Category Archives: Server Virtualization/Consolidation

Another Progress Report on EMC IT’s Journey To The Private Cloud

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Reposted from Chuck Hollis’s blog entry on 5/7/2010:

By now, you’re probably aware that our IT organization is in the process of pivoting from a traditional IT model to one where they look like an internal service provider — using IT infrastructure that’s built differently, operated differently and consumed differently.

Our IT organization is no different than many others. EMC is a global, diverse and fast-moving technology company. We want our IT to be better, faster and cheaper just like everyone else.

But they’ve got a special challenge …they’re part of an extremely aggressive IT infrastructure company: EMC. Continue reading →

To Vblock, Or Not To Vblock

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I recently had a conversation with Paul Divittorio, EMC IT’s Director of Enterprise Systems and Application Hosting Architecture. He’s the guy responsible for designing the next generation hosting platforms being installed in our production data centers here at EMC. When Paul is talking with EMC customers about our IT organization’s journey to Private Cloud, he’s often asked about Vblock. Where does EMC IT think it makes sense to use it? Where is EMC IT using it now? Continue reading →

Getting More For Less By Virtualizing Oracle

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My EMC colleagues and I often advise IT leaders to begin their own Private Cloud journey by virtualizing everything. That includes “Tier One” applications. When IT people hear “Tier One,” a few brands immediately pop into our heads. When I describe how EMC’s internal IT organization is aggressively building a Private Cloud, I’m not surprised when asked, “What about Oracle?” Continue reading →

Why EMC IT Is Going “All In” On Private Clouds – Part 5

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This is the final part of a series of posts outlining how our IT organization started its aggressive journey to private clouds. Previously, I described IT’s strategy shift, the trigger for its urgency, navigating through “cloud fog,” and the unusual path IT decided upon.

In this post, we’ll take a look at EMC IT’s overall strategy for actually making this journey. Continue reading →

Why EMC IT Is Going “All In” On Private Clouds – Part 4

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This is the fourth of a multi-part series exploring why our IT organization is aggressively transforming EMC’s corporate datacenters into Private Clouds. Previously, I described IT’s strategy shift, its newfound sense of urgency, and navigation through some “cloud fog.”

In this post we look at the unusual course EMC IT charted for its Private Cloud journey, and how the team approached selling its plan to our top execs. Continue reading →

Integrating RSA Security in EMC’s Private Cloud

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Join Nirav Mehta, Senior Manager of Product Management at RSA, as he describes RSA’s view on virtualization security and how EMC’s security division is participating in EMC IT’s Journey to the Private Cloud. It includes some examples, such as ways EMC IT is using RSA technology to secure virtualized desktops.

David Freund also provided some background in this post.

Security: Don’t Leave (Physical) Home Without It

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A lot of ink has been spilled recently in the press about cloud security, and even virtualized-server security. Many lead off with alarming headlines like this recent example that declares, “60% of virtual servers less secure than physical machines, Gartner says.”

Continue reading →

Why EMC IT Is Going “All In” On Private Clouds – Part 3

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This is the third installment of a multi-part series exploring why our IT organization is so aggressively transforming EMC’s own datacenters into Private Clouds. In earlier posts, I described how our IT strategy shift began, and what gave our senior IT folks a newfound sense of urgency.

In this post, we look at how EMC IT decided how to handle the “cloud issue.”

Continue reading →

Why EMC IT Is Going “All In” On Private Clouds – Part 2

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This is the second of a multi-part series exploring why our IT organization is so aggressively transforming EMC’s own datacenters into Private Clouds. In Part 1, I describe how our IT group’s strategy shift began. Despite what you might think, it wasn’t driven by technology.

In this part, we look at what happened to cause our senior IT leaders to second-guess their strategy.

Continue reading →

Why EMC IT Is Going “All In” On Private Clouds

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Few people are surprised when they hear our IT organization at EMC has embraced Private Clouds. After all, it’s easy to embrace a vision. It’s another to actually pursue it. But when folks learn how aggressively EMC IT is transforming our current datacenters into a private cloud, I often get reactions along the lines of, “Wow. Eating the food you’re selling to the rest of us. Great move.”

After this sinks in a bit more, I’m often asked: “Wait a minute. How did you manage to make that happen?” One assumption underlying this question is that we’re willing to bet more than merely EMC’s IT-vendor business on Private Cloud. We’re willing to bet our business operations on it.

That’s true enough. We are.

Another frequent assumption is that EMC is haughtily taking operational risks to meet a technology or marketing goal. That one badly misses the mark.

Continue reading →