InStock IT Weekly Newsletter

For the week of 06-23-2008 (Vol 8, No 25)

 

"Ability is what you're capable of doing.

Motivation determines what you do.

Attitude determines how well you do it."

Lou Holtz (1937 - ) Football Coach

Quote courtesy of www.focusedquotes.com

 

The IT Weekly Newsletter is a selection of information technology articles from 6-16-08 to 6-20-08 culled from 450+ on line industry sources and compiled for Instock, Inc. by Promethean Data Solutions, Inc.  These articles address everyday issues involving storage, servers, networks, IT procurement and cost justification, regulatory compliance and futures.  You will also find practical insights on moving, sharing, storing, protecting, accessing, justifying, measuring and securing a company’s most valuable assets - DATA and INFORMATION.

 

Articles from the week of 6-16-08 to 6-20-08:  Backup (2), CIO – CTO – CSO, Disaster Recovery (2), Encryption, Operations (3), Outsourcing, Rabbit Sense, Security, Technology (2) and Virtualization.

 

IT Weekly Newsletter© Contents: (Follow the URLs or go to the abstracts)

#1   The weakest link                                                                                                       Security

Go to Abstract

Be Cautious about letting New iPhones into Your Company

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9096719&source=NLT_SEC&nlid=38

#2   At odds with cost reduction                                                                           Operations

Go to Abstract

Primary Storage and the Green Data Center

http://infostor.com/display_article/330902/23/ARTCL/none/none/1/Primary-storage-and-the-green-data-center/?dcmp=ISWNUS

#3  Coordinating the Three Stooges                                                    Disaster Recovery

Go to Abstract

How To Coordinate DR and BCP

http://www.bmighty.com/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=X4X5WGEGMIYX4QSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=208402639&pgno=1

#4   Understand their issues to address yours                                                      Backup

Go to Abstract

Providing Managed Backup Services

http://searchstoragechannel.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid98_gci1316069_tax310957,00.html?track=NL-675&ad=644791&asrc=EM_NLN_3829818&uid=584712

#5   Talk about a drop in phishing schemes                                                  Technology

Go to Abstract

I Shadow

http://www.darkreading.com/blog.asp?blog_sectionid=342&doc_id=155825

#6   Complex problems can be easily expressed                                           Operations

Go to Abstract

Data Center Environment Basics

http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/P3024/20p24/20p24.asp&wklydate=true

#7  No one cares about Backups                                                                                Backup

Go to Abstract

The Essentials of Backup & Storage

http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/P3024/21p24/21p24.asp&wklydate=true

#8   Understand the basics                                                                                 Virtualization

Go to Abstract

Virtualization Fundamentals

http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/P3024/22p24/22p24.asp&wklydate=true

#9  Not easy and not a panacea                                                                            Encryption

Go to Abstract

Advantages vs. Drawbacks of Encryption

http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/P3024/33p24/33p24.asp&wklydate=true

#10  Answer twp questions                                                                                  Outsourcing

Go to Abstract

Ten Best Practices

http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid183_gci1317450,00.html?track=NL-974&ad=646408&asrc=EM_NLT_3845590&uid=584712

#11  There are no guarantees                                                                    CIO – CTO – CSO

Go to Abstract

The Key to Risk Management

http://www.esj.com/enterprise/article.aspx?EditorialsID=3190&pg=2

#12  An option that may not be needed                                                             Operations

Go to Abstract

UPS Load Bus Synchronization

http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid80_gci1317654,00.html?track=NL-455&ad=646309&asrc=EM_NLN_3854008&uid=584712

#13  It’s the that time of the year                                                                        Technology:

Go to Abstract

The Top Storage Trends at Midyear

http://www.byteandswitch.com/document.asp?doc_id=156684&f_src=byteweekly

#14  Planning for the unthinkable                                                         Disaster Recovery

Go to Abstract

Iowa Floods Forcing Firms to Race to Keep IT Afloat

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9099558&source=NLT_AM&nlid=1

#15   Reminiscing                                                                                                  Rabbit Sense

Go to Abstract

15 Turning Points in Tech History

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/06/09/24FE-tech-turning-points_1.html

 

To Access articles CTRL-left click on Title

 

 

1.  Security:  Computers have one dirty little secret that no one talks about;  security is only good as the least protected device in the network.  That’s the big reason that Gartner says Be Cautious about letting New iPhones into Your Company.   New devices don’t have the years of security available at the outset…just be careful.  ComputerWorld (June 11, 2008)

