twitter Archives

February 28, 2012March 7, 2022

Are social media and networking a waste of time?

Are social media and networking including twitter, blogs, google+ and linkedin among other venues and mediums a waste of time or only for those who have nothing else to do?

As with most things, the answer is it probably depends.

However IMHO the answer is NO, social media and networking when incorporated as a part of doing business is not a waste unless like anything else you let it become a waste of time.

I have chosen to leverage social media networking along with traditional mediums, venues, news letters, in person events, and other means of communicating, learning and doing business vs. ignoring it.

Does that I mean I jump on or join in every new social networking medium or venue? Nope, however I’m always watching to see where to invest time and effort and find the return or benefit.

Some observations about social media and networking include:

You get out of social media and networking what you put into it: When it comes to LinkedIn, Michael Naylor told me several years ago to get involved with and you will get out of what you put into LinkedIn (or other venues for that matter). Now about eight or nine years later, even despite the spam, I completely agree how true Mikes advise has been and remains.

Engagement, interaction, discussion (or debate) are all part of the discourse in and around social media and networking. Louis Gray who got me hooked on twitter and some other mediums years ago has a great blog post that unless you are engaging or interacting, you are not social networking. What that means is simply using social networking media and mediums as a broadcast or one way communication platform is just that, talking at vs. talking with or too people. Thus get out of your comfort zone, step out from behind your pulpit or podium and engage with audiences or participants vs. talking at them to get out of what you put into it.

Dont be afraid of joining different groups or venues, listen, lurk, observe, learn from others in the same or adjacent areas online, however also keep time in perspective to get other tasks completed. This also means you can build your own castle or venue for people to come to or you can do a hybrid including your own site(s) as well as taking discussions and conversations to where other audiences are.

Let me put this a different way, I like to fish and catch. Sometimes I know where the fish are based on experience and when they might bite, then there are other times when they move. This means knowing when and where to go to different locations to catch a fish or catch a conversation.

Building on the above, don’t be afraid to get involved or start a conversation.

Sure on some venues you will get spammed and a bunch of responses that you might not like particular if venturing out away from the safety of your own castle or site. However use those conversations and engagements to learn and interact, see what is on people’s minds or that they are interested in vs. what you want to tell them.

Where wasting time can come into play is trying to be part of every discussion, watching what everybody is doing or saying in all the various venues. For the trick has been to pick which venues are useful for where I want to invest time along with what I will get out of them in addition to using different tools to help find the applicable conversations and discussions. If you are not using things as basic as Google alerts you are probably spending too much time out looking for conversations or discussions, or, you are missing out on them altogether.

I have also noticed that there tends to be a correlation between those who are involved in one way communication and comment diminishing or dismissing social media and networking as a waste of time or not practical, hmm, go figure.

Otoh, I have also noticed those who tend to be involved in one way or non interactive discussions or that limit comments and discourse tend to also have lower numbers of followers, appear on fewer lists or get shared by others, hmm, go figure.

I have also noticed that some who do very well in cyberspace may not do as well in person and vise versa, however there are many who can do both. Likewise there are those who do well in columns that support interactive comments and those who do not.

Perhaps there is a hadoop big data analytics algorithm out there for someone who has lots of time to do some research on all of this?

In the meantime, for those interested, check out Johnny Bentwood (@JonnyBentwood) and some of the things he has done around analytics and social media and metrics if so interested.

What this all means is that to each their own, that is comfort zones. If your comfort zone and sphere of influence is in one way communication via print, online, video or what ever, then play to your strengths. Likewise, if yours is as a commentator or something else, go with it.

Leverage and get involved, don’t be scared, find your voice, engage, take part, however also be ready to be challenged while increasing your network of contacts, ability to learn and get out of what ever you put into it. Otherwise, stay in your comfort zone or within your sphere of influence.

As to if social media and networking are a waste of time and only for those who have nothing to do, well, if that is the case, last year was a banner year for me and my business. That is both in terms of activity, contacts, coverage, awards and accolades not to mention increasing discussions and experience in other areas as well as being involved in traditional media and venues or activities. I guess if that is the result of being involved or investing in social media and networking it is an honor to be among those who waste time and have nothing better to do.

Why do I take time out of my busy schedule to share this?

Simple, you get out of things what you put into it, and granted some will simply take advantage as opposed to contributing back, maybe they too will evolve to give back what they take out.

Feel free to engage or simply read and lurk, that option is all yours.

Ok, nuff said for now, have to get some other work projects done now.

Cheers
Gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press, 2011), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press, 2009), and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier, 2004)

twitter @storageio

November 19, 2011November 26, 2023

How to write, publish and promote a book or blog

Have you ever read an article, blog post or a book and said to yourself that you could do that, perhaps even better?

Well, unless you have already done so, what are you waiting for to write a book, blog, article or create some other form of content using different mediums or venues?

The other evening I attended a local Stillwater (Artreach St Croix) event (Publishers Forum) with my wife (karenofarcola.com). Karen is working on getting her first book (fiction for children and young adults) published so she was interested in meeting the different publishers. For me I wanted to learn about the local publishers, hear what they had to say in addition to meeting the purveyor of a local book store (Valley Book Seller) who helped promote the event.

