Sun Asset Connection Demonstration on Fresh Tools

IT Asset Management (ITAM) enables organizations to save money and create a better performing environment. Managing hardware assets in complex and geographically dispersed operating environments is a daunting, but increasingly necessary, undertaking. For example, reducing costs through server consolidation is popular, but you'll first need to know the number, type, and location of installed systems, plus the applications running on these systems, and any software licenses attached.

Other ITAM needs include negotiating software contracts, improving total cost of ownership, developing service level agreements, chargebacks, obsoleting end-of-life equipment, and more.

On My Sun Connection, you'll find a demo of the Sun Asset Connection in the Fresh Tools tab. The Sun Asset Connection helps systems managers track and report Solaris, UNIX, Linux, Windows, Mac and AS400 hardware, plus identify the installed base of software, too.

Here's an example from the demo, a pie chart showing operating systems distribution:

Clicking on any segment (representing an OS) displays details for the machines in that group. You can view DNS hostname, make and model, asset tag and serial number (important information required by most vendors when requesting support), and more.

Give the Sun Asset Connection demo a try, and as always, we're very interested in your feedback.

New Content and Features Available

We've made improvements to My Sun Connection with new content and features. On the home tab, the My Downloads portlet now lists Related Links first, followed by Sun Blogs and Forums. This change helps you to locate important product resources more easily, such as the home page, documentation, and available support options.

The home tab has three new additions, the Sun of Interest, Upcoming Events, and Bookmarks portlets. Use Sun of Interest to read customer testimonials and case studies, and learn about promotions for training, products, and services. Upcoming Events shows technology conferences and field events with Sun participation and sponsorship, such as the International Supercomputer Conference ISC2006.

With Bookmarks, you can easily locate commonly-accessed Sun web sites for training, support, downloads, and more. Better yet, you can add bookmarks to your favorite web sites, and edit or delete the default bookmarks shown.

We've added a Communities tab to feature relevant social networks for developers and system administrators. Here, you can find the most recent news, features / articles, and message of the day from the BigAdmin community for Sun system administrators. You can directly subscribe to this content using RSS, and automatically receive the latest updates in your news reader or Web browser.

You'll also find links to developer communities covering Java technology, security, and more.

We're constantly looking for ways to improve My Sun Connection, and provide you with the most relevant and useful content and features to enable your success using Solaris Enterprise System software. Please let us know if you find these changes helpful, or if anything is missing that would help you do your job.

A Better Way to Search?

Like most people, I spend lots of time searching for information to help me get my job done each day. For example, I search through my email messages to find room information for meetings, instructions from colleagues, and remind myself about messages I sent earlier.

When I'm starting a new project, my best research comes from Web pages I've found through searches. When I get stuck on a problem, an intense search usually yields the answers I need to keep working.

This is sometimes a brain-racking exercise, since most search engines require keywords to provide the best results. The trick is coming up with the right set of keywords, and using boolean operators to refine the results.

Sometimes I wish search engines could work the way I think. For example, instead of having to form a query like "solaris 10 + install + laptop - server," I'd rather ask the question "How do install Solaris 10 on my laptop?"

The solution might be close, at least for finding answers to Solaris 10 questions. The folks behind the Solaris 10 Knowledge Base pilot have developed search capabilities based on natural language queries. You enter a phrase or question just like you would ask a friend or colleague, and behind the scenes the natural language processing technology locates the documents that are most likely to provide the answer.

When I posed this question, I was pleased with the results:

Not too shabby! The first document returned is a How to Guide for new users wanting to Solaris 10 on x64 or x86 systems. Even if the results were not what I expected, I could easily narrow my search by selecting a category (such as Install/Boot) or a document type (such as documentation). It's definitely a new way to search, and I'm having to unlearn some old "boolean" habits and trust my instincts.

Intrigued? Try the Solaris 10 Knowledge Base pilot and let us know what you think.

Looking for Clues ...

You're my customer. You're the reason my company exists, and I have a job, that pays my bills (always), is rewarding (usually) and is fun (sometimes). Then why am I afraid to tell you the truth?

For example, the truth about how maddeningly long it takes to make a simple change to <un-named web site>, that I'm convinced is right and should happen right now, only to get caught up in process, red tape, and delays.

Or the truth about feeling lost and in the dark about who's visiting <un-named web site>, how often they are visiting, and if they like or hate what they see, so I can change, adapt, and improve?

Or the truth about feeling foolish when I have to ask a software developer to change a simple link on <un-named web site>.

