Server virtualisation platforms and management

Get news and technical advice on virtualisation platforms, virtualisation management and strategy. Our resources weigh the pros and cons of virtualisation platforms (VMware, Hyper-V and XenServer) in light of your datacentre requirements and offer step-by-step guidance on virtualisation management tasks, such as installing Hyper-V or VMware, monitoring, troubleshooting and securing virtual machines, P2V, V2P, V2V migration, desktop virtualisation strategies, and more.

Opinion 28 Nov 2023
Uncertainty lingers with Broadcom’s VMware acquisition

Large enterprises with complex VMware environments are looking to de-risk their businesses from potential changes resulting from the Broadcom-VMware deal Continue Reading
News 07 Nov 2023
VMware consolidates AI push at Explore in Barcelona

VMware’s vision is of ‘cloud smart’ enterprises that run on-premise, in multiclouds and in the ‘edge cloud’, with secure and compliant generative AI fuelling efficient business processes Continue Reading

News 28 Aug 2017

VMware making bigger push into cloud, cyber security

The virtualisation bigwig is making it easier for VMware customers to adopt public cloud services, starting with a partnership with Amazon Web Services Continue Reading
News 17 Aug 2017

World's largest’ data center planned in Norway

Norway will soon have the biggest datacenter in the world which will harness the countries rich natural resources Continue Reading
News 24 Jul 2017

What are Amazon Web Services’ Nordic plans?

Amazon Web Services' head in the Nordic tells Computer Weekly about the region's increasing demand and use of the cloud Continue Reading
News 13 Jul 2017

The dawn of a new era for Dell EMC

Dell EMC’s Paul Henaghan is no stranger to industry consolidation, having worked for tech companies that were acquired by Oracle and Software AG. Here, the president of Dell EMC in South Asia and Korea shares what it is doing to streamline its salesforce, his views of the hyper-convergence space and the company’s strategy for tackling the APAC market Continue Reading
News 28 Jun 2017

DVLA aims to slash IT costs by moving to public cloud and open standards

Agency’s IT strategy for 2019/20 will see a concerted move to deprecate legacy systems, deploy applications in the cloud and develop in-house IT Continue Reading
News 22 Jun 2017

British Army draws on infrastructure refresh and automation to power DevOps drive

Army opens up about how a move to adopt a software-defined datacentre setup has helped DevOps to take hold in the organisation Continue Reading
News 22 Jun 2017

Red Hat launches open source hyper-converged infrastructure

Infrastructure bundles OS, hypervisor and storage software components from the open source distributor and is aimed at SMEs and remote office use cases Continue Reading
News 06 Jun 2017

Lloyds bank staff will move to IBM in outsourcing deal

About 1,500 IT staff at Lloyds Banking Group will join IBM as part of an IT infrastructure outsourcing agreement Continue Reading
News 25 May 2017

CBRE: Demand for colocation space in London holds firm in face of Brexit

The latest CBRE quarterly report, charting the performance of the European colocation market, shows demand for capacity in London has so far been unaffected by the triggering of Article 50 Continue Reading
News 10 May 2017

Nordic region competes for datacentre dominance

The Nordic region is an attractive region for datacentres as demand for cloud services in the area grows Continue Reading
News 28 Apr 2017

UBS reduces legacy dependence with Microsoft Azure

Swiss bank begins its strategy of moving core systems into the cloud Continue Reading
News 19 Apr 2017

Equinix tops global colocation leader boards on coverage and connectivity grounds

Colocation giant Equinix emerges as the one to beat in Cloudscene’s inaugural rankings of globe’s biggest datacentre service providers Continue Reading
E-Zine 13 Apr 2017

CW Middle East: UAE faces IT recruitment challenge

In this issue, read how organisations in the UAE face a challenge to attract and retain top-quality CIOs and other key IT staff as the region seeks to tackle a technology skills gap. Also, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has revealed that plans to unveil passenger-flying cars are in the final stages, with the initiative expected to launch in July 2017. Meanwhile, the UAE is mirroring global trends by eagerly adopting virtual reality technology. Continue Reading
News 11 Apr 2017

‘Can do’ attitude of DevOps teams is driving cloud-first strategies

The cloud-first strategies of businesses across sectors are maturing, with DevOps teams playing a leading role Continue Reading
E-Zine 11 Apr 2017

