News (51)

VMware bug causes worldwide chaos

A flaw in the VMware licensing code is responsible for problems with the software that are affecting users worldwide. Read more »

Ubuntu bucks trend, goes for KVM virtualisation

Heading in a different direction from its main rivals, Ubuntu Linux will use KVM as its primary virtualisation software. Read more »

Amazon to host Red Hat Linux online

Red Hat on Wednesday announced a significant departure from its current business plan, saying its flagship Linux product will be available on Amazon.com's Elastic Computing Cloud online service. Read more »

Microsoft unveils free enterprise search

Microsoft is targeting the lower end of the enterprise search market with Search Server 2008, a free version of which will also be available. Read more »

BEA rejects US$6.66bn bid from Oracle

Oracle has offered to purchase rival BEA Systems for US$17 per share, a total of about US$6.66 billion in cash -- but BEA rejected the offer as too low. Read more »

VMware dangles next-gen virtualisation goodies

VMware has some new ideas for tackling an age-old problem for system administrators: how do you keep a computing service available when the server it's running on fails? Read more »

Virtualisation: Is it all about the hardware, or the OS?

The virtualisation specialists are fighting back. Companies like VMware, and more recently XenSource, got their start with standalone virtualisation software -- but Linux sellers and Microsoft, unwilling to cede their influential position selling the foundational software of a computer, are trying to make virtualisation a feature of the operating system. Read more »

Microsoft's OOXML 'choice' argument squashed

Microsoft claims that Australia will benefit from "greater choice" if local standards bodies vote this week to accept the Office Open XML format as an ISO standard. Read more »

Microsoft's Open XML loses crucial vote

Microsoft has suffered a setback in its endeavour for Office Open XML (OOXML) to become an alternative to OpenDocument Format (ODF) as a standard of the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS). Read more »

Oracle expands Linux compatibility

The list of hardware compatible with Oracle's Linux distribution continues to grow, with the software maker certifying six new configurations this week. Read more »

Features (8)

Remaking my server environment: blade servers, virtualisation, terminal computing

My staff and I will be making some relatively significant changes to the computing environment at Westminster College. I thought I'd use this post to describe what we're doing and why and maybe give you some ideas about your own workings. Read more »

Five new developments in storage infrastructure solutions

First there was Ethernet. Then, there was IP over Ethernet. Next came the mixed use of Ethernet, IP, and the SCSI command set to simplify storage and to bring down the cost and complexity of storage. Read more »

ORA-04030 doesn't always mean you're running out of RAM

Why give this general out-of-memory error, which mislead us into thinking RAM was the issue? If the database knew it was swap space at issue instead of RAM, it should have been indicated in the error text. Read more »

A primer on array-based and network-based replication

Replication helps protect your data and files by producing a duplicate copy at a second site, server, or storage array. I covered host-based replication in a previous blog. Read more »

Use host-based replication to keep data available

One of the challenges for any IT department is to keep data available for those who need it. In fact, vendors and consultants have built whole businesses around the concept. Over the next few weeks, I'll be taking a look at a few methods for keeping data "alive" and available to end-users. Each method I'll cover is effective but depends on what you need to accomplish and what type of budget you have. Read more »

KVM steals virtualisation spotlight

A new open-source virtual-machine project has quickly won Linux allies, but its arrival brings complications. Read more »

Are open source databases for real?

Free and open-source software is making a splash in the world of databases. But is it reliable enough for your critical applications? Read more »

Building high-capacity backups on a limited budget

When faced with high-priced options from vendors, one IT team decided to develop its own high-speed backup network. Find out how they did it. Read more »

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  • Staff Crying, mooning and leaving

    In this week's roundup we see that continuous whining can get results, Linux users get 64-bit Flash and Moonlight previews, the latest in the Yahoo/Microsoft relationship and Senator Conroy ducks and weave in Senate Question Time. Read more »

    -- posted by Staff

  • Brendon Chase Sun eye Web developers with Netbeans 6.5

    Despite the recent employment axe hitting Sun the company has pushed out a new release of its Netbeans open source IDE with an eye to appeal more to Web developers. Read more »

    -- posted by Brendon Chase

  • Renai LeMay BarCamp buzz: Let the hacking continue

    Attending last weekend's BarCamp in Sydney, it was hard to escape the conclusion that a certain "dot-com bust" flavour had seeped into the kool aid previously being drunk by Australia's web 2.0 and early stage start-up sector. Read more »

    -- posted by Renai LeMay

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