Clearpath’s Blog on IT Infrastructure, Hybrid Clouds and IT Security

When it comes to succeeding in any profession, it is always important to understand the fundamentals of that particular field. In data center hardware implementation, the most basic concept is the physical placement of hardware inside a data center; or as IT professionals like to call it, the “rack and stacking” of hardware into cabinets and racks. It is an elementary procedure, but if it is done incorrectly or taken lightly, the end result of a project could be disastrous. In order to make life easier for engineers and technicians, here are some useful strategies to consider for a rack and stack job.

In Part 1, we discussed the strategy of moving your office or data center, focusing on how to determine your requirements based on the tolerable downtime during your move.

The first time I logged into a Nexus 7000, I was a bit intimidated, as there were enough differences between it and the 6500s that I had been more comfortable with in the past. Here are some tips to try and make the transition a little easier.

The concept of “Any Server, Anywhere” is becoming more and more ubiquitous, particularly in a world that is heavily dependent on VMware and the use of vMotion.  To build a true cloud architecture that allows virtual servers to be migrated between any host devices at any point in the network, transparently to the end user, one of two things must happen:

In part one of this series, I’m going to discuss the strategy of the move.  Specifically how to determine your requirements based on the tolerable downtime during your move.

The concept of network based virtualization has typically been focused around logical overlays placed on a consistent physical architecture. VLANs, GRE, MPLS, and VRF allow network engineers the ability to create constructs within the network to virtually segment resources.  While this is a powerful tool, the Nexus 7000 takes the capacity of the network to virtualize itself to a much higher degree.