Virtual reality in healthcare

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how virtual reality technology is starting to be used to improve health and patient care. We examine the new UK tax laws that are causing IT contractors to quit government digital projects. And we analyse the software licensing issues arising from SAP’s recent court case over indirect access to its applications. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 10 Apr 2017

Spending forecast shows early signs of on-premise server demise

The datacentre equipment market appears to be indicating the long-term impact of cloud computing on server sales Continue Reading
E-Zine 28 Mar 2017

Making the UK fit for 5G

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at the government’s new 5G strategy and assess whether it’s enough to stimulate development of next generation mobile networks. We meet some of the Silicon Valley startups hoping to revolutionise big data analytics. And we examine how to prevent the move to DevOps from harming work-life balance for IT professionals. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
Opinion 23 Mar 2017

The rise of the ODMs: Should the branded hardware suppliers be worried?

The use of ODM datacentre hardware makes good economic sense for the hyperscale providers, but what about everyday enterprises? Continue Reading
News 13 Mar 2017

Nearly 2,000 Lloyds bank IT jobs set to move to IBM in £1.3bn outsourcing deal

Around 2,000 IT staff at Lloyds Banking Group are set to transfer to IBM as part of a seven-year IT outsourcing deal, says union Continue Reading
E-Zine 09 Mar 2017

CW Europe: Technology poses new risks to jobs, economies and society

Rapid advances in technology could have destabilising effects on employment and economic growth, and could exacerbate social unrest, the World Economic Forum (WEF) warned. Society’s failure to keep pace with technology change was a key risk under discussion at Davos in January. Continue Reading
E-Zine 12 Jan 2017

CW Middle East: UAE takes lead in autonomous car trials

Self-driving cars are one of the most exciting developments in technology. Companies like Google and Tesla are pioneering the technology. But it might be countries in the Middle East, with the poorest road safety records in the world that could benefit most. Despite significant regional spending on safety campaigns, the UAE still clocks up 12.7 road deaths per 100,000 people, with 30.4 in Oman, 24.8 in Saudi Arabia, 16.5 in Kuwait, 14 in Egypt and 13.2 in Qatar. In September Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) trialled a public driverless vehicle in the city’s Downtown area, running along a 700-metre trial route. Continue Reading
News 05 Jan 2017

HMV changes its IT tune to cut maintenance spend on legacy on-premise systems

The high street music retailer has embarked on a sizeable digital transformation project to cut costs and boost the agility of its business operations Continue Reading
E-Zine 13 Dec 2016

UKtech50 – the most influential people in UK IT 2016

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we reveal the seventh annual UKtech50 – our list of the 50 most influential people in UK IT. And we talk to this year’s winner, ARM CEO Simon Segars, about the prospects for the UK tech sector after the uncertainty caused by the Brexit referendum vote. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
E-Zine 01 Dec 2016

CW ASEAN: Building a digital future

In this month's CW ASEAN, read how Singapore is investing in technologies and skills to become a leader in the digital age. We analyze how the government has reorganized two departments to help digital technology prosper and hear from those in the finance and education sectors backing the move, as well as the man heading the newly formed department. We also look at how desktop virtualization will continue to grow in the Asean region, and focus on one example in Thailand, where the country’s health ministry is embracing virtualization in a push towards e-health. This issue also covers how organisations in Malaysia and Singapore are facing tough competition to attract the right skills to drive their IT strategies. Continue Reading
E-Zine 01 Dec 2016

CW ANZ: Virtually effortless storage

In this month's CW ANZ, we look at how although Australia was an early adopter of server virtualisation – with 85-90% of Australian servers already virtualised, compared with about 75% globally – Gartner predicts more virtualisation to come. This is a surprise to many. We also hear from freight forwarder IFC Logistics, which has completed a virtualisation journey to benefit from improved uptime, performance and peace of mind. We also cover Australia's adoption of an internet of things standard to help improve security, and how thousands of significant cyber incidents are hitting Australian organisations. Continue Reading
E-Zine 29 Nov 2016

Machine learning keeps customers happy at Ocado

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how data scientists at online grocer Ocado are using machine learning technology to deliver better customer service and improve warehouse efficiency. Manufacturing giant GE is making a play to become a top 10 software supplier – we look at the plans. And we examine the future of server operating systems as workloads move increasingly to the cloud. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 04 Nov 2016

CenturyLink sells datacentre portfolio to private equity consortium

Telco brings an end to months of speculation about its datacentre plans by confirming it has reached a deal to offload 57 sites to BC Partners Continue Reading
E-Zine 20 Oct 2016

