News


Free Windows 2000 Security Configuration Tool Posted

Groups independent of Microsoft have put out a new free tool for securely configuring Windows 2000 desktops.

HP Benchmarks Itanium 2 Servers

Hewlett-Packard racked up some records on standard business benchmarks using its new servers built on the Itanium 2 processor, the Limited Edition of Windows Advanced Server and beta code of 64-bit SQL Server.

Unisys Expands Wintel Mainframe Line

In the wake of Intel's launch of its second-generation 64-bit processors, Unisys this week unveiled its plans for its next generation of Wintel mainframes. Unisys is packaging a new line of its big boxes to make it attractive in more cost-conscious markets. The new servers will roll out over the next few months.

Microsoft: 41 Percent of Exchange Customers on Exchange 2000

Microsoft is finally getting comfortable enough with its Exchange 2000 market adoption to trumpet some numbers.

Exchange 'Titanium' Unveiled

Microsoft for the first time publicly discussed details of the next version of its Exchange messaging and groupware platform, code-named Titanium. Titanium will incorporate new features, but Microsoft officials say it will constitute an “evolutionary” upgrade from Exchange 2000.

SQL Vulnerabilities Disclosed

Microsoft-centric database administrators were greeted last week with a pair of security bulletins about new problems with SQL Server and the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE).

BPI or Simple Integration? The Debate Rages On

Is business process integration worth the trouble? Over the past year, there's been a lot of industry buzz around the topic of business process integration, or – as it’s often referred to in its broader context – business process management. Many EAI vendors have widened their offerings to include BPI functionality. Not to be left out of the action, Microsoft positions its BizTalk Server as a BPI server and modeling environment that employs Web services protocols to link application sets. However, many experts question the value of approaches being undertaken in the name of BPI.

Web Services: Everyone’s EAI?

Many enterprise developers and IT shops are beginning to build applications around Microsoft's .NET architecture and BizTalk Server, which supports common standards, including XML. Will Web services change the course of Enterprise Application Integration, and even make it more accessible to smaller to mid-size IT shops? The market space could become another example of a familiar tale: An expensive customized approach swamped by a less functional alternative that costs much, much less.

Itanium 2 Part of a Roadmap

Looking to sell high-end system buyers on its version of the 64-bit architecture, Intel has been discussing an entire 64-bit roadmap in conjunction with its Itanium 2 launch to assure customers that it is committed to the high-end market.

Intel Holds Line on Itanium 2 Prices

Pricing for Intel's second generation of 64-bit processors will be fairly similar to the chipmaker's pricing for the first generation.

Intel Launches Itanium 2

Intel on Monday formally launched the Itanium 2. The much-anticipated processor is the second-generation of Intel's 64-bit processor technology and the one that many industry participants have predicted would mark the entrance of Windows/Intel servers to the 64-bit space that RISC and Unix have occupied for years.

Microsoft's 64-bit Story Improving

Microsoft officially entered the 64-bit computing fray when it introduced its Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition last year. Microsoft’s 64-bit story has gotten dramatically better in the last 12 months.

IDC Predicts Growth in Mobile Working

Better get used to supporting those mobile workers. They're not going anywhere, or rather, they're not going to disappear. A study released this week by market research firm IDC predicts that the percentage of mobile workers will increase to 66 percent of the workforce by 2006.

Netcraft: Web More Vulnerable Than Ever to Attack

Microsoft reissued the security bulletin for a chunked encoding vulnerability in its IIS Web server this week to upgrade the severity rating of the problem to "critical." The decision to rerelease the bulletin comes after a similar vulnerability was discovered in the Apache Web Server and worms have been developed to exploit the flaws.

Office Web Components Under Security Investigation

Microsoft is carrying out a security investigation into problems with its Microsoft Office Web Components, a client-side technology for making Web pages more dynamic that has come to be used in many companies' server-side applications.

Sun Joins WS-Security Effort

Notable holdout Sun Microsystems Inc. is now on the Web Services Security (WS-Security) specification bandwagon.

8-Node Clustering Coming in Windows .NET Enterprise Server

Microsoft will support eight-node failover clusters in Windows .NET Enterprise Server. Microsoft made the post-Beta 3 change to support Exchange Server and multi-site, disaster tolerance scenarios.

Visual J# .NET Goes Gold

Microsoft delivered the last major language for its Visual Studio .NET integrated development environment on Monday, posting the gold code of the Visual J# .NET language to the Web some four months after releasing the rest of the developer kit.

Commerce Server Has Critical Flaws

Microsoft is urging customers using Commerce Server to immediately install a patch for four newly discovered vulnerabilities -- two of them involving critical code execution problems.

Oracle Produces Audited Benchmark of Oracle9i Cluster

Oracle reached a key milestone this week with its Oracle9i database by producing an audited benchmark of its Oracle9i Real Application Clusters on Windows servers.