Topic: Data Center Technology

Seminar Topics

The Value of a Reliable CMDB & Practical Steps to Get There

  Presented by ServiceNow

Why have a CMDB? What is needed to build one? How do I maintain one? Why do CMDB projects sometimes fail or end up incomplete? What are the major best practices? What pitfalls should I avoid? The concept of CMDBs has been around for over a decade now. Some CMDB projects are successful. Some fail, are abandoned, or never really get there. This presentation first revisits the value of spending the effort to establish a functional and reliable CMDB. We then discuss a road map, practical best practices, pitfalls and do’s and don’ts in order to successfully establish a reliable and maintainable CMDB.

SD-WAN: Delivering a WOW Customer Experience for Every Application

  Presented by Silver Peak Systems

Adoption of cloud services has driven enterprises to re-think WAN architecture. Architectures based on traditional, manually-programmed routers can’t keep pace. A business-driven SD-WAN can provide secure direct connections from the branch to SaaS/IaaS across the internet, significantly increasing application performance resulting in a superior end-user QoEx (Quality of Experience). By integrating SD-WAN, WAN optimization, routing and security in a single unified platform, enterprises can simplify branch WAN edge architecture, accelerating time to value and dramatically reducing operational costs. From a centralized SD-WAN orchestrator, application priorities and QoS and security policies may be configured and assigned to automate traffic handling across the WAN. A single mouse click distributes SD-WAN configuration parameters to all sites, improving operational efficiency and minimizing the potential for human errors that can negatively impact application availability and enterprise security. This session will describe why SD-WAN adoption continues at a breakneck pace because of the user productivity, agility and cost savings benefits that a business-driven SD-WAN delivers.

Virtualizing Production Databases: SQL Server

  Presented by IVOXY Consulting

How do you know if your SQL Server VM’s are as fast as they could be? When a SQL VM is “slow”, is it the database or the way the VM is built? What should we do differently when we build a virtual SQL server? If you’ve asked – or been asked – questions like these, allow us to share our 12 years’ experience in designing virtual infrastructure for mission-critical applications & databases.

Presentation topics include:

  • What makes a virtual database server different than a physical one
  • Properly sizing a SQL VM: Bigger is not better
  • Tuning a VM for transactional performance
  • Configuring storage queues
  • The metrics that matter, what they mean & how to spot bottlenecks
  • How to leverage virtualization for a better backup & DR strategy

Choosing the Right Cloud Environment: Public, Private, or Hybrid

  Presented by Atmosera

In pursuit of enhanced connectivity, scalability, and efficiency, cloud migration is hastening across all industry sectors. In order to unlock the cloud’s benefits, these environments—public, private, and hybrid–must be explicitly architected and engineered to suit the respective applications they will host, while also meeting security and compliance requirements. How do businesses determine their ideal cloud environment and optimize it post-migration?

In this presentation, we will review and compare:

  • The physical and virtual components of public, private, and hybrid cloud environments
  • The business considerations that differentiate each environment, including storage space, workloads, compliance, internal staff, and other business requirements
  • The relationship between organizations, cloud providers, and MSPs
  • The best practices organizations should consider keeping their cloud environment secure, compliant, and optimized post-migration

Backups to the Cloud: Our Journey to Move Beyond Tape

  Presented by Commvault

Learn how Portland State University ditched tape and took advantage of cloud storage to improve the geographical diversity of offsite backups as well as enhance recovery capabilities. Replacing tape backups and offsite storage with public cloud within the existing budget can be a daunting challenge. The presenters provide an overview of Portland State University’s backup methodologies, technical challenges, security concerns, and budget strategies to prepare each organization for what is required when transitioning from tape to cloud.