First look: Windows Server 2012 Simplifies Cloud Computing

 

Microsoft's next-generation server platform offers mostly gain, little pain.

 

Microsoft officially released Windows Server 2012, the first of its latest wave of new operating systems. It shares a few things with the upcoming Windows 8 client operating system, including the same Windows NT 6.2 kernel, and the same Metro and Desktop split-personality graphical interface—at least if you choose to install it. It also shares the same sort of cloud-centric focus as the Windows 8 client—except rather than just connecting to cloud services, Server 2012 is intended to be the building block for them.

Windows Server 2012 probably won’t have the adoption lag in the enterprise that Windows 8 is bound to face. That's because, aside from the Metro GUI, Server 2012’s biggest changes are in substance rather than style, building upon what the company delivered with Windows Server 2008 Release 2 three years ago. In particular, Server 2012 takes two management features Server 2008 R2 admins will be familiar with—Server Manager and PowerShell—and expands on them considerably.

While many of the changes in Server 2012 are incremental improvements over its predecessor, Windows Server 2008 Release 2, the new features are more than evolutionary when taken as a whole. In the same way that Microsoft has “embraced and extended” the functionality of tech competitors and nominal partners in the past (from its “coopetition” with Novell in networking to its “cutting off” of Netscape’s air supply in the Web software market), Windows 2012 and related technology make many previously advanced server and storage virtualization features into a commodity. Hyper-V alone, which we’ll cover in greater depth later this week, offers enough in the way of new features and capabilities that it could disrupt the business models of VMware and other IT companies that have profited from previous gaps in Microsoft’s capabilities.

There’s far too much in Server 2012 to cover in one sitting. And given that we've spent less than a week with the final code for Windows Server 2012 Standard Edition, we've certainly not been able to put it through all its paces yet. So, in this first look at the finished product, we cover the highlights of the new operating system from the perspective of a small or mid-size organization. We take a look at the new storage and file server features of the operating system, and some of the ways that Server 2012 will make it easier for organizations to do high-availability and disaster recovery without making big investments in other hardware or software. And we also look at the improvements to manageability and deployment in Server 2012, and how they integrate into existing server deployments, as well as the licensing changes and the way they’ll affect how (or if) you deploy Windows Server.

The new Standard

The two editions of Server 2012 being released today—Standard and Datacenter—replace six of the editions of Server 2008. The Small Business Standard, Enterprise, HPC, and Web editions of Windows Server have been “retired," though Microsoft will offer a free HPC software pack add-on to Standard and Datacenter for high performance computing customers. The split is fairly simple. If you're running a major application on a dedicated machine—Exchange and SharePoint server apps, a SQL Server database, or just about anything that goes beyond basic file and print services—you’ll be using the Standard edition of the OS. If you're running a stack of VMs, you'll go for the Datacenter edition.

Two other versions of Server 2012 will be available. The first, Foundation edition, will only be sold through OEMs, and is intended as a totally bare-bones server with no virtualization support. Another version based on the same stripped-down code, Windows Server 2012 Essentials, will replace Windows Small Business Server Essentials 2011 and will be available later this year (Microsoft recently posted a release candidate for Server Essentials, and we’ll take a first look at it later this week).

Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter both support significantly larger amounts of processing power, storage, and memory than Server 2008 R2. It handles up to 320 “logical processors,” or CPU cores, double the processing maximum for R2. Memory capacity is also doubled, up to 4 terabytes. And the failover clustering capabilities of Server 2012 have been vastly expanded, supporting up to 64 cluster nodes—up from 16 in the previous release.

PowerShell power

Server Manager gets a total makeover in Server 2012, and PowerShell is given an even broader range of “commandlets” and interfaces to customize and control the server OS and its features. Just about everything you can configure within Server 2012 is exposed through PowerShell, and can be locally or remotely scripted. That means that with just the tools provided out of the box, a Windows administrator can control almost every aspect of servers deployed locally or off in a cloud—whether it's a private cloud hosted on-site or in a provider’s data center, or up in someone’s public cloud and connected over the enhanced networking features in Windows 2012.

Cutting to the Core

Even though you can install the full Windows 8-like UI atop Server 2012, you probably won’t want to. Better yet, you don’t have to. Like its predecessor, Windows Server 2012 can be deployed with the graphical interface, or as a “Server Core”—that is, with a minimal user interface that includes the command line and the PowerShell command interpreter.

The initial install of both Standard and Datacenter from the DVD allows one of two options: with the full Windows 8 graphic user interface, or “Server Core”—with only a command line window to work from locally. That’s similar to the choice Windows Server 2008 R2 offered, and the installation process itself looks just like the Server 2008 R2 install with a fresh coat of Metro-ish paint.

Better uptime

There are a number of features in Server 2012 that can significantly improve the resilience of an organization’s applications, whether they’re deployed in a data center or on a couple of servers in the back room. Improvements in Hyper-V virtualization, storage functionality, and the networking features of Server 2012 all add ways to make servers less likely to fail—and in the event that they do, make it easier to quickly recover.

The improvements to Hyper-V over the last version of the hypervisor are legion. Hyper-V is almost a platform to itself as a result—and in fact, the free Hyper-V Server, available as a download from Microsoft, offers all of the same features as the hypervisor environment in Server 2012, minus the management tools. For small organizations, a single copy of Server 2012 could be used to configure and manage multiple standalone Hyper-V servers to create a cluster of servers—even Linux-based server instances—configured for automatic failover.

