Salesforce ups ante against Oracle with Database.com launch

2011 launch might miff Ellison

TechEYE.net | Dean Wilson | Dec 7, 2010

Salesforce is to announce a new database hosting service today called Database.com at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, escalating its rivalry with database supplier Oracle.

The database offering is described by Salesforce as “open” and will allow the use of any programming language on any platform or device. This means the database can run on a personal data centre or from cloud services run by the likes of Amazon and Google, along with PCs, Blackberry, Apple and Android devices.

The service is the same database that Salesforce.com itself runs on. Various drivers for it have been developed by Progress Software, while NoSQL, VoltDB and Memcached are also supported. It already contains over 20 billion records, delivers over 25 billion transactions per quarter and has a response time of less than 300 miliseconds on average, making it a strong contender to other database offerings.

The service will operate a “freemium” price package, allowing initial setups to be made for free, with additional hosting requiring a monthly payment. The free service will allow up to three users, 100,000 records and 50,000 transactions per month.

Read more…

 

10 tips for managing storage for virtual servers and virtual desktops

Storage.com | Eric Siebert | Oct 2010

Server virtualization and virtual desktops can make configuring and managing storage systems a lot tougher. These 10 tips can help ease some of the stress caused by managing storage in a virtual environment.

Server and desktop virtualization have provided relatively easy ways to consolidate and conserve, allowing a reduction in physical systems. But these technologies have also introduced problems for data storage managers who need to effectively configure their storage resources to meet the needs of a consolidated infrastructure.

Server virtualization typically concentrates the workloads of many servers onto a few shared storage devices, often creating bottlenecks as many virtual machines (VMs) compete for storage resources. With desktop virtualization this concentration becomes even denser as many more desktops are typically running on a single host. As a result, managing storage in a virtual environment is an ongoing challenge that usually requires the combined efforts of desktop, server, virtualization and storage administrators to ensure that virtualized servers and desktops perform well.  Here are 10 tips to help you better manager your storage in virtual environments:

#1 Know your storage workloads. Virtual desktop workloads are very different from virtual server workloads, and the workloads imposed by individual desktops and servers can also vary dramatically. Blindly placing VMs on hosts without regard for their disk I/O usage can create instant resource bottlenecks.

You should have a general idea of how much disk I/O a VM will generate based on the applications and workloads it will host. Therefore, you should try to balance high disk I/O VMs among both physical hosts and data resources. If you have too many VMs with high disk I/O on a single host it can overwhelm the host’s storage controller; likewise, having too many high disk I/O VMs accessing a single storage system or LUN may also create a performance bottleneck. Even if you have a good idea of your virtual machine’s disk I/O workloads, it’s still a good idea to use performance monitoring tools to get detailed statistics such as average and peak usage.

And don’t forget that VMs are usually mobile and may not always be on the same host; they may be moved to another physical host using technologies like VMware VMotion. Having a group of busy Exchange servers ending up on the same host could bring the disk subsystem to its knees. If you’re using VMware’s Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) to balance workloads among hosts, keep in mind that it doesn’t take VM disk I/O usage into account, it only balances based on CPU and memory usage. To compensate for that, use DRS rules that will always keep specific virtual machines on different hosts.

 

The 10 Biggest Data Center Stories Of 2010

CRN.com | Dec 7, 2010

Data Center Deluge

Pinning down the top 10 data center stories of 2010 is a difficult job because the trends and news that impacted data centers over the past 12 months or so stem from the impacts of a wide range of technologies.

To look at the “Year in Data Centers,” one has to look at the “Year in Cloud Computing,” the “Year in Virtualization,” the “Year in Storage,” the “Year in Servers,” and more.

CRN has done the looking, and come up with some of the most important stories which impacted data centers in 2010. And, as one might expect from as fast changing an environment as data centers, these stories will continue to have their impact in 2011 and beyond.

1. Server Virtualization’s Tipping Point

Server virtualization reached a tipping point in 2010. IDC was widely reported by media outlets such as internet.com to have said at the Interop conference in Las Vegas that virtual servers deployments in 2010 should outnumber those of physical servers.

Gartner said in September that over 80 percent of enterprises now have a virtualization program or project, and that 25 percent of all server workloads should be virtualized by year-end.

