2025
Microsoft’s wartime pact with the EU rings hollow - and could spell trouble for UK IT buyers
Microsoft has moved to assure its European customers that it will fight any attempt by President Trump to disrupt their ability to access its services, but can UK customers take the company at its word? Continue Reading
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News
19 May 2025
Trump visit bolsters Saudi AI
A new AI datacentre is among the initiatives the White House announced during the president’s Middle East visits Continue Reading
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News
19 May 2025
Keepit to expand SaaS backup footprint and intelligent automation
Danish cloud backup provider will add Atlassian and Okta support and has plans for intelligent automated restores to customer RPOs and RTOs as well a threat library Continue Reading
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News
19 May 2025
Gartner: Most firms not tapping cloud’s full potential
Organisations have not fully leveraged the full potential of cloud and must navigate emerging trends such as artificial intelligence, multicloud complexity and security perceptions to stay competitive Continue Reading
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News
18 May 2025
AI’s thirst for power pushing enterprises into supercomputing
The compute and energy demands of large-scale AI are turning enterprise AI infrastructure into supercomputing, though the search for a killer app and concerns over initial infrastructure costs remain Continue Reading
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Tip
16 May 2025
Single-tenant vs. multi-tenant cloud architecture
Single-tenant and multi-tenant cloud architecture offer unique advantages and disadvantages. Understanding both is crucial for selecting the best fit for your organization. Continue Reading
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News
16 May 2025
No workaround leads to more pain for VMware users
There are patches for the latest batch of security alerts from Broadcom, but VMware users on perpetual licences may not have access Continue Reading
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News
16 May 2025
Kissflow finds its place in low-code market
The supplier of low-code software development tools that cater to both citizen developers and IT professionals is experiencing rapid growth in Southeast Asia where it has been doubling its revenue over the past four years Continue Reading
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Definition
15 May 2025
What is Docker?
Docker is an open source software platform used to create, deploy and manage applications in virtualized environments called containers. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 May 2025
Roundtable: Why did customers sail away from VMware?
At Nutanix’s recent .Next event in the US, customers talked about why they migrated away from VMware and the pain points that accelerated their decision to switch hypervisor Continue Reading
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News
14 May 2025
Australian public cloud spending to hit A$26.6bn in 2025
Gartner forecasts strong growth in cloud infrastructure and platform services even as Australian organisations grapple with scaling AI initiatives and managing rising cloud expenditure Continue Reading
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News
13 May 2025
NHS trust cloud plans hampered by Trump tariff uncertainty
Essex NHS wants to move some capacity to the Nutanix cloud, but can’t be certain prices will hold between product selection and when procurement plans gain approval Continue Reading
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Opinion
13 May 2025
How sovereign AI will reshape APAC’s digital future
Asia-Pacific countries are developing sovereign AI capabilities to address unique cultural, economic, security and data sovereignty needs of the region Continue Reading
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Definition
12 May 2025
What is an emergency notification system?
An emergency notification system is an automated approach to crisis communications that contacts people within an organization and distributes important information during a disruption. Continue Reading
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News
12 May 2025
University will ‘pull the plug’ to test Nutanix disaster recovery
University of Reading set to save circa £500,000 and deploy Nutanix NC2 hybrid cloud that will allow failover from main datacentre Continue Reading
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Feature
09 May 2025
Threats versus potential benefits: Weighing up the enterprise risk of embracing AI
Technological opportunities typically come with a certain amount of risk – and generative AI adoption is no exception Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2025
Broadcom letters demonstrate push to VMware subscriptions
The owner of VMware is reminding customers on perpetual licences that they will longer be able to buy support for their VMware products Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2025
Apple to play modest role after datacentre heat breakthrough in Denmark
Country at forefront of industrial heat recycling expects datacentres will take only modest role in heating homes after government paved way with widely celebrated law Continue Reading
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Tip
08 May 2025
Benefits and challenges of underground data centers
Underground data centers offer sustainable alternatives to traditional facilities. They occupy less surface land, provide a naturally cool environment and use renewable energy. Continue Reading
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News
08 May 2025
Nutanix opens up to all external storage
CEO Rajiv Ramaswami says Nutanix will open its platform to all external storage, allowing it to profit from customers wanting to move away from VMware, as well as the hyper-converged curious Continue Reading
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News
08 May 2025
AI adoption: AWS addresses the skills barrier holding back enterprises
The AWS Summit in London saw the public cloud giant appoint itself to take on the task of skilling up hundreds of thousands of UK people in using AI technologies Continue Reading
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Feature
07 May 2025
Cloud storage for AI: Options, pros and cons
We look at cloud vs on-premise for AI workloads, why cloud is sometimes best, and the technologies speeding AI in the cloud such as parallelism and GPUDirect Continue Reading
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News
07 May 2025
Cisco lays out plans for networking in era of quantum computing
The network equipment provider has opened a new lab and developed a prototype chip as it fleshes out its quantum networking strategy Continue Reading
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News
07 May 2025
Datacentre outages decreasing in frequency, Uptime Institute Intelligence data shows
Datacentre outages are becoming less common and severe, but power supply issues remain enduring cause of most downtime incidents Continue Reading
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Definition
06 May 2025
What is Bash (Bourne Again Shell)?
Bash (Bourne Again Shell) is the free and enhanced version of the Bourne shell distributed with Linux and GNU operating systems. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 May 2025
What is data recovery?
Data recovery is the process of restoring data that has been lost, accidentally deleted, corrupted or made inaccessible. Continue Reading
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News
05 May 2025
How AsiaPac transformed into a multicloud powerhouse
AsiaPac CEO Andrew Cheng outlines the company’s growth from a laptop PC distributor to a regional technology service provider known for its multicloud capabilities Continue Reading
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Tip
02 May 2025
Complexities of integrating AI into legacy data centers
Integrating AI into legacy data center infrastructure is challenging. Increased heat and load require advanced cooling systems, structural adjustments and enhanced power capacity. Continue Reading
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News
01 May 2025
Tariffs could cost Meta $8bn in extra datacentre costs
The owner of Facebook and WhatsApp has forecast an increase in CapEx due to higher IT infrastructure costs to power its AI strategy Continue Reading
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News
01 May 2025
Microsoft commits to European datacentre footprint growth despite ‘geopolitical volatility’
Microsoft makes ‘digital commitments’ amid pledge to continue growing its European datacentre footprint, in the face of growing geopolitical uncertainty Continue Reading
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Definition
30 Apr 2025
What are hot and cold aisles in the data center?
Hot and cold aisles in the data center are part of an energy-efficient layout for server racks and other computing equipment. Continue Reading