Sunday, October 30, 2016

AT&T to Launch 400GbE Business Service

AT&T is planning to launch 400 Gigabit Ethernet business services.  A trial is planned for early 2017 across the company's production network.

The 400 Gigabit Ethernet testing will be performed in 3 phases:

  • Phase 1: Will use optical gear from Coriant to carry a true 400GbE service across a long-distance span of AT&T global backbone from New York to Washington, demonstrating that AT&T’s nationwide software-centric network is 400G-ready.
  • Phase 2: Will trial a 400GbE on a single 400G wavelength across AT&T’s OpenROADM metro network. We’ll use optical gear from Ciena, a developer of next-generation coherent optical solutions, to show the network is ready to transport 400GbE to serve our customers in a metro area.
  • Phase 3: Will test the first instance of a 400GbE open router platform. The “disaggregated router” platform uses merchant silicon and open source software – another industry first.

“Although there have been efforts focused on 400 Gigabit Ethernet viability and industry standards over the past couple of years, we are excited to be the first to implement a pilot,” said Rick Hubbard, senior vice president, AT&T Network Product Management. “400GbE has the potential to transform how our largest retail and wholesale customers manage their networks today.”

AT&T noted that data traffic on the its network grew more than 150,000% between 2007 and 2015.

http://www.att.com

ARM Intros Mali Multi-standard Video Processor for Mobiles

ARM has launched two new products:


  • Mali-V61 -  a video processing unit (VPU) for 4K120 video performance in real-time video applications such as Facebook Live and Periscope.
  • Mali-G51 graphics processing unit (GPU) - ARM’s most area-efficient and energy-efficient GPU to date. Based on ARM’s new Bifrost architecture which has been updated to include a redesigned texturing unit with double the throughput, the Mali-G51 GPU enables these use cases, bringing premium graphics to mainstream mobile devices.


“The cost and visual experience a device delivers are key purchasing factors for Generation Z and mainstream mobile users,” said James McNiven, general manager for CPU and media processing groups, ARM. “Our latest Mali video and graphics IP suite meets this demand by offering immersive VR, gaming and compliance with real-time video standards. This is a system-level media solution that enables developers to balance performance, efficiency and cost control.”

Mali-V61 and Mali-G51 are available to license now and both processors support ARM initiatives such as the new version, v1.2, of ARM Frame Buffer Compression (AFBC), to deliver increased bandwidth savings, and ARM TrustZone technology.


Cloudian Raises $41M for Cloud Object Storage Platform

Cloudian, a start-up based in San Mateo, California, announced $41 million in new venture funding for its hybrid cloud object storage system.

Cloudian's modular, scale-out platform allows a single storage manager to effectively manage hundreds of petabytes of capacity, a level that would require a dozen or more storage managers with conventional systems.

In August, Cloudian announced the availability of Cloudian HyperStore on AWS Marketplace. This enables customers to purchase their on-premises storage on a metered-by-use basis, manage it alongside Amazon S3 storage as a single pool, and then receive a single invoice for both.

In June of this year, Cloudian and Lenovo announced an OEM agreement that enables Lenovo’s worldwide salesforce to offer a Cloudian-based object storage appliance.

“Data center managers need new solutions to help them contend with today’s explosive growth in unstructured data. Across all industries – from media, to medical, to industrial – new applications and technologies are driving 50 percent growth of unstructured data per year, creating a crisis of cost and complexity for storage managers,” said Michael Tso, CEO and co-founder, Cloudian. “Cloudian object storage redefines the enterprise data center with hybrid cloud solutions that bring the flexibility and simplicity of public cloud storage into our customer’s data centers, simplifying management and reducing TCO by 70 percent versus conventional storage systems.”

The funding round includes new investors Lenovo, City National Bank, Epsilon Venture Partners, and DVP Investment. Also participating were all existing investors, including Intel Capital, INCJ, Eight Roads (the proprietary investment arm of FIL, Fidelity International Limited), and Goldman Sachs. The funding brings Cloudian’s total capital raised to date to $79 million.

http://www.cloudian.com