It was interesting listening to the panel made up of a nonprofit publisher (Milkweed Editions), a full service self publishing venue (Beaver Pond Press) and regional publishing house (Tristin Publishing).

Having formally published books (e.g. with traditional publishers (Elseiver and CRC/Taylor Francis), ISBNs, Library of Congress (LOC) registration) along with contributing on other projects, not to mention over a thousand articles, tips, reports, white papers, solution briefs, videos and other content, I often get asked what does it take to write a book, blog or other material.

I also get told by people that they could do a better job to which I ask them then why dont they do something about it vs. simply saying that they could do something better.

Back to the Art Reach St Croix publishers forum event, the attendees were mainly aspiring authors looking to get their first works published. Having already been down the path that many in the room were looking to go (get published) it was interesting to hear the various questions and discussion topics. Some of those questions were about the process of self publishing vs. working with the publisher (large or small) in addition to how much costs or how to get discovered. It was also great to hear the panelist discuss some of the hurdles authors face in getting their books published along with promoting their works.

I learned several years ago before I did my first solo book was a tip that another author told me of the importance of promotion. That is your publisher will help enable, however it is up to you the author to promote your works by creating a platform or means of interacting with different audiences. Consequently it was fun to hear the panelist talk with the authors on the importance of creating a platform including a blog, twitter, Google Plus, facebook, doing articles and appearances to help create awareness. What was fun to watch were the authors who seemed to be more comfortable with creating their works and then waiting for the results to occur as opposed to helping make their work a success.

Anyways, for those who are aspiring to write a book, blog or article, or even for those who are content being arm chair authors or Monday morning quarterbacks, here is a link to a series about how to write a book or blog. The series (how to write a book or blog) can be read over at the VMware communities site that Im contributing for as a vExpert.

Oh, and for you aspiring authors or bloggers wondering about creating and developing a platform, what you are reading here is an example of doing just that. In other words, my platform includes what you are reading here in addition to on my regular blog or other venues including Google Plus (G+), Facebook, LinkedIn and twitter among other venues.

So what are you waiting for, go get your book or blog or article written, published and start promoting it.

Ok, nuff said for now

Cheers Gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press, 2011), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press, 2009), and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier, 2004)

twitter @storageio

September 8, 2011November 26, 2023

Check out these top 50 IT blogs

The other day I saw something come in via the net about a top 50 IT blog list from Biztech Magazine, so being curious I clicked on the link (after making sure that it was safe).

To my surprise, I saw my blog (aka Gregs StorageIOblog) listed near the top (they sorted by blog name order) of the top 50 IT blog sites that they listed.

Im honored to have been included in such an esteemed and diverse list of blogs spanning various technologies, topics and IT focus areas.

Congratulations to all that made the list as well as others blogs that you will want to add to your reading lists including those mentioned over on Calvin Zitos (aka @hpstorageguy) blog.

Check out the top 50 IT blog list here.

Ok, nuff said for now.

Cheers gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press, 2011), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press, 2009), and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier, 2004)

twitter @storageio

March 30, 2010November 25, 2019

March Metrics and Measuring Social Media

What metrics matter for social media and networking?

Of course the answer should be it depends.

For example, would that be number of followers or how many posts, tweets or videos you post?

How about the number of page hits, pages read or unique visitors to a site, perhaps time on site?

Or, how about the number of times a visitor returns to a site or shares the link or information with others?

What about click through rates, page impressions, revenue per page and related metrics?

Maybe the metric is your blog ranking or number of points on your favorite community site such as Storage Monkeys or Wikibon among others?

Another metrics could be number of comments received particularly if your venue is more interactive for debate or discussion purposes compared to a site with many viewers who prefer to read (lurk). Almost forgot number of LinkedIn contacts or face book friends along with you tube and other videos or pod casts as well as who is on your blog roll.

Lets not forget how many are following or those being followed along with RSS subscribers as metrics.

To say that there are many different metrics along with reasons or interests around them would be an understatement to say the least.

Why do metrics matter in social networking?

One reason metrics are used (even by those who do not admit it) is to compare status amongst peers or others in your sphere of influence or in adjacent areas.

Some spheres of influence and influences

In additional metrics also matter for those looking to land or obtain advertising sponsors for their sites or perhaps to help gain exposure if looking for a new job or career move. Metrics also matter to gauge the effectiveness or return on investment with social media that could range from how many followers to how far your brands reach extends into other realms and venues.

In the case of twitter, for some the key metric is number of followers (e.g. popularity) or those being followed with other metrics being number of posts or tweets along with re tweets and list inclusions.For blogs and web sites, incoming links along with site activity among other metrics factor into various ranking sites. Web site activity can be measured in several ways including total hits or visits, pages read and unique visitors among others.

Having been involved with social media from a blogging along with twitter perspective for a couple of years not to mention being a former server and storage capacity planner I find metrics to be interesting. In addition to the metrics themselves, what is also interesting is how they are used differently for various purposes including gauging cause and effect or return on social networking investment.

