In Depth
In Depth
Data centre
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Private cloud: Orchestration, storage and containers
We look at the key requirements and components of private cloud – including the use of container platforms – and the impact of private cloud on storage in the datacentre Continue Reading
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DevOps done right: Creating a collaborative and supportive business culture
Cultivating a supportive and collaborative business culture is considered central to getting DevOps to take hold in an organisation. We take a look at what this entails Continue Reading
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Moore’s Law is running out – but don’t panic
Can system performance continue to improve to cope with the burgeoning needs of datacentres Continue Reading
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Backup 101: Incremental vs differential vs synthetic full backup
Backup methods pros and cons: Full, incremental, differential, synthetic full, incremental forever, and reverse incremental. We set out the advantages and drawbacks of each Continue Reading
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Disaster recovery testing: technology systems to test DR
In this concluding part of a two-part series, Computer Weekly looks at ways of testing disaster recovery plans, with methods including array-based replication and hypervisor-based approaches Continue Reading
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Future of the server operating system
We look at the evolution of the server operating system, and how the next generation is moving into the cloud Continue Reading
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Looking beyond PUE to assess the true environmental impacts of datacentre growth
Sustainability experts want operators to look beyond the accepted datacentre metrics to assess the impact the industry's growth is having on the environment Continue Reading
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Software-defined storage: The pros and cons, and what is available
Software-defined storage is a rapidly rising trend in the datacentre, but what are the advantages and disadvantages of building your own storage, and is it suitable for all organisations? Continue Reading
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How to beat Oracle licence audits
An eight-step guide to tame the Oracle auditors. Don't take the bait... Continue Reading
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Neutron’s role evolves in OpenStack networks
We examine the progress of Neutron, OpenStack’s cloud networking module Continue Reading
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Docker storage: how to get persistent storage in Docker
Docker, by default, doesn’t come with persistent storage, which presents an issue to some workloads customers that want to run in containers – however, there are ways to achieve persistent storage Continue Reading
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The pros and cons of cloud bursting
The much-vaunted benefits of cloud computing can be overshadowed by portability and interoperability issues Continue Reading
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Datacentre cooling upgrades: Helping operators decide where best to invest
Upgrading a datacentre cooling system is an expensive undertaking, but should operators stick with what they've always done or try something new? Continue Reading
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Overcoming the scale-up challenge of enterprise DevOps adoption
CIOs and IT leaders share their advice on what enterprises can do to accelerate the spread of DevOps within their organisations Continue Reading
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Isle of Man: From seaside getaway to tech startup hub
The Isle of Man government is stepping up efforts to position itself as the low-tax jurisdiction of choice for the startup community. But what's it like to do business there? Continue Reading
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It makes sense to go hyperscale/hyper-converged
Hyperscale computing and storage are the norm for web giants. Hyper-converged scenarios make it possible for small and medium-sized enterprises to gain the advantages of combined server/storage nodes Continue Reading
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How to build your own IoT with Azure
Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform has gone well beyond mere virtual machines and orchestrated workflows. It can now also power internet of things applications Continue Reading
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CW@50: How UK home brew gave computing to the masses
From batch processing to the graphical user interface, from desktop PCs to smartphones, from luggables to wearables, computing has come a long way since Computer Weekly was first published in 1966. We look at some of the personal computers that ... Continue Reading
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CW@50: The changing face of the datacentre over the past 50 years
As Computer Weekly prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary, we take a look back at how the design and role of the datacentre has changed over the past five decades Continue Reading
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CW@50: Storage – From punched cards to flash and the cloud
Since the launch of Computer Weekly in 1966, we have moved from a world of punched cards and paper tape to one where flash and the cloud have revolutionised data storage Continue Reading
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Datacentre heat reuse: Why aren’t more operators doing it?
With the datacentre industry’s sustainability habits coming under increasingly close scrutiny, we find out why operators are not rushing to reuse their waste heat Continue Reading
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Microsoft’s underwater datacentre: The pros and cons of running subsea facilities
Underwater datacentres can help providers save on land costs and cooling, but at what cost to the environment? Continue Reading
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What are containers and microservices?
