Advanced Monitoring with System Center Operations Manager 2007 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager

Survey: Mainframes Continue to Play Key Role in Data Centers

walterch — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:34:47 GMT

Survey: Mainframes Continue to Play Key Role in Data Centers

eWeek - August 20, 2009

A CA survey of IBM System z mainframe users, most of whom also run distributed computing environments, found that the mainframes address key concerns of IT professionals, such as security, reliability, management, and efficiency.

TechRepublic: CIOs Refuse to Buy Virtualization Hype

walterch — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:34:14 GMT

TechRepublic: CIOs Refuse to Buy Virtualization Hype

ZDNet - August 20, 2009

TechRepublic's CIO Jury has indicated that the vast majority of IT leaders have no plans to adopt desktop virtualization, although a minority group of IT chiefs are enthusiastic about it.

Microsoft, University Researchers Sharpen Data Center Architectures

walterch — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:33:42 GMT

Microsoft, University Researchers Sharpen Data Center Architectures

Network World - August 20, 2009

Microsoft and university researchers have come up with differing ways to address shortcomings of data center architectures and to promote the efficient use of virtual machines.

Microsoft Hyper-V Halts Nissan's Server Sprawl

walterch — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:33:17 GMT

Microsoft Hyper-V Halts Nissan's Server Sprawl

Manufacturing Business Technology - August 20, 2009

Using Microsoft's Hyper-V, Nissan virtualized most of its servers, reduced the number of manufacturing operations servers from 159 to 28, decreased energy usage by 34 percent, simplified systems at each plant, and reduced physical space requirements.

IBM Running Late on $863 Million Data Center Project for Texas

walterch — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:16:17 GMT

IBM Running Late on $863 Million Data Center Project for Texas

InformationWeek - August 13, 2009

The state of Texas says an $863 million data center consolidation project with IBM has fallen short of promised savings by $14 million and that only 75 servers were moved into the new facilities by July 31 instead of the 619 specified in the contract.

Reconsidering SAN in Wake of SCSI Disk's End

walterch — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:15:47 GMT

Reconsidering SAN in Wake of SCSI Disk's End

IT Jungle - August 17, 2009

IBM will soon officially stop selling SCSI disks for System i and Power Systems servers, leaving serial attached SCSI (SAS) and solid state drives (SSD) as the only option for internal storage on the platform.

Citrix XenServer Virtualization Popular among Fortune 500 Companies

walterch — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:15:04 GMT

Citrix XenServer Virtualization Popular among Fortune 500 Companies

Virtualization Journal - August 18, 2009

Citrix Systems just announced that more than 10 percent of Global Fortune 500 companies have activated its Citrix XenServer virtualization platform in the last four months, with activations among large enterprises spiking significantly.

New Methods to Control Data Center Costs

walterch — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:14:21 GMT

New Methods to Control Data Center Costs

New York Times - August 17, 2009

From using innovative construction methods to examining tax options, Microsoft and Google are exploring new strategies to save money on power-hungry data centers.

Downturn Boosts Importance of Data Centers

walterch — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:20:50 GMT

Downturn Boosts Importance of Data Centers

How to Recycle Virtualization Resources for Improved Data Center Optimization

walterch — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:20:26 GMT

How to Recycle Virtualization Resources for Improved Data Center Optimization

Cisco, HP Specs Suggest Competing System Designs

walterch — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:19:44 GMT

Cisco, HP Specs Suggest Competing System Designs

Consultant Issues Caveats on Storage Virtualization for Disaster Recovery

walterch — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:19:16 GMT

Consultant Issues Caveats on Storage Virtualization for Disaster Recovery

Making a move.

walterch — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:11:27 GMT

Three years as a Senior Consultant in MCS has provided me with tremendous opportunities to acquire experience and develop skills in several technolgies. I have recently accepted a role as an ITAP Architect. I am very excited about this role because I can begin focusing on technology strategy and planning, two areas I have always wanted to transition into. The good news is I am officially retired from road travel and will have considerable more time to tend to my blog. Check back soon!

Sun Exec: Virtualization Key to Cloud Efficiencies

walterch — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:17:00 GMT

Sun Exec: Virtualization Key to Cloud Efficiencies

Virtualization Videos

walterch — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:04:58 GMT

If you haven't checked these out yet, there are some virtualization "How to" videos on technet:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/dd353206.aspx

There are also "how to" videos on other technologies as well that are really good.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/cc138021.aspx

Courtesy of Dottie Shaw, Sr. Program Manager | Core IO