Managing servers and operating systems
Get our news and technical advice on datacentre infrastructure, including how to make server hardware choices, using server management tools and how to select operating systems to create an energy-efficient, low-cost data centre environment. We cover rack-mount servers, blade servers, mainframe and Unix servers, Windows Server, Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, other operating systems and more.
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News
18 Nov 2024
AWS widening scope of MFA programme after early success
AWS reports strong take-up of multi-factor authentication among customers since making it compulsory for root users earlier this year, and plans to expand the scope of its IAM programme in spring 2025 Continue Reading
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News
16 Oct 2024
Half of business IT deemed outdated
Combining survey data with its own monitoring service, Kyndryl has estimated that half of the world’s most critical infrastructure is not resilient Continue Reading
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Definition
31 Oct 2024
What is an operating system (OS)?
An operating system (OS) is the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a boot program, manages all the other application programs in a computer. Continue Reading
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News
16 Oct 2024
Half of business IT deemed outdated
Combining survey data with its own monitoring service, Kyndryl has estimated that half of the world’s most critical infrastructure is not resilient Continue Reading
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Definition
01 Oct 2024
What is a real-time operating system (RTOS)?
A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an OS that guarantees real-time applications a certain capability within a specified deadline. Continue Reading
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News
17 Sep 2024
Barclays takes on more GreenLake
Barclays has ramped up its HPE-powered private cloud, as it continues to modernise IT and reduce its carbon footprint Continue Reading
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Tip
16 Aug 2024
User mode vs. kernel mode: OSes explained
Kernel mode exists to keep user applications from disrupting critical system functions. Learn how each state works and what can happen when an error occurs in kernel mode. Continue Reading
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News
16 Aug 2024
Game development tech being keenly adopted by enterprises in other industries, research shows
Perforce research shows how enterprises in all sorts of sectors are tapping into the use of game development tools and technologies to unlock innovation Continue Reading
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Definition
01 Aug 2024
What is a kernel?
A kernel is the essential foundation of a computer's operating system (OS). It's the core that provides basic services for all other parts of the OS. Continue Reading
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News
31 Jul 2024
Norway’s datacentre builders focus on energy efficiency
Datacentre developers in Norway are shifting their focus to energy efficiency, with expected increases in taxation for those who fall short Continue Reading
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News
24 Jun 2024
Macquarie Cloud debuts Australia-first hybrid offering
Macquarie Flex brings Azure services to a broader set of workloads that are not suited to run natively on public cloud Continue Reading
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Feature
10 May 2024
How to manage data privacy versus the growing grab bag of requirements
With a single worldwide approach to data privacy politically untenable, how can organisations best pick and mix what works for them? Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2024
Currys signs up Microsoft and Accenture to modernise IT
IT modernisation programme covers datacentre migration to Azure cloud and roll-out of AI to boost shopping experience Continue Reading
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News
23 Apr 2024
Enterprise AI: Free, premium or a bolt-on?
SaaS providers will have to offer AI in their product mix. But they need to make a huge upfront investment in AI infrastructure, which impacts revenue Continue Reading
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News
10 Apr 2024
Breakthrough may herald secure home quantum computing
An emerging approach to quantum security dubbed blind quantum computing may one day help spur mass adoption of quantum computing safely and securely, using technology that is already available today Continue Reading
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Podcast
25 Mar 2024
Cloud Native Computing: A Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast
We speak to Priyanka Sharma, the executive director of the Cloud Native Computing Forum about having blind faith in tech innovation Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2024
Nutanix CEO: VMware customers ‘not in a happy place’
Company CEO Rajiv Ramaswami claims VMware customers have doubts about whether VMware will be the right long-term platform for them, singling out those that have made the switch to Nutanix Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Mar 2024
Tips to improve IT sustainability
With every business function being asked to look closely at their carbon footprint, we look at ways to achieve greener IT operations Continue Reading
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News
15 Mar 2024
Global McDonalds IT outage result of third-party error
An IT outage that forced McDonald's to temporarily shutter thousands of restaurants has been blamed on a configuration error by a third-party supplier, but there is no suspicion of foul play Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2024
Meta outage disrupts social media globally
Meta services, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads, have been downed in a brief service outage Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2024
Dutch organisations start building a federated European cloud
