Hosting

Gurunet Selects Data Return for Web Hosting

Data Return LLC (www.datareturn.com), a provider of complex managed hosting and IT operations services, today announced that it has been chosen by GuruNet Corporation, a provider of integrated online reference information, to provide managed hosting services in support of the company's core online business.

"We chose Data Return on the basis of their ability to provide high performance, stability, and reliability for the delivery of our application," said Dan Marriott, IT director at GuruNet.

"We found Data Return an excellent partner to meet our specific technical needs. Their digitalOps technology, as well as their holistic approach to supporting our custom application, should help us maintain reliable, efficient service for our customers."

GuruNet is an innovator in delivering the answers customers need without having to search through lists of search engine links. GuruNet also offers downloadable software that brings answers directly to the user's desktop.

"During our lengthy evaluation of providers, we discovered that Data Return could not only provide the scalability and reliability we demand, but they took the time to get to know us and truly care about the success of our business," said Jeff Schneiderman, CTO of GuruNet.

"We are pleased to partner with an industry innovator like GuruNet," said Sunny C. Vanderbeck, Data Return chief executive officer. "Data Return continues to differentiate itself in the market by providing the most comprehensive solution allowing our customers to concentrate on enhancing their services and growing their business."

U.S. Air Force Teams with Microsoft for Security Technology

The U.S. Air Force has entered into a multiyear enterprise agreement for Microsoft software and associated software support services. Microsoft Corp. will provide core server software, maintenance and upgrade support, while Dell Inc. (www.dell.com) will supply more than 525,000 Microsoft desktop Windows® and Office software licenses for the Air Force -- one of the world's largest single enterprise-level implementations.

Part of the service's One Air Force, One Network initiative, the agreement is intended to simplify the acquisition process while meeting demands for stringent enterprisewide cybersecurity requirements, timely distribution of software updates and enterprise configuration management.

The combined value of the contracts could total more than $500 million over a six-year period.

The services contract signed with Microsoft overhauls previously decentralized software support contracts into a single enterprisewide support agreement for the Air Force so the software system can be managed and supported much as traditional weapons systems are.

Microsoft consultants will work across the Air Force's nine major worldwide commands, developing an enterprise approach to facilitate an array of new initiatives with direct Air Force participation in testing software updates.

"By consolidating purchases of software and hardware products across its enterprise, the Air Force will be able to enhance IT operations globally through better management, policies and planning.

The Air Force's transformation initiative creates a new, increased level of cooperation, accountability and savings between the Air Force and Microsoft. It also provides the standardization that will give the service a greater ability to architect its enterprise using a more secure and consistent platform suite and eliminating inefficiencies.

Through Software Assurance, Air Force personnel are also provided with desktop licenses for use at work and home with the Home Use Program, which offers personnel the option to acquire a licensed copy of select Office desktop applications for use on a single home computer at a nominal cost.

IBM Joins AUTOSAR

IBM (www.ibm.com) announced today that it has become the newest member of the Automotive Open Systems Architecture (AUTOSAR) consortium.

AUTOSAR is a partnership of key players in the automotive, electronics and software industries dedicated to managing the complexities of rapidly increasing electronics and software technology in vehicles through the creation and adoption of globally recognized, open-standards-based platforms.

Key members of AUTOSAR besides IBM include BMW, Volkswagen, DaimlerChrysler, Bosch, Siemens and Continental Tevis among dozens of other international firms. Founded in 2002, AUTOSAR was formally launched in July 2003.

In this new environment, the digital and electronics world also brings with it new options for behavioral modeling, auto-code generation, simulation and testing as well as software asset reuse; it presents enormous opportunities to the automotive engineering community in terms of facilitating innovation and speeding embedded systems development.

To address both challenges and the opportunities, automotive suppliers today invest in research and development (R&D) at double-digit percentage levels.

"With a world that grows increasingly dependent on the functions supplied by embedded software, it's a fact that embedded software development and management is immature as compared to other engineering disciplines," said Janette Beauchamp, General Manager, IBM Global Automotive Industry.

IBM will join AUTOSAR as a Premium Member. In that capacity, IBM will both participate in and act as a leader for select working groups, such as those focusing on process, methods, architectures, standards, configuration management and transformation.

IBM is the world's largest information-technology company and a leader in helping businesses and organizations innovate. IBM and IBM Business Partners offer a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of on demand business.

Reseller ZOOM Launches Affordable Private Label Hosting

Reseller ZOOM, a dedicated provider of reseller web hosting services, hit the market this month with unbelievable prices for 100% private label hosting.

“We use a privately registered domain, anonymous server name, and anonymous nameservers so your customers will never know we exist,” says Kiet Duong, President of Hosting Zoom, Inc. “Our private label hosting allows resellers to utilize our services while reaping the benefits of a fully customized look and feel.”

Prices range from just $4.95 to $19.95 per month and offers between 2 GB and 8 GB of web space, 20 GB and 80 GB of monthly data transfer allowing you to create unlimited accounts. All new clients get the first month for just $1. Resellers can also request custom plans.

