Novell Previews Features in SUSE Linux Enterprise 11
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Novell hosted its annual BrainShare event last week in Salt Lake City, Utah, and probably the key announcement that the company made to the 5,500 attendees at the event and the untold numbers who participated secondarily through the Internet was the preview of some of the features and development plans (in the absence of features) in the upcoming SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 operating system. But don't hold your breath waiting for SUSE Linux 11, since it is not coming to market any time soon, apparently. READ MORE >

Making the Case for System z10 Server Consolidation
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Several weeks ago at the launch events for the System z10 mainframe in New York, Tokyo, and Mumbai, IBM's top brass in the Systems and Technology Group and Software Group did not spend a lot of time talking about the feeds and speeds of the technology inside of the new z10 box. While there was some talk that the machine could support hundreds of millions of users, based on a benchmark test in China, a lot of the conversation was about virtualization and server consolidation. READ MORE >

Sun Backs Into the SMB Customer Space
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Server and operating system maker Sun Microsystems is known for being a player in the data center, but its servers are not known to be popular among small and medium businesses. And Solaris, like Linux and unlike Windows, is not exactly known as an appropriate platform for SMB shops. But, with a new focus on SMB sales, Sun has committed itself to chase down the SMB customer base to peddle its entry servers, mainly because IT spending in SMB shops is growing a lot faster than spending in the big data centers where Sun is a player. READ MORE >

CMDB: A Journey, Not a Destination
by Richard Muirhead

Organizations are increasingly reliant on their IT infrastructure to deliver the solutions they need to drive the business forward. As a result, many organizations are turning to ITIL to help them to address IT support and delivery challenges and deal more effectively with operational processes. The configuration management database, or CMDB, is a fundamental component of the ITIL framework, yet despite increasing awareness and demand for CMDBs by ITIL adopters, many still struggle to understand exactly what a CMDB is and how it can be used and implemented to maximize the potential of their ITIL framework. READ MORE >