| August 15, 2014 |
Tech Target: Mavis Tire goes SANLess with SIOS DataKeeperWith DBAs rewarded for server performance and SAN specialists rewarded for server capacity, there can be a tug of war. Mavis Tire goes SANLess with SIOS DataKeeper. SIOS Technology releases a survey about high availability and SAN.An IT department can become a battleground when different job functions are given competing goals. Performance and capacity are a set of competing goals that turn up again and again. These goals can pit SQL Server database administrators (DBAs) against storage area network (SAN) specialists. When pressure comes down from management and both start to scramble, they find they’ve been asked to achieve incompatible goals. “SAN guys are measured by how much they can say they’ve saved with storage space,” said Geoff Hiten, principal SQL Server consultant for management and consulting firm Intellinet Corp. With SQL Server databases, space is money, and so the incentive is strong to push SAN specialists to optimize for greater capacity. According to Hiten, this means SAN specialists have to “micro-optimize for their areas.” That micro-optimization can reduce overall database performance. In contrast, DBAs are judged based on the performance they can get out of a server. Since the DBA manages the server in its entirety, having the server optimized for something other than performance or a balance of performance and capacity becomes their responsibility. This leads to contention between the SAN specialist, who has been given the incentive to favor capacity over performance, while the DBA needs performance before capacity to do his job. But favoring capacity at the expense of performance becomes a problem for everyone, not just the DBA, when it slows down the server. Continue Reading at: http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/feature/Mavis-Tire-goes-SANless-with-SIOS-DataKeeper |
IT Business Edge: Hardware Failure: Time to Lighten Up a Little?
View this article on: ITBusinessEdge.com But like measles and Scarlet Fever, what once seemed terrifying tends to lose its capacity to frighten when new technologies are brought to bear. And as the age of virtual and software-defined architectures unfolds, it could very well turn out that what was once fatal will soon be, well, if not cured, then at least manageable. Vantage Data Centers SVP of Operations Chris Yetman, for one, is calling for an end to the zero tolerance for failure that grips most IT shops. As he explained it to IT Trends & Analysis recently, focusing on improved recovery and failover will do more to help the bottom line than a zero failure policy ever will. Not only can you push the utilization rate higher, lowering both capital and operational costs, but the extent and duration of failure will be lessened. Failure is inevitable, so why not focus your energies on where they will do the most good: getting back on your feet again. Part of this process will be to redefine your failure domains to reflect the changing nature of data architectures, says Plexxi’s Mike Bushong. For instance, SDN and bare metal switching offer radically different controller architectures, with SDN placing much greater responsibility for network functionality on a single controller. A proper failure domain, then, should cover issues like whether the control is or is not an active part of the data path and whether you prefer a single domain or several smaller ones to enhance management distribution. And for those running bare metal architectures (or both, as is likely for the time being), domains should properly reflect the convergence and resource pooling that is likely to take place as the enterprise consolidates its infrastructure. All of this is the difference between simple backup and recovery and full business continuity, says Paul Cash, of UK consulting firm Fruition Partners. With continuity, the focus is on getting service back to normal, which calls for an integrated approach to B&R, systems failover, IT service management and a host of other functions. And the biggest impediment to effective continuity is bad planning, which in itself is usually caused by the set-it-and-forget-it mentality. Enterprise architectures and processes are changing at a rapid pace, so the worst thing for continuity is a plan based on system configurations that are one, five or even 10 years out of date. Of course, another problem is the continued reliance on popular, but nonetheless complex and inefficient, architectures that make it difficult to swap out and reprovision failed resources. A case in point is the storage area network (SAN), says SIOS Technology’s Jerry Melnick. New SAN-less clustering approaches built on the virtual layer offer replication and failover across multiple hosts with little or no service interruption. The latest SAN-less solutions even offer this functionality across wide geographic areas, offering protection in the event of widespread disasters. And with local solid state storage solutions in the mix, enterprises also gain the benefit of improved application performance and dramatically lower storage costs. New data paradigms are about more than just advancing technologies. They force changes on the way we build, manage and interact with the data ecosystem. Hardware failure in particular used to be the Code Red of the IT shop, but as functionality moves into the virtual and application layers, the health of a single piece of hardware, or even a collection of pieces, becomes less important. Failure is still an issue to be dealt with, but if properly planned for, it no longer has to be a crisis. Arthur Cole writes about infrastructure for IT Business Edge. Cole has been covering the high-tech media and computing industries for more than 20 years, having served as editor of TV Technology, Video Technology News, Internet News and Multimedia Weekly. His contributions have appeared in Communications Today and Enterprise Networking Planet and as web content for numerous high-tech clients like TwinStrata, Carpathia and NetMagic. |
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| August 13, 2014 |
