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February 27, 2009
• Vol.31 Issue 9
Page(s) 28 in print issue
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Staying On Top Of Things
Tips To Help You Improve The Operation Of Your Data Center
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Sometimes, a small to medium-sized enterprise can improve its IT operations by improving its technology. Sometimes, improving people skills can be just as valuable. Here are several tips in both the technology and human resources area to make the data center run smoother.
 It’s Cool To Think Hot
Most SMEs think about getting cool air into their data centers. But don’t neglect to think about the hot air, too, says Tony Ridenour, sales representative for the Atlas Sales & Rentals (www.atlas-sales.com) Inland Empire district of California.
“When you bring in a cooling unit, you’ve got to evacuate the hot air somewhere,” he says. Knowing what is up above is a key factor to getting proper cooling.
“See if the room has a T-bar ceiling (drop ceiling with ceiling tiles). Determine whether there is a fire ceiling above the T-bar,” he continues. A fire ceiling keeps smoke, and air, from moving around up above. “You’ve got to evacuate that hot air somewhere.” This might be possible through existing ventilation systems, a tube, or even out a doorway. Venting kits are available that will move the hot air away.
“You’ve got to send that hot air somewhere and replace it with cool,” Ridenour says. “That’s what servers like.”
Once there is a way to move the hot air away from the computers, the air-conditioning system will draw in air, circulate it through the condenser coils, and push out cooled air. The size of the unit required depends on the amount of heat generated by the servers and can be calculated with a fairly simple mathematical formula. But unless the hot air is sucked out of the room, those calculations will be wrong.
Take Precautions To Ensure A More Secure System
Don’t underestimate the importance of security training for users at all levels—not just the people in the IT department.
“No matter how many locks you have on the door, there is still someone that can unlock them,” says David Setzer, CEO of Mailprotector (www.mailprotector.net), an email security firm. “Make sure your users are briefed about visiting unknown sites, opening suspicious emails, using removable media, and handling account credentials among other things. Teach them to be suspicious first.”
He also advises investing in a firewall that will allow IT to control what happens to outbound traffic rather than allowing every system in the computing environment unfettered access to the Internet. “Restrict your HTTP and HTTPS as well as SMTP traffic through a proxy and don’t let traffic flow out of users’ systems unless there is a specific need to do so,” he says, noting that this will limit data loss and other hazards in case you were to become infected.
People Skills
"IT needs to take more than a technical role—it needs to be involved in profit and loss, marketing, sales, and even the client’s business,” says Ian Korman, CEO of Searchlinqs (www.searchlinqs.com), a Web-based advertising agency involved in search engine optimization and banner advertising. “The world has changed. It is most important that IT professionals connect with the marketing people, especially in SMEs that are not big, fragmented organizations.”
Know the difference in search engines, Korman advises. “Google, Yahoo!, and MSN all have different algorithms. Know how to deliver the message that your company wants to get out there. Don’t just focus on building a Web site but be sure you are picking up the right data.”
Korman says Google is the volume leader, handling about 60% of U.S. traffic and 80% of Canadian traffic. Yahoo! and MSN are close second and third engines in both countries.
Korman advises learning the benefits of each search engine for reaching out to particular demographics. MSN’s Hotmail, for instance, has benefits with some groups. Yahoo! might be better with others. “It all depends on your business’s objectives,” he says.
Build Worker Pride
As a general rule, knowledge workers love to have access to tools that let them expand their horizons.
“Let your domain experts have access to VMware,” says Laurent Gharda, CEO of LinMin (www.linmin.com), bare-metal provisioning specialists. He notes that the server is basically free and that it has a nice user interface. A workstation costs about $200.
“Let him or her have a cheap PC/server, so they can use their provisioning tool on VMware and deploy to either VMs or the cheap hardware. When a new server rolls into the SME data center, it can be business-ready and operational within the hour since all the work was done beforehand,” Gharda says.  by Curt Harler
BONUS TIPS
Stay in tune with other departments. Connect with other departments in your company and bridge the gap between technical processes and what those department heads hope to accomplish. “A technical person can build a great Web site that does not have the functionality the sales department needs,” Ian Korman, CEO of Searchlinqs (www.searchlinqs.com), points out. He says it is important to be on top of Web design, metatagging, code placement, and compliance issues. But a Web site can look great and not reach the target. “Learn about sales or marketing and what they want to accomplish,” he advises. “Take the time to build a solid integration between your role and other departments.” Know how to communicate with other people effectively. Read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” says David Setzer, CEO of Mailprotector (www.mailprotector.net). “Seriously,” he adds. This classic business and personal improvement book, now more than 50 years old, has staying power. “Don’t think that your technical skills alone will carry you to success,” Setzer says. “Your ability to successfully interact with management, peers, vendors and even customers is as important or more important than your technical skills. You must be able to effectively communicate your issues and sell your ideas,” he says. |
Best Tip:
Be Sure To Plan Ahead
Because we are all busy and need to get everything done “right now,” many IT environments evolve based on what was cheapest that day or what made sense for a specific project or application, notes Reed Smith, director of product management at StrataScale (www.stratascale.com). As a result, many hours and dollars are lost in perpetuity on inefficient processes for building and supporting disparate IT environments. The way to avoid spending more money on a hodgepodge network is to spend time planning before investing in any more equipment. Then refer to that documentation whenever change is in the offing. “Have an articulated overall vision for your IT environment and implement it religiously to bring exponential dividends as you maintain and grow,” Smith advises. |
Best Return On Investment:
Save By Standardizing
While planning, you should also standardize. SMEs often have a hodgepodge of models, brands, configurations, operating systems, applications, security products, and processes in their IT environments. “Standardizing on a couple of brands and models will greatly simplify your IT team’s task of managing and updating your environment,” Smith says. “Just remember to keep your standards up-to-date, so the team is not tempted to stray. Keeping a couple of vendors in the mix is always good for negotiating leverage and for any unforeseen problems with one partner.” "Don't shortchange the cost savings of IT automation,” Smith says. He admits it is common to be drawn to hardware savings when looking for ways to save money in the ever-stretched IT budget. “The fact is that hardware can make up as little as 10% of overall IT cost. Look to ongoing support, power consumption, and software license costs for other large culprits,” he says. “While many of us have been led down a primrose path with products that promise to automate the world, the truth is that IT automation has evolved. Some software packages and hosted solutions can deliver real manpower savings and functionality that simply wasn’t available before.” |
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