Who's That?

Despite a bevy of laws designed to protect consumers, identity theft is a major problem that doesn’t show any signs of abating. Preventing identity theft is the ideal solution, but many companies are more focused on complying with regulations than with actually protecting data. At the same time, consumers could do more to minimize the damage after data losses. According to security experts, breach notification laws have little affect because many consumers ignore letters notifying them that their data has been compromised.

1. Network World describes research concerning the impact of breach-notification laws. (Click Here)

Related Links

1. In a separate article, Network World reports on the Federal Trade Commission’s plan to collect survey data from people who have reported identity theft. (Click Here)
2. The Open Security Foundation maintains a website devoted to chronicling data-loss incidents. (Click Here)

Remote Office Options

If you need to support users in remote locations such as hotel rooms and home offices, you have a wealth of solutions to choose from. However, if you’re responsible for supporting larger remote locations, such as a warehouse across town or retail facility on the other side of the continent, you know that users in such situations need more than a laptop and a wireless Internet connection. Typically, a remote location has a group of employees needing access to corporate data and applications, as well as standard PC tools such as email and word processing. However, such locations seldom have any on-site IT staff. In such situations, products that simplify infrastructure and tools that let you mange the IT environment remotely may make the difference between a good night’s sleep or an on-site visit to resolve a crisis.

1. InformationWeek provides a rundown of key technologies for remote locations — some to investigate and some to avoid. (Click Here)

Related Links

1. Computerworld reviews three online office suites. (Click Here)

Unintended Consequences

Somehow it seems hard to believe that anybody created copyright laws with the intention to make it difficult for librarians and other archivists to preserve information. However, that’s exactly what’s happening according to an extensive report by the Library of Congress. Although libraries have special privileges under copyright laws, those rights don’t address the realities of digital media. For example, libraries cannot copy information into digital format as long as it’s possible to access the original format. That means phonograph records can’t be archived to digital media because record players are still readily available for purchase. The result is that copyrighted materials become less accessible to library patrons and the original information (e.g., an audio tape) may deteriorate before it can be preserved.

1. Ars Technica provides highlights of the Library of Congress report and a link to the report itself. (Click Here)

The Greening of the Data Center

From greener cars to greener buildings, American businesses are embracing solutions that save money while reducing environmental damage. For a data center, energy usage is the obvious place to begin your green initiatives. If you’re building a new data center, you’re probably being bombarded with solutions that claim to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental damage. However, even if major changes aren’t an option, you can do lots of things to reduce energy requirements, and you can reap improvements simply by changing policies. For example, consider raising the temperature in the computer room a degree or two, or turning off servers when they’re not in use — current equipment isn’t nearly as sensitive to such changes as its predecessors. If you need to purchase new equipment to implement your energy savings, you may be able to mitigate the costs by reducing the electricity usage in your data center.

1. An OReilly.com interview explores factors affecting data center power usage. (Click Here)

Related Links

1. In early 2008, News.com published a summary of two surveys that evaluated efforts to reduce energy usage for data centers. (Click Here)
2. IBM maintains a website devoted to improving data center energy efficiency. (Click Here)
3. A new Redpaper (still in draft format at press time) details how IBM Systems Director Active Energy Manager can control electricity utilization for POWER6 systems. (Click Here)
4. Data Center Knowledge reports that the federal government has recruited more than 200 companies to participate in its data center power-usage survey. (Click Here)

Sharon L. Hoffman is a System iNEWS senior technical editor. She began working with IBM midrange systems in 1981, and her background includes extensive application development as well as creation and delivery of technical education.