As modern IT networks move away from physical systems and toward virtual ones, administrators have to adapt their monitoring and management processes. Standard network monitoring operations are becoming increasingly obsolete, as businesses adopt Microsoft Hyper-V tools and performance monitoring solutions to keep pace with virtual infrastructure. Hyper-V is in widespread use, with a significant number…

One of the most important components of successful internet service is the domain name system (DNS). This is what translates familiar network names into IP addresses machines can read, or IP addresses back to domain names. All web content and internet-based services rely on DNS, which is why you need to be able to easily…

Whether you are preparing to enter the job market for the first time, or have been working for the majority of your life, now is an excellent time to begin a career as an IT professional. The tech market has been booming over the past few decades and shows no signs of slowing down with…

It’s common nowadays for employees to use their own devices for work-related activities. While this can be beneficial and improve employees’ experiences, it also has some drawbacks. In this post, we will look at what bring your own device (BYOD) is and how organizations can implement policies and tools to help mitigate BYOD issues. Without…

When working with computer networks, it’s important to keep a close eye on network performance, traffic or bandwidth usage, and network configurations. If problems arise in a business environment, quick troubleshooting could make the difference between uninterrupted service and long delays, which impact both productivity for employees and service delivery for your end users. Network…

Knowing the state of your network and server health is incredibly important for techs who want to optimize performance. Without insights into how your servers are performing, you increase the odds of encountering pesky software bugs or potential bottlenecks. That’s why it’s important to develop proactive server monitoring practices. Monitoring servers can be a tedious…

When you’re managing a large network, it can be hard to keep on top of the many various components. When something stops working, troubleshooting needs to be done as quickly as possible before the problem affects your end users—and with a complex network, the troubleshooting process can take a while. The last thing you want…

Windows server administration tools allow network administrators to effectively manage features and roles from a computer running a supported version of Windows. These tools are provided in a Windows Server component called Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). To take advantage of these tools, I’ll cover in this guide what they are, how to install them,…

An SSH client is an application using the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol to connect to a remote system or computer. It allows for secure and authenticated SSH connections to be established with SSH servers. SSH clients are typically used to remotely log in to and execute at the command line. They also provide users with…

The Apache HTTP Server—known as Apache web server or simply Apache—is considered the standard for general-purpose HTTP activities and services. It offers a wide range of modules to deliver optimum flexibility in support of URL rewriting, proxy servers, and granular access management and control. Apache is a popular choice among web developers because it uses…

Real user monitoring (RUM) and application performance monitoring (APM) are two different but related methods of IT monitoring that share a goal: improved application performance. In this guide, we’ll break down the differences between RUM and APM, how each of them work, and their typical purposes. I’ll also explain how RUM and APM can complement…

Help desk software is essential for companies of all sizes and types who plan to address end-user IT issues. Having an automated solution reduces the manual effort around tracking tickets, keeping an updated inventory, and otherwise handling IT service management (ITSM) functions. With so many help desk options on the market, it can be challenging…

If you manage lots of servers or work in an IT environment for a large enterprise, having high-quality and comprehensive server hardware monitoring software is a must. Hardware monitoring software provides tools to help you ensure your devices don’t overheat, malfunction, or shut down. Usually, monitoring software will keep tabs on your CPU, memory, hard…

Although Dynatrace is a popular application performance monitoring tool, it may not be the best choice for every company. I wrote this guide to help you identify a Dynatrace alternative potentially better suited to your price point and requirements. Various application performance monitoring (APM) vendors offer enterprise-grade support for cloud infrastructure, business journeys, and digital…

MySQL is a popular open-source relational database management system and knowing how to optimize it is essential. Slow database performance can severely affect all your applications and users; a single poorly designed SQL query can have a big impact. Optimizing your MySQL database isn’t a simple process, but it’s vital for maintaining application performance and…

If your DBMS can’t keep up with end-user requests or critical application needs, you’ll lose out on key opportunities to turn actionable data into hard-and-fast results. Today, enterprises rise and fall based on the quality of their data, the ways they store it, and the speed with which they turn it into action. You need…

Cisco Live is always a great place to check in on the latest developments in the networking world, and this year was no exception. There were 27,000 attendees and no shortage of booths, demonstrations, talks, and presentations from which to learn. If you were unable to attend, or just didn’t get to everything, here are…

Large companies are increasingly shifting toward the use of cloud computing, which means services like Microsoft Azure are becoming more popular. This shift is still in its early stages, with many enterprises currently in the process of shifting their workloads to public cloud vendors. Azure services are extensive and can provide a wide range of…

Amazon Relational Database Service (AWS RDS) is a web service specifically designed for dealing with relational databases in the AWS cloud. The purpose of AWS RDS is to make relational database management and setup much easier. It can help you provision the infrastructure capacity you need for installing database software and automate many administrative tasks…

Audit management software streamlines the auditing process and facilitates compliance through monitoring, management, and reporting. In this internal audit management software comparison, we’ll look at the best audit software currently available. I’ll look at both closed-source and open-source audit management software, considering versatility, range and sophistication of features, and other factors. For those who don’t…

Today’s business world is seeing an increase in complexity, with more applications, devices, and categories of users to monitor every day. Naturally, this proliferation also means an increase in access points and connections, which could potentially open more doors for cyberattacks. With security breaches constantly on the rise, every organization’s network administration strategy needs to…