Tape may be everyone's darling, but SPHiNX is a dandy earning new friends daily.

Written by Chris Smith

I recently wrote an article titled "Bulletin: Tape Is Alive and Well at IBM." It was about several new technologies that will effectively extend the life of tape as a viable backup solution for a decade or longer. However, the whole time I was writing it, I was thinking, "Wow, this is amazing! I thought tape was on the way out long ago!"

That, of course, is a naïve belief. The fact is that almost every company uses tape in one capacity or another for backup or archiving even if they have a more robust backup solution running in parallel.

Rational Team Concert for Power now caters to RPG developers, according to IBM.

Written by Chris Smith

IBM announced upgrades to both RDi and Rational Team Concert last month, giving developers on the IBM i platform more choices and making it just a little easier for them to be a part of the larger enterprise application development environment, according to IBM. They will also have to get used to a new name for their development tool.

The newly released open-source code transformer converts PHP to C++ and makes large, complex PHP Web sites run much faster.

Written by Chris Smith

If ever there were an example of an enterprise-level PHP application, Facebook is it. The social networking super-site serves more than 400 billion PHP-based page views per month, proving beyond question that PHP is suitable for scaling large Web applications—or does it?

Users now have access to detailed technical information on the world's most technologically advanced server platform.

Written by Chris Smith

IBM released a pair of "technical overview and introduction" Redpapers this week that detail the new line of POWER7 servers, information users will need to evaluate upgrades to POWER7.

The first Redpaper (REDP 4638-00) discusses the IBM Power 750 Express and Power 755 servers. The second (REDP-4639-00) discusses the IBM Power 770 and Power 780 units. Both Redpapers examine the servers in detail from a technical viewpoint—server architecture, energy utilization, virtualization capabilities, memory handling, and processor modes. The publications also take a close look at the architecture of the POWER7 processor, its ability to handle simultaneous multithreading, and memory access.

Along with new medium and high-end servers is a refresh of its development tools.

Written by Chris Smith

IBM this week introduced a new line of midrange and upper-tier servers based on the POWER7 chip. These servers promise to give users a lot more value for their investment and tremendous savings on energy costs.

Former IBM sales exec foresees sharp growth path for security compliance firm.

Written by Chris Smith

General Douglas MacArthur was once quoted as saying, "There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity." While hackers may see opportunity in today's lapses of security, firms specializing in foiling their attempts to steal information may be emerging as a new growth industry.

Mark Shearer says investments in Power Systems by IBM and Business Partners like Vision Solutions are paying off in recaptured server market share.

Written by Chris Smith

Editor's Note: This article is extracted from the Webcast "The State of Resilience on IBM Power Systems" available free at the MC Webcast Center.

Earlier this month, Vision Solutions sponsored a Webcast on the state of resilience on IBM Power Systems in which Mark Shearer, vice president of marketing communications and sales support for IBM's Systems and Technology Group, shared the podium with Ed Vesely, Vision Solutions' senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

A new study reveals that successful companies are already using sophisticated business intelligence solutions to overcome both the economy and their competitors.

Written by Chris Smith

IBM is getting into business analytics in a big way, and apparently so are its customers. It's no wonder really, given that companies that use analytics appear to make better decisions and are more likely to stay even with—or get a jump on—their competitors. Eventually, it could wind up that companies in competitive industries that don't use analytics may not survive.