Data centre

Deciding where and how to build and operate a datacentre is one of the most important decisions your organisation will make. This section covers how to build a solid datacentre infrastructure, including selecting the right location to build your new facility, best practices for designing a new datacentre, and cooling and air flow techniques. Learn about green IT, data management systems, servers and operating systems.

Feature 09 Feb 2024
The rising prominence of hybrid cloud in the Nordics

Many Nordic organisations have opted for hybrid cloud environments, subscribing to the newest services without giving up what they already have. Best practices are beginning to emerge for managing the heterogenous environment Continue Reading
News 08 Feb 2024
Swedish CIO contributes best practices for ethical use of artificial intelligence

IT leaders are scrambling to keep up with AI technology, but many are losing sight of its ethical impact – and what CIOs need to do to ensure responsible use Continue Reading

News 14 Dec 2023

Cisco eyes opportunities in AI, sustainability in Australia

Cisco is looking to tap opportunities in sustainability, AI and cyber security as it navigates Australia’s economic headwinds Continue Reading
News 12 Dec 2023

Broadcom drops VMware perpetual licences and support

Customers are being offered a big discount to migrate onto a VMware subscription service Continue Reading
News 12 Dec 2023

Top IT predictions in APAC in 2024

Generative AI will continue to leave its mark on many areas in business and IT, along with other trends such as sustainability, cyber security and smart factories that are expected to shape the region’s technology landscape in 2024 Continue Reading
11 Dec 2023

Will computational storage meet data processing demands?

Computational storage promises performance for workloads that can benefit from dedicated oomph, but it’s not a cure-all. It may come at a cost, and with added application complexity Continue Reading
News 11 Dec 2023

Panasas set for Mach.2 throughput with multi-actuator HDDs

Scale-out NAS maker claims to be the first enterprise array maker to use multi-actuator HDDs designed for hyperscaler architectures and which double throughput Continue Reading
Feature 11 Dec 2023

ERP’s storage requirements and options in the cloud

We look under the hood at enterprise resource planning and its databases, the storage needed to support ERP’s I/O requirements, block, file and object storage, and ERP in an era of hybrid cloud Continue Reading
News 07 Dec 2023

UK government quietly renews public sector preferential pricing agreement with AWS

The UK government has renewed an agreement that will ensure public sector IT buyers can still procure AWS services at discounted prices for another three years, despite anti-competitive concerns Continue Reading
News 07 Dec 2023

CIO interview: Keith Woolley, chief digital information officer, University of Bristol

With Bristol set to host the UK’s biggest supercomputer, its technology chief is looking to make the most of internal and international collaboration to drive digital improvements Continue Reading
News 07 Dec 2023

Concerns raised over Home Office's £450m mega cloud deal with AWS

The Home Office's latest three-year contract with AWS is valued at nearly half a billion pounds, but questions are emerging about the contents of the contract and how it has been arranged Continue Reading
News 07 Dec 2023

How server makers are surfing the AI wave

While hyperscalers extend the life of their x86 equipment, the industry’s desperate pleas to find a new killer application to drive up server sales may well be coming true Continue Reading
Blog Post 07 Dec 2023

AI: Killer app or planet killer

Looking at the latest quarterly earnings filings from the leading server makers shows they are all experiencing a significant boost in sales, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). HPE CEO, ... Continue Reading
E-Zine 07 Dec 2023

CW EMEA: Prepare for cyber war

When the war between Hamas and Israel began in October, cyber security professionals and major government and private organisations braced for an inevitable accompanying online war. In this issue of CW EMEA, we outline cyber war, patterns of threat activity, and find out what security teams can do to protect their organisations. We also look at Finland’s advances in quantum computing, how Belgian researchers have developed technology to help datacentres process data faster, and the secrets of KPN’s successful business transformation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 06 Dec 2023

How a Node4 virtual datacentre proved better than MS cloud for mental health charity

Charity Together For Mental Wellbeing managed to migrate legacy servers into a new virtual environment and fix a major disaster recovery issue Continue Reading
News 06 Dec 2023

Singtel’s DC Tuas datacentre to cater to AI workloads

Offering 58MW of capacity, DC Tuas will be the first of Singtel’s new generation of artificial intelligence datacentres to incorporate more efficient cooling technologies Continue Reading
Feature 05 Dec 2023

