Thursday, August 6, 2015

Open is a philosophy that increases the pace of innovation, says Cole Crawford

Open is a philosophy that increases the pace of innovation, says Cole Crawford, CEO of Vapor IO, which has recently launched a Linux distribution that provides top-of-rack (TOR) management capabilities for data centers.  Open creates a "pull process" as opposed to having technology thrust upon you.

See video: https://youtu.be/LUAAZ5cGH7w

Cole Crawford is the CEO of Vapor IO and the Founding Executive Director of the Open Compute Project Foundation.



Open Source and Open Standards are Two Paths to Disaggregated Networks

Dell pioneered the term "Open Networking" and started on the path to Open Networking in 2014.

It's fundamentally about disaggregation, says Arpit Joshipura.  In this video he distinguishes between open source and open standards.

See one minute video:  https://youtu.be/asMHH6aGQ8Q

CoreOS Integrates Kubernetes with Mirantis OpenStack

CoreOS is integrating its "Tectonic" commercial distribution of Kubernetes with Mirantis OpenStack.

Mirantis said adding Tectonic to Mirantis OpenStack will provide the functionality of Kubernetes, as well as additional features such as an easy-to-use UI, enabling one-click deployment of both Tectonic and Tectonic-managed applications.

https://www.mirantis.com/blog/coreos-tectonic-mirantis-openstack-business/


In April, CoreOS, a San Francisco start-up building a new Linux distribution for modern infrastructure stacks, introduced Tectonic, its commercial Kubernetes platform.

Tectonic, which combines Kubernetes and the CoreOS stack, pre-packages all of the components required to build "Google-style infrastructure."  CoreOS said it adds a number of commercial features to the mix, such as a management console for workflows and dashboards, an integrated registry to build and share Linux containers, and additional tools to automate deployment and customize rolling updates.

In addition, CoreOS announced a new $12 million round of funding led by Google Ventures, with additional investment from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Fuel Capital and Accel Partners, bringing its total funding to $20 million.

IBM to add Medical Imaging to Watson

IBM agreed to acquire Merge Healthcare Incorporated (NASDAQ: MRGE), a leading provider of medical image handling and processing, interoperability and clinical systems for $7.13 per share in cash, for a total transaction value of $1 billion.

IBM said the deal will provide Watson with the ability to "see" by bringing together Watson's advanced image analytics and cognitive capabilities with data and images obtained from Merge's medical imaging management platform.  Merge's technology platforms are used at more than 7,500 U.S. healthcare sites, as well as most of the world's leading clinical research institutes and pharmaceutical firms to manage a growing body of medical images.  The vision is that these organizations could use the Watson Health Cloud to surface new insights from a consolidated, patient-centric view of current and historical images, electronic health records, data from wearable devices and other related medical data, in a HIPAA-enabled environment.

"As a proven leader in delivering healthcare solutions for over 20 years, Merge is a tremendous addition to the Watson Health platform.  Healthcare will be one of IBM's biggest growth areas over the next 10 years, which is why  we are making a major investment to drive industry transformation and to facilitate a higher quality of care," said John Kelly, senior vice president, IBM Research and Solutions Portfolio. "Watson's powerful cognitive and analytic capabilities, coupled with those from Merge and our other major strategic acquisitions, position IBM to partner with healthcare providers, research institutions, biomedical companies, insurers and other organizations committed to changing the very nature of health and healthcare in the 21st century. Giving Watson 'eyes' on medical images unlocks entirely new possibilities for the industry."

http://www.ibm.com
http://www.merge.com/

Arista Posts Q2 Revenue of $196 Million, up 42% YoY

Arista reported Q2 revenue of $195.6 million, an increase of 41.8% compared to the second quarter of 2014, and an increase of 9.2% from the first quarter of 2015.

GAAP net income came in at $24.0 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $21.6 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2014. GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 65.4%, compared to GAAP gross margin of 67.7% in the second quarter of 2014 and 65.8% in the first quarter of 2015.

"Arista has now shipped a cumulative five million cloud networking ports worldwide,” stated Jayshree Ullal, Arista President and CEO. “I am pleased with this important milestone for the company combined with our continued Q2 2015 customer momentum and solid profitable growth."

http://investors.arista.com/files/doc_presentations/2015/Q2/2015-Highlights-Q2-Final.pdf

Arista Offers Subscription-based CloudVision for Workload Orchestration

Arista Networks introduces its CloudVision network-wide approach for workload orchestration and workflow automation.

The idea is to provide a turnkey solution for sharing network-wide switch state data across a cloud and integrating with SDN controllers from Arista's ecosystem partner community.

Arista CloudVision extends the SDN architectural approach across the network for state, topology, monitoring and visibility.

Key attributes of Arista's CloudVision:

  • Centralized representation of distributed network state, allowing for a single point of integration and network-wide visibility and analytics
  • Controller agnostic support for physical and virtual workload orchestration through open APIs such as OVSDB, JSON and OpenStack plugins.
  • Turn-key workflow automation for zero touch provisioning, configuration management and network-wide upgrades and rollback.
  • Compliance dashboard for security, audit and patch management
  • Real-time Streaming for telemetry and network analytics, a modern approach to replace legacy polling per device.
  • Provides visibility and troubleshooting for underlay and overlay networks
Arista CloudVision is available now as a software subscription, expanding Arista’s existing software subscription offerings. Pricing starts at $295/device per month.