 

Hyper-V’s new replication feature can also be used as a disaster recovery option. Unlike SAN-based DR solutions, or those currently offered by VMware, Hyper-V doesn’t require the hardware on the other end to be identical, or even have the same storage capacity. As long as the virtual drives fit, they can be replicated and brought online remotely in the event of a failure.

On the networking side, Server 2012 now supports network interface card “teaming,” putting some or all of the NICs in a server into a pool under a single IP address. This allows for both higher network throughput for the server through a switch connection and for continued operation in the event of a card failure. The feature even works in virtual machines—you can configure each physical NIC as a virtual LAN switch, and have Windows 2012 VMs “team” their own virtual network interfaces across both physical NICs.

So long, SAN

Server 2012 also provides for a number of types of replication between servers to improve the availability and uptime of data. One of these is through Server 2012’s Distributed File Services’ Replication Groups, which can synchronize data from point to point, in a mesh or hub-spoke arrangement. This can be used to back up user files offsite or to multiple backups, and can be configured to use a set amount of bandwidth or replicate only at certain times of the day.

There are two other storage features in Server 2012 that are aimed at making it easier to prevent a loss of data in the first place. First, there’s the Resilient File System (ReFS), the new server file system, designed to minimize the potential for disk corruption caused by power failures by using the same “copy on write” approach used by the ZFS file system developed by Sun Microsystems.

Storage Spaces supports a number of other SAN-like virtual storage features, including thin provisioning—creating virtual disks that appear to be larger for the sake of software installations, and that can be expanded as required. And it supports clustering of servers around external “Just a Bunch of Disks” (JBOD) SAS-connected storage systems, so services can fail over to another server in the cluster in the event of a server failure.

Then there’s Server 2012’s iSCSI support. Windows Server 2012’s File Services can be configured as an iSCSI target for both physical and virtual machines, providing block file storage on local drives for remote systems. You can point diskless workstations at a volume on the server as a boot source.

Combined with some enhancements to Windows Server’s SMB file sharing protocol for application-specific storage and other enhancements in how Server 2012 handles distributed file systems, these storage features could make the operating system a suitable substitute for SAN hardware in smaller environments. However, we haven’t had a chance to kick these systems hard enough yet to get any real idea of their resilience yet.

Final first impressions

Once you have the basics worked out, deploying Windows Server 2012 in a smaller environment—even using Server Core on most of the systems—is pretty painless. And on the whole, Server 2012 performed up to expectations in an initial testing of a wide range of its features. Even when the system failed, it did so in a way that wasn't traumatic. There were times when Hyper-V was pushed past its breaking point, resulting in graceful shutdowns of the server rather than a train-wreck screen of death.

There are a few bugs lingering about to be dealt with for organizations that may want to mix and match their Windows Server versions for a while as they test the waters. The Windows Server 2008 versions of Windows Management Framework 3.0, for example, will be essential for organizations that have to keep the older server release around a while longer to support older software.

Cleanup aside, Server 2012 brings so much to the table that it should be quickly picked up by small and mid-size organizations trying to make themselves look bigger from an IT perspective.  Even when you look at the very narrow scope of its storage abilities, Server 2012 has a big potential financial payoff in terms of lowering the cost of IT. And when tied to hosted services in a public or private cloud, Server 2012 will help IT administrators scale up or down on demand with a lot less pain and a much smaller budget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows 8 launch: Microsoft aims to make ground on Apple and Google

Software for PCs and tablet computers seen as attempt to compete in Apple- and Google-dominated market.

Microsoft launched Windows 8 on Thursday 25th 2012, the software is designed to work on PCs, tablets and smartphones.

   

Microsoft is set to unveil a radical overhaul of its flagship Windows computer software in a bid to regain ground on rivals Apple and Google.

The technology giant will launch Windows 8 at a press conference in New York on Thursday in what is being called the boldest move by Microsoft in three decades.

Windows 8 is a significant shift from previous versions of the software because it is based on touchscreens, rather than the traditional PC and mouse.

Some analysts see Windows 8 and the Surface tablet computer, announced in July, as a final roll of the dice by Microsoft in its attempt to survive the decline of the PC and compete in a world dominated by Apple iPhones, iPads and Google's Android software.

Microsoft's share of personal devices has shrunk dramatically in recent years, from 95% of the PC-only market to roughly one third of all personal device sales, including PCs, tablet computers and mobiles, according to analysts Forrester.

Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows 8 is built for PCs and tablet computers. It sees the traditional program icons replaced by tiles, which users swipe and touch to operate, though the old Windows desktop is still available via one of the tiles. The clean and crisp design has garnered positive reviews from early users, even though it is a radical shift from previous Windows versions, which hundreds of millions of PC owners use daily.

The software was officially unveiled on Thursday and was available to buy from the end of the week, when its much-hyped tablet computer, Surface, will also go on sale.

The launch occurs at an inopportune moment for Microsoft, coming just 48 hours after Apple stole the headlines with the launch of its new iPad mini and after its own Microsoft-built tablet, Surface, was slated in early reviews published overnight on Tuesday.

 The reviews praised the Windows 8 software on the Surface, but were quick to criticize the device for its apparently poor resolution, substandard camera and a lack of available apps.