Dell EMC: Storage giant shifts gear to cloud operating models

Storage profile: We look at Dell EMC, the result of the biggest tech acquisition ever, and find a company well set for ubiquitous cloud operating models and as-a-service Continue Reading
Definition 04 Dec 2023

greenhouse gas

A greenhouse gas lets the sun's rays warm the Earth's surface but restricts the heat from escaping into space. Specifically, these gases absorb infrared radiation from the sun in the Earth's atmosphere and release it. Continue Reading
News 04 Dec 2023

Microsoft leaves SME resellers in the dark over Cloud Compute 2 framework snub

SME IT suppliers are calling on Microsoft to explain why it has banned them from reselling its services through the government's new £1.35bn Cloud Compute 2 framework Continue Reading
News 01 Dec 2023

Microsoft to invest £2.5bn in doubling AI datacentre capacity in UK

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has hailed Microsoft's show of commitment to helping the UK achieve its goal of becoming an AI superpower Continue Reading
Feature 30 Nov 2023

The all-flash datacentre: Mirage or imminent reality?

Some say disk is dead and we’re on the cusp of the all-flash datacentre. But when will flash capacity and cost hit a point where it is suited to more than just high-tier storage? Continue Reading
News 30 Nov 2023

Infosys and Shell collaborate on push to accelerate adoption of immersion cooling in datacentres

IT consultancy and energy giant are looking to accelerate the take-up of immersion cooling in datacentres through collaboration Continue Reading
News 30 Nov 2023

CGI and Google Cloud join forces to support United Nations in climate change fight

IT consultancy pools resources with public cloud giant to support United Nations agency helping members fight climate change Continue Reading
Feature 29 Nov 2023

Waste not, want not: How datacentre heat reuse projects can power ahead

The Nordics, Netherlands, Germany and Canada are progressing district heating initiatives that save energy and emissions, although obstacles remain Continue Reading
News 29 Nov 2023

Re:Invent 2023: Selipsky cues Q to project future shape of work

At Amazon Web Services’ annual conference in Las Vegas, Re:Invent, CEO Adam Selipsky hails GenAI capacity of product Q to reshape the future of work Continue Reading
Opinion 28 Nov 2023

Uncertainty lingers with Broadcom’s VMware acquisition

Large enterprises with complex VMware environments are looking to de-risk their businesses from potential changes resulting from the Broadcom-VMware deal Continue Reading
Opinion 28 Nov 2023

IT Sustainability Think Tank: Circular economy concept picks up speed in 2023

The conversation around IT sustainability stepped up a gear in 2023, but has it been another year of all talk and no action? Continue Reading
News 28 Nov 2023

UK retailer The Very Group embarks on GenAI push with AWS

The Very Group's collaboration with AWS is geared towards improving the customer experience through personalisation Continue Reading
E-Zine 28 Nov 2023

Datacentres or green belt? Why the UK has to choose

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the minefield around datacentre planning permission across the UK, after government blocked a major development next to the M25 motorway. The metaverse is making inroads into the indus-trial world – is this the real future for the technology? And we analyse the trends changing the application software market. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
27 Nov 2023

West London datacentre dispute prompts calls for UK planning system reform

The government is under fire after dismissing a datacentre development despite soaring demand for capacity, but how can we balance new development with protecting the UK’s green spaces? Continue Reading
Feature 27 Nov 2023

Datacentres’ energy-efficiency investment priorities in the race to net zero

Operators seeking to prioritise one pathway over another to reach sustainability targets may be disappointed, experts warn Continue Reading
News 27 Nov 2023

Interview: Sunil Srivastava, CTO, Pandora

When he joined the jewellery retailer, Sunil Srivastava was labelled as the ‘crazy CTO’ given some of the ideas he had for transforming IT Continue Reading
Opinion 27 Nov 2023

IT Sustainability Think Tank: IT leaders must prepare for green challenges in 2024

The conversation around IT sustainability stepped up a gear in 2023, but has it been another year of all talk and no action? Continue Reading
Blog Post 24 Nov 2023

Microsoft bans SME resellers from government cloud framework: conspiracy or cock-up?