No, this isn't Jerry Maguire moment, but I've been inspired after meeting Rick Levine, one of the authors (and former Sun employee) of the Clue Train Manifesto.

Though it was written several years ago, just about everything predicted in the Clue Train Manifesto is coming true. For example, the Internet has enabled a global conversation, where normal people participate, and form new markets that are brutually smarter and move faster than the companies that "target" them.

And that companies that operate in "business as usual" mode are doomed.

So, I'm looking for clues. About how to open up, and be truthful and genuine. About sharing the good, bad, and ugly occurring on My Sun Connection without hesitation. And most of all, about how to start a conversation with you, dear reader.

OpenSolaris.org: An Order of Magnitude More User Participation

Software should improve the more people use it. This can only happen when users are encouraged to cross the imaginary line that separates them from software developers.

This is happening today on OpenSolaris.org, an online community that many Solaris engineers have made their home, along with users, system administrators, technical writers, and anyone who wants to have a stake in building the best operating system on the planet.

Based on a subset of the source code for the Solaris Operating System, the OpenSolaris project is an open source project sponsored by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Achieving an order of magnitude more user participation means systematically eliminating barriers between producers and consumers, and creating a level playing field where everyone can contribute.

Looking for a particular software feature that doesn't exist yet? On OpenSolaris.org, not only can you talk to the engineers responsible, you can file a bug and contribute your own code towards the new feature. How cool is that?

Openly participating with the engineers who write and use the code is good for everyone. Improvements and new features can show up in future releases of Solaris, such as Nevada. Innovations aren't limited to Solaris — they can appear in other products, too.

Operating systems are typically huge, with lots of specialized "moving parts," like the kernel, printing, file systems, networking, and more. Regardless of your speciality, chances are you can find people with like interests on OpenSolaris.org. The community is organic — it grows to accomodate people's needs. Leaders form naturally, and anyone can follow or "observe" discussions, events and news for a given speciality area.

Participants are making physical connections, too. For example, Sun engineers are meeting up with OpenSolaris.org users co-developers at conferences such as LISA.

OpenSolaris.org shows that the participation age just isn't a buzzword at Sun — it's what the OpenSolaris community is living and practicing every day.

Site Updates, plus a Sun Eco Connection demo

We've moved the Sun Alerts notifications and Patch Reports RSS feeds off the Fresh Tools tab and into the Service / Support tab.

If you are already subscribed to these feeds no action is necessary -- you'll continue to receive updates.

For those of you who haven't yet subscribed, we've made it easier than ever. Just click on the Services / Support tab after logging in to My Sun Connection, and you'll find the XML links readily available in the SunSolve Patches portlet:

Expect to see more exciting uses of RSS on My Sun Connection in the months to come.

Staying Cool this Summer

A Google engineer recently warned that Power could cost more than servers. It's no joke - spiraling power consumption strains budgets through high energy costs, and stresses data centers with additional cooling requirements. The environmental impact should be considered, too.

Sun is doing a lot to stay ahead of rising energy consumption with innovative products like Sun Fire Servers with CoolThreads Technology, and Sun Ray 2 desktops that sip an amazing 4 watts of power -- that's less than a nightlight!

Another step in the right direction is The Sun Eco Connection, a service that helps manage overall power consumption of Sun systems in a data center environment.

You can easily view heat and power consumption metrics at the component, system, and datacenter level. Here is an example graph showing CPU temperature:

And, another graph plotting power consumption for a power supply:

We've got a demo of The Sun Eco Connection you can check out. Just log in and click the Fresh Tools tab.

Lastly, we've noted sporadic issues logging in to the portal and selecting tabs.
Please Contact Sun if you encounter any problems.

Discovering the Aquarium, A GlassFish Community

A community is a place where people come to discuss like interests, meet new friends, and support one another. On My Sun Connection, we actively promote online communities by featuring discussions on the Sun Developer Network, a buzzing, thriving site where Sun engineers contribute daily.

We're always on the lookout for new communities of folks using Sun products and technologies, and we've discovered a beauty — The Aquarium.

Based on GlassFish, a free, open source application server using Java technology, the Aquarium is a group blog, with writing and editing duties shared by several contributors.

The Aquarium is a great place to learn about:

• Open Source
  
• Application Servers
  
• Java EE 5
  
• J2EE, Web Services
  
• XML
  
• Java WSDP
  
• AJAX
  
• Databases
  
• Blueprints
  

User tagging, or folksonomy, where normal human beings get decide how to label and organize things, is popular on The Aquarium. The site is updated regularly with new entries, with tags you can use to explore topics and learn something new and different.

