ASE update

I have attended an ASE update now and from what I have heard these are the most exiting news.

ASE is an acronym for Accredited Systems Engineer. Back in the good old days with Comaq this was a certification we needed to proove that we knew Compaq servers. Today with HP I am not so sure. But I did attend.

1. Brocade is selling host bus adapters. They are cheaper than those offered today and easier in integrate into your existing Brocade SAN.

2. The future networks are more converged. Your SAN and regular network are one. This is years to date as many required standards are not complete yet.

3. ProCurve - the network division are dedicated to open standards, leaving good rock solid proprietary standards from Cisco out.

4. The high end ProCurve switches supports a server module. Nothing exiting yet but they have partnered with good nische vendors like F5 and Riverbed. Can we expect to see the Big-IP LTM running on a switch soon?

5. New architecture like virtual connect and 10g flex will make our days much better. Now we can move physical servers between chassises without reconfiguration. I did not attend this session so I don't know any details on this topic.

6. Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 works like a charm. IPv6 required for DirectAccess. To what extent is not known. (Like IPv6 support on the public Internet.) BranchCache(tm) caches files and web sites locally - at a site.

7. With Software Assurance on Windows 7 you get lots of extra for management; inventory, system center for desktops, extended group policy support.

8. Windows 7 is built on Windows Vista technology. Most Vista software works out of the box on 7, except for firewalls, antiviruses and other low-level applications.

In short: lots of new thing to learn!