Network Rack Diagrams 101
By Fred Koh - September 14, 2020Over the years, I’ve talked with lots of IT folks who need software for network mapping and network documentation such as netTerrain. These discussions tend to focus on items such as, “can this software go out and discover my network? Can it provide monitoring, like polling services to see if a device is up or…
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Is DCIM’s ‘Single Pane of Glass’ a Myth?
By Fred Koh - September 11, 2020In IT management, there’s a lot of chatter about the idea of the ‘single pane of glass’. The concept of the single pane of glass is this: instead of IT staff being left to sort through various tools and incompatible systems across departments, an organization’s entire IT staff can trust just one platform to deliver…
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netTerrain Version 8.6: Enhanced Performance, Customization, Usability
By Jan Durnhofer -Another year, another step closer to documentation heaven…welcome to netTerrain 8.6! This is the fifth (and last) incarnation of the 8.x series (also called “China” — as you may have seen the pretty guide covers that feature beautiful landscapes from the Asian country as well as in the login pictures). For 8.6, we worked on…
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DCIM Cable Management Software: 3 Helpful Reports
By Fred Koh -If you were to make a list of mission-critical assets in a data center, cables would near the top. They provide connectivity that lays down the tracks on which the data center runs. From copper to fiber and everything in between, data centers contain a wide range of cabling. Regardless of whether the cables are…
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Haunted IT Network? When You Can’t Call Ghostbusters
By Fred Koh - September 10, 2020Does your network have servers left running, performing no functions, and just wasting space and power? You may have a zombie server problem. What about network diagrams that are so old and out-of-date they’re cobwebbed over? That’s a lot of dust. Is the network compliant and secure? If not, you’ve got a lot of “Do…
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Need Outside Plant Software? Decide if You Also Need DCIM…
By Fred Koh - August 28, 2020Managing your cabling infrastructure is no small feat: it takes time, money, and manpower to implement. It is, however, an investment that has the potential to pay off in dividends (when the right software is chosen and implemented well). Before you buy a cable management or outside plant (OSP) system, ensure it will scale with…
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Data Center Capacity Headaches? How DCIM Helps
By Fred Koh - August 27, 2020Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software (such as netTerrain DCIM) makes capacity planning easy: DCIM gives you the insights necessary for key infrastructure and financial decisions. WIth DCIM software, you can plan out new data center builds, expansions, consolidations, and consider different scenarios — all while armed with insights about current capacity and usage. netTerrain…
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Network Diagrams Improve Teamwork, Reduce Redundancies
By Fred Koh - August 26, 2020It’s a fact: inefficiencies, collaboration, and time-dependent tasks go hand-in-hand. Different teams and different engineers could end up working on the same issue, unaware the other side is doing the same…and wasting valuable time that could be better spent. Mean-time-to-repair (MTTR) is arrived at by how long it takes to identify a problem and then…
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IT Documentation Best Practices
By Fred Koh - August 11, 2020IT documentation (which is our business’s bread and butter) greatly benefits organizations of all sizes and across all industries. With solid IT documentation, you can: reduce the amount of time to find information decrease troubleshooting time manage capacity wrangle in the assets and inventory of your IT infrastructure Proper and up-to-date documentation gives your IT…
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System Integrators & Government Agencies: Need To Visualize Data?
By Fred Koh - July 31, 2020May I have your attention – system integrators and government agencies? Massive amounts of data can be difficult to disseminate in a crisis and yet decisions need to be based on fact for mission critical objectives. If you need to visualize data as part of a project, IT visualization software such as netTerrain can help….
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Logical vs. Physical Network Diagrams
By Fred Koh - July 30, 2020In the past, I’ve discussed how our IT documentation software netTerrain helps users discover and map the network as well as access up-to-date network diagrams. When giving demos of our software, we’re often asked if we offer logical or physical views of the network (and about the differences). As we’re often asked this, it only…
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Need DCIM? Questions Everyone Should Ask in a Demo
By Fred Koh - July 28, 2020Before you decide on DCIM software for your organization, do your homework. Ask well-considered questions and fully evaluate a potential DCIM vendor. Why? Unfortunately, not all DCIM solutions are created equal and some tools that look good in a demo or on paper may just fall short of your requirements. So much about a successful…
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