Reinventing Bahrain’s Kanoo Group through digital technology

In this quarter’s CW Middle East ezine, we feature the IT journeys of three companies in the region with detailed analysis of recent IT projects that were designed to support business transformation in a changing world. We hear how Bahrain-based conglomerate Kanoo Group is dealing with a company-wide digital transformation, Zahid Group’s biggest-ever IT investment, and how Rotana Hotels is centralising security. Continue Reading
News 19 Oct 2016

Cloud backup saves data after fire destroys school

Data from The Academy secondary school in the seaside town of Selsey was restored just hours after a fire destroyed most of the premises, thanks to a cloud backup agreement set up a year earlier Continue Reading
News 14 Oct 2016

VMware and AWS joint venture to help enterprises manage multi-cloud environments

Virtualisation giant VMware reinforces its commitment to helping enterprises manage multi-cloud deployments with AWS partnership Continue Reading
News 11 Oct 2016

IR35 dispute prompts mass walkout of IT contractors from MoD agency

Public sector IT contractors leave UK Hydrographic Office en masse over IR35 clampdown, Computer Weekly understands Continue Reading
News 10 Oct 2016

More virtualisation to come in mature Australian market

Australia has been hailed as a rapidly growing market for mobile virtualisation Continue Reading
Feature 03 Oct 2016

Neutron’s role evolves in OpenStack networks

We examine the progress of Neutron, OpenStack’s cloud networking module Continue Reading
Feature 28 Sep 2016

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
News 16 Sep 2016

Mirantis acquires TCP Cloud in continuous delivery push for OpenStack deployments

OpenStack distribution provider claims TCP Cloud acquisition will ensure its customers' infrastructure is equipped to cope with the rate of application innovation they are demanding Continue Reading
E-Zine 13 Sep 2016

Dell Technologies aims for an intelligent, connected future

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as Dell and EMC complete the largest IT supplier merger in history, we look at the new $74bn company’s strategy and what it means for IT leaders. Our latest buyer’s guide examines a key aspect of cloud – cloud bursting, used for dynamic capacity management. And we assess the latest views on the UK government’s plans for internet surveillance legislation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
Feature 12 Sep 2016

The pros and cons of cloud bursting

The much-vaunted benefits of cloud computing can be overshadowed by portability and interoperability issues Continue Reading
News 07 Sep 2016

Combined Dell and EMC company targets intelligent things

The $74bn merger of Dell and EMC has created a technology giant with a remit to expand into the software-defined datacentre space to support IoT Continue Reading
E-Zine 02 Aug 2016

Giving fashion a digital makeover

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how one of the UK’s biggest mail order retailers – N Brown, owner of JD Williams and Simply Be – is moving to digital. We examine the growing importance of network function virtualisation and what it means for CIOs. And a year after Microsoft turned Lync into Skype for Business, we assess how the unified communications product is faring. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 04 Jul 2016

Thailand’s TMB Bank modernises IT through the cloud

Bank used a move to Office 365 as a starting point for its transformation into a cloud-first organisation Continue Reading
News 20 Jun 2016

Singapore to pioneer tropical datacentre

If successful, trial would prove that datacentres can function optimally at temperatures of up to 38°C and humidity of up to, or exceeding, 90% Continue Reading
Feature 01 Jun 2016

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
News 09 May 2016

Lenovo expands x86 server production to Europe

Chinese hardware manufacturer claims move will result in faster delivery times and lower costs for European customers Continue Reading
Feature 14 Apr 2016

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
Feature 08 Apr 2016

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
News 09 Mar 2016

Hyperscale computing boosts server revenue

The likes of Google, Facebook and Microsoft have bolstered server sales as they build increasingly powerful scale-out datacentres Continue Reading
News 01 Feb 2016

Göteborg Energi outsources IT with €40m deal

Nordic energy company will use outsourcing agreement as a platform to modernise its IT environment Continue Reading
News 27 Jan 2016

VMware to cut 800 jobs in cloud-focused company restructure

Virtualisation company VMware confident adoption of software-defined datacentres will offset softening demand for older products Continue Reading
News 26 Jan 2016

Wal-Mart to make huge data and analytics investment in India

Retail giant Wal-Mart is investing heavily in its IT development centre in Bangalore, turning the city into its most important centre outside the US Continue Reading
E-Zine 17 Dec 2015

