E-week (21 August 2006)

64 Pages·2006·5.142 MB·English

www.eweek.com
T H E E N T E R P R I S E N E W S W E E K L Y
CIOs are on the hot
seat to find ways to cool
data centers PAGE 21
BY KEVIN FOGARTY
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35
AUGUST 21, 2006
VOL. 23, NO. 33 • $6

f
THIS WEEK
The term “greening of” is now The problem isn’t so much the heat Consumers trading in their batteries
part of the lexicon. If you Google it generated by the servers or poor air is one thing, but administrators with
(oops, I’m not supposed to say that), conditioning; it’s flaws in airflow design, hundreds or thousands of Dell laptops
you can find that just about anything can flaws that companies such as American to deal with are looking for help and
be “greened”—if that’s a word. PCs and Power Conversion have made a mission more information from Dell in identi-
monitors have sported Energy Star stick- to address. Furniture retailer Slumber- fying the batteries and managing the
ers for more than a decade, but land is using APC technology to recall. Company Chairman and founder
power conservation ideas have keep its centralized—and grow- Michael Dell defended CEO Kevin Rol-
skipped by the data center— ing—data center cool, Fogarty lins last week, but it would not surprise
especially in small and midsize reports. anyone to see Dell pull a Steve Jobs and
companies, where inefficient From the hot seat into the return to his old post. ´
practices have survived in the fire, Dell officials are hoping
era of IT cost cutting—which they never see another week Contact eWEEK Editor Scot Petersen at
is now putting IT managers on like the last one. On top of the [email protected].
the hot seat, literally. PC maker’s recall of 4.1 million
The fact is, data centers are laptop batteries due to fire risk, PODCASTS
SCOT PETERSEN
consuming too much electric- company officials announced
ity, in the form of power and especially the poor earnings results they had warned
cooling. In our latest eWeek Road Map of in July. But, oddly, whereas Johnson & go.eweek.com/podcasts
feature, starting on Page 21, Senior Edi- Johnson was praised for the way it han-
Infraspectrum
tor Kevin Fogarty examines the startling dled Tylenol tampering in 1982—by pull-
statistics of just how inefficient things ing every bottle from the shelves—Dell’s Peter Coffeesummarizes his Aug. 16
are. For starters, most companies are action in doing the right thing has been conference presentation on security
throwing too much cooling at their data met with angst on the part of some IT issues that ought to arise in developing
centers—an average of 2.6 times too managers, reports Senior Writer John G. and deploying online self-service offer-
much—yet still end up with hot spots. Spooner on Page 18. ings and shares highlights from a Xerox
case study session on knowledge base
F
WEEK.COM development for self-service product
EverRun HA. They’re all related support.
to reviews running in the Aug.
OnBusiness
rDOH!We just know that 21 print issue, so grab your
none of our readers will mag and some popcorn and In this OnBusiness podcast, eWEEK Senior
EditorKevin Fogarty talks with Scott Mc-
recognize themselves in take a seat.
Cready, president of CIOview, and Greg
eWEEK Labs’ list and slide CODIN’ CRUNCH TIMEWe
Smith, CIO of the World Wildlife Fund and
show of TOP10 STUPID
take it, based on feedback from
author of the best-selling book “Straight
THINGS SMART IT PEOPLE
Senior Editor Darryl K. Taft, that
to the Top, Becoming a World-Class CIO,”
STILL DO. Better hop online
theSPLC (SOFTWARE PRODUCT
about the tools and skills CIOs need to
to check it out, though.
LINE CONFERENCE) in Baltimore
get projects funded—and to see them
After all, one must look out
Aug. 21-24 will be pretty egg-
through to completion.
for one’s, ahem, less gifted
SA4000 SSL VPN, three Web heady. Never fear, Taft will de-
colleagues, n’est-ce pas? cipher all as he keys in on the TestRun
conferencing slide shows
Labs is also working overtime
(INTERWISE,ELLUMINATE and move to more automation using eWEEK Labs Advanced Technologies
on the glam shots, with slide
SONEXIS) and a slide show of software product lines. That’s a AnalystJason Brooks talks to Labs
shows going up on JUNIPER’S
set of software-intensive sys- Senior Writer Anne Chen about Chen’s
tems sharing a common, man- review of three Web-based alternatives
TRY IT NOW!
digital aged set of features, developed to Microsoft Office and their benefits
go.eweek.com/zinio in a disciplined fashion using and potential pitfalls.
