Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 customers still represent a large group, as Microsoft has announced an additional year of Extended Security Updates (ESU) with a caveat. Only available for Microsoft Azure customers, the ESU program will allow Windows Server 2008 and R2 users on Azure cloud to get security updates until January 9, 2024. By no means is this not a free program, and Microsoft will bill this extensively as it is available internationally. Many customers are forced to join the ESU program for their Windows Server 2008 and R2 systems, as upgrading the OS to the latest version is not always possible without significant downtime or a hardware update.

The following customer base has legibility to the fourth year of the ESU program:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
• Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Windows Embedded POSReady 7
• Windows Embedded Standard 7
• All Azure virtual machines (VMs) running Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 operating systems on Azure, Azure Stack, Azure VMWare Solutions, or Azure Nutanix Solution.

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced a significant upgrade to its enterprise software portfolio with a new version of its FlashSoft software for Windows Server and Linux operating systems. FlashSoft 3.2 server-side solid state caching software complements and enhances the performance of existing applications, and server and storage systems.

"Solid state storage strategies are changing the economics of data management. The challenge, however, is adding enterprise flash technology without major disruptions to ongoing IT operations," said Jeff Boles, senior analyst and director of Lab Validation Services, The Taneja Group. "SanDisk's FlashSoft software efficiently integrates solid state cache into servers without changing where data is stored or the features and capabilities of a consolidated storage approach. This 'disruptionless' approach dramatically simplifies the introduction of solid state, and allows SanDisk customers to immediately address performance challenges without changing existing storage strategies."

The 1 TB, 2.5 inch HDD is the world's first SATA III (6 Gb/s) hard disk drive , and Eurocom is the first to offer it in such a small form factor netbook. Adding the advanced storage technology of the Hitachi Travel Start 5K1000 to the EUROCOM Monster allows Eurocom to meet user's demand for super large storage capacity and high performance .

"The EUROCOM Monster is like we stuffed a High Performance Notebook into a Netbook form factor, it always had the performance and now it can be customized with a massive amount of high capacity 1 TB, high speed 6 Gb/s SATA storage, in other words, the Monster lives inside of this beast!" Mark Bialic, Eurocom President.

The annual event is approaching, computer gurus, enthusiasts and novices all alike prepare anxiously to cover the grounds of Computex 2012. Attendees seek for the most innovative technology available and exhibitors are kept on their toes to present eye-catching IT hardware and software. The time has come Computex 2012 is set for June 5th - 9th at Nangang Exhibition Hall, Taiwan. Visit Thecus at booth K0510 as new hardware and software will be presented to the public.

Thecus proudly exhibits:

• ThecusOS 5.0
• McAfee Antivirus
• TopTower Series
• Microsoft Windows Storage Servers: W Series
• V Series (Microsoft Windows 2008R2 Certified)
• Home & Small Office: Vision & EVO Series
• Thecus NVR, Visoguard

Thecus has received hundreds of awards during its history for its innovative and reliable hardware, helping countless people all over the world to share our new digital-era treasure: data. Thecus believes in diversity. That's why they are releasing a new Windows Storage Server-powered NAS product line to help you share your files using Windows Storage Server 2008 R2: the W Series. Three models will be available: 8-bay W8900, 12-bay W12000 and 16-bay W16000.

"The release of the W Series is the start of a very fruitful relationship with Microsoft that will help us achieve our main goal: to satisfy more and more Thecus users with high-quality network appliances," says Florence Shih, General Manager of Thecus Technology.

Japanese company Logitec introduced the LSV-MS2MWG series 2-bay NAS. The LSV-MS2MWG is driven by Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 (WSS) with support for Active Directory. It holds two 3.5-inch SATA hard drives in RAID 1 configuration, lending fault-tolerance. It comes with hard drives in-built, with capacities of 1 TB (500 GB volume), 2 TB (1 TB vol.), and 4 TB (2 TB vol.). It has two gigabit Ethernet interfaces to connect to the network, two USB ports, and one eSATA port, to expand storage and connect devices that can be shared over the network, such as printers.

