• Reader Feedback on Warning: IBM Says Some SATA Disks Are Going to Sleep

  March 23, 2009 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Dear Tim: Thank you for the heads up to the community! However, the solution to the sleeping SATA drives is already out there. The answer to solve the issue you brought to our attention is in the linked page. . . not at the end of the quarter as you indicated; it is a contradiction within the article. I read the entire IBM page and the details, problem, and solution is there at the end of the server list. LOL. I went to the Seagate site and they have an update since February and have updated all other OEMs.

  …

  Read more

• Cisco’s California Dream: One Vendor to Supply It All

  March 23, 2009 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  As rumored, router and switch maker Cisco Systems did indeed jump with both feet into the server market last Monday with the launch of its “California” Unified Computing System. And as I told you last week, those of us in the AS/400 community have a wry grin inasmuch as Cisco is taking a couple pages out of the System/38 and AS/400 playbooks to bring a unified network and server platform together with an integrated system management software stack. Then again, if you are like me, you are probably more than a little annoyed that IBM had not long since

  …

  Read more

• Oracle Expects Very Tough Q4 as Fiscal Q3 Meets the Street

  March 23, 2009 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Here’s another indication that the global economy is bad, aside from the rumor that IBM is trying to buy its archrival, Sun Microsystems. Software powerhouse Oracle, the first of the big Silicon Valley startups, last week announced that it would be giving a dividend to stock holders. Oracle reported its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2009, ended February 28, and the good news was that despite the economic meltdown, it basically met Wall Street’s expectations. (Like we should give much of a damn what Wall Street thinks after the messes–plural–they got us into. . .

  …

  Read more

• SafeData White Paper Discusses iSeries Rapid Recovery

  March 23, 2009 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  iSeries data protection specialist SafeData wants to help you get your data protected better, and for that reason it has put together a white paper that is aimed as much at the owner or manager of your company as it is aimed at the IT department. The white paper, which has the unwieldy title Best Bets for iSeries Rapid Recovery with Virtualization: An Executive’s Guide to Affordable IBM iSeries Recovery in 12 Hours or Less, lays out the different levels of availability that are available using its SafeData/HA (recovery in 15 minutes or less) or SafeData/DR (10 hours or

  …

  Read more

• Things That CIOs Should Know Keep Their CEOs Awake Nights

  March 23, 2009 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  This year is a bit of a mental and emotional challenge as well as being an economic one. And the whiz kids at Gartner make a habit and a business out of trying to say something intelligent about the goings-on in IT Land to help CIOs cope with conditions and their bosses, the CEOs, presidents, or owners. We are all in a bit of a state of shock absorbing the changes to the economy, our businesses, and our lives. But you have to shake it off and start planning for the future, all the same, says Gartner, which released a

  …

  Read more

• The Data Center Is the Computer

  March 16, 2009 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  This week, networking giant Cisco Systems is going to be jumping into the server business. And everybody is all kerfluffle and kerflooey about what this does and does not mean. If you draw boxes around pieces of electronic gadgetry called servers, storage, and networking, then you can make a big deal about what Cisco becoming a server vendor may or may not mean. And it is fun, and I must admit, I have been amusing myself as I cover this story from my second life over at The Register. But if you instead draw the box around the data

  …

  Read more

• IBM and Partners Work on Future Chip Tech

  March 16, 2009 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  With Intel and Advanced Micro Devices hogging most of the press these days when it comes to processors, the design and manufacturing techniques that go into creating chips, and the chip fabs where they are made, IBM, which is no slouch when it comes to designing and making chips, wants to get the word out that it, too, is working on advanced technologies. In late February, IBM said that it has extended its partnership with PDF Solutions, a company that provides yield improvement and other services for the integrated circuit manufacturing industry. IBM has worked with PDF (which

  …

  Read more

• IBM-Marist Survey Emphasizes Technology in Education and Careers

  March 16, 2009 Dan Burger

  What are college students making a priority when it comes to career choices? You might be surprised. Technology skills are foremost in many young minds. These are skills that can be advanced, and skills that can be turned into a job. They have staying power, but only if you keep them current and in tune with business trends. What was hot 10 years ago may not be so hot today. One thing that’s changed is the emphasis on technology in education beyond high school. Enrollment in technology courses at colleges and universities has been on the decline for years, but

  …

  Read more

• Mad Dog 21/21: The Case of the Vanishing Equity

  March 16, 2009 Hesh Wiener

  These are hard times. Blue chip companies are reducing their profit forecasts, slashing dividends, and laying off armies of employees. IBM remains an exception. It is sticking to its earnings forecast of $9.20 per share or higher for 2009, up from $8.93 in 2008. It is not cutting its dividend. And while it has had layoffs, it is also hiring in Asia. But there is still one sign that IBM lives in the same harsh world the rest of us do: The company’s net worth, also called shareholders’ equity, is less than half of what it was a year ago.

  …

  Read more

• Disk Arrays Sales Down in Q4; IBM Slammed

  March 16, 2009 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  On the disk storage front, Moore’s Law has barely been able to keep up with the appetite for capacity since the disk drive was invented in 1956. But in the fourth quarter, it looks like Moore’s Law caught a breather as sales for external disk arrays declined for the first time in more than four years. According to a report released by the box counters at IDC last week, disk array sales across all sizes and types accounted for $7.3 billion in sales in the final quarter of 2008, down 5.9 percent. Proving that even disk storage is not immune

  …

  Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles