In Depth

In Depth

IT architecture

• Portrait of the software developer as an artist

  Many programmers see themselves as artists – of a sort. Computer Weekly investigates what it means to be a modern software developer  Continue Reading

• How to achieve resilience – the modern uptime trinity

  IT leaders can take responsibility for ensuring their organisations are resilient during times of crisis. There are no quick fixes, but if you think it is expensive to ensure resilience in your IT systems, try frequent failure instead  Continue Reading

• Five on-premise and cloud options for network-attached storage

  We look at five options for file access storage, from ‘traditional’ NAS in a standalone appliance to distributed hybrid cloud file storage and NAS cloud gateways  Continue Reading

• Storage pros and cons: Block vs file vs object storage

  Despite the many changes in storage, there are still some fundamentals that hold true. We look at the key defining characteristics and use cases of block, file and object storage  Continue Reading

• APAC hybrid cloud adoption still cloudy

  Although there are clear benefits of hybrid cloud, enterprises in Asia-Pacific aren’t making the most of them due to a lack of holistic understanding, strategic frameworks and skillsets  Continue Reading

• Auditing for algorithmic discrimination

  Despite the abundance of decision-making algorithms with social impacts, many companies are not conducting specific audits for bias and discrimination that can help mitigate their potentially negative consequences  Continue Reading

• Cloud flash storage: SSD options from AWS, Azure and GCP

  We look at the flash storage options available from the big three cloud providers – Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform – that can help narrow the gap between on-site and cloud workloads  Continue Reading

• Cloud storage 101: File, block and object storage in the cloud

  We run the rule over file, block and object storage from the big three public cloud providers: AWS, Azure and GCP. We look at what’s on offer and the use cases they are aimed at  Continue Reading

• Mainframe storage: Three players in a market that’s here to stay

  Far from disappearing, the mainframe market and the storage it needs is here to stay for some time. The three key array makers compete with high-end flash-equipped products  Continue Reading

• What are the security priorities for the post-coronavirus world?

  The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing massive change across the business world and things may never go back to normal. What does security look like in this new world, and what will buyers be prioritising?  Continue Reading

• Public sector IT: The road to digital

  Progress to digital transformation is patchy in the public sector, but some CIOs are embracing the strategy  Continue Reading

• How to overcome application modernisation barriers

  Most businesses are not lucky enough to be able to build a new cloud native architecture. We look at how to take legacy applications forward  Continue Reading

• Applications: Combining the old with the new

  We look at how organisations can integrate legacy applications with newer digital platforms  Continue Reading

• NAS backup: Which suppliers have gone post-NDMP?

  NAS backup with NDMP has many drawbacks so some vendors have moved to a data management approach that tracks changes and allows for incremental forever protection  Continue Reading

• What are the drivers for application modernisation?

  Application modernisation is not something that just happens, nor is it just driven by digitisation and cloud-first strategies  Continue Reading

• Coronavirus: How app developers large and small are working to help fight Covid-19

  Computer Weekly looks at how a range of actors are using technology to help mitigate the various impacts caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak  Continue Reading

• Computational storage: What is it and what are its key use cases?

  Computational storage brings the CPU to the storage and so boosts system performance by tackling processing tasks, such as near the edge or in AI/machine learning workloads  Continue Reading

• Networking gains ‘cool’ status

  There is renewed interest in networking, driven by enterprises looking at how public cloud services can co-exist with on-premise IT  Continue Reading

• Molotov.tv streams 24/7 with Dell EMC and Scality object storage

  France-based Molotov.tv has offered streaming TV services on digital platforms since 2016, based on Dell EMC servers with GPU acceleration and Scality Ring object storage  Continue Reading

• Three network technologies driven by cloud-native computing

  Networking technologies are being driven heavily by digitisation and cloud computing. Gartner picks three networking trends to watch  Continue Reading

• Cache vs tier: What’s the difference between cache and storage?

