ZDNet Blogs

Storage area networks sprang up largely in response to the complexities of managing storage in a Microsoft client-server world - itself ultimately a response to the small machine limitations inherent in both Windows and x86. Today, however, those limitations are receding for most small to mid range businesses and the technologies they spawned should, logically, go out with them.

China is launching a porn crackdown and it wants search leaders Google and Baidu to make sure porn is filtered from search results.

One of my techs is a really outstanding guy. He always smiles, he makes movies for the teachers he directly supports with instructions on everyday tasks, and he does everything he can to make their computers easy to use. The group of teachers he supports also happens to be more technophobic in general than any other group in our district, so his ministrations are utterly appreciated by the users. How many overachieving, highly competent, friendly techies do you really find out there? I think that he may, in fact, be the only one, and certainly the only one who is willing to be woefully underpaid because he actually likes his job. So what's the problem, you ask? The problem is...

Fellow bloggers Jason Perlow and Ed Bott have been wrangling recently over the Windows 7/Vista/XP user interfaces. While Jason takes a more traditional view (yes, I'm being diplomatic here), Ed welcomes the evolution of the GUI in Windows 7. At first blush, I reacted the same way that Jason has to both Vista and Windows 7. I still don't consider Vista much of an upgrade, although I certainly acknowledge that it contains security improvements and, with SP1, is quite stable. However, these aren't discussions that our students are having. A new interface is meaningless to them. They simply adapt, just like the mammals did as the dinosaurs went extinct. I'm not saying that I'd like Jason Perlow to go extinct,...

While HP is taking the high (price) road in the NAS market with its new MediaSmart Servers, Iomega is going the other direction with its new Home Media Network Hard Drive line. Considering how cheap hard drive prices are getting, it's a reasonable tactic. How reasonable? Iomega is selling the 500GB model for just $159.99, while a 1TB version is $229.99. The devices are also well-featured, with iTunes and UPnP server capabilities, DLNA device support, and a USB port to attach more storage or a printer to the unit. It comes with EMC Retrospect software for backup duties, and you also get 2GB of online storage courtesy of MozyHome Online Backup service. (Unlimited online storage is available for $4.95 per...

On Wednesday night, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is going to step on stage at the Venetian Hotel’s Palazzo Ballroom to give the keynote address that kicks off the Consumer Electronics Show. It’s the first time for Ballmer, who’s taking the slot that his predecessor Bill Gates has had for years. It’s widely expected that Ballmer and an entourage of product managers will publicly unveil Windows 7 Beta 1. But I’m going to be listening for the things that Microsoft chooses not to talk about. In the spirit of the occasion, I offer these predictions of five things that Ballmer will take great pains to avoid saying.

A year ago, I wondered when and whether Microsoft would make Bob Muglia, head of the company's Server and Tools business, one of the company's presidents. On January 5, 2009, that happened.

My home state of Oregon has joined many other states with electronics recycling centers. If you are one of the six other people who live in this seemingly empty state, here's where you can find the "ecycling" centers. Many other states had electronic recycling before us. Illinois. Maryland. Kentucky, which privatized ecycling. Ecycling may not be too profitable right now. It appears the recession is playing havoc with private recycling business models. Here's a link to the clever private company that managed to glom onto the URL: ecycling.com. Sadly Oregon only collects monitors and TV sets and computers. They don't accept the two most trashed and trashable pieces of electronics: keyboards and cell phone. Best of all: mighty New Hampshire...

Behind the scenes at Macworld Expo, developers have mostly good things to say about OS X 10.6, called "Snow Leopard." While details may emerge during Tuesday's keynote presentation, the biggest question mark is the cost of the update. One developer wondered about Snow Leopard's marketing: "From a marketing point of view, if you call something 'Leopard' and the next version is 'Snow Leopard,' then that [latter version] has to be free. Maybe [Apple can charge] a slight bump, but not a $99 upgrade." (All of the developers requested their discussion be without attribution.) Another developer agreed that Snow Leopard would be a "tough sell" as an update. However, the cost question was important to developers' plans and for customer...

