Our ongoing World Of Servers series returned to Las Vegas last week and loaded up on knowledge at Data Center World. Here are five key lessons to take away from that event.

If public cloud isn't right for your organisation, building out your own capacity can be tempting. But if you can't answer 'yes' to every one of these questions, you shouldn't be constructing your own data centre for any private or hybrid cloud initiatives you're planning.

If you're attempting analysis of large pools of data using public cloud services, then you'll need a variety of security techniques to ensure that data is protected. Just be aware that this may introduce performance issues.

In one corner, you have modular data centres which can be dropped in and set up on minimal notice. In the other, you have businesses continuing to operate in data centre facilities that are 25 years old. Neither is going anywhere any time soon.

One avoidable mistake might be all that stands between you getting promoted or being caught out by a "resume-updating event". Here are five common areas where IT pros mess up -- and how to ensure you don't make them.

In an ideal world, you'd locate your data centre wherever it was the cheapest to operate, and choose whether to build a new one, refurbish an existing site or move to an external host based solely on cost calculations. Reality is messier. Here are 10 key factors outside of basic expenses that can drive your data centre decisions.

If a server within a data centre isn't being utilised, then powering it down may seem like a sensible move. However, an inactive server can have an unexpected impact on your overall data centre running costs, since it can still be a conduit for air which can cause unexpected pressure management issues.

Enterprise licence renewal requires strategic planning: you' re under pressure to save money but the sales rep doesn't want to lower the standard price. One potential negotiating tactic? Ask for free tickets for the provider' s conference and training events.

It's easy to measure almost any aspect of IT performance if you make the effort, but how do you convert that raw data into meaningful metrics that will impress your boss and perhaps increase your budget? Follow these basic guidelines to generate metrics and reports that are meaningful and career-enhancing.

Vegas called and we answered: Lifehacker is on the road again for our World Of Servers series and we've landed up at Data Center World 2013. Check out the pictures for a sense of the event, and don't miss our ongoing coverage of practical advice from the conference.

No-one is a perfect manager all of the time. If you're in an IT management role and recognise that you have deficiencies or areas you should develop, take the time to write them down: that makes it more likely you'll improve.

Data centre staff aren't immune from the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, but do tablets have a practical application when it actually comes to managing data centres? The answer is 'yes', but you need to plan carefully and recognise the potential limitations of popular tablet platforms.

Getting access to reliable and cheap power is one of the biggest challenges for data centres of any size. One of the more radical solutions? Using the biogas from sewage.

Six months ago, Hurricane Sandy posed a major challenge for data centre operators across America's north-east coast, and the lessons learned by businesses in that area are useful for anyone trying to plan their disaster recovery (DR) strategies. Here are ten issues to keep in mind, covering everything from checking that your software licences are still valid in your DR site to making sure staff have access to essential medicines.

Today sees the official kick-off for Data Center World in Las Vegas, which I'm attending as part of our ongoing World Of Servers coverage. One theme that I suspect is going to recur a lot? The need to balance the requirements of IT pros who focus on the actual equipment that runs within data centres and those who are concentrating on the apps that get deployed within them.