Author Archive

When 140 characters is all you need, the command line does it better.

Need a performance boost for your reads from and writes to a database or other dynamic files? A RAM-based filesystem is just what the good system doctor ordered.

Are you bewildered by disk management in Linux? Don’t be. Here are the nuts and bolts of adding a new disk to your system.

Casual VirtualBox users might not know about the awesome power that lurks just beneath the surface in the Command Line Interface (CLI).

Contrary to popular belief, virtual machines are no more secure than physical machines. They are also no less so.

Cloud computing, virtualization and mobile devices take the ‘proprietary’ out of computing–at least for the consumer. Just think of the possibilities.

There’s a front moving in and it looks like long overdue drought relief. Keep your umbrella handy–it looks like a virtual deluge.

Do you think that converting your clunky, maintenance-burdened physical desktop OS to a clunky, maintenance-burdened VM will save you some money? Think again.

Looking back on 2010 and what’s ahead for 2011.

It’s time for a little VM recreation and you don’t even have to get sweaty in the process.

Providing a little taste of honey to would-be intruders could save the whole hive from greedy paws.

What’s better than virtualization? How about free virtualization?

And now for something completely different for Windows: Virtual Hard Drives.

Windows 7 arrives virtualization enabled. And a free copy of Windows XP to boot and reboot.

The search for the answer to this ultimate question is a noble yet daunting quest. Licensing obfuscation makes the answer the stuff of Sherlock Holmes novels and fortuneteller quarry.

An inexpensive classroom is as close as your local hypervisor.

Put your virtual machine footprint on a diet with appliances.

When function surpasses form, the operating system drops out of the equation.

When will someone develop an operating system that’s virtualization optimized?

Will pressure from Microsoft, Citrix and Red Hat prove to be too much opposition for VMware’s now precarious lead position?

Which virtualization technology would you choose if you owned a hosting company? The answer by those who do might surprise you.

Booting into Hyper-V R2 not exciting enough for you? How about booting it from a USB drive?

Microsoft’s Hyper-V lives comfortably on a USB Flash Drive.

Is Microsoft’s latest Hyper-V incarnation track-ready? We take it for a spin to find out.

A pocket-sized hypervisor is the stuff of dreams and sometimes dreams do come true.

Are the days of IT’s ultra-geeks are numbered with the introduction of virtual data centers and cloud computing?

Long shot or sure thing — what’s it like to go “all in” with Hyper-V?

I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was. ‘Twas something virtual and free, as in ale or speech, to me.

Do you need to deliver your appliances in smaller packages or do you have an OVF and don’t know how to use it? This how-to unravels the OVF mystery.

Virtualization is a serious technology solution that might run up a serious tab if you aren’t minding your P’s and V’s.

Download, install and go to work in less than an hour.

As Cloud Computing hits the mainstream, people are wondering: How mobile are my VMs?

Question: Hyper-V, VMware, Citrix — do any of them have it right? Answer: Only if you could combine all three into a single product.

Touted as a Cloud OS, vSphere enters the cloud computing fray with a bang.

Does VMware still win in desktop-level virtualization? Easily, but not without a caveat or two.

Two Linux desktops step into the ring. But in the end, there can be only one…

Parallels Workstation: Unparalleled coolness or virtual bust?

Small, simple, stable and priced right: Is Microsoft’s Virtual PC a good introduction to the world of virtualization and a great way to pull Linux into a Windows environment?

Server virtualization is cool. VDI is not. Desktop virtualization is hot.

Are OS Templates really worth the trouble and disk cost or is it just hype?

Putting XenServer 5 through its paces; getting hands-on with Citrix’s latest virtualization solution.

XenServer is now free and Citrix is partnering with Microsoft. What does it all mean?

Is your distorted view of virtual reality keeping you from adopting virtualization?

Should you rely on a single virtualization technology or should you diversify?

What’s your level of involvement in the Cloud? Are you a casual observer or do you dig in and develop, taking an active role?

Combining and separating virtual machine workloads is often frustrating and time-consuming. Here are some tips to help you sort through it and maintain your balance.

Keep your balance with simple workload analysis and remember that not everything that can be virtualized, should be virtualized.

Whether you’re walking a physical tightrope or maintaining a virtual infrastructure, you need one key element for success: Balance.

Will Cloud vendors make a hit in 2009 or will we decide that two’s a crowd?

The easiest, quickest, and cheapest virtualization method is at your fingertips — you’ll want to get to know OS-level virtualization.

Perhaps the most versatile, feature-rich web browser available today is on your Desktop and you may not even know its name.

Can you do backups on a shoestring without sacrificing their integrity? Do it with the tools you have but be careful — there are some gotchas.

What’s the easiest way to get more people using Linux? Start them young.

Virtual appliances deliver focused services in a lightweight package. With all of the talk around virtualization being large system optimization, why single-purpose machines getting so much attention?

Billed as the “Microsoft Access for Linux,” Kexi is an integrated data management application that allows you to easily work with SQLite, MySQL, and PostgreSQL databases.

Could Microsoft become the next Consolidated Edison? It could happen.

For as much time as you probably spend in an email client, you should be using an app with the features that help you get your work done and plays well with other (possibly proprietary) applications. Evolution fits that bill.

Curiosity about computing’s future can be found in its past: The mighty Mainframe (MF) lives again.

Do the glowing vendor claims surrounding server blades still stand if you cut out the marketing hype? Let’s find out.

Cloud Computing is the future of computing but resistance is high due to the presumed lack of control and ownership. These jitters will pass.

Prolific virtualizaton blogger, Andrew Kutz, on VDI, dark horses, and if virtualization is taking us back to the era of mainframes.

When “true-up” time comes, you may need a nitroglycerin pill instead of having a glass of champagne.

You’ve heard the hype, now it’s time to measure if you really need to jump into the virtualization fray.

VDI, you have been measured. You have been weighed. And you have been found wanting.

RE: Current technology for desktop virtualization — you’re doing it wrong.

Who’s the big winner in a VMware/Cisco teamup?

Kicking off our coverage of the world’s premier virtualization tradeshow, we take a look at what you might expect to see announced this week.

Red Hat put the emphasis back on the desktop with the acquisition of Qumranet.

Let the Bacchanalia begin! Getting your Windows apps installed and running on Linux the Wine way.

Looking for a new desktop? Ubuntu’s spiffy progeny includes several worth checking out, including Linux Mint, Freespire, and gOS.

Mitigate attacks with this simple to setup and deploy desktop firewall.

Using the root account for day-to-day work is a bad idea. It’s better to use sudo to act like root when you need to do a little system administration. Ken Hess shows you how.

Connecting to your home computer from work, a friend’s house, or while on vacation in another country is very simple — if you know how to use a small handful of tools. Ken Hess shows you how to connect securely and tunnel traffic using SSH.

If you need a staging environment for a new network service, don’t run out and buy new hardware — even a new virtual machine may be unnecessary. Instead, create another instance of the service with just a few simple steps.

A number of old-fashioned tools can prevent very
modern problems