In Depth

In Depth

Virtualisation management strategy

• Preparing for enterprise-class containerisation

  As more workloads are deployed in containers, IT teams will need to assess how to manage container sprawl, reduce cloud bills and support databases  Continue Reading

• Containers for a post-pandemic IT architecture

  One of the positive effects of Covid-19 is that it has put IT at the top of the business agenda – and containerisation is part of that strategy  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged infrastructure: Why software-defined everything might not work for all datacentres

  Choosing the right converged infrastructure in the first instance can pivot on a trade-off between security and agility requirements  Continue Reading

• Prioritising workloads in a hyper-converged infrastructure migration

  A cost-effective approach to combining virtualisation and unified management probably means deploying it workload by workload, experts suggest  Continue Reading

• Five key questions about Kubernetes backup answered

  We look at when to back up containers, what to protect, the main methods of backup for Kubernetes and the main Kubernetes backup products available in the market  Continue Reading

• How long until cloud becomes the preferred environment to run HPC workloads?

  The high-performance computing market is growing, but enterprises that have already made large investments in on-premise HPC will need to weigh up whether a move to the cloud would be worth their while  Continue Reading

• Cloud DR from the Big Three: Who’s best at what?

  We look at cloud disaster recovery from AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google to see which is best for provision of turnkey solutions, breadth of portfolio and modular building blocks  Continue Reading

• Five hyper-converged infrastructure use cases to watch

  We look at workloads ripe for hyper-converged infrastructure deployment. These include virtual servers and desktops, SMEs/remote offices, Kubernetes, and analytics and machine learning  Continue Reading

• Intel Optane Persistent Memory aims to fill the gap DRAM can’t

  We look at Optane and its PMem product that Intel believes will fill a big gap between memory and storage that DRAM technology just cannot deal with  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Why tagging should be used to manage hybrid assets

  With complex hybrid environments, there is a need to apply IT asset management best practices across cloud and on-premise systems  Continue Reading

• How intelligent workload management tools can help IT admins cut through cloud complexity

  IT administrators have to manage an increasingly complex and varied range of application types and IT environments, and intelligent workload management tools offer a helping hand with that  Continue Reading

• Aerospace and satellite comms: The next growth frontier for cloud service providers?

  Space projects of the near future are less sci-fi and more about driving efficiencies through business intelligence, edge analytics and cloud technologies  Continue Reading

• A Dell of a deal: What a VMware spin-off could mean for datacentre operators

  Analysts doubt that Dell would be fool enough to entirely divest itself of VMware, which continues to offer massive value to the enterprise. And how would a change affect the datacentre?  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

• How to apply zero-trust models to container security

  Containers have become a common fixture in software development, but they have resulted in new concerns for security teams. Is zero-trust the answer to tackling them?  Continue Reading

• Snapshots 101: Array vs backup software

  We run the rule over snapshots in storage arrays and backup software and find a range of capabilities that go from mere support to fully snapshot-centric approaches  Continue Reading

• Lean, mean and green: The datacentres of the future

  Working out how to develop more efficient datacentres in an increasingly resource-hungry world is not easy, but it is possible  Continue Reading

• Taking business transformation and disruption to the Extreme

  Supporting business transformation and disruption seem to be on every supplier’s lips these days, but not many can say they are where they are today precisely because of their own business transformation and disruption. Extreme Networks can  Continue Reading

• SME disaster recovery made easy with cloud, hybrid and HCI

  Disaster recovery is a lot easier for small businesses than it used to be, with use of the cloud, hybrid cloud, physical and virtual appliances, and hyper-converged infrastructure all among the choices on offer  Continue Reading

• Finding a fix for the IT industry's recruitment woes: A datacentre perspective

  The datacentre industry is in the midst of a well-documented skills crisis, caused by a mix of sector-specific challenges and some more generalised ones  Continue Reading

