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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Infographic: The death of packaged software
This infographic from Engine Yard presents some fascinating statistics on the death of packaged software and the era of everything-as-a-service.
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PCI-DSS, security, and cloud guidelines
Thoran Rodrigues highlights some of the guidelines published recently for the Payment Card Industry (PCI), regarding standards and the public cloud.
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Download free ebook on SaaS from TechRepublic
TechRepublic and ZDNet have teamed up for a month of special coverage on SaaS issues, including a free ebook on best practices.
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Six tips for negotiating contracts with SaaS vendors
Mary Shacklett offers six important tips that should inform your decision-making when it comes to engaging a SaaS vendor.
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Cloud-controlled Wi-Fi: Growing a network with SaaS
Nick Hardiman looks at one of the players in the cloud-controlled Wi-Fi space. For SMBs, it's possible to grow a global network and manage it from the cloud.
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Sweat the details: The customer-centric path for SaaS providers
Guest blogger Dan Miller offers advice to SaaS product teams about adapting work processes to ensure better customer satisfaction.
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The CloudOS arrives: Map your cloud journey with real tools
John Joyner lays out the benefits of Microsoft's CloudOS, which consolidates all the tools needed to manage a modern hybrid cloud platform.
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The myth of the always-on cloud
Thoran Rodrigues advises caution when considering uptime claims for cloud services and software. Realistic expectations will lead to a better experience when moving to the cloud.
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Managing your databases in the cloud: How Cloudant does it
Cloudant provides database-as-a-service -- something that some companies may want to consider for management help and cloud-size scaling ability. Nick Hardiman describes how DBaaS works.
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Get easy cloud backup option with System Center 2012 SP1
John Joyner tells you how to sign up for a preview of the new option in SC 2012 SP1 that allows you to select a "backup to cloud" feature. Here's how the feature works.
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How the cloud has enabled the consumerization of applications
Thoran Rodrigues looks at how consumers are not only driving the BYOD trend, but also a similar trend, enabled by the cloud, in bringing apps into the workplace.
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BYOD, the cloud, and backups: Meeting the data-everywhere challenge
Nick Hardiman explains how Asigra is meeting the enterprise challenge of backing up data when it exists on multiple devices, in the cloud, and on the network.
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Leveraging the cloud for IT innovation
No matter the size of the company, the cloud is the key to IT innovation. Thoran Rodrigues explains why.
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What's happening at Cloud Expo Europe
Nick Hardiman attended Cloud Expo Europe in London this week. Here is his take on what was on offer.
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Automating business processes with cloud services
How does the enterprise deal with TMI (big data)? One approach is to automate processes through dynamic case management. Jeff Cerny interviews two executives at Eccentex.
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Changing the RDP listening port on Windows Server
IT pro Rick Vanover shows how to change the default port that remote desktop listens on and make subsequent connections in order to make RDP more secure.
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Handling NULL values in SQL Server 2005
If you are a developer, you will almost certainly have to deal with NULL values at some point, even if the database is overly normalized. The more knowledge you have about dealing with these NULL values, the more headaches you will avoid in future projects.
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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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RAID 6 or RAID 1+0: Which should you choose?
RAID selection can be a tough choice, especially when budgets are tight. Learn why RAID 10 might be a better choice than RAID 6 even though it's more expensive.
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Windows Server 2012 Essentials: Easy small business Internet and cloud
Windows Server 2012 Essentials gives small businesses many options, including built-in hooks to cloud-hosted Office 365-based email and more economical backup and disaster preparedness.
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Use mount points if you run out of Windows drive letters
If you're running out of drive letters, one trick is to use a mount point for each logical drive that you are going to bring into Windows; this way, performance can be contained to a logical drive and still conform to your drive letter standards.
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Configure the iSCSI initiator in Windows Server Core or Hyper-V Server
Provisioning storage to the Windows Server Core can be a challenge. Rick Vanover describes how to configure iSCSI storage on Windows Server Core or Hyper-V Server.
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Understand Exchange 2010 licensing options
Scott Lowe helps you make sense of Exchange Server 2010's numerous licensing options. He also provides a description of the external connector license.
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Configure BgInfo to run via a GPO for a consistent experience
Keeping track of which system is which is complicated for most server administrators. IT Jedi Rick Vanover shows how to keep all your systems consistent.
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Reviewing SQL Server Permissions
SQL Server consultant Tim Chapman looks at the importance of database permissions and how you can use internal SQL Server system views to easily which users have access on your system.
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Moving an ESXi host to a new vCenter Server
If you need to move an ESXi host to a different VMware vCenter Server, virtualization expert Rick Vanover explains how to perform this task.
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Disable Server Manager and Initial Configuration Tasks via Group Policy
Windows Servers by default run the Initial Configuration Task tool and the Server Manager at login. Rick Vanover describes how to disable this auto launch via Group Policy in Windows Server 2008 R2.
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SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn: High Availability database for cloud data centers
John Joyner explains how to deploy SQL Server AlwaysOn in a failover cluster without shared storage to achieve high availability SQL.
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How to migrate DNS information to Windows Server 2008
If you're running an older version of Windows DNS services or some other DNS service on your network and you want to deploy Active Directory, Scott Lowe says migrating to Windows Server 2008's DNS services should be the first step in your plans.
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Speed up SQL Server database queries with these tips
If you've worked with SQL Server databases for any amount of time, it's practically a given that you've run into slow running queries. Sometimes the reason for the slow response time is due to the load on the system, and other times it is because the query is not written to perform as efficiently as possible (I find this reason much more common). Learn how you may be able to improve performance by knowing what to look for in your query designs.