  We look at the key distinctions between cache and tiers of storage, and where the line has become blurred with fast flash, 3D Xpoint and storage class memory technologies  Continue Reading

• The future of open source licences is changing

  The Open Source Insider blog on Computer Weekly recently asked industry experts for their views on the future of open source licensing  Continue Reading

• Trusty methods to keep out intruders

  Today’s hyper-connected world means trust can no longer be taken for granted to keep networks secure – enter the zero-trust model  Continue Reading

• Industrial edge requires a focus on machines

  After the office edge and the mobile edge comes the industrial edge. We look at a shift in computing paradigms  Continue Reading

• Big storage meets cloud in the datacentre 'as-a-service' revolution

  Cloud is mainstream but the datacentre’s here to stay. This has resulted in a trend towards as-a-service in the datacentre where big storage array makers and the cloud giants meet  Continue Reading

• DRaaS decisions: Key choices in disaster recovery as a service

  We examine the key decisions when considering DRaaS. Whether to go full self-service, assisted or managed will depend on what you need to protect and your in-house resources  Continue Reading

• Life on the edge: A new world for data

  Edge computing is regarded as the next frontier for data, with rapid growth expected in the market. We assess the prospects  Continue Reading

• Top 10 storage deployment stories of 2019

  Here are ComputerWeekly’s top 10 storage deployment stories for 2019, which see quite a move away from traditional SAN and NAS to hyper-converged, software-defined storage and object storage  Continue Reading

• Deliver quality software at speed with CI/CD

  Continuous integration and delivery promises a remarkable acceleration in software development, but some basics need to be in place to ensure success  Continue Reading

• Changes in the CI/CD pipeline

  Continuous integration/continuous delivery is responsible for pushing out a set of “isolated changes” to an existing application. We look at how big these changes can be  Continue Reading

• How Sporting Group tackles the Rugby World Cup

  Sporting Group has readied its system monitoring to ensure the technology is able to cope with the huge demand for bets during the Rugby World Cup final  Continue Reading

• Key differences between cloud storage offerings

  Cloud storage offerings are often largely similar. We run through the key areas where they can differ, such as location, range of services and data protection  Continue Reading

• Data storage: The top five storage deployment pitfalls

  Key pitfalls in data storage include silos, under-utilisation, backup and disaster recovery, plus neglect of skills and application requirements. We ask analysts how to avoid them  Continue Reading

• Putting blockchain technology to good use

  Experts share their views on the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology  Continue Reading

• Top five cloud storage pitfalls

  Cloud storage offers apparent simplicity, but unexpected costs, complexity, data movement and integration challenges can arise. We look at how to avoid common cloud storage pitfalls  Continue Reading

• Inside blockchain and its various applications

  We explore the technology around blockchain shaping how businesses use data  Continue Reading

• How to unlock the true value of data

  With a robust data architecture in place, a firm’s data science team can turn raw data into business insight  Continue Reading

• Hop jumps to Pure Storage to avoid big storage complexity

  Air France short-haul and regional brand Hop jumps to Pure Storage after coming up against Dell EMC, NetApp and HPE, which all tried to sell it solutions ill-suited to its needs  Continue Reading

• Microsoft’s road to multicloud support

  From Microsoft’s perspective, multicloud is more about portability than resiliency  Continue Reading

• SAN vs NAS vs hyper-converged for virtual machine storage

  The pros and cons of file and block access storage arrays vs the new breed of all-in-one server/storage architecture for storage of virtual machine systems and data  Continue Reading

• Cloud’s low-hanging fruit: Backup, tiering and data sharing

  Native cloud operations can have a steep on-ramp in terms of enterprise IT readiness, but some things are relatively easy to port to a tier of storage in the cloud  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged infrastructure vs NAS and SAN shared storage

  Can compute, storage and networks in one box be a better option than shared storage? And which organisations can most benefit from it, and for what scale of deployment?  Continue Reading

• Choosing the right kind of hybrid cloud management

  We look at the various factors businesses should consider when looking to solve their cloud management problems  Continue Reading

• Inside the AI developer’s toolbox

  With so much artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning in development, we look at the kit programmers might find useful in their AI toolbox  Continue Reading

• Compute strategies for AI applications

  Devising compute strategies for AI applications can be challenging. Find out about the hardware, network and software frameworks available  Continue Reading

• How to create a great strategy in the digital age

  What are the best ways for technology leaders to create a strategy that is fit for the digital age? Computer Weekly asks the experts  Continue Reading

• Break free from traditional network security

  Highly connected businesses put pressure on traditional network security. We look at how corporate networks are breaking out of their boundaries  Continue Reading

• Casting the net for a software-defined future

  The practical and cultural challenges of enterprises transforming to software-defined networking  Continue Reading

• SDN: Where is it now and what is the future?

