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Vol. 14, #5 - Jan 26, 2009 - Issue #710
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Kiss Your Antivirus Bloatware Goodbye
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- Editors Corner
- Kiss Your Antivirus Bloatware Goodbye
- Cisco To Enter Server Virtualization Market
- SharePoint Recovery
- New SunPoll About IPv6:
- Quotes of the Week:
- Webinars and Seminars
- WEBCAST: Stu Presents A Look at VIPRE Enterprise
- Free Desktop And Application Virtualization Seminar
- Admin Toolbox
- Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without:
- Tech Briefing
- What Your Computer's Hard Drive Will Look Like In 5 Years
- A Hands-On Video Guide To Windows 7
- Microsoft To Release IE8 RC1 Next Week
- Tip: Deciphering The Blue Screen of Death
- The Virtual Desktop: Managing Desktop Images And User Data
- Windows Server News
- Microsoft Offers A Glimpse Of Exchange 14 - VIDEO
- Vista And W2K8 SP2 Delayed?
- WServer Third Party News
- VIPRE Enterprise Customer Review
- Sunbelt Introduces New File Archiving Solution for the Enterprise
- Availability and pricing
- WServerNews Fave Links
- This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
- WServerNews - Product of the Week
- Having Second Thoughts About Your Web Filter?
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Having Second Thoughts About Your Web Filter?
You need the iPrism Switch Kit - the fast, easy way to get the #1 Web Filtering
appliance and ditch those high-priced renewals. The iPrism Switch Kit doubles
your subscription, enhances your engineering support and outfits your team
with iPrism gear. Special pricing is only good for a limited time, so act now!
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Web-Filter
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Editors Corner |
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Kiss Your Antivirus Bloatware Goodbye
Sunbelt has a killer deal for you. A competitive upgrade offer of just $10
per seat, for up to 500 seats! Frustrated with Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro,
and other slow, bloated, antivirus engines? Say hello to an all-new technology
that will make threat management faster and easier than you ever thought
possible. Try it now for 30 days FREE - and tell your system admin friends:
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-VIPRE-Enterprise-CUPG
Cisco To Enter Server Virtualization Market
By Laura DiDio -- A New York Times article claiming that Cisco Systems will
enter the server virtualization market within the next six months has created
quite a buzz among industry watchers and rival vendors and longtime Cisco
allies HP, IBM and even Microsoft.
Such a move could put and most likely will put Cisco on a collision course
with the above vendors. It would definitely shake up the virtualization
playing field, fomenting fierce competition and eventually precipitating
a vendor price war for products and services. Such competition is always
welcome news for users.
The New York Times, citing the ever-present anonymous sources, said that
Cisco intends to sell a server that incorporates networking hardware and
virtualization software from both Cisco and VMware. If this comes to
fruition - and that still remains to be seen -- the new Cisco offering
would provide corporations (particularly large enterprises) with a
mechanism to manage their entire data center as a singular entity rather
than multiple disparate virtual units.
Among the most daunting challenges confronting businesses as they
virtualize their data centers are configuration and management. Partnering
with VMware is a smart, savvy move for both companies. VMware is the
current and undisputed market leader in server virtualization with over
70% market share. However, it is facing increasing and intense competition
from Microsoft's Hyper-V product. The most recent joint ITIC and Sunbelt
Software survey of 700 corporations worldwide, indicated that 60% of the
respondents plan to deploy VMware's ESX offering this year, while 52%
said they will use Hyper-V. Cozying up with Cisco could help VMware stave
off and blunt the challenge from Microsoft.
Partnering with VMware gives Cisco instant credibility in the server
virtualization space, though it could chill Cisco's dealings with
Microsoft and turn Cisco's relationship with server and services giants
HP and IBM positively frigid.
When Vendors Collide
Unless you were cut off from all communications this week, you undoubtedly
heard the dismal financial reports from many high-tech vendors with the
exception of Apple and IBM. Google, Intel and Microsoft all missed their
financial targets and Intel and Microsoft both announced they would shed
5,000 employees each over the coming months. In such a cutthroat climate,
it's inevitable that vendors will seek to expand into other, more
lucrative markets. As you've told us via your responses to the
ITIC/Sunbelt surveys, demand for server virtualization will be strong
through 2009 and beyond. Despite all the buzz around virtualization over
the past four years, the market is still in its early stages. ITIC/Sunbelt
survey data suggests that only about 20% of businesses worldwide have
implemented server virtualization across their entire data centers.
