Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and others have established Open Networking Foundation, an industry group that seeks to push the radical new Open Flow technology and the idea behind it, Software Defined Networking (SDN) in new directions. This push could have major ramifications for incumbent gearmakers. Read more »
Making good on a pledge last year, Twitter has moved into its own custom-built data center, which the company claims will be the service’s “final nesting ground” — and, hopefully, put an end to its reputation for frequent or extended downtime. Read more »
Last week, Intel announced its plans to produce an Atom processor designed for use within servers, but company’s road map — which doesn’t have the server-ready Atom available until 2012 — raises the question of how serious Intel is about pushing an alternative to its flagship Xeon architecture. Read more »
Quiet smart grid player Digi International is already providing networking for some of the best-known names in the industry, and it’s aiming to move into the emerging world of cloud-based smart grid services and applications as well. Read more »
There are common patterns in API programs that succeed – in planning, management, and organization. Programs that fail have commonalities too. Here’s a nine-box model for API program management that helps track how both strategy and execution must come together to build a successful API effort. Read more »
Netflix is taking a bold step, licensing the first exclusive show to stream through its service before appearing on broadcast or cable TV. But is the move as risky as some might think? Thanks to a large amount of viewing data, Netflix doesn’t think so. Read more »
Reddit suffered some major downtime yesterday, a situation it largely on a failure on the part of Amazon Web Services. But the real takeaway might have to do with the importance for cloud users to make sure all is well with their cloud deployments. Read more »
I met with a cool startup called DueDil, which is trying to provide a Lexis-Nexis-meets-Google service that aggregates public data on public and private companies from a variety of databases and uses that to create new financial metrics to determine success. Read more »
As the needs for performance and power efficiency become more important, figuring out how to get the best hardware on the job without having to rewrite all your code becomes a problem computer science must solve. Is abstraction the answer? Read more »
Using Hadoop to process data for targeted web advertising efforts is nothing new, but this week, two companies in the video advertising space also stepped forward to highlight how Hadoop is helping them deliver the right ads to the right viewers for their clients. Read more »
Consumer electronics recommendation engine Retrevo launched a new feature this morning that challenges the Amazon Marketplace. However, for Retrevo to meet its lofty goals of dethroning Amazon even in this single category, it will have to rely on the accuracy of its machine-learning algorithms. Read more »
Intel has bought Netherlands-based, system-on-chip startup Silicon Hive in an attempt to make Intel’s low-power Atom processor more appealing across a variety of devices. The most important market will be mobile devices, but it looks like the embedded processor and server markets could be potential targets. Read more »
Just over than a month after discontinuing its Hadoop distribution to focus on the flagship Apache Hadoop project, Yahoo is proposing some changes to the Hadoop MapReduce component that could significantly improve processing performance. The proposal illustrates just how beneficial Yahoo’s renewed focus could be. Read more »
Their story arcs aren’t exactly the same, but the strategies employed by Apple and Amazon Web Services to reach their respective pinnacles seem very similar, with result being that users are willing to pay a premium and accept some lock-in as consequences of choosing either company. Read more »
In a quest to make faster chips and deliver low-power computing, scientists have creating good-enough chips that instead of performing every calculation to its exact decimal point, are allowed to make mistakes. This field of computing could improve big data analysis, networking and even hearing aids. Read more »
As we build technology into everything, creating entertainment, recommendation services and applications that can deliver whatever we need at the moment we ask, a new breed of application is being born, and the currency of this new breed of application is the application programming interface. Read more »
Cloud database provider Xeround has made its MySQL database available as as add-on within Heroku’s PaaS offering, following on its availability for Amazon EC2 users in September and likely preceding availability on a number of other cloud computing platforms. Read more »
Yesterday, HP CEO Leo Apotheker laid out his vision for the company’s cloud computing future, but given HP’s all-but-non-existent cloud strategy until this point, it’s difficult to believe the company can be a real competitor until it actually starts to deliver what Apotheker is promising. Read more »
Intel isn’t letting ARM, VIA, or a bunch of startups run away with its server business. Today it outlined its plans for the micro server category and said it would create server chips with power consumptions as low as 10 watts per processor by 2012. Read more »
Amazon Web Services has been on a tear lately in terms of rolling out new features that go a long way toward patching the weak spots in its cloud armor, and it did so again today with the announcement of an actual virtual private cloud capability. Read more »
