servers

More on Microsoft's database-in-the-cloud service

LAS VEGAS--While Internet Explorer 8 demos, Silverlight progress and a Monkey Boy reprise from Steve Ballmer captured much of the attention at Mix 08--it was a database announcement that could be the sleeper announcement of the show.

What Microsoft announced was a database-in-the-cloud service where Web developers can store their data. Those attending the Mix show here were able to sign up for a beta test that is set to begin in three or four weeks, with a final version aimed to be launched by the end of the year, according to Dave Campbell, a technical fellow in Microsoft's … Read more

Sun seeks a storage revolution

A few years ago, servers based around Linux and Intel or Advanced Micro Devices chips decimated the market for high-end Unix servers.

The same thing is about to happen to in the storage market, says John Fowler, executive vice president of systems at Sun Microsystems. And this time, Sun hopes to be one of the beneficiaries of the trend, not one of the victims.

"Open storage is going to be one of those big changes events for that part of the industry," he said. "The storage marketplace is almost identical to the server market of 10 years … Read more

When used servers cost more than new

GALWAY, Ireland--Think of the Multis Group as sort of the Antiques Roadshow of the server world.

The Galway, Ireland-based company specializes in refurbishing, and then selling, used servers. Refurbished PCs and servers are increasingly in vogue because remanufacturing represents a more environmentally efficient way to recycle old electronics than harvesting components from these old machines or melting them down for raw materials.

Multis, in fact, plans to open a 70,000-square-foot facility in Union City, Calif., later this month to refurbish and sell servers for North American customers. That marks a reversal in the usual U.S.-Ireland tech relationship. … Read more

Microsoft's supersize data center plans

We are in the midst of the digital land grab for Internet users. And a key building block to serve those billions of users on the planet is tens of thousands of servers in data centers processing the bits.

Nick Carr has received hints that Microsoft intends to build out two dozen data centers of about 500,000 square feet or more in size. He said that it was unclear as to when the data centers would be built.

Rich Miller at Data Center Knowledge gives the rumored 12 million square feet of data center space some context:

That's … Read more

Tom Brokaw kicks off Windows Server launch

LOS ANGELES--Microsoft brought out former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw on Wednesday to kick off the launch of Windows Server 2008.

In explaining his appearance at a server launch, Brokaw said he was trying to redeem himself after his recent Saturday Night Live appearance, in which he was interviewed by Will Farrell as Anchorman character Ron Burgundy.

"I'm not here to write new code, to design new apps," Brokaw told the crowd at the tony Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Instead, Brokaw spoke for several minutes on the radical transformation of society being brought about by … Read more

Microsoft says Live log-in problem resolved

LOS ANGELES--After a day of problems, Microsoft says its Windows Live log-in issues are now a thing of the past.

Although a large number of Windows Live servers are running on Microsoft's Windows Server 2008, which is due to be launched Wednesday, a representative said the problem is not a glitch with the new operating system.

"We can say with certainty that Windows Server did not contribute to this incident," Windows Live Product Manager Samantha McManus said in a statement to CNET News.com.

Microsoft was far less detailed when it comes to what the problem actually … Read more

Exploring Windows Server's Vista ties

Updated 10:55 a.m. with clarification from Microsoft that Hyper-V standalone is not scheduled to ship until sometime in the second half of 2008, contrary to what Muglia stated.

Microsoft is getting ready for what it calls its biggest IT launch in history.

I'm not sure everyone will agree with that notion, but the launch of Windows Server 2008 and the next version of Visual Studio is clearly an important one for Microsoft, given that the server and tools unit has been one of Microsoft's fastest-growing businesses in terms of sales and profits. (Microsoft is also "… Read more

Use of rogue DNS servers is on the rise

Mendacious machines controlled by hackers that reroute Internet traffic from infected computers to fraudulent Web sites are increasingly being used to launch attacks, according to a paper published this week by researchers with the Georgia Institute of Technology and Google.

Read the full story on SFGate: "Use of Rogue DNS Servers on Rise"

Open-source software: It's the free coffee cup of today

MENLO PARK, Calif.--Companies used to give away pens, squishy balls and coffee cups to worm their ways into the hearts of customers. Now, they pass out database software.

That is, in a sense, Sun Microsystems' strategy with its $1 billion purchase of MySQL, said Sun CFO Mike Lehman at Sun's Global Media Summit here today. Very few customers have or will pay for MySQL, he admitted. However, they are installing it in large and growing numbers and that gives Sun an opportunity to visit them and try to sell them servers and storage systems.

In Sun's 2009 … Read more