Stories by Tom Jowitt

Quantum ships backup module for virtual servers

With virtualisation being increasingly rolled out across many data centres and server rooms, Quantum has this week begun shipping a module that will allow for the backup and restoration of VMware ESX virtual servers on its DXi-Series of disk backup systems.

Downturn driving green IT into data centres

The recession is driving green IT into data centres, and organisations that are facing continued pressure on their budgets and data centre resource, are now actively investigating software and outsourcing alternatives.

London servers crash after data centre overheats

The spate of hot weather in the UK claimed a notable scalp after a London data centre experienced a cooling failure, which caused several servers to overheat and crash.

Users set to ditch tape for online storage

Users are set to ditch tape as a storage medium as one in 10 businesses have lost data following a failure of a tape backup system.

Greenplum touts super-quick data loading

Greenplum has released new technology which it says can speed the loading of data into large scale databases, without compromising overall performance.

Security needs to be 'baked in' say experts

A panel of security experts agreed that security needs to thought of a lot earlier in the software development lifecycle, and that the IT industry needs to start shipping "hardened" products, especially with the advent of the cloud and visualisation making the location of sensitive data even more difficult to locate.

Borland counters sloppy coding with new tool

Borland unveiled a 'release readiness' system last week called TeamInspector, which gathers and reveals key metrics used in software development, in order to counter the 'appalling reputation' of IT projects and to make sure new applications work properly and are fit for purpose.

Organisations struggling with data centre build costs

The high costs associated with building a new data centre are coming at a time when more and more companies are facing running out of data centre capacity.

Choppy water ahead for VMware?

Question marks have been raised over the ability of VMware to meet its fourth quarter revenue numbers, after a turbulent 12 months for the virtualisation giant that saw the ousting of its co-founders, and a massive decline in its share price.

Fujitsu Siemens adds 'kill pill' to laptops.

Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) is to offer a security bundle for its customers that will allow them to locate their laptops, as well as protect confidential data, in case of theft.

IBM supercomputers rated most energy efficient

Supercomputers from IBM are more energy efficient than supercomputing iron from rival vendors, according to latest research from The Green500.org.

Ancient IBM drive rescues Apollo moon data

Valuable mission data gathered by NASA's Apollo missions to the moon forty years ago looks like it may be recovered thanks to a donation of an ancient IBM tape drive by a Sydney computer society.

Avanade offers data centre ROI calculator

Microsoft integrator Avanade has developed a tool that will assist organizations looking to measure the ROI (return on investment) that can be achieved when optimizing their data centers.

Plasmon reborn with simplified archiving offering

New life has been breathed into Plasmon, after the company confirmed that it has successfully completed a private equity buyout that should secure the archiving side of the business.

Technology replaces buried cable with fiber

A company is offering a unique and less-invasive cable replacement technology, which could prove useful for carriers looking to replace their aging copper infrastructure with fiber, without incurring the cost and disruption of digging up the old cabling.