What will happen in the coming year

It's that time of year when everyone predicts what will happen in the coming year, by and large about how enterprise businesses will spend money or how consumers will react to a product or event, nevertheless some predictions are more concrete and measurable than others. These 10 predictions for 2011 will have you watching the latest developments from the big hardware manufacturers. Sure, some are wishful thinking, yet others are obviously within reach for a 2011 delivery time frame.

The move toward virtualization

With the move toward virtualization and cloud computing, CPU manufacturers will have to continue changing with the times and the demands of this new computing environment. On-demand CPU allocation is one way to do that. Here's how it works: You have a certain number of physical CPUs and a number of virtual CPUs per physical CPU. When demand on that physical CPU climbs to a preset amount, the CPU fires up a virtual CPU. When demand increases to the level where another physical CPU would decrease the overall load on a system, another CPU fires up to meet that demand. Dynamic CPU allocation handled by the system that bypasses software layer involvement would dramatically increase system response and efficiency.

How much do you spend annually on watchdog software programs to monitor system performance, to keep an eye on TCP ports, and to maintain patches and other system needs? Mainboard manufacturers will step up their game to provide these services on a chip. On-chip services alleviates problems with connectivity to a reporting server, since local logging will however occur if the network is offline.

Mixed IT infrastructure is always a challenge

Managing a mixed IT infrastructure is always a challenge. A variety of systems and equipment creates a complex infrastructure where finding and solving performance and network glitches is in effect difficult. Learn how Hitachi IT Operations Analyzer can help.