Stories by: Jennifer Mears

The benefit of virtualizing x86 servers is clear: break the link between software and hardware and create the foundation for a more dynamic, flexible and efficient data centre. With the market for virtualization software expected to grow to more than US$1 billion this year, companies are more than kicking the tires on the technology. But the road to a virtual data centre isn't without its twists and turns. The move to a virtual environment must be done carefully and with an understanding of how the new infrastructure will change IT planning and management. What follows is a list of eight virtualization "gotchas" -- hurdles that users may face as they deploy virtual environments -- that we've compiled through discussions with IT professionals, analysts and vendors.

SWsoft, an x86 virtualization software firm that is charging after a market dominated by VMware, is partnering with Microsoft to provide customers 24/7 support.

A little less than a year ago, Internet Brands, which operates Web sites for big ticket purchases such as cars, homes and mortgages, was looking to rid itself of the big ticket hardware in its data centre.

At first blush it may seem like no big deal: clocks in the US will move ahead by an hour three weeks earlier than usual this year. But for today's networked businesses, the simple change could mean complex problems if IT shops aren't prepared, industry experts say.

In an effort to make fault tolerant servers more appealing to a broader range of customers, NEC this week unveiled a new single processor server that promises 99.999 percent uptime at a cost of just under US$12,000.

IBM has announced that Harvard University is using an IBM Blue Gene supercomputer, which holds the title as the fastest supercomputer in the world, to support research into the human heart and circulatory system.

The SCO Group, the Unix vendor that gained notoriety for claiming IBM illegally incorporated its proprietary Unix code into Linux, is hanging by a thread and financial bankruptcy is "inevitable," according to court documents filed by Novell in U.S. District court in Utah last week.

The virtualization market is expected to heat up this year as Microsoft and the open source Xen project challenge VMware, which has been the only game in town when it comes to virtualizing x86 servers.

The SCO Group, the Unix vendor that gained notoriety for claiming IBM illegally incorporated its proprietary Unix code into Linux, is hanging by a thread and financial bankruptcy is "inevitable," according to court documents filed by Novell in U.S. District court in Utah this week.

Open source should be on the short list when it comes to application-buying decisions in 2007, industry experts say.