Exclusive bonus coverage for digital edition subscribers: a common set of core assets.
Spencer’s Top 5
Taft is particularly interested in a
Peter Coffee Labs Stan Gibson
keynote by GREGOR KICZALES, The Katt digs up the songs Bob Dylan
Will Apple’s Marathon’s Ever- For ‘insourcers,’ known as the father of aspect- might have written for iTunes, if Steve
‘Leopard’ OS beat Run HA gives IT it’s all about
oriented programming. Jobs had had his way.
Vista at its own managers peace location, location,
game? of mind location
www.eweek.com AUGUST 21, 2006 n eWEEK 5
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AUGUST 21, 2006
Editorial Director Eric Lundquist
Editor Scot Petersen
CONTENTS
Executive Editor/News Larry Dignan
Director/eWEEK Labs Jim Rapoza
Executive Editor/eWEEK Labs Deb Donston
Technology Editor Peter Coffee
Executive Editor Stan Gibson
NEWS
News Editors John Pallatto, Lisa Vaas,
Steve Bryant, Don Sears
Senior Editors Jeffrey Burt, Peter Galli,
Paula Musich, Darryl K. Taft
Senior Writers Renee Boucher Ferguson,
John Hazard, Matt Hines, Ryan
Naraine, Chris Preimesberger,
John G. Spooner, Wayne Rash NEWS& OPINION
Staff Writers Scott Ferguson, Deborah 27Botnet herders launch
Rothberg
attacks on unpatched
gWEEK LABS ANALYSIS
West Coast Technical Director Cameron Sturdevant Windows machines. 5 This eWEEK: “Green” is
Advanced TecThencohlnoigcaiel sA Annalaylsytsst MJ aiscohna eBl rCooaktosn, Andrew Garcia 29 Watchfire and Fortify starting to be cool.
Senior Writer Anne Chen 13 IBM is attempting to
Software join forces to 10 Eric Lundquist: Dell’s
renew interest in its
FEATURES secure Web apps. future is bright even
Associate Editor, Solutions Series David Weldon mainframes.
Senior Editor Kevin Fogarty 30 The Buzz after a bad week.
16 Microsoft’s new Vista
EDITORIAL PRODUCTION
build delivers Windows
Deputy MMaannaaggiinngg EEddiittoorr RDiecbkr aD aPgelreryy Live to the desktop. fWEEKLABS
Copy Chief Jim Williams
Senior Copy Editor Emily Zurich
Copy Editors Kelsey Adams, Vikki Lipset, 17 Red Hat and Novell
Shane O’Neill
Newsletter Editors Jenni Miller, Alethea Yip exchange words over
35 REVIEW: Web confer-
the readiness of Xen.
ART DEPARTMENT ence apps can reduce
AssSoecniaioter AArrtt DDiirreeccttoorr SPateupl hCeonn Anonldlyerson 18 Dell takes measures to audio costs.
Senior Production Designer Tara-Ann Fasulo make its battery recall
Senior Designer Chip Buchanan
go smoothly. 38 REVIEW: EverRun 50
gWEEK HA improves Windows
Publisher 13 Server 2003 uptime.
Karl Elken
Business Manager
Eric Berk 40 Windows 98 is dead
Marketing but still commanding 32 Our View: AMD should
Eric Lubeck, Senior Research Director embrace Intel’s strategy.
Peter Chiacchiaro, Associate Research Manager lots of mind share.
Production Manager
Michael DiCarlis 32 Reader mail
41REVIEW: Google Mini
Ad Traffic Coordinator
Tim Bennett provides companies 42 Jim Rapoza: Turns out
with a cost-effective cor- it is easy to ID you by
ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA
porate search engine. what you search on.