And even fewer businesses worldwide - less than 5% have deployed
application, desktop and storage virtualization. Overall, the
virtualization arena still has a lot of room to grown. Cisco is smart
to carve out a niche in this burgeoning market and the move dovetails
nicely with Cisco's own "Unified Computing" strategy.
Of course, the "disclosure" of Cisco's planned entrance into the server
and virtualization management space, must be taken with a large grain
of salt. It is still an unconfirmed report, though it is highly plausible
and very likely true. And Cisco and VMware still have to get the products
to market. And given the notoriously elastic product launches and ship
dates, it may take longer than six months. We'll have to wait and see.
So what does this mean for HP, IBM, Microsoft and ultimately - you the
end users and intended corporate consumers?
The End Game
HP, IBM and Microsoft have all been served notice. And in truth, all of
these vendors are encroaching on each others' turf. From a practical
standpoint, the increased competition means they must all step up their
respective games and deliver leading edge, highly reliable products on
time and at competitive prices. And oh yes, they must also find ways
to differentiate their offerings via features, functions, after-market
technical service and support, training initiatives and economical
bundled offerings.
Many of you already have Cisco routers and networking gear installed.
Use this time wisely. Reach out to your current virtualization vendors,
including Cisco and ask them about it and how they intend to respond.
Contact your resellers, systems integrators and vendor technical support
specialists for more information; these individuals are usually the
first to know about new products. Start negotiating now for better deals,
even if you have no specific plans to upgrade your virtualization
infrastructure. One of the most surprising results of the ITIC Sunbelt
2009 Global IT and Technology Forecast Survey was that only 7% of the
over 700 survey respondents said they had attempted to negotiate better
deals on their virtualization licensing contracts. At the same time 59%
of the respondents said that their 2009 IT capital expenditure budgets
would either decrease or remain the same! All vendors want to lock
customers into their environments. Return the favor. Investigate your
options with all of your vendors and negotiate now.
Laura DiDio is a principal at ITIC and a frequent contributor to this
Newsletter. Contact her directly with any questions or comments at:
ldidio@itic-corp.com
SharePoint Recovery
SharePoint is exploding across organizations. How do you plan to keep
up? Quest has new tools that helps you leverage SharePoint in a
proactive, strategic way. Quest's SharePoint solutions allow you to
get control of your SharePoint environment with solutions for the biggest
challenges you face with your SharePoint deployments. For white papers,
webcasts and more to help you master SharePoint, visit:
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-SharePointMaster
New SunPoll About IPv6:
If you are a System Admin, are you planning to upgrade your internal
networks to IPv6?
- We're not going to bother
- Thinking about it
- Planning to migrate
- In the process of migrating now
- We will migrate to IPv6 in 1-2 years
- We will migrate to IPv6 in 2-4 years
Vote here:
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Vote
Quotes of the Week:
"Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work." - Albert Einstein
"Art is individualism. There lies its immense value. For what it seeks is
to disturb monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit, and the
reduction of man to the level of a machine." -- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Warm regards, and thank you for being a WServerNews subscriber. No trees
were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons
were terribly inconvenienced. Please tell your friends about us.
They can subscribe here:
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Subscribe
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Simplify SharePoint Recovery!
Be ready if a SharePoint object, site, or site collection is lost or
deleted. Quest Recovery Manager for SharePoint provides granular
recovery of anything in the backup of your SharePoint content database
and restores all information stored in the databases, including alerts,
permissions, metadata and custom views. Best of all, you can leverage
the backups you already have; no proprietary backups required.
"Recovery Manager for SharePoint is our insurance policy against loss."
-- Peter Green, Software Support Manager, West Suffolk College (UK)
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-SharePointRecovery
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Webinars and Seminars |
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WEBCAST: Stu Presents A Look at VIPRE Enterprise
You may have read this newsletter for years, but always wondered what I
sound like. Well, I am presenting this webcast the 27th. Sign up and
let's have some fun!
As part of its ongoing efforts to address the rapidly evolving malware
landscape facing enterprises, Sunbelt Software introduces VIPRE
Enterprise™ - a completely new solution that combines antivirus,
antispyware, anti-rootkit and other technologies into a seamless,
tightly-integrated product.