This is significant to the future of the data center, as virtual servers not only reduce the capital expense and operating expernse related to buying, powering, and cooling physical servers, they also serve as the base on which other virtualized services including cloud computing are built.

2. Rise Of The Virtual Machine

One nice thing about all those new virtual servers is that they can do almost everything a physical server can do, including be configured for use as an appliance.

Virtual appliances in 2010 started springing up almost everywhere, including from a wide range of storage, security, and application vendors. Most are rather small and inexpensive versions of the vendors’ hardware appliances.

But not all. Silver Peak, for instance, introduced a virtual WAN optimization appliance which lists for about $70,000. It can replace part of the company’s physical WAN appliances which cost $200,000 or more.

**VIEW SLIDESHOW**

The 10 Big Stories Of 2010

CRN.com | Dec 7, 2010

The Biggest Of The Big

IT vendors continued to keep the channel on its toes in 2010 with surprise moves, hot new technology and new channel strategies (some greeted warmly by partners, others not so much). Here’s a look back at the 10 big stories that kept CRN readers intrigued.

1. HP Gives Hurd The Heave-Ho

The biggest story of the year centered on the biggest IT company in the world, Hewlett-Packard. HP took the channel by surprise on what was turning out to be a lazy summer afternoon when it disclosed on August 6 that chairman, president and CEO Mark Hurd had resigned in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. Even more surprising was that HP’s internal investigation had actually cleared Hurd (shown) of the harassment claims, yet the company still pushed him out after finding he had violated HP’s code of conduct. Channel partners were by-and-large disappointed by the move since Hurd had made a point of supporting the channel and personally meeting with as many solution providers as he could. Their disappointment turned to puzzlement a few weeks later when HP named a relative unknown — Leo Apotheker, former CEO of SAP — to replace him as president and CEO. And then turned to a bit of jealousy when Hurd landed safely at Oracle.

2. Cisco Supply Chain Breakdown

Networking market leader Cisco Systems kicked off its annual Partner Summit in April with an apology to solution providers for year-long product shortages that resulted in a lot of frustrated customers and partners. A variety of factors contributed to Cisco’s supply chain woes, but the channel didn’t care as much about the ‘why’ as it did the ‘what now?’ Partners blamed Cisco for being too tight-lipped about details that would have helped in project planning with their customers. The lack of information, solution providers said, jeopardized their role as a trusted advisor to their customers, leaving many partners to grapple with frustration and lost sales, and leaving Cisco with some channel fences to mend.

3. Cloud Computing Impossible To Ignore

Vendor after vendor rolled out cloud computing products, strategies and partner programs in 2010, making it nearly impossible for any solution provider to avoid its implications. In one of the most visible cloud grabs, CA made six cloud-focused acquisitions throughout a 14-month stretch for a total spend of $1 billion. Microsoft, Google and Amazon.com also bet big on the cloud. Solution providers were left to wade through the buzz and try to figure out how to adapt their business models to make way for cloud. CRN spotlighted the ‘30 Cloud VARs That Get It’ to shine a spotlight on some in the channel that had figured it all out.

View Slideshow

EMC To Certify Architects For Cloud, Data Center Expertise

CRN.com | By Joseph F. Kovar | Dec. 6, 2010

EMC on Monday unveiled two new programs to train and certify customers and solution provider partners as virtualization and cloud computing architects.

The aim of the program is to help customers and solution providers, even those who do not work directly with EMC products, get the skills they need to move from virtualized environments into cloud computing, said Tom Clancy, vice president of EMC educational services.

“We believe that, no matter what type of cloud you implement, whether you do it yourself or with a partner, that the virtual infrastructure is critical,” Clancy said. “We are trying to provide those skills to the difference audiences we have.”

EMC is introducing two new certification programs for cloud architect and data center architects as part of its EMC Proven Professional Program.

Clancy said EMC is offering two types of certifications to cloud architects, the people who deliver virtualization and cloud designs in all cloud domains. “Customers are talking about the journey to the cloud,” he said. “These will be the key people leading that journey.”

The first cloud architect, the EMC CA, builds the virtualized infrastructure that leads to virtual data centers and eventually to cloud infrastructure, Clancy said. “Virtualization design will be critical to building the cloud,” he said.

