SAP's New HANA Vora Software Extends In-Memory Query Engine to Spark

SAP introduced its new HANA Vora software for bringing context-aware decision to data sets encompassed by Apache Spark.

SAP HANA Vora is a new in-memory query engine that leverages and extends the Apache Spark execution framework to provide enriched interactive analytics on Hadoop. As a socket inside the Spark framework, the Vora capabilities can tap into distributed Big Data. It extends the in-memory computing innovation from SAP to distributed data and provides OLAP-like analytics with a business semantic understanding of data in and around the Hadoop ecosystem.

At a launch event in San Francisco, company executives said SAP HANA Vora is key to extending cloud growth outside of its SAP HANA customer base.

“Our mission at SAP is to empower businesses to lead the digital transformation in their industry,” said Quentin Clark, chief technology officer and member of the Global Managing Board of SAP SE.  “In order to succeed in this digital transformation, companies need a platform that enables real-time business, delivers business agility, is able to scale and provides contextual awareness in a hyper-connected world. With the introduction of SAP HANA Vora and the planned new capabilities in SAP HANA Cloud Platform, we aim to enable our customers to become leaders in the digital economy.”

“As part of our Big Data initiative, we currently have Hadoop and SAP HANA deployed in our enterprise IT landscape to help manage large unstructured data sets,” said Aziz Safa, VP and GM, Intel IT Enterprise Applications and Application Strategy. “One of the key requirements for us is to have better analyses of Big Data, but mining these large data sets for contextual information in Hadoop is a challenge. SAP HANA Vora will provide us with the capability to conduct OLAP processing directly on these large, rich data sets all in-memory and stored in Hadoop. This will allow us to extract contextual information and then push those valuable insights back to our business.”

SAP HANA Vora is planned to be released to customers in late September; a cloud-based developer edition is planned to be available at the same time.

http://www.sap.com

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VMware Adds Support for Public Cloud Services, Including Google Cloud Storage

At its VMworld 2015 event in San Francisco, VMware rolled out a number of enhancements for its unified hybrid cloud platform, including new public cloud services and software-defined solutions.

Some highlights:

• Disaster Recovery OnDemand: VMware will add a pay-for-what-you-consume pricing option to VMware vCloud Air Disaster Recovery. Customers will pay a flat fee for each VM protected and the amount of storage consumed by the VMs. When a DR test is run or a DR event occurs, customers will only pay for the compute consumed when VMs are running.
• Site Recovery Manager Air: Site Recovery Manager Air is a software as a service offering that will provide VMware vCloud Air Disaster Recovery customers with a comprehensive management solution for designing, testing, executing and orchestrating centralized business continuity and disaster recovery plans. VMware Site Recovery Manager Air will enable fast, reliable and orchestrated recovery of multi-VM applications and data centers protected in VMware vCloud Air.
• VMware vCloud Air Object Storage - VMware vCloud Air Object Storage is a portfolio of highly scalable, reliable and cost effective storage services for unstructured data. VMware vCloud Air Object Storage powered by Google Cloud Platform is based on Google Cloud Storage and integrated into vCloud Air OnDemand. VMware vCloud Air Object Storage powered by EMC is based on EMC ViPR, offered by EMC Cloud Services and integrated into vCloud Air OnDemand. VMware vCloud Air Object Storage will be easy to setup and exceptionally durable and available, and will reduce the need for data protection with built-in redundancy. It will support global access use cases with easy access from any device, anywhere, anytime.
• VMware vCloud Air SQL - VMware vCloud Air SQL is a new database as a service offering that will provide easy access to scalable, cloud-hosted relational databases. Delivered in a cost-efficient pay-as-you-go model, and built on the trusted foundation of vSphere, vCloud Air SQL will support hybrid data solutions that seamlessly and securely extend on-premises databases to the cloud. VMware vCloud Air SQL will support Microsoft SQL Server, with a variety of memory, compute and storage options, and plans to support other relational databases in the future.