However this is to clarify that Windows 8 is not for smartphones, and the Windows 7 desktop is still available in Windows 8

Why Windows 8 has businesses in stitches

Quoted "Why Windows 8 has businesses in stitches"

Windows 8

 

An upgrade to Windows 8 is not even on the radar of the majority of businesses, with most firms yet to fully make the switch to Microsoft’s previous OS according to a Gartner analyst.

Most businesses aren’t ready to upgrade to Windows 8 and have no plans to do so, according to analyst house Gartner. The majority of firms surveyed by Gartner have not finished making the switch to Windows 7, the report by research director Gunnar Berger said.

“We recently did a large field research study and specifically asked all of our interviewees if they were looking at Windows 8, most laughed,” he said. Not only are companies unprepared for the upgrade to the forthcoming Microsoft OS, they are also likely to hold back for fear of being burned by technical and performance problems, having learned from the difficulties that afflicted early adopters of Windows Vista, he said.

The reported apathy towards Microsoft’s new OS, with its focus on working with touch-based computers like tablets, echoes the reservations of TechRepublic’s CIO Jury, who recently voted no by a ratio of nine to three when asked whether the new features in Windows 8 made it attractive to their organization.
Writing on ZDNet Larry Dignan predicts that the more likely upgrade path for enterprise will go from Windows 7 to Windows 9 and skip the eighth incarnation.

Another barrier facing Windows 8 when it comes to enterprise adoption is what Berger describes as its lacklustre handling on desktop PCs with a mouse and keyboard, a staple of the modern workplace.
Describing how it handles on non-touch screen devices Berger said: “In a word: Bad.”, primarily because the OS is unintuitive.

“Extremely important menus in Windows 8 are hidden off screen, easily brought in when using a touch and swiping with your thumbs, are absent when using a mouse,” he said.
“Prior to this incident, I can’t tell you the last time I had to ask someone how to do something in a client OS.”

As far as enterprise adoption goes Microsoft’s best route into business may be on consumer tablets, as the number of people using personal devices in the workplace continues to increase. Gartner’s Berger predicts that IT departments will prefer supporting Windows 8 on consumer devices compared to alternative tablet platforms, as it will afford them greater control.

 

Cloud Computing might take some time to roll out in Africa!!!!

Cloud Computing clustered servers

Cloud Computing might take some time to roll out in Africa!!!!

As I read today’s Monitor Newspaper, I come across this page that talks about cloud computing and how it’s the new type of technology to reach for… Well as an IT specialist with a good knowledge on the Ugandan computer technology…we still have a long way to go.

Well the fact that most corporate businesses that deal in large chunks of data still have a problem of getting that first internet for a mere VPN connection this seems to be a big dream in the world of computer technology in Uganda.

In Uganda or Africa at large the internet is still known to be a luxury to have….making it very expensive to attain and in return a good business for big ISP companies such as MTN, INTERSAT, iWay…name it, it still finds Uganda or Africa struggling to attain their utmost potential of the cloud computing.

When you talk about cloud computing you are not only talking about Facebook, Twitter or Gmail which is basically SaaS (Software as a Service)….well that can be simply accessed from an even slow internet connection. We are talking about the ability to store Giga Bytes of data onto the web within minutes thus saving time and money.

People need to consider the factors that come along with this service such as PaaS (Platform as a Service) or and IaaS (infrastructure as a Service) of which is a vital component in developing one’s cloud computing environment. For one to have this service rolled out in their corporate environments…one needs to put more resources into these services and this means more costs. You don’t just develop and infrastructure from nowhere without consulting professionals. One needs to consider the security implications that come with it as well.

Recently the Mulago hospital hosted its website on an off premise server of another company that got hacked by a Muslim group..Posting up Islamic chants on their web site. So clearly there was not much effort put into this as they rolled this out.

All in all as cloud computing gets its part of the Information Technology fame…one should also note the key factors that come with it so that they can prevent losses to their companies and organizations.

QUOTED "Investors are pouring funds into big data"

Venture and growth capital firms make big bets on big data; this week's $26M investment in Birtz is latest of many by venture capital firms.

Computer World - Surging enterprise demand for tools that can manipulate and analyze massive volumes of structured and unstructured data has caught investor attention in a big way.

Top venture and growth capital firms in recent months have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into companies selling the so-called "big data" technologies. Venture capital firm Accel Partners has even established a $100 million fund to finance the early stages and growth of big data companies.

The latest beneficiary of the trend is big data software maker Birst, which on Wednesday announced that it has received $26 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, Hummer Winblad and DAG Ventures.

Birst has raised $46 million from investors since its founding in 2005.

Birst was launched to build cloud-based business intelligence (BI) tools. It recently began positioning the technology as tools for analyzing and gleaning intelligence from massive petabyte-scale data sets.

Birst is just the latest provider of big data tools to feel investor love. 

In November, Cloudera closed a $40 million round of funding led by Ignition Partners, Greylock Partners and Accel Partners. Cloudera, which sells and supports a commercial version of the open-source Hadoop big data technology, has so far raised more than $75 million overall from investors. 

Meanwhile, Cloudera rival MapR has raised more than $25 million, while 10Gen, maker of the MongoDB big data database, has secured some $32 million, and DataStax, a provider of products based on Apache Cassandra database technology, has raised $11 million.

Domo, a company that offers cloud-based BI services for big data sets, has attracted investments totaling more than $60 million, while Karmasphere's data analytics technology has pulled in close to $12 million to date from investors. 

