IBM Declares Firefox Its New Official Browser

Big Blue is not known for making revolution internal changes to its business. After all, the way they do business has worked for over a century. When it comes to technology, however, IBM has lately been very keen to accepting new software, particularly software that is free and open source (such as Linux).

In what will undoubtedly send ripples through the Web, IBM has announced that Mozilla Firefox will be its new official browser. All 400,000 IBM employees are expected to make the switch on their desktops and laptops. IBM believes Firefox is “enterprise ready”, and as more of their products are sold as web applications and cloud services, one can safely assume that IBM will recommend Firefox to their customers.

Since its creation, Firefox has gradually chipped away at the large browser market share held by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Over the past year, however, Google’s Chrome browser has stolen some of the spotlight. This move by IBM will certainly give Firefox a boost. For web hosting providers that use IBM’s services, it will make sense to use Firefox, if IBM optimizes their applications with the open source browser in mind.

Source: CNET
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Red Hat Introduces Hybrid Cloud Platform

The largest and most successful commercial Linux distributor has announced the release of the first Linux hybrid cloud platform that integrates with many industry cloud services. Until now, the only other hybrid cloud platform was Azure by Microsoft. The comprehensive package, which they are calling Red Hat Cloud Foundations, gives customers the ability to run applications in both public and private clouds.

Red Hat made the announcement this week in Boston at the Red Hat Summit, where they also announced new additions to the Red Hat Certified Cloud Partner Program, namely IBM, NTT Communications, and Savvis. Amazon Web Services was the first partner to join previously.

Red Hat was one of the first commercial Linux distributions that had a large following of desktop users. They gradually moved their business model to servers with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and have since made the natural expansion into virtualization and cloud computing. Many of the servers that power websites and web hosting providers around the world use their software.

Source: ComputerWorld

Disadvantages of Proprietary Unix

In a previous post this week, we examined various free Unix-like operating systems that were direct competitors with Linux, but there is another type of Unix-like operating system that still largely occupies many of the enterprise servers on the Internet. Those unices are proprietary creations of commercial companies like IBM, which created AIX, and HP, which has HP-UX.

Unlike free and open source operating systems, true Unix has been locked up for years with licensing issuses, patent disputes, and the dreaded vendor lock-in. Even IBM and HP versions are not immune to the last problem. When a major company’s product reaches the end of its shelf life, what do you do? Most end up having to spend thousands to replace their systems and sometimes even their applications as well.

For web hosting, which rarely requires specific applications that the big companies might provide, there is really no sensible reason to opt with one of their proprietary systems. Even though Linux, for example, is free and open source, there are commercial companies that will support it. The difference is that you can leave that company and choose another or stop paying for support altogether at any time.

Photo Source: Flickr

IBM buys cloud computing firm Cast Iron Systems

Looking ever-upward toward the clouds, IBM has bought cloud computing integrator Cast Iron Systems. The company is a “cloud broker” that helps other firms switch to cloud computing.

Craig Hayman, general manager of IBM WebSphere, stated:

The integration challenges Cast Iron Systems is tackling are crucial to clients who are looking to adopt alternative delivery models to manage their businesses. The combination of IBM and Cast Iron Systems will make it easy for clients to integrate business applications, no matter where those applications reside.

Seeing as Cast Iron Systems offers consulting and IBM builds servers, the seem like a great match for competing in the cloud computing niche. Previous clients of Cast Iron include Sports Authority, Time Warner, Dow Jones, and Peet’s Coffee & Tea.

IBM projects that cloud computing will grow by 26% annually, going from $47 billion in 2008 to $126 billion by 2012.

IBM chooses Red Hat for its cloud virtualization

When it comes to virtualization, there are a few platform arenas to consider: 1. the server, 2. the virtual desktop, and 3. the cloud. It appeared for some time that IBM was satisfied relying on VMware for its virtualization needs, but they have recently announced that they will use Red Hat’s technology for their cloud for developers virtualization.

The business world is already filling up with cloud computing offerings for productivity (email, calendar systems, etc – think Google), and advanced remote storage (think Amazon), but IBM is tapping into an apparent opening for cloud-based software development. Developers will be able to develop and test applications in the cloud.

Red Hat, famous for its early hugely popular Redhat Linux, continues to make strides in the enterprise market with its Redhat Enterprise Linux and now with its virtualization technology. IBM does not anticipate an overnight success but intends to build a substantial increase over time. Although cloud computing enters the news frequently, it still only counts for a fraction of all web hosting with many businesses still preferring locally hosted solutions.

Source: ServerWatch

As Data Centers expand, router and switch sales grow

A market research firm called Dell’Oro Group has released a report that finds the market for ethernet switches has grown by 20% in the last quarter of 2009. Cisco, HP, and Juniper, three of the big players have added $600 million in revenue, and the research firm expects the market to continue to grow in 2010 from $15.6 billion to 16.3 billion.

“Year-end budget spending and supply constraints from the previous quarter helped propel market growth in the fourth quarter,” said Alan Weckel, director of the market research firm’s Ethernet Switch research, in a statement. “We expect the market to continue to expand in 2010, especially as 10 Gigabit Ethernet continues to grow not only as a server connectivity technology, but also as an aggregation technology within the data center.”

The news comes after it seems Cisco intends to end its partnership with HP, a move that has not thrilled the latter. IBM, which partners with Juniper is also expected to expand its services, requiring more routers and switches. As data centers continue to grow both in number and size, the expectation is that the demand will increase and the competition will continue to heat up.

Source: InformationWeek
Photo: Flickr

Databases are ripe for hacker exploitation

According to a new study by Verizon Business’ compuer forensics team, 30% of data security breeches in 2008 were initiated with database exploitation. Furthermore, of all the records breached, 75% were housed in databases. As the reliance on databases grows, particularly on large-scale websites, it is more crucial than ever for them to be secure.

“When you get down to it, a large percentage of the security threats potentially go after the database,” says Rich Mogull, analyst and founder of Securosis, an enterprise security consulting firm. Most information security practitioners grow up on the networking side of IT and know little about database technology, adds Mogull. And a recent Forrester Research study found that database administrators spend less than 5% of their time on database security.

In a recent poll by Oracle Users Group, they found that 26% of organizations take more than six months to patch their Oracle databases, leaving their servers and (more importantly) their information unsecured. SQL injection is a popular method of exploitation among hackers. They enter SQL strings into web applications, finding holes in whatever security a website has in place.

According to IBM’s ISS X-Force security research unit, SQL injection was the most common method of hacker attacks, growing by 134% since 2007. As more sensitive data is placed on the web and more companies rely on dynamic web-based applications, it more critical than ever for website owners to work in collaboration with one another to ensure that not only individual websites are secure, but that the entire web becomes an impenetrable wall.

Source: InformationWeek
Photo: Flickr