The ‘European cloud services in an open federated ecosystem’ (ECOFED) project is co-funded by the Dutch government and will run from 2024 to 2027 Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Mar 2024
Forrester: Tips for assessing hybrid cloud management
Cloud-native works for new workloads, but legacy IT needs a different approach, which is why IT leaders rely on hybrid cloud deployments Continue Reading
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News
20 Feb 2024
HM Treasury signs AWS hosting environment management deal with Keysource
HM Treasury has enlisted datacentre management services provider to help operate the AWS environment used to host cross-government spending data system Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Feb 2024
The rising prominence of hybrid cloud in the Nordics
Many Nordic organisations have opted for hybrid cloud environments, subscribing to the newest services without giving up what they already have. Best practices are beginning to emerge for managing the heterogenous environment Continue Reading
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Definition
25 Jan 2024
Google ChromeOS
Google ChromeOS, formerly Chrome OS, is a lightweight operating system (OS) built on ChromiumOS, an open source OS that shares the same code base as ChromeOS. Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Dec 2023
A rundown of server hardware vendors and the server options
Discover and compare the leading vendors in server hardware with these in-depth overviews of the blade, rack and mainframe computers available to see which may be best for you. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Nov 2023
Waste not, want not: How datacentre heat reuse projects can power ahead
The Nordics, Netherlands, Germany and Canada are progressing district heating initiatives that save energy and emissions, although obstacles remain Continue Reading
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Opinion
28 Nov 2023
Uncertainty lingers with Broadcom’s VMware acquisition
Large enterprises with complex VMware environments are looking to de-risk their businesses from potential changes resulting from the Broadcom-VMware deal Continue Reading
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News
20 Nov 2023
Datacentres denied: West London server farm dispute prompts calls for UK planning system reform
The government is under fire after dismissing a datacentre development in west London despite soaring demand for capacity - but how can we balance new development with protecting the UK’s green spaces? Continue Reading
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News
02 Nov 2023
UK government pledges £225m to fund University of Bristol AI supercomputer build with HPE
The University of Bristol’s much-hyped AI supercomputer has secured hundreds of millions in government funding, and HPE has been confirmed as the project’s technology provider Continue Reading
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News
20 Oct 2023
Belgian researchers raise speed limit in European datacentres
Researchers have developed a prototype of an optical receiver that will help datacentres process data at a much higher rate Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Oct 2023
Why the human factor is critical to ITOps success
Digitisation often means deploying software at pace. Along with tooling, IT leaders need to consider skills and training Continue Reading
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News
22 Sep 2023
How ready does the world need to be for the quantum era?
Great use cases may exist for quantum computing, but no one knows for sure how long they will need to wait for a production-ready machine Continue Reading
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News
21 Sep 2023
Cisco snaps up Splunk in $28bn application observability deal
The acquisition builds out Cisco’s observability portfolio, with AI-based full-stack observability for hybrid cloud environments Continue Reading
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News
20 Sep 2023
Datacentre operators ‘hesitant’ over how to proceed with server farm builds as AI hype builds
As the hype surrounding artificial intelligence enters a new phase with the rising enterprise and hyperscale interest in generative AI, operators are not sure how to proceed with new datacentre builds, it is claimed Continue Reading
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News
07 Sep 2023
Node4 helps performing arts charity revamp staff home working setup with IT infrastructure overhaul
Managed cloud services provider Node4 opens up about the work it has done to help make it easier for one of its long-standing clients to embrace remote working Continue Reading
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Podcast
01 Sep 2023
Digital service: A Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast
We speak to Harmeen Mehta, chief digital innovation officer at BT, about service management in digital transformation Continue Reading
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News
12 Aug 2023
Datacentre management vulnerabilities leave public clouds at risk
At the annual DEF CON hacking convention, researchers from Trellix have disclosed multiple vulnerabilities in key datacentre products underpinning the world’s public cloud infrastructure Continue Reading
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News
31 Jul 2023
SUSE takes aim at Red Hat in Linux, Kubernetes play
SUSE CEO Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen outlines strategy to capture the Kubernetes opportunity and offer enterprises an alternative to RHEL following Red Hat’s decision to limit access to RHEL source code Continue Reading
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Definition
14 Jul 2023
System Restore (Windows)
System Restore is a Microsoft Windows utility designed to protect and revert the operating system (OS) to a previous state. Continue Reading
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Definition
22 Jun 2023
Linux swappiness
Linux swappiness is a kernel parameter that determines how aggressively the Linux virtual machine (VM) swaps pages between memory and the swap space on the system's disk. Continue Reading
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News
16 Jun 2023