• Evolution in action: The changing face of the datacentre

  The role datacentres play in the wider enterprise IT landscape is changing, fuelling the demand for a mix of different types of facilities that are capable of meeting the growing variety of enterprise data-processing requirements  Continue Reading

• Uptime and availability: Making sense of supplier SLAs

  Enterprises need to read the fine print of supplier service-level agreements (SLA) or risk finding themselves caught short during downtime incidents  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

• Protecting your digital assets: Why it pays to invest in cyber insurance

  Cyber insurance offers financial protection against the worst happening to a company’s data and digital assets, and is something few businesses can afford to be without  Continue Reading

• Keeping cloud costs in check: What enterprises need to know

  Organisations should not be rushed into moving to the cloud, because doing so could result in mistakes that are costly to put right  Continue Reading

• EMIS Group CIO: Breaking down NHS patient data silos by going all-in on AWS

  EMIS Group CIO Pete Malcolm is in the throes of a sizeable revamp of the healthcare provider's flagship software system for GPs that will see it go all-in on AWS, while addressing the government's push to make NHS data systems more open and ...  Continue Reading

• Career choices for storage admins as technologies converge

  There is collateral damage in datacentre convergence, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for storage administrators to stick with storage-centric skillsets. Two solutions exist  Continue Reading

• Why VMware is betting big on containers, edge computing and IoT

  With the server virtualisation game won, VMware is having to diversify into new areas, with cloud-native computing emerging as a top area of interest for the firm  Continue Reading

• Data protection, backup and replication in the age of the cloud

  A data protection and backup strategy has to take account of the expansion of the sphere of IT, from the datacentre to the public cloud to devices and locations at the edge  Continue Reading

• IT administrator 2.0: Adapting to life in the automation age

  As the use of automation becomes increasingly pervasive in enterprise IT environments, systems administrators need to adapt and update their skills to remain relevant  Continue Reading

• The importance of adopting an evergreen IT strategy

  Today's modern IT systems are potentially tomorrow's legacy technology problems, without an "evergreening strategy" in place  Continue Reading

• GlaxoSmithKline R&D CDO on combining Hadoop and Docker to boost drug discovery efforts

  Mark Ramsey, chief digital officer of research and development at GSK, describes how banking on big data, containers and on-premise technologies is speeding up the company’s efforts to uncover new drugs and improve the hit rate of its clinical trials  Continue Reading

• Windows Virtual Desktops: Microsoft takes virtual Windows mainstream on Azure

  Microsoft is fleshing out its virtual desktop proposition by allowing enterprises to access Windows via its Azure platform, but what does this mean for its competitors?  Continue Reading

• Dividing lines: EU bid to curb server energy use has the European datacentre community split

  An EU-backed push to curb European datacentre energy use has proven to be a divisive issue, as debate rages over the usefulness of using idle energy to determine the overall efficiency of servers  Continue Reading

• Need for speed: designing a modern campus LAN

  Just like datacentres before them, campus LANs are increasingly being defined by virtualisation and software-based controls. Next to this shift, the hardware also continues to improve as network owners look to keep pace with user demand  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

• Data recovery disasters: Kroll Ontrack on how it helps enterprises bounce back

  Data recovery expert Kroll Ontrack provides a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges enterprises and consumers face getting their files and information back when disaster strikes  Continue Reading

• Keeping cloud costs in check: Why good governance is key

  Without proper checks and controls in place, it is all too easy for the cost of using cloud to spiral out of control in enterprises, but it doesn't have to be  Continue Reading

• Serverless computing: What it is and why it matters

  Enterprises might be forgiven for thinking serverless computing is just the latest in a long line of hyped technology concepts, but there is serious substance to it  Continue Reading

• Cloud management platforms: Getting started and making it work

  Choosing the right cloud management platform for your organisation is one thing, but embarking on a deployment brings its own challenges  Continue Reading

• Cloud management platforms: What you need to know to make multi-cloud happen

  Deploying a cloud management platform can make adopting a multi-cloud approach to consuming IT resources easier, but choosing one that is the right fit for your enterprise can be a challenge for CIOs  Continue Reading

