Is Apple core to your data center?

Servers This newsletter is sponsored by Arsenal Digital Solutions Data Protection: Implementing an Effective Company-Wide Strategy Due to the growth of remote office and mobile computing, critical company data is widely distributed across enterprise networks, with no backup or disaster recovery plan in place. As such, the top remote office support issues companies face today are backup and restoration of data, disaster recovery, and compliance, according to the IT research firm IDC. Companies must be concerned with the cost of downtime, regulatory penalties for data loss, and customer confidence issues if data is compromised, corrupted or lost. Click here to read this whitepaper and learn more today! Network World's Servers Newsletter, 06/14/07 Is Apple core to your data center? By Jennifer Mears I’m curious: how many of you readers run Apple hardware in your organizations? During the time I was covering servers for Network World I wrote a handful of stories about Apple and no matter what I wrote about, one thing stayed the same. I got tons of e-mails from die-hard Apple devotees thanking me for writing the article, but complaining that we at Network World didn’t write enough about Apple. The issue is that Apple just isn’t a big enough force in enterprise data centers. Is that starting to change? VMware even has a product for Apple, after all. My colleague and former Server Newsletter author, Deni Connor, wrote an interesting article in last week’s Network World that tries to answer the is-Apple-ready-for-the-enterprise question. From servers to storage: Virtualization saves It's touted as one of the fastest and easiest ways to better manage and control your infrastructure. Download this guide today and see how network IT execs are making virtualization pay off in the real world; discover the 8 virtualization gotchas you need to know; and much more. Click here to download. It was a great piece not only because it addresses an important issue, but also because Deni collected anecdotes from real-world users about their experiences with Apple. The long and short of it is that users seem to think Apple is ready to handle enterprise-workloads, in part because of the new support of Intel, support for directory services making it easier to integrate with Windows and other advances. Downsides include the need for better virtualization technology and vendor lock-in, according to individuals quoted in Deni’s article. You can read Deni’s full story here. Deni says she didn’t hear from a ton of users, which may say something, but that most of those she did hear from said, yes, Apple is ready. In fact, a poll Network World ran on its Web site earlier this year found that 80% of almost 900 respondents believe that Apple servers and desktops are ready for prime-time in corporate settings. Check out that poll here. Also earlier this year, Network World Lab Alliance tester Tom Henderson tried out Apple’s new Xserve and gave it some pretty high marks. Read his report here [free registration required]. So now it’s your turn. Do you think Apple is enterprise-ready? Let me know.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: Jennifer Mears is a freelance journalist based in Arizona. She was previously senior editor at Network World focusing on server issues. E-mail her at jlmears@gmail.com.   This newsletter is sponsored by Arsenal Digital Solutions Data Protection: Implementing an Effective Company-Wide Strategy Due to the growth of remote office and mobile computing, critical company data is widely distributed across enterprise networks, with no backup or disaster recovery plan in place. As such, the top remote office support issues companies face today are backup and restoration of data, disaster recovery, and compliance, according to the IT research firm IDC. Companies must be concerned with the cost of downtime, regulatory penalties for data loss, and customer confidence issues if data is compromised, corrupted or lost. Click here to read this whitepaper and learn more today! ARCHIVE Archive of the Servers Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007