Tech Watch

VMware reduces storage requirements of desktop VMs by 70 percent

Paul Mah — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:11:41 -0500

Desktop virtualization pioneer VMware is renaming its desktop virtualization software--formally known as Virtual Desktop infrastructure (VDI)--VMware View. VMware View will come with expanded capabilities that allow IT managers to create new virtual desktops from a generic master template, as well as user-specific files, potentially reducing storage needs by up to 70 percent. In addition, VMware View will also feature offline desktop access in which users can download the entire virtual machine for local use when not connected to the Internet.

VMware View is available today, with the basic package costing $150 per concurrent user. The premium package that comes with ThinApp and all the new features will cost about $250 per concurrent user.

The ability to deduplicate virtual machine images is set to position VMware on a whole new level as it seeks to increase the value of its product. Obviously, the availability of this technology essentially eliminates much of the differentiator factor for companies such as 3PAR, and other storage vendors.

Other features include Virtual Printing, which allows virtual desktops to print to any local or network printer without having to deal with drivers, and Multimedia Redirection, where multimedia tasks are redirected to be handled by the client. Indeed, this drive by VMware to improve is making Microsoft's three-pronged strategy to defeat VMware look dated.

To read more about this story:
- check out this article from The Register
- check out this article from Network World

Microsoft to give away free antivirus software

Paul Mah — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:05:44 -0500

Microsoft plans to release free antivirus software code-named Morro. This new offering will be made available by the end of next year, and is slated to replace its embattled Windows Live OneCare product, which will be discontinued. In a nutshell, Morro will be a no-frills antivirus software that is able to run on minimal resources.

Such a move is certain to anger existing antivirus vendors, who already are unhappy over the paid-for Windows Live OneCare. Microsoft, however, claims that it merely intends to "remove barriers" that are stopping a sizeable percentage of consumers from installing antivirus applications. So is Microsoft is really concerned about stopping malware, or is it merely putting pressure on antivirus firms such as Symantec and McAfee?

Mary Landesman of web security company ScanSafe suggests that the reason might have more to do with Windows OneCare not generating significant returns in the first place. Pushing it to users' desktops like the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool however, would leverage on existing technologies developed by Microsoft to increase the company's insight into users' desktop. And, of course, there is no doubt that having even a basic antivirus utility on all Windows desktops will be beneficial in the fight against viruses and malware as a whole.

In this context, rolling out a fully functional free antivirus scanner makes sense.

For more on this story:
- check out this article from ZDNet News

IE market shares slip under 70 percent; Windows drops below 90 percent

Paul Mah — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:03:21 -0500

Internet Explorer's market shares dipped below 70 percent for the first time in the wake of the launch of Google's Chrome web browser, and slightly better showings for Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox web browsers. Internet Explorer 8, which is still in development, isn't expected to turn the tide. This is due to its higher penetration in corporations, which is always slower to change.

At the same time, the market share of Microsoft's Windows operating system plummeted to just below 90 percent of the market. This is a figure not seen since Windows 3.11 (a 15-year low, according to TG Daily). This is in sharp contrast to the peak of 97.5 percent from 2002 to 2003.

The figure comes from a company called Net Applications Inc., which monitors a number of websites for systems powered by Windows. Of course, Net Applications' executive vice president of marketing, Vince Vizzaccarro, noted that the slip in November could be attributed to the higher than average number of non-work days, which could skew the figures toward Macs at home as opposed to the Windows PCs in the office.

More troublesome for the Redmond-based company perhaps, is the fact that the slow gains by Windows Vista do not appear sufficient to regain ground lost by Windows XP, as well as older versions of Windows operating systems. Perhaps this helps to explain Microsoft's apparent effort to accelerate the launch of Windows 7, as well as allowing the venerable Windows XP to be prolonged for Netbook makers.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at TG Daily
- check out this article at ComputerWorld
- check out this article at CNNMoney

MySQL founder publicly criticizes MySQL 5.1

Paul Mah — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:56:42 -0500

In an unusual move, the founder of MySQL has come out to publicly criticize version 5.1 of the popular MySQL open-source database. Monty Widenius wrote in a blog post that numerous bugs--more than 180, in fact--have yet to be fixed despite MySQL 5.1 receiving generally available (GA) status and becoming available for download.

Worse still, was the assertion by Widenius that there are 20 known "crashing and wrong result bugs" in version 5.1, as well as another 35 known crashing bugs that could well be inherited from version 5.0. Defending their move, a spokesman from Sun Microsystems, which acquired MySQL AB earlier this year, countered that not everyone agrees with Widenius. It remains to be seen just how serious the bugs are at the end of the day. Where Sun is concerned, it recommends that companies test every piece of software before implementing it in production systems.

To read more about this story:
- check out this article at eWeek
- check out the bug list at MySQL

HP saves $1 billion in three-year IT revamp

Paul Mah — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:53:03 -0500

IT vendors are historically inefficient users of IT gear, and it is not hard to imagine why. After all, they are able to get a fair chunk of their hardware at cost from within their own organization. Still, in these tough economic times, it appears that HP has managed to pull a coup by removing a staggering $1 billion in cost off its ledger as it concludes a three-year revamp of its IT operations.

According to The Register, the man at the helm of this operation is HP CIO Randy Mott, who was hired away from rival Dell in July 2005. Mott has managed to consolidate everything down from 85 data centers to just six redundant and highly virtualized data centers. In line with a recent focus to go green, the annual power consumption at HP's data centers is down 60 percent from where it was in mid-2005.

