DISQUS

Unified communications is great for productivity. Combine IM, Email, calendars, contacts, PBX and real-time presence for SMBs - and make it free - and its even better. That's what Unison does. Check out the website here to find out who really likes (hint: models).

I couldn't agree more that in today’s energy-conscious climate, the sticker price of a server is almost laughable compared to what you are going to pay in energy costs over the life cycle of that server. And, while I find this "Free Green Server Trade in Initiative" interesting, I"m not sure it addresses the entire problem. The reason that businesses buy not-so-green servers in the first place is that they are powerful, reliable, and handle the workloads of their business. A nice balance between what VeryPC is doing, and the typical high performance servers, is to look at DC power distribution. DC power distribution is up to 50% more efficient than traditional AC power because of having only 2 conversions (AC to DC) and transformations (higher voltage to lower voltage) from the utility to the point-of-use at the server, compared to 5-7 in AC powered datacenters. Each conversion generates heat (that must be cooled), and by minimizing those steps you can increase your efficiency dramatically. Also, this increases reliability (significantly less physical equipment required for AC power), which in turn enables a denser data center. Not to mention, because of the significantly lower use of copper and other metals required for DC power distribution systems, the carbon footprint is minimized by 50% (www.validusdc.com)