"Digital business transformation is creating new opportunities and new risks across every industry," said Raghu Raghuram, executive vice president and general manager, Software-Defined Data Center Division, VMware. "Applications are the fuel of this digital business transformation. With our One Cloud, Any Application, Any Device™ strategy and our unified hybrid cloud platform, VMware is empowering the next wave of industry leaders to deliver applications with the stability, security and reliability of an enterprise, while allowing organizations to innovate with the agility of a startup."

http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/vmw-newsfeed/VMware-Extends-Unified-Hybrid-Cloud-Platform,-Empowers-Customers-to-Innovate-Faster/1984569#sthash.vLxfoK7D.dpuf

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XtremIO achieves $1 billion in Bookings for All-Flash Arrays

In just six quarters since its launch, EMC's XtremIO group has achieve $1 billion in aggregate bookings for its all-flash storage arrays. The company now has over 1,750 customers, including 60% of the Fortune 100 and 47% of the Fortune 200.

This makes the all-flash arrays the fastest growth product in EMC's 36-year history.

http://www.emc.com

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Ericsson to License its OSS interfaces to Cisco and NETSCOUT

Ericsson announced license agreements with both Cisco Systems and Tektronix Communications (a wholly owned subsidiary of NETSCOUT SYSTEMS) in alignment with the principles outlined in the OSS Interoperability Initiative (OSSii).

Specifically, Ericsson will license its OSS interfaces for integration with Cisco self-optimizing network (SON) products and Tektronix Communications TrueCall geoanalytics platform.

OSSii enables pre-verification of products for new network releases, and provides lifecycle management for interfaces. In addition, it allows both OSSii partners and third parties to support network releases without lengthy and complex integration projects.

Fredrik Gessler, Head of Network Analytics and Management, Ericsson, says: "With the rapid evolution of mobile networks, interoperability is becoming a major expense for operators. OSSii addresses this issue by delivering integration efficiencies, faster time-to-market and lower integration costs, and Ericsson's agreements with Cisco Systems and Tektronix Communications underline Ericsson's commitment to supporting interoperability and to providing flexibility for our customers."
Uzi Breier, Director of Business Development, Cisco, says: "Cisco's collaboration with Ericsson on the OSSii initiative helps both companies deliver superior service. Fine tuning Cisco's SON to the most updated Ericsson interfaces and specifications will help maximize the potential of our customers' Radio Access Networks."

Both agreements run from August 2015 and will initially cover three years.

http://www.ericsson.com

In February 2014, Ericsson has signed cross-license agreements with Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) and Huawei for multi-vendor interoperability, to simplify operators' use of Operations Support Systems (OSS).  In signing the agreements, Ericsson furthers the goals of the Operations Support Systems interoperability initiative (OSSii).

OSSii is an initiative led by major network vendors (Ericsson, NSN and Huawei), which aims to facilitate the interoperability between network management systems from different vendors. OSSii is promoting competition for network-level OSS systems by reducing the overall integration costs, as well as speeding up the time to market for new services. The licenses will be available to other OSS vendors on FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) terms and conditions.

Cross-license agreements allow Ericsson and other vendors to develop and sell network management products and services based on each other's proprietary OSS-interfaces. As part of the initiative Ericsson will provide a remote testing service for interoperability testing.

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Link Lab Raises $6 Million for Low-power WAN Wireless

Link Labs, a start-up based in Annapolis, Maryland closed a $6 million funding round  for its work in low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies for the Internet of Things (IoT).

The company’s primary markets are industrial sensing and control, building management, smart agriculture, government and municipal applications, asset tracking, and the growing connectivity requirements of the Internet of Things.  The line features a low and high power module, repeaters, an 8-channel gateway (indoor and outdoor versions) as well as 24- and 64-channel base stations. The breadth of this product line allows developers to quickly bring long-range communications to their devices and network operators to cost effectively cover cities and regions with a range of base stations and repeater technologies. These devices are FCC-certified for operation in the 915 MHz ISM band and ETSI-compliant for use in the 868 MHz band in Europe and are capable of licensed or unlicensed deployment from 137 MHz-1020 MHz.

The funding round ws led by TCP Venture Capital, which included investment from the Maryland Venture Fund, Blu Venture Investors, and individual and existing investors.

http://www.link-labs.com

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Infinera Appoints Nick Walden as Sr VP of Sales for EME

Infinera named Nick Walden as senior vice president of sales, EMEA with responsibility for leading Infinera's sales activities in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) markets. Walden previously served as vice president and managing director for Ciena's regional carrier business in EMEA. Prior to that, Mr. Walden served in numerous capacities at Ciena for 14 years including his role as the regional managing director leading the Northern Europe business across service provider, partner and enterprise markets.

http://www.infinera.com

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