The Power7 Systems Sales Pitch
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The Power7 machines are out, and some of them started shipping last Friday. Others will start shipping in a matter of weeks. Now, the sales pitching and smooth talking by IBM and your local business partner will begin. So what, exactly, will that sales pitch be? That all depends on what gear you have installed, how old it is, who made it, and what applications it runs. One thing is for sure: IBM is trying to get out in front of a whole lot of upcoming server iron to show some good numbers. READ MORE >

i/OS Gets Short Sheeted with Power7 Thread Counts
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It is no surprise at all when hardware features outrun software's ability to keep up with those features. This is the computer business, and it has always been this way. If we waited for software to be perfectly aligned with hardware before the hardware was delivered, the pace of change in the IT business would be cut in half. Some might argue that this would be a marked improvement over the current way of doing things, but they would not be employees of IT vendors, who have been engaged in a feature and scalability arms race long since before I was born. READ MORE >

The System iWant, 2010 Edition: Clustered Boxes
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

With only a few machines launched in the actual Power7-based Power Systems lineup and additional machines not expected for a while, I have plenty of time to continue the conversation with you about my theoretical and completely hypothetical System iWant, 2010 Edition boxes. I have been through small machines, midrange machines, big iron, and blades and cookie sheet servers. I have wrestled with Windows and its place in i/OS shops and a few other issues worth thinking about as the Power7 machines were on the horizon. That leaves us with clustered machines. READ MORE >

As I See It: Opinions Are Like ISPs--Everybody Has One
by Victor Rozek

What do the Christian Coalition, MoveOn.org, AARP, and the Gun Owners of America have in common? On most issues, not so much. Amazingly, however, at least one concern has them standing shoulder to shoulder, rather than nose to nose. What issue, you ask, could possibly unite progressives and regressives, the old and the young, the cross and the gun? (The president, who has been searching unsuccessfully for such an issue, should take notice.) It's none other than Net neutrality. READ MORE >