Regardless of your motives or objectives with metrics, here is a quick synopsis of some tools and sites that I have come across that you may already be using, or if not, that you might be interested in.

What are some metrics?

If you are interested in your twitter effectiveness, see your report card at tweet grade. Another twitter site that provides a twitter grade based on numerous factors is Twitter Grader while Klout.com characterizes your activity on four different planes similar to a Gartner Magic quadrant. Over at the customer collective they have an example of a more thorough gauge of effectiveness looking at several different metrics some of which are covered here.

Customer Collective Metrics and Rankings

Similar to Technorati, Tekrati, or other directory and index sites, Wefollow is a popular venue for tracking twitter tweeps based on various has tags for example IT or storage among many others. Tweet level provides a composite ranking determined by influence, popularity, engagement and trust. Talkreview.com provides various metrics of blog and websites including unique visitor traffic estimates while Compete.com shows estimated site visitor traffic with option to compare to others. Interested to see how your website or blog is performing in terms of effectiveness and reach in addition to Compete.com, then check out talkreviews.com or Blog grader that looks at and reports on various blog metrics and information.

The sites and tools mentioned are far from an exhaustive listing of sites or metrics for various purposes, rather a sampling of what is available to meet different needs. For example there are Alexa, Goggle and Yahoo rankings among many others.

Wefollow as an example or discussion topic

One of the things that I find interesting is the diversity in the metrics and rankings for example if you were to say look at wefollow for a particularly category in the top 10 or 20, then use one or more of the other tools to see how the various rankings change.

A month or so ago I was curious to see if some of the sites could be gamed beyond running up the number of posts, tweets, followers or followings along with re tweets of which some sites appear to be influenced by. As part of determining what metrics matter and which to ignore or keep in the back pocket for when needed, I looked at and experiment with wefollow.

For those who might have been aware of what I was doing, I went from barely being visible for example in the storage category to jumping into the top 5. Then with some changes, was able to disappear from the top 5 and show up elsewhere and then when all was said and done, return to top rankings.

Does this mean I put a lot of stock or value in wefollow or simply use it as a gauge and metric along with all of the others? The answer is that it is just that, another metric and tool that can be used for gauging effectiveness and reach, or if you prefer, status or what ever your preference and objective are.

How did I change my rankings on wefollow? Simple, experimented with using various tags in different combinations, sometimes only one, sometimes many however keeping them relevant and then waiting several days. Im sure if you are inclined and have plenty of time on your hands, someone can figure out or find out how the actual algorithms work, however for me right now, I have other projects to pursue.

What is the best metric?

That is going to depends on your objectives or what you are trying to accomplish.

As with other measurements and metrics, those for social media provide different points of reference from how many followers to amount of influence.

Depending on your objective, effectiveness may be gauged by number of followers or those being followed, number of posts or the number of times being quoted or referenced by others including in lists.

In some cases rankings that compare with others are based on those sites knowing about you which may mean having to register so that you can be found.

Bottom line, metrics matter however what they mean and their importance will vary depending on objectives, preferences or for accomplishing different things.

One of the interesting things about social networking and media sites is that if you do not like a particularly ranking, list, grade or status then either work to change the influence of those scores, or, come up with your own.

What is your take on metrics that matter, which is of course unless they do not matter to you?

Ok, nuff said.

Cheers gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio

March 21, 2010January 23, 2019

Who or what is your sphere of influence?

Disclosure: I used to be an IT customer working in different organizations, than worked for various vendors, than for an analyst firm before starting StorageIO. Thus I have been at various seats around the proverbial IT table, having listened to as well as being part of various stories from different vantage points, thus my view and sphere or focus or influence may be different from yours.

Who is your sphere or circle of influence?

If you listen to vendors your perceptions will be one thing, if you listen to customers, your perceptions will be different. Or, if you simply read and get information and perspectives via the media and depending upon their sources or opinions, guess what!

Taking a step back for a moment.

Recently I have attended either in person, or via virtual means various vendor briefings and announcements, as well as meeting and talking with IT professionals face to face or via phone and other means. Likewise I see and read various industry related material via printed (yes some still exist), online, web, blogs, podcasts, videos, tweets from different sources ranging from traditional media or journalist organizations using in-house staff or a combination of staff and freelance writers as well as upstart new media, to vendors and vars, research analyst among others.

What jumped out at me as a perspective is something that should be as clear as seeing through both pairs of eyes or listening with two ears (assuming no ailments). That is, if all you listen to are vendors guess what your thought and perspective basis will be.

Likewise, if all you do is listen to users guess what the perspective is going to be? Another angle is that if you are in academia or research areas, and those that you associate with are also only in that venue, guess what? Or, how about if all you do is listen to particularly media or blog venues, to vars or specific analysis, or, get your info second or third hand hopefully you start to see the picture here. How about if all you do to get your information is by reading press releases or customer case studies, while providing some information, what about the story behind the story and what it all means?

