Items tagged with servers
Here at HotHardware, we've talked a lot about the importance of keeping good backups. On a personal level, a failed backup would affect just a couple of people (if not just one); but carelessness in the enterprise can can affect a lot more people. Unfortunately, this is a lesson GitLab has found out the hard way. As its name implies, GitLab is a website designed to help developers manage their open-source projects from start to finish. Users on the site have an expectation that their data is going to be kept safe, but as is proven here, problem can arise, so we can never treat a single source as a de facto backup. What happened here is that an IT manager working a late night accidentally deleted...
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Many Pokémon GO trainers were incredibly frustrated last week when Niantic disabled popular trackers. Some reddit users even commented that they had demanded refunds from Apple and Google Play since the game no longer functioned like it originally did. Niantic recently responded to angry trainers with an explanation behind the recent controversial update. Why was the update so controversial? When the game was released, one to three footprints were underneath nearby Pokémon. One footprint meant that the Pokémon was very close while three footprints indicated that the Pokémon was farther away. shortly after the game's release, the tracking system stopped working correctly, and three footprints...
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Apple and the FBI have locked horns with one another over an iPhone 5c model that belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters, but what seems like a suddenly contentious relationship may have roots that go even deeper. If a new report is to be believed, Apple's distrust of the U.S. government runs so deep that it's started designing its own servers to avoid any shady tampering. Citing a paywalled report published by The Information on Thursday, ArsTechnica says Apple has long been suspicious that servers it orders get intercepted prior to delivery. As the story goes, Apple believes that third-parties install special chips and firmware that make them vulnerable to government hacking, a not...
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Companies like Qualcomm have made gains in the server and micro-server markets with ARM-based silicon, but in doing so, they may have woken a sleeping giant in Intel, the world's largest semiconductor player. Intel recognizes the growing market for low-cost, low-power servers, and in addition to its x86 Atom-based solutions, the Santa Clara chip maker just announce its Xeon processor D-1500 product family.These are Intel's third generation 64-bit System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions and its first Xeon-based SoCs, which are built on a 14nm manufacturing process. With these new chips, Intel is targeting various networking, cloud storage, enterprise storage, and IoT (Internet of Things) applications that...
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Intel has refreshed its line-up of processors in a number of categories over the last few months. Late last year, Intel’s current flagship desktop processors based on Haswell-E arrived, followed shortly thereafter by the low-power Core M series for ultra-mobile devices, and then 5th Generation Core processors for notebooks and all-in-ones. Intel has made some noise in some other markets as well in the same time period—see here for an example of a killer SSD—but today the company officially takes the wraps off of its latest processors for mission-critical enterprise server and pro workstation applications, the Xeon E7-8800 / 4800 v3.Like its high-end desktop processors, the Xeon E7-8800 / 4800...
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Researchers from security outfit ESET discovered that several thousand servers running Linux and BSD have unwittingly been sending out spam as a result of a previously undiscovered malware infection. This has been going on for more than 5 years, as the malware was able to stay hidden all this time due to its sophistication and because the spammers haven't been constantly infecting new machines. "We were able to identify victimized system and began the process of notifying its owners," said Lead ESET security researcher Marc-Etienne M. Léveillé. "This is not trivial, as we identified over 8500 unique IP addresses during 7 month research period! Now that the technical details about the threat are...
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Lizard Squad has been in the news quite a bit during 2014, and never for a great reason. Just this past week, the so-called 'hacker' group took down both Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation online services, and backed off to some extent when Internet legend and Mega founder Kim Dotdom intervened. Finally, after a handful of days offline, the services came back earlier this week.You might think that after causing that mess and putting a serious damper on many holidays, Lizard Squad would take a little break. I mean, at least until 2015? Nope! As 2014 comes to a close, the group has decided to unveil a service that will make any website or online service...
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Lenovo on Thursday announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire IBM's x86-based server business for $2.3 billion. The deal includes System x, BladeCenter, and Flex System blade servers and switches, x86-based Flex integrated systems, NeXtScale and iDataPlex servers, and associated software, blade networking, and maintenance operations. "This acquisition demonstrates our willingness to invest in businesses that can help fuel profitable growth and extend our PC Plus strategy," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO, Lenovo. "With the right strategy, great execution, continued innovation and a clear commitment to the x86 industry, we are confident that we can grow this business...
