IBM and Novell’s SuSE Linux have joined forces to offer customers a single subscription option for servers running SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 in an IBM BladeCenter chassis. IBM’s BladeCenter chassis supports up to 14 blades that can be Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, or Power-based, and the license can be used with any of these blade servers as long as they are associated with the chassis.

Check Point Software Technologies is snapping up intrusion prevention and real-time network awareness software maker Sourcefire for a $225 million mix of cash and stocks. Sourcefire is the maker of Snort, an open-source intrusion detection and prevention technology that underpins its real-time network security software. Sourcefire products will help Check Point to extend its unified security architecture with attack definitions and intelligent threat detection technologies.

SAP AG is looking to integrate its NetWeaver tool set into a more cohesive environment where business and IT users can more easily create composite applications. Tools that were traditionally separate are going to become part of a single environment geared toward developers and business analysts, which SAP refers to as business process experts. By having tools for these groups more tightly integrated into a single environment, users can rely on a shared repository of enterprise Web services.

IBM will announce a shift in its strategy for small and midsize businesses that includes more IBM-developed solution sets and an upgrade to the company’s Express Portfolio offerings for SMBs. The change also looks to provide more tools for partners developing software under the Built on IBM Express certification.

Seagate Technology has brought its desktop Barracuda drives into the ninth generation, adding a half-terabyte model and 3-Gbit SATA technology to its lineup. The Barracuda 7200.9 drives, as they’re known, have begun shipping in 40GB to 500GB capacities, with cache sizes ranging from 2MB to 16MB. Manufacturer suggested pricing will be $61 for a 40GB parallel drive, $75 for an 80GB SATA drive, and $429 for the high-end 500GB SATA drive.

Google has fixed a security flaw on its Web site that opened the door to phishing scams, account hijacks, and other attacks. The flaw, known as a cross-site scripting vulnerability, existed on the Web site for Google’s AdWords advertising program and a customer training site, according to security company Finjan Software, which discovered the problem.

The Yankee Group said service-oriented architecture (SOA) is about to become a huge part of the data center. A new survey from the Boston-based research firm predicts widespread adoption of SOA in 2006, but defining what exactly is being adopted is a problem. SOA is a collection of applications — abstracted so they appear to be services

Next week, SMC Networks will be announcing the newest in its EZ Connect g family of efficient 802.11g wireless networking products, the EZ Connect g 2.4GHz 54Mbps Wireless AP Storage (SMCWAPS-G). Designed to serve as the primary wireless network access point or as a wireless network extension, the new Wireless AP Storage makes it as easy to share files and storage as it does to share Internet access. The SMCWAPS-G provides full 802.11g access point capability including top-notch security with the addition of two USB 2.0 connectors so that users can connect USB hard disk drives and memory sticks for easy network backup or data access. The new EZ Connect g 2.4GHz 54Mbps Wireless AP Storage (SMCWAPS-G) will be available beginning in December, 2005.

Microsoft is taking a stand on an emerging technology that threatens to reshape software pricing models. The company is expected to detail changes to its server product licensing to better accommodate virtualization software, an emerging technology that big companies are eyeing as a way to consolidate servers and cut costs. Advocates argue that virtualization lets companies reduce the number of servers they need by letting jobs run more efficiency on a smaller number of machines. Virtualization software such as Microsoft’s Virtual Server, EMC’s VMware, and XenSource’s Xen lets a server simultaneously run multiple operating systems, or multiple instances of the same operating system. Each instance essentially behaves as a self-contained computer.

Scam artists who target online banking customers are adapting their techniques to try to defeat a range of sophisticated new security features designed to thwart phishing attacks, according to experts. In recent months, companies that monitor phishing attacks have noticed an increase in malicious programs that record computer screen activity. The rise in so-called screen scraping may be an attempt to counter new electronic banking programs that use a combination of mouse clicks and keyed entries to give customers access to their online accounts.