Microsoft partners who applied for a place on the government's soon-to-be launched "SME-friendly" Cloud Compute 2 framework are fuming at the news the software giant has banned them from reselling ... Continue Reading
News 23 Nov 2023

Microsoft bans SME partners from selling its services via government's Cloud Compute 2 framework

Microsoft is under fire after documents leaked to Computer Weekly revealed it has banned reseller partners from selling its services via the government’s soon-to-be launched Cloud Compute 2 framework Continue Reading
News 22 Nov 2023

AWS to offer free AI training courses to two million people by 2025

Public cloud giant AWS has set its sights on bolstering the AI skill sets of two million people globally Continue Reading
News 22 Nov 2023

NHS England renews FutureNHS cloud-based collaboration hosting deal via G-Cloud for £1.67m

NHS England has renewed its long-standing hosting and support contract for the FutureNHS platform with SME cloud provider Kahootz Continue Reading
News 22 Nov 2023

Nebulon upgrades SPU to Medusa2 with Nvidia DPU hardware

Nebulon aims to replace HCI with its OS on an offload card that it claims reduces server resource use by 25%. Medusa2 uses Nvidia DPU hardware and its own cloud control plane Continue Reading
News 21 Nov 2023

Globe Telecom implements SaaS model to cut network power use

Comms tech provider’s artificial intelligence and machine learning-based energy efficiency offering deployed to reduce energy consumption across infrastructure while maintaining network performance Continue Reading
News 21 Nov 2023

Inside India’s datacentre boom

India’s datacentre market is expected to surpass $10bn by 2028, but realising its full potential will require innovations in sustainability and improvements in connectivity Continue Reading
Feature 20 Nov 2023

Closing the datacentre skills gap by tapping up career changers

Recruitment efforts commonly focus on relatively new graduates, potentially ignoring harder-to-reach segments, such as people looking for a career change or returning to the workforce after time away Continue Reading
News 20 Nov 2023

Datacentres denied: West London server farm dispute prompts calls for UK planning system reform

The government is under fire after dismissing a datacentre development in west London despite soaring demand for capacity - but how can we balance new development with protecting the UK’s green spaces? Continue Reading
News 20 Nov 2023

Digital Edge secures green loan for South Korea datacentre

The Singapore-based datacentre provider has secured its first green loan for its latest colocation facility in Incheon Continue Reading
News 17 Nov 2023

Interview: Walmart’s David Glick discusses technology scale

We speak to Walmart’s head of enterprise business services about managing IT and technology innovation at the retailer Continue Reading
News 16 Nov 2023

Spotify and Google Cloud expand tech partnership for AI-led user experience improvement push

Music streaming giant Spotify is forging even closer ties with its long-standing cloud partner Google in an effort to improve user experience with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning Continue Reading
News 16 Nov 2023

SAP sustainability study reveals UK businesses lack funding

An annual sustainability study by SAP reveals UK businesses are on the right track, but still face barriers in the long run Continue Reading
Definition 15 Nov 2023

network load balancing (NLB)

Network load balancing (NLB) is a feature in multiple versions of the Microsoft Windows Server operating system (OS), Amazon Web Services (AWS) and other cloud service providers that distribute network traffic among multiple servers or virtual machines (VMs) within a cluster to avoid overloading any one host and improve performance. Continue Reading
Feature 15 Nov 2023

DPU 101: What are DPUs, what do they do, and who supplies them?

We look at data processing units, the latest in a line of hardware offload devices that emerged in the era of composable infrastructure. They come as hardware and even in the cloud Continue Reading
News 15 Nov 2023

How Gigamon is making its mark in deep observability

Gigamon CEO Shane Buckley talks up the company’s ability to inspect encrypted network traffic for malicious activity, how it stands out with its deep observability capabilities and the tailwinds that are fuelling its growth Continue Reading
News 14 Nov 2023

Chip sector gears up for AI revolution

While Nvidia has established its AI dominance, Intel has been working on AI chips running on supercomputers Continue Reading
News 14 Nov 2023