It also packs energy-saving modes, and a programmable stand-by timer, which ensures the NAS draws full power (30W) only during work hours. Slated for mid-March, the LSV-MS2MWG is priced at 126,000 JPY (US $1,550) for the 1 TB model, 136,500 JPY (US $1,672) for 2 TB, and 155,400 JPY (US $1,911) for the 4 TB one.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that its AMD Opteron 6200 Series processor family, based on the new "Bulldozer" architecture, was chosen as the winner of The Linley Group's first annual Analysts' Choice Awards. The awards recognize the top processor products of 2011 in several major categories including embedded, mobile, PC, server, design IP and related technology. To choose each winner, the Linley Group's team of technology analysts focused on merits of the leading products that began shipping between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.

"Our analysts are deeply familiar with processor products and technology, having conducted extensive research in order to deliver the firm's popular publications and reports," said Linley Gwennap, founder and principal analyst at The Linley Group. "We chose the winners on the basis of their performance, power, features and cost as appropriate for their target applications."

Today Windows updater may have brought "Bulldozer" users a little surprise. A hotfix that increases the AMD flagship processors performance. As this "hotfix" is bleeding edge news any benchmarks have yet to be seen but this confirms Windows 7 was in fact hampering "Bulldozer" from performing at 100% in all prior benches. What percentage it was previously performing at has yet to be determined. Here is a small snippet from the Hotfix release notes.

This article introduces an update that optimizes the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs that are used by Windows 7-based or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computers. Currently, the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs is slower than expected. This behavior occurs because the threading logic in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2 is not optimized to use the Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) scheduling feature. This feature was introduced in the Bulldozer family of AMD CPUs.

You can download the Hotfix here.

Yes, that's right the maker of notoriously vulnerable software is now blaming you, the user, should you get a virus, trojan or other malware infection on your Windows computer. However, it does look like they have some justification for saying this. For those with long attention spans, Microsoft have just released their 168 page Microsoft Security Intelligence Report 6MB PDF, with the stated aim of providing:

An in-depth perspective on software vulnerabilities and exploits, malicious code threats, and potentially unwanted software in the first half of 2011

The first thing to note about the report is that it is limited to its Malicious Software Removal Tool and Microsoft's other anti-malware products. Zero-day attacks that it can't detect are not included in the findings. So, surely it can't all be the user's fault then? It also means that the security angles from third party security vendors such as Kaspersky, Norton and McAfee aren't represented here.

Eurocom Corporation, the world's leading developer of highly personalized, high-performance notebook PCs and energy efficient All-in-Ones has been developing a dual CPU notebook solution for years. Eurocom technicians have been testing and verifying the systems performance and quality since the beginning of 2011 and now the system is ready for shipping.

The system is called the EUROCOM Phantom 4.0 and starts at $7999. The EUROCOM Phantom 4.0 can support up to two server class processors, 6 memory slots for 48 GB of RAM via 8 GB sticks, 6 storage drives with RAID 0/1/5/10/30. The Phantom 4.0 supports multiple operating systems (Microsoft Server 2003R2 x32 or x64, Server 2008R2 x64; VMware; Red Hat; LINUX; Solaris; Windows 7)and virtualization.

Microsoft today released Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2, to all users. A Service Pack is a periodical cumulative of updates released between a period of time, that also introduces new features to the OS. For both operating systems based on the Windows 6.1 kernel, Service Pack 1 will provide all product and security updates released to date. A couple of new features that will benefit Windows 2008 R2 are also bundled. These include Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.

Dynamic Memory lets Hyper-V administrators pool available memory on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to any virtual machine(s) running on that host, while RemoteFX lets Windows Server 2008 R2 administrators provide a rich end user desktop virtualization experience by delivering vivid content, independent of any graphics stack, to server-hosted virtual and session-based desktops. We put Windows 7 Service Pack 1 to test, to see how the updated OS benefits gamers, or if it does in the first place. Our performance analysis can be read here. A list of notable changes with SP1 can be read here.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers today announced the Fall 2010 refresh of its Business Series Turbo NAS servers which are hugely popular with SMB and corporate users for their sheer performance and business-ready features. Announced today are the 2-drive TS-259 Pro+, the 4-drive TS-459 Pro+, the 5-drive TS-559 Pro+, and the 6-drive TS-659 Pro+ with up to a whopping 12TB of online storage (using 2TB hard drives). The new Business Series Turbo NAS Pro+ models incorporate new dual-core Intel Atom processor D525 with 1.80 GHz clock speed and 1GB RAM, which can achieve up to 116 MB/s transfer rates (FTP/Samba reads) while maintaining guaranteed low power consumption.