CW Europe – December 2015

In this issue we study the meteoric rise of flash storage in Europe. Initially perceived as an expensive and high risk investment, flash has become mainstream and by the end of the decade will be present in the vast majority of the continent's datacentres. Continue Reading
News 10 Dec 2015

Datacentre operators must "open up" to close industry skills gap, claims IO

IO business development director Andrew Roughan said more must be done to encourage a wider range and higher number people into the datacentre industry Continue Reading
News 07 Dec 2015

Low-cost Nordics expect datacentre growth

The Nordics offers advantages as a datacentre location, with each of its five countries offering something different Continue Reading
News 02 Nov 2015

Australia's outsourced datacentre market rising on back of cloud computing

Datacentre investment in Australia is growing fast as corporates use data-intensive applications delivered via the cloud Continue Reading
News 13 Oct 2015

VMware reacts to the cloud and containerisation

At VMworld Europe, VMware restates products and roadmap visions that see it react to the perceived inevitability of the cloud, while also getting a grip on containers Continue Reading
News 29 Sep 2015

Universal Credit digital service moves into the cloud

New system under trial in south London has been migrated to an IaaS platform ready for further roll-out Continue Reading
Feature 11 Aug 2015

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
News 14 Jul 2015

Anyone still running Windows Server 2003 is now at risk

Businesses still running Windows server 2003 are vulnerable to attack from hackers looking to exploit security holes Continue Reading
E-Zine 13 Jul 2015

The most influential women in UK IT 2015

In this week's Computer Weekly, we reveal our annual list of the 50 most influential women in UK IT – and talk to this year's winner, Citrix vice-president Jacqueline de Rojas. Also, we look at how ARM chips are making inroads into the datacentre as energy awareness becomes a growing corporate IT issue. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
Feature 08 Jul 2015

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
News 30 Jun 2015

Windows Server 2003 end of support: Five options to choose from

Support for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 ends in July. Should you upgrade to a newer version of the operating system or choose an alternative? Continue Reading
News 25 Jun 2015

John Swainson, president of Dell Software, argues the case for rethinking datacentres

Having previously worked for Silver Lake, CA and IBM, Swainson now heads the company’s software business Continue Reading
News 03 Jun 2015

VMware puts network virtualisation to work in McAfee environments

VMware announces an integrated system to automate distribution and enforcement of McAfee’s network security platform using its NSX network virtualisation system Continue Reading
News 29 May 2015

Computer Weekly European User Awards 2015 shortlist

Find out who made the Computer Weekly European User Awards 2015 shortlist Continue Reading
News 09 Apr 2015

Strong dollar may shift server upgrades off-premise

The strong US dollar will influence how CIOs spend their 2015 IT budgets. Server price hikes may drive spending to the cloud Continue Reading
News 04 Mar 2015

Strong future for enterprise IT in Nordic countries

From attracting the world to its ice-cool datacentres to the digitisation of the public sector, there is plenty going on in the Nordic region Continue Reading
News 03 Feb 2015

VMware boosts Hadoop and Hana with vSphere 6

VMware has unveiled vSphere 6, the latest version of its virtualisation platform Continue Reading
Feature 22 Jan 2015

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
News 21 Jan 2015

IBM revenue declines as company shifts to higher value deals

IBM has reported a 12% decline in profits for the fourth quarter of 2014 following the sale of its System x business to Lenovo Continue Reading
Feature 09 Jan 2015

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
News 07 Jan 2015

Oracle will lose out unless it changes its software licensing

In an open letter, Campaign for Clear Licensing highlights the risk to Oracle’s future earnings due to aggressive licensing Continue Reading
News 30 Dec 2014

Case study: How VMware’s vCloud meets customer needs

Cloud innovation winner of the Computer Weekly European User Awards for datacentre/storage 2014, VMware, shares its story Continue Reading
Feature 11 Dec 2014

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
Feature 01 Dec 2014

Networking technologies emerging in the enterprise

We look at the latest networking technologies on offer, and those being adopted in the enterprise Continue Reading
News 14 Nov 2014

Amazon unveils Docker-friendly container service and EC2 instance

Amazon has launched its free, Docker-friendly EC2 container management service Continue Reading
Feature 15 Oct 2014

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
News 08 Oct 2014

The challenges facing HP as it splits in two

HP is splitting its business in two - but it is a reaction to the changing way that businesses and consumers buy IT Continue Reading
News 29 Sep 2014