Independently deployable bits of code can be used to build agile applications. We look at some of the main players Continue Reading
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Divide and conquer in software architecture
Applications built out of independently deployable modules are the future of flexible solution development Continue Reading
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Interview: James Bamford on surveillance, Snowden and technology companies
Investigative journalist and documentary maker James Bamford was among the first to uncover the secrets of the US National Security Agency and its global surveillance Continue Reading
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EU Data Protection Regulation: What the EC legislation means for cloud providers
With the European Commission's data protection rules set to drop before 2016, take a look at what the changes mean for the cloud and datacentre community Continue Reading
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Case study: Philips takes agile approach to building bridges between business and IT
Dutch technology giant talks up the success of its attempts to embrace agile IT delivery methods, and how it's shaping future customer engagements Continue Reading
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Using SAP Hana as a data warehouse
Enterprises are using SAP Hana for in-memory data marts and SAP Business Warehouse implementations that integrate with other data warehouses Continue Reading
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Case study: Open University uses Microsoft Azure to create course content clearance hub
The Open University recently scooped the award for Best Cloud Project at the CW European User Awards, and here's why Continue Reading
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Digital transformation needs business leaders to develop new skills
A panel of experts discuss the capabilities business leaders and corporate IT need to develop for digital Continue Reading
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SaaS criteria to track for business outcomes
Organisations should evolve their SaaS selection criteria to focus on newer metrics that are better indicators of supplier performance Continue Reading
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Still running Windows Server 2003? Don’t panic
Many organisations are facing the prospect of running Windows 2003 server unsupported. Where do you go from here? Continue Reading
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Inside DevOps: How it really works
DevOps done well can lead to a continuous loop where teams plan, code, build, test, release, deploy, operate and monitor Continue Reading
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Marseille: Europe’s networking gateway to Africa
The city of Marseille in southern France is fast becoming a hub for datacentre and network operators who want low latency connections to Africa. Continue Reading
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Datacentre PUE: Who's keeping score?
With datacentre operators under increased competitive pressure to cut their PUE scores, are their ratings really all they seem? Continue Reading
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What’s slowing down your network and how to fix it
When using the network feels like wading through molasses, finding the cause can be a difficult process Continue Reading
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Docker storage 101: How storage works in Docker
Docker nails some of the shortcomings of virtualisation, but what about Docker container storage? Continue Reading
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Top five things you need to know about VMware Virtual Volumes
VMware’s Virtual Volumes (VVOLs) promise a revolution in storage for virtual machines, but what are the key things you need to know? Continue Reading
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Energy-efficient Europe: How the datacentre sector is keeping it clean
With users becoming increasingly savvy about environmental issues, we take a look at how the datacentre sector is responding Continue Reading
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A closer look at Google Container Engine
In just 12 months, Docker has transformed from a simple open-source container management project into a powerful platform Continue Reading
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How to make applications resilient on AWS
Cloud services are susceptible to network and other outages. There is no silver bullet to boost the resilience of an AWS-hosted application Continue Reading
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Microservices: How to prepare next-generation cloud applications
A microservice architecture promotes developing and deploying applications composed of autonomous, self-contained units Continue Reading
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The state of mobile back end as a service
Common mobile application services are increasingly being hosted on central back-end servers – but what does that mean for the enterprise? Continue Reading
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Networking technologies emerging in the enterprise
We look at the latest networking technologies on offer, and those being adopted in the enterprise Continue Reading
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Cloud, frozen pizza model and the immutable infrastructure
The architecture pattern for immutable infrastructure is based on the made-to-order pizza model Continue Reading
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Backup and disaster recovery in the age of virtualisation
One of the benefits of using virtual machines is the scope for improved backup. We look at the product offerings from traditional and new suppliers Continue Reading
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Demystifying Kubernetes: the tool to manage Google-scale workloads in the cloud
We are witnessing a new technology wave in the form of immutable infrastructure and micro-services Continue Reading
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The internet of things is coming: Is your datacentre ready?
Gartner estimates the IoT will see 26 billion units installed by 2020 – channelling huge volumes of data traffic into datacentres Continue Reading
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Micro-datacentre: What IT problems it solves and what workload systems suit it
A micro-datacentre is a smaller containerised datacentre system designed to solve different problems or to handle different workloads Continue Reading
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Will silicon photonics replace copper cabling in mainstream datacentres?