Lenovo ups ante on AI infrastructure investments
Lenovo is investing $1bn over three years to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure offerings, including services to help organisations deploy and tap AI capabilities in a responsible manner Continue Reading
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News
18 May 2023
Inside MLC Life Insurance’s cloud journey
The Australian insurer spent a fair amount of time addressing people-related challenges in its move to cloud, which has improved its security posture and reduced infrastructure spending, among other outcomes Continue Reading
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Feature
15 May 2023
Automation: The key to FinOps success
Workload management and automation offers a way for FinOps teams to match supply to demand for cloud-based IT in an efficient way Continue Reading
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Opinion
04 May 2023
The changing role of infrastructure and operations
I&O leaders will need to automate for efficiency, manage customer requirements, optimise cloud operations and explore new technologies to improve services and enable innovation Continue Reading
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News
20 Apr 2023
SDIA applauds EU-led push to make datacentres reuse waste heat and report environmental data
The European Parliament and European Council have finalised the text of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which will see datacentre operators in member states forced to publicly disclose more environmental data and pressured to reuse their site's waste heat Continue Reading
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News
13 Apr 2023
How Agoda is shaping up to be a technology powerhouse
Agoda’s CTO Idan Zalzberg explains why the online travel agency with a massive technology footprint prefers to run things in-house and not rely too much on public cloud services Continue Reading
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Definition
03 Apr 2023
Windows NT
Windows NT was a family of operating systems (OS) developed by Microsoft for personal computers and servers. Continue Reading
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News
30 Mar 2023
Climate change vs technology: Study suggests tech investments could mitigate environmental risks
Bloomberg Media report, sponsored by investment firm Mubadala, highlights human impacts of various industry megatrends, including climate change and technology adoption Continue Reading
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News
28 Mar 2023
BNP Paribas moves to Swedish datacentre in high-performance computing strategy
BNP Paribas is moving data-intensive workloads to a Swedish datacentre to increase capacity while reducing its carbon footprint Continue Reading
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E-Zine
28 Mar 2023
Is TikTok really a security threat to your business?
In this week’s Computer Weekly, with the UK government becoming the latest administration to ban TikTok, we ask whether the controversial social media app is really a security threat to enterprises. Technology guru Bruce Schneier tells us about the need to take back control of AI and the personal data it relies on. And we look at how firms are trying – and failing – to make AI work for online content moderation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
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News
23 Mar 2023
GDS goes serverless to bring personalisation to online government services with One Login
GDS has opened up about the reasons why it’s opted for a serverless infrastructure to underpin One Login, and how it hopes the system will provide UK citizens with a more personalised experience Continue Reading
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News
07 Mar 2023
Mobile operator Three cuts datacentre cooling energy usage through EkkoSense deployment
Mobile operator Three enlisted the help of EkkoSense to reduce the amount of energy used to cool four of its legacy datacentres as part of a cost- and carbon-cutting initiative Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2023
How Dell is future-proofing its business
Dell Technologies is building a more resilient supply chain, investing in growth areas like edge and multicloud, and responding to shifts in consumption models to position itself for long-term growth Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Feb 2023
Green tech and the private sector: How the UK government will hit its 2050 net-zero emissions goal
The UK government is targeting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but it will need the private sector’s help and its appetite for investing in green technologies to meet its goal Continue Reading
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Definition
14 Feb 2023
crontab
Crontab is a Unix command that creates a table or list of commands, each of which is to be executed by the operating system (OS) at a specified time and on a regular schedule. Continue Reading
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Definition
13 Feb 2023
cache server
A cache server is a dedicated network server or service acting as a server that saves webpages or other internet content locally. Continue Reading
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News
07 Feb 2023
Research: Server farm size influences how concerned UK firms are with datacentre energy efficiency
ASUS research highlights differing attitudes towards datacentre energy efficiency by UK firms depending on how big their server farm estate is Continue Reading
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News
06 Feb 2023
Ransomware operator turns their fire on two-year-old VMware bug
A vulnerability in VMware ESXi servers that users should have patched in 2021 is now being exploited to spread ransomware Continue Reading
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News
27 Jan 2023
Deci claims breakthrough inference performance on Intel Sapphire Rapids
Israeli startup Deci claims GPU-like performance in running computer vision and natural language processing models on Intel’s fourth-generation Xeon processors Continue Reading
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News
26 Jan 2023
