servers

Recently we described a problem some people have been having with Apple's Mail e-mail client, where the program will request you to supply your account password but then continue to reject it.

The occurrence of this problem seems random, making it difficult to troubleshoot, but I suggested people try tackling problems with their keychains and the Mail preferences files as relatively general approaches to dealing with this issue. In response to our article, a number of readers commented or wrote in with tips on tackling this problem, with some of them being either quicker ways or additional areas that … Read more

Netgear today announced new NAS servers designed for "economical pro" users. Apart from the amount of drive bays (and hence the types of RAID support), the two-bay ReadyNAS Duo and the four-bay ReadyNAS NV+ V2 are essentially the same.

Besides RAID 0, 1, and 5 (available with the NV+ V2 only), both servers support Netgear's XRAID 2 configuration, which is a proprietary flexible RAID that allows you to use hard drives of different capacities and upgrade the RAID without having to build it from scratch. XRAID 2 automatically manages hard drives based on the amount of drives used with a balance between performance and data integrity, with one drive always being used for data redundancy. XRAID 2 has been available in other servers from Netgear, such as the higher-end ReadyNAS Ultra4. … Read more

Akitio announced today the availability of the MyCloud Duo, its second-generation personal cloud NAS server.

The company says the new server features a Web-based file browser and media player to offer over-the-Internet file management and media playback, via a convenient portal. For the local network, the server features a one Gigabit Ethernet port and has a built-in UPnP AV media server, allowing users to stream content to any UPnP-AV- and DLNA- compatible devices.

As a storage device, the MyCloud Duo supports the SMB standard and can be automatically detected by other computers. The server can house two SATA hard drives … Read more

Expect Facebook's new server farm to be pretty cool.

The social-networking giant is expected to announce tomorrow that it will build its first non-U.S. server farm in Lulea, a town in northern Sweden about 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, according to a report in the Telegraph.

The new farm will comprise three server halls covering an area about the size of 11 football fields and will take advantage of the region's cool temperatures to keep its equipment cold. The Lulea River, which is said to produce twice as much hydro-electric power as the Hoover Dam, is … Read more

Apple has hired Scott Noteboom, the chief of Yahoo's Global Data Center Infrastructure, away from the Web company.

Noteboom, who had led Yahoo's data center operations since 2005, is now a "distinguished gentleman" at Apple, according to his LinkedIn profile. The job change was first reported by GigaOm.

He will likely be tasked with prepping Apple's servers as it ramps up its iCloud and iTunes push. Noteboom was the chief architect and founder of Yahoo's "data center self construct / operate initiatives," according to a conference bio on Noteboom.

"He also managed … Read more

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer really wants to sell you on Windows 8, touting features ranging from a new lock screen that still shares updates to the benefits of the controversial Metro user interface.

In a demo and discussion of the new OS at the Dell World conference on Friday, Ballmer focused on four key features, according to a report from Information Week, though some of it was ground that's already been covered.

A new lock screen that pops up when you're away from your PC displays a "peaceful mountain view." And though the OS is locked, … Read more

Following Synology and QNAP, LaCie today announced a major firmware update for its Network 2 NAS servers, such as the Network Space 2, called NAS OS 2.0. One of the major improvements in this new version is full support for Apple's Mac OS 10.7 Lion, which has been known to break support for Time Machine in NAS servers that previously worked with Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard.

LaCie says the new firmware will also continue to provide cross-platform support for Windows and Linux, including features and services such as SMB, AFP, iSCSI target, NFS, and Windows … Read more

Acronis, the maker of the arguably most effective True Image backup software solution, announced today the latest version of its True Image Home 2012. Among other features and improvements, the software now offers file synchronization. This is the first time this feature is included in the company's line of disk-imaging products, which are generally designed to store backups in a proprietary "image" format, which requires backup software for the recovery process.

File synchronization, on the other hand, means that the exact copies of the data are kept in real time at different locations. This allows people to … Read more

Microsoft Office is a large and expensive software package. If you buy it, it's wise to save your Product ID and CD Key codes, preferably in a secure yet accessible place. The same goes for SQL Server and Exchange Server, and throw Windows in while you're at it. Failure to do so can result in elevated stress levels, should you need to repair or reinstall the software. If you didn't jump through all the hoops in the proper order, you're probably going to have to telephone Microsoft, and we know how you feel about that.

That'… Read more