As digital files grow larger in size, the amount of data being transferred over networks is ever increasing. Today, Thecus Technology is pleased to announce the C10GT 10 Gbps Ethernet PCI-e Adapter. Featuring lightning-fast transfer speeds, dual cable connectivity, and simple installation and setup, the C10GT is a high-speed 10Gb ready network card designed to help users affordably take full advantage of the new upcoming 10Gb Ethernet standard.

The C10GT is a very capable and feature-packed network adapter. Powered by the enterprise-class Tehuti Luxor TN3020-D processor, the C10GT delivers efficient high-bandwidth access to server and storage applications, while requiring relatively low power for operation. Another standout feature of the C10GT is its dual cable interface, which features one CX4 port and one SFP+ port - perfect for accommodating both copper and fiber optic cabling.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today announced the TS-859U-RP Business Series Turbo NAS server enclosure, the most affordable 2U rack-mounted unit with 8 hot-swappable 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard disk drives and a redundant power-supply for maximum up-time in corporate and entry-level enterprise datacenters where high performance, high data-availability, and maximum reliability are paramount. QNAP is the only network appliance company to currently offer 8-drive NAS enclosures, and does so in desktop and rack-mounted configurations.

The TS-859U-RP features a dual-core Intel Atom D510 1.66GHz CPU and 1GB DDRII RAM, delivering exceptionally fast performance coupled with ultra-low power consumption that translates into lower total cost of ownership without sacrificing performance. The TS-859U-RP contains two power units. Should one power supply fail, the other will continue to supply the power for the entire system and alert the administrator via email or SMS to the failure. The TS-859U-RP is chock full of advanced networking features including dual Gigabit LAN ports with 7 bonding modes, including failover (if one network port fails, the other LAN port is still active), load-balancing (aggregates the network load to boost transfer speed), multiple-IP settings. The fail-safe dual OS DOM architecture for positive system boot ups, and single, JBOD, RAID 0/1/5/6/5+ hot spare/6+ hot spare with online RAID capacity expansion and online RAID level migration, and RAID recovery. The TS-859U-RP also features iSCSI for business, which allows easy network storage capacity expansion by simply attaching other QNAP Turbo NAS units to the network and establishing virtual volumes, a feature not offered by other competitors currently in this product segment.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA M'SERV S2100: a compact and versatile server system suitable for a range of applications for SOHO and SMB customers. Available to OEM customers, the VIA M'SERV S2100 is a mere 10.2" long by 4.7" high and provides up to four terabytes of storage in a stylish, compact, low power and low noise system.

The VIA M'SERV S2100 is the first product of its kind to offer the unique advantages of the high-performance, 64-bit VIA Nano processor. This makes the VIA M'SERV S2100 capable of addressing many traditional and next-generation server applications including sophisticated backup, cloud-intermediary service roles along with other storage oriented server applications such as NVR (Network Video Recorder) systems and Log servers.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today unveiled its new series of ultra-high performance Turbo NAS servers TS-259 Pro, TS-459 Pro, TS-659 Pro and TS-859 Pro (a QNAP exclusive) that have been certified as compatible with VMware's vSphere4 (ESX 4.0) virtualization platform, ideal for departmental file sharing, storage, and advanced server applications in the office environment.

VMware's vSphere is the industry's first cloud operating system that offers a way to reduce IT costs and increase responsiveness. Shared networked storage is an essential component of a Cloud Computing infrastructure. The new Turbo NAS series incorporates the Intel Atom D-510 dual-core processor, which delivers exceptional performance and maintains high reliability for multiple concurrent tasks and intensive data transfer with very low power consumption. Businesses of all sizes are able to enjoy the interoperability between VMware virtual machines and QNAP high performance, low power consumption certified storage, take the advantages of VMware Cloud Computing environments.