For example, if all a reporter, blogger, media analyst, journalist or free-lance writer does to get their info is from vendors, guess how those discussions might be influenced. Or, if an analyst, advisor, researcher, consultant, var or independent blogger only gets their product and industry trends perspectives from vendors, guess how that might be shaped. Let alone, if your focus is on quantitative vs. qualitative depending upon information sources your view or influence will vary.

While sitting in as well as listening in remotely on some of those vendor briefings it dawned on me how perhaps there are those who only get their information on trends, perspectives and industry challenges let alone on product or competitive positioning from those venues, or, in the after the fact market research accounting numbers. After all, if your time is spent on the traveling media, analyst and blogger briefing circuit going from one big tent to another with little or no time to engage with others in the ecosystem, guess what the perspectives might possible be?

I was also wondering recently in a different venue that was filled with IT customers (e.g. users) along with some vendors and vars a similar thought. That is, if attendees never listened or attended vendor, var or third-party produced events and seminars how they would get information and dialogue exchange for forming opinions.

Or if bloggers, media, free-lance writers our journalist only get their information from vendor briefings or talking with handpicked reference customers or pre-screened and scripted pundits, is if they are getting or even asking about the bigger or broader story, the story behind the story for their viewers or readers.

Now this is not saying that any one of those is a negative or inappropriate or non important venue or source, rather, simply point out that views and perspectives eve if formed by yourself can be shaped by your sources of information.

In other words, leverage various forms of information and knowledge exchange including different venues. Form your own perspectives based on different sources and exchanges or discussions leveraging that gray matter (not talking about hair either) that sits behind your eyes, slightly above your mouth and between those ears.

What to do or who to listen to?

I spend my talking with manufactures, vars, service providers, bloggers, consultants, media and financial analysts, and of course, lots and lots of IT customers to gauge what is going on, the issues, challenges, opportunities, who has been naughty and nice. Consequently, my view and sphere of influences tend to be more applied and rooted with what is going on in many IT shops vs being shaped by what others want me to hear, see or think.

Something that I have found over the years is that talking directly with IT customers in real-time enables quicker perspectives and feedback on their needs and issues for when I talk with vars or vendors as well as the media.

Likewise, having regular in-depth discussions with vendors, vars and service providers helps to give perspective on where those groups are going and looking to discuss with their technologies. At times the discussions are under NDA (both on the customer as well as the var, vendor or service provider sides) and other times they are in the open depending upon the conversation or topic sensitivity.

I say leverage all the different resources, views and perspectives that are available and depending on who you are or what you do, set up dialogue with others given how easy it is to do with various mediums or venues. For example, if you are a media, financial, research or consulting advisory analyst or self-proclaimed pundit, set up open and two-way dialogue with IT customers, vars, public relations, consultants as well as media in addition to traditional vendor controlled analyst relations (while you are at it, set up some information vendor dialogue as well).

Figure 1 Some spheres of influence and influences

So who are you and what are your circles or spheres of influence as well as those that you influence (Figure 1)? If you are a media (e.g. journalist, writer, blogger, freelancer, editor, publisher) than set up relationships with various analysts, advisors, consultants, vars, customers and so forth. If you are the customer, likewise set up relationships with both traditional and new or nontraditional analysts and media venues, other customers and vars. hopefully you start to see the picture which is either hibernate, lurk, or proactively engage with others in a medium or way that suits your needs or requirements.

If you have only been a vendor or var, learn about the others around the table and likewise, if only have been a media or analyst, learn about the vendors and the customers, the vars and so forth. Expand your horizons and sources of information exchange, debate or discussion. After all, you may still come back to the same premises or perspectives, however at least you can say and prove that thesis on the basis of having discussed or researched it with your broader, diverse network of contacts.

Likewise, when sharing information or knowledge, keep in mind that there are different audiences, some of whom may have seen before what you have found to be new and revolutionary while others will have perhaps a 180 degree view and others on the same page if not same ball park.

Bottom line

Use your brain to read, listen, learn, discuss, ask questions, share information and form your own opinions, thoughts and perspectives. Rest assured, no one medium, venue or source has the complete insight into your specific environment, requirements, issues and challenges and if it does, that would be truly revolutionary!

And that is all that I have to say about that, at least for now…

Ok, nuff said.

Cheers gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio

October 11, 2009December 24, 2020

Poll: Whats Your Take on FTC Guidelines For Bloggers?

If you have not heard or read yet, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week released new guidelines pertaining to blogger (or other social media) disclosure of if they are being paid, receiving free products or services, or simply had their costs covered to attend an event that they will be writing, posting or blogging about.

Not surprisingly, there are those who are up in arms, those that are cheering that its about time, and everyone else trying to figure out what the new rules mean, who they apply to and when. For some I expect to see a rash of disclosures by those not sure what it means or being safe while others continue to do what they have been doing, business or blogging or both as usual. As with many things, all bloggers do not get paid or receive renumeration (compensation in some shape or form) for what they write or blog, however there are some that do and is often the case, a few bad apples turn a good thing into a problem or black-eye for everyone else.

