Glo Networks Technical Blog (Glo Blog)

Core Parking is a new feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 designed to cut energy usage without impacting on system performance.

Made for systems with multi-core processors, it is able to reduce energy consumption by moving all processing to just a few of the cores (or even just one) if they are able to handle the load, and putting the other cores into a ‘Parked’ or inactive state. While in this parked state the cores use less energy but are still ready to resume normal use pretty much instantly!

The energy savings when dealing with systems with 2-4 cores will not be too dramatic, however with more cores (Server 2008 supports up to 256 cores!) this could soon add up.

Posted by James in Desktops and Laptops, Operating Systems, Operating Systems, Servers | No Comments »

Apple have released a big update today with a whole range of fixes including one for the new late 2009 iMac’s video and performance issue, the update is 500MB do you might want to start downloading it.

Full details of the update can be found here

This is Apple’s first big update for Snow Leopard taking the version to 10.6.2 with more than 30 fixes in the list, we have already downloaded and installed it on our own Mac’s with no issues so far.

Posted by Dave in Desktops and Laptops, Operating Systems | 1 Comment »

As you may have heard Windows 7 has now launched, With Windows 7 comes a new Remote Desktop Client which has a lot of new features, the main ones you might be interested in are -

• Bidirectional Audio – You can redirect audio recording devices such as microphones on the client computer.
• Multiple Monitor Support – With the new Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services now has support for up to 16 monitors.
• Enhanced Video Playback – Bitmap acceleration improves graphics-intensive applications such as powerpoint, flash and silverlight.

You can find a full list of the changes and the download for Windows XP (SP3) and Windows Vista here

This new Remote Desktop Client is mainly to work with the new Remote Desktop Services (formally known as Terminal Services) of the new Windows Server 2008 R2 but can also be used to connect to remote Windows 7 computers whether it is phyiscal computer or a virtual one running on Server 2008 R2 Hyper-v host.

Posted by Dave in Desktops and Laptops, Operating Systems | No Comments »

As you may have already heard  Microsoft launched their brand new client OS (oprerating system)  today, indeed Windows 7 is now officialy on sale to both businesses and the general public.

As Glo Networks were lucky enough to take part in the Beta testing of the product we have had  loads of experience with it. Throughout the Beta and RC stages we have been very impressed with the OS and are very pleased with the final product.  We feel the pricing of the product is a great deal and would higly reccomend this OS to anyone.

For anyone upgrading to Windows 7 from Windows Vista the process should be very smooth as Windows 7 has been designed with this compatability in mind, however for Windows XP users wishing to upgrade a sytem rebuild will be required.

We would be more than happy to offer our advice on the new product, please do not hesitate to contact us for more info!

Posted by James in Desktops and Laptops, Operating Systems | No Comments »

Earlier this week there was an anouncment made in a Microsoft Technet blog from the Windows Server Division. The post is about the support lifecycle changes for Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003, planned for next year.

The key points made in this post are as follows:

• Extended Support for Windows 2000 Server will end on July 13, 2010
• Also on July 13, 2010, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 will move from the Mainstream Support phase to the Extended Support phase.
• There will be no further Service Packs for Windows Server 2003

As you can probably guess this essentialy means Microsoft are scaling back the support available for both of the products, no surprise really as they have newer operating systems on the market (Windows Server 2008 is now available).

Windows Server 2000 will no longer be publicly supported, the only help available after the cut off will be Self-Help Online Support (Knowledge Base articles, FAQs, troubleshooting tools).

Windows Server 2003 is moving to what they call Extended Support, this means that Microsoft support is only available if paid for, either by buying a support contract or on a per-incident basis. During Extended Support security updates will continue to be released publicly however hotfixes will only be available to customers who have a Premier support contract.

We at Glo Networks see this as one more reason to move away from these older operating systems, our advise to any who may still be using either OS is to seriously consider upgrading before July 2010. If you would like any further information and/or advise please do not hesitate to contact us.

Should you be interested the original post can be found here :

http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/archive/2009/09/15/support-changes-coming-july-2010-for-windows-2000-server-and-windows-server-2003.aspx

Posted by James in Operating Systems | No Comments »