ARM enters mainstream datacentre with HP’s ProLiant Moonshot servers

ARM chips have entered mainstream enterprise datacentre with HP's production-ready ARM-powered Moonshot servers Continue Reading
News 29 Sep 2014

Case study: Deutsche Post DHL develops software contract templates to reduce costs

Deutsche Post DHL has created contract templates to manage software costs. Computer Weekly speaks to the people leading the initiative Continue Reading
Feature 23 Sep 2014

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
News 02 Sep 2014

Why bare metal cloud is in vogue

Bare metal services have been around since 2009 but cloud is witnessing renewed interest in it thanks to new offerings Continue Reading
News 29 Aug 2014

Windows Server 2003 EOL: HP seeks to cash in as IBM-Lenovo deal yet to close

As enterprises look to refresh their infrastructure, HP is playing the stability card to win deals as IBM and Dell are mired by uncertainties Continue Reading
News 11 Aug 2014

Intel watches ARM as low-powered computing thrives

As the PC market continues to decline, ARM is proving that non-x86 chips have a long and prosperous future Continue Reading
E-Zine 04 Aug 2014

Driving virtualisation into pole position in Formula One

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how the Caterham F1 team has used virtualisation in its trackside technology to help improve race performance. We analyse how growing competition in the cloud market is affecting Amazon Web Services’ dominant position. And we look at silicon photonics, an emerging datacentre technology that promises better connectivity and reduced complexity. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 31 Jul 2014

£700m government hosting deal limits bidders to North-East England datacentre

Want to win the £700m Crown Hosting Service contract? You'll need a major datacentre near Newcastle to stand any chance Continue Reading
News 25 Jul 2014

AWS feels the pressure of cloud competition

AWS became the gold standard of public cloud. But are price wars, hybrid cloud and increased competition denting its growth? Continue Reading
Feature 13 Jun 2014

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
News 09 Jun 2014

Home Secretary Theresa May unveils datacentre in Maidenhead

Home Secretary Theresa May has opened a multi-million-pound extended datacentre, owned by UK cloud firm iomart Continue Reading
Feature 09 Jun 2014

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
News 29 May 2014

BSkyB retunes IT to ready-for-anything datacentre quad

British broadcaster BSkyB has based its IT on four core datacentres that are resilient, interconnected, energy-efficient and cloud-ready Continue Reading
News 23 May 2014

HP job cuts head towards the 50,000 mark as company tackles cost

A further 16000 jobs are set to go as HP continues to slash its workforce through a restructuring initiative which began in 2012 Continue Reading
News 09 May 2014

Facebook debuts ‘Rapid Deployment Data Centre’ design in Swedish facility

Facebook is expanding its Luleå datacentre in Sweden by deploying Rapid Deployment Data Centre (RDDC) design developed in collaboration with Emerson Power Network Continue Reading
News 28 Apr 2014

US judge orders Microsoft to hand over email data held in Dublin

A US Judge has ordered Microsoft to give the District Court access to the contents of one of its customer’s emails stored on a server located in Dublin Continue Reading
News 17 Apr 2014

Datacentre lessons learnt from Heartbleed bug

The Heartbleed bug, an OpenSSL flaw affecting millions of websites, has some lessons for datacentre providers and operators Continue Reading
News 15 Apr 2014

EU data privacy authorities approve Microsoft Azure, Office 365 cloud services

The European Union's data privacy authorities have given approval to Microsoft's cloud services including Windows Azure and Office 365 Continue Reading
News 10 Apr 2014

BT and Microsoft to offer secure fast lane to Azure cloud

Microsoft’s UK cloud chief hails service as critical step in supporting CEO Satya Nadella’s ambitious plans for global cloud dominance Continue Reading
Feature 28 Mar 2014

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
Feature 25 Mar 2014

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
News 18 Mar 2014

Oracle pushes Exadata servers aggressively against IBM PureSystems

IDC’s latest market share data for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), has shown that Oracle is beginning to grow its server business Continue Reading
News 18 Mar 2014

Global taskforce agrees on green datacentre metric

DCeP hopes to win widespread support as a useful and meaningful standard for measuring datacentre efficiency Continue Reading
News 07 Mar 2014

CIOs hold fire over datacentre decisions

When it comes to devising datacentre strategies, are CIOs paralysed like rabbits in the headlights, or playing a calculated game of wait and see? Continue Reading