Here’s a couple of links for some background:
Discussion over at StorageMonkeys.com pertaining to IT/Storage Analysts
Discussion at Blogher.com what the FTC guides mean to you
FTC blogger guidelines

I interpret the new FTC guidelines as pertaining to me or anyone else who has a blog regardless of if they are a social media elite professional or just for fun blogger, blog on their own time for work our their own other purposes, for profit, as a media or journalist, reporter or freelance writer, consultant or contractor, vendor or customer. My view and its just that, a view is that blogs, along with other forms of social media are tools for communication, collaborating and conversation. Thus, I have a blog, twitter, website, facebook, linkedin along with having material appear in print, on-line as well as in person, all are simply different means for interacting and communications.

As with any new communication venue, there is an era of wide open and what some might call the wide open use such as we are seeing with social media mediums today, the web in general in the past, not to mention print, TV or radio in the past.

I’m reading into these guidelines as a maturing process and acknowledgement that social media including blogs have now emerged into a viable and full fledged communication medium that consumers utilize for making decisions, thus guides need to be in place.

I like other bloggers are wondering abut the details including when to disclose something, how the guidelines will be enforced among other questions, that is unless you are one that does not believe the guidelines apply to yourself.

With all of this in mind, here’s a new poll, what’s your take on the FTC guidelines?

As for my own disclosures, look for them in white papers, articles, blogs and other venues as applicable.

Ok, nuff said.

Cheers gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio

August 11, 2009October 28, 2022

Summer Book Update and Back to School Reading

August and thus Summer 2009 in the northern hemisphere are swiftly passing by and start of a new school year is just around the corner which means it is also time for final vacations, time at the beach, pool, golf course, amusement park or favorite fishing hole among other past times. In order to help get you ready for fall (or late summer) book shopping for those with IT interests, here are some Amazon lists (here, here and here) for ideas, after all, the 2009 holiday season is not that far away!

Here’s a link to my Amazon.com Authors page that includes coverage of both my books, "The Green and Virtual Data Center" (CRC) and "Resilient Storage Networks – Designing Scalable Flexible Data Infrastructures" (Elsevier).

Click here to look inside "The Green and Virtual Data Center" (CRC) and or inside "Resilient Storage Networks" (Elsevier).

Its been six months since the launch announcement of my new book "The Green and Virtual Data Center" (CRC) and general availability at Amazon.com and other global venues here and here. In celebration of the six month anniversary of the book launch (thank you very much to all who have bought a copy!), here is some coverage including what is being said, related articles, interviews, book reviews and more.

Article: New Green Data Center: shifting from avoidance to becoming more efficient IT-World August 2009

wsradio.com interview discussing themes and topics covered in the book including closing the green gap and shifting towards an IT efficiency and productivity for business sustainability.

Closing the green gap: Discussion about expanding data centers with environmental benefits at SearchDataCenter.com

From Greg Brunton – EDS/An HP Company: “Greg Schulz has presented a concise and visionary perspective on the Green issues, He has cut through the hype and highlighted where to start and what the options are. A great place to start your green journey and a useful handbook to have as the journey continues.”

From Rick Bauer – Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) – Education and Technology Director”
“Greg is one of the smartest “good guys” in the storage industry.
He has been a voice of calm amid all the “green IT hype” over the past few years. So when he speaks of the possible improvements that Green Tech can bring, it’s a much more realistic approach…”

From CMG (Computer Measurement Group) MeasureIT
I must admit that I have been slightly skeptical at times, when it comes to what the true value is behind all of the discussions on “green” technologies in the data center. As someone who has seen both the end user and vendor side of things, I think my skepticism gets heightened more than it normally would be. This book really helped dispel my skepticism.

The book is extremely well organized and easy to follow. Each chapter has a very good introduction and comprehensive summary. This book could easily serve as a blueprint for organizations to follow when they look for ideas on how to design new data centers. It’s a great addition to an IT Bookshelf. – Reviewed by Stephen R. Guendert, PhD (Brocade and CMG MeasureIT). Click here to read the full review in CMG MeasureIT.

From Tom Becchetti – IT Architect: “This book is packed full of information. From ecological and energy efficiencies, to virtualization strategies and what the future may hold for many of the key enabling technologies. Greg’s writing style benefits both technologists and management levels.”

From MSP Business Journal: Greg Schulz named an Eco-Tech Warrior – April 2009

From David Marshall at VMblog.com: If you follow me on Linked in, you might have seen that I had been reading a new book that came out at the beginning of the year titled, “The Green and Virtual Data Center” by Greg Schulz. Rather than writing about a specific virtualization platform and how to get it up and running, Schulz takes an interesting approach at stepping back and looking at the big picture. After reading the book, I reached out to the author to ask him a few more questions and to share his thoughts with readers of VMBlog.com. I know I’m not Oprah’s Book Club, but I think everyone here will enjoy this book. Click here to read more what David Marshal has to say.

