If you believed the IT pundits 10 years ago, Bill Gates was quaking in his boots as Microsoft confronted Linux, the innovative operating system that was destined to conquer the desktop.
“It never happened,” writes Jason Hiner, editor in chief of TechRepublic, in a recent blog post. “In the decade since it was first proclaimed as the ‘Windows killer,’ Linux on the desktop has made virtually no progress in real adoption numbers.” He says Linux’s market share has hovered between one and two percent of total PC operating system installations for 10 years now.
Reasons include some operational difficulties; growing favoritism of Mac OS X as a Windows alternative; a splintered marketing attack by key Linux players including Red Hat, SUSE, Ubtuntu and Debian; lack of technical innovation within Linux; and the lack of a corporate entity providing a Linux presence, with the result that local IT leaders have suffered the blame when difficulties have occurred.
Hiner says the new kid on the block – Google’s Chrome OS – may remedy some of the Linux problems, but is still several years ahead of its time and unlikely to impact the PC market in 2010. “It’s time to stop all of the misguided predictions about Linux becoming a force on the desktop. That ship has sailed,” Hiner writes. “The masses don’t want it. Businesses don’t want it. Even Google can’t change that.”
Click here to read Hiner’s entire post.
It’s time to knock wood. EasyStreet didn’t have an outage in 2009. And with all of our redundancies in place, we’re not likely to have one. (But I write this with 14 days left in the year — hence the “knock wood.”) This Data Center Knowledge roundup of major data center outages makes it clear it can happen to any organization — and for a variety of reasons. Even Michael Jackson “broke” the Interwebs. Enjoy!
There’s a lot of talk these days about increased power consumption at data centers across the country. A simple roadmap compiled by Emerson Electric on server racks over the past 12 years brings it all home.
A fully populated server rack in 1996 could house 14 single-corded servers operating at 120 volts, for power consumption of about 4 kW. In 2001, a fully populated rack had 42 servers, most likely dual-corded at 208 volts. So, in those five years, the number of required receptacles jumped from 14 to 84, and consumption went from 4 kW to about 20 kW.
Now blade servers are making their presence felt and are increasing a standard rack’s capacity to six dual-corded blade chasses, operating at 208 volts, single phase, with power consumption of 24 kW – for a six-fold increase in a dozen years.
This is why data centers require flexible power infrastructures that can effectively adjust to changes in the number of devices, their density and where they’re located. Of course that’s on top of the fundamental issues of power availability and its management within the data center.
Intel scientists have taken a page straight from science fiction with their announcement last week that in a mere 10 years, we’ll be operating our computers via our brainwaves.
No more keyboard, no more mouse. Your brainwaves will be harnessed with Intel-developed sensors implanted in your brain. People will be receptive, the scientists believe, because they’ll no longer be dependent on the computer interface and having to manipulate that interface with their fingers.
“Instead, they’ll simply manipulate their various devices with their brains,” Intel research scientist Dean Pomerleau told Computerworld. “We’re trying to prove you can do interesting things with brain waves . . . Imagine being able to surf the Web with the power of your thoughts.” The technology also would be used with television sets and cell phones.
To make the concept real, Pomerleau and his fellow researchers from Intel, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh are currently decoding human brain activity. He said they’re close to building brain-sensing technology into a head set that could be used to manipulate a computer. The next step is to develop a tiny, less cumbersome sensor suitable for being implanted inside the human brain.
Click here for the Computerworld article.
A tableful of EasyStreet staffers just returned from a Portland Business Journal luncheon recognizing the state’s Most Admired Companies for 2009. EasyStreet was fortunate to be eighth on the list of ten technology companies so honored. We’d like to congratulate our customers who also received this distinction:
- AKT LLP (Steve Tatone was the top CEO in the Professional Services group.)
- Albina Community Bank
- The Collins Companies
- Ferguson Wellman Capital Management
- Intel Corp. (Named top Technology company.)
- Leatherman Tool Group Inc.,
- Mercy Corps (Named top Nonprofit organization.)
- Miller Nash LLP
- Oregon Health & Science University (Named top Health Care organization.)
- PacTrust
- Reser’s Fine Foods Inc. (Al Reser was the top CEO in the Agriculture and Forest Products group.)
You can click here to read more about this prestigious award and the other fine Oregon companies that achieved it this year.
