In Windows 2000, Microsoft packaged a Process Control tool for workload management only in its high-end Windows 2000 Datacenter Server product. The OEMs who sell Windows Datacenter systems have typically layered on additional functionality with their own workload management technologies drawn from Unix or mainframe product lines. This month, Hewlett-Packard made its workload management tool more attractive to lower-end Windows Server users.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 23, 2002
Although Web services is finally starting to gain momentum as the latest “it” technology for enterprises, one of the concept’s base-level standards, Universal Description, Discovery and Integration, has been particularly slow out of the gate.
- By Matt Migliore
- September 23, 2002
Two months after being acquired by storage networking vendor FalconStor Software, IP Metrics is shipping an update to its four-year-old network card failover and load balancing software that moves the solution up the fault-tolerant networking stack.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 23, 2002
Microsoft issued a patch early Thursday fixing two critical vulnerabilities in its controversial Microsoft Virtual Machine, Microsoft's middleware for implementing Java code on Windows machines.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 19, 2002
An advocacy group this week submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that Microsoft's efforts to comply with the antitrust settlement through changes implemented in its recent Windows XP and Windows 2000 service packs are "hopelessly inadequate and misleading."
- By Scott Bekker
- September 19, 2002
It's no secret that many companies are holding off from migrating to the advanced features of Windows 2000, such as Active Directory, as well as to Windows XP on the client side. It also appears that companies will be slow on the uptake for migrating to Windows.NET as these server operating systems roll out. IT budgets are tight, and companies don't see the urgency to moving to new versions of Windows. However, companies that procrastinate on these migrations do so at their own peril, a Yankee Group analyst warned in a recent teleconference sponsored by the consultancy.
- By Joe McKendrick
- September 19, 2002
IBM's next release of its DB2 universal database, version 8.1, will come with much lower prices for mid-market customers and higher prices for enterprise customers, especially for those deploying high-end clustered configurations. DB2 8.1 for Windows, Linux, and Unix will ship on November 21.
- By Stephen Swoyer
- September 19, 2002
Microsoft this week put out a second version of the handheld edition of its SQL Server database. Aside from the usual performance enhancement work, Microsoft crammed several new features into the compact database. The download availability of SQL Server CE 2.0 was simultaneous with a private Beta 2 release of the Visual Studio "Everett" developer toolset.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 18, 2002
A lot of attention around Web services has been hype, and many necessary standards are not in place. Nonetheless, analysts at Gartner said this week that even cautious companies need to begin Web services pilot programs in 2003.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 18, 2002
Microsoft recently altered its licensing with Windows Datacenter Server to allow for four-processor licensing packs. The change makes it easier for customers to license and use Datacenter for its high availability features.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 16, 2002
Intel put out a higher clockspeed processor for two-way servers and workstations this week. New to the Intel Xeon line are a 2.8-GHz model and a 2.6-GHz model.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 13, 2002
A security firm discovered that users who enable a rarely used feature in Microsoft's Outlook Express client could allow viruses, trojans and worms to slip past the usual array of perimeter security defenses, including gateway virus scanners, SMTP-checking firewalls and content filters.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 13, 2002
NEC blasted back into the high-end Windows scalability fray this week with the first major audited benchmark showing significant scalability for a 64-bit Windows-based system.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 13, 2002
The capacity of fault-tolerant Windows servers doubled this week as Stratus unveiled its long-awaited four-processor fault-tolerant Intel-based server. At the same time, the Massachusetts-based company has changed course on its original plans to vigorously drive down its own prices for its fault-tolerant technology.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 13, 2002
"Yukon," the code-name for a major overhaul of SQL Server, will be ready for general availability sometime during the 2004 fiscal year, and "Longhorn," the code-name for the Windows operating system release after Windows .NET Server 2003, is coming in 2005, according to a senior Microsoft official.
- By Matt Migliore
- September 12, 2002
The software giant teamed up with Unisys to demonstrate the performance advantages of 64-bit computing for large database applications.
- By Stephen Swoyer
- September 10, 2002
Microsoft released a Windows 2000-specific patch for a vulnerability the software giant disclosed last week involving the validation of digital certificates.
- By Stephen Swoyer
- September 10, 2002
Microsoft posted Windows XP Service Pack 1 to its Web site on Monday as promised for users and administrators to download. The bundle of security and bug fixes can also be ordered for CD shipment.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 09, 2002
A flaw associated with the manner in which Microsoft's cryptography application programming interface validates X.509 certificates could enable an attacker to perpetrate a variety of identity-spoofing attacks. The vulnerability also affects Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and Office applications for the Macintosh.
- By Stephen Swoyer
- September 05, 2002
As IBM Corp. ramps up for the launch of Lotus Notes and Domino 6, Big Blue is releasing details of its internal deployment of the messaging and collaboration platform. Version 6 is scheduled to be released this quarter. It is the biggest Lotus product launch in several years.
- By Scott Bekker
- September 05, 2002