Rackspace has unveiled an "early access" limited-availability edition of its updated public cloud environment, built on the open source cloud platform OpenStack. Dubbed simply Rackspace Cloud, its features include cloud servers, databases, block storage, networks, and monitoring, as well as a new control panel.
Face recognition, voice identification, and augmented reality can enrich the mobile experience - but they can also be abused in scary ways
1
EMC issued a warning today that hackers have stolen information about its RSA SecurID two-factor authentication that could be used by cybercriminals to more easily breach customers' systems,
Oracle has unloaded a hefty package of patches aimed at fixing critical vulnerabilities in Java SE and Java for Business, and Oracle as well as third-party security experts are urging IT admins to deploy the security update immediately.
HP today unveiled a host of new services aimed at helping small data-center operators boost performance and cut operating costs. Aimed at data centers up to 5,000 square feet in size, these facilities-oriented services include capacity analysis, infrastructure condition and capacity analysis, and energy-efficiency analysis.
There's likely a number of building systems in place at your organization: HVAC, lighting, fire, security, telephone, and the like. You also have your IT infrastructure. Turns out that converging those systems on a single IP-based network promises a wealth of money-saving benefits and efficiency gains, according to a recently released white paper from Johnson Controls titled "The Perfect Technology Storm."
Motivated to help the environment as well as their businesses, SMBs are increasingly embracing green practices. One of their primary approaches: employing green technology, according to recently released survey results from KRC Research.
Every week, I feel like I'm discovering new ways for companies to reduce the amount of paper and ink they use each day -- not to mention the amount they spend shipping pieces of paper hither and yon for signing, processing, and filing (by no means a trivial cost, either, considering that a single 6 oz. large envelope shipped via USPS Express can cost around US$19.50 or $4.80 if it's sent Priority).
We know that some computer hardware -- PCs and servers, for example -- are greener than others. They are built to be more energy efficient and easier to recycle, plus they use fewer hazardous materials. Certifications such as Energy Star and EPEAT make it easy to find at least some of those machines.
"Plug data leaks" and "Embrace Web 2.0" are among the pieces of practical wisdom shared this week by InfoWorld's Dan Tynan in an article titled "Seven things IT should be doing (but isn't)." It's a sound list, to be sure, but I believe there's an important omission. For the sake of your company's bottom line, its legislative peace of mind, its CSR (corporate social responsibility) standing, end-user morale, and yes, the planet as well, No. 8 on the list should be "Think green."
The prospect of disposing of old IT equipment -- PCs, servers, storage gear, and the like -- may very well fill your heart with dread. After all, you're putting a lot of faith in a third party that the machines will be thoroughly wiped of confidential information, resold for a fair price, and, when applicable, properly disassembled, recycled, and disposed of. If your partners' practices end up being sloppy -- or downright criminal -- you could find yourself in regulatory and PR hell as confidential data protected by HIPAA or SarBox ends up in the wrong hands or 500 of your PCs end up in a landfill or river somewhere.
For some datacenter operators out there, insufficient server processing power isn't driving them to adopt more and more servers. Rather, it's the lack of precious server memory, necessary to deliver results at the lightning speed users have come to expect -- nay, demand -- from search engines, social networking sites, e-commerce sites, and similar Internet-based applications. A pair of companies, Virident and Spansion, have announced a remedy to the problem: replacing (or, more accurately, supplementing) the traditional DRAM found on servers with a flavor of flash memory called EcoRAM, capable of boosting a single server's memory beyond today's 32GB limit to a capacity of 512GB -- without increasing the machine's power envelope.
When Energy Star 4.0 went into effect last year, it seemed to set a rather high bar for power supplies: In order for a computer to meet the standard, it needs a PSU with a minimum efficiency of 80 percent. But hardware vendor Dell already appears to have an eye on the next version of the Energy Star specification, which is slated to go into effect in July of 2009.
Interest in green technology is out there, but price remains the No. 1 barrier to wider-spread adoption, far more so than skepticism that green tech is really good for the environment. Those are among the survey findings released this week by Green Factor, a joint initiative between Strategic Oxygen, GCI Group, and Cohn and Wolfe aimed at "illuminating 'green' marketing opportunities and further[ing] 'green'-focused research on a global scale."
Organisations are investing in green computers -- that is, machines that are energy efficient and built in an environmentally responsible manner -- at ever-increasing rates. Sometimes they pay a small premium to do this. Is it worth it? They seem to think so.
