Results tagged “software”

In light of the well-received Windows 7, it's hard to ignore that XP is getting on in years. Nonetheless, it's still pretty prevalent in netbooks. Part of the problem for netbook owners is that XP is an OS developed well before SSDs were a glimmer in systems makers' eyes.

NetworkWorld's Jon L. Jacobi takes FlashFire for a spin and discovers a genuinely solid little piece of software that works wonders on SSD access times. How it works exactly only the utility's author knows, but Jacobi thinks it boils down to some clever little trickery (in the best sense). He writes:

The author's wiki describes FlashFire as a ram buffer. I'm not certain of the details, but since SSDs perform at their worst when reading and writing simultaneously, my guess is that the software caches and delays writes. Delaying writes means there's a small chance for data loss or file system corruption if your system crashes before data in the buffer is written.

As with all software of this type, use it at your own risk.

Source: NetworkWorld

Aside from using different shipping means, Kraft is also looking at shipping smarter. That means maximizing the amount of product per truckload and making sure trucks never travel with empty loads. The company's 20 largest facilities in North America use special software to optimize truck loads, which has cut more than a million miles from the system.

Wondering what CA has in store for virtual servers and private clouds running vSphere 4 and Cisco Nexus 1000V hardware?

CA today announced that it is streamlining the management of VMware vSphere 4 platform on Cisco Nexus 1000V infrastructures by adding support for both in the company's Spectrum Infrastructure Manager, eHealth Performance Manager and Spectrum Automation Manager offerings. Under the management platform, administrators get a unified view of affected hardware and virtual servers; a system that prioritizes and traces events to their root cause resulting in fewer alarms; and real-time monitoring and automation capabilities.

CA's object model will include a consolidated hierarchical view of VMware vCenter(TM) Server hosts, VMware vSphere 4 hosts, data centers, clusters, resource pools, virtual switches and virtual machines, all integrated with the existing physical infrastructure. This model-based management, resource monitoring approach will help reduce costs and increase staff efficiency by correlating physical and virtual data across the infrastructure to speed time to problem identification and resolution.

The consolidation of physical and virtual management is inevitable. Expect the lines to blur even further.

Source

Cloud computing services may just be providing the nudge SMBs need to migrate to open source platforms and trim costs. At least that's the thinking of Alex Vuchnich at AccountingWEB.com.

He makes a good case. After all, web services hide the plumbing from the users and the only true compatibility worry boils down to a browser's capabilities. Mind you, there is still an operating system at work, but the link between the productivity the app provides and the platform it runs on begins to dissolve perceptually.

As users grow comfortable with this way of thinking, he argues, it can provide an opportunity for open source.

...If this proves to be the case, many small businesses can truly benefit from this shift. Linux typically has a lower occurrence and vulnerability to virus attacks and worms. It also is an extremely stable platform which translates into more uptime and productivity. Lastly, it spares the small business owner of the hassle of managing access licenses and the potential liability of having improperly licensed software.

What do you think? Is cloud computing a boon for open source software?

For the uninitiated, it may be hard to tell the difference between emulation and virtualization. The overarching concept is similar to a degree, but as you can probably already tell, they are worlds apart when talking about their purpose and implementation in modern computing.

Computerworld's Russell Kay helpfully explains:

Emulation:

Emulation is important in fighting obsolescence and keeping data available. Emulation lets us model older hardware and software and re-create them using current technology. Emulation lets us use a current platform to access an older application, operating system or data while the older software still thinks it's running in its original environment.

...and Virtualization:

Virtualization is a technique for using computing resources and devices in a completely functional manner regardless of their physical layout or location. This includes splitting a single physical computer into multiple "virtual" servers, making it appear as though each virtual machine is running on its own dedicated hardware and allowing each to be rebooted independently.

There's more, of course, and well worth the read or link-to for your non-virtualization-savvy coworkers (hopefully not making decisions for your IT shop). Bottom line: emulation is for obsoleting obsolescence and virtualization is for combating energy-robbing underutilization.

Need another reason to love Windows 7?

According to Microsoft, Windows 7 will give green IT pros a reason to smile thanks to new power management features built into the OS. Here's one:

New Diagnostics: new tools will help improve IT administrators' ability to diagnose and troubleshoot power problems across their enterprises. For example, the diagnostic tools in Windows 7 can help IT professionals determine which applications or devices are negatively impacting energy efficiency and how much normal degradation has occurred to the battery of a mobile PC. These tools will enable more efficient power management of PCs across organizations.

This post at Microsoft's Software Enabled Earth blog has more details, but for something you can really sink your teeth into, try the Windows 7 Power Management Whitepaper (PDF, correct link).

[via Twitter @TomRaftery]

Testing the ability of positive reinforcement to effect change, HP is trying to help PC users go green with a novel little software widget for Windows desktops.

