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.
-
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
-
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
-
News
22 Jul 2013
European banking firm UniCredit to introduce cloud in its datacentres
European banking firm UniCredit has signed a multi-billion dollar deal with IBM to bring cloud into its datacentres Continue Reading
-
News
18 Jul 2013
Hidden cost of cloud computing is CIOs’ biggest concern
A study into attitudes and concerns relating to cloud computing has revealed that 80% of CIOs are concerned about its hidden costs Continue Reading
-
News
16 Jul 2013
IT energy consumption lower than previously claimed
Research has debunked the myth that consuming IT and media services on mobile devices is hurting the environment Continue Reading
-
News
15 Jul 2013
Lower uptake of cloud, ICT limiting medium-sized enterprises' productivity: CEBR
Medium-sized enterprises in the UK lagging behind large businesses in terms of productivity, because of lower adoption of ICT and cloud Continue Reading
-
Feature
08 Jul 2013
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
-
Feature
03 Jul 2013
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
-
News
28 Jun 2013
Power supply is top consideration when choosing datacentres, shows study
Power supply is most important to managers choosing a new datacentre, says UK and European Data Centre Barometer study Continue Reading
-
News
28 Jun 2013
Datacentres must be tuned to the application in the mobile-cloud era: Cisco
Cloud, big data and mobile applications are challenging the traditional datacentre infrastructure, says Cisco Continue Reading
-
News
27 Jun 2013
How BP made its IT future-ready with a hybrid cloud infrastructure
BP bridged its cloud gap with a cautious and calculated approach using a mix of private cloud, public cloud and in-house IT infrastructure Continue Reading
-
News
13 Jun 2013
Inadequate datacentre infrastructure is a barrier to big data analytics
Inadequate datacentre infrastructure and siloed work practices are preventing UK enterprises from benefiting from big data analytics, shows study Continue Reading
-
News
13 Jun 2013
Serco outsources IT infrastructure and transformation
Business service provider Serco contracts SunGard for its UK IT infrastructure that will help Serco increase its cloud services Continue Reading
-
News
11 Jun 2013
Frimley Park NHS deploys VDI for efficiency and BYOD
When the NHS trust came under pressure to make its IT budget go further, it opted to deploy VDI in its A&E department Continue Reading
-
News
10 Jun 2013
Can Dell survive in the cloud era despite killing its public cloud offering?
Dell has ditched its public cloud IaaS in favour of partner cloud programme. But will the strategy help secure its future in the cloud era? Continue Reading
-
News
07 Jun 2013
Users’ top datacentre pain points
Storage, network bandwidth, cost and scalability are among the biggest datacentre concerns, say users at Dell Enterprise Forum US Continue Reading
-
Photo Story
03 Jun 2013
Windows Server 2012 R2: a first look
Microsoft has announced Windows Server 2012 R2, which brings Azure technology to private clouds Continue Reading
-
Feature
31 May 2013
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
-
Feature
30 May 2013
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
-
News
29 May 2013
AMD launches low-power server processors to rival Intel's Atom
AMD has launched Opteron X-Series low-power server processors that it claims “beat the top-performing Intel Atom processor” Continue Reading
-
News
29 May 2013
UK cloud firm Iomart sees annual profits soar by 56%
Cloud computing company Iomart has reported a pre-tax profit up 56% to £10.7m for the year ending March 2013 Continue Reading
-
News
24 May 2013
Eurovision Song Contest app built and delivered via Google's cloud platform
Service providers Scalr and Grandcentrix used Google Compute Engine to build the app for the second largest television event Continue Reading
-
News
23 May 2013
UCL turns to private cloud to solve its data storage woes
University College London is building a storage infrastructure in the cloud that will scale up to 100PB Continue Reading
-
News
08 May 2013
Domino’s Pizza plans to move web services to the cloud
After using cloud for testing and development apps, Domino’s Pizza is now looking to move its web services to the cloud Continue Reading
-
News
07 May 2013