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Lenovo, the world's leading PC maker in terms of volume and market share, is still interested in acquiring IBM's server division. Though Lenovo's been able to grow its PC business while nearly every other OEM has seen declines in shipments the past several quarters, a move like this would expand Lenovo's product offerings into more stable territory. Citing "a source familiar with the matter," Reuters says Lenovo and IBM have resumed talks on the topic. It's worth mentioning that Lenovo had shown interest before, but the two sides couldn't come to terms on pricing last year, so an agreement was never reached. It's said IBM was looking for between $4 billion to $6 billion for its server unit, whereas...
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Google may be redefining the scope of “soup to nuts”. The company continually adds new lines of products and services, and now Google is reportedly considering getting into the server chip-designing business, too. The source is simply a “person with knowledge of the matter” that told Bloomberg that Google may design server chips using ARM-based technology. This would be a threat to Intel, which makes a good bit of money in the server market, and Google is a huge buyer. Image credit: Google Bloomberg says that Google is Intel’s fifth-largest customer and accounts for around 4.3% of the chipmaker’s revenue. Google declined to comment beyond noting that the company...
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Samsung says it's now mass producing what it claims is the most advanced DDR4 memory in the world. Built on 20nm-class process technology, Samsung's 16GB and 32GB DDR4 memory modules will find homes in enterprise servers and next-generation, large-scale data centers, the South Korean memory maker said. "The adoption of ultra-high-speed DDR4 in next-generation server systems this year will initiate a push toward advanced premium memory across the enterprise," said Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales and marketing, Samsung Electronics. "After providing cutting-edge performance with our timely supply of 16GB DDR3 earlier this year, we are continuing to extend the premium server...
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Intel unveiled a number of new data center initiatives this week as part of its broad product strategy to redefine some of its market goals. In the past, Intel's efforts in this area have boiled down to giving customers more of what they wanted, where "more" was defined as higher clock speeds or more processing cores. That's not to imply that Intel didn't do a great deal of work on software optimization, compiler tools, or CPU fabric design -- it absolutely did -- but the pitches used to be simpler, and more hardware-focused. That's changing slowly, thanks to the growing difficulty of improving microprocessors at a rapid pace (on the one hand) and the popularity of low-power solutions on the...
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According to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft is now one of just a handful of companies with a seven-digit server deployment. Speaking at the company's Worldwide Partner Conference, Ballmer claimed that Microsoft had entered rare territory and used the number as an example of how few companies really understood how to run a cloud business. According to the CEO: We have something over a million servers in our datacenter infrastructure. Google is bigger than we are. Amazon is a little bit smaller. You get Yahoo! and Facebook, and then everybody else is 100,000 units probably or less. So the number of companies that really understand the network topology, the datacenter construction, the server requirements...
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In what's sure to bring tears to tens of people, Halo 2's PC multiplayer servers are permanently going dark next month. 343 Industries made the decision to pull the plug when it noticed that usage was consistently peaking at around just 20 player or less. "We’re sad to report that the service end-date for Halo 2 PC multiplayer will be February 15, 2013. We’ve been monitoring the population for months, and it’s been peaking consistently at approximately 20 players or less. Those that own this game can continue to enjoy multiplayer over LAN after that date; however our network services will be turned off at that time. We love you, Halo 2 PC, and you will live forever in our hearts,"...
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Datacenters are known for a lot of things. Their immense size, ultra-complex configurations, noise and sometimes, how futuristic some of them are. Noise is one of the biggest factors that tops most lists, however, and that noise is caused primarily by one thing: cooling. Even on our desktops and notebooks, efficient cooling is important. Some enthusiasts spend upwards of $100 or more simply to keep their processor running at modest temperatures. Now, imagine needing to cool thousands or even tens of thousands of processors crammed together in tight spaces. You not only need efficient coolers then, but large, high-RPM fans. That equates to incredible noise and a high energy bill. It's...