Engineers slash RPO/RTO as they swap tape for Rubrik backup

Frankham Group ditches archaic tape backup and deploys Rubrik backup appliances and remote disaster recovery facility. Meanwhile, the engineering group assesses a move to the cloud Continue Reading
News 13 Nov 2023

Australia’s public cloud spending to hit A$23bn in 2024

Spending on public cloud services in Australia will reach 50% of the total addressable market for the first time in 2024, according to Gartner Continue Reading
News 09 Nov 2023

Ex-Coca-Cola VPs debut ChatGPT-like AI tool to help enterprises solve their sustainability woes

The Ubuntoo AI tool is already in use within several Fortune 500 companies to help these firms hone their sustainability strategies Continue Reading
Opinion 09 Nov 2023

IT Sustainability Think Tank: Tracking the green IT hiring trends in 2023

The conversation around IT sustainability stepped up a gear in 2023, but has it been another year of all talk and no action? Continue Reading
News 09 Nov 2023

How Village Roadshow modernised ITSM with cloud

Australian theme park and cinema operator reduced ITSM costs by 60% to improve problem resolution and other outcomes from use of Freshworks' cloud-based ITSM service Continue Reading
News 09 Nov 2023

Conflict of interest concerns raised over CMA's use of AWS UK public sector discount scheme

Less than a month after the CMA confirmed it would be investigating the competitive impact of AWS preferential pricing deals on the UK cloud market, data reveals the CMA is benefiting from cut-price Amazon cloud services Continue Reading
News 08 Nov 2023

SAP touts Business Technology Platform as foundation for S/4Hana migrations

SAP claims its Business Technology Platform can help customers ease their transition to S/4Hana and lay the foundation for artificial intelligence initiatives Continue Reading
News 07 Nov 2023

VMware consolidates AI push at Explore in Barcelona

VMware’s vision is of ‘cloud smart’ enterprises that run on-premise, in multiclouds and in the ‘edge cloud’, with secure and compliant generative AI fuelling efficient business processes Continue Reading
Feature 06 Nov 2023

Designing software for efficient IT operations

Rapid development and deployment of applications is not enough to achieve digitisation – IT operations needs to be re-engineered too Continue Reading
News 05 Nov 2023

AWS to open Malaysia cloud region in 2024

Amazon Web Services’ new cloud region in Malaysia will open next year to meet the increased demand for cloud services and support digitisation efforts in the country Continue Reading
News 02 Nov 2023

Bristol and Cambridge to host 2024 AI supercomputers

Dell and HPE are working on supercomputers with the two universities as part of the government’s artificial intelligence funding drive Continue Reading
News 02 Nov 2023

UK government pledges £225m to fund University of Bristol AI supercomputer build with HPE

The University of Bristol’s much-hyped AI supercomputer has secured hundreds of millions in government funding, and HPE has been confirmed as the project’s technology provider Continue Reading
News 02 Nov 2023

SAP lays out generative AI strategy

SAP is incorporating generative AI capabilities into software development and the Hana database, prioritising data privacy and use cases that drive efficiency and cost savings for customers Continue Reading
Opinion 01 Nov 2023

Incident response planning is vulnerable to legacy thinking

What goes into a good incident response plan, and what steps should security professionals take to ensure they are appropriately prepared for the almost inevitable attack, and secure buy-in from organisational leadership? Continue Reading
Tutorial 31 Oct 2023

How to upgrade RHEL 8 to 9

With CentOS 7 and RHEL 7 reaching end of maintenance, RHEL admins and developers must look into other OS options. Follow this tutorial to upgrade from RHEL 8 to 9. Continue Reading
News 27 Oct 2023

AWS profit and revenue rises as enterprise demand for new cloud workloads bounces back

The CEO of Amazon Web Services says cost optimisation remains important for customers, but the number looking to run new workloads in the cloud is on the rise Continue Reading
News 26 Oct 2023

AWS to open European sovereign cloud region

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is to open its first European sovereign cloud region in Germany, as part of a push to better meet the regulatory and data residency needs of its EU customers Continue Reading
News 26 Oct 2023

Google saves almost $3bn by running servers for six years

Extending the life of its datacentre servers and network equipment has led to significant savings over the past nine months for Google Continue Reading
News 25 Oct 2023