Join Sunbelt Software on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 2:00pm EST for
a look at VIPRE Enterprise and learn how Sunbelt started with a blank
slate to design a new, next-generation antivirus and antispyware
technology to deal with today's malware in the most comprehensive,
highly efficient manner. The result is a clean, fast, and powerful
anti-malware solution developed 'by admins for admins'.
VIPRE Enterprise is designed to optimize overall performance by
melding antivirus and antispyware together into one, single, powerful
engine. This combination of technologies gives you high-performance
software that doesn't slow down users' PCs, is low on system resources,
and makes it easy for you to protect your network.
Attend this webcast to learn about the following VIPRE Enterprise
features: High-performance threat protection with low impact on
system resources All-new technology delivers a unique single
antivirus plus antispyware engine Rock solid Management Console
is your "Malware Command Center" Real-time monitoring with Active
Protection™ and advanced anti-rootkit technology Integrated,
full email protection with support for Outlook and Windows Mail.
When: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 2:00 PM (EST)
Please register here:
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-End-of-Antivirus
Free Desktop And Application Virtualization Seminar
At this one-day seminar coming to six cities throughout the year starting
in March, independent industry analyst and blogger, Brian Madden, explains
why desktop virtualization is fast becoming the next big trend, and provides
you with the tools needed to determine if it is the right next step for
your organization. He'll define terms, separate vendor hype from reality,
and describe real-word scenarios that desktop virtualization can and can't
address. Seating is limited, register today!
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Virtualization
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Tech Briefing |
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What Your Computer's Hard Drive Will Look Like In 5 Years
As solid-state disk (SSD) technology closes in on hard disk drive (HDD)
capacity and price, experts say it may not be long before spinning disks are
a thing of the past and a computer's storage resides in flash memory on the
motherboard. By making the drive part of a system's core architecture --
instead of a peripheral device -- data I/O performance could initially
double, quadruple or more, according to Jim McGregor, chief technology
strategist at market research firm In-Stat. Interesting article at
ComputerWorld:
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Computer-Drive
A Hands-On Video Guide To Windows 7
InfoWorld guides you on a tour of 10 new and different aspects of Windows 7.
Watch it here:
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Windows7-Video-Guide
Microsoft To Release IE8 RC1 Next Week
Microsoft is currently readying the release of Internet Explorer 8 RC1 for
early next week, company sources indicate. In a blog posting by Microsoft's
Frank Olivier, the UX and Compatibility program manager confirms "we're
about to release" IE8 RC1. Insiders indicate it might be worth penning
Monday 26th January in your calendar as the date for IE8 RC1. More at:
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-IE8-RC1
Tip: Deciphering The Blue Screen of Death
A Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is Windows' way of telling you that an
unrecoverable, kernel mode error has occurred. There are a number of
different things that can cause a BSOD error, so the BSOD gives you
information that is designed to help you figure out what went wrong.
In this article, learn how to make sense of these rather cryptic screens.
(registration required)
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Blue-Screen
The Virtual Desktop: Managing Desktop Images And User Data
The cost of provisioning data center storage is one of the issues that
has IT thinking twice about the move to virtual desktops from physical
desktops and laptops. Even though managing all the remote desktops and
the associated data can be very expensive in personnel time and efforts,
the disks that come with desktops and laptops are, well, cheap. In this
tip, get expert insight and best practices into managing desktop images
and user data in a virtualized desktop environment.
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Virtual-Desktop
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Windows Server News |
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Microsoft Offers A Glimpse Of Exchange 14 - VIDEO
-- It's a million-foot view but Microsoft has finally given admins a peak
at what's to come. The Microsoft Exchange Team Blog has the video. Note
that KC Lemson's opening calls E14 "the first version of Exchange built
from day 1, from the ground up, to be both software and a service." You
could ask yourself why intro it like that?
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Exchange-14-Video
Vista And W2K8 SP2 Delayed?
From Slashdot - crazyeyes writes "It looks like Microsoft is facing problems
with Windows Vista SP2. The final Service Pack for Vista and Server 2008
(before Windows 7 comes out) has been delayed. The folks who broke the
launch details and dates of previous Service Packs for XP and Vista have
Microsoft's latest internal schedule. Can Microsoft get it out before
Windows 7? According to the new schedule, just barely."