Big data software maker Splunk has successfully moved beyond the venture capital phase, raising some $230 million in an initial public offering last month that saw its share price double and its market cap reach some $3.3 billion, 25 times its revenue of $120 million last year. 

Shares of other publicly traded companies that sell big data technology, including Teradata, Tibco and Qlik Technologies, have all surged in recent months.

Much of the investor interest stems from massive enterprise demand for big data tools, said Greg McDowell, an analyst with investment banking firm JMP Securities. 

Companies like Splunk have been growing at a frenetic pace over the past few quarters adding hundreds of new customers each quarter, he said. 

"Big data has become big business," McDowell said. "Companies are looking for tools to store, manage, manipulate, analyze, aggregate, combine and integrate data."

McDowell said the market for big data tools is projected to rise from $9 billion in 2011 to $86 billion in 10 years. By 2020, spending on big data tools will account for some 11% of all enterprise IT spending, he added.

Signs that you aren't cut out for IT.....

Well here we go again..alot of us experience these traits..me in person...am quite impatient but i know that its IT and systems will have to go down whenever they want to. But its up to me to work harder against that. That's why i make sure that users follow ICT corporate policies--well at least it has helped reduce on some of these traits.

A lot of us in the ICT departments usually ignore the fact that end-users are the most naive people in the ICT infrastructure and we don't take time to give ICT advice such as correct opening of E-Mails,Flash Disks...etc...that is why as Systems Administrators we find out IP Addresses "Black Listed" on Trajan Watch sites and causing us to go into a frenzy!!!

It’s a tough world out there. Anyone who’s ever worked in IT knows just how tough it is. And if you’re not totally up for the challenge, there will always be someone else who is. But for anyone considering getting into the world of IT, or for those considering getting out of IT… how do you know? How do you know whether you are really cut out for the career that chews up and spits out its young? Well, I have a handy list of signs that maybe IT isn’t the best fit for you.

1: You lack patience

Patience is most certainly a virtue in IT. When some problems strike, they strike with vengeance and most often require a good deal of time to resolve. If you are without patience, you’ll either give up, lose your mind, or pull out all your hair. But the need for patience doesn’t end at dealing with problems. Many times, end users will test your patience more than the technology will. If that’s the case, I recommend that you either get away from having to deal with end users or (if that’s not possible), leave IT immediately.

2: You have no desire to continue your education

IT is an ever-evolving field and without the desire to continue learning, you’re already way behind the curve. This is one of those fields where you must be okay with constantly learning something new. That might mean taking a class or attending a workshop or just hitting the books on your own. But no matter how you slice that education, you must be willing to continue to learn.

3: You refuse to work outside 9-to-5

Technology doesn’t adhere to a set schedule. Servers go down whenever they want and business must go on. So you must be willing to wake up in the middle of the night, work long hours during the week, and work weekends. If you’re someone who refuses to let your workweek interfere with your personal life — well, the writing on the wall is pretty clear.

4: You don’t like people

Do I really need to expand on this one? Yes? Fine. The reason IT pros have jobs is to support end users — aka people. If you don’t like people (and I know plenty who don’t), you really shouldn’t consider a career in IT. The big irony of this is that I also know a lot of people who have been driven to dislike people BECAUSE of IT.

5: You give up quickly

How many times have you had an issue really test your abilities? Did you give up or did you forge on until you managed to best that problem? If you gave up, you did so knowing that you left something broken. That is not an acceptable work ethic in IT, and if you’re okay with that, it’s time to reconsider. Oh sure, there will be times when something is beyond repair or an issue goes above your skill set. But if that’s the case, it’s your responsibility to replace the broken tech or hire someone in to fix the issue.

6: You’re easily frustrated

This is an industry that can frustrate even the most unflappable. But if your frustration boils to the surface right away, you will spend much of your day with high blood pressure. Although IT is a rewarding field, it can also be a frustrating one. If frustration often gets the best of you, you might want to consider a new career or stock in a therapist.

7: You can’t multitask

At any given point in a day, I am doing three or four things at once. Sometimes, this is the only way I can actually get everything done in the given time frame. If you insist on sticking to one task at a time, IT is going to be a tough career for you. That is not to say single-minded people can’t succeed — but they will have a tougher time than those who can multitask.

8: You have dreams of climbing the corporate ladder

There isn’t much room on the ladder within the IT department. If you have dreams of climbing up and perching yourself on top, you might want to consider a different field. Some IT departments do offer promotions, and maybe you can even climb your way up to CIO. But if CEO is in your dreams, IT is not the field for you.

9: You hate technology

This one should go without saying. But strangely enough, I know people in the IT field who actually HATE technology. If you consider yourself a technophobe, maybe being around servers, desktops, switches, routers, and other IT-centric hardware might not be the best place for you. Although it’s perfectly possible to work in a field you despise, the added level of frustrations you will experience might end your time on this good green Earth earlier than you expected. Take a pass on IT.

10: You turn off your phone at night

This relates to your work hours. Many IT pros I work with are on call 24/7. Their lives completely revolve around their networks, and if they weren’t willing to have such a life, they probably wouldn’t have the jobs they have now. The IT job doesn’t go away — it remains in the background all the time, waiting to pull you from sleep, family gatherings, the birth of your first child. If you’re one to turn your phone off when you leave work, or even ignore those calls from the office (even when said office is blowing said phone up), it might be a good sign that you and your career are not a good fit.

