Don’t Buy DCIM Software That’s Like a Home Printer
By Fred Koh - May 23, 2023We all know the drill: you buy a home printer and before you know it, you’re locked into buying the vendor’s pricey ink for the lifespan of the printer. The printer vendor gives you only one cartridge type as an option and it’s sold at a ridiculous markup. Is there a workaround? Well, sure: you…
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Avoid Headline-Making Network Outages: Prevent Expensive Downtime
By Fred Koh - May 22, 2023There’s been a rise in news stories lately about companies experiencing network disruptions, like the infamous Southwest Airlines outage that was caused by a vendor-supplied network firewall. Headline-making incidents like this underline the need to take measures that prevent network disruptions…before you become a news story! According to the Uptime Institute, third-party outages – such…
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Fiber Mapping Software: OSP vs. GIS
By Fred Koh - April 24, 2023Do you have fiber management headaches such as: not knowing how much capacity you’ve got, how much capacity you need, where everything is, or not knowing what you need to take with you to fix an issue? Need a tool that will help you easily document and manage your fiber plant? Are you sick of…
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Streamline IT Asset Management (ITAM): How DCIM Software Helps
By Fred Koh - April 20, 2023Introduction: What is IT asset management (ITAM) and why you need it IT asset management (ITAM) is important because it assists organizations in managing their IT assets throughout their entire life cycle, including acquisition, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning. This ensures efficient resource allocation and effective utilization of assets. If you have headaches related to efficiency,…
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Solarwinds Users, Make Network Documentation Easy Using netTerrain
By Fred Koh - April 19, 2023Do you use Solarwinds?Are you fed up with struggling to keep track of all your network devices, their locations, and associated metadata? Having trouble managing your network documentation and visualizing the relationships between IT? netTerrain is network documentation software (and visualization) that you can use to document and visualize your network. With netTerrain, understanding and…
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Fiber Mapping Software & Fiber Strand Documentation: What, How, Why
By Fred Koh - April 18, 2023As a fiber professional, you understand the importance of documenting and mapping fiber strands in your fiber plant documentation — which involves not only documenting the plant itself but also individual fiber strands. Clear fiber documentation and mapping are crucial for troubleshooting issues and making changes to your fiber plant in the future. To manage…
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Beam Me Up, Scotty: Migrating to a New DCIM Solution
By Fred Koh - April 3, 2023Are you lost in space: stuck with an outdated DCIM system, and feeling like you’re aboard a malfunctioning starship? Perhaps you’re dealing with high costs, limited features, poor customer service, or your DCIM vendor has been acquired or discontinued support (or, maybe even worse, you’ve received no communications from your vendor in a long time…
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Network Discovery vs. Network Monitoring
By Fred Koh - March 24, 2023Hey, new network Admin! Congrats on your new gig! So, when you fire up your computer and start digging into the company’s network, do you ever feel like you’re Peter in Office Space, trying to figure out what the heck is going on with the TPS reports? Are you desperately searching for spreadsheets and Visio…
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Industry Spotlight: Fiber Mapping Software for Municipalities
By Fred Koh - March 23, 2023Municipalities play a critical role in ensuring smooth operations within their communities — from managing communication networks to essential services like fire and police stations. With technology rapidly advancing, the demand for fiber, and demands on the folks who manage fiber, have never been greater. If you manage municipal fiber, hats off to you: your…
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Fiber Mapping Software: Time to Upgrade from Google Earth and Spreadsheets?
By Fred Koh -Over the years, we’ve been to countless meetings discussing various organizations’ need for an Outside Plant (OSP) solution, we’ve attended many BICSI events, and have many of netTerrain customers using netTerrain to manage their fiber plant (close to 400 organizations!). So, what are the main fiber plant headaches that many companies are trying to solve…
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Reducing Data Center Carbon Footprint with DCIM & PUE – A Comprehensive Guide
By Fred Koh -Did you know that data centers account for a whopping 2% of all global carbon emissions? Here in the US alone, 0.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to data centers. That’s more than the emissions of the airline industry! Data centers are one of the largest consumers of electricity worldwide, with all the…
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Upgrading IT Documentation/Visualization Software Shouldn’t Be Hard
By Fred Koh - March 8, 2023IT visualization and documentation software is essential for successful troubleshooting, capacity planning, cost control, and security, among other things. To keep up with today’s rapidly changing technology landscape, it’s crucial to keep your IT visualization and documentation software up-to-date with the latest vendor version. However, upgrading can be a daunting task, if your vendor does…
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