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Vista-SP2
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WServer Third Party News |
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VIPRE Enterprise Customer Review
"We have spoken a few times in the past prior to Microsoft's destruction of
Giant company software and subsequent failure of Windows "Defender". I just
wanted to send a note on how pleased I am with your companies products and
the team that backs it up. Within 30 min, I was able to call your salesman
Evan Kerstein, get a quote (2 years maintenance and upgrade to Vipre from
CSE for half the cost of 1 year renewal of Symantec AV), place the order,
get my license keys and have an invoice for payment.
I know from past experience, as soon as I get on the phone with your support
staff they will have me up and running in a matter of minutes. I rarely see
a well oiled company run this smoothly and efficiently. I can't say enough
how much I enjoy working with your company and using the products you deliver
with outstanding results! Is there a possible IPO in the future for this
company? -- Shawn E. Hansen, Director of IT Services
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-VIPRE-Enterprise
Sunbelt Introduces New File Archiving Solution for the Enterprise
Sunbelt File Archiver Delivers Cost-Effective Enterprise-Grade File Archiving
for Organizations of All Sizes
CLEARWATER, FL--(Marketwire - January 20, 2009) - Sunbelt Software, a
leading provider of Windows security software, today announced the release
of Sunbelt File Archiver™, its new file archiving solution for enterprises.
Sunbelt File Archiver (SFA) delivers cost-effective enterprise-grade file
archiving for organizations of all sizes, providing administrators with
full compliance management for electronic documentation, file server
optimization, and advanced disaster recovery management.
SFA provides a simple and reliable method for electronic document management
and file archiving to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and
to optimize business resources. SFA allows administrators to easily configure
rules that will determine when, and what, files should be archived. This
multi-faceted approach to archiving provides businesses with the flexibility
required to effectively manage documents.
"Sunbelt File Archiver provides a cost-effective solution that enables
customers to archive files for legal, retention and compliance reasons,
as well as provides significant benefits in terms of reducing storage,"
said Alex Eckelberry, CEO of Sunbelt Software. "With Sunbelt File Archiver,
administrators can save up to 70% of their time on file server administration
since management tasks are completely automated."
Full compliance management
Increased regulations and requirements to inspect corporate documents is
quickly becoming a corporate necessity. Files archived using SFA are
protected from unauthorized manipulation since the files, once archived,
are never directly modified, rather a new version is archived to maintain
the version history. Multiple storage locations allow administrators to
store the archived file in an interim location for a period of time before
being moved to a final archival medium.
File server optimization
The innovative Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) engine is at the core
of SFA and was developed specifically for high volume. The HSM engine can
store files on a wide range of storage media such as direct attached storage,
RAID devices, network attached storage, or dedicated systems such as EMC
Centera or NetApp appliances.
The HSM engine is included with SFA at no additional cost and delivers
a number of unique features to ease the archiving and recovery process
for administrators. By providing flexible archiving rules, and simple,
multiple, and synchronous storage options on a variety of storage media,
administrators are relieved of the ongoing tasks of electronic document
management on production servers.
SFA allows organizations to manage multiple file servers globally and
store this data in a single, centralized location. Administrators can
create archiving jobs from remote servers and replace stored files using
HTML shortcuts to reduce the size of the company's file servers. Archived
documents can also be accessed from anywhere using the web-based ArchiveWeb
client.
Advanced disaster recovery through simplified restoration options
The task of restoring deleted documents can be a time consuming process
for administrators. When a document is restored with SFA, the archive
link is automatically removed from the database and the document is
restored to its original location. The production server remains in
use and is not impacted by the restore process.
Availability and pricing
Sunbelt File Archiver is available immediately and priced aggressively for all
corporate environments and includes one year of support, updates and upgrades.
Customers can purchase SFA on a per-employee basis. Pricing includes the first
year maintenance and is priced per GB of storage. A 30-day trial version of SFA
is also available at:
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-Sunbelt-File-Archiver
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WServerNews Fave Links |
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This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
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WServerNews - Product of the Week |
|
Having Second Thoughts About Your Web Filter?
You need the iPrism Switch Kit - the fast, easy way to get the #1 Web Filtering
appliance and ditch those high-priced renewals. The iPrism Switch Kit doubles
your subscription, enhances your engineering support and outfits your team
with iPrism gear. Special pricing is only good for a limited time, so act now!
http://www.wservernews.com/090126-POTW
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Email me: 