1. Articles from ITWorld Canada

    itworldcanada.com

    1-7 of 7

    1. Power-efficient servers could get a shot in the ARM

      Explore ITWorld Canada (Dec 20 2011) Construction , Cloud Computing , Servers

      In 2012 a fundamental change in server architecture could be on tap as companies look to cut data center costs with the help of technologies ... It's really about energy efficiency ... and how fast you can scale them," Scaramella said. (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   Amazon.com   Intel   Cisco

    2. Limitations of Saas highlighted at Gartner Itxpo

      Explore ITWorld Canada (Oct 20 2010) Cloud Computing

      Limitations of Saas highlighted at Gartner Itxpo Software-as-a-service (SaaS) may offer the advantage of application-based computing you can pay for as needed, but there are pitfalls, too, that are becoming increasingly evident, according to Gartner analyst Robert DeSisto. SaaS is a "service-delivery model," said DeSisto at Gartner's ITxpo Conference. "Something is shared on the back end, and that, hopefully, gets you economies of scale." However, he immediately added that if you're "getting into this game solely to save money, you have come to the wrong place." "Quite frankly, it's not to save money," said DeSisto, whose division at Gartner has spent several years looking at market offerings and the experiences of Gartner clientele in various SaaS contractual situations. (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   Gartner   Oracle   Microsoft Corp

    3. HP-SAP merger talk considered far-fetched

      Explore ITWorld Canada (Oct 5 2010)

      HP-SAP merger talk considered far-fetched Hewlett-Packard's surprise decision last week to appoint ex-SAP CEO Léo Apotheker to its top job has stirred up speculation that HP will acquire the enterprise applications giant to compete more effectively against rival Oracle, but some analysts say the notion is mere piffle. That's not to say there aren't obvious upsides to such a move. By purchasing SAP, HP would gain a vast ERP (enterprise resource planning) application installed base and lucrative streams of annual maintenance revenue. But it would in turn harm HP's application services organization, said Forrester Research analyst Paul Hamerman. "It would taint the advice they give customers. They have to be vendor-agnostic on the services side." (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   Forrester Research   Oracle   Hewlett Packard

    4. Virtualization to supercharge new tablets, smart phones

      Explore ITWorld Canada (Sep 29 2010) Cloud Computing

      Virtualization to supercharge new tablets, smart phones Next-generation smart phones and tablets will run multiple operating systems and powerful cloud applications like high-definition gaming thanks to the growing use of virtualization on mobile devices, experts said this week. A new generation of mobile devices containing faster processors could help applications run faster, while virtualization could help consolidate applications without wasting resources, said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst at Linley Group, during the Linley Tech Processor conference in San Jose, California. Virtualization has already been widely adopted in data centers, where the technology has helped consolidate servers and cut energy costs. The technology is now having an impact on handheld devices such as smart phones, helping run critical tasks in real-time and securing disparate software environments. (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   Apple   Fujitsu   Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

    5. Google unveils new cloud data storage for developers

      Explore ITWorld Canada (May 19 2010) Cloud Computing , Storage

      Google unveils new cloud data storage for developers The word is that Google will be taking advantage of the Google I/O conference--Google's largest developer event of 2010--to unveil Google Storage for Developers. The cloud-based data storage service pits Google against similar services such as Amazon's S3, but with a specific focus on developers. More than 5,000 developers are gathering at San Francisco's Moscone Center this week for Google I/O--featuring 80 sessions and over 100 demonstrations from developers showing off next-generaton Web, mobile, and enterprise applications built on Google platforms. That makes Google I/O an ideal forum for announcing Google Storage for Developers. (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   Apple   Amazon.com   Sun Microsystems

    6. How DC's IT dept. handled massive winter storms

      Explore ITWorld Canada (Feb 22 2010) Servers

      How DC's IT dept. handled massive winter storms The WashingtonPost.com headline "Whiteout paralyzes region" summed up life in the U.S. capital earlier this month as back-to-back storms blanketed the region with more than two feet (0.61 metres ) of snow. The storms shut down most of the federal and local government apparatus for several days. But Bryan Sivak, the District of Columbia's chief technology officer, stayed as busy as ever by working from home -- as did most of the city's 600 IT employees. About a dozen IT staffers stayed on-site, working 12-hour shifts and sleeping on cots to keep the district's two data centres running. They were on duty throughout the Feb. 5-6 weekend storm, and they were back on the job three days later for the second blizzard. (Read Full Article)

    7. Data center density hits the wall

      Explore ITWorld Canada (Jan 21 2010) Cloud Computing , Servers

      Data center density hits the wall Industrial Light & Magic, which creates digital film special effects, has been replacing its servers with the hottest new IBM BladeCenters -- literally, the hottest. For every new rack ILM brings in, it cuts overall power use in the data center by a whopping 140 kW -- a staggering 84 per cent drop in overall energy use. But power density in the new racks is much higher: Each consumes 28 kW of electricity, versus 24 kW for the previous generation. Every watt of power consumed is transformed into heat that must be removed from each rack -- and from the data center. The new racks are equipped with 84 server blades, each with two quad-core processors and 32GB of RAM. They are powerful enough to displace seven racks of older BladeCenter servers that the San Francisco company purchased about three years ago for its image-processing farm. (Read Full Article)