• Staffordshire University goes all-in on Microsoft Azure for digital transformation

  Andrew Proctor, director of digital services at Staffordshire University, describes how ditching its datacentres and moving to the Microsoft Azure public cloud has set the organisation on the path to digital transformation  Continue Reading

• VMware eyes cloud opportunity in APAC

  The company's top Asia-Pacific executive sheds light on how the virtualisation pioneer is tackling the region's diverse market in the cloud era  Continue Reading

• The multi-cloud myth: Why workload portability is still a pipe dream

  While IT providers are fond of suggesting moving workloads between clouds is as easy as dragging and dropping apps between environments, the reality can be far more complex  Continue Reading

• OpenStack vs hyper-converged: Open-source cloud in the datacentre

  We look at how to deploy OpenStack on hyper-converged infrastructure and how HCI suppliers’ products can support deployment of the open-source cloud in the datacentre  Continue Reading

• The Sanger Institute on using datacentre upgrades to help decode the human genome

  Paul Woobey, IT director at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, tells Computer Weekly why the organisation's HPC workload requirements cannot be fulfilled by a move to the cloud  Continue Reading

• Getting stuck on OpenStack: Overcoming the open source cloud platform's upgrade barriers

  Some members of the OpenStack community are finding it a struggle to upgrade to newer versions of the open source cloud operating system. Could customisation be to blame?  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

• Tips for buying hyper-converged systems

  Hyper-converged infrastructure has become a commonly used term. But what is it? And is it necessary for your organisation?  Continue Reading

• The evolution of OpenStack: Where next for the open source cloud platform?

  The OpenStack Summit revealed details of how the seven-year-old open source platform is overcoming its growing pains and positioning itself for even greater enterprise adoption  Continue Reading

• Changing tracks: Examining VMware's evolving hybrid cloud strategy

  The past 12 months have seen VMware apply a number of tweaks to its hybrid cloud strategy. We look at what these changes means for the company’s future and technology roadmap  Continue Reading

• 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

• Hybrid cloud strategy offers best of both worlds

  More and more businesses are adopting a hybrid cloud strategy for their datacentre needs. Computer Weekly looks at what’s on offer  Continue Reading

• 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

• NFV helps telcos save money on WAN infrastructure

  Telecoms providers are optimising their services through network function virtualisation,. How does this affect your network strategy  Continue Reading

• How to beat Oracle licence audits

  An eight-step guide to tame the Oracle auditors. Don't take the bait...  Continue Reading

• How to add network flexibility by using NFV

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

• 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

• On-premise IT still the only way to run certain tasks

  How to augment a public cloud strategy with on-premise IT by running workloads in a private cloud and bursting to the public cloud  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

• The pros and cons of cloud bursting

  The much-vaunted benefits of cloud computing can be overshadowed by portability and interoperability issues  Continue Reading

• Datacentre security: Why operators must give cyber and physical threats equal attention

  Datacentre operators often talk up the physical security measures they have in place, but are they at risk of overlooking cyber threats?  Continue Reading

• 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

• How to yield the benefits of converged infrastructure

  Bringing together the elements of enterprise IT generates a litany of operational and cost-cutting advantages – but care must be taken in balancing risk and in implementation  Continue Reading

• What datacentre experts must do to stay relevant

  As datacentre operators focus on converged infrastructure to cut costs, IT professionals should keep their CVs aligned to the workplace  Continue Reading

• [email protected]: 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

• [email protected]: 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

• Why are telcos so readily adopting open standards for NFV?