Tallying up the cons

Just because you suffer from one of two of these traits doesn’t mean you should jump off the IT train and start flipping "Chapattis"--(A local cuisine in Uganda). But if you recognize quite a few of these signs, you might want to call it a career and head back to school.

The 10 best IT certifications: 2012

Okay this is going to come as the big elephant in the room for some of us...but especially to the "Fresh Newly Graduated" folks....I guess this would be a wake up call for some of you out there...its not all about brains. Get yourself one of these and you might as well see yourself shooting your career to the heights.

The certification landscape changes as swiftly as the technologies you support. This blog looks at the certs that are currently relevant and valuable to IT pros.

When it comes to IT skills and expertise, there are all kinds of “best certification” lists. Pundits are quick to add the safe bets: Cisco’s CCIE (Cisco Certified Inter-network Expert), Red Hat’s RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer), and other popular choices.

This isn’t that list....LOL!!!!.

Based on years of experience meeting with clients and organizations too numerous to count, I’ve built this list with the idea of cataloging the IT industry’s 10 most practical, in-demand certifications. That’s why I think these are the best; these are the skills clients repeatedly demonstrate they need most. In this list, I justify each selection and the order in which these accreditations are ranked.

1: MCITP: Enterprise Administrator on Windows Server 2008

I love Apple technologies. The hardware’s awesome, the software’s intuitive and their systems make it easy to get things done fast while remaining secure. But lets admit, it’s a Windows world. Make no mistake. Most every Mac I deploy (and Mac sales are up 20 to 25 percent) is connected to a back-end Windows server. Windows server experts, however, can prove hard to find.

IT pros who have an MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional): Enterprise Administrator on Windows Server 2008 accreditation demonstrate significant, measurable proficiency with Active Directory, configuring network and application infrastructures, enterprise environments, and (if they’ve chosen well) the Windows 7 client OS.

That’s an incredibly strong skill set that everyone from small businesses to enterprise organizations require. Add this line to your resume, and you may be all set to find another job should your current employer downsize.

Honorable mentions for the top spot include the MCITP: Virtualization Administrator on Windows Server 2008 R2 and MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator on Exchange 2010. Microsoft Exchange owns the SMB space. Virtualization initiatives are only getting started and will dominate technology sectors for the next decade at least. Administrators who can knowledgeably navigate Microsoft’s virtualization and email platforms will only grow in importance.

2: MCTS

Not everyone has time to sit as many exams as an MCITP requires. The MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) certification is among the smartest accreditations an engineer can currently chase. As mentioned above, it’s a Windows world. Adding an MCTS certification in Exchange, SharePoint, Virtualization, Windows Client, or Windows Server will strengthen a resume.

There is no downside to any of these MCTS accreditations. Each of the above tracks provides candidates with an opportunity to demonstrate proficiency with specific technologies that organizations worldwide struggle to effectively design, implement, and maintain every day.

3: VCP

Virtualization is all the rage. It makes sense. Hardware manufacturers keep cranking out faster and faster servers that can store more and more data. Tons of servers sit in data centers using just fractions of their capacities. Virtualization, which enables running multiple virtual server instances on the same physical chassis, will continue growing in importance as organizations strive to maximize technology infrastructure investments.

VMware is a leading producer of virtualization software. Tech pros earning VCP (VMware Certified Professional) certification give employers (both current and future) confidence they can implement and maintain VMware-powered virtual environments. And if you talk to the techs responsible for maintaining data centers, you’ll frequently hear that VMware remains a favorite over Microsoft’s Hyper-V alternative, although most sober IT pros will have to admit Hyper-V is improving and closing the gap.

4: CCNA

The next politically correct certification to list is the CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert). However, that’s a massive exam that few professionals realistically will ever have an opportunity to obtain. And while Cisco equipment frequently composes the network backbone, fueling numerous medium and large organizations, most organizations don’t need a CCIE and don’t have the resources to pay one.

That’s why I believe the more fundamental CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certification is a smart bet. A CCNA can help technology pros better familiarize themselves with the network OS’s fundamentals, while simultaneously strengthening their resume. Particularly motivated candidates can proceed to earn a CCNA Security certification, as the network security focus is a critical component of enterprise systems.

5: CSSA

In early 2012, Dell announced its pending acquisition of SonicWALL. There’s a reason Dell is buying the hardware manufacturer: SonicWALL has made great strides within the SMB unified threat management market.

Someone needs to be able to configure and troubleshoot those devices. The CSSA (Certified SonicWALL Security Administrator) certification not only proves proficiency in installing and administering the company’s devices, certified professionals receive direct access to tier two support staff and beta testing programs.

Organizations are always going to require network devices to fulfill firewall, routing, and threat management services. SonicWALL has carved out quite a bit of market share — so much so that it will now have the marketing might of Dell helping fuel additional growth. Knowing how to configure the devices will help IT pros, particularly those who support numerous small businesses.

6: PMP

Too many chiefs isn’t an IT problem I hear or read much about. Instead, it seems there’s a lack of IT pros capable of sizing up a project’s needs, determining required resources and dependencies, developing a realistic schedule, and managing a technical initiative.