Chairman & CEO
Robert F. Callahan
Chief Financial Officer 44 REVIEW: Shunra VE 47 Peter Coffee: Techno-
Mark Moyer goes beyond net simu- logy migration requires
Executive Vice President &Chief Content Officer
Michael J. Miller lation to test apps. next-generation planning.
Executive Vice President,Licensing & Legal Affairs,
General Counsel
Gregory Barton 45 REVIEW: Juniper’s 50 Spencer F. Katt: Red
PRESIDENTS SA4000 delivers remote Hat ditches LinuxWorld
Scott McCarthy (Game Group) access and nifty tools. for cozier hotel digs.
Sloan Seymour (Enterprise Group)
Jason Young (Consumer Tech/Small Business Group) 19 Labs reports laptop
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENTS and battery makers
THINKING
Kenneth Beach (Corporate Sales) have some work to do.
Ira Becker (Game Group)
Jim Louderback (Editorial Director, Consumer/Small Business Group)
Angelo Mandarano (Internet) 19 Work in Progress: Labs GREEN
Martha Schwartz (Custom Solutions Group)
Michael Vizard (Editorial Director, Enterprise Group) finds a lot to like about
VICE PRESIDENTS SQL Anywhere 10.
John Davison (Game Group) 21 With data
Elaine Ebner (Corporate Sales) 26 Banksare offering
Karl Elken (Publisher, eWEEK) centerpower
BAararryo nH aGrroigldabne (rWg (eMb aBrkueyte Ersx pGeurtids)e) more security apps to costs soaring,
KrisMtiinc RhHaaoeyl lm LKeersdie d(gIane t(reG (rMnaamatrieok neGat rlE oLxuipcpee)rntss)ing) innecsrse.ase online busi- erafftihceier ntchya—n
Rick Lehrbaum (Internet)
Eric Lundquist (Editorial Director, eWEEK) 27 Immunity’s handheld uptime—tops
Chris Maginn (Internet)
Jim McCabe (PC Magazine) device includes exploits the IT agenda.
Scott McDaniel (Game Group)
Paul O’Reilly (Event Marketing Group) for stealthy penetration
Beth Repeta (Human Resources) 25 Sun announces
Dave Rock (Circulation) testing.
Chris Stetson (Research/Market Intelligence) an energy re-
Stephen Sutton (Audience Development, Consumer/Small Business)
Stephen Veith (Enterprise Group Publishing Director) bate program
RaMndoyn iZcaan Vei l(aC (oErvpeonrta Mtea Crkoemtinmgu Gnicroautipo)ns) as an incentive
for users of its
eWEEK editorial staff members can
be reached at [phone] or [phone], or via e-mail using newest servers.
the following formula: firstname_
[email protected]. For example:
[email protected]. (Don’t
use middle initials in address.)
www.eweek.com AUGUST 21, 2006 n eWEEK 7

&
NEWS ANALYSIS
WEBLOG
ERIC LUNDQUIST: UP FRONT
Omens abound as PC turns 25
ERIC’S PICKS FROM GWEEK BLOGS
go.eweek.com/weblog
DELL STUMBLED RECENTLY, BUT INDUSTRY’S FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT
@
In august 1981, ibm vation in the hands of the user community.
A hDaEcBkBeIrE sGcAoGrnEed
introduced the IBM Despite the stumbles at Dell, there were three
5150, ushering in the events last week that make me think the next
corporate personal com- 25 years will be as vibrant as the past quarter One of the most interest-
puting age. This month century. ing stories I heard at Def-
has seen lots of nostalgic The first event was at LinuxWorld, where con—billed as “the largest
recaps of favorite PCs. I’ve Lenovo announced it will be preloading underground hacking event
seen too many lists outlin- Novell’s SUSE Linux onto the ThinkPad T60p. in the world”—was when the
ing the top 25 PCs (Apple This edition of Linux (SUSE Linux Enterprise guy sitting next to me pool-
seems to win a lot of these), rambling memo- Desktop 10, or SLED) won accolades from side at the Riviera Hotel told
ries of lugging Compaq computers along air- eWeek Labs Advanced Technologies Analyst me he broke into a corporate
port corridors and tributes to industry found- Jason Brooks. This combination of a solid network to help out his best
ers (Adam Osborne and Gary Kildall) who are Linux operating system and support from a buddy.
