Author Archives: Matthew Norwood

Why I Don’t Love Your Company Or Your Products.

I just returned home from Walt Disney World. Let me just state up front that I love Walt Disney World. I may not necessarily like all the moving parts of the greater Disney corporation, but from a vacation perspective, there … Continue reading

Posted in vendors | Tagged | 19 Comments

Rethinking Architecture With IRF

Several years ago when I was introduced to Cisco’s VSS technology, I thought it was a pretty cool idea. Not only did it reduce the number of devices you had to administer, it gave stand-alone servers and blade enclosures the … Continue reading

Posted in data center, hp, switching | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

One Month Into The Channel

I thought I would take some time to explain what my experience has been working for a VAR(Value Added Reseller) for over a month now. For those of you who haven’t read my previous writings on the recent job change(I … Continue reading

Posted in career | Tagged | 3 Comments

A Black Box For Your Virtual Environment

Every time you hear about a plane crash on the news, the big thing they focus on apart from the casualities is finding the “black box”.  The “black box” is nothing more than a flight data recorder. A variety of … Continue reading

Posted in data center, monitoring, vendors, virtualization | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Some Tradeoffs Are Worth It

I like tools. The more complex they are, the better. I can easily spend an hour in a hardware store like Lowe’s or Home Depot and never leave the tool aisle. If it has laser beams, sharp blades, and requires … Continue reading

Posted in contest, data center, virtualization | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Should I Buy The Combo Meal?

A number of years ago, fast food restaurants got smart. Why sell individual items when you can just make it easy on people and sell bundles? This way, all they have to do is pick a number and pay. Problem … Continue reading

Posted in cloud, contest, virtualization | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Data Center Blender

I remember the first time I saw a storage area network(SAN). It was 2001 and my employer had just purchased 3 Dell(EMC) SANs. I worked for the US military at the time, so the three SANs were for 3 networks … Continue reading

Posted in data center, hp, storage, virtualization | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Busy Little Bees

I’ve followed Aerohive for over a year now strictly from a technical point of view. Their approach to wireless without using a controller is intriguing to say the least. Back in March of this year, I was able to meet … Continue reading

Posted in vendors, wireless | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Busy Little Bees

Stepping Out Of The Bubble

I live in a bubble. My bubble is comprised of a bunch of 1’s and 0’s flying through copper, glass, and air. There are desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, servers, and other endpoints that touch the edges of my bubble, but … Continue reading

Posted in contest, virtualization | Tagged , | Comments Off on Stepping Out Of The Bubble

Getting Plugged In

I’ve talked to a lot of people lately about careers and personal networks. Due to the IT outsourcing of my last employer to HP, you can imagine that this was a hot topic among my former co-workers and other people … Continue reading

Posted in career | Tagged | 9 Comments