SME Arcus brings AWS IaaS and PaaS to public sector with G-Cloud
UK SME Arcus Global has become the first certified Amazon Web Services reseller on the government’s third G-Cloud framework Continue Reading
-
E-Zine
30 Apr 2013
Go for green
Due to rising electricity costs and green legislation, green IT is no longer just a boardroom discussion but a reality for many European businesses. CW Europe looks at how to reduce running costs in the datacentre and throughout the business, with energy-efficient technologies. Continue Reading
-
News
29 Apr 2013
Cloud critical to e-governance in India
The Government of India is expanding e-governance throughout the country and is working on embracing cloud computing for it. Continue Reading
-
News
18 Apr 2013
IT rationalisation must be combined with layoffs for long-term savings
Long-term IT cost reduction requires more than just server consolidation and cuts to software licences, says Gartner Continue Reading
-
News
09 Apr 2013
CIO interview: Mary Hensher, IT director, Cancer Research UK
Charity Cancer Research has felt the impact of recession on fundraising and the need to innovate through technology is more important than ever Continue Reading
-
Podcast
08 Apr 2013
Big data storage: Defining big data and the type of storage it needs
Big data storage: What is big data, what compute/storage system configurations are used for big data analytics, and what type of storage infrastructure does it require? Continue Reading
-
Feature
04 Apr 2013
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
-
Opinion
25 Mar 2013
Securing the hypervisor: expert tips
There are many potential security issues with the various components of a virtualised infrastructure, and nowhere is this more of a concern than with the hypervisor platforms that host virtual systems and application instances Continue Reading
-
News
18 Mar 2013
FM, IT and Data Centres
Are Facilities and IT data centre managers implacable enemies, or is it a case of different work priorities, asks analyst Clive Longbottom. Continue Reading
-
News
18 Mar 2013
CW Buyer's Guide: Green Computing
Computer Weekly looks at technologies that can help your datacentre become cost and energy efficient in this 11 page Buyer's Guide. Continue Reading
-
News
17 Mar 2013
Human error most likely cause of datacentre downtime, finds study
Human error such as inadvertently adjusting the temperature or pulling power cords from an asset are biggest causes of datacentre downtime Continue Reading
-
News
06 Mar 2013
Iceland prepares to lure Silicon Valley IT giants to build datacentres
Despite having the facilities to build a green datacentre, big firms such as Apple, Facebook and Google have not opted for a base in Iceland Continue Reading
-
News
01 Mar 2013
Verne Global expands green datacentre footprint in Iceland
Verne Global has selected Colt's UK-made modular datacentres to expand its Icelandic facility Continue Reading
-
News
26 Feb 2013
DDN launches hScaler Hadoop appliance for enterprises
HPC and clustered NAS supplier Data Direct Networks aims at enterprise customers with Hadoop appliance comprising its SFA12K storage and commodity compute components Continue Reading
-
News
22 Feb 2013
Tesco to host private cloud infrastructure within its internal datacentres
Tesco will run a private cloud infrastructure from its internal datacentre to host its website and retail related apps Continue Reading
-
News
20 Feb 2013
British businesses are not making most of the cloud, study shows
British businesses have yet to make the most of cloud computing services because many are hesitant to adopt it Continue Reading
-
News
20 Feb 2013
Action for Children takes fundraising to the cloud with Rackspace
Charity Action for Children has overcome its website traffic issues and has saved costs by using Rackspace cloud Continue Reading
-
Feature
18 Feb 2013
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
-
News
15 Feb 2013
IT budgets to grow in 2013 as economy bumps along
UK IT departments are planning to spend more on IT in 2013 despite the downturn, a worldwide survey of IT managers has revealed Continue Reading
-
Photo Story
08 Feb 2013
BYOD with VMware
New Windows 8 tablets and laptops are great...but not exactly corporate. So why not run a Windows 7 virtual machine? Continue Reading
-
News
08 Feb 2013
2e2 datacentre administrators hold customers' data to £1m ransom
Administrators of insolvent datacentre services provider 2e2 have asked customers for £1m in funding if they want uninterrupted services Continue Reading