CEF selects HPE Greenlake to build out digitisation strategy
The electrical wholesaler plans to migrate to Equinix datacentres and use Greenlake to run IT services in the cloud Continue Reading
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Definition
14 Dec 2022
default
In computer technology, a default is a pre-designed value or setting that is used by a computer program when a value or setting is not specified by the program user. Continue Reading
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Definition
13 Dec 2022
AS/400 (IBM iSeries, AS/400e, eServer iSeries/400, Power Systems)
The IBM Application System/400 -- or AS/400 -- is a family of midrange computers that was released in 1988, succeeding both System/36 and System/38 platforms. Continue Reading
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News
05 Dec 2022
How HashiCorp is driving cloud provisioning and management
HashiCorp CEO Dave McJannet talks up how the company is supporting cloud provisioning in a hybrid environment and its investments in Asia-Pacific to capitalise on the region’s growth potential Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Nov 2022
Expensive datacentre outages: Untangling messy collaborations, contributing costs and complexity
Even if outages in the datacentre are trending down, Uptime data this year traces rising costs per outage. So what can be done? Continue Reading
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News
02 Nov 2022
OpenSSL vulnerabilities ‘not as bad as feared’
As previously trailed, OpenSSL patched two buffer overflow vulnerabilities, neither of them as impactful as had been feared Continue Reading
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News
28 Oct 2022
Singapore’s met service to get new supercomputer
The Meteorological Service Singapore is getting a new Cray supercomputer to improve weather forecasting and tropical climate research Continue Reading
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News
19 Oct 2022
Gartner: Hero CIOs are needed again to save businesses
During the pandemic, IT enabled businesses to remain operational. As the economic crisis worsens, business executives are once again reaching out to CIOs Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Sep 2022
Carbon copies: How to stop data retention from killing the planet
Our society has a serious digital hoarding problem, which is coming at a cost to the environment. But what can be done to address it? Continue Reading
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Opinion
19 Aug 2022
IT Sustainability Think Tank: Why IT and procurement teams must work together to go green
It takes a village to build a credible and robust IT sustainability strategy, so who should enterprises be collaborating with to make their green IT goals a reality? Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Aug 2022
Icelandic datacentres may lead the way to green IT
Iceland may soon become even more attractive to companies wanting to minimise their carbon footprint while using high-performance computing services Continue Reading
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News
08 Aug 2022
Internet giants in favour as Ireland tightens rules on datacentres
Irish premier Michael Martin has insisted its temporary squeeze on datacentre construction is not a moratorium on the industry Continue Reading
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Podcast
05 Aug 2022
Podcast: How storage AIOps is revolutionising hybrid cloud ops
We talk to Tintri about storage and AIOps, which is the application of AI and machine learning-based software to monitor storage infrastructure to be able to detect patterns and predict failure, the need to upgrade, and so on Continue Reading
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Blog Post
04 Aug 2022
Why computational power is no longer limitless
China’s military exercises in the Taiwan Strait are set to have an immediate effect on global supply chains. China has effectively established an air and sea blockade around Taiwan and the world’s ... Continue Reading
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Definition
02 Aug 2022
POST (Power-On Self-Test)
A Power-On Self-Test (POST) is an operation initiated by a computer after it has been turned on but before it boots up the OS. Continue Reading
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News
29 Jul 2022
‘We must do better’ says Gelsinger on Intel’s latest results
Chipmaker has reported a massive decline across its major business divisions Continue Reading
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News
27 Jul 2022
Microsoft anticipates $3.3bn savings by extending server life
Thanks to new software tools and better hardware, Microsoft plans to upgrade servers and network equipment every six years Continue Reading
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News
21 Jul 2022
Four key need-to-knows about CXL
Compute Express Link will pool multiple types of memory and so allow much higher memory capacities and the possibility of rapidly composable infrastructure to meet the needs of varied workloads Continue Reading
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News
12 Jul 2022
Schneider Electric reinforces commitment to addressing datacentre skills gap with new courses
Datacentre energy management company is adding more courses to its free online training portal to help close industry skills gap Continue Reading
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News
04 Jul 2022
How Lenovo is making the transition into services
Although Lenovo is late to the as-a-service game, it is making headway through its One Lenovo and services-led transformation strategies, says a top company executive Continue Reading
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Definition
30 Jun 2022
CONFIG.SYS
CONFIG.SYS is a text file containing disk operating system (DOS) commands that tell the operating system (OS) how the computer is initially set up. Continue Reading
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Definition
28 Jun 2022
distributed applications (distributed apps)
Distributed applications (distributed apps) are applications or software that run on multiple computers within a network at the same time and can be stored on servers or cloud computing platforms. Continue Reading
