ANTenna Blog -- bMighty

If you thought you missed last week's informative bMighty virtual event on how SMBs can deal with data centers in tough times, it's time to think again. The entire event is now available on demand!

From the keynote on how to move from a server closet to a real data center to sessions on guerilla virtualization, scalable storage, and efficient application development, more than 1,200 people showed up last Wednesday.

Frankly, if your company is considering building a data center, the keynote alone could save you thousands of dollars in consulting fees. Jeff Rudin and Phil Isaak from Reliable Resources pretty much deliver a complete data-center consulting session, laying out all the key factors you need to think about and offering clear and concise best practices, rules of thumb, and "gotchas" you need to watch for.

And that's just the keynote! Here's a quick sampling of tidbits and takeways attendees at the keynote and other sessions walked away with, and that you can still get:

1. Build a bigger data center than you think you'll need right now. You'll be thankful down the road.
2. Server virtualization is the best way to get the maximum value out of the latest generation of multi-core x86 systems, even if you have only a handful of them. And you can get started with free hypervisor technology from a number of vendors. Once you get started, additional support and features can be purchased from a number of vendors that will expand your virtualization capabilities as your needs grow.
3. Networking your storage with SAN and NAS systems can be a great way to bring order to your business storage environment and provide common access to your company's data. The key consideration in choosing a storage system should always be data protection, and that must always include a strategy for secure data backups that are stored at a separate location from the systems being protected.
4. When it comes to construction, hardware, and software choices; always think modular. Choose vendors that offer products that simplify the growth process by providing strong core capabilities that can be augmented through the simple addition of components that enable expansion without starting over.

"I found value, got ideas, and it inspired me to get some work done on a few projects that have been backburner but need to go to front very soon based upon topics involved in this virtual event," said attendee Bonnie Goodwin, Engineer at Byte Boutique, commenting on her experience at the virtual event.

Whether you've got a server closet or a full-blown data center, you need to check out the on-demand version of the virtual event to see the entire presentations (including Q&A sessions), download the PowerPoint decks, and contact the sponsors for more information.

The event will be available until October 2010, but don't wait for your data center challenges to get worse.

Here's a partial list of the distinguished speakers whose advice and expertise you can tap into, free and at your convenience:

• Jeff Rudin, PE - Principal, President Reliable Resources, Inc.
• Phil Isaak, PE RCDD - Managing Principal Reliable Resources, Inc.
• Mark Johnson, Vice President, Oracle Accelerate Applications Marketing and Business Development
• Brad Shimmin, Principal Analyst Applications, Current Analysis
• Jeff Stiles, Sr. Vice President of Solutions for Small and Midsize Enterprises, SAP
• Steven Schuchart Jr., Principal Analyst Datacenter, Current Analysis
• Chris McCall, Product Marketing Manager, HP StorageWorks
• Howard Marks, Contributing Editor, InformationWeek
• Chris Gruber, National Account Manager, Storage Solution Sales, D-Link
• Simon Crosby, CTO of Data Center and Cloud Computing, Citrix
• Monica Kumar, Senior Director of Linux and Open Source Product Marketing, Oracle

Don't Miss: On Demand Virtual Event: Dealing With Data Centers In Tough Times

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