NVIDIA today announced work with Microsoft to promote NVIDIA Tesla graphics processing units (GPUs) for high performance parallel computing using the Windows HPC Server 2008 operating system.

"The coupling of GPUs and CPUs illustrates the enormous power and opportunity of multicore co-processing," said Dan Reed, corporate vice president of Extreme Computing at Microsoft. "NVIDIA's work with Microsoft and the Windows HPC Server platform, is helping enable scientists and researchers in many fields achieve supercomputer performance on diverse applications."

NVIDIA Research developed several GPU-enabled applications on the Windows HPC Server 2008 platform, such as a ray tracing application that can be used for advanced photo-realistic modeling of automobiles. Related to this, NVIDIA worked with Microsoft Research to install a large Tesla GPU computing cluster and is studying applications that are optimized for the GPU.

Microsoft Corp. today announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, the next versions of its flagship desktop and server operating systems. With the completion of this development phase, industry partners are readying products in time for the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 worldwide general launches. Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date. As always, current customers of the Windows Volume Licensing program, Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers and TechNet subscribers will be among the first to get customer access to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 in the coming weeks.

Microsoft will make the announcement on its Windows Team and Windows Server Blogs later today. More information about today's news is available via the following links:

• Windows Team Blog
• Windows Server Blog
• Partner Web sites: readyset7.com and talkingaboutwindows.com
• Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 for businesses: microsoft.com and microsoft.com/windowsserver2008

Continuing its momentum and leadership in virtualization technology, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. today released the first video and images demonstrating live migration across three generations of AMD processors on VMware ESX 3.5, including the Six-Core AMD Opteron processor code-named "Istanbul." Live Migration of virtual machines across physical servers is key to providing superior flexibility for managing today's data centers. Additionally, AMD is highlighting its continued, cooperative development efforts with Microsoft as evidenced in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V, which is available today as a beta and adds support for AMD-V technology with Rapid Virtualization Indexing. The new 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor provides scalable performance for both Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 and has received support from all four global OEMs.

Tomorrow Microsoft will launch both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Beta for everyone, Corporate Vice President of Windows Product Management Mike Nash announced. Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta are major updates to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 respectively. They provide customer with all the fixes found untill the moment of their release and in addition SP2 will contain changes focused on addressing reliability and performance issues, supporting new types of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards. For more information, please read the release notes for both service packs. Starting today, MSDN and TechNet subscribers will have access to the beta service packs. Beginning Thursday, Dececember 4, the beta will be available to everyone through a Customer Preview Program (CPP). To find more information about the CPP program, please click here. Mike Nash also added that Microsoft is tracking to ship the final version of Windows Vista SP2 in the first half of 2009.

Microsoft announces that a Windows HPC Server 2008 beta-based system now ranks among the top 25 supercomputers of the world. They have also announced a release-candidate version of the operating system software available for download towards the end of June. The final release version of this software will be available by the end of this year.

A Beta 2 version of the said software was used by NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) in a system which ranked 23 in the list of top 500 supercomputers. The NCSA achieved 68.5 TFLOPs and 77.7% efficiency on 9,472 cores, making this one of the most powerful supercomputing systems in the world. This also marks the first time a Microsoft operating system-based cluster made it into the top 25.

Besides Windows Vista SP1, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 was also released to manufacturing today and will be available to customers on March 1st, starting with Microsoft Volume Licensing customers. Microsoft Volume Licensing customers with active Microsoft Software Assurance coverage or an Enterprise Agreement will be able to download the new Server software toward the end of February as part of the joint Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 Heroes Happen Here launch event.

At this week's WinHEC 2007 conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft gave the final name of what was previously known only as Windows Server codename "Longhorn." Windows Server 2008, which recently reached the Beta 3 milestone, is expected to be available in four different editions: web, standard, enterprise, and datacenter. Windows Server 2008 builds on the improved reliability, security and manageability of Windows Server 2003 R2 to help alleviate pressures on IT professionals today by adding enhancements to further automate daily management tasks, tighten security, provide a more extensible platform for hosting and Web applications, improve efficiency, and increase network availability. The final version of the operating system will be released later this year.