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Definition
16 Jun 2022
z/OS
Introduced in 2000, IBM z/OS is a 64-bit mainframe operating system (OS) developed by IBM for its family of enterprise z/Architecture mainframe computers. Continue Reading
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News
13 Jun 2022
The inauguration of LUMI: Europe's most powerful supercomputer launches
A former paper mill in Finland is now home to the world's third most powerful supercomputer, which will help researchers across Europe accelerate their scientific breakthroughs in the fields of climate change and medicine Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Jun 2022
AWS and startups: Using accelerator programmes to help enterprises address their pain points
The early days of Amazon Web Services saw its public cloud technologies keenly adopted by the startup community. Now the company is continuing its support for this customer sector by rolling out its accelerator programmes Continue Reading
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Opinion
11 Apr 2022
Building distributed systems requires effective developer teams
Technologies edge computing and containerisation call for teams capable of building distributed systems Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Apr 2022
The role of infrastructure as code in edge datacentre computing
As datacentre computing is pushed to the edge of the organisation’s network, IT has to address the overheads associated with remote server management Continue Reading
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News
04 Apr 2022
Environmental campaigners halt Meta datacentre construction in the Netherlands
Datacentre being built to serve ‘metaverse’ worlds would consume nearly half as much energy as all other datacentres in the country Continue Reading
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News
29 Mar 2022
Rising energy costs blamed as UK arm of colocation firm Sungard AS enters administration
Financial difficulties caused by downturn in demand for its services during the pandemic, coupled with ‘unprecedented’ energy price rises, force Sungard AS into administration in the UK Continue Reading
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News
25 Mar 2022
Telehouse’s takeover of Thomson Reuters Docklands datacentre brings more colo capacity to London
Telehouse has hailed the buildout of its fifth datacentre in the London Docklands area as its most ambitious development to date Continue Reading
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Definition
23 Mar 2022
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is an enterprise Linux operating system (OS) developed by Red Hat for the business market. Continue Reading
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Opinion
17 Mar 2022
Monitoring performance in a hybrid cloud world
The growing use of cloud demands a new breed of monitoring and observability tools to keep track of how cloud-native applications and services perform Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Mar 2022
A waste of energy: Dealing with idle servers in the datacentre
Servers can be the slackers of the datacentre, consuming power without doing much work. Why not whip them into shape? Continue Reading
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News
09 Mar 2022
Public sector warned about ‘environmentally unsustainable’ SSD disposal processes
Research from data sanitisation firm Blancco shines a light on the costly and contradictory stance that government IT managers have when it comes to disposing of old solid state drives Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Mar 2022
Why post-pandemic reskilling must focus on mainframes
A major contributing factor to UK-wide skills shortages is the significant number of people who have left the workforce since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Mar 2022
Decarbonising datacentres: Turning the hot air about heat reuse into real-life use cases
Reusing waste heat from datacentres to warm local businesses and homes could bring about considerable reductions in carbon emissions and lower energy costs, so what needs to happen to make this a more widespread practice? Continue Reading
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News
28 Feb 2022
British Airways outage: Airline cancels weekend short-haul flights due to ‘technical issues’
Passengers due to fly with British Airways on Saturday 26 February were faced with flight cancellations and baggage handling issues because of unspecified ‘technical issues’ Continue Reading
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News
21 Feb 2022
Website owners urged to adopt ‘eco-standard’ to help cut internet-generated carbon emissions
The Eco-Friendly Web Alliance has set its sights on preventing a further 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide being generated in the next decade by helping website operators to cut emissions Continue Reading
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News
16 Feb 2022
Interview: How do you define IBM?
It is the world’s oldest computer company, and it was once said you didn’t get fired for buying from Big Blue. But a lot has changed. Sreeram Visvanathan, CEO for UK&I, explains how IBM is reinventing itself Continue Reading
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News
16 Feb 2022
Uptime Institute to help financial services organisations reduce infrastructure outage risks
Datacentre resiliency think-tank is launching a programme to help financial services organisations reduce the risk of outages happening within their hybrid infrastructure setups Continue Reading
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News
15 Feb 2022
Nebulon gets Ansible collection for datacentre deployment
Provider of cloud-managed and hardware-accelerated – formerly ‘cloud-defined’ – storage makes further moves towards its smartInfrastructure vision, with Terraform support coming Continue Reading
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Definition
09 Feb 2022
Unix
Unix -- trademarked as UNIX -- is a multiuser, multitasking operating system (OS) designed for flexibility and adaptability. Continue Reading