Backing up is hard to do: Has the stress of the holiday season gotten to Security Adviser Roger A. Grimes? Actually, his gripes about the inadequacies of backup software are downright perennial; the timing is merely a coincidence. So what's his beef? Well, it's complex, for starters, and demands far too many clicks for what should be such a simple process. Plus it's not always reliable. And don't get him started on the security shortcomings. Yet despite all the trials and tribulations, backing up data is absolutely essential -- a lesson you don't want to learn when you come to work one day and find your data is missing.
VMware surprises Microsoft? Back in November, Microsoft launched a Test Drive program through which you could try out some of its software as a demo. The idea was, you could download it as a "virtual appliance type package," notes David Marshall in the InfoWorld Virtualization Report. Well, he says that "those same 'test drive' Microsoft virtual machines are now making their way over to the VMware Virtual Appliance Marketplace." Seems VMware is claiming that these demos are also quite handy as VMware Virtual Appliances.
Peek into Liferay's portal: Matt Asay over in the Open Sources blog celebrates the big 4-point-2 for Liferay, a "super-slick" open source portal product. Liferay has added some back-end enhancements to workflow and content management, as well as features like chat.
Posted by Ted Samson on December 15, 2006 06:00 AM