The Project Management Institute is a nonprofit group that administers the PMP (Project Management Professional) certification. The exam isn’t designed to earn a profit or motivate IT pros to learn its product and become unofficial sales cheerleaders. The PMP certifies candidates’ ability to plan, budget, and complete projects efficiently, on time, and without cost overruns. Those are skills most every medium and large business needs within its IS department and such ability isn’t going to be replaced by an app or third-party developer in our lifetimes.

7: CISSP

If you want to specialize in security, the (ISC)² (International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc.), which administers the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) accreditation, is your organization. Its vendor-neutral certification has a reputation as one of the best vendor-neutral security certs.

Organizations’ data, networks, and systems are increasingly coming under attack due to the value of personal, corporate, customer, and sensitive proprietary information. So individuals who demonstrate measurable success and understanding in architecting, designing, managing, and administering secure environments, developing secure policies, and maintaining secure procedures will stand out from the pack. In addition, the knowledge gained while earning the certification helps practitioners remain current with the latest legal regulations, best practices, and developments impacting security.

8: ACSP

There’s more to the energy surrounding Apple than pleasant tablet devices, intuitive smartphones, and a stunning stock price. The company continues chewing up market share and shipping computers at rates 10 to 12 times greater than PC manufacturers.

The ACSP (Apple Certified Support Professional) designation helps IT pros demonstrate expertise supporting Mac OS X clients. Engineers, particularly Windows support pros and administrators increasingly encountering Macs, will be well served completing Apple’s certification rack for technical support personnel. Benefits include not only another bullet for the resume but an understanding of Apple’s official processes for installing, setting up, troubleshooting, and maintaining Mac client machines.

9: Network+ / A+

Yes, CompTIA’s Network+ and A+ designations are, technically, two separate certifications. But they’re both critical certs that test absolute fundamentals that every IT pro needs to completely understand.

In fact, there’s an argument to be made that all IT pros should have both of these accreditations on their resumes. CompTIA is a well-respected, vendor-neutral (though vendor-supported) organization that continually develops and administers relevant certifications. The network, hardware, and software skills tested on the Network+ and A+ exams are basics that every self-respecting tech professional should master, whether they’re performing budgeting tasks, deploying client machines, managing site-wide migrations, overseeing security, or administering networks and servers.

10: CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician

With an aging population, U.S.-based IT pros (in particular) should consider earning CompTIA’s Healthcare IT Technician credential. Obviously, if you work in manufacturing, the credential may be a stretch. But manufacturers frequently lay off staff. And many others produce material for health-related purposes.

See where I’m headed?

The interest surrounding health-related technology is almost unparalleled. Look around the city where you live. During the recession, where have you seen growth? Are there lots of new bookstores opening? How about new single-family home developments? Seeing lots of new manufacturing centers?

Doubtful. Like many, you’re probably seeing new medical services offices, immediate care centers, hospitals, outpatient facilities, dental practices, and similar health-related businesses.

They all need IT support. Support technicians, administrators, engineers, managers, and especially consultants who want to position themselves well for the future will do well to demonstrate their proficiency with health care technology’s regulatory requirements, organizational behaviors, technical processes, medical business operations, and security requirements. IT pros could do worse with their time, that’s for sure.

Well atleast I got the half of the first two certs...and it has helped to propel my career to heights. So to the fresh graduates before you go on and celebrate...with ICT its not the end as these technologies keep evolving and coming up. So its up to you to push your career to heights that best suits you.

Other certs?

What certifications would you add to this list? Share your suggestions with fellow ITSI members
......

Top IT skills wanted for 2012

Ever wondered what it would be if technology moved and evolved to a point where everything is almost automated. Well read this and you may reconsider where you want your carreer as an IT expert would want to head to.
A new Computerworld survey indicates the nine IT skills that will be in demand in 2012.

Nearly 29 percent of the 353 IT executives who were polled in Computerworld’s annual Forecast survey said they plan to increase IT staffing through next summer. (That’s up from 23% in the 2010 survey and 20% in the 2009 survey.)
Here are the skills that the IT executives say they will be hiring for:

1. Programming and Application Development–61% plan to hire for this skill in the next 12 months, up from 44% in the 2010 survey. This covers the gamut from website development to upgrading internal systems and meeting the needs of mobile users.
2. Project Management (but with a twist)– The twist is that they’re not going to just be looking for people who can oversee and monitor projects. They also want people who can identify users’ needs and translate them for the IT staffers-the increasingly popular business analysts.
3. Help Desk/Technical Support–Mobile operating systems have added a new dimension to help desk and tech support.
4. Networking-This demand is being fueled partially by virtualization and cloud computing projects. The survey also revealed that execs will be looking for people with VMware and Citrix experience.
5. Business Intelligence-Computerworld interprets this uptick to a focus shift in many companies,  from cost savings to investing in technology. That will be nice if it pans out that way.
6. Data Center-Virtualization and the Cloud could also be behind the increased need for IT professionals with backgrounds in data center operations and systems integration.
7. Web 2.0-Tech skills centered around social media will be in demand, with .Net, AJAX and PHP as key back-end skills, with HTML, XML, CSS, Flash and JavaScript, among others, on the front end.
8. Security-Although down from 32 percent in the 2010 survey, security stays a top concern of IT executives.
9. Telecommunications-The survey indicates a demand for people with IP telephony skills, and for those familiar with Cisco IPCC call center systems.

Want to succeed in IT? Five tips from the top

So, you want to be a top CIO? Sounds like a reasonable career aim, but how do you climb the greasy pole and reach the highest echelons of IT leadership?

