servers

AMD maps out server plans for next two years

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--AMD will unveil a new chip design in 2009 for the server market and faster versions of its Barcelona quad-core chip later this year, company executives said Thursday.

AMD's near-term goal is to get its Barcelona quad-core chip out into the market. The company has already said it plans to launch Barcelona chips at 2GHz later this quarter, but it also plans to ship faster versions of those chips in the fourth quarter, said Randy Allen, corporate vice president of AMD's server products division, at a technology analyst meeting at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters. … Read more

Open source applications...magnets for open source infrastructure

Ian Howells, Alfresco's chief marketing officer, did some analysis of the company's customer and user community, and I found the results interesting. I've been hearing rumblings for some time that Windows increasingly serves as a great evaluation platform for open source, but most companies use Linux when they're serious and want to go into production. Ian's data confirmed this, and more. (Zmanda has published data that corroborates our findings.)

First of all, the Alfresco data shows that Windows is plays a healthy role in the open source ecosystem. (In the graph, Windows = green, and Linux = blue, in case you can't see it well.) We have plenty of companies going into production with open-source Alfresco sitting on top of closed-source Windows. From my work with SugarCRM, JasperSoft and others, I know the same holds true for them. I don't suspect that this is going to change anytime soon.

Windows plays a large role because it's the OS sitting on the most desktops. But when customers are serious about production, the majority favor Linux. Again, I think you'd find very similar results were you to talk with MuleSource, Funambol, SugarCRM, etc.… Read more

Velocity Micro gives us a sneak peek at its mystery Home Server

We don't know its name, what it will cost, or even what its right side looks like, but you can add Velocity Micro's new mystery product to the list of others coming out this fall with Microsoft's newly finished Windows Home Server software. According to Velocity Micro, its Home Server will come in several different configurations, but across all of them it will feature a Conroe-based CPU and a high-end chipset. The idea is to limit bandwidth bottlenecks and account for future third-party software add-ons that may demand more than the basic system requirements of Windows Home … Read more

Windows Home Server off to production, gets new partners

Right on schedule, Microsoft announced that its Windows Home Server software is off to the presses. This clears the way for HP, Gateway, LaCie, Medion, and now Iomega and Fujitsu Siemens, (both also announced today, the latter in Europe only) to begin selling their Home Server-powered hardware later this quarter.

If you're unfamiliar, Windows Home Server is Microsoft's attempt to solve the growing problem of fragmented media collections. Through an easy-to-use interface, you can organize and manage access to your media files (or any other kind of data) from one centralized location, rather than having to look through … Read more

IBM launches open beta for virtualization-enhanced AIX

IBM on Thursday released the beta of AIX 6, the operating system for its Unix servers, which will be commercially available in the fourth quarter this year.

In an effort to make AIX easier to try out, IBM for the first time is making the beta available for free to anyone, rather than only AIX customers.

AIX 6 has enhancements in virtualization and takes advantage of the performance improvements in IBM's Power6 processor, according to the company.

The software-based virtualization reduces the number of operating system instances, or images, that need to be managed. That makes it easier to … Read more

AT&T picks Sun to serve up video

Editor's note: The original version of this blog incorrectly stated that AT&T is using the Sun Streaming System. The text has since been corrected.

Sun Microsystems said Wednesday that AT&T plans to use its Sun Fire servers and storage arrays to power its Internet Protocol television service, called U-Verse.

The deal is significant for Sun because it could be a foot in the door to eventually sell AT&T its new, advanced Sun Streaming System, which includes Sun Fire servers and other technology that can be used to stream 160,000 simultaneous IP video … Read more

Virtualization services market $11.7 billion by 2011

It may be virtualization, but we're talking real bucks.

Virtualization services are expected to turn into an $11.7 billion market by 2011, more than double its current level, according to a study released Wednesday by IDC.

Helping propel this market, which last year generated $5.5 billion, is a transition from using virtualization software solely in high-end and mainframe computers to making it available for lower-cost systems running x86 and x64 servers.

Virtualization software allows users to take a single server and load it up with multiple operating systems. And that, in turn, lets users string together low-cost … Read more

Windows Server 2008 launch set for February

DENVER--Confirming what many had expected, Microsoft announced on Tuesday that the next version of its server operating system, Windows Server 2008, won't formally launch until next year.

Microsoft said it will launch the product, which it has said will be finalized before the end of the year, at an event in Los Angeles on February 27. The company will also launch Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 at the same event. The company made the announcement at its Worldwide Partner Conference here.

The new operating system, formerly code-named Longhorn Server, includes the PowerShell scripting language, role-based deployment … Read more

Windows Home Server: The ideal home backup solution?

I recently had the opportunity to meet with two Microsoft officials to discuss Windows Home Server. According to Microsoft officials, this new solution could solve all of your backup problems and help you immediately restore your entire system to an earlier day if your hard drive dies suddenly. Could this be the saving grace we have all been waiting for? Read on and decide for yourself.

Although the product is still in development, the Windows Home Server (WHS) is very much a new category of home products. Accommodating almost 15 million households in the U.S. alone, WHS is designed … Read more

SAP patches critical security flaws

SAP has patched highly critical security flaws in EnjoySAP and SAP Web Application Server, as well as moderate vulnerabilities in its SAP Message Server, according to security advisories issued Friday by Mark Litchfield of Next Generation Security Software.

Security flaws in EnjoySAP were found due to ActiveX controls "kweditcontrol.kwedit.1" and "preparetopostHTML," which could allow a buffer overflow attack and remote access to users' systems, according to Litchfield, who discovered the flaws.

EnjoySAP is one of the more popular SAP GUIs, noted Litchfield in his advisory, which stated all platforms are affected.

SAP Web Application … Read more