2009/07/20
TheRegister: Intel to deliver Postville in August
by Chris Mellor
Details of Intel's biggest solid-state drive so far, a 320GB part built on its 34nm process, are popping up across the web.
The current X18-M and X25-M models come in 80GB and 160GB capacities, use 2bits per cell multi-level cell (MLC) technology and are built on a 50nm process. The single-level cell (SLC - one bit per cell) technology X25-E goes faster and has 32GB and 64GB capacities.
Moving to a smaller process technology will enable more SSD dies to be made at a lower cost per die and a higher capacity. Previous reports have noted that Intel could announce doubled capacity SSDs in August and that Intel partner Micron has introduced flash chips using a 34nm process.
A Canadian RedFlagDeals technology website expects an announcement within a week and says there will be 80GB, 160GB and 320GB models. The consumer and mobile PC models will feature a 32MB wear levelling buffer, 90MB/sec sequential write performance, AES 128-bit Encryption, advanced NCQ Features with enhanced performance through status aggregation, and Advanced Smart Support, meaning improved drive statistics to monitor drive life.
Workstation and server models will additionally have a Power Safe write cache and, possibly, faster I/O speed.
RedFlagDeals suggests the 80GB models will be priced in the $276 - $261 area and says the new SSDs will be cheaper than the outgoing ones, being competitive with Samsung SSDs, and faster. Another etailing site suggests €205 for the 80GB X25-M Postville and €405 for the 160GB version, with delivery in up to ten working days.
We might expect generation 2 X25-M and X18-M 80GB, 160GB and 320GB models with 2bit MLC flash. Logically there would also be a gen 2 X25-E variant at 32GB, 64GB and now 128GB capacity levels using SLC flash. ®
InfoWorld: Microsoft vs. Apple: The battle rages on
by Robert X. Cringely
Some fights are just classics: Ali vs. Frazier. The Jedi Knights vs. The Empire. Godzilla vs. Rodan. And, of course, Microsoft vs. Apple.
Admittedly, there's been a lull in the action over the past decade. Apple essentially ceded the business PC space to Windows, while Microsoft can't make a product consumers actually want to buy no matter how many billions they throw at it. (OK, one: the Xbox. Otherwise, nada.)
Suddenly, though, they're at it hammer and tongs, just like the good old/bad old days. Who's winning? That depends on whom you ask. According to MacWorld's Dan Moren, Microsoft is "running scared":
Apple has gained a lot of traction over the past decade. The iPod pushed the company back into the mainstream, and Cupertino only continued gaining currency as Mac OS X matured and it released some of the slickest machines around. Add in Microsoft's own problems dealing with Windows XP and its less-than-stellar successor, Vista, and Microsoft has started seeming like a non-entity these days.
On the other hand, PC Advisor's Simon Jary suggests Microsoft is now winning against both Apple and Google:
Apple appears rattled. And maybe Google is a little scared now that Microsoft has announced that it is to launch free online versions of its mighty Office applications.... When things looked bleakest for Microsoft the old giant has suddenly roared back to life, and it's Apple and Google who are left looking like frightened little boys just moments after apparently slaying the beast.
My take? Well, people still buy nine Windows machines for every Mac. The big reason? As those "laptop hunters" ads [5] say, you get a lot more for your money from a Windows machine (including frustration). And the message appears to be getting through; a year ago, Apple was the No. 3 PC maker in the United States, according to IDC. Now it's slipped to No. 5.
On the other hand, Microsoft can't make a dent in Apple's stranglehold on the portable music market or touch Apple's technology lead in handsets. But worse than that, consumers love Apple the way they love puppies and ice cream. Aside from a handful of apopletic fanboys [7], people barely tolerate Microsoft. And it's only getting worse. According to VendorRate, Microsoft's customer satisfaction among IT pros dropped like rock over the past three months.
This week at Microsoft's worldwide partner confab in New Orleans, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner threw another jab at Apple, sharing this nifty little anecdote:
...two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, "Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices." They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business.
I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, "Is this a joke? Who are you?" Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we're just going to keep running them and running them and running them.
As PC World's Nick Mediati notes, Apple did drop its prices in early June, making those "laptop hunter" ads a little off target - the most likely reason Apple's legal beagles gave Turner a jingle. Even at $1,499 instead of $1,799, though, MacBooks still aren't exactly what you would call a steal.
Turner also announced Microsoft was planning to locate its own chain of retail shops in spitting distance of Apple Stores - and, when possible, right next door. That ought to make for an interesting photo op, when there's a line around the block for the next iPhone and the Microsoft store is as quiet as a church.
Microsoft competes with everyone, so it needs to worry about everyone (but mostly about Google). Apple really competes only with itself. Think about it another way: Microsoft is trying to make a comeback in public perception by picking on somebody it's already beating in its primary market by a ratio of almost 10 to 1.
So this battle is really more like Godzilla vs. Bambi. But even if Microsoft manages to squash Apple into a deer-sized pancake, it will never win the battle for the hearts and minds of consumers. Because nobody loves the big scary lizard.
CNet: Linux exploit gets around security barrier
by Tom Espiner
A security researcher has released zero-day code for a flaw in the Linux kernel, saying that it bypasses security protections in the operating system.
The source code for the exploit was made available last week by researcher Brad Spengler on the Dailydave mailing list. According to the researcher, the code exploits a vulnerability in Linux version 2.6.30, and 2.6.18, and affects both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The 2.6.18 kernel is used in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.
The exploit bypasses null pointer de-reference protection in the mainline kernel, which could allow an attacker to gain root control of a system, Spengler wrote.
It also uses arbitrary code execution to disable security features such as auditing, Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux), AppArmor and Linux Security Module, while making the applications running outside the kernel believe that SELinux is still operating.
In the notes for his source code, Spengler said the exploit is strengthened if SELinux is applied to the operating system. SELinux is a set of modifications that can be applied to the kernel to harden it, by providing a set of security policies.
"Having SELinux enabled actually weakens system security for these kinds of exploits," he wrote.
Security training organization the Sans Institute called the exploit "fascinating." In a blog post on Friday, Sans Institute incident handler Bojan Zdrnja said that the exploit uses the Linux compiler to overcome the security features.
"The compiler will introduce the vulnerability to the binary code, which didn't exist in the source code," wrote Zdrnja. "This will cause the kernel to try to read/write data from 0x00000000, which the attacker can map to userland--and this finally pwns the box."
In his notes on the source code, Spengler said that a workaround would be for administrators to compile the kernel with fno-delete-null-pointer-checks.