Silicon photonics can increase bandwidth in servers, improve data transfer speeds and reduce complexity. But are datacentres ready for it? Continue Reading
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Future of in-house datacentres in the cloud era
It is predicted that companies will spend three times more on the cloud by 2017. But as cloud goes mainstream, are in-house datacentres really dying? Continue Reading
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Can the mainframe remain relevant in the cloud and mobile era?
IBM mainframes run more than 1.1m transactions per second, yet the mainframe has remained largely unfashionable. We investigate Continue Reading
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Understanding the real value of IT and proving it to the business
At a time when costs are being continually squeezed, there is more pressure than ever to demonstrate the business value of technology Continue Reading
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Converged stacks: What they are and the benefits they bring
We survey the converged stacks market: Servers, storage and networking in pre-configured product bundles for specific virtualisation and application use cases. Continue Reading
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A guide to APM for the network manager
Has application performance management become a much needed discipline for the network manager? We examine the issues for IT departments Continue Reading
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The UK’s problem with power
Datacentre power buyers say Britain’s deregulated energy market is as complex as trading in derivatives Continue Reading
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Troubleshooting datacentre management issues
Gaining better control of the datacentre has to be a high priority to ensure high levels of performance and availability Continue Reading
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SMB 3.0 brings enterprise-class storage to Hyper-V deployments
SMB 3.0 is Microsoft’s replacement for the “chatty” CIFS file access storage protocol that offers enterprise-class storage to Hyper-V deployments Continue Reading
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Make a high-performance computing and high-availability datacentre
High performance computing and high availability systems are no longer limited to engineers and scientists. But is your datacentre ready? Continue Reading
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How Capgemini keeps its Merlin datacentre green and energy-efficient
Capgemini's Swindon-based Merlin datacentre is one of the most energy-efficient in the world. But what makes it green? Continue Reading
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How to plan and manage datacentre redundancy
Provisioning of a datacentre to survive a range of failure scenarios has become critical for many businesses. Here's a datacentre redundancy plan Continue Reading
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How to monitor and improve the health of your datacentre
Any datacentre manager looking to support the business should take an end-to-end systems management approach to keep the datacentre in shape Continue Reading
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Best practices in software asset management for a flexible, resilient IT
Managing software assets is vital in order to maintain a highly flexible and up-to-date IT platform and more importantly remain compliant Continue Reading
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Sweating your datacentre’s IT assets - is it a good idea?
Amid economic uncertainties, businesses want to get more from existing IT assets. But does it make sense from an IT point of view? Continue Reading
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VMware storage: SAN configuration basics
For VMware storage basics start here – the fundamentals of configuring SAN storage for VMware, such as VMFS, VMDKs, connectivity options and VMware storage features Continue Reading
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100Gbps Ethernet – is it time to move?
Do you need 100Gbps Ethernet in your datacentre, or is the technology just going through a hype cycle? Computer Weekly investigates. Continue Reading
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Top technologies that can make your datacentre green
Energy-efficient technologies that can reduce running costs in the datacentre and across the business Continue Reading
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How to effectively manage datacentre temperature and humidity
A datacentre is a complex facility with different cooling equipment and power systems. Here's how to monitor its temperature and humidity Continue Reading
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GE uses big data to power machine services business
GE, one of the UK's largest manufacturers, is using big data analytics with data generated from machine sensors to predict maintenance needs Continue Reading
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Amazon: Gold standard of the cloud?
Amazon Web Services is the benchmark for cloud in the enterprise but can it handle the challenge of federated cloud services? Continue Reading
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Software-defined datacentres demystified
As datacentre managers increasingly rely on software and automation, what can a software-defined datacentre bring to the enterprise? Continue Reading
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Tune Raid performance to get the most from your HDDs
Tune Raid performance at the storage controller to match application I/O demands to optimal hard drive (HDD) performance Continue Reading
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Server SSD guide to form factors and implementations
Server SSD offers immense gains in IOPS and throughput. We look at how it works, form factors available and its advantages and pitfalls, and we survey key vendors in the market. Continue Reading
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How Capex vs. Opex affects data centre outsourcing decisions
Capex vs.Opex comparison reveals that although cloud services help avoid capital expenses on building own data centres, its Opex model can turn costly if IT pros aren’t cautious. Continue Reading
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Bombay Stock Exchange’s server consolidation journey
BSE recently consolidated its servers and began its cloud computing journey. Find out more about BSE’s server consolidation initiative in this case study. Continue Reading