There is no constant with server technology. The boundaries are constantly being pushed out as innovation marches on. Manufacturers push past the limits on a regular basis, fitting more processing power and memory into smaller, more efficient packages. Keeping on top of the rapidly changing server technology world and industry best practices is difficult at best. Purchasing decisions can be particularly agonizing, especially when an organization needs hardware that fits its computing demands without busting its budget. But we’re here to make sense of it all. We’ve assembled a collection of educational guides focused on server technology to help you make informed purchasing decisions, track and improve the performance of existing systems and manage complex virtual deployments.
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Today’s servers are expensive, high performance machines. So, getting the most out of those machines and keeping them running smoothly is critical to maximizing their value. However, maintaining high levels of server performance and keeping up with growing computing demands doesn’t happen on its own. Tracking performance and making the most of hardware resources is an ongoing process that can keep data center administrators busy. But, there are ways IT professionals can simplify server management while maintaining top performance. Benchmark testing can help administrators monitor server resources, manage utilization, optimize performance and even identify problems before they occur. Simple server configuration tweaks can squeeze more performance out of both physical and virtual machines (VMs). This guide will cover best practices for benchmark testing and includes valuable tips from our data center experts on how to improve server performance.
Selecting the right hardware directly affects the health and success of the overall business, so administrators should take the time to review their options and select systems that fit their business needs. But sometimes a hardware refresh isn’t that simple. Today, tight budgets and aggressive energy conservation initiatives have thrown a wrench into server refresh schedules in many organizations, leaving IT pros wondering how older server hardware will hold up over time. In this guide, we address several important aspects of the server hardware refresh process, including how to decide when it’s time to replace a server and how to get more out of hardware upgrade. We even offer advice for negotiating vendor contracts.
In today’s data center, IT administrators need their feet firmly planted in both the virtual and physical world. The advantages of virtualization — energy efficiency, adding space to cramped server rooms, workload flexibility — are clear. While modern hypervisors make creating multiple virtual machines on a single server a straightforward process, how do you avoid the big hurdles to maximize virtualization performance? This guide shares the tips from our experts that every IT professional should heed when making the virtual leap.