-
News
05 Feb 2013
Totaljobs hires public cloud services for agility, better performance
Totaljobs Group, the recruiter that runs Totaljobs.com, adopts AWS public cloud to improve IT performance and have an agile infrastructure Continue Reading
-
Feature
05 Feb 2013
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
-
News
31 Jan 2013
Capacity management most underestimated cloud problem
Capacity management is the most underestimated problem of cloud computing, says Morgan Stanley strategy director Evangelos Kotsovinos Continue Reading
-
News
31 Jan 2013
Case study: Menzies Aviation upgrades in-house datacentre
Menzies Aviation has updated its three internal datacentres with new servers, storage and cooling products rather than invest in cloud computing Continue Reading
-
News
29 Jan 2013
Windsor and Maidenhead council migrates services to cloud
Windsor and Maidenhead borough council will migrate critical services such as childcare, benefits and transport services to the cloud by 2014 Continue Reading
-
News
28 Jan 2013
Enterprises bringing data back in-house for more flexibility, shows study
European enterprises are improving their internal datacentres and storing data in-house rather than on the external cloud Continue Reading
-
News
28 Jan 2013
Travel service provider Concur builds datacentres in Europe to support growth
Integrated travel and expenses service provider, Concur Technologies, has built colocation datacentres to cater to European customers Continue Reading
-
News
22 Jan 2013
National Rail Enquiries puts web services on the public cloud
National Rail Enquiries is migrating applications that power its home page, online journey planner service and real-time service updates on to AWS cloud Continue Reading
-
News
21 Jan 2013
Interview: Alan Clark, chairman, OpenStack Foundation
Alan Clark, chairman of the board of the OpenStack Foundation, talks to Computer Weekly about the future of cloud and the role of open source Continue Reading
-
Feature
18 Jan 2013
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
-
News
11 Jan 2013
Whiptail tops the class with flash array plus SAN two-tier strategy
School slashes virtual desktop login times with two-tier Whiptail flash array plus budget Huawei SAN Continue Reading
-
Feature
17 Dec 2012
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
-
E-Zine
13 Dec 2012
Realise the benefits of virtualisation in safety
Many benefits come attached to virtualisation, however with it spreading into a variety of technology areas it is important that IT professionals keep up with the skills and expertise that is required of them to ensure their business remains safe and efficient. CW Europe looks at how European businesses are utilising the technology. This month’s digital magazine brings you the leading stories and expert tips from across Europe. Continue Reading
-
News
12 Dec 2012
Free tool that tracks costs of AWS, Azure and Rackspace public clouds launched
Apptio has launched Cloud Express, a free tool that allows enterprises to track the utilisation rate and costs of AWS, Azure and Rackspace public clouds Continue Reading
-
News
06 Dec 2012
CW Buyer's Guide: Desktop virtualisation
This eight-page buyer's guide looks at desktop virtualisation and identifies some of the options IT directors must consider when planning a virtualisation project. Continue Reading
-
News
06 Dec 2012
Case Study: Tesco's £65 million data centre strategy to drive online growth
This Computer Weekly case study, packed with photographs and data, gives the inside story of Tesco's £65 million data centre strategy. Continue Reading
-
News
06 Dec 2012
VMworld Europe Case Study: DER Deutsches Reisebüro
A Germany travel agent gained control of its IT and increased its profits after implementing a desk top virtualisation project. Continue Reading
-
News
06 Dec 2012
VMWorld Case Study: Catalent Pharma Solutions
A robust virtulisation, back-up and disaster recovery plan, helped Catalent Pharma Solutions survive an earthquake, tsunami and a fire in 2011. Continue Reading
-
News
06 Dec 2012
VMworld Europe Case Study: Colt Technology
Managed service provider Colt designed and rolled out a scalable, cloud-hosted desktop virtualisation project that is reaping benefits for local councils. Continue Reading
-
News
21 Nov 2012
Firms must measure overall environmental impact of datacentres
