IDG Contributor Network: How to achieve and sustain peak performance in your data center

As Tom Brady once said, “if you don’t play to win, don’t play at all.” This mantra is reflected in Brady’s TB12 Method, a holistic lifecycle based on 12 principles that make up the optimal approach to exercise, training and living a life of vitality. It’s built on the premise of stopping an accident prior to it happening through pre-habitation and taking intelligent, strategic preventative measures. And while implementing all 12 principles is not required, their effect is cumulative: the more you can incorporate, the better your results will be.While this methodology applies to training superior athletes, data center managers have their own set of principles to ensure optimal data center performance. What we’ve dubbed the DCM10 Method, there are 10 fundamental steps every data center manager should use to evaluate their current data center and help transform its functionality. Similar to the TB12 Method, while not all of these steps are required to create a successful strategy, the more best practices applied will result in higher performance across the board.To read this article in full, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: How to achieve and sustain peak performance in your data center

As Tom Brady once said, “if you don’t play to win, don’t play at all.” This mantra is reflected in Brady’s TB12 Method, a holistic lifecycle based on 12 principles that make up the optimal approach to exercise, training and living a life of vitality. It’s built on the premise of stopping an accident prior to it happening through pre-habitation and taking intelligent, strategic preventative measures. And while implementing all 12 principles is not required, their effect is cumulative: the more you can incorporate, the better your results will be.While this methodology applies to training superior athletes, data center managers have their own set of principles to ensure optimal data center performance. What we’ve dubbed the DCM10 Method, there are 10 fundamental steps every data center manager should use to evaluate their current data center and help transform its functionality. Similar to the TB12 Method, while not all of these steps are required to create a successful strategy, the more best practices applied will result in higher performance across the board.To read this article in full, please click here

Jazmin Fallas Kerr: Creating Opportunities for Women in Costa Rica

The age-old tradition of the physical marketplace may be crumbling, and many women-led families in Costa Rica are feeling the pinch. In fact, in Jazmin Fallas Kerr’s hometown, Desamparados, nearly half of all families with women as head of household are in poverty.

To combat that, Kerr made a digital bridge between creation and commerce. Hyena is an Internet-based marketplace which allows women artisans to sell their handiwork online for a fair price. The site now has more than 50 local women courting customers for their crafts. Kerr’s upbringing helped her develop the idea.

“I was inspired by my mother; she is a family leader and artisan,” Kerr said. “We are from an area of social vulnerability, and I know the difficulties these families face.”

The site helps solve a more universal problem. It gives women the flexibility and time to work outside of homemaking responsibilities.

“[I want to] empower women to create better opportunities for their families,” Kerr said. “It is being achieved through a platform involving different actors in society that involves from fair trade to online education.”

Winner of the “Creator of Digital Change” contest, Hyena exists thanks to that $3,000 prize money from the Continue reading

5 reasons to buy refurbished Cisco equipment

It’s a pretty common scenario. You’re considering implementing Cisco hardware in your infrastructure, and you talk to a vendor who pushes a shiny, new, cutting-edge solution on you.It’s impressive, this bleeding-edge solution — it has all sorts of bells and whistles (whether your business plan can make smart use of them or not) and it comes with a nice, healthy price tag.So, you’re left with a really difficult question. Should you stretch your already thin budget with a solution that may actually be overkill for your needs? Or do you have options[ Read also: 80/20 rule of network equipment: Stay on budget and innovate. | Get daily insights: Sign up for Network World newsletters. ] 5 things to consider when buying network hardware Keep these five factors in mind as you consider how to proceed with your Cisco hardware solutions because that vendor who thinks you should buy new probably doesn’t want you to know them.To read this article in full, please click here

5 reasons to buy refurbished Cisco equipment

It’s a pretty common scenario. You’re considering implementing Cisco hardware in your infrastructure, and you talk to a vendor who pushes a shiny, new, cutting-edge solution on you.It’s impressive, this bleeding-edge solution — it has all sorts of bells and whistles (whether your business plan can make smart use of them or not) and it comes with a nice, healthy price tag.So, you’re left with a really difficult question. Should you stretch your already thin budget with a solution that may actually be overkill for your needs? Or do you have options[ Read also: 80/20 rule of network equipment: Stay on budget and innovate. | Get daily insights: Sign up for Network World newsletters. ] 5 things to consider when buying network hardware Keep these five factors in mind as you consider how to proceed with your Cisco hardware solutions because that vendor who thinks you should buy new probably doesn’t want you to know them.To read this article in full, please click here

Cisco reinforces storage with new switches, mgmt. software

Cisco this week fortified its storage family with two new 32G Fibre Channel switches and software designed to help customers manage and troubleshoot their SANS.The new switches, the 48-Port MDS 9148T and 96-Port MDS 9396T feature a technology called Auto Zone that automatically detects any new  storage servers or devices that log into a SAN and automatically zones them without having to do manual configuration.[Check out REVIEW: VMware’s vSAN 6.6 and see IDC’s top 10 data center predictions . | Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ] The idea is to eliminate the cycles spent in provisioning new devices and avert errors that typically occur when manually configuring complex zones. Even when a host or storage hardware is upgraded or a faulty facility is replaced, the switch automatically detects the change and zones them into the SAN, Cisco said.To read this article in full, please click here