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Jingle Bells, C I Host's

Just like Santa Clause coming down the chimney and putting gifts under the tree, C I Host's "eBusiness in a Box" will keep putting money in your pockets even while you are asleep.

With a professional eCommerce web site, your customers can keep buying your products 24-7, boosting your bottom line while you run your business - or sleep!

All wrapped up and tied with a bow, "eBusiness in a Box" gives you a custom-designed web site with an online shopping system, domain registration and web hosting for a year - all for $349.

"We know how important it is for small and medium sized businesses to have the top quality, reliable and flexible Internet tools," said Christopher Faulkner, CEO of C I Host. "We take the hassle out of creating an online business presence so our customers can do what they do best - run their businesses."

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Sun Releases Solaris 10 for Free

In an effort to win back some lost market share, Sun Microsystems (sun.com) released Solaris 10, the latest version of the company's Unix-based operating system software, for free on Monday.

The company hopes the price will result in a return of demand for Sun servers and services. Sun plans to charge subscription fees for support and service programs designed for the scale of customer Sun usually serves.

Sun also hopes that, in addition to new customers, the new free Solaris 10 release will invigorate the development of software designed to run on the Solaris platform.

According to Sun, the new version of the software incorporates $500 million worth of development, and includes more than 600 new features. The company has also promised to make the source code for the software available through an open source license.

The software is reportedly scheduled for release to the market at the end of January.

ICANN Accepting .net Proposals

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (icann.org) is expected to formally request proposals for the management of the .net domain framework Friday. Currently overseen by VeriSign Inc., which also controls the .com framework, the contract for .net management will expire on June 30 and several companies are rushing to compete for future contracts.

"Thirty-seven of the top 100 Web sites rely on .net, and about 37 percent of all e-commerce relies on .net to get to its destination," says Tom Galvin, VP of government relations for VeriSign. "It's vitally important that a year from now .net runs at least as well as, or better than, it's running now."

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Name Intelligence Offers Free Domain Name Lock Monitoring Service

Name Intelligence, is making available, for free, a suite of domain name tools available to help registrants watch their domain names, in an effort to protect against the negative impacts of a new ICANN domain transfer policy change which puts domain registrants at risk of losing their name if they are not locked and monitored closely.

Many Domain Name registrants and domain managers are not aware of a loophole in the updated ICANN domain name transfer policy (going into effect 11/12/2004) which could allow someone to transfer your domain away from your registrar without consent.

If you own one or more domain names, you need to be aware that those domain names are potentially exposed to unauthorized transfer under a new ICANN policy.

"People are not aware of the magnitude of the impact of this policy change and what it means to domain name registrants. Names that are not registrar-locked are at risk.", said Jerome Gagner, Senior Developer at Name Intelligence. "Previously, a registrant's name would be safe from someone taking it away from them, because a transfer simply could not happen without their explicit approval. The new policy makes transfers require that the current registrant explicitly decline the request. If the current registrant fails to decline the transfer, the transfer will go through. "

"Whois Source has always maintained free tools to aid domain managers in their efforts as a public service to the internet community. We encourage people who use the site to contribute via upgrade to the paid subscription model, as it allows our organization to improve the services we offer – clearly this costs us money to operate, yet I am passionate about having useful resources available at no cost, and I am also passionate about not hounding the free member base to upgrade." adds Westerdal.

Gartner to Host Web Hosting Data Center Conference

Gartner Inc. (www.gartner.com), a research and analysis company, announced that it would hold its 23rd Annual Data Center Conference from November 30 to December 2, 2004, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Over 1,300 data center executives are expected to attend the conference, which will offer over 40 sessions devoted to assisting companies in developing the right strategy for a successful data center.

Seminar topics include: business continuity and disaster recovery, running a 24/7 operation, storage and server consolidation, and the appropriate technologies and ideal practices for the greatest gains from data center consolidation projects. Don Tapscott, a tech guru and author, and Dr. Robert M. Gates, a former CIO direct, are among the guest speakers of the event. Tapscott present his views of “the most crucial change in corporate architecture in a century – the emergence of business webs.” Gates will concentrate current complex security issues based on his nearly 27 years of service under six presidents and as a director of major companies

Hurricane Electric Hosts Second Perl Seminar

Hurricane Electric (www.he.net), a provider of co-location and web hosting services, announced on November 1, 2004 that it will host “Intermediate Perl”, a second seminar of a two-part series devoted to Perl programming. The seminar will take place on November 20, 2004 in Fremont, California. The first seminar “Learning Perl” was held a month ago. The seminar will be lead by Randal L. Schwartz, a software industry veteran and author of many books on Perl programming. “Intermediate Perl”, intended for those who have completed “Learning Perl” and will be focused on advanced data structures and will demonstrate to participants how to keep their programs running smoothly, even when they pass the 100-lines of code barrier. Seminar participants will get a free month of co-location services at Hurricane Electric. Current Hurricane Electric customers will get a 50 percent discount of the seminar fee, which is set at $199.