The second cloud architect, the EMC CAe, is for people focusing on IT as a service, Clancy said. “The CAe will take a company’s business requirements and place them into the virtualized architectures designed by the EMC CA,” he said.

EMC is also offering a number of new data center architect certifications for users and solution providers who work with specific technologies within a virtualized data center.

Read more…

EMC Breaks Q3 Revenue Record

Kevin Komiega | Storage Blog & Editor of InfoStor

EMC has reported record revenue for the third consecutive quarter as rumors swirl around the company’s potential $2 billion acquisition of Isilon Systems.

EMC (NYSE: EMC) today announced all-time record Q3 revenue, 58 percent profit growth, record year-to-date operating and free cash flow, and substantial margin expansion. As a result, EMC increased its earnings expectations for 2010 as it now expects consolidated revenues of $16.9 billion.

All in all, EMC met analyst estimates. For the third quarter, consolidated revenue was $4.21 billion, an increase of 20 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. Non-GAAP net income attributable to EMC for Q3 was $649.4 million, an increase of 35 percent a year ago and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.30, a 30 percent increase year over year.

EMC’s execs point to the cloud as the main driver of its growth. In a statement, David Goulden, EMC’s executive vice president and CFO, said, “For the third consecutive quarter EMC achieved our ‘triple play’ – we gained market share, invested aggressively to capitalize on the shift to cloud computing, and increased profitability. Cloud computing is driving a fundamental change in the way IT is designed and managed, represents a massive opportunity, and is happening now in various phases across the globe.”

Read more…

Building inexpensive server clusters

When you have a serious computing problem to solve but limited funds, here are some options, courtesy of heavy hitters like MIT and Sandia National Laboratories.

By John Brandon | ComputerWorld

When you need serious in-house computational power, there are two main options.

One is to build a supercomputer, a vast conglomerate of high-speed servers, extremely fast storage arrays and lightning-quick data connections — all of which are very expensive. Another, lower-cost approach: Build a cluster out of low-power and inexpensive computers.

That’s how four heavy hitters addressed their need for top-of-the-line computation. Their clusters provide near-real-time processing power to scan for signs of the early universe, develop next-generation radars or simply run network tests as fast as economically possible.

1. GPU cluster for astronomy research

Here’s a unique challenge: Say you want to set up a high-performance computing cluster in the Australian outback because it’s easier to scan for signs of the early universe without any radio interference in the night sky there.

As you might expect, there are only a few options. For the Murchison Widefield Array, researchers knew that power was going to be a major issue. The array is about 50 kilometers (around 32 miles) from the nearest settlement and about 300km from the nearest town. A cluster that consisted of standard high-performance computing nodes would use too much power, given the lack of infrastructure on-site.

Instead, the Murchison Widefield Array consists of about 80 individual GPUs (graphics processing units) — the Nvidia Tesla S1070 — in two clusters. The whole thing runs on diesel generators that provide about 40 kilowatts of power.

Contemporary CPUs such as Xeon and Opteron are not going to provide the computing muscle required within [our] power budget.

Richard Edgar, researcher, Murchison Widefield Array

There’s a whopping 2.5 teraflops of astronomical data that runs through the array at a top speed of 3GB/sec. The image processing, which has to be done on-site because there are no fiber channels in the Australian outback, is fairly intense. Antennas capture the radio data (hence the need for a radio-quiet site) and feed the data into a device called a correlator, which then provides the input to the GPUs.

The image processing involves converting the mathematical equations from Fourier data into real space, correcting ionospheric distortion and calibrating the instruments.

Read more…

iSCSI SAN storage and its role in data storage environments

SearchStorage.com Editors

Since its introduction, many people have been skeptical of iSCSI SAN storage. According to past Storage magazine surveys, users didn’t wish to deploy iSCSI in their data storage environments due to worries related to performance and reliability. However, those concerns often had to do with older, more primitive versions of iSCSI. Current iSCSI storage systems have improved, and iSCSI SANs are now considered by many a worthy competitor to Fibre Channel SANs.

“iSCSI is a great option for environments that need networked, block-level shared storage to support applications such as databases [Oracle and SQL], Exchange or deployment of server-based file sharing systems,” said Greg Schulz, founder and senior analyst at StorageIO Group.

