Lack of virtualization regs is a challenge with classified systems – Government Computer News

In order to check to see if software is configured correctly, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) offers a set of scripts, called the Security Readiness Review (SRR) guides that can test a system. Once software is configured to meet STIG requirements, it can then be copied onto as a master disk (or “a gold disk”) and copied across different servers, with the implied assurance that each copy of that program is running securely.

Except if that program is running in a virtualized environment.

STEC on a roll for enterprise SSDs – The Register

STEC is trumpeting a $120m supply deal to a large enterprise storage customer – EMC, HP or IBM, we reckon – emphasising it’s virtually the only solid state disk supplier in town for enterprise hard drive arrays.

Rackspace’s Flight Into Cloud Computing Includes Turbulence – The Wall Street Journal

Suppiger noted that Rackspace’s platforms business, which lets companies build Web applications on Rackspace hardware, is 60% larger than Google’s. Suppiger also said Rackspace’s on-demand server and storage business is second in size only to Amazon, and its business email hosting is the industry’s second largest.

Corning: Cables count in data center energy-efficiency equations – GreenTech Pastures – ZDNet Blogs

Bob Pollock, director of marketing for Corning Cable Systems, says the main green credentials of the Pretium line are that the cables can end better than competitive options and therefore take up a lot less space in your data center.

Water Cooling: A Primer – Processor

By bringing liquid cooling close to dense racks as part of closed loop systems, data centers target only inordinately hot racks with the most effective cooling. Traditional cooling techniques will cool the rest of the room sufficiently. This approach addresses concerns about maintaining the smallest reasonable footprint while avoiding the waste of sending whole-room cooling costs through the ceiling over a few dense servers.