  Software-defined networking is one of the great IT hype stories of this century – we look at where it stands now  Continue Reading

• Transform business with microservices and containers

  We look at how DevOps and microservice-based technology have advanced IT architectures  Continue Reading

• Chromebooks and G Suite: a good working alternative

  We look at Chromebooks as collaboration clients, both in Google-oriented and mixed-platform environments  Continue Reading

• Why AI must move beyond pattern-matching

  Artificial intelligence and deep learning have revolutionised applications such as computer vision, but more complex problems require a different approach  Continue Reading

• Making sense of Microsoft’s cloud developer platform

  We assess how Microsoft is aligning its development tools to support Linux and open source, in light of its acquisition of GitHub  Continue Reading

• What is digital transformation?

  A guide for executives in the public and private sectors on the myths, realities and best practice of digital transformation, by digital leaders who have been there and done it  Continue Reading

• How SAP’s digital access licence influences your ERP strategy

  Following the high-profile legal cases against brewers Diageo and Anheuser-Busch InBev, SAP has brought some clarity over indirect access to its core ERP system  Continue Reading

• Assessing Alibaba Cloud

  AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform rule the public cloud market – but Chinese IaaS challenger Alibaba is targeting world domination  Continue Reading

• Why the browser is the computer

  When he was CEO of Sun Microsystems, Scott McNealy once said that the network is the computer. Today, users spend most of their time in a browser  Continue Reading

• Storage 101: How to create, share and manage a LUN in SAN storage

  Despite pronouncements from some, the days of the logical unit number (LUN) are not over. We look at the LUN in SAN management: How to create, share, provision and manage a LUN  Continue Reading

• Cloud DR: Key choices in cloud disaster recovery

  Flexibility and low cost make the cloud well-suited to disaster recovery, but there is no one-size-fits-all route to cloud disaster recovery. We look at the key choices  Continue Reading

• The future of 5G mobile networks: support and development

  In the second part of our exploration of the 5G market, we find out how UK plc is innovating around 5G mobile networks, and ask what lies in store at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona  Continue Reading

• The great 5G bake-off: where are we and where are we going?

  With Mobile World Congress 2018 a week away, early 5G network standards formalised and tests up and running at the Winter Olympics, we assess the state of 5G, and what's needed to kick-start commercial roll-outs  Continue Reading

• Private cloud storage 101: Key components and hardware options

  Private cloud makes consumption of storage easier for the user and simplifies delivery for the IT department. We walk through the key components and the platform choices  Continue Reading

• Harnessing hybrid deployment

  Computer Weekly explores how the success of hybrid deployment hinges on the network  Continue Reading

• Battle hots up over next-gen networks

  The arrival of SD-WAN technology effectively removed telcos’ lock-in for WAN services. We assess the current market  Continue Reading

• Build IoT apps the easy way

  CIOs may find themselves spoilt for choice when assessing digital platforms for IoT. We look at the options  Continue Reading

• ASEAN firms warming up to enterprise mobility amid roadblocks

  From startups to postal companies, organisations across the ASEAN region see mobility as strategic to their businesses, even as they face headwinds such as security and talent shortages  Continue Reading

• How innovation in cycling helps Trek-Segafredo create a competitive edge

  Cycling team is using technology from design to the track to improve its business and sporting competitiveness  Continue Reading

• What ‘born in the cloud’ means for developers

  When it comes to building cloud-native apps, developers must code with an inherent appreciation for where processing, storage and analytics happens  Continue Reading

• Container technologies for cloud-native apps

  A deep dive exploring the layers that go into a container-based platform for enterprise applications  Continue Reading

• How going cloud native can increase app agility

  We look at how cloud-native applications can deliver far more dynamic support to meet an organisation’s needs  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged choices: DIY HCI software deployments

  What are the advantages of do-it-yourself hyper-converged infrastructure deployment and who are the key suppliers of HCI software? We run the rule over the DIY hyper-converged market  Continue Reading

• Integration is key to Office 365’s progress

  We look at how Microsoft Office 365 works and how far it has gone towards becoming a platform for integrating other tools  Continue Reading

• How the Met Office is handling a deluge of data

  ‘Lazy’ open source tools are helping the UK weather forecasting service open up unprecedented volumes of data to all  Continue Reading

• Data management: What does the future hold?