HP's Power to Change widget encourages users to turn off their PC's at night. Why? Because HP learned that in the U.S., only 36 percent of office workers shut down their desktops after work. If just 100,000 of them hit the off button (save your progress first) when they headed home, HP figures that the "energy savings could total more than 2,680 kilowatt-hours and carbon emissions reductions could total more than 3,500 pounds per day."

The requisite "car off the road" statistic? Sure, thing: 105 cars each day.

As of this writing, over 2,500 people across HP's territories -- Asia Pacific and Japan; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and the Americas -- are tracking their PC's energy usage and learning how to cut their energy bills with simple actions. It's a free download, but you'll need to register so that it can gather community data and give you that nice fuzzy feeling about being part of something bigger.

That, or you're just a stats junkie.

For the majority of folks, the most interaction they have with their utility company is the bill at the end of the month. An arrangement that works as long as you know who's in charge. But now, with the impending arrival of smart meters, other companies besides your friendly neighborhood utility will play a role in the lives of eco- and dollar-conscious customers.

Google's PowerMeter efforts, which aim to put power monitoring and management tools in the hands of consumers, are causing some unease among utilities. So the tech giant is trying to smooth things out. Earth2Tech reports:

Some utilities have indicated to us that they've been uncomfortable with the fact that Google is building software and web tools for energy management and smart meters called PowerMeter. In their eyes Google's strong brand could dominate their relationship with the customer. But that hasn't stopped 'Don't Be Evil' Google from reaching out to the traditional utility industry and the incumbent meter makers, and some are starting to respond positively. On Tuesday night Google announced on its blog that it has partnered with a list of eight utilities as well as meter maker Itron to provide PowerMeter to their customers.

Nice to see industry players getting along. You can check out the PowerMeter Partner Page for more info.

Google is also getting cozy with equipment makers like GE and the above mentioned Intron to ensure that the project is a success.

Cisco Beckons Carriers to the Cloud - Light Reading

Cisco is announcing a blueprint called Unified Service Delivery (USD), which it claims will simplify the carrier data center and let carriers make better use of virtualization -- the technology that treats groups of servers or disk drives as pools of resources to be divided arbitrarily among users and services.

Apple Offering Schools Free Computer Recycling - For Now - EcoGeek

Any K-12 or higher education institutions are eligible to recycle old Macs, PCs and peripherals (keyboards, mice, printers, etc.) from any manufacturer, with no purchase required. The limits are these: a school must have at least 25 pieces of recyclables to participate, they must register by July 31 and pick-up must occur by August 31 and all equipment must be packaged according to the instructions.

Free Citrix client virtualization is coming for the PC, and Mac? - InfoWorld

With XenClient, Citrix has decided to take what could be argued as the more difficult path of client virtualization, or at least the road less travelled. However, they aren't the only company going after this space. As the current virtualization giant in the industry, VMware made a similar announcement to XenClient during its own trade show, VMworld Europe, back in February. VMware and Intel announced their own collaboration as they work toward another client hypervisor. There are also startup companies in this space, companies like Neocleus and Virtual Computer, both of which have produced their own Type-1 client hypervisors.

STEC sees SSD business boom - Channel Register

Enterprise solid state drive use means booming sales for STEC which saw revenues for its Zeus SSD rise 267.1 percent year-on-year.

Chip Measures Smart Grid, Data Center Energy Use - Reuters

Measurement is the first step of energy management, which becomes even more critical as energy costs rise. A new chip by Teridian Semiconductor is aiming at not only at concerns towards growing enterprise data center energy demand, but also for residential applications.

SAP plans to beef up its business sustainability portfolio with the acquisition of Clear Standards Inc., makers of software that measures a business' carbon output and provides a roadmap for cutting energy costs and emissions. SAP envisions that Clear Standards will "complement" other offerings in its vast product portfolio, specifically SAP Business Suite and SAP Environment, Health, and Safety Management.

And it's not hard to see why SAP would make a play for the firm. Here's a summary of what their three products do:

Clear Standards Assess provides the foundation for organizing and consolidating all emissions data across the enterprise, allowing businesses to determine and report their total environmental impact, including GHG emissions, water consumption and waste. Clear Standards Analyze provides detailed visualizations of emissions data, enabling insight-driven decisions on environmental initiatives. Finally, Clear Standards Act supports operational plans to meet sustainability goals and conform to voluntary goals and regulatory standards. By using embedded best practices in the solutions, businesses can plan for dramatic cost savings from energy and waste reduction, access decision-support metrics for optimizing investments in energy efficiency technologies, and seek to enhance brand value by providing credible transparency into sustainability initiatives.

...all wrapped up in a visualization-heavy, web-based console.

Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed, it certainly says a lot of Clear Standards, which was only founded in 2007. The acquisition is expected to be completed in June 2009.

Source: Press Release