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After its conference call last week, AMD is jonesing for some positive news to toss investors and is planning a major announcement on Monday to that effect. Rumor suggests that a number of statements may be coming down the pipe, including the scope of the company's layoffs, new parts based on Piledriver Opterons, and possibly an ARM server announcement. The latter would be courtesy of AMD's investment in SeaMicro. SeaMicro built its business on ultra-low power servers, and the first 64-bit ARMv8 silicon is expected in the very near future, but there's always a significant lag between chip announcements and actual shipping products. Even if AMD announces Monday, it'd be surprising to see a core...
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In the wake of Bulldozer's weak desktop launch, there was some hope that server benchmarks would redeem the chip and give AMD a fighting chance against Intel in at least one of its three core markets. Recent reviews and a comprehensive roundup of formally published results, however, indicate that while BD fares a bit better in servers, it's far from vindicated. AMD's new 6200 Opterons (Interlagos) are often a sidewise move from the older 6100 series, which is based on Magny-Cours. Interlagos is essentially trapped by the same trio of issues that cripple Bulldozer. The shared core design hurts SMP scaling; a 16-core Interlagos scales more like a 13-14 core Magny-Cours. The clock speed increases...
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Intel announced its new E-series of Xeon processors today, claiming that the new processors will deliver nearly unparalleled advances in CPU performance and power efficiency. It's been just over a year since Santa Clara released its Nehalem-based octal-core Beckton processors. Whereas Beckton was focused entirely on performance and architectural efficiency, these new Xeons are more balanced. The new chips boost the core count to ten (up to 20 threads with HT enabled) and will be offered at a wide range of TDPs... Intel Unveils 10-Core Xeons, Mission-Critical Servers...
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Intel announced its new E-series of Xeon processors today, claiming that the new processors will deliver nearly unparalleled advances in CPU performance and power efficiency. It's been just over a year since Santa Clara released its Nehalem-based octal-core Beckton processors. Whereas Beckton was focused entirely on performance and architectural efficiency, these new Xeons are more balanced. The new chips boost the core count to ten (up to 20 threads with HT enabled) and will be offered at a wide range of TDPs. Beckton Evolved: Now with two more cores and twice the RAM "Intel has been changing the economics for mission-critical computing server deployments for more than a decade, and today...
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AMD is celebrating Valentine's Day this year with a new series of Opteron processors that improve overall performance and reduce power consumption. At the high end, AMD's new highest-end 6180 SE 2.8GHz 12-core CPU is a 105W ACP (Average Power Consumption). Up until now, the 6176 SE at 2.3GHz / 105W ACP had been AMD's highest-end processor. What these launches collectively demonstrate is that AMD's 45nm Magny-Cours products are maturing as expected. It's fairly common for a CPU manufacturer to release a 125W high-end processor at launch, only to offer the same chip in a 95W power envelope after the manufacturing process is optimized further. When we asked AMD about the state of its Opteron business...
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Earlier this week we discussed new details on AMD's two next-generation cores, Bobcat and Bulldozer. AMD built the two processors to fill two distinct markets, with Bobcat focusing on netbooks/notebooks, and Bulldozer in servers, workstations, and high-end desktops. It's now rumored that AMD is investigating whether or not it could make a decent bit of scratch by launching Bobcat-powered server processors. Don't laugh—it makes more sense than you think. The server industry has embraced virtualization as a means of improving utilization and overall efficiency, but it's not the option. There are various reasons why—in some cases, high-end x86 processors chew through too much energy...
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IDC's latest report on CPU revenue and market share for Q1 2010 confirms results we saw when Intel reported its record first quarter earnings. According to the research firm, the CPU market fell just 5.6 percent from Q4 2009 to Q1 2010. Historically, CPU sales fall 8-10 percent over the same period; IDC's figures lend credence to the idea that the IT recession is beginning to break. "PC processor shipments typically decline around 7 to 8 percent going from fourth quarter to first quarter," said Shane Rau director of Semiconductors: Personal Computing research at IDC. "A decline of 5.6% is modest and wouldn't mean much by itself. However, after the huge rise in shipments we saw in the fourth quarter,...
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