Perhaps now would be a good time to take a second look at what can be optimized in your organization's IT operations.

To read more about this story:
- check out this article at The Register

New Windows worm builds massive botnet

Paul Mah — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:48:05 -0500

A critical bug patched by Microsoft in an emergency fix in late October has been exploited to build a new, massive botnet. Ivan Macalintal, of Trend Micro, thinks that about 500,000 PCs have been infected in just a week and a half, with the number starting to grow. Article

IBM to offer enterprise services around cloud computing

Molly Bernhart — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:03:01 -0500

In recent years, many tech companies have been buzzing about cloud computing and preparing their initial foray into the clouds. IBM has decided to approach the movement from a different angle, by focusing on certification and consulting services. IBM's approach could lead more companies to accept cloud computing and ease some fears around security and reliability. The company plans to help clients assess the total cost of ownership for cloud computing, as well as design and implement cloud operations.

The certification aspect of IBM's new services will allow certain vendors to get the IBM seal of approval--and get the right to use that on their marketing materials, of course. But James Governor, an analyst at Redmonk, told Computerworld.com that IBM may be jumping the gun with it's new business model.

"It's far too early in the curve to really identify what the industry-specific best practices are for cloud computing," he said. "While I understand IBM's desire to drive an industry-vertical go-to-market strategy across its portfolio, cloud computing is still something that's very experimental. It's very hard to nail down the total cost of ownership, the whats and the whys."

Even if the true value of this new service is debatable, one thing is certain: IBM's announcement could have real influence over cloud computing's adoption in the marketplace.

For more:
- read the article

Related Articles:
Cloud computing news from FierceCIO

Some tips for IT to survive the current economic crunch

Paul Mah — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:11:04 -0500

As we wait for the worst of the fallout from the on-going credit crunch to pass, it has become inevitable that even the resilient IT industry will be affected by the economic climate.

I think it's safe to say that if the current situation had happened a short eight or 10 years ago, the inevitable outcome would be drastic cuts in IT department personnel (with IT-related spending put on an indefinite freeze). However, the inexorable advancement of technology is such that IT is now an inseparable part and parcel of normal operations. While IT can no longer be subjected to an outright amputation, it does make sense to attempt to reduce costs as well as increase its efficiency.

Here are some tips and resources to help you do just that:

A guide to cutting IT costs lists some tips where an organization can reduce running up IT costs.
Use this crisis to make things things ‘best-ever' highlights some ways which organization can leverage this downturn to make things better than they were.
Six ways to keep training staff talks about keeping up with IT training despite reduced budgets.
Consider switching to open source. Check out our short report on how 85 percent of companies are already using open source.
Consider switching over to a hosted e-mail service in order to reduce expenses.
If your company relies on high-performance desktops--animation comes to mind--you might want to check out top desktops for any budget for a good deal.

Report claims that Google is snipping 10,000 jobs

Paul Mah — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:57:04 -0500

Citing anonymous sources, WebGuild says Google may be preparing to lay off thousands of workers. These sources have also claimed that "hundreds" of staff have already been released over the last few months. Indeed, the only reason why this has gone unnoticed is the fact that Google has classified these workers as "temporary operational expenses," allowing the company to eliminate their positions without public notification.

A report at CNET appears to confirm it, although it pins the reduction in head count on a plan to reduce the number of contractors and not in reaction to the recent economic troubles. The reduction is achieved through vendor management, as well as converting contractors to regular employees, according to co-founder Sergey Brin.

Google spokeswoman Jane Penner, while short on actual details, told CNET that, "We have 10,000, and we have had a plan in place for awhile to significantly reduce that number. This is something we've been thinking about for awhile--six or seven months. It predates the most acute phase of the (present economic) crisis."

Layoffs are only to be expected in a slowing economic climate, though Google--the poster child of the "do no evil" camp--certainly gets more attention than most.

To read more about this story:
- check out this article from the Network World

U.S. military bans USB flash drives and removable media

Paul Mah — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:56:21 -0500

The United States military has banned the use of removable rewritable media as part of its strategy to "defend against attack and establish a baseline for information system protection." Examples of removable rewritable media would be USB-based flash drives, CDs and various types of memory cards. The ban underscores the growing prevalence of USB-based malware, which researchers at Symantec say have seen an upswing over the last year.

An e-mail from the head of U.S. Strategic Command shed more light on the rationale behind this ban. "It is apparent that over time, our posture to protect networks and associated information infrastructure has not kept pace with adversary efforts to penetrate, disrupt, interrupt, exploit or destroy critical elements of the GIG [Global Information Grid]."

Wes Miller senior technical product manager at privately-held security solutions company CoreTrace disagrees that such a ban will solve the problem in the long run. In a prepared statement, Miller noted that, "Banning flash drives and other types of media or memory devices is simply a case of 'stopping the symptom,' but does not actually cure the disease. What's more concerning is that the US military machine is now at the mercy of a piece of executable code, and that traditional anti-malware products (which the DOD has plenty of) are doing nothing to actually stop the problem."

Whatever the case, this problem is not one that will go away soon. Certainly, USB-based malware will be with us for some time yet. One possible action would be to disable the AutoRun functionality for removable media. Moving ahead, companies can also set policies to stop USB storage devices from being accessed.

To read more about this story:
- check out this article at Wired Blog
- check out this article at eWeek

Related Articles:
U.S. Federal Government news from FierceCIO