Ars Technica: Dell Considers Bundling Virtualization on Motherboards

It's an interesting idea - why not put the virtual machine on the motherboard, rather than having to load an entire OS to run a virtualized one? Ars Technica reports that Dell is considering adding this to their offerings.

But on a machine that uses virtualization, a hypervisor-the thin software layer that sits between multiple "guest OSes" and the hardware in a virtualized system-will eventually run at a level lower than the OS, so why should the BIOS boot the OS first and then have the OS load the hypervisor that will then run underneath it? Why not just hand off control directly to the hypervisor, and let it handle the OS-loading?

Even better, why not put that hypervisor on a piece of flash memory and place that memory on the motherboard where the BIOS can reach it directly, and the OS and chipset never have to know what's going on? In this respect, the flash chip containing the hypervisor is kind of like a second BIOS, with its own firmware, that handles the task of loading the operating system(s).

A hypervisor in a virtual system host is not to be confused with the headgear of chief engineer Geordi LaForge.

DarkReading.com: Antivirus Tools Underperform When Tested in LinuxWorld 'Fight Club'

While the end-users are secure that Linux systems are relatively virus free, enterprise Linux/Unix users still have to take steps to ensure that their systems remain secure from even those few Unix-based virus threats. That's why this information is so disconcerting:

Only three of the antivirus tools caught and blocked all 25 viruses thrown at them. One tool caught fewer than 10 percent.

The "winners" in last night's contest were Linux tools from Kaspersky and Symantec, and the open source Clam AV. All three tools caught 100 percent of the viruses they encountered. FProt and Sophos caught 94 percent; McAfee caught 89 percent; and GlobalHauri, Fortinet, and SonicWall caught 61 percent.

To be fair, the Amish Virus (Pennsil.DTCH), which relies on the honor system for you to delete your files and programs yourself, was excluded from the test.

LoveMyTool.com

Just found this blog - which is completely "family wholesome" despite the unfortunate name - dedicated to customer testimonials of network monitoring tools. For those interested in evaluating network performance tools, this might be a very good site to check out.

PearlJam.com: Lollapalooza Webcast: Sponsored/Censored by AT&T?

The Pearl Jam performance at Lollapalooza was broadcast online by AT&T as part of its "Blue Room" promotion. But according to the band's Web site, a few lines showing disapproval of President George W. Bush's policies were removed from the broadcast. If true, it raises some serious questions about AT&T's ability and willingness to implement an alternative to a neutral net.

Aspects of censorship, consolidation, and preferential treatment of the internet are now being debated under the umbrella of "NetNeutrality." … Most telecommunications companies oppose "net neutrality" and argue that the public can trust them not to censor.

There are many advantages to a non-neutral net but the main concern is that companies such as AT&T shouldn't have the power to censor based on corporate preference - in other words, to limit the type of traffic, not the content of speech. What does this mean for AT&T and its bid for a non-neutral net? More importantly, what will it take for rock radio stations to stop playing "Alive" over and over again? (C'mon, KROX-FM… they've made other albums besides Ten since 1993!)

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