January 18, 2008 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- IBM (ibm.com) announced on Friday that it has launched new software for data center automation that will help customers benefit from cloud computing.
IBM says the new version of its Tivoli Provisioning Manager will help clients operate with fewer resources and reduce manual steps to better automate the changing demands for IT resources - a key element of IBM's version of cloud computing, called Blue Cloud. The technologies developed as part of this initiative enable clients to build large-scale, distributed, globally accessible data centers, says the company.
TPM includes a variety of enhancements to help simplify software installation and improve distribution, monitor IT resources across an enterprise and create reusable automation packages to perform complex tasks that can be used again later. It can manage virtualization technologies, SAN and NAS-based storage resources, and network devices acting as routers, switches, firewalls and load balancers. The software also enables a company to automate its own data center procedures and processes either by modifying automation packages or creating new packages that match a company's best practices.
"Advanced automation and resource optimization are key drivers to containing costs and among the top priorities for businesses today," says Chris O'Connor, VP of Tivoli strategy and market management, IBM. "This new version of Tivoli Provisioning Manager enables our clients to simplify IT environments, further take advantage of virtualization and realize the vision of cloud computing."
IBM recently introduced a new version of IBM Systems Director Active Energy Manager, its management software that users autonomic capabilities to track energy consumption in data centers and helps customers to monitor their power usage and make adjustments to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Read Back Issues of WHIR Magazine
October 2009 - Web Hosting's All Star Team
This has been, for us, one of the most interesting, exciting and challenging build-ups to an issue of the magazine yet, Web Hosting's All Star Team. The balloting process was our first experiment with a kind of user participation we're planning to do a lot more with in the months to come. We had thousands of ballots submitted, with hundreds of write-in suggestions and a demonstration of user engagement that has us feeling super positive about the project.
About This Issue | Read Digital Edition
July 2009 - What am I Worth?
One of the interesting luxuries of working on a project like the printed WHIR magazine is that it allows us to play with things like our point of view from one issue to the next. In recent months we've been giving added attention to the kind of practical and applicable advice aimed at smaller hosts and resellers. This issue carries on with that point of view, asking, in our cover story, "what am I worth?" It's a complicated question without a clear-cut answer.
About This Issue | Read Digital Edition
May 2009 - The Blueprint for a Small Web Host
I was a little surprised by how difficult it became to see this idea through. We set out to assemble a blueprint for a small hosting business, but butted up pretty quickly against the general impossibility of covering all the territory that was out there to be covered. The basic constraints of a printed magazine, and the less-than-infinite amount of time we had available forced us to face the fact that we could never produce an exhaustive guide to starting a hosting company.
About This Issue | Read Digital Edition
Comment anonymously or log into your WHIR account
Logging in allows enhanced commenting features (such as external linking) in news, features, blogs and more.