Arista CloudVision partners include, Dell, F5, HP, Infinera, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, Rackspace, Supermicro, and VMware.

Qualcomm to Acquire Atheros for G.fast and other Broadband Tech

Qualcomm Atheros agreed to acquire Ikanos Communications, a developer of broadband networking semiconductors and software for both central office and home gateways, for $2.75 per share in cash, and assume all outstanding indebtedness at the closing of the transaction. (implied value of approximately $47 million)

Ikanos provides a wide array of leading technologies, including A/VDSL2 and G.fast modem technology and chipsets for consumer premises equipment (CPE) and central office (CO) infrastructure. Ikanos also offers multi-mode gateway processor and accelerator technology for fiber, LTE, Ethernet and hybrid-copper applications. In addition, Ikanos inSIGHT software allows remote diagnosis, management and optimization of the broadband connection and quality-of-service, and voice over IP (VoIP) integrated access devices and bridges. Ikanos’ strong central office product portfolio, as well as its technology collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent in the area of fixed access communications, enables Qualcomm Atheros to offer a strong product portfolio in the ultra-broadband access space, including G.fast.

Qualcomm Atheros said the acquisition will expand its footprint in the carrier fixed line segment with the addition of high performance broadband access and modem technologies.

“Qualcomm Atheros has always viewed the home gateway as the enabler for consumers to not only access the Internet for browsing and downloading content and video streaming, but also as the hub of the Internet in the home for a variety of reliable and high quality services,” said Rahul Patel, senior vice president and general manager, connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The combination of Qualcomm Atheros’ broad home gateway IP portfolio, including Wi-Fi, powerline, small cell, and Ethernet switch technologies, and Ikanos’ advanced wired modem technology, is designed to create a complete solution for a wide range of home gateway products to better serve the carrier segment.”

Separately, Ikanos reported revenue for the second quarter of 2015 of $11.1 million, compared to revenue of $11.3 million for the second quarter of 2014 and revenue of $10.2 million for the first quarter of 2015. Net loss for the second quarter of 2015 was $(12.3) million, or a loss of $(0.72) per share on 17.1 million weighted average shares outstanding, compared to a net loss of $(12.3) million, or $(1.24) per share on 9.9 million weighted average shares outstanding, for the second quarter of 2014 and a net loss of $(12.0) million, or $(0.77) per share on 15.6 million weighted shares outstanding, for the first quarter of 2015. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the second quarter of 2015 were $16.0 million, compared to $13.0 million at the end of the first quarter of 2015. Additionally, at the end of the second quarter of 2015, inventory was $2.0 million, compared to $2.1 million at the end of the first quarter of 2015. Current liabilities at the end of the second quarter of 2015 were $20.6 million, compared to $18.1 million at the end of the first quarter of 2015.

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2015/08/06/qualcomm-acquire-xdsl-and-gfast-networking-technology-provider-ikanos
http://www.ikanos.com


  • In September 2014, Ikanos Communications announced that Tallwood Venture Capital and Alcatel-Lucent purchased $11.25 million and $5.0 million, or approximately 27.4 million and 12.2 million shares, of the company’s common stock, respectively, at $0.41 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $16.25 million. Alcatel-Lucent committed to loan the company up to $10.0 million, subject to the terms of the loan agreement.  Tallwood has also agreed to purchase an additional $11.25 million of common stock at the same per share price.  In addition, Alcatel-Lucent has entered into a collaboration with Ikanos on the development of ultra-broadband products.



Blueprint: Carriers Set Their Sights on 1Gbps Rollouts with G.fast


By Kourosh Amiri, VP Marketing, Ikanos, Inc. Demand for high-speed broadband access by consumers has never been more intense than it is today.  Rapidly increasing numbers of connected devices inside the home and the adoption of higher-resolution (4K and 8K) television are just the tip of the iceberg.  Home automation, remote patient monitoring, and multi-player gaming – among countless other applications – are contributing to an Internet...


NeoPhotonics Posts Profitable Quarter as 100G Growth Continues

NeoPhotonics reported Q2 revenue of $85.4 million, up $7.9 million, or 10.2%, from the second quarter of 2014, and up $4.0 million, or 4.9%, from the prior quarter. Gross margin was 30.6%, up from 18.8% in the second quarter of 2014, and up from 29.6% in the prior quarter. Net income was $1.8 million, up from a loss of $6.8 million in the second quarter of 2014, and up from $0.1 million in the prior quarter.

“Our goal is to be a leader in High Speed 100G and beyond product solutions and to deliver sustained profitability. With strong traction of our High Speed 100G and beyond products in transport and Metro markets as well as in rapidly growing Datacenter Interconnect system applications, 59% of our revenue was from High Speed 100G and above products. Our second quarter results continue to demonstrate our strong execution towards our profitability goals and our target model with sequential increases in revenue, gross margins, profitability, EBITDA and operating cash flow,” said Tim Jenks, NeoPhotonics Chairman and CEO. “We further bolstered our balance sheet with our equity raise of $45.6 million,” continued Mr. Jenks.

Top customers include:

  • Alcatel-Lucent - 11%
  • Ciena - 22%
  • Huawei - 40%

http://www.neophotonics.com/