From Zen Kishimoto of Altaterra Research: Book Review May 2009

From Kurt Marko of Processor.com Green and Virtual Book Review – April 2009

From Serial Storage Wire (STA): Green and SASy = Energy and Economic, Effective Storage – March 2009

From Computer Technology Review: Recent Comments on The Green and Virtual Data Center – March 2009

From Alan Radding in Big Fat Finance Blog: Green IT for Finance Operations – April 2009

From VMblog: Comments on The Green and Virtual Data Center – March 2009

From StorageIO Blog: Recent Comments and Tips – March 2009

From VMblog: Comments on The Green and Virtual Data Center – March 2009

From Data Center Links John Rath comments on “The Green and Virtual Data Center”

From InfoStor Dave Simpson comments on “The Green and Virtual Data Center”

From Sys-Con Georgiana Comsa comments on “The Green and Virtual Data Center”

From Ziff Davis Heather Clancy comments on “The Green and Virtual Data Center”

From Byte & Switch Green IT and the Green Gap February 2009

From GreenerComputing: Enabling a Green and Virtual Data Center February 2009

From Sys-con: Comments on The Green and Virtual Data Center – March 2009

From ServerWatch: Green IT: Myths vs. Realities – February 2009

From Byte & Switch: Going Green and the Economic Downturn – February 2009

From Business Wire: Comments on The Green and Virtual Data Center Book – January 2009

Additional content and news can be found here and here with upcoming events listed here.

Interested in Kindle? Here’s a link to get a Kindle copy of "Resilient Storage Networks" (Elsevier) or to send a message via Amazon to publisher CRC that you would like to see a Kindle version of "The Green and Virtual Data Center". While you are at it, I also invite you to become a fan of my books at Facebook.

Thanks again to everyone who has obtained their copy of either of my books, also thanks to all of those who have done reviews, interviews and helped in many other ways!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Cheers – gs

Greg Schulz – twitter @storageio

May 8, 2009November 26, 2023

R U Twittering Yet?

For those of you who are twitter fans, you can skip this post if you like as you are already twittering and know what it’s about, however feel free to follow me if you are not already doing so @storage.

On the other hand, for those of you new or not familiar with twitter (click here to learn more and sign-up) also known as micro blogging, is yet another venue and means to communicate, collaborate, network or what have you. In a nutshell, twitter messages, posts or tweets are 140 characters that appear on your twitter page for followers to view and respond to. For longer tweets or long URL’s, tiny URL’s can be used.

You can also include other tweeters in a post so your post will appear on their pages for discussion. Tweets can also be forwarded to others via a RT or retweet. Tweets as they are refereed to can be done via a web interface, from an iphone or other mobile device, or via email such as Microsoft Outlook with OutTwit.

Think of twitter as a cross between blogging, texting, IM and a few other things smashed together. For the competitive or status seekers, there are even grading or ranking sites to see or show how you stack up or compare to others.

Some tweets are discussion points, some are smash or trash talk, some are adds or news feeds, some are random thoughts or musings. Some people tweet constantly while others tweet now and then with some actively following and tweeting, while others simply lurk. Some follow others who follow-them, others simply post and follow few if anyone. Tweeters range from corporate or organizations to individuals for work or for fun for almost any cause, its really up to you how, when, why and where you want to tweet from.

Here’s a link to a blog post that I did late last year about what I refer to as tiered communications. While some may have a strong preference for one medium or venue vs. another, I see the different social networking, web 2.0 and related venues including facebook, twitter, friend feed, linkedin, plaxo, blogs, RSS, web sites and IM among others as different tiers and tools for communicating.

Check twitter out when you get a chance and start tweeting if the spirit so moves you, tweet you soon, however word of caution, tweeting can be addictive for some!

I can be found and followed @storageio or www.twitter.com/storageio and happy tweekend as its Friday.

Cheers gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press, 2011), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press, 2009), and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier, 2004)

twitter @storageio

April 21, 2009March 7, 2022

Happy Earth Day 2009

Its that time of the year again, that’s right, earth day April 22 2009!

If you frequent this blog, visit my websites (StorageIO, The Green and Virtual Data Center or Green Data Storage), track twitter, attended any of my speaking engagements, webcast, podcast, videos, radio interviews, seen press or media coverage, not to mention read any of my reports, articles, tips or books, it should not come as a surprise that I have something to say about Green IT and closing the Green Gap.

Common themes have included awareness of the green gap and how to address or close it including discussions around IT transformation, infrastructure optimization, boosting productivity and efficiency to support business sustainability among others. While its tempting to go on and on about different trends, topics, techniques, technologies and related themes with a back drop of earth day, lets leave it at this for now in the sake of brevity and efficiency.

There’s plenty of existing content to be recycled and reused or seen and viewed for today including at some of the above links. However, rest assured, there is more content in the works pertaining to enabling Green IT with a focus around data center productivity, efficiency and sustainability, doing more with less, or, doing more with what is available.

So happy earth day 2009, chat with you again soon.

Ok, nuff said.

Cheers gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press, 2011), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press, 2009), and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier, 2004)

twitter @storageio

April 20, 2009March 7, 2022

IBM Out, Oracle In as Buyer of Sun

Following on the heals of IBM in talks with Sun that broke down a week or so ago, today’s news is Oracle has agreed to buy Sun extending Larry Ellison’s software empire as well as boosting his hardware empire from fast sport platforms to server, storage and other IT data center hardware.

