Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview

Imagine that you are the Data Center Manager or the Systems Manager for your company. Okay, quit imagining, you probably are, or may soon be, if you've already purchased this book. Every day, you are faced with challenges. One of the biggest challenges is keeping all your company's corporate critical applications available to your users, twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, and 365 days per year. Another challenge is ensuring that all your systems are performing optimally, all the time, and will scale as your company grows. Finally, all of your systems have to be easy to manage by your existing staff – you know, do more with less.

This scenario probably sounds like someone higher up in the corporate "food chain" is saying, "I want my cake and I want to eat it too, and by the way, it must taste marvelous!" But that is the reality we face in a world where timely information is the key to corporate success.

While there are no guarantees that you will be the next CIO, the information to be gained by reading this book should go a long way in furthering your understanding of how to use the TruCluster Server product-and Clustering technology in general-to help you meet your primary challenges. Who knows, implementing TruCluster Server may even get you that well-deserved promotion.