Boston.com: SIOS Sponsors “SQL PASS First Timers Session”SAN MATEO, CA — (Marketwired) — 08/13/14 — SIOS Technology Corp. (www.us.sios.com), maker of SAN and #SANLess clustering software products, today announced that it is sponsoring SQL PASS 1st Timers Webcast 2013 Edition presented by Microsoft MVP, Denny Cherry. This webinar is designed for first time attendees of the PASS Summit 2014 conference for SQL Server professionals. Denny will provide key insights on how to get the most value from the conference and he will share practical advice about attending key events in the November conference in Seattle. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 20th, 2014 at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern / 6pm (1800) GMT.Register here: http://discover.us.sios.com/2014-08-webinar-denny-cherry-sql-pass-first-timers-session.html “During this session I’ll be talking about the things you need to know if this is your first PASS Summit,” said Denny Cherry. “I’ll tell you where the must-see things are, and of course, I’ll be announcing this year’s SQL Karaoke party including sponsor, location and where to check in for PASS Summit 2014.” Denny Cherry is the owner and principal consultant of Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting and has over a decade of experience working with platforms such as Microsoft SQL Server, Hyper-V, vSphere and Enterprise Storage solutions. Denny’s areas of technical expertise include system architecture, performance tuning, security, replication and troubleshooting. Denny currently holds several of the Microsoft Certifications related to SQL Server for versions 2000 through 2008 including the Microsoft Certified Master as well as being a Microsoft MVP for several years. Denny has written several books and dozens of technical articles on SQL Server management and how SQL Server integrates with various other technologies. About SIOS Technology Corp. Founded in 1999, SIOS Technology Corp. (www.us.sios.com) is headquartered in San Mateo, California, and has offices throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Japan. SIOS, SIOS Technology, SIOS DataKeeper, SIOS Protection Suite, Clusters Your Way, and associated logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of SIOS Technology Corp. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
Los Angeles Daily News: SIOS Sponsors “SQL PASS First Timers Session”SIOS Technology Corp. (www.us.sios.com), maker of SAN and #SANLess clustering software products, today announced that it is sponsoring SQL PASS 1st Timers Webcast 2013 Edition presented by Microsoft MVP, Denny Cherry. This webinar is designed for first time attendees of the PASS Summit 2014 conference for SQL Server professionals. Denny will provide key insights on how to get the most value from the conference and he will share practical advice about attending key events in the November conference in Seattle. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 20th, 2014 at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern / 6pm (1800) GMT. Register here: http://discover.us.sios.com/2014-08-webinar-denny-cherry-sql-pass-first-timers-session.html “During this session I’ll be talking about the things you need to know if this is your first PASS Summit,” said Denny Cherry. “I’ll tell you where the must-see things are, and of course, I’ll be announcing this year’s SQL Karaoke party including sponsor, location and where to check in for PASS Summit 2014.” Denny Cherry is the owner and principal consultant of Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting and has over a decade of experience working with platforms such as Microsoft SQL Server, Hyper-V, vSphere and Enterprise Storage solutions. Denny’s areas of technical expertise include system architecture, performance tuning, security, replication and troubleshooting. Denny currently holds several of the Microsoft Certifications related to SQL Server for versions 2000 through 2008 including the Microsoft Certified Master as well as being a Microsoft MVP for several years. Denny has written several books and dozens of technical articles on SQL Server management and how SQL Server integrates with various other technologies. About SIOS Technology Corp.SIOS Technology Corp. makes SAN and #SANLess software solutions that make clusters easy to use and easy to own. An essential part of any cluster solution, SIOS SAN and #SANLess software provides the flexibility to build Clusters Your Way to protect your choice of Windows or Linux environment in any configuration (or combination) of physical, virtual and cloud (public, private, and hybrid) without sacrificing performance or availability. The unique SIOS #SANLess clustering solution allows you to configure clusters with local storage, eliminating both the cost and the single-point-of-failure risk of traditional shared (SAN) storage. Founded in 1999, SIOS Technology Corp. (www.us.sios.com) is headquartered in San Mateo, California, and has offices throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Japan. SIOS, SIOS Technology, SIOS DataKeeper, SIOS Protection Suite, Clusters Your Way, and associated logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of SIOS Technology Corp. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ContactBeth Winkowski |
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September 13, 2014: SQLSaturday #300 – Kansas CityRegister Now for SQLSaturday Kansas City
There are a number of great tracks so be sure to plan your schedule well in advance (schedule). If you are interested in learning more about high availability or disaster recovery, here are a few sessions that may be of interest… Lunch Session11:45 — Lunch Session: Clusters Your Way – #SANLess clusters for physical, virtual & cloud environments Beginning and Intermediate Sessions8:30a — Fun with Availability Groups (Beginner) 12:45a — Know Backups and Know Recovery (Intermediate) 2:45p — SQL Server Virtualization 101 (Beginner) About SQLSaturday KansasThis year marks the 5th time Kansas City has hosted a SQL Saturday. Imagine spending your Saturday with 300+ data professionals from the Kansas City metro area, midwest region and international locations discussing all facets of SQL Server. Register Now for SQLSaturday Kansas |
Probably the single most hated word in the IT lexicon is “failure.” Hardware failure, application failure or (shudder) data center failure are enough to strike fear in even the most hardened enterprise tech.