 

2.  Operations:  No matter how you define the problem one thing is certain; power is not going to become less costly.  One area that seems at odds is Primary Storage and the Green Data Center.  There are three technologies that can be implemented to mitigate a growing energy bill.  InfoStor (June 12, 2008)

 

3.  Disaster Recovery:  BU, DR and BCP can sometimes look like The Three Stooges pointing to the right; like any disagreement cooperation is required.  If companies can learn How To Coordinate DR and BCP then IT and Business can concentrate on their respective expertise without looking over the fence.  bMight.com  (June 9, 2008)

 

4.  Backup:  The low man on the totem pole as to excitement; that’s where the backup specialist resides until there is a problem.  This love, hate, worship relationship is what is causing companies to look at outsourcing backup.  Here is a look at companies Providing Managed Backup Services and the issues they have to address; this will give you an idea of what questions to ask.  Search Storage Channel (June 3, 2008)

 

5.  Technology:  Wishing that Spam and Phishing would go away didn’t cut it for PayPal.  In I Shadow, the CISO of PayPal describes the simple process that reduced PayPal phishing dramatically.  What‘s key is that at one point PayPal phishing was responsible for 70% of all schemes; now they aren’t in the top 10. Dark Reading (June 10, 2008)

 

6.  Operations:  There are only five areas that need to be addressed to understand Data Center Environment Basics.  Like Neil Armstrong said about going to the moon, there are only two problems ‘getting there’ and ‘getting back’ and you need to get both right.  Processor (June 13, 2008)

 

7.  Backup:  No one cares about backups, but everyone cares deeply about restores.  Understanding The Essentials of Backup & Storage will go along way towards making sure that an updated resume is not needed after a recovery.  Processor (June 13, 2008)

 

8.  Virtualization:  Along with encryption and thin provisioning understanding Virtualization Fundamentals can transform a data center of any size. Processor (June 13, 2008)

 

9.  Encryption:  There are no free lunches and encryption is no different.  Regardless of what encryption vendors tell you; make sure you clearly understand the Advantages vs. Drawbacks of Encryption before you sign up: encryption is rocket science.  Processor (June 13, 2008)

 

10.   Outsourcing:  There are only two reasons to outsource; once you have addressed these two questions and decide to proceed, these Ten Best Practices will insure that a decision is based on data and not emotions.  Search CIO (June 16, 2008)

 

11.  CIO – CTO – CSO:  As Clint Eastwood said “If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster”; in life there is no such thing as risk free.  The Key to Risk Management is to look at the three major classes of exposure and then go through a 3-step process for each one.  Enterprise Systems Journal (June 17, 2008)

 

12.  Operations:  There are a lot of companies looking to save money on data centers without sacrificing performance or reliability.  One are to look at is UPS Load Bus Synchronization.  A majority of UPS vendors provide this option as standard equipment; decide if our data center needs this capability.  Search Data Center (June 16, 2008)

 

13.  Technology:  The last half of the year brings the vendors trying to make their numbers – at your expense.  Here are The Top Storage Trends at Midyear that are going to be at the forefront of every vendors pitch from here on; the more you know the better prepared you are to understand you environment and ask the right questions.  Byte and Switch (June 17, 2008)

 

14. Disaster Recovery:  When flooding reaches the 500 year mark you know that lots of companies DR plans will fall short.  This is especially true as Iowa Floods Forcing Firms to Race to Keep IT Afloat.  Planning for the unthinkable should be the mantra; but one thing is certain, you will never think of everything.  ComputerWorld (June 17, 2008)

 

15.  Rabbit Sense:  Don’t know if these are THE 15 Turning Points in Tech History; there are other points of interest i.e. Ethernet but reading these and reminiscing about woulda, coulda and shoulda sure brings about the memories.  InfoWorld (June 9, 2008)

All abstracts are Copyright 2007 by Promethean Data Solutions, Inc.  URL links, contents and Trademarks are copyright of their respective owners. 

Abstracts may not be reprinted, copied or distributed without the prior written permission of Promethean Data Solutions.  Opinions stated in the abstracts are the opinions of Promethean Data Solutions, Inc. and do not necessarily reflect those of this site.

Promethean Data Solutions, Inc.  602-463-6558

www.PrometheanDataSolutions.com

 

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