IT must move beyond just measuring a datacentre’s power consumption to assessing its overall environmental impact to make it truly sustainable Continue Reading
-
Feature
12 Nov 2012
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
-
News
08 Nov 2012
Oracle buys cloud services provider Instantis
Oracle is buying Instantis, a cloud and on-premise project portfolio management company, to boost its cloud portfolio Continue Reading
-
News
05 Nov 2012
VMworld Europe 2012 User Awards The National Trust
For many, a green datacentre and a reduced carbon footprint strategy is a nice-to-have, but it was the driving factor behind a virtualisation project at the National Trust. The project has allowed the charity to reduce its carbon emissions and drastically cut its IT energy consumption. Continue Reading
-
News
05 Nov 2012
VMworld Europe 2012 User Awards Tiger Wheel and Tyre
Case Study: Tyre company innovates with back-up and replication in a virtualised IT estate Using virtualisation as a cost-effective alternative to refreshing an ageing physical server environment has helped tyre company Tiger Wheel and Tyre improve its R&D. The project has also enabled the team to future-proof its infrastructure and embrace new trends such as bring your own device (BYOD) to give the business a competitive edge. Continue Reading
-
News
29 Oct 2012
Cheshire Constabulary polices network with SolarWinds
Police force in Cheshire uses SolarWinds’ infrastructure monitoring tools to keep its IT out of trouble Continue Reading
-
News
24 Oct 2012
CIO interview: Gerry Pennell, CIO, London 2012 Olympic Games
As the job of a lifetime nears its end, London 2012 CIO Gerry Pennell talks exclusively to Computer Weekly about his Olympic experience Continue Reading
-
News
22 Oct 2012
RBS spends £80m to link its multiple mainframes better
The Royal Bank of Scotland will dedicate £80m of its massive IT budget to eliminate problems caused by its mainframe infrastructure Continue Reading
-
News
18 Oct 2012
Google offers Street View of datacentres
Google offers Street View of its datacentres and a virtual tour of how users' data is stored, with an emphasis on security practices Continue Reading
-
News
12 Oct 2012
VMworld Europe 2012: Key highlights and technology takeaways
VMworld Europe 2012 focused on software defined datacentres, cloud automation, mobile virtualisation, heterogeneity and building new IT skills Continue Reading
-
News
11 Oct 2012
VMworld 2012: Shift in cloud use says Lufthansa Systems
Lufthansa Systems chief information officer Jorg Liebe shares his views on cloud computing and a shift in use of public, private and hybrid cloud Continue Reading
-
News
10 Oct 2012
VMworld Europe: Horizon Suite to help IT manage corporate assets on Apple iOS
VMware is launching a suite of products to help IT executives manage workspace apps on consumers’ mobile devices including on Apple iPhones securely Continue Reading
-
News
10 Oct 2012
VMworld Europe 2012 kicks off in Barcelona
VMworld Europe 2012 opens with updates from VMware on the cloud and new management suites Continue Reading
-
Photo Story
10 Oct 2012
Best of VMworld Europe User Awards 2012: Winners
The winners of the Best of VMworld Europe User Awards 2012 have been announced. Find all the pics from the awards here and details of the winning projects. Continue Reading
-
News
10 Oct 2012
Complex and non-transparent Oracle licensing costing firms millions
Companies virtualising Oracle databases with VMware platforms face millions in penalties over non-compliance Continue Reading
-
News
09 Oct 2012
Case study: How to virtualise SAP and migrate from IBM onto x86
At VMworld Europe Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores gave an overview of how it virtualised an SAP environment and migrated from an IBM mainframe to x86 Continue Reading
-
Opinion
08 Oct 2012
Customer relationship management vs business relationship management
Business relationship management (BRM) and customer relationship management (CRM) are different, yet must work hand-in-hand Continue Reading
-
News
03 Oct 2012
Case study: How WorldPay built its IT from scratch after RBS split
Former RBS payment processing division WorldPay will reach a major IT milestone this month on its journey to stand on its own since it was sold in 2010 Continue Reading
-
News
01 Oct 2012
Practical Data Migration: PDMv2
Data Migration expert Johny Morris, explains how organisations can use the PDMv2 methodology to overcome common data migration problems. Continue Reading