IBM and Revolution Analytics have brought together SQL queries and predictive analytics by integrating R Enterprise statistical analysis software with IBM’s Netezza TwinFin data warehouse appliance. It’s part of a significant evolution in analytics strategies as big data becomes a big issue for all types organizations. Read more »
Couchbase, the company formed by the merger of Membase and CouchOne last month, has released the first version of its Couchbase Server database, as well as a board of advisors that reads like a who’s who of web infrastructure and big data. Read more »
Animoto’s new partner program will put it in front of millions of potential new users. By hooking into photo galleries offered by Kodak and others and striking revenue-share deals, the program could increase usage of the service and revenues that it collects. Read more »
Microsoft is developing a new big data tool called Dryad. Dryad and the associated programming model, DryadLINQ, simplify the process of running data-intensive applications across hundreds, or even thousands, of machines running Windows HPC Server. Dryad builds upon lessons learned from Hadoop, but differs in some significant ways. Read more »
ParAccel’s competition all got bought, leaving the company standing all but alone as an independent company dedicated to the cause of big data. But with a solid product and a steady business channel to boost a large vendor’s bottom line, it shouldn’t be alone for long. Read more »
Calxeda, the company building servers out of clusters of cell phone chips, to optimize power efficiency, has briefed analysts about its upcoming products. The results look compelling according to Forrester analyst Richard Fichera, who recommends that IT pros consider ARM servers in their strategic technology plans. Read more »
Mobile apps for managing cloud computing resources are nothing new, but Rackspace is bringing the capability to even the newest Apple devices, including the iPad2. The company announced the Rackspace Cloud 2.0 application, which is free and can run on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Read more »
The move toward cloud computing and webscale computing has helped Intel drive its earnings higher, while, a number of startups clearly see an opportunity to redesign servers and try new chip archiectures to deliver more power efficient performance for different workloads. But where is AMD? Read more »
According to Violin Memory CEO Donald Basile, Fusion-io’s proposed IPO is just the start of what should be a very busy era for flash. Basile, whose previous job was as chairman and CEO of Fusion-io, sees an impending multi-billion-dollar market, spurred in part by Larry Ellison. Read more »
Infinera has demonstrated that it can built an optic transmitter capable of delivering multi-terabit speeds, paving the way for growth of the next generation of the Internet. The world is moving toward 100 Gbps in the coming years, but this enables growth for decades to come. Read more »
SaaS leader Salesforce.com is growing so fast that the company is considering the possibility of building its own data centers within the next few years, Rich Miller reported at Data Center Knowledge. The company currently hosts about 3,000 servers across the globe. Read more »
Cloud provider Tier3 announced this morning that it has secured $8.5 million from Ignition Capital and Madrona Venture Group to fund its “enterprise platform-as-a-service” offering, a term that might not be entirely accurate, but that might actually be indicative of a forthcoming trend in cloud marketing. Read more »
Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei has plans to invade the enterprise IT market. A Deutsche Bank analyst expects the company to introduce a line of servers, low-end switches, security, VoIP and storage products designed for the enterprise before the end of this year. Read more »
Private cloud software startup Cloud.com announced that both Tata Communications and Logicworks have selected Cloud.com’s CloudStack software as the foundation of their IaaS offerings, suggesting that it’s still service providers that seem to be buying the most cloud computing software. Read more »
Fusion-io, which makes enterprise class solid state hard drives, filed to raise up to $150 million through an IPO. It rides three big trends: real-time data delivery, storing big data and greener data centers. The threat of an IPO also boosts the cost to acquire it. Read more »
NEC has delivered a new type of experimental switch to European research institutions based on OpenFlow packet routing. The goal of OpenFlow is to fundamentally re-architect the Internet in a way that allows networks to be more flexible even as more data goes over them. Read more »
VMware has expanded its cloud computing reach once again by acquiring WaveMaker, a startup focused on letting users build cloud applications without having to write code. It’s just the latest move by VMware to grow its platform business by bringing in all the developers it can. Read more »
The giants of the web are taking on the giants in the telecommunications industry when it comes to optical networking. Google and Facebook are unhappy with the way the optical gear makers are building their wares, citing a slow time frame for products and uncessary features. Read more »
Hot private-cloud startup Nimbula is getting in on the ecosystem act, announcing this morning a partner program currently comprised of Opscode, Puppet Labs, Scalr, enStratus and Cloud Cruiser. It’s more proof that it’s very difficult to go it alone in the cloud computing software space. Read more »
Rackspace is now offering official support services for the OpenStack cloud platform under the moniker of Rackspace Cloud Builders. Until now, companies wishing to deploy OpenStack-based cloud offerings had to either rely on community members for informal support or seek out third-party consultants. Read more »