In Washington D.C. the stakes are high. The stakes are huge. The stakes are for a major porton of the cash that will go into the United States' mounting federal debt. That means big money. How much will Obama's version of the federal government put into greentech? That is the multi-billion dollar question. The line forms in front of Uncle Sam's seemingly bottomess ATM. Bottomless as long as China and Japan and Saudi Arabia are willing to lend the U.S.ever more money. Who wants what? The Union of Concerned Scientists are asking for more facts, less faith, in making regulatory decisions. Here you can find their list of ten things they want to see from the Obama Admin. To save...

The core problem we've solved is the ability for our engine to redistribute the data and the computation on the fly, as these queries and analysis are being performed. ... The combination of the software-switch interconnect, which Greenplum built into the Greenplum product, and the underlying use of commodity parallel computers, is brought together in this database system that makes it possible to do SQL query and languages like MapReduce with automatic parallelism.

A Relevant and Robust Offering for today's IT organizations I had a chance to speak with Marc Olesen – VP SaaS for HP Software and Solutions recently. We discussed HP’s offerings in the Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and IT Management spaces. Background: HP’s software organization is a large entity although that may get overshadowed by HP's hardware or services product/service lines. The firm has expanded its PPM software offerings in recent years via acquisitions and the most relevant to this discussion include: Peregrine (2005), Mercury Interactive (2006) and Kintana (2003). The company now possesses a relatively complete and formidable line-up of solutions to help internal IT groups manage complex projects and project portfolios. So who is HP’s target customer for...

Last week I blogged about a piece of information that was handed to me: "... A Mac version of Picasa will be launched this year at Macworld ..." It turns out that Google did indeed launch Picasa at this year's Macworld Expo, and it looks great. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but I will surely be installing it on my Macbook tonight. today, we're releasing Picasa for Mac. While we've previously offered both a standalone Picasa Web Albums uploader and an iPhoto plugin for Mac users, Picasa for Mac finally brings all of the advanced sharing and sync features of Picasa to the millions of Mac OS X users who use Picasa Web Albums. Not...

Seagate has announced that it is shipping the densest 3.5 inch desktop hard drive available - cramming an incredible 329 gigabits per square inch.

Customers will point to FileMaker's friendly new interface in Version 10. However, some significant improvements in the database's programming support may drive sites to upgrade, according to several FileMaker consultants.

My desk is a bloody mess. There's more crap sitting where I work than Amy Winehouse's music taste. Productivity is a word most people recoil from in utter horror; the connotation of having to sit down and "be productive" releases gasps of shock amongst the student community. I make it my New Year's resolution is to halve, at least, the amount of technology on my desk, to make me a faster, more efficient worker. For example, this is my desk as it is now. (Click for a larger, annotated version of this over-cluttered mess, of which I call a "workspace"...) As you'll see, I've got myself a laptop, a keyboard and mouse (obviously), a monitor, and a digital frame with...

I'm not buying the rumored 15,000-person layoff that first percolated on Mini-Microsoft's blog before Christmas. There is a long legacy -- and lots of layers of fat -- protecting Microsoft from annihilation. This isn't a Microsoft apologist talking; it's a Microsoft realist.

Twitter is quickly becoming my favorite social news feed, but it's hard to keep up with it all the time. People follow you and sometimes you forget to follow them back. Mr. Tweet does much more than that though. It gives you a detailed look at people who follow you, their ratio of followers to followees, how often they post, and if they regularly follow people back. The service also recommends interesting people to follow based on how many of your friends follow them. It helps you get a good idea of who you should be following back. @mrtweet only works if you follow their account. They are still in private alpha, but give them a try. You might find...

Last year, when I first started poking around in social media from my security high horse, people asked me what it was like to live in two totally different worlds. Keep in mind I'm no technology thought leader, hacker or researcher -- but I've been working in security for the better part of 10 years and I respect all aspects, from all the different shades of security hats. My background aside, there is a crossover between the two disciplines and it's not new. While this weekend's Twitter phishing scam is giving people an "epiphany" about the dangers of the Web it was a long time coming, right? Internet threats are not new. Were social media lovers really so naive as...

Most people will tell you that SaaS business systems vendors need to work with channel partners because those deals have to be closed face-to-face, but the partners make less money from SaaS than they do from on-premise deals. Both assumptions are false.