Cisco reinforces storage with new switches, mgmt. software

Cisco this week fortified its storage family with two new 32G Fibre Channel switches and software designed to help customers manage and troubleshoot their SANS.The new switches, the 48-Port MDS 9148T and 96-Port MDS 9396T feature a technology called Auto Zone that automatically detects any new  storage servers or devices that log into a SAN and automatically zones them without having to do manual configuration.[Check out REVIEW: VMware’s vSAN 6.6 and see IDC’s top 10 data center predictions . | Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ] The idea is to eliminate the cycles spent in provisioning new devices and avert errors that typically occur when manually configuring complex zones. Even when a host or storage hardware is upgraded or a faulty facility is replaced, the switch automatically detects the change and zones them into the SAN, Cisco said.To read this article in full, please click here

The Cybersecurity Tech Accord Fits Squarely in the Collaborative Security Approach

Last week at RSA, more than 30 global companies came together to sign the Cybersecurity Tech Accord “to protect and empower civilians online and to improve the security, stability and resilience of cyberspace.”  It is an example of collaboration, which demonstrates the commitment and focus of the signatory companies to take action in order to tackle the significant security threats we are currently facing. It is this type of collective action we have promoted as part of our collaborative security

The Tech Accord is a positive step by large corporations across the globe involved in security to come together in the name of collaboration and make security commitments that resonate with the demands of Internet users everywhere. Per the Accord’s website, there are four main tenets of the Tech Accord:

  • Stronger defense
    The companies will mount a stronger defense against cyberattacks. As part of this, recognizing that everyone deserves protection, the companies pledged to protect all customers globally regardless of the motivation for attacks online.
  • No offense
    The companies will not help governments launch cyberattacks against innocent citizens and enterprises, and will protect against tampering or exploitation of their products and services through every stage of technology development, design Continue reading

BrandPost: Analysys Mason Case Study of Windstream: Intelligent Multi-layer/Multi-domain Network Automation with SDN

Windstream made its SDN move by implementing Ciena’s Blue Planet to automate how it delivers wavelength services across its multi-vendor optical network -- setting the stage for the provider to virtualize network functions to enhance service activation and delivery times. Operational efficiency and customer experience are crucial to Windstream's success in the USA, but its heterogeneous network footprint can make network service provisioning and device configuration complex and costly. Building a programmable SDN-based network with Ciena's Blue Planet software is helping Windstream simplify operations, move to DevOps-centric processes, and create an extensible platform for new services.To read this article in full, please click here

PQ 147: Connecting Security And GDPR Compliance (Sponsored)

On this episode of Priority Queue, which is sponsored today by Cisco, we tackle the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR.

This new regulation lays out data privacy and protection obligations for organizations that handle data of EU citizens, including loss prevention, breach notification requirements, and serious fines and penalties for violations.

We delve into GDPR requirements with Equilibrium Security and ePlus/IGX Global, two Cisco partners who share practical insight and advice for dealing with GDPR.

Our guests are Anish Chauhan, Director at Equilibrium Security; and Alex Goldstein, Security Architect at ePlus/IGX Global.

We’ll discuss how to break down and understand requirements, the importance of a risk assessment and gap analysis, and how to use security and management tools to comply with the regulations.

Show Links:

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – Cisco

Equilibrium Cyber Security Services

Equilibrium on Twitter

Equilibrium Cyber Security Podcasts – Equilibrium

IGX Global

2017 DBIR: Understand Your Cybersecurity Threats – Verizon Enterprise Solutions

Cisco Encrypted Traffic Analytics – Cisco

The post PQ 147: Connecting Security And GDPR Compliance (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Learn Docker Plaform best practices with Free Hands-On Labs and Workshops at DockerCon 2018

According to a recent stackoverflow report, the Docker Platform is in the top 10 skills to learn if you want to advance in a career in tech. So where do I go to start learning Docker you may ask?  Well the good news is that we now have free workshops and hands-on Labs included as part of your DockerCon 2018 ticket.

The conference workshops will focus on a range of subjects from migrating .NET or Java apps to the Docker platform to deep dives on container monitoring and logging, networking, storage and security. Each workshop is designed to give you hands-on instructions and guidance on key container notions and mentoring by Docker Engineers and Docker Captains. The workshops are a great opportunity to zoom in a specific aspects on the Docker platform. Here is the list of free workshops available (click on the links to see the full abstracts):

AI Software Writing AI Software For Healthcare?

At the World Medical Innovation Forum this week, participants were polled with a loaded question: “Do you think healthcare will become better or worse from the use of AI?”

Across the respondents, 98 percent said it would be either “Better” or “Much Better” and not a single one thought it would become “Much Worse.” This is an interesting statistic, and the results were not entirely surprising, especially given that artificial intelligence was the theme for the meeting.

This continual stream of adoption of new technologies in both clinical and post clinical settings is remarkable. Today, healthcare is a technology operation. …

AI Software Writing AI Software For Healthcare? was written by James Cuff at The Next Platform.

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