For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

TechRadar™ For I&O Professionals: Green IT 1.0 Technologies, Q2 2009

Helping IT Ops Professionals Understand And Prioritize Green IT Hardware, Software, And Service Investments

by Doug Washburn, June 12, 2009

Green IT is on the rise. Even in the face of a weak economy, twice as many organizations expect to accelerate their green IT plans as expect to slow them down. Why is this? Green IT initiatives are financially motivated, exposing opportunities for cost . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

10 GbE: Its Time Is Coming

Start Targeted Deployments Today, But Anticipate Broad Investment In 2010

by Andrew Reichman, James Staten, May 16, 2008

Ten gigabit per second Ethernet (10 GbE) represents the next level of enterprise network bandwidth, with vendors hyping it as the next great capability. But as an IT infrastructure and operations professional, you must strike a balance between constant . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Taking IP From A Commodity To A Utility

Network Operations Must Master DHCP, DNS, And RADIUS To Support IT

by Robert Whiteley, May 10, 2007

Today's networks are part of a mission-critical IT infrastructure fabric. They provide the "dial tone" of IT — an always-on, always-available service for connecting to data and applications. But most companies don't invest in the infrastructure that's . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Multidimensional MPLS Customer

Strong Interest In Related IP Technologies And Managed IP Services

by Lisa Pierce, March 27, 2006

Results from Forrester's Business Technographics® May 2005 North American And European Network And Telecommunications Benchmark Study shows that current MPLS customers, and those who are evaluating the technology, often are using or evaluating many . . .

.travel: Nice, But Not Necessary

New Sponsored Domain Name Will Benefit Its Sponsors But Few Others

by Henry H. Harteveldt, February 16, 2006

The .travel sponsored domain name is now live. Like a mosquito buzzing around your picnic, .travel is an annoying inconvenience. Only three groups are expected to benefit: the sponsor, Tralliance; destination marketing organizations; and small niche travel . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Cisco/Scientific-Atlanta Drags Cable Toward IP

by Josh Bernoff, Robert Whiteley, November 18, 2005

Cisco's acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta (S-A) will propel cable operators more quickly into an IP-based infrastructure. Look for S-A to use Cisco's Linksys brand to get into retail, while the combined company will create a full-on push on US telcos . . .

Competitive US LD And FR Prices

Steep Price Declines Over 2.5 Years — But Is The Party Over?

by Lisa Pierce, October 1, 2004

Forrester's work with domestic clients who spend several million dollars annually on long-distance (LD) voice and data services shows that prices for these services have dropped considerably. Since 2002, LD prices have dropped by more than 28% for voice . . .

What Service Providers Must Do To Make Mobile Internet TLD Successful

by Bernt Ostergaard, Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., April 5, 2004

The intention of leading mobile operators and telecommunications equipment manufacturers to create a top-level domain (TLD) for mobile devices has been greeted by almost universal skepticism. Critics point out that adding another TLD to the Internet by . . .

Crying 'Theater!' In A Crowded Fire

A Mobile Internet Top-Level Domain Solves Few Real Problems

by Carl Zetie, April 2, 2004

A large group of vendors representing three major elements of the mobile industry — IT vendors, wireless carriers, and mobile handset makers — jointly announced a plan to launch a new top-level domain (TLD) for the Internet to support mobile-specific . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Internationalized Domain Names

Good Idea; Shame About The Execution

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., March 10, 2004

Companies have been demanding the ability to represent domain names in local language characters for years — and, as of March 1, 2004, it's now possible. Unfortunately, the incompatibility of Web browsers and email programs with local character sets will . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

IT Trends 2004: Global 2000 Enterprise Domain Name Registration

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., December 1, 2003

The introduction of new gTLDs has further complicated the situation for Global 2000 companies. Therefore, Global 2000 companies will increasingly consolidate their registration services with one registrar to avoid damage to the corporate brand.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