Enterprises advised to reconsider datacentre hosting locations on sustainability grounds

Joint research by Scottish datacentre firm DataVita and IT sustainability consultancy Posetiv suggests enterprises might be better off from an environmental perspective by shaking up their datacentre hosting arrangements Continue Reading
News 24 Oct 2023

NetApp ‘unified storage’ adds new ASA block storage at Insight

Las Vegas event sees NetApp continue its evolution to hybrid cloud and data management player announce ASA C-series and Keystone and Kubernetes storage enhancements Continue Reading
News 24 Oct 2023

Government preferential pricing deals with AWS and Microsoft under scrutiny in wake of CMA probe

With AWS and Microsoft both the focus of an antitrust probe by the UK competition watchdog, the government is being urged to reconsider the renewal of its preferential pricing deals with both firms until the investigation is concluded Continue Reading
24 Oct 2023

What interventions might CMA take against AWS and Microsoft after Ofcom cloud report?

Ofcom’s investigation of the inner workings of the UK cloud market has drawn to a close, leaving the Competition and Markets Authority to work out what steps to take to bolster the sector’s competitiveness. Continue Reading
News 24 Oct 2023

Microsoft to invest A$5bn in Australia

Microsoft is making its largest investment in Australia to expand its infrastructure footprint, alongside plans to bolster skills training and cyber security in the country Continue Reading
News 23 Oct 2023

Dell updates PowerStore, PowerMax and PowerFlex storage

Dell storage upgrades include improved AIOps, lower energy usage, real-time HA failover, seamless hardware replacement, and enhancements to take advantage of DPU acceleration Continue Reading
Feature 23 Oct 2023

Joining the dots for a seamless digital transformation journey

It is often the small things that have the greatest impact on a successful digital transformation project Continue Reading
News 20 Oct 2023

Belgian researchers raise speed limit in European datacentres

Researchers have developed a prototype of an optical receiver that will help datacentres process data at a much higher rate Continue Reading
Feature 20 Oct 2023

Five key questions about disaster recovery as a service

Disaster recovery as a service builds recovery data and systems into the cloud, accessible from anywhere. We look at the difference vs cloud backup, DRaaS use cases, the cost, and the firms that provide it Continue Reading
Feature 20 Oct 2023

NetApp: NAS pioneer well set for the cloud revolution

In this storage profile, we look at NetApp, which built a reputation in file access storage but seems to be set fair to navigate a future of hybrid cloud, cloud-native and containerisation Continue Reading
News 19 Oct 2023

How AWS is building a tech stack for generative AI

Olivier Klein, chief technologist for Asia-Pacific and Japan at Amazon Web Services, dives deeper into the technology stack the company has built to ease GenAI adoption Continue Reading
News 18 Oct 2023

CMA sets initial scope of UK cloud market anti-trust probe into AWS and Microsoft

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has detailed four areas it is seeking feedback on from UK cloud market stakeholders as the first stage of its anti-trust probe takes shape Continue Reading
Definition 17 Oct 2023

solar power

Solar power is a renewable form of energy harvested from the sun for the purpose of producing electricity or thermal energy (heat). Continue Reading
News 16 Oct 2023

Flash prices drop towards spinning disk levels in 2023

Number-crunching data on 17,000-plus drive prices shows cost of flash drives per gigabyte fell by around 10% in past six months while hard disk drive per-gigabyte prices stood still Continue Reading
Feature 16 Oct 2023

Why the human factor is critical to ITOps success

Digitisation often means deploying software at pace. Along with tooling, IT leaders need to consider skills and training Continue Reading
News 13 Oct 2023

Gymshark turns to Google Cloud for infrastructure revamp and generative AI trials

E-commerce workout clothing brand Gymshark opens up about how it has turned to Google Cloud to help revamp its infrastructure and improve how it uses customer data Continue Reading
News 12 Oct 2023

Google Cloud sets up public sector-focused business division to trap more UK government business

Google Cloud used the first day of its London-based user and partner conference to confirm the launch of a dedicated business unit, geared towards helping the firm trap more public sector business in the UK Continue Reading
Blog Post 12 Oct 2023