now gone. But breaking news has a way of major PC vendor has been a long time com- The guy’s buddy, a cop,
interrupting even the most nostalgic events, ing. The delay in Microsoft’s Vista operating was brokenhearted. He
and the news last week was not good for the system and the continuous security patches, suspected his wife had a
industry, at least not for one big company coupled with the maturity of the Linux oper- lover and that the two were
based in Round Rock, Texas. ating system, have to make Linux a strong corresponding through her
In a milestone I’m sure the company would alternative to the Wintel duopoly. If the past corporate e-mail, which was
much rather have avoided, Dell announced it 25 years for the corporate PC was largely password-protected. So the
will be recalling 4.1 million computer note- the story of computer vendors bowing to the guy, who works in IT, found
book batteries, the largest electronics-related demands of Intel and Microsoft, the next 25 an open wireless access
action involving the Consumer Product Safety years will see lots of alternatives, including point, penetrated the wife’s
Commission. The recall was prompted by re- Linux, Apple and virtual systems unaware of company network, down-
ports, including one graphic video, of laptops the underlying operating system. loaded her e-mail and put it
bursting into flames. Dell The second event was on a mainframe, where, after
didn’t make the batter- THE NEXT 25 YEARS WILL an e-mail exchange with three days, he cracked her
ies—those came from Mary Lou Jepsen, the password. Then he printed
BE AS VIBRANT AS THE
Sony—but if you are executive in charge of her e-mail, which confirmed
going to build your busi- PAST QUARTER CENTURY. developing the display his buddy’s suspicions.
ness by being an assem- for the One Laptop per All other information—
bler of other vendors’ parts, you have to bear Child program. Jepsen, who has a long record including her company’s trade
all responsibility. in display technology, claims to have developed secrets—he left untouched.
But, wait, there’s more. In a story that got a display that has higher resolution than 95 But, “it’s the first time I
much less attention, last week also marked a percent of the laptop displays on the market crossed that line,” the guy
low point for Dell in China, where the com- today, at approximately one-seventh the power told me. However, he felt he
pany had to offer an apology and a refund consumption and one-third the price. I’ll be owed his buddy, who, when
to customers regarding what the company writing more about this, but a display with they were both cops, had
was offering in its advertising compared with those attributes would be a major innovation once saved his life. And the
what customers were receiving. Customers that would reset the stage for laptop vendors. company’s security was so
thought they were buying notebooks with The third event was a demonstration of bad, the hacker said, “they
Intel’s T2300 processor but instead were get- the 3.0 product from the execs at Safend. almost deserved it. They
ting the less expensive T2300E processor, They’ve upgraded their USB port lockdown had an IT staff. They should
which does not support Intel’s Virtualization technology to be able to detect keylogging, have been ashamed.” ... If
Technology. Not a good week for Dell, which set detailed control levels for port access and you want to protect your
has recently found itself reacting rather manage encryption across attached devices. corporate network—and earn
than leading, as Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba These innovations should have been coming some respect—you’d better
and Lenovo Group seem to have found their from the computer vendors, but I think those learn to think like a hacker.
momentum. vendors were too busy looking back at the past They are the ones who know
But a leader’s stumbles do not necessar- rather than forward to the next 25 years. ´ how to take advantage of you
ily mean a 25-year-old business is showing because they have analyzed
its age. The impetus that gave rise to the PC Editorial Director Eric Lundquist can be reached your weak spots.8/8/06
industry was the ability to quickly put inno- at [email protected].
10 eWEEK n AUGUST 21, 2006 www.eweek.com