Data Center

Find news, reviews, and how-tos on data center management topics, including server virtualization, storage, data center energy use, cooling, and green IT.

Question

Why is using more than one anti-virus at the same time a bad idea?

Posted September 11, 2013 - 8:21 pm

I’ve always heard to be sure that only one anti-virus program is active on a computer. I’ve accepted this, and always followed the “rule” but why is this true. Why is it bad to have more than one anti-virus program?
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Question

How big is a “U” when measuring rack size?

Posted June 3, 2013 - 3:54 pm

Rack heights are usually given in “U”s. For example, pretty much all the racks in our office are 42U. Since they are pretty much exactly the same height as me, I’ve always pretty much thought of it as U = You, but obviously this doesn’t work if you are shorter/taller than me. Is there a conversion to a standard unit of measurement?
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Question

What should you look for in a data center facility?

Posted March 29, 2013 - 1:43 pm

We are looking at a couple companies for data backup and business recover solutions. Of course, every company has a "state of the art" facility, but here in the real world, what certifications and design choices are actually meaningful and important?
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Question

Can i have a graph showing what the latest technology mostly, moderately used, and least used by the people by year 2013.thanks

Posted January 14, 2013 - 3:11 am
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Question

Should data centers generate their own power?

Posted October 30, 2012 - 10:59 am

I woke up this morning to clocks flashing 12:00 all over my house due to overnight power outages. Judging from the number of sites that I've had trouble accessing today, I guess there are a lot of data centers and server farms that have flashing clocks on their coffee makers at the moment thanks to power outages caused by the hurricane.
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Question

What stood out in the views of Google's data centers that were just released?

Posted October 18, 2012 - 12:31 pm

Knowing how secretive Google generally is about their data centers, I was surprised that they released street view images of the inside of some of them this week. Other than seeing a stormtrooper (and that Google has a sense of humor), what stood out?
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Question

Will it be worthwhile to upgrade to Windows Server 2012?

Posted July 10, 2012 - 10:03 am

From what I understand, Windows Server 2012 will be released this fall, a few months after OEMs get a start installing it on new units. I haven't really had the chance to look at any prerelease versions. Is this an incremental upgrade, or is Windows Server 2012 a major update from Windows Server 2008 r 2?
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Question

What is a good choice for a hardware load balancer?

Posted April 9, 2012 - 3:16 pm

We have been using software load balancers for load balancing between servers used for web hosting, but with mixed results. While we have seen the benefits of speed increases, stability has been less than optimal.
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Question

What is your definition of "Big Data

Posted March 27, 2012 - 3:44 pm

Big data is a hot topic these days. John Burke from Nemertes describes Big Data as "...data coming at (users) from new sources, in unprecedented volumes, and with different usage patterns".
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Question

What is a good choice for a cable validator/certifier?

Posted March 14, 2012 - 1:43 pm

I have to test dozens of cables that are destined for use in a data centre that someone else has already tested for continuity. I do not think that this is at all adequate for this purpose, so I want to go back and make certain that they are all Cat6a compliant. Any suggestions for a good validator/certifier?
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Question

What PerfMon counters are added to a Windows server when you install XenApp 6?

Posted March 9, 2012 - 11:58 am

When you install Citrix XenApp6 on a Windows server, which PerfMon counters are added?
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Question

What downsides have you experienced from overclocking a server?

Posted February 27, 2012 - 3:28 pm

Have you seen significant negative effects from overclocking? Overall, considering the costs/benefits, is it worthwhile to overclock a server, or are there enough drawbacks to keep from doing it?
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Question

What can be done to control noise levels in data centers?

Posted February 14, 2012 - 10:53 am

The sound level in our data center is so high that it interferes with conversation, not to mention concentration. The decibel level has been periodically checked using sound meters, and the highest we have recorded was 81 decibels, less than the 85 decibel level that would trigger OSHA restrictions.
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Question

What is the difference between unified and converged storage?

Posted January 27, 2012 - 1:36 pm

I understand that converged storage grew out of the unified model, and is supposed to be superior. What is the functional difference between the two and what advantages does converged storage offer?
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Question

Is Hadoop a reasonable choice for businesses that don't have a some sort of large-scale need for analytics?

Posted January 6, 2012 - 4:43 pm
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Question

How much are you willing to boost the heat in your data center?

Posted January 4, 2012 - 4:20 pm

Heat has traditionally been the enemy in the data center. Most companies spend tons of money to cool them, I've seen estimates that 1.5% of all power worldwide is used to control data center temperatures, which is an amazing amount of power consumption. Our data center is currently kept at 20 degrees C (68F).
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Question

How can data transmission speed in data centers be increased?

Posted December 23, 2011 - 12:55 pm

A constant bottleneck in data centers is experienced when data is moved between machines. During busy moments, the level of congestion can cause significant issues and slow performance.
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Question

How do you make the choice between a dedicated server or VPS for small business use?

Posted December 19, 2011 - 2:53 pm

The big push towards the cloud has created decisions for small business that did not have to be made a couple of years ago. The decision I'm looking at is the choice between a dedicated server and VPS (Virtual Private Server).
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Question

What are the advantages (or disadvantages) of NoSQL over SQL?

Posted December 13, 2011 - 12:42 pm

It seems that NoSQL is a pretty broad term, and there are now dozens of companies that offer NoSQL databases. SQL has been around longer, but has it been superseded/replaced by NoSQL, or are the two really aimed towards different users?
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Question

How well does Amahi Home Server function for use in a small business?

Posted December 9, 2011 - 12:35 pm

Amahi Home Server seems like it could be an affordable option for use in my business, which is not exactly Fortune 500 in scale. It allows network backup, file sharing, application sharing, disk pooling and monitoring, etc. I'm tempted to give it a go. You can check it out at www.amahi.org
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Question

How much credence do you put in the claim that preventative maintenance of data centers results in decreased reliability?

Posted November 28, 2011 - 2:30 pm

The president of MTechnology claimed during his keynote speech at the 24x7 Exchange Fall Conference that preventative maintenance of data centers is the most common threat to reliability. Essentially, his position is that maintenance often introduces new defects and can disrupt optimal configurations for reliable operations.
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Question

Why hasn't flash storage replaced disks as the storage system of choice for server use?

Posted November 22, 2011 - 2:52 pm

Flash memory is so much faster than disk storage, and it is also much cheaper. Why hasn't it become a standard choice for use in servers? It seems to me that the hardware supply problems caused by flooding in Asia makes opens the door for greater use of NAND flash memory over the next year.
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Question

What are FAT and FAT file system formats used for?

Posted November 3, 2011 - 4:39 pm

Windows servers offer three different options for file system format: NTFS, FAT and FAT32. I've never seen anything but NTFS used, so I was wondering what are FAT and FAT32 used for?
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Question

What do people mean by the term Relational Database?

Posted October 31, 2011 - 3:14 pm

What exactly is a Relational Database? I have heard the term tossed around in conversation a number of times recently, but didn’t want to sound stupid and ask for an explanation of the term. Thanks in advance for helping me out!
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Question

What is the future of "green" server cooling at data centers?

Posted October 27, 2011 - 2:08 pm

I just saw that Facebook is placing a ton of servers in a facility in Sweden to save cost on cooling. There are a lot of cold places in the USA, a fact of which those of us north of the Mason-Dixon line are soon to be reminded. Do similar facilities for servers exist in the US?
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