The Enterprise Cloud
This blog covers the latest developments and major players in cloud technology. Get practical advice on evaluating providers of cloud applications and services, as well as tips and best practices.
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Quick tip: Command line basics for Amazon Web Services users
If you want to take advantage of the very lowest prices on Amazon EC2, Linux/UNIX users are in luck. If you're not an expert, you'll want to brush up your command line skills.
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Four solutions to managing open source server software
Setting up servers in the cloud is easy, but securely installing and configuring the software isn't. Here are some tools that can help.
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The app developer top 5: Why PaaS is a liberating choice
Guest contributor Bill Platt cites the top 5 reasons app developers are turning to PaaS to solve some core challenges.
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Modifying AWS CloudFormation templates: Polish your code
Nick Hardiman shows a step-by-step example of how to modify an AWS CloudFormation template -- the last part of building your own SaaS on Amazon's platform.
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Anatomy of an AWS CloudFormation template
Nick Hardiman explains what you can expect to see as part of an AWS CloudFormation template. You can modify the template files to customize your web service.
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Google Apps v. Office 365 summary: Which is better?
Ian Hardenburgh sums up his research on the Google Apps and Office 365 suites. He has a preference, but it still comes down to individual needs and your number of users.
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Google Apps v. Office 365: Apps and professional services marketplaces
Ian Hardenburgh compares the apps and professional services marketplaces for both Google and Office 365.
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Google Apps v. Office 365: Content and document management
Ian Hardenburgh compares the content and document management features between Microsoft's SharePoint Online (in Office 365 plans) with analogous features in Google Apps.
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Google Apps v. Office 365: Calendar features
Ian Hardenburgh continues his comparison charts of Google Apps and Office 365 apps and features with this detailed look at the Calendar offerings.
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Cloud computing and the evolution of the data center
Thoran Rodrigues explains how the futures of cloud computing and data center design must evolve together.
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Google Apps v. Office 365: Email and messaging
Ian Hardenburgh continues his in-depth comparison of Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365 office suites. In this segment, he compares the email and messaging features of both.
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Google Apps v. Office 365: Head-to-head comparison of features
Ian Hardenburgh compares the core features of Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps to see which one comes out on top and includes a downloadable chart for at-a-glance comparison.
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Use AWS CloudFormation to create a highly available cluster
Nick Hardiman shows you the step-by-step procedure to creating a high-availability cluster for a SaaS app using the AWS CloudFormation template.
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First steps to SaaS with AWS CloudFormation templates
Nick Hardiman explains how to use Amazon's CloudFormation templates to build the IaaS layer for his example SaaS that he wants to take to market.
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How to be a SaaS vendor on a shoestring with Amazon Web Services
Nick Hardiman outlines the steps of taking an example SaaS solution to the world by taking advantage of AWS CloudFormation templates.
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A look at the Terminal Services Manager in Windows Server 2008
Terminal Services Manager has been around for a while, but Microsoft made some changes to the utility in Windows Server 2008. Here's what you'll find.
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Exchange 2010: How to redirect non-SSL Outlook Web App traffic to SSL
In this Exchange 2010 tutorial, Scott Lowe shows how to make sure that users who visit http://webmail.yourorg.com are automatically redirected to https://webmail.yourorg.com/owa.
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Improve SCCM management with these five utilities
Scott Lowe highlights five add-ins that he recommends IT pros use when managing Microsoft's System Center Configuration Manager to make it shine.
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NTFS allocation unit sizes for large volumes
The NTFS file system has allocation unit options that usually don't matter unless there is a limitation. Rick Vanover explains how this matters for large volumes.
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How far are we from 'In Cloud We Trust?'
Latest surveys indicate a growing number of enterprises are getting more comfortable with the idea of the cloud. Here is a sample of the feedback.
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PowerShell script for getting Active Directory information
Scott Lowe shares a PowerShell script he wrote to extract a number of fields from Active Directory and write the extracted information into a CSV file.
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How do I... Reseed a SQL Server identity column?
Microsoft SQL Server’s identity column generates sequential values for new records using a seed value. Seeding and reseeding an identity column is easy and relatively safe, if you do it correctly. Susan Sales Harkins shows you how it works.
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How to create a new AMI from a snapshot and launch a new VM
Nick Hardiman shows you the steps to taking a snapshot of your Amazon Machine Image and launching a new VM from it to build in redundancy for your service.
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Use Resource Monitor to monitor CPU performance
Scott Lowe provides an overview of disk-related metrics in the Windows Resource Monitor. Find out you can use the tool to troubleshoot CPU performance issues.
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Disabling the firewall in Windows Server 2008 Core Edition
For Windows Server 2008's Core Edition, the default firewall configuration is one of the things most administrators want to turn off after installation. You can complete this task with one line of code, which you'll want to add to your script arsenal.
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Windows Small Business Server 2011 default Group Policy configuration
Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard offers an integrated solution for small infrastructures. Read about the default Group Policy configuration of SBS 2011.
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Cloud computing and the rise of big data
The cloud enables big data processing for enterprises of all sizes by relieving a number of problems, but there is still complexity in extracting the business value from a sea of data.
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Cloud app vs. web app: Understanding the differences
Are the terms cloud app and web app interchangeable? Not really, although they are very similar. Tajudeen Abubakr explains the difference.