Google's App Engine outage at the end of February provides a graphic example of why datacenter managers need to have accurate and tested disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place.

How many of you use Google's translation tools? They're built into Google Docs, Gmail, and the Google translate website. With support for 52 languages, the tools are incredibly powerful in an increasingly flat world. While only human translators can really capture the nuance and connotation of human speech, Google translate is the premier online tool for fast translations. Google Docs can be quickly translated, mail can be automatically translated, and now Google's automatic YouTube transcription services can potentially translate video into other languages as well. A recent feature in the New York Times highlights just how the company can develop free tools within very short timeframes when commercial companies devoted to translation can take years to achieve results: But in...

Microsoft's take on the future of the datacenter brings with it the danger of useful benchmarking metrics becoming meaningless marketing bullets. Understanding how complex systems work and interoperate is more than just a game of speeds and feeds.