SearchDataCenter – State of the Data Center: 2011

The State of the Data Center: 2011 report series outlines trends in server and software purchasing, data center infrastructure and more. For findings and analysis on data center spending and technology adoption trends, see the contents of this special report below.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. State of server technology and operating systems
II. State of virtualization and cloud computing
III. State of data center facilities
IV. State of systems management and data center services
V. Survey background and demographics

An overview
In early 2011, SearchDataCenter.com released the Data Center Decisions 2011 survey to gauge trends and understand the factors that influence data center evolution in today’s enterprise. We received more than 1,000 responses from IT professionals spanning numerous roles within the enterprise. In this special report series, we analyze what this data means and take a look at how many of the numbers compare to our 2010 findings. These articles examine several facets of data center design and management to identify interesting trends and surprising revelations about the state of IT operations across many industries.

Article 1: State of server technology and operating systems
After years of economic uncertainty, many companies appear ready to begin spending more on data center hardware. However, the continued emphasis on tight budgets has IT professionals taking a closer look at the hardware they integrate into their data centers. In the first article of this series, we examine what type of server technology IT professionals are choosing for their environments and what factors have influenced IT professionals’ choice of server vendors, including expanded coverage of integrated infrastructures in the data center. The composition of operating system (OS) deployments are also changing in the enterprise, so we’ll look closely at the major OS versions for everyday and mission-critical systems.

More of the SearchDataCenter report

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.