News

Microsoft and Cloud Computing

2008-08-20T16:48:31Z

I was asked by a coworker what I think cloud computing is and if I could recommend some material to get someone started, someone who knows squat about "the cloud". Well, here you go. For many years I work on server platform "stuff" as a developer evangelist for Microsoft. I love being a platform evangelist for many reasons. Something for another blog post. As we all have seen in the recent past, the cloud seems to become the platform of the future. Companies like Dell even try...(read more)

Blue Planet Run

2008-08-20T16:18:26Z

Thanks Robert . In a post about journalism Robert Scoble points to a book " Blue Planet Run ". In Robert's words: "It’s a stunning book. Shocking." The Rick Smolan book is available for free on Amazon . Spend time assimilating the pictures and read the texts if you ... ... care about the environment. ... want to learn why you must care about the environment. ... give a damn about the environment. Do you have an exit strategy?...(read more)

GIGABYTE GN-MD300-RH

2008-08-20T14:04:35Z

Just announced today at IDF, GIGABYTE will be putting out a small yet very functional DVP based on the Intel Canmore Processor (Donathon 800MHz core). This new product looks to fit into the digital home gadget market that is becoming popular with consumers. Dubbed the GN-MD300-RH this unit will offer a nice host of features including: View the full article...(read more)

ASUS Z7S WS Receives Intel Innovation Award

2008-08-20T13:29:35Z

ASUS Z7S WS Receives Intel Innovation Award --Integrating Dual CPU Performance with Compact Size -- FREMONT, CALIFORNIA (August 19, 2008) - ASUS, a leading name in high quality computer components and solutions, received an Intel Server and Storage Innovation Award for the Z7S WS workstation motherboard. Positioned for power users, the Z7S WS features dual socket 771 and utilizes the Intel® 5400 chipset to deliver high speed performance and wide expansion capabilities. With a CEB form factor, the...(read more)

The Winds of SSD forced change...

2008-08-20T12:37:02Z

Yesterday I published an editorial about storage being the bottleneck for modern systems (http://www.planetx64.com/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=1395 Itemid=1). Today at IDF it seems the SATA-IO has announced they are updating the bandwidth available for SATA transfer from 3 Gb/s to 6 Gb/s. View the full article...(read more)

VHD Test Drive - Update

2008-08-19T21:39:08Z

Time for an update on the VHD Test Drive program. The current program was launched in November 2007. It comes in 2 flavors. The first part allows customers to download and test preinstalled and preconfigured virtual machines from Microsoft via MSDN and TechNet. The images can be used as-is under the terms and conditions of the MSDN or TechNet subscription licenses. The other part of the program is targeting the Microsoft ISV partners . Microsoft provides a set of images - similar to the ones available...(read more)

Hyper-V

2008-08-19T21:17:11Z

"Customers “Get Virtual Now” with increased flexibility and broader support when virtualizing Microsoft server applications." Hard to beat that line from the recent Microsoft press announcement . But what does it mean? Microsoft clearly shows more and more skin in the game of virtualization and is working hard on making virtualized infrastructures on Windows, with Windows and and many Microsoft products as easy and affordable for our customers as possible. Today's press...(read more)

Confused about Windows Server 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

2008-08-19T16:24:07Z

Well, I was when I read a blog post on Mary Joe Foley's blog a few days ago. There's also a later post on her blog clearing up the confusion. Wow, I did even think I missed some changes in direction (again). Thanks Ward for making things clear on the Windows Server Division weblog. From his recent blog post on the Windows Server Division weblog : "I believe a lot of the fuel for speculation comes from the internal development codename: "Windows Server '7' or Windows '7'...(read more)

SQL Server 2008 Shipped

2008-08-19T16:03:55Z

"Man, is this guy late to the game. The product has been released last Thursday!" you might think. Too late to announce the launch yes but not too late to point you to a nice little video that allows you to be part of the final moments until RTM. This morning Joey posted a short video on TechNet Edge. A short video well worth your time. Be part of the final stages leading to RTM. Truly a unique video. Well done Edge team! Join Joey in the shiproom and see how people sign off the product...(read more)

Spin the bottleneck.

2008-08-19T13:57:00Z

The PC market today is very full of misinformation. Different companies will have you believe different things, with each company pointing the finger at the others for failings in system performance. If your games run poorly you might have your CPU manufacturer tell you it is the GPU , while the GPU maker says CPU and RAM, the RAM maker cries mainboard and others still throw the accusation at still more components. But where does the problem really lie? If you take each component as a separate part...(read more)

WWW 2008

2008-08-18T20:32:36Z

Not what you think. WWW stands for World Water Week . This week is World Water Week. At least for me it almost went completely unrecognized. Thankfully it did not. Almost every night I watch the German news magazine Tagesschau . Old habits. They did a short snippet about the WWW in Stockholm. One of the facts that were mentioned was that it takes 10,000 liters (2,642 US gallons) of water to produce one pair of denim jeans. From cotton seed to your leg. If you are like me, you have more than one pair...(read more)

Favorite Posts of Week 33

2008-08-18T16:47:08Z

My collection of favorite blog posts from last week in no particular order. Technical Books for Multi-Core Software Developers on the Intel (r) Software Network. A great collection of books on multithreaded application development and parallel programming. My personal favorite is the 4 pager at the very end of the list: Twelve Ways to Fool the Masses When giving Performance Results on Parallel Computers , David H. Bailey , Supercomputing Review, Aug. 1991, pp. 54-55. Nuts and Bolts of Multithreaded...(read more)

GIGABYTE EP45T-DS3R Evaluation

2008-08-18T15:33:00Z

GIGABYTE, for some time has not been at the top of the list for the hard core enthusiast. They do make a very good product. But according to many Overclockers and hardcore gamers they lack stability and BIOS options to really compete in the high-end arena. Now, however, as the market has changed so has GIGABYTEs focus. It seems that GIGABYTE has jumped on the same re-create yourself bandwagon that many hardware manufacturers have and with good reason. The enthusiast and gamers market accounts...(read more)

Thecus Reveals the AMD Processor-Based N4100PRO

2008-08-18T15:29:49Z

Thecus Reveals the AMD Processor-Based N4100PRO The Leader in Digital Storage Turbo-Charges the Four-Bay NAS 08/18/2008 Beginning with the introduction of the N4100 NAS device, Thecus has rocked the world of digital storage with innovation after innovation. Today, Thecus is proud to reveal the brand new 4-bay NAS N4100PRO. With powerful new RAID options, a built-in LCD, and vastly improved data throughput, the N4100PRO ups the ante once again with increased usability, functionality, and performance...(read more)

GPU Performance and Power Effciency Round Up

2008-08-18T08:25:50Z

Over the last few years the market has been inundated with more and more GPU releases. In a ridiculous effort to keep to an arbitrary two year refresh cycle both nVidia and ATi (AMD) have been pushing out one refresh after the other. These newer GPUs really offer very little other than the ability to empty your wallet. Recently ATi decided to stop competing release for release with nVidia and try to concentrate on releasing GPUs that offer performance and value. This best-bang-for-the-buck strategy...(read more)