News for and about the Internet2 community

[Brian Warkoczeski <>]

Merit Network Announces Online Learning for "Data Center Infrastructure 
Management," June 6-8

Learning Opportunity Offered to IT Professionals in Education Across the 
U.S.

April 15, 2011

Ann Arbor, Mich. - Merit Network, Inc. announced today that it is 
hosting "Data Center Infrastructure Management," a three-day online 
course on the essentials of managing modern data and computing 
infrastructures. The course is provided through Merit's Professional 
Learning program and will be held on Monday through Wednesday, June 6-8, 
2011.

"Data Center Infrastructure Management" will be offered via an online 
learning system, thereby making attendance possible from any location 
with an Internet connection. Individuals from educational institutions 
are invited to attend at a reduced price.

Andy Rosenzweig, manager of professional learning at Merit, notes that 
Merit first offered the course in November of 2010.

"We had an excellent response to the previous presentation of this 
course. Participants found the content highly relevant and the 
instruction first-rate. The online interface functioned well for this 
topic, allowing good comprehension and opportunities to interact with 
the instructor. The online format also saved busy people the time and 
expense of travel to a traditional classroom."

The course provides knowledge about the professional management of data 
facilities, an increasingly important topic for organizations of all 
sizes. The course is of value to individuals who manage data centers or 
server rooms, IT staff with hardware responsibilities, and facilities 
managers.

Key topics include power and cooling infrastructure, hardware and 
configuration choices that can improve energy efficiency, management 
tools and practices for maximizing data center performance, integrating 
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) as a management 
strategy, and steps for improving data center availability.

The course is instructed by its creator, David Cole. Cole has extensive 
experience in data center management, software development and device 
monitoring and control. He is a Certified Data Center Professional 
through ICOR, a Microsoft Certified Professional Systems Engineer, and 
is certified for ITIL version 3.

Elwood Downing, Merit's vice president of member relations, 
communications and services, welcomes the national educational community 
to the course.

"Merit is proud to support professional development among our Members 
and to provide options for learning critical skills in networking and 
technology. As a part of the national networking community, Merit is 
pleased to offer broader access to courses such as this to educational, 
research and non-profit organizations," Downing said.

Registration and more information are available at:

http://www.merit.edu/learning/dcim2011


About Merit Network

Merit Network Inc., a nonprofit corporation owned and governed by 
Michigan's public universities, owns and operates America's 
longest-running regional research and education network. In 1966, 
Michigan's public universities created Merit as a shared resource to 
help meet their common need for networking assistance. Since its 
formation, Merit Network has remained on the forefront of research and 
education networking expertise and services. Merit provides 
high-performance networking solutions to public universities, colleges, 
K-12 organizations, libraries, state government, healthcare, and other 
non-profit organizations.