Dell Calls ‘Green’ MacBook Ads Misleading – The New York Times

Several competitors — including Dell, the company argued — had also received “gold” ratings from E.P.E.A.T., and the rating system itself, it said, had some environmental blind spots that undermine its value in measuring overall sustainability. (The rating doesn’t, for example, measure energy used during manufacturing.)

Green Data Centers: Core4 Launches Efficient Cooling Gear – Earth2Tech

The company is largely aiming at retrofitting existing data centers (instead of for new construction), which it says it can do for between $250 and $350 per square foot. Core4 says its a good deal for customers because it frees up 40 percent to 50 percent more power and cooling capacity at an existing data center, meaning the customer can put off building another new facility, which can cost closer to $2000-$3000 per square foot. Core4 also says that the system pays for itself between 1.5 and 2 years.

Oracle kills Virtual Iron-ware – The Register

In a letter to Virtual Iron’s sales partners, Oracle says it “will suspend development of existing Virtual Iron products and will suspend delivery of orders to new customers.” And in a second letter to a partner speaking with The Reg, the company says it will not allow partners to sell new licenses to anyone – including existing customers – after the end of this month (i.e. in 11 days). Before then, partners can only sell licenses to existing customers under certain conditions.

Netbooks: the ultimate thin clients – InfoWorld

So why netbooks? Well, not only are they the cheapest, lowest-power-consuming PCs you can buy, but they’re also the smallest devices with which you can get heads-down productive work done on the road. Back at your desk you can plug one into a $150 LCD and a full-size keyboard. These days it’s hard to find Linux netbooks anymore — but who cares if all you can get is XP Home or Vista preinstalled? Go ahead, use Home as your terminal OS. Remember, the client OS is completely isolated from the virtual desktop.

Replication and cloud computing are inseparable – InfoStor

Replication and cloud computing can also be considered as an alternative to local backup. Disk-based backup has a lot to offer companies, including faster backups, faster restores, and more reliable recovery (relative to tape-based infrastructures). If you’re considering moving to disk, don’t overlook the fact that it gives you access to replication technology. For data sets that require stringent RPOs/RTOs, replication can be used to kill two birds with one stone: data is quickly and easily available for file- and even system-level restores from the remote location, but the fact that the location is remote provides the resilience demanded by a DR plan.