Supermegavirtualizationfest 2007
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

This week, server and workstation virtualization superstar VMware will be hosting VMworld 2007, a trade show that VMware, long since owned by disk array maker EMC and most recently partially spun out through an initial public offering in mid-August, started in 2004 to bring partners and customers together to collaborate about all things virtual. Of course, going virtual is nothing new to midrange and mainframe server customers, and it is natural enough to wonder what all the hubbub is all about. READ MORE >

Reader Feedback on the Death of DB2/400 for Domino

As you might expect, some members of the System i community are none too pleased about IBM's decision to yank support for DB2/400, the relational database integrated into i5/OS and OS/400, as a data store for Notes and Domino databases in the wake of the Notes/Domino 8 launch several weeks ago. I never like the idea that the i5/OS and OS/400 platform is missing some capability that other platforms have, but I also get the impression that IBM is not very likely to change its mind on this one. We'll see. A lot will depend on feedback that customers with Notes/Domino running on the System i provide to IBM. READ MORE >

Sirius Expands Northeast Presence with SCS Buy
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Server and software reseller Sirius Computer Solutions last week expanded its presence in the Northeast region of the United States and simultaneously built out its expertise on various IBM software solutions through the acquisition of a competitor, Strategic Computer Solutions. While SCS is a fraction of the size of Sirius, it is a fairly large reseller of IBM wares in its own right and will make Sirius even more formidable in the market for IBM technology. READ MORE >

As I See It: The Dons of Dialogue
by Victor Rozek

Back in the 400s BC, two obscure Sicilian poets, Sophron and Epicharmus, wrote what scholars believe to be a series of two-performer plays. Although their work did not survive, it acquired an ancillary importance because it inspired the work of a more notable personage, Plato. He used the theatrical format to develop what would become known as the Platonic dialogues--instructional vignettes in which Socrates and one or more interlocutors expound on the finer points of philosophy. READ MORE >