If you want best-practice career advice, it makes sense to listen to people who have already excelled - and are continuing to excel - in the technology chief position. Paul Coby is one such CIO, IT director at UK retail giant John Lewis and former technology chief at British Airways.

Coby spent a decade as group CIO of the airline, a role he prefaced with 17 years at the forefront of the UK public sector. As well as running IT for John Lewis, Coby holds a senior position at advisory body e-skills UK. Here, he draws on his experience and offers his five top tips to IT professionals looking to become a successful next-generation CIO.

1. Connect to your business customers

Coby’s experiences have led him to develop a simple maxim: “There are no IT projects, just business projects.”

Coby concedes he has become well known for this mantra: “That phrase resonates,” he says. “People just get it.”

The explanation for the strength of that response is simple: success in modern IT is all about using technology to support new business opportunities. IT professionals looking to support the organisation along that development path must be engaged. “You always need to connect to your business customers,” says Coby.

2. Don’t talk jargon

Coby’s advice to other CIOs is to avoid falling into the techno-babble trap and ensure the organisation is alert to the business benefits of technology.

“Don’t talk jargon,” he says. “We know that’s important but anything that makes IT sound obscure will make people switch off. And IT is too important to modern business for you to allow that to happen.”

3. Remember that IT is a team sport

Good CIOs have a strong personality and are not afraid to lead from the front. But those character traits in isolation will not be enough. A good CIO is only as great as their supporting cast, something that Coby is keen to recognise.

“Always remember that IT is a team sport,” says Coby, who says success does not necessarily start and end with the appointment of a CIO.

For example, Coby says a lot of the good things he has achieved since joining John Lewis began before he arrived. As ever, IT is in flux - and the speed of the digital transformation means great CIOs must lead their team through choppy waters.

“Everyone’s technology environment is going to continue to become more complicated,” says Coby. “The people supporting IT have to deal with very complex systems. And the ongoing digital transformation means the CIO sits at the very top of a very large iceberg. The role of the CIO is to enable the transformation.”

4. Never put innovation before day-to-day operations

Most IT leaders come from a technical background. But CIOs looking to get ahead are often warned not to just concentrate on the bits and bytes of technology.

While technology provides the backbone to modern business operations, it is no longer a dark art. The digital age is all about being able to plug and play different systems, and to draw on applications and information on-demand. CIOs looking to help the business make the most of digital technology must get strategic.

However, Coby issues a word of warning. “Operations really matter,” he says, stressing that good IT leaders do not prioritise innovation at the expense of day-to-day systems.

Coby is looking at how to transform IT at John Lewis and working out how to make the most of innovative technology, such as the use of tablet devices on the shopfloor. “We want to deliver great things,” he says. “But if tills go down, no one will listen to me about innovation.”

5. Enjoy your job

The final piece of advice from Coby is simple: “Try and enjoy it.”

Coby says any job has its challenges and IT leadership is no different. He is pulled in a number of directions, as John Lewis continues to pursue an ambitious growth strategy that over the past decade has led the retailer to bring regional shops under a single brand and open new stores.

Yet Coby relishes the fast pace of change in retail, which he says is different to other sectors. Across back-end operations and front-end innovations, he is concentrating on the things that staff and customers will expect as standard in the next few years

“I like this job because it’s a lot of fun,” says Coby. “The business continues to change and people in the organisation really need the IT team to deliver.”

LMAO :: London security to use 1980s software to police Olympics

London's Metropolitan Police Service said this morning that it will use software designed in the 80s to help coordinate the command and communications of its policing operations during the 2012 Summer London Olympic Games in the United Kingdom.

Better known as MetOps, the software in question is currently installed in the force's special operations room (SOR), the central control room providing communications support during more than 500 major incidents and events each year, according to a report by London's police into the riots of August of last year.
MetOps, a messaging and recording system wasn't designed for dynamic incident management, and it means that commanders and police officers have no method to view in real-time the latest situation during an evolving incident, the report says.
The aging MetOps software also system means that it isn't linked directly to the other programs used in the force's central communications center known as the computer aided dispatch (CAD) system.
"This can result in the central communications centre being totally unaware of what is being dealt with within SOR, and conversely SOR being unaware of what is being dealt with through the CAD system," says the report.
The system's serious limitations contributed to a number of issues during the August 2011 riots, the report found, including the inability to monitor key incidents, slow communication with commanders on the ground, the lack of capability to hand over command to the oncoming team and the total inability to log key decisions for future review.
"These significant limitations coupled with the sheer scale of various tasks around the flow of information, communication and coordination of resources posed an immense challenge for those within SOR, particularly on August 8, 2011" the document says.
The process of replacing MetOps is under way and the force has also proposed some temporary solutions, including a new GIS system which is being trialled to assist with the coordination of resources. The Met is also considering adopting software currently used with live crime investigations for SOR.
The questions that are raised now is why did London's police wait until the last minute when they had a whole year to evaluate, plan and design modern software that would have prevented last year's riots. And one of the other question that is being asked now is: will the new software be ready in time for the Olympics which are less than four months from now? And it can take up to a year to fully test drive such complex software once it's available.
The Met's report also highlights the use of CCTV during disturbances. While the document says CCTV proved to be critical to the investigation of offences committed during the riots, it also says that there were significant challenges because of the sheer volume of footage, an estimated 200,000 hours, that had to be thoroughly examined.
The police's response to social media is also examined in the report, which notes that a digital communications steering group has been set up by the Met in response to its struggle to monitor social media in real time during the riots. The group wants to use social media to help the police understand what is going on in the community.

