Stories by Stacy Collett

IT staffers shed 1,500 pounds

With his 50th birthday looming at the end of July in 2010, Frederick Curiel knew he had to lose weight. But as with many IT professionals, the demands of his job had put diet and exercise on the back burner.

Six job-hunting tricks for a Web 2.0 world

If you're sitting in your office right now, take a glance at the co-worker on your left and then at the co-worker on your right. Chances are one of them is looking to leave the company. Or perhaps it's you.

Securing the daisy chain

It's 2 p.m. Do you know where your cloud data is? Really? Executives at one large Fortune 500 company thought they knew, but a routine audit of the cloud provider uncovered a serious problem.

Big data goes mainstream

We've all heard the predictions: By 2020, the quantity of electronically stored data will reach 35 trillion gigabytes, a forty-four-fold increase from 2009. We had already reached 1.2 million petabytes, or 1.2 zettabytes, by the end of 2010, according to IDC. That's enough data to fill a stack of DVDs reaching from the Earth to the moon and back -- about 240,000 miles each way.

Storage vexations of server virtualization

Server virtualization offers a host of efficiencies, but storage administrators say it may open a can of worms on the storage side. Resulting headaches can include huge I/O bottlenecks for primary and backup storage, as well as complicated disaster and recovery efforts, among other things.

Five signs your IT career is stuck in a rut

In December 2007, a 49-year-old senior database administrator at a Chicago investment firm decided he couldn't take it anymore. Excessive hours and oppressive management had taken their toll; he was also worn down by the fear and uncertainty of a financial crisis that threatened even the most revered institutions. His career was officially in a rut.

11 hot skills for 2011

Christmas came in midsummer for Nicole Thompson, IS director of applications at HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley.

Are storage admins getting automated out of their jobs?

When it comes to job stability and pay, storage administrators had it made in 2009.

How to tame printer chaos

Are you turning over every stone to find hidden savings? The Procter & Gamble Co. is, and it found millions of dollars -- all hidden under thousands of printers and copiers.

Forecast 2010: Cloud computing: Love it or hate it?

It seems that IT leaders are warming up to cloud computing, with its promise of elasticity, utility-based billing, multiple storage locations, and the ability to pull data directly from storage devices. In fact, cloud computing ranked second (behind virtualization) as the technology most beta-tested in 2009, according to Computerworld's 2010 Forecast survey of more than 300 IT executives.

What to ask before launching a storage virtualization project

NASA's Infrared Processing and Analysis Center wasn't shooting for the stars when it turned to virtualization to meet its storage needs. IPAC's cash-strapped effort to record images of our universe -- up to 30 million objects captured each night and 42 billion records over the life of the project -- required big storage capabilities, and the engineers needed them fast and at a low cost.

How to build your next data center

Today's data centers pack more processing power into smaller physical spaces than ever before. But too much of a good thing creates new challenges for next-generation data center design.

4 things your administrative staff should know about your company's data security

Administrative staffers may not have their fingers on the pulse of business-critical operations, but they do get their hands on a lot of sensitive company information.

5 things your receptionist should know about your company's data security

Receptionists are at the front line of communication with customers and guests, which often makes them the first targets for hackers and saboteurs looking for company information.

The economics of energy

Predicting how much energy a household will use in the future -- perhaps a year or five years from now -- is the lifeblood of Direct Energy. The company traditionally forecasts energy consumption at an error rate of less than 4 per cent. That's better than industry standards, but even a small miscalculation could mean millions of dollars in losses.