VIA technology make a lot of computing equipment, but what they are really known for is their x86 compatible low power all-in-one CPUs and chipsets. Not only are these little motherboards small enough that they can be incorporated into home cinema equipment and not look out of place, but they are also low-power and therefore often silent, so they don't sound out of place either.

They are quite powerful for their small size though. I used a Mini-ITX box first as a desktop, then as a Windows Server 2003 box and finally as a Windows XP unit for digital video recording in the lounge. With the right power supply and hard disk it was quiet as a mouse, and produced so little heat that I could put it in the cupboard without worrying about it overheating.

VIA technology make a lot of computing equipment, but what they are really known for is their x86 compatible low power all-in-one CPUs and chipsets. Not only are these little motherboards small enough that they can be incorporated into home cinema equipment and not look out of place, but they are also low-power and therefore often silent, so they don't sound out of place either.

They are quite powerful for their small size though. I used a Mini-ITX box first as a desktop, then as a Windows Server 2003 box and finally as a Windows XP unit for digital video recording in the lounge. With the right power supply and hard disk it was quiet as a mouse, and produced so little heat that I could put it in the cupboard without worrying about it overheating.

VIA technology make a lot of computing equipment, but what they are really known for is their x86 compatible low power all-in-one CPUs and chipsets. Not only are these little motherboards small enough that they can be incorporated into home cinema equipment and not look out of place, but they are also low-power and therefore often silent, so they don't sound out of place either.

They are quite powerful for their small size though. I used a Mini-ITX box first as a desktop, then as a Windows Server 2003 box and finally as a Windows XP unit for digital video recording in the lounge. With the right power supply and hard disk it was quiet as a mouse, and produced so little heat that I could put it in the cupboard without worrying about it overheating.

&otAs a fan of both Apple an Sun equipment, yesterday was something of a red-letter day for me. Sun announced the release of their new UltraSPARC T2 processor, the successor to the popular (and my personal favourite) multi-core and multi-threaded CPU.

The new T2 CPU supports 64 threads using four threads per core on an 8-core CPU. It also incorporates enhacned cryptographic acceleration (for your SSL enable websites and applications), and built-in 10GBbit Ethernet. Hopefully we'll be seeing systems using the T2 CPU that operate at the same level as the original T1-based T1000 and T2000. You can read (and watch) the announcement UltraSPARC T2 Processor. Both the T1000 and T2000 that I've used had an incredible amount of power that it was difficult, in a test environment, to maximize and measureObviously I can't wait to get one of these to test.

As a fan of both Apple an Sun equipment, yesterday was something of a red-letter day for me. Sun announced the release of their new UltraSPARC T2 processor, the successor to the popular (and my personal favorite) multi-core and multi-threaded CPU. The new T2 CPU supports 64 threads using four threads per core on an 8-core CPU. It also incorporates enhanced cryptographic acceleration (for your SSL enable websites and applications), and built-in 10GBbit Ethernet. Hopefully we'll be seeing systems using the T2 CPU that operate at the same level as the original T1-based T1000 and T2000. You can read (and watch) the announcement UltraSPARC T2 Processor. Both the T1000 and T2000 that I've used had an incredible amount of power that it was difficult, in a test environment, to maximize and measure.  Obviously I can't wait to get one of these to test.

As a fan of both Apple an Sun equipment, yesterday was something of a red-letter day for me. Sun announced the release of their new UltraSPARC T2 processor, the successor to the popular (and my personal favorite) multi-core and multi-threaded CPU. The new T2 CPU supports 64 threads using four threads per core on an 8-core CPU. It also incorporates enhanced cryptographic acceleration (for your SSL enable websites and applications), and built-in 10GBbit Ethernet. Hopefully we'll be seeing systems using the T2 CPU that operate at the same level as the original T1-based T1000 and T2000. You can read (and watch) the announcement UltraSPARC T2 Processor. Both the T1000 and T2000 that I've used had an incredible amount of power that it was difficult, in a test environment, to maximize and measure.  Obviously I can't wait to get one of these to test.

As a fan of both Apple an Sun equipment, yesterday was something of a red-letter day for me. Sun announced the release of their new UltraSPARC T2 processor, the successor to the popular (and my personal favorite) multi-core and multi-threaded CPU. The new T2 CPU supports 64 threads using four threads per core on an 8-core CPU. It also incorporates enhanced cryptographic acceleration (for your SSL enable websites and applications), and built-in 10GBbit Ethernet. Hopefully we'll be seeing systems using the T2 CPU that operate at the same level as the original T1-based T1000 and T2000. You can read (and watch) the announcement UltraSPARC T2 Processor. Both the T1000 and T2000 that I've used had an incredible amount of power that it was difficult, in a test environment, to maximize and measure.  Obviously I can't wait to get one of these to test.

I had to comment on Douglas Schweitzer's blog entry today about the coming of IPv6.

Apparently we're running out of addresses. When I was a consultant for ISPs some 15 years ago, we were told then that the IPv4 address space was running out and we'd need to move to IPv6 'soon' to resolve the issues of the rapidly disappearing finite address space offered by IPV4.

To be fair, we've addressed some of the issues that would have exhausted the space. We removed the need for the class-based addressing, and most companies of varying sizes hide their hundreds or thousands of machines behind a single public IP address using NAT and firewalls.

I had to comment on Douglas Schweitzer's blog entry today about the coming of IPv6. Apparently we're running out of addresses. When I was a consultant for ISPs some 15 years ago, we were told then that the IPv4 address space was running out and we'd need to move to IPv6 'soon' to resolve the issues of the rapidly disappearing finite address space offered by IPV4. To be fair, we've addressed some of the issues that would have exhausted the space. We removed the need for the class-based addressing, and most companies of varying sizes hide their hundreds or thousands of machines behind a single public IP address using NAT and firewalls.

I had to comment on Douglas Schweitzer's blog entry today about the coming of IPv6. Apparently we're running out of addresses. When I was a consultant for ISPs some 15 years ago, we were told then that the IPv4 address space was running out and we'd need to move to IPv6 'soon' to resolve the issues of the rapidly disappearing finite address space offered by IPV4. To be fair, we've addressed some of the issues that would have exhausted the space. We removed the need for the class-based addressing, and most companies of varying sizes hide their hundreds or thousands of machines behind a single public IP address using NAT and firewalls.