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In this issue...
  • Feature: Server Consolidation: Steps to IT and Business Rationalization
  • Spotlight: Server Consolidation: Why Less is More
  • From the Key e-Lab: Opportunities for Systems Rationalization in an IT organizations
  • KEY Definitions: Terms of the Month
    • Feature :.

    Server Consolidation: Steps to IT and Business Rationalization

    By: Christopher Burry, ComputerWorld

    In several past columns, I have mentioned the possibility of server consolidation. Whether replacing or adding an operating system, companies have opportunities to consolidate servers to reduce equipment -- and more. In the past five years, organizations have been adding servers and storage at an incredible rate. There are several reasons for this:
  • Customers purchase most servers to support a single application.
  • They perform limited capacity planning and management.
  • When they run out of room to add storage, companies buy another server.
    • A company that starts with 100 servers and has a history of 15% annual growth will have 201 servers in five years' time. Must that rate of equipment purchase be sustained to support business growth? Could annual investment at just 5% ensure sufficient capacity?

    Click Here to Continue Reading
    http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2003/0,4814,82228,00.html
    Spotlight:.

    Server Consolidation: Why Less is More

    By: Steve Schuchart, Jr., Network Computing

    Sprawling data centers replete with rogue servers, departmental turf wars and multivendor, multimigraine installations are elevating IT stress levels, leading many of us to ask: "How can we do this better?"

    The short answer: Fix it so you manage fewer devices.

    Don't get us wrong. We like a few racks' worth of beefy hardware as much as the next geek, but it's time to embrace the "C" word--consolidation--specifically, server consolidation. It's a concept whose time has come. A recent survey of 475 Gartner Data Center Conference attendees showed that 92 percent were considering or implementing some type of server consolidation. Whether you choose racks of 1U devices, virtual servers or blades, you'll reap benefits, including easier management and cost savings.

    Click Here to Read More
    http://www.networkcomputing.com/shared/printArticle.jhtml?article=/1411/1411f1full.html&pub=nwc

    From the Key e-Lab:.

    Opportunities for Systems Rationalization in an IT organizations

    IBM White paper

    This whitepaper describes some of the major tools and techniques that have more recently surfaced in the field of server consolidation or more appropriately put, server infrastructure optimization and rationalization, and how they can have a positive affect on IT costs and complexity reduction. Many of the observations and conclusions reviewed in this paper are drawn from the results of over 150 server optimization studies conducted by IBM’s IT Server Infrastructure Optimization Scorpion Consulting Team within the last 18 months. These studies are designed to help IT professionals understand the nature of server landscapes, and to help them find specific ways to reduce cost and complexity through the use of the tools and techniques described herein.

    Click Here to Read More
    http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/library/pdf/orion.pdf

    KEY Definitions:.

    >From www.techweb.com/encyclopedia

    LPAR
    (Logical PARtition) A logical segmentation of a computer’s memory and other resources that allows it to run its own copy of the operating system and associated applications. LPARs are caused by special hardware circuits and allow multiple system images to run in one machine. This can be multiple instances of the same operating system or different operating systems.

    Key Information Systems, Inc., (www.keyisit.com) a Premier Business Partner with IBM, is a systems integration company located at 22120 Clarendon St., Suite 100, Woodland Hills, CA 91367, USA. Founded in 1995, the company provides corporate infrastructure architecture for business continuity, storage, and e-business solutions. Key Information Systems is a leading provider of IBM server solutions for the iSeries, AIX (UNIX), NT, and Linux platforms and has distinguished itself by extending its high availability infrastructure solutions to the Internet economy. The company delivers a complete range of professional services including education, maintenance, and IBM Global Financing. For more information, please visit the company online or call 1-877-442-3249.

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