Sun Open Sources Sparc T2 Chip, Too
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

This week, server and operating system maker Sun Microsystems not only reminded the IT industry that it still makes its own microprocessors for servers, but that it is taking the open sourcing of its technologies deadly serious. Having taken the design of the 'Niagara' Sparc T1 processor open source through the OpenSparc project only three months after the Niagara chips appeared in products, Sun has done it again with the "Niagara-2" Sparc T2 kickers. READ MORE >

AMD Stalled by a Bug in Barcelona Opterons
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

We have all done it before. Rushed through our homework and made a math error that messes up a complex calculation and therefore gives us the wrong answer. And so it is with Advanced Micro Devices and its 'Barcelona' Opteron processors, which have a bug. Or more precisely, an erratum, in chip-maker speak. And that bug has required some BIOS workarounds in Barcelona systems and caused AMD to pull back the reins on Barcelona until a next stepping of the chip is out in the first quarter of 2008. READ MORE >

IDC Says Server Buyers Weigh Economy and Power in Q3
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Everybody, with the possible exception of the head bean counter at the company, likes shiny, new servers. New servers have more bandwidth to support larger workloads, which makes transaction volumes go up and response time go down; they also tend to be more energy efficient these days, which is a good thing. But whenever the economy is not roaring along, people get concerned and they do not want to shell out money for new iron. Right now, the economy is doing OK and the desire to have more powerful and efficient machines is offsetting the jitters among server buyers. READ MORE >

As I See It: What's Past Is Prologue
by Victor Rozek

Just beyond the holiday season lurks 2008, carrying the prospects of a fresh start and the baggage of past performance. New years are like that; full of hope and promise, but tempered by what went on the year before. For IT professionals, 2008 will be shaped by the confluence of powerful forces themselves molded by the recent past. The most critical of those forces, as always, is the economy, and how it will fare depends on who you believe. READ MORE >