The site claims it has "nothing to do with fish." That may be so, but I'm sure many developers will be easily "hooked" by all the useful tutorials, tips, downloads and stories found on The Aquarium.

Feeds and Speeds

RSS, famously known as "real simple syndication," is everywhere.

Those little orange XML and RSS buttons are becoming ubiquitous on many sites, and My Sun Connection is no exception. By subscribing to an RSS feed, you can obtain the latest updates from your favorite web sites, without having to log in to the site directly.

When new content is available, it arrives in your RSS-enabled client in a simple, summarized form.

We're excited about delivering content to you in RSS, because it's a great way to help keep you up-to-date and informed. An example is the Sun Alerts feed--important notifications about patches to correct issues affecting system availability and security.

We're encouraged by the number of folks who have subscribed, and we're looking forward to doing a lot more with RSS on My Sun Connection, too.

If you're interested in using RSS to deliver news, updates and other content to your customers and partners, or just want to learn more, check out these resources:

• RSS: Lightweight Web Syndication is an excellent overview of RSS.
  
• The RSS DevCenter is a collection of articles related to RSS.
  
• RSS Tutorial for Content Publishers and Webmasters is a good brief technical overview
  

The Cure for App Envy?

Ever get a bad case of app envy, where you wish you could run that "killer app" but couldn't because your computer was under-powered or worst yet, unsupported by the developer?

Or, have you dealt with requests for new or non-standard equipment because a user can't function without that one critical (but unsupported) application?

I know I have. As a writer, I'm always on the look out for tools to help me organize ideas. I got excited when a colleague showed me a mind mapping application, only to be let down when I learned it was Windows only.

I may have found the answer. Sun Secure Global Desktop lets you run Windows apps in a Java-technology enabled Web browser. Better yet, it does Linux, and Solaris apps, too.

Here's a screen shot of the Sun Secure Global Desktop interface:

And, a picture of a Windows app running in my Web browser:

Interested? You can give it a try yourself right now using the online demo.

And, you can always learn more about Sun Secure Global Desktop using the links to forums, blogs and other resources on My Sun Connection.

Perusing a Portlet

Good news: the access problems have been resolved. Phew.

Now, on to a topic I love to discuss, the My Downloads portlet.

Like most portals, My Sun Connection is made up of portlets, a nifty way to organize and display information in your Web browser. The My Downloads portlet is a great example of aggregating useful information in one place.

Plus, it's highly interactive -- asynchronous JavaScript with XML, or AJAX, makes this possible.

The technology is cool, but what it lets you do is more important. You can quickly scan forums, blogs, and links to related Web pages for your Sun products without having to wait for page reloads:

Neat, huh? Saving time is good.

Next, we need to make sure the content displayed is what you need to get your job done successfully. We're working on improvements (stay tuned), and we'd love to hear your ideas and suggestions, too.

Highs and Lows

As with any new Web portal, we've experienced highs and lows over the past week. The initial euphoria has given way to a reality check: we encountered a nasty bug that was turning some visitors away.

Not the right message you want to send, especially with a new Web portal that is trying to establish itself.

The problem is over-zealous enforcement of the Export Restrictions list. It's Sun's policy to comply with the United States government's export exclusion lists.

If you encountered this bug and were denied access to My Sun Connection, please accept our apologies. We want you back -- please Contact Sun, and we'll resolve your access issue.

And, we're making good progress to stamp out this "false positives" bug once and for all, so we can get back to the fun stuff, like improving the portal, and making it more useful for you.

My Sun Connection Launch Day!

If you've just downloaded Solaris, or any of the Sun Java Enterprise System infrastructure products, you'll want to check out My Sun Connection, a new Web portal from Sun. Martin Hardee has a nice introduction to the portal on his blog.

Why it matters: we can save you time by putting you in touch with many of the essential resources you need to successfully install, configure, and use your Sun software. Better yet, the software is free, and so is My Sun Connection.

We've hunted down the product documentation, knowledgebases, forums, blogs and training so you don't have to.

What's more, the site is easy to use, and includes cool capabilities like AJAX and RSS.

Tip: if you've downloaded free Sun software a while back and want to use the portal, you're still in luck. Log in to My Sun Connection (you'll need a free My Sun ID), and follow the links to download the products you already own, but cancel the download after it starts.

Wait a while, and log in to the portal again. Your selected products should appear in the My Downloads portlet, and you can start browsing online resources. If you don't see your products listed, wait a bit longer and try again.

Have fun, and let me know what you think.

Lou Ordorica
Managing Editor, My Sun Connection