-
News
28 Sep 2012
Google opens €75m energy-efficient datacentre facility in Dublin
Google’s new €75m Dublin datacentre facility that that uses air-cooling for energy efficency is now operational Continue Reading
-
News
26 Sep 2012
Need for increased network bandwidth is IT's biggest datacentre pain-point
A majority of IT executives have said that a growing demand for increased network bandwidth is one of the most critical issues facing their datacentres Continue Reading
-
Photo Story
24 Sep 2012
The future of computing at IBM Zurich research labs
Chips powered by the sun and cooled by water are just some of the long-term research projects at IBM's Zurich labs Continue Reading
-
Feature
24 Sep 2012
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
-
News
21 Sep 2012
Facebook engineer builds heatmap tool for datacentre troubleshooting
A Facebook engineer has built a server-monitoring tool using heatmaps to assess the status of cache systems and fix datacentre problems Continue Reading
-
News
18 Sep 2012
Next Generation Datacentres: The Cloud
Analysts Clive Longbottom and Bob Tarzey reveal the latest research on the deployment of cloud in the datacentre. Continue Reading
-
Tip
07 Sep 2012
How centralised storage and server-based computing help IT face BYOD
Study shows that UK and EU IT pros are still scared of BYOD. But IT can overcome these BYOD fears. Here's how. Continue Reading
-
News
15 Aug 2012
Virtualisation, backup and recovery tool helps firm beat data woes
Virtualising IT was only half a battle won for an advertising agency. Selecting an apt data backup and recovery tool to optimise its virtual infrastructure was equally important. Continue Reading
-
News
02 Jul 2012
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V: What features get users' thumbs up
Admins who have downloaded Windows Server 2012 RC give thumbs up to the new version of Hyper-V, inclusion of high-end features in free Hyper-V, and shared nothing live migration. Continue Reading
-
Tip
27 Jun 2012
Five things that can make or break your virtual desktop infrastructure
IT pros looking to implement a virtual desktop infrastructure project must have a strategy for storage, application virtualisation and must understand desktop users to succeed. Continue Reading
-
News
20 Jun 2012
VMware admins advised to apply patches to ESX, ESXi quickly
IT pros are urged to install security patches that VMware has released to address critical vulnerabilities in virtualisation products such as ESX, ESXi, Fusion and Workstation. Continue Reading
-
Tip
15 Jun 2012
DCIM: what it is and what it does
Data Centre Infrastructure Management holds unquestionable worth, but with the wealth of DCIM tools in the market, IT managers must choose carefully. Continue Reading
-
Tip
13 Jun 2012
Gartner’s fabric computing insights
According to Gartner, fabric computing has evolved over the past two years, and is here to stay. Read further for fabric computing implementation insights. Continue Reading
-
News
07 Jun 2012
Microsoft launches support for Linux on Windows Azure
Microsoft’s cloud platform Windows Azure now supports Linux-based operating systems and languages such as Python and PHP. It includes IaaS capabilities to build hybrid cloud. Continue Reading
-
News
25 May 2012
Is Dell eyeing Quest Software following its Wyse acquisition?
Dell may acquire Quest Software to expand its desktop virtualisation offerings and gain Quest’s customers. Experts wonder if there is too much product overlap for such a deal to make sense. Continue Reading
-
Tip
25 May 2012
Data centre design: Using engineered racks, pods and containers
IT pros must adopt a new approach to data centre design and consider using engineered racks, pods and containerised systems for better scalability, capacity and efficiency. Continue Reading
-
News
23 May 2012
Microsoft volume licensing costs to increase up to 33.5%
Microsoft will increase its volume licensing prices in the UK between 7.5% and 33.5% starting July 1 to maintain price consistency owing to the sustained currency difference in Europe. Continue Reading
-
Feature
14 May 2012
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
-
Photo Story
10 May 2012
10 Indian server virtualization implementations you can learn from
Successful server virtualization implementation is more than just an install. Here’s a collection of Indian case studies that highlight best practices. Continue Reading