Switching from VMware to Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization environment is saving money for two businesses that are also using Microsoft's System Center 2012 to manage and monitor applications and the infrastructure that supports them.

The security researcher who invented malware known as Blue Pill has come up with a secure open source operating system called Qubes OS that is available for alpha-testing downloads.

Oracle's plan to merge the Sun HotSpot Java Virtual Machine with the JRockit JVM is still evolving, but a single JVM based on both technologies is expected in 18 months to two years, an Oracle official said during a Webcast this week.

Nearly half of businesses have had kit stolen by employees, according to survey by LANdesk. Forty-four percent of employees admit to having taken kit or intellectual property when leaving a company - with mobile phones topping the list of the most half-inched items.

OK, you've virtualized as much as you can. Now what? Consolidating physical servers through virtualization doesn't address underlying complexities because it doesn't reduce the total number of servers you're managing. Here are three tips for taking it to the next level.

Automation tools are important in preventing virtual server sprawl, but IT managers have to set strict policies and enforce them to avoid unnecessary proliferation of virtual machines.

Pat Gelsinger made headlines in September 2009 when he left Intel to join EMC as president and COO of information infrastructure products, a group that includes the company's information storage and information security businesses. Now, Gelsinger -- who was Intel's first chief technology officer and led both the desktop products group and the digital enterprise group during his career at the chip maker -- is making waves again.