DNS Sourcing Options

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., October 28, 2003

If a company has not outsourced its IT operations, Giga suggests the following DNS sourcing options: for external DNS, the internal IT department should manage the root DNS server and for internal DNS, the internal IT department should run an IPAM system

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

IP Unified Conferencing Simplifies the Management of Audio, Web and Video Conferencing

by Elizabeth Herrell, October 6, 2003

IP unified conferencing takes conferencing to the next level by simplifying user interface across a wide range of communication devices in a single conference over the company's IP network.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Don't Let Vendors Drive You to Gigabit Ethernet at the Desktop Before It's Time

by Stan Schatt, August 19, 2003

As PCs gain more throughput and applications eventually add video and other data-intensive bells and whistles, it's true that more and more companies will upgrade, particularly since the price of Gigabit connections to the desktop keep dropping.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Enterprises Should Be Wary of Low-Cost Solutions for Non-BGP Multi-Homing

by Jim Slaby, July 31, 2003

Clients must match their choice of a low- or high-end non-BGP multi-homing solution to their needs. Those looking to bolster the reliability of ISP connections for business-critical Web servers or VPN links should stick to real enterprise-class solutions.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

IPv6: What Should US Enterprises Do Now?

by Stan Schatt, July 25, 2003

Only clients doing business with the US DoD, clients with major operations in Asia, particularly Japan, Korea and China, and those in certain targeted verticals need to take immediate action and consider dual protocol stacks or tunneling strategies.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Managed Services Growth Sputters

by Maribel D. Lopez, Charles Rutstein, Angela Tseng, June 6, 2003

More than half of the firms surveyed by Forrester still manage technologies like IP VPNs and disaster recovery internally. Among those who outsource network services, ATM, Frame Relay, and Web hosting lead the charge.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

IP VPNs Gain Ground On Frame Relay

by Maribel D. Lopez, Charles Rutstein, Angela Tseng, May 29, 2003

About one-third of the companies we interviewed are augmenting existing Frame Relay services with IP VPNs. Three-quarters of those firms use remote-access VPNs today, while almost 70% are using site-to-site IPsec VPNs.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

IT Trends 2003, Midyear Update: Global 2000 Enterprise Domain Name Registration

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., May 29, 2003

Clients should be aware that the number of domain name misuse is sharply increasing. To protect the brand, clients should look at consolidating the registration services with one global vendor.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

IP Network Management for IBM Mainframes

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, April 28, 2003

This is a buyer's market, and clients should take advantage of the situation. Products in this area are tested and true, and there are few surprises when it comes to quality. This leaves two incentives to switch vendors: vendor viability and cost savings.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Domain Name Registration Update for Global 2000 Enterprise Clients

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., January 15, 2003

The market has seen an explosion in the number of companies offering domain name registration services. However, due to specific needs of Global 2000 companies, Giga recommends Network Solutions, Register.com and BulkRegister.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Should You Start Planning for 10 Gigabit Ethernet?

by Stan Schatt, November 19, 2002

For the vast majority of organizations, 10 Gigabit Ethernet is still too embryonic and too expensive to consider and Gigabit trunking should be used as a way of aggregating Gigabit traffic.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Cisco Boosts Prospects for IP/MPLS Services With SONET-Like Restoral Features

by Jim Slaby, October 15, 2002

Carriers and large enterprises that have avoided IP/MPLS for its lack of SONET-like restoral times should consider Cisco's MPLS Fast Reroute capability along with its Tunnel Builder Pro design tool.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Between IP and the PSTN: Quintum's VoIP Traffic Optimizer

by Will Cappelli, September 23, 2002

Global 2000 enterprises are, indeed, increasing their usage of VoIP services but rely on external service providers for most of the infrastructure and management and Quintum has found a functional niche.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Managing Registered Internet Domain Names

by Steve Telleen, September 11, 2002

Managing URL domain names is a question about individual and organizational behavior, which means the solution comes through policy rather than technology. If an organization does not have a policy covering this area, it should.