HP launches its Application Lifecycle Intelligence (ALI) development tools

Hewlett Packard announced earlier this morning a whole slew of new development tools, software suites and services aimed at accelerating application development lifecycles, with an emphasis on mobile apps and cloud solutions used in IT, mobile apps as well as tele-medicine applications.
HP is looking to make better use of the tools already provided by some social sites to allow better collaboration within work groups, and has added features designed to help mobile app developers and to reduce the development lifecycle to just days instead of months.
"Today, modern enterprise applications require a much different approach to original design and testing phases than traditional software applications," said Jonathan Rende, vice president and GM of application transformation solutions at HP.
"Overall, HP ensures that enterprise applications provide the highest level of quality, security, availability and scalability while elevating the user experience to an entirely new level."
On the social side, HP Application Lifecycle Intelligence (ALI) now uses social-media methods to track who is working on each stage of a software development project, and what input they have had so far, and at every phase of the development cycle.
HP's new Enterprise Collaboration suite allows real-time conversations on source code and links them to action items so that everyone in the team can benefit.
For enterprise mobility applications, HP has teamed up with Perfecto Mobile to speed up smartphone and tablet application development by allowing automated testing for multiple mobile handset types. There's also a new module for taking on-the-fly information on SAP Netweaver and Sybase Unwired platforms in the enterprise segment.
Then, HP Anywhere has also been updated to allow mobile phone users access to defect tracking, troubleshooting and service health monitoring, ensuring that as long as you've got your mobile app you can still get some work done and then post on an executive scorecard.
In the next few weeks, HP will also announce some new development tools that will enable app developers to collaborate on M2M (machine-to-machine) projects that can be used in the IT industry as well as in mobile medicine apps.

Microsoft's Azure cloud services

Late yesterday, Microsoft said that it is now offering a CommVault Simpana data feed and access portal as an Azure cloud storage suite.
CommVault enables its customers to make use of cloud computing and cloud storage facilities using Microsoft's Azure cloud services.

Simpana is CommVault's data protection and archiving suite which supports block-level and app-aware data deduplication. CommVault has struck reselling and OEM deals with Dell, Hitachi Data Services and NetApp.

This new program builds on an existing partner relationship between CommVault and Microsoft for Simpana-Azure inter-connection with a MS SharePoint implementation.
The documentation states "CommVault software’s archiving enables MS Azure to be a central storage location for archived and backed up data for Exchange Server, SharePoint, Active Directory, SQL Server, Windows OS, Lotus-Notes/Domino and other heterogeneous file system data used in IT today."

It adds "CommVault ensures that Windows Azure is integrated with a business’ on-premise data such that the information can be accessed and managed regardless of physical location."
CommVault stresses that Simpana's data deduplication capabilities cuts down on the amount of information flowing to and from the Azure cloud, lowering network bandwidth needs. The dedupe app would be carried out before sending data across the network. A Windows Server 2003 or 2008 can be an integrated Azure and Simpana dedupe target.

CommVault has a Strategic Cloud Agreement with Microsoft and Simpana software will be able to use Azure as a back-end repository for data backups and archive data. That gets Microsoft Simpana as a data source feeding data in to Azure.
CommVault enterprise customers will also be able to use Microsoft's Azure cloud storage and compute resources on an on-demand basis. Microsoft and CommVault's Simpana have been working more closely together on a number of joint ventures.

NetApp embarks on the virtual storage appliance bandwagon

arch 23, 2012

NetApp will soon join the virtual storage appliance croud by releasing the ONTAP-V solution it currently resells only through Fujitsu and it's Primergy BX-400 S1 server. ONTAP-V joins an VMware's Virtual Storage Appliance and HP's LeftHand products in offering an alternative to conventional arrays, which bundle hardware and software into a physical appliance. Virtual storage appliances instead use storage that could be in an array or a server and abstract it into a virtual appliance. NetApp's new effort will offer all the functionality of Data ONTAP.

Kevin McIsaac of analyst firm IBRS rates storage appliances as extraordinarily disruptive. Upon the 2011 launch of VMware's VSA he said “Within five years it will be chasing EMC and NetApp’s midrange servers,” and that “This is the beginning of a large shift since Wintel displaced Unix and RISC.”

McIsaac made that statement because he considers arrays to be “just an Intel box” surrounded by exotic engineering. By making the need for that engineering less urgent, he feels virtual appliances threaten the business case for developing or acquiring physical appliances.

NetApp's Director of Cloud Computing Vaughn Stewart said that the decision to make the virtual appliance available direct to customers and through NetApp's channel, was driven by end-user demand and the realities of virtual computing.
He said “Customers have been asking this for years. We are in this world of abstraction now and our value is our software. Why not expose that to more user cases?”
The initial release of Ontap-v will work with what Stewart called “a broad set of blade vendors.” He could not name the exact list, but said users can expect most major players to feature it.
Stewart added that he too expects some disruption could ensue from Ontap-v's wider availability. “Do I think the $5000 storage array market could get flipped over?” he paused. “Look at something like UCS express – that density is ideal and you can get all the nice things you get from an array without an array. That can work in a bank branch or a retailer.” ONTAP-v will emerge at the same time as the release of Data OnTap 8.1.