  Communications services providers are lining up to make their future virtualised networks as open as possible. What’s the attraction?  Continue Reading

• 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

• Modular datacentre helps Belgian IT firm support Dutch and German customers

  Cegeka commissioned a new datacentre when its customer base expanded and decided on a modular approach to get it up and running quickly  Continue Reading

• The state of all-flash versus hybrid storage in Australia and New Zealand

  Magnetic disk drives are yesterday’s technology. Soon all servers will be based on all-flash arrays – or will they?  Continue Reading

• Top 10 datacentre stories of 2015

  Computer Weekly's top 10 datacentre stories and trend pieces of 2015  Continue Reading

• Four CIO tips for implementing DevOps

  Esure CIO Mark Foulsham shares his advice for IT leaders about successfully implementing DevOps methods to become a more agile organisation  Continue Reading

• Virtualisation and storage: Five ways to do it better

  Server and desktop virtualisation bring many savings, but you have to work smart to ensure storage performs efficiently. We survey the top five pitfalls and how to avoid them  Continue Reading

• Barriers to adoption: Why are local councils holding back on G-Cloud?

  Is outsourcing, the dominance of incumbent providers, or a lack of central government guidance to blame for the low number of councils using G-Cloud?  Continue Reading

• 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

• How database virtualisation helped the European Bioinformatics Institute save datacentre space

  The European Bioinformatics Institute recently scooped the award for Best Datacentre Project at the CW European User Awards, and here's why  Continue Reading

• Where next for virtualisation?

  CIOs met to discuss the past, present and future of virtualisation at Computer Weekly's CW500 Club in June 2015  Continue Reading

• Software-defined networking in Europe: The state of play

  What stage of the evolution of software-defined networking are we really at, and when will the hype turn to reality?  Continue Reading

• No more excuses - VDI is ready

  Over the years, it’s been easy to make excuses about why virtual desktop infrastructure projects failed or why VDI wasn’t ready for your environment  Continue Reading

• Cloud boosts demand for datacentres in Poland and eastern Europe

  The datacentre market in both central and eastern Europe and Poland has recorded double–digit growth  Continue Reading

• Preparing for mainstream cloud IT

  2015 is set to become the breakthrough year for cloud computing – and now the challenge of making the IT department cloud-ready begins  Continue Reading

• How to achieve optimum performance in a hybrid cloud

  As hybrid cloud systems become increasingly popular, we look at how to implement them and the advantages they can offer  Continue Reading

• Why 2015 won't be the year of software-defined everything

  With the technical and market parameters of SDE still taking shape, CIOs are in no rush to adopt, despite the hype going into overdrive  Continue Reading

• Making the most of AWS’s reserved instances

  What makes the CIO choose a cloud service? Is it the reliability of the service being offered, or the range of products?  Continue Reading

• Software-defined datacentres a work in progress

  IT managers need to adopt interim SDDC offerings and build on them as the technology matures  Continue Reading

• 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

• Network strategies for 2015

  Looking at the bigger picture provides an opportunity to assess what emerging companies are doing to redefine networking thinking  Continue Reading

• Cisco is missing the transition to software-defined networks

  Little doubt remains that the future of networking will be defined by software, but market-watchers warn Cisco is missing this move  Continue Reading

• 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

• 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

• Microsoft vies with VMware in the virtual machine market

  VMware launched live migration in 2003. Since then, its capabilities have seen many enhancements, but Microsoft is starting to catch up  Continue Reading

• 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

• Choosing chips for next-generation datacentres

  Why your next datacentre refresh should encompass alternative chip architectures.  Continue Reading

• CIO Interview: Gary Steen, CTO, TalkTalk

  Gary Steen, CTO at ISP TalkTalk, says transforming internal IT will help him meet growing demands for superfast data connectivity  Continue Reading

• Harnessing the power of cloud with VMware vCloud Automation Center (vCAC)

  Firms planning an SDDC strategy need a tool to manage, automate and orchestrate their IT - such as VMware vCloud Automation Centre  Continue Reading

• Software asset management is key to datacentre planning

  An ordered approach to managing software and hardware assets is essential to maximising your datacentre  Continue Reading

• 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

• Virtualisation is reshaping the network

  Network functions virtualisation aims to reduce network complexity by decreasing the reliance on hardware. We look the implications for IT  Continue Reading

• 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