Industry Analysis

Q&A: Windows Server High Availability

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:15:00 EDT

When it comes to availability vs. recovery, the most important question to ask is what are your recovery time objectives (RTO)? What is the amount of time your application can afford to be down? If the applications have strict requirements, then you want an availability solution. Disaster recovery is data replication often times with a failover capability, not availability. For critical applications, this may not be sufficient.

What’s the Point of Yahoo?

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EDT

Let’s be clear on this one: Microsoft isn’t partnering with Yahoo. It’s devouring it. It’s gobbling it up whole like a party snack before moving onto its next conquest. The argument, of course, is that not having to fund search will save Yahoo “hundreds of millions of dollars.” Well done. If Nike halted the production of shoes it would save itself hundreds of millions of dollars too. The only drawback being they’d have bugger-all to sell. All of which begs the question: is Yahoo nothing more than a brand?

The Concrete Abstraction of the Business Service

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT

Loose coupling presents architectural challenges that are at the heart of planning and implementing the SOA infrastructure. Building the Service abstraction presents a simplified representation to the business but requires additional efforts under the covers to make that abstraction a concrete reality. This is the work of SOA: implementing and maintaining loosely coupled business Services that are at the core of any successful SOA implementation.

Why Microsoft Should Finally Buy Citrix

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EDT

I’ve written a good bit here about the various ways Microsoft and Citrix overlap in the hypervisor space, ranging from topics like shared code base through competition for the desktop space. To me, these two players have always been the underdogs battling for the right to go head-to-head against VMware in the main enterprise (and now cloud) virtual data center event. I’ve long said here that I think Microsoft is in the best position to make that move, but to be honest, Citrix currently has better technology. In other words, Microsoft has a better strategic play, Citrix a better tactical play. The announcements that came of out Synergy last week prove that. Citrix knows what it’s doing and they know how to build virtualization products to compete with VMware.

Microsoft Turning Corners

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EDT

Mini-MSFT is back, with a post about Microsoft turning The Corner. It’s interesting to contrast his point of view with that of MG Siegler over at ParisLemon. Given my own perception of Valley bias on the part of Siegler (he is one of the new voices of Techcrunch after all), it’s great to see that we’re making progress which is being met with receptivity and not suspicion. Further, everyone is focused on the most important beneficiaries - customers.

Awesome SEO Opportunity

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EDT

Last week was a big traffic week for me. I had a trifecta of posts that happened to pull in a bunch of traffic, which turned me into a stats addict. In looking at the log files, I wanted to see where the search traffic was coming from and the associated search terms. There was [...]

Can Someone Please Clone Me

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EDT

I keep finding myself standing in front of the mirror and no matter how hard I concentrate I cannot seem to split my atoms and create a clone of myself. While this is an extreme thought, it seems to be a fairly common thread when I am out in the field meeting with SharePoint administrators. The unprepared SharePoint team can easily become overwhelmed by the system.

Is BEA the Next Big Acquisition Target?

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 04:00:00 EDT

BEA, Cognos, and Informatica have all been named yesterday by a Credit Suisse analyst Jason Maynard as possible acquisition targets in the wake of the SAP acquisition of Business Objects. In a note released to Credit Suisse clients yesterday, Maynard reportedly said: 'The SAP/Microsoft partnership seems to have fallen apart as the two companies appear to be on a competitive collision course.'

Microsoft Is Not Dead, It Just Has A Flu

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:30:00 EDT

One of my favorite bloggers, Paul Graham, has published an essay called 'Microsoft is dead '. He starts, 'A few days ago I suddenly realized Microsoft was dead', and then explains why he thinks so. I do not think Microsoft is dead, but...

AJAX and Microsoft's Atlas To Dominate the Shape of i-Technology

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 11:45:00 EDT

According to our worldwide network of software development activists, evangelists, and executives, 2006 promises to be a vintage year for software development...with IE7, Atlas, and AJAX featuring prominently.

A Blended Training Approach to Solving ASP.NET Dev Problems

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 22:00:00 EDT

'Each format of computer-based and ILT training has advantages and disadvantages,' writes AppDev CEO Craig Jensen. 'So when you combine them, you get the best overall learning possible. I fully expect that blended training solution trends will include the new knowledge server-based product, DVD-ROM and CD-ROM training formats that allow employees to access full training and reference materials right at their desks...'

The Week in Microsoft: Can the Creator of Lotus Notes Also Reboot Redmond?

Sat, 12 Nov 2005 20:15:00 EST

One of the most interesting facets of the 'Leaked Memo' incident last week is not so much what it reveals about Microsoft's Bill Gates, author of one of the two leaked memos, as what it tells us about the author of the second one: Ray Ozzie, the creator of Lotus Notes and Groove Networks, now installed by Gates as one of three Microsoft CTOs.

CEO Benioff Accuses Gates of Stealing a Page Out of SalesForce.com's Play Book

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 09:00:00 EST

New companies like salesforce.com and Google have 'real businesses that can challenge and win against the old guard companies,' said SalesForce.com Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff this week in a public riposte to Gates's speech this week about the end of software and the switch to a services-based paradigm.

Applicability of the .NET Platform to Bioinformatics Research

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 15:00:00 EDT

A current look at the field of bioinformatics will reveal that it is a field that is largely dominated by the Linux operating system, as well as by programming languages such as Perl, Python, and Java. Windows and its associated native application development platforms are not in widespread use among present-day bioinformatics practitioners. In fact, the usage of Linux and other open source technologies will likely remain the dominant platforms upon which most novel and/or large-scale bioinformatics research is conducted. Scientific computing of all types has deep-seated roots in Unix and its derivatives, and as a result is very much dependent on code bases that are written with *nix platforms in mind.

VSTO 2005 Addresses VSTO 2003 Shortcomings, and More!

Wed, 27 Jul 2005 19:15:00 EDT

I just recently had the privilege of presenting a brief seminar on Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System (VSTO 2005) and wanted to take a moment to address your recent editorial. Although your complaints are somewhat justified when applied to VSTO 2003, the developer team up in Redmond has done a bang-up job of enhancing the tools for Visual Studio 2005. Of course, developers who use VSTO will still be leveraging .NET managed extensions that communicate with the Office 2003 primary interop assemblies (PIAs), i.e., COM-interop, but you'll be glad to know that there have been some significant improvements and additions to VSTO in its upcoming iteration.

Does Java Patents Case Affect Microsoft Too?

Tue, 05 Oct 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Microsoft are all licensees of the same patents that Kodak is successfully suing Sun Microsystems for infringing, the Eastman Kodak Co. revealed yesterday.

Windows for Supercomputers

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EDT

In late May 2004, Microsoft made the announcement that it was considering entering the High-Performance Computing (HPC) Market, a market that has traditionally been dominated by custom-engineered Unix-based machines. In recent years, advances in technology have made possible the construction of lower-cost computing clusters that utilize off-the-shelf hardware such as Intel- and AMD-based processors. The operating system of choice for these lower-end clusters has been Linux.

2004: Things to Come

Mon, 12 Jan 2004 00:00:00 EST

A sampling of .NET Developer's Journal editorial board members and Microsoft Regional Directors offer their thoughts - with varying degrees of seriousness - on what the coming year will bring.

.NET or J2EE

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 EST

Get ready, because soon the big knock will be at your door and your boss will be standing there with a single question for you: Should we go with .NET or J2EE for our Web services?

.NET or J2EE - Microsoft Responds

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 EST

Microsoft is creating an advanced new generation of software that melds computing and communications in a revolutionary new way, offering every developer the tools they need to transform the Web and every other aspect of the computing experience.