Virtualisation: Opinions

Vendors are rebuilding the mainframe with converged infrastructure, collapsed kit or integrated compute platforms -- whatever you want to call it. And customers are loving it.

For decades the leading network companies have been tightly coupling their software to complex, custom-built chips. Besides leaving IT buyers with a staggering array of appliances, the reliance on custom silicon has chilled industry startup activity. But with software defined networking, that is beginning to change.

Too often, New Year's resolutions to get into better shape are derailed because of a lack of realistic planning. The same thing happens in the security sphere.

Software-defined networking (SDN) has the potential to transform the telecom industry by improving the ability of carriers (both wired and wireless) to flexibly deliver bandwidth "on demand." It is critical that carriers improve both their network flexibility (improved customer value) and reduce their high operational costs as over-the-top providers (e.g., Google, Amazon, Skype, etc.) challenge the carriers' ability to grow their revenues and impact their margins.

The march toward software-defined networking will be a long slog given current investments in the installed base, but industry forces are coalescing rapidly in anticipation of the huge benefits to be reaped from this fundamental shift in the way we build and run networks.

Thin-client maker Pano Logic, headed by former Wyse CEO John Kish, has gone out of business ... without so much as a public word to the customers it has left high and dry, or anyone else who might be wondering why.

I've just fired up VMware Fusion 5 Professional Edition on my iMac under OS X Mountain Lion and I'm really impressed.

The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit to overturn a lower court ruling that let a bank off the hook for losses incurred by a hacked customer has implications for both financial institutions (they need to do more) and their business customers (who typically lack legal protection from fraud that consumers enjoy).

Microsoft, Apple and Google have long seen that their future is in the cloud. Now they see their present there as well.

UK citizen Richard O'Dwyer faces the possibility of ten years in the slammer for having a site that linked to pirated content

Our manager seeks a way to protect information on a network whose perimeter is blurring in the age of SaaS.

It would be nice if Apple were going to implement the technology in U.S. Patent No. 8,205,265, which was issued to the company in June. There's no reason to think that it will, but I hope Apple at least won't block others from doing so.

Some tips for good iOS hygiene. Insider (registration required)

The upcoming Google+ History will prepare your content for sharing, but holds it in a private space until you choose to share it. It's how social networking should work, writes columnist Mike Elgan.

The main focus of a cloud computing contract is on vendor responsibilities, but it's appropriate to consider what the client remains responsible for.

Cyberespionage is coming of age but the problem with weapons like Stuxnet is that they will be used against us

You might not hear much about SOA anymore, but its imperative to make 'everything a service' is more relevant than ever

The fat client desktop system has ruled computing for 30 years. Could Google Chrome OS and other cloud-based, thin-client systems dominate the next 30?

It's clear that U.S. businesses and infrastructure operators haven't even begun to prepare to defend against cyber-espionage and sabotage.

When researchers uncovered a back door in a MILSPEC chip, the reports all seemed to imply that it was no big deal.