However, Schulz did issue some iSCSI warnings. Additional software is often required on a server to actually share the data. In addition, people often think their costs are reduced because they don’t need adapters with iSCSI. But they might bump into additional costs or complexities with iSCSI SANs because it “opens the door to other SAN solution options,” Schulz said. Still, he sees a bright future for iSCSI SAN storage. “It continues to find new market and deployment opportunities co-existing with other tiered storage networking technologies, including shared SAS, Fibre Channel and Fibre Channel over Ethernet, all targeted at different environments, usage requirements and opportunities,” he said.

To help you get a better grasp on iSCSI SAN storage and determine whether or not iSCSI is right for your data storage environment, SearchStorage.com has compiled its most popular iSCSI content in one spot. This iSCSI guide will show you what iSCSI SANs offer in a storage landscape, explain common iSCSI storage misconceptions and offer a cheat sheet on best practices for iSCSIs in VMware environments.

Read more…

Users weigh in on Oracle’s Exadata

INFO STOR

With rumors flying about whether Oracle will make a storage acquisition, many are assessing the company’s strength as a storage player without making an acquisition. At least in the case of the latest version of its Exadata system, Oracle may have a winner.

Exadata is tightly coupled to the Oracle database, and leverages Sun servers, storage and the ZFS file system. End-user response to Exadata II, which was introduced in March, appears to be positive.

Enterprise Storage Forum freelancer Drew Robb spoke to Exadata II users at last months’ OpenWorld conference. Here are some snippets:

Jonathan Levine, COO of LinkShare, likes the flash-based cache in Exadata II, which he says has provided his company with an 8X to 10X performance boost.

“Exadata’s data loading is constant, regardless of the reporting load,” says Levine, adding that he has reduced the latency window from about eight seconds to less than four in the company’s analytics data warehouse system. “Using traditional storage for databases is not tenable with a large volume of queries. It just can’t compete with storage that is SQL-aware like Exadata.”

RL Polk, a provider of market intelligencein the automotive industry, is another Exadata II user that applauds the integration of flash devices in the Exadata system.

Read more…

Information technology architecture is the key to good data management

Niel Nickolaisen, Contributor | SearchCIO.com

When I started my career in IT leadership, I couldn’t imagine ever needing a terabyte of storage. I figured a terabyte would take care of my organization’s storage needs until my grandchildren were working in IT. It’s a good thing I never needed a terabyte of storage, because storage back then was awfully expensive.

Thankfully, because our need for storage keeps rising, the cost of storage has dropped dramatically. We just can’t get enough. But why is our need for storage increasing? The answer is simple: Every day we all gain access to new sources of data. We have ERP data, which is supplemented by customer relationship management and sales force automation data. Add to that list our e-commerce data and data acquired from outside organizations and from public and private social networks, and you realize: We are swimming, perhaps drowning, in data.

So, what is the best way for me to manage and use this data? I can pretty much guarantee that not all of it is usable or relevant. But how do I know which data to use? Or how do I get to it? Or how do I verify and validate it? Or how do I make it usable? Or how do I put it into the hands of the people who need it?

These questions beg for what I call an information architecture. Just as we have application architectures and network architectures, an information architecture is essential to managing data effectively. And, just as with application and network architectures, we need to plan for defining an information architecture thoughtfully. To ensure that my information architecture serves me well, I use the following approaches.

The purpose of information is to improve decision making

If it’s available, I want to trademark this motto: Better decision making is the ultimate competitive advantage. If we can make better decisions over time about markets, products, operations and technology, we eventually will win in the marketplace. The reason to gather, analyze and use data is so we can make better decisions. Now, not all of the data that surrounds us will help us with that.

Just as we have application architec-
tures and network architec-
tures, an information architecture is essential to managing data effectively. 

 

So, we need an effective way to filter the available data down to that data that helps us make better decisions. My filtering mechanism begins with me asking my organization two questions: What decisions would you like to make? What information would you need to make those decisions?

With the answers to these questions, I can look for the data that I can turn into the information that will enable better decision making. If the data won’t lead to information that leads to better decisions, don’t invest in gathering, analyzing and verifying it.

Read more…