Ofcom cloud report: Where the CMA should focus its probe into AWS and Microsoft

In this guest post, Owen Sayers, an enterprise security architect with Secon Solutions, who has 25 years’ experience working within the UK's internet security framework, sets out the areas where he ... Continue Reading
News 11 Oct 2023

Pure offers Evergreen energy and rackspace cost guarantees

Pure Storage will take upfront payments for power and rackspace and guarantee those for product lifecycles in its Evergreen One, Flex and Forever consumption purchasing models Continue Reading
News 11 Oct 2023

Telstra to acquire Versent for A$267.5m

The move is expected to bolster Telstra’s enterprise IT services business and support international expansion Continue Reading
Feature 11 Oct 2023

Preparing IT security for the age of quantum computing

We look at what progress is being made to ensure digital communications remain secure as quantum computers make an entrance Continue Reading
10 Oct 2023

UK tech sector ‘let down’ and ‘betrayed’ by Rishi Sunak’s net-zero policy tweaks

Now the dust has settled on the news that Rishi Sunak is tweaking several of the policies underpinning the government’s net-zero goal, the UK tech industry has hit back at the news. Continue Reading
Blog Post 06 Oct 2023

Six essential skills for system administrators and Infrastructure as Code pros

In this guest post, Thomas Chisholm, principal training solutions engineer at Puppet by Perforce, details the six essential skills that Infrastructure-as-Code professionals need in 2023 In the ... Continue Reading
News 06 Oct 2023

Ofcom cloud report: What interventions could the CMA take against AWS and Microsoft?

Ofcom's year-long look at the inner workings of the UK cloud market has now drawn to a close, leaving the Competition and Markets Authority left to work out what steps to take to bolster the sector’s competitiveness Continue Reading
News 06 Oct 2023

Hydrogen fuel cells could find their way into more datacentres

Hydrogen fuel cells are more efficient and cleaner than alternative generator technologies, making them environmentally sustainable backup power supply options for datacentres, study finds Continue Reading
News 05 Oct 2023

Ofcom refers UK cloud market to CMA for deeper anti-competition probe

On the back of its concerns about Microsoft and Amazon indulging in anti-competitive behaviours, Ofcom has confirmed the UK cloud market will be referred over to the Competition and Markets Authority for further investigation Continue Reading
News 04 Oct 2023

HPE hones GreenLake strategy with AI moves, hybrid cloud management

HPE has evolved its GreenLake strategy over the past five years, expanding beyond its as-a-service offerings to include a capital purchase model and a strong focus on hybrid cloud management and AI Continue Reading
Feature 04 Oct 2023

Will computational storage meet data processing demands?

Computational storage promises performance for workloads that can benefit from dedicated oomph, but it’s not a cure-all. It may come at a cost, and with added application complexity Continue Reading
Feature 04 Oct 2023

Ransomware: All the ways you can protect storage and backup

We survey the key methods of ransomware protection, including immutable snapshots, anomaly detection, air-gapping, anomaly detection, and supplier monetary guarantees Continue Reading
E-Zine 03 Oct 2023

Where next for quantum computing?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the head of Amazon’s Braket quantum computing services about how the technology is progressing. We go behind the scenes at an ethical hacker event to find out how bug bounty programmes work. And we analyse the offerings of the major players in software-defined storage. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 02 Oct 2023

Versity targets Exabyte volumes in data archiving

Versity builds archiving for Exabyte data volumes on tape and in object storage. It has built its own S3 and transitioned to a GPL licence for supercomputing archives Continue Reading
News 02 Oct 2023

Microsoft embarks on green concrete trials to decarbonise datacentre builds

Software giant Microsoft is turning its attention to shrinking the environmental footprint of its datacentres by finding low-carbon alternatives to concrete Continue Reading
News 29 Sep 2023

UK tech sector ‘let down’ and ‘betrayed’ over Rishi Sunak’s net-zero policy tweaks

Now the dust has settled on the news Rishi Sunak is tweaking several of the policies underpinning the government’s net-zero goal, the UK tech industry has hit back at the news Continue Reading
News 28 Sep 2023

Businesses disconnected from realities of API security

Business leaders feel confident they’ve got a handle on API security, but at the same time, incidents are through the roof, according to a report Continue Reading