  We explore how firms are replacing transactional database management systems with new database architectures  Continue Reading

• WLAN casts net wider as demand grows

  Wireless local area networking has become a vital part of the IT infrastructure. Computer Weekly looks at the challenges of delivering it  Continue Reading

• How hyper-convergence is changing the shape of IT

  Computer Weekly looks at how the hyper-converged market is hotting up, pulling together the latest analyst research findings  Continue Reading

• Datacentre decisions: Converged vs hyper-converged infrastructure

  Converged and hyper-converged infrastructure are ready-tested ways to put compute and storage into the datacentre. But which should you choose for your deployment?  Continue Reading

• Hyper-convergence: the good, the bad and the ugly

  Hyper-converged technologies are gaining traction, but what can they do for your organisation  Continue Reading

• Five ways to cut the risk of Salesforce

  Best practices for IT professionals seeking to implement Salesforce’s product portfolio  Continue Reading

• Agile unlocked: Pivotal uses paired programming and PaaS to bolster cloud app development

  Digital transformation company Pivotal explains how paired programming, an empathetic work culture and open source PaaS help enterprises achieve their agile software development goals  Continue Reading

• Tips on how to get a Hana implementation off the ground

  The confusion around SAP’s in-memory database is holding many customers back. We look at some of the approaches being taken to simplify implementation  Continue Reading

• How to manage data analytics programmes and teams

  Data analytics technology won’t deliver business value by itself – it needs to be deployed, and its users organised to deliver value  Continue Reading

• How will the network manager’s role change in the SDN world?

  We explore how traditional network managers are changing the habits of a lifetime as SDN remakes the enterprise network  Continue Reading

• How composable applications can improve software development

  We speak to experts in the field of software development about the pros and cons of componentising application software  Continue Reading

• Why there is more to digital than ones and zeros

  These days no business strategy seems complete unless it is qualified by the adjective “digital”  Continue Reading

• Storage systems evolve to meet need for speed

  The race is on to develop revolutionary storage-class memory products to meet rocketing data processing requirements  Continue Reading

• Making mobile apps work

  Mobile users have high expectations, and there is no such thing as one size fits all. We look at how this affects mobile app development  Continue Reading

• The changing shape of mobile apps

  We find out how organisations can gain the agility they need to keep pace with mobile app innovation  Continue Reading

• Cloud contracts are still a minefield

  Cloud computing is maturing in the enterprise space, but the contracts that underpin cloud services have not evolved at the same pace  Continue Reading

• Saab CIO Mats Hultin says be open, flexible and agile – or die

  Saab CIO Mats Hultin is directing the Swedish defence company’s IT function globally to be streamlined and standardised, but open and flexible for a future that includes the internet of things  Continue Reading

• 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

• Secure IoT before it kills us

  Experts say more must be done to mitigate the potentially catastrophic threats presented by connected devices  Continue Reading

• Windows cracks under data access demands

  The operating system fights for survival as workers demand cross-platform access to corporate data  Continue Reading

• Navigate to unified workspace success

  To remove barriers to workforce mobility, CIOs need to deliver the right apps and information to the right user, on the right devices  Continue Reading

• End user devices require careful orchestration

  Options for access to IT have soared since the desktop PC’s heyday, and organisations must conduct a balancing act  Continue Reading

• Storage briefing: NVMe vs SATA and SAS

  NVMe brings blistering performance gains over existing HDD-era disk protocols, and is a straight swap-in for PCIe server-side flash with array and hyper-converged products on the way  Continue Reading

• 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

• How enterprise software development is changing

  During Computer Weekly’s 50th anniversary event, we held a panel discussion at Skills Matter in London to look into how enterprise software is changing  Continue Reading

• How to add network flexibility by using NFV

  Fixed network architectures can no longer cope with today’s networking needs  Continue Reading

• Why more people aren’t cloud bursting

  The appeal of cloud bursting is easy to see, but the level of complexity involved negates its benefits – at least for now  Continue Reading