What’s the real play and story here is certainly open to discussion and debate, is it good, is it bad, who are the winners and losers will be determined as the dust settles, not to mention as responses from across the industry, not to mention new product announcements and enhances slated by some for as early as this week. What if any role does Cisco wanting to get into servers and maybe storage play, does Oracle want to make sure they remain at the big table?

Regarding discussions of this deal, what it means, the twitter world has been abuzz already this morning, click here to see and follow some of the conversations, perspectives and insights being exchanged.

Nuf said for now, its time to get ready to head off to the airport as I’m doing several events speaking and keynote sessions this week on the right coast while the left coast is abuzz with the Sun & Oracle activity.

Ok, nuff said.

Cheers gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio

January 30, 2009November 26, 2023

Recent StorageIO Media Coverage and Comments

Realizing that some prefer blogs to webs to twitters to other venues, here are some recent links among others to media coverage and comments by me on a different topics that are among others found at www.storageio.com/news.html.

Business Wire: Comments on The Green and Virtual Data Center Book – Jan 09

Search Storage: Comments on Open Source Storage – Jan 09

Search Storage: Comments on Clustered Storage – Jan 09

Storage Magazine: Comments on DR/BC Sites – Jan 09

SearchStorage: Comments on Fujitsu Eternus Storage – Jan 09

Enterprise Storage Forum: Comments on Quest buying Monosphere – Jan 09

Processor: Comments on Reducing Storage Costs – Jan 09

Enterprise Storage Forum: Comments on Apple Mac storage enhancements – Jan 09

Enterprise Storage Forum: Comments on EMC buying Sourcelabs & Opensource – Jan 09

SearchStorage Oz/NZ: Comments on Hot Technologies and Hype – Jan 09

CNBC: Comments on Storing Digital Documents – Dec 08

Enterprise Storage Forum: Comments on pNFS and Data Storage Trends – Dec 08

Enterprise Storage Forum: Comments on Symantec shifting hardware spending – Dec 08

Search Storage: Comments on DAS being more common than perceived – Dec 08

IT World Canada: Comments on Sun seeing lack of Storage Industry Innovation – Dec 08

Search Storage: Comments on Data Movement and Migration – Dec 08

eChannel Line: Comments on EMC and Dell renewing their vows – Dec 08

eChannel Line: Comments on Adaptec and SAS/SATA adapters – Dec 08

eChannel Line: Comments on Dell data de-duplication strategy – Nov 08

Server Watch: Comments on Server Virtualization Brings Fresh Life to DAS – Nov 08

Tech News World: Comments on Samsung Jumbo SSD drives – Nov 08

Enterprise Planet: Comments on EMC Cloud Storage (ATMOS) – Nov 08

eChannel Line: Comments on HPs new USVP virtualization platform – Nov 08

Search Storage: Comments on EMCs cloud and policy based storage – Nov 08

Tech News World: Comments on SANdisk SSD – Nov 08

Enterprise Storage Forum: Comments on HP adding storage virtualizaiton – Nov 08

Mainframe Executive: Comments on Green and Efficient Storage – Nov 08

Internet News: Comments – Symantec Trims Enterprise Vault Nov 08

Enterprise Storage Forum: Comments on DAS remaining relevant – Nov 08

SearchSMBStorage: Comments – NAS attraction for SMBs Nov 08

See more at www.storageio.com/news.html

Cheers gs

January 26, 2009March 7, 2022

Do you have your copy of “The Green and Virtual Data Center” yet?

For those not familar with my new book, "The Green and Virtual Data Center" (Auerbach), or, for those who have already ordered your copy (Thank You and look for them to arrive soon) as today marks the offical publication date, or, I guess you could say the birthday for "The Green and Virtual Data Center".

Thus, I am pleased to share with you the news about the formal launch and publication (read the press release) of my new book, “The Green and Virtual Data Center”, which is released today by Auerbach/CRC-Press and is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, CRC-Press and other venues around the world.

The book focuses on the idea that IT infrastructure resources configured and deployed in a highly virtualized manner can be combined with other techniques and technologies to achieve a simplified and cost-effective delivery of IT services in a clean, green, and profitable manner. ?The Green and Virtual Data Center? covers these technologies and techniques that todays data centers should be considering while trying to maximize resources, such as power, cooling, floor space, storage, server performance, and network capacity.

Some of the topics include:
• Energy and data footprint reductions
• Cloud-based storage and computing
• Intelligent and adaptive power management
• Server, storage, and networking virtualization
• Tiered servers for storage, network, and data centers
• Energy avoidance and energy efficiency

Hitting The Road Again

The phrase hitting the road can have different meaning these days with rash of layoffs, cutbacks, right-sizing and so forth that are hitting companies of all sizes include IT manufacturer, services, media and even analysts firms of the like of giant Gartner (who also canceled some of their upcoming shows/conferences) and Forseters among others large firms.

