Software

My colleagues over at the Dell Enterprise Technology Center are hosting a technical chat tomorrow (April 21 at 3pm central time) on some of the new systems management capabilities found in the new eleventh generation of Dell PowerEdge servers.

Specifically, the chat will focus on Dell’s Lifecycle Controller, which is the engine for advanced embedded management and is delivered as part of iDRAC Express in the new Dell servers.

As always, if you miss the live chat Scott (@dellservergeek) and team archive the text of the chat for future consumption. I encourage you to join the session and bring some of your IT buddies along for the ride. Happy Monday all!

As Bruce Eric wrote a few days ago, the March 2009 issue of Dell Power Solutions Magazine is out of the gate, and available in Print Edition, Web Edition and new Digital Edition form factors, featuring in-depth coverage on Systems Management Simplified with the new Dell Management Console Powered by Altiris from Symantec.

If you're not a regular reader of this publication, I'd encourage you to take a look at this issue and sign up for a complimentary subscription so you can read it regularly (my personal preference would be for you to minimize your carbon footprint and get the digital edition, plus you’ll get an e-mail invite for instant access as soon as the next issue is ready).

The cover story in this issue, “Systems Management Simplified,” provides details on how the Dell Management Console (DMC) redefines much of the traditional systems management paradigm through a single-pane-of-glass view of computing infrastructure, as well as a guided tour of key features.

Also in this issue are three additional drill-down technical articles on DMC, exploring how the console embraces IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) principles, best practices for smoothing migration, and approaches to managing operating systems and applications.

Among other key editorial content in the 100+ pages of this issue:

• Four late-breaking case studies from Dell customers around the world on recent blade server deployment successes, including Betagro Public Company Limited (Thailand), M Dados (Portugal), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (United States), and Tora Trading Services (Japan);
• Dr. Albert Esser, vice president of power and data center infrastructure solutions at Dell, goes on the record in this interview: “Compute More, Consume Less (Power): Smart Policies Unleash Data Center Productivity”;
• Guidance on virtualization with Dell servers and Dell EqualLogic iSCSI storage: “Integrating Virtualized Servers with VMware vStorage-enabled Dell EqualLogic SANs” and “Advancing Integration of Microsoft Hyper-V and Dell EqualLogic Virtualized SANs.”

In addition to the customary Print Edition and Web Edition versions, our new Digital Edition enables instant access to the same editorial content in an elegant book-reader form factor from any Web browser. You can subscribe to the Digital Edition, or test-drive a sample issue.

The next issue of Dell Power Solutions—June 2009— will be on the street and Web in very early June and will feature much more content around the recent Dell Efficient Enterprise Portfolio launch.

I encourage you to check back on the Web Edition site for fresh editorial content as it becomes available in the coming days and weeks prior to publication of the June issue.

Over time, IT environments naturally become more complex. Servers, platforms, and applications require increased management resources as they age. Decentralized data centers and departmental silos can result in data duplication and inconsistencies. Hardware and software deployments, migrations, compliance enforcement, patching, and administrator training all sap resources that might otherwise be directed to strategic projects. And operational silos typically lead to a lack of integration and communication, not to mention redundant responsibilities.

What has been lacking is a comprehensive systems management strategy focusing on simplicity and flexibility.

In the March issue of Dell Power Solutions magazine, authors Pascal Nicolas, Jeanne Feldkamp and Tom Kolnowski provide a guided-tour of Dell Management Console, describe its deployment and how it greatly simplifies IT architectures.

Take a look. And if you're interested in registering to receive a hard copy of the publication, click here. And Dell Power Solutions is now available as a digital edition as well. Click here to log-in for your digital edition.

Oracle has achieved a new world record TPC-C benchmark with its Database 11g Standard Edition One running on Windows on Dell PowerEdge servers. You might be asking what TPC-C is and wondering why you should care?

The TPC-C is an online transaction processing benchmark developed by the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC). Or in simple English, this benchmark is revered as the de facto standard for calculating performance and price/performance. When you want to get the most bang for your computing buck, this is where you go to get the stats.

Oracle was able to achieve a whopping 104,492 transactions per minute with a price/performance of $.60/tpmC (transactions per minute) with the Oracle Database 11g Standard Edition One running on a Dell server with one Intel Quad-Core Xeon 2.83 GHz processor. This is the best price-per-transaction-per-minute ever achieved with the TPC-C benchmark. Our friends at Oracle now hold the top four record benchmark positions in the Top Ten TPC-C price/performance category.

Dell has the top two spots and five out of the Top Ten TPC-C by Price/Performance (Version 5 Results as of February 25, 2009). Our core strength is providing great technology that’s powerful, reliable, flexible and cost effective. We’ve been a primary driver on the price-performance value curve for years and will continue to be. Dell PowerEdge servers can help the most frugal CIO cut operating expenses through energy savings, realize ROI through TCO savings over the entire product lifecycle, and use data center space more efficiently.

Want to set your own records? Check out our server innovations based on industry standards.  We make it simple for you to quickly and easily deploy the Oracle Database on cost-effective PowerEdge servers.

On this the eve of Valentine’s Day, I wanted to share an interesting data point: Baby Boomers practice “safe security” and young people apparently have a thing or two to learn from their elders. How do I know this?

Dell partnered with the Ponemon Institute, an independent research firm specializing in IT and security issues, to ask 714 IT professionals about laptop security. One of those questions was “Which age group [in your company] is best at practicing safe data security?”

Interestingly enough, 43 percent of those surveyed said that employees 46 and older are the best. At the other end of the spectrum only three percent said that employees younger than 25 are the best at practicing safe security. (Here are the others: 30 percent said between the ages of 26 and 36 (my age range and second highest) and 24 percent said between the ages of 26 to 46 (second lowest) were the best at practicing safe data security. Gen Xers, what in world are you doing to your laptops?)

The main reason for this result -- respect. According to the IT pros, Baby Boomers believe that “practicing safe security is an important part of their job.” Why such the difference? I speculate that younger folks have an open relationship with data and technology, bouncing around from technology to technology, website to website, device to device or even OS to OS. They are used to anytime, anywhere access to whatever information or data they want. Technology is sometimes a “throwaway” because there is always more. So maybe we need to start a Facebook page and app on “Safe Computing”? Any developers willing to help?

I also think that Baby Boomers see technology as their life partners because technology hasn’t always been around for them. They had to work hard to get their technology and they’re not going to let it go. They are more appreciative of what they have. Just like when grandpa talks about times before the Model T, “Back in my day I had to hike up Mount Everest to get to school every day.” The message he’s trying to get across is this: take care of what you have and treat it right. I think that is how Baby Boomers approach technology.

This has been a fun way to open up a discussion about laptop security. Over the next few weeks you’ll see more and more from Dell in this area. You can also go take a look at an interview one of my colleagues did with Kevin Mitnick over at Digital Nomads on the topic of security. And, we have more fun facts that I hope are as shocking to you as they are for me. Care to guess how many laptops fall victim to “employee damage” because of anger or frustration over technical issues?