Sun Delays "Rock" Sparc Machines Until 2H 2009
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

If there are not product delays, then it can't be the processor business. Every chip designer spends some time in the dog house with its sales reps, reseller partners, and customers for making promises that for one reason or another do not get delivered upon or that do not get into the field in the expected time frame. The list of delayed and ill-fated processors is too long to go over, but you can add Sun Microsystems' 'Rock' UltraSparc RK processors to the list. READ MORE >

HP Puts Out a Four-Socket Itanium Blade Server
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Because of its density, integration, simplicity, and heterogeneous nature--not to mention the account control it gives to server makers because of a lack of standards--the blade form factor would seem to be the inevitable shape of all servers in the long run. But that can't happen as long as blade servers are limited in their processing and memory scalability. The excessive heat thrown off by enterprise-grade processors have prevented blade servers from scaling much beyond two sockets, but that is slowly changing. And that makes blade servers appropriate for relatively large workloads. READ MORE >

IBM Provides More Details on Power6 System p 550 Trade Ins
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

As part of its rollout of the entry and midrange System p servers using its dual-core Power6 processors two weeks ago, Scott Handy, vice president of worldwide marketing and strategy for IBM's Power Systems division, said that the company would be giving customers using iron from its competitors trade-ins on their iron if they move to the new System p 550 machine. IBM has now provided some more details about that trade-in deal, and it turns out to be a bit more complicated. READ MORE >

As I See It: Why IT Will Save the Economy
by Victor Rozek

Explanation #1: Fifteen years ago, two college kids were jogging along the beach and, as they were passing a large clump of flotsam wrapped in ropes of kelp, they noticed something glinting in the sunlight. They stopped, looked, and one of them reached into the slimy mass and pulled out what appeared to be an ancient lamp. As is the custom with ancient lamps, the young man began to rub it vigorously. No sense in taking a chance; they'd feel pretty stupid if they passed up their opportunity to awaken the Genie. READ MORE >