For those unfortunate who have been caught up in the various recent market dynamics and job cuts, best wishes and good luck. What I have been telling people who have been contacting me for referrels, references, looking to be hired and so forth is to check-out Carter Lusher on twitter and his blog site over at SageCircle (A site for Analyst Relations-AR folks). Also check-out Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester blog, both of whom have some tips and other useful information including how to use and leverage social media tools including twitter among others. Don’t forget the various groups within Linkedin (e.g. Linkedin Groups) and other networking groups for that matter if you have not already done so as there are various notes and information for job seekers as well as job openings looking to be filled. Speaking of social media and web 2.0 including twitter, I can be found at twitter.com/storageio.

In the context of StorageIO, I’m off traveling on the road again for what marks the start of a busy and exciting winter and early spring schedule. While I wont be able to attend the big events in Washington DC or wine tasting with friends in the Sydney (Oz) area this week, I will be in San Jose, CA (Do you know the way to San Jose?) key noting at the SNIA Symposium and then at a private event in Tucson, AZ (Sorry, not at the bone yard or IBM for this trip).

At the SNIA event, the audience will be those from the storage and networking industry in general including a mix of vendors and vars, some media and analysts and a few IT customers. The title for my keynote talk at SNIA this week will be "Storage Industry Update V2.009: Chaos and Opportunity ?What?s the Buzz!". As for the theme, well, to say that times are tough would be an understatement, yet, with the financial markets and economic chaos, for many originations, the show must go however it?s not business as usual, it?s doing more work, processing and storing more information in a given footprint and at a lower cost than in the past. Yet in all of the current chaos and conditions, there are near term tactical as well as long term strategic opportunities in the storage networking and data management ecosystem.

In Tucson, the focus will be different with an audience of IT professionals from various size business and a theme of being sponsored by Silverado technologies The theme is Enabling Virtual IT Infrastructure – Trends in Data Management, Storage Management & Security Issues in Virtualized Environments. My keynote talk will be "Storage in a Virtual Data Center: Performance, Availability, Security and Data Protection". The session looks at storage and networking trends, technologies and techniques to support and enable a virtual data center.

In addition to this weeks schedule, other upcoming events include a speaking engagement on "The Green and Virtual Data Center" at an event in Cancun in early February, stops in Dallas, Tampa, Miami, Los Angles, Birmingham and Cincinnati on the Techtarget custom events tour train as well as Las Vegas and others in April and beyond in addition to other activities. Check out the StorageIO events page for more information on these and other activities in a location near you. If you are in either San Jose or Tucson this week, or in any of the other upcoming locations, come on out, stop by and say hello as it would be great to catch up and hear what’s the buzz.

Cheers – gs

December 19, 2008November 22, 2022

Getting Caught Up and Holiday Shopping

Its a busy time of the year as things wind down and wrap up, including holiday shopping and applicable gift wrapping unless you outsource the wrapping to the likes of Amazon.com when shopping on-line in a cloud enabled world.

For me this was a busy week with a quick trip out to New York City (NYC) for some meetings and to do another dinner keynote event, in addition to wrapping up some other projects as well as getting a jump on some up-coming projects and adding some additional events to the 2009 calendar (more on those soon).

Speaking of holiday shopping, Beth Pariseau over at SearchStorage has put out her annual what to get a geek for the holidays piece with this edition titled "Jingle bell storage: What to buy a geek for the holidays".

In addition to Beth’s great list, here are some additional considerations.

For those who might forget their heads if not attached to their shoulders, or late for their own wake, how about a wrist watch with USB flash drive built in (encrypted preferred)

Speaking of encryption, to support increased data growth, replace that too small 8GB encrypted USB flash with a new 16GB encrypted version (My 8GB version I bought a while ago works great).

Oh, and upgrade the DVR (add more and bigger disk drives) to support more editions of “Friday Night Lights“, “How its Made”, “Worlds Toughest Fixes”, “Sunday Night Football”, "Factory Floor" and anything on “HDnet” or “HDnet Movies”, a larger capacity external SAS or SATA attached disk with software to copy what I already have saved.

For those who enjoy Wine and I/O, check out the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator (Bought one of these after seeing them in Sonoma on a recent trip)

For those who like removable storage media and want to compliment their EMC Retrospect (I have been a Retrospect since well before EMC bought them, I guess that makes me an EMC customer?) or other backups, the Imation Odyssey portable USB adapter (I bought an Odyssey over a year ago) is great for larger backups (beyond a flash drive) when traveling.

In order to track those lost tapes to avoid getting on next years Santa naughty or nice list, how about FujiFind (FujiFilm) Tape tracker

On the software and tools front, Xobni (a form of eDiscovery and search for Microsoft Outlook) along with OutTwit (twitter interface where you can also find myself) if you are using Microsoft Outlook (have been using both of these, great productivity tools).

Still not sure, how about my new book "The Green and Virtual Data Center" (Auerbach) or my other book "Resilient Storage Networks" (Elseiver) both available at Amazon.com and other fine venues around the world (I bought a copy of both to see how on-line sale worked ;).

That’s it for now as I need to get a few more things done including more holiday shopping and chores not to mention get ready for the snowstorm that is forecasted to dump several inches of new snow tomorrow here in the Stillwater area.

Ok, nuff said.

Cheers gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio

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