Microsoft acquires Cycle Computing for cloud HPC

Microsoft has acquired Cycle Computing, a start-up specializing int cloud orchestration of High-Performance Computing (HPC) resources. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Cycle Computing describes its CycleCloud software suite as a cloud orchestration, provisioning, and data management platform for Big Compute, Big Data, and large technical computing applications running on any public, private, or internal environment. The tool suite helps manage cloud workflows.

Cycle Computing said it is joining Microsoft because Azure has a massive global footprint, powerful infrastructure, InfiniBand support for fast networking and state-of-the-art GPU capabilities.

Microsoft Azure's Jason Stowe writes: "We’ve already seen explosive growth on Azure in the areas of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and deep learning. As customers continue to look for faster, more efficient ways to run their workloads, Cycle Computing’s depth and expertise around massively scalable applications make them a great fit to join our Microsoft team. Their technology will further enhance our support of Linux HPC workloads and make it easier to extend on-premise workloads to the cloud."

https://cyclecomputing.com/cycle-computing-joining-microsoft/

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Ericsson: commercial gigabit services within reach with LAA

Ericsson provided a quick update on its activities with Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), a technology which it says will enable commercial gigabit services in the near future.

LAA allows operators to use unlicensed spectrum in combination with their licensed spectrum. The technology is designed to co-exist with other unlicensed spectrum technologies such as WiFi via a feature termed 'listen before talk', which allows fair coexistence between LTE-LAA and WiFi.

Recently, Telstra, in partnership with Ericsson and Qualcomm, became the first carrier to launch a commercial Gigabit LTE network. The gigabit downlink performance is enabled by LTE Advanced features including 4x4 MIMO, 3CA (Three Carrier Aggregation) and higher order modulation (256QAM). On the uplink, Telstra's new network capability uses 64QAM and 2CA (Two Carrier Aggregation) for a peak upload speed of up to 150 Mbps. NETGEAR's Nighthawk M1 Mobile Router (MR1100) leverages 4x4 MIMO and is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon(TM)  X16 LTE modem.

In June, AT&T and Ericsson conducted a live LTE-LAA technology field trial, during which initial wireless data rates of more than 650 Mbps were achieved in downtown San Francisco.

Also in June, T-Mobile completed the nation’s first mobile broadband data session live in the field using License Assisted Access (LAA) on its commercial network.

Italian operator TIM has achieved speeds of nearly 1Gbps on its live advanced 4G network in Milan using Ericsson’s LAA technology.

Ericsson, Verizon and Qualcomm achieved a speed of 953 Mbps in a joint commercial network deployment in Boca Raton, Florida. This is the fastest announced speed leveraging LAA technology achieved in a real-world, dynamic network environment in the US.

South Korean operator SK Telecom  and MTS, the largest mobile network operator in Russia, have all recently completed their own LAA trials.

Ericsson introduced its micro Radio 2205 for LAA. Designed for unlicensed spectrum use, Ericsson’s micro solution provides small dimensions, flexible mounting and superior performance. Qualcomm Technologies provided a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile platform device, with Gigabit LTE capability thanks to the integrated Snapdragon X16 LTE modem.

https://www.ericsson.com/en/news/2017/8/reaching-gigabit-milestones-with-ericsson

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Ericsson joins Zain Kuwait-led utilities transformation project

Zain Kuwait is leading one of the largest utilities digital transformation projects in the Middle East that will oversee the deployment of a smart metering solution, including an Enterprise and Cloud Billing solution and Multiservice Delivery Platform.

As the sole technology partner in the Zain-led consortium, Ericsson will provide a range of Managed Services for improved network operations and security, and for Internet of Things applications. Furthermore, the cross-industry Ericsson Multiservice Delivery Platform will help digitalize channels for consumer interaction, offering personalized and user-friendly services for all types of devices through self-service portals. Additional Ericsson solutions will provide important features for areas such as customer care, post- and prepaid services, performance management, event planning, and analysis of network data.

The project will be completed by 2024.

https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2017/8/ericsson-joins-zain-kuwait-led-utilities-digital-transformation-project

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Aerohive: Growth in 802.11ac Wave 2 Dual 5 GHz APs

Aerohive Networks is reporting that sales of its dual 5 GHz-based 802.11ac Wave 2 access points accounted for 45 percent of its access point sales in Q2 of 2017. Dual 5 GHz delivers greater network efficiency and performance. Aerohive features artificial intelligence-assisted, software-definable radios (SDR) coupled with RF-IQ technology that can dynamically optimize dual 5 GHz environments for maximum efficiency and performance.

Aerohive said its AP250 and AP550 have both 802.11ac 5 GHz fixed and software-definable radios that can transmit on either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band. This allows the APs to operate in either 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz mode or dual 5 GHz mode. The latest updates enable these Aerohive access points to autonomously adapt with current environmental and client conditions, mitigating congestion challenges and providing higher network capacity and performance gains. These access points result in a better ROI than fixed-band radios, as both fixed and software-defined radios can be used at all times to serve clients.

“The entire networking world is moving toward the software-defined model, which is what makes the dual 5 GHz solution so compelling,” said Changming Liu, chief technology officer and founder, Aerohive Networks. “We uniquely overcame many technical challenges to isolate radios to support simultaneous dual 5 GHz operation in a compact AP form factor, and give control back to the end user instead of the vendor, with software-defined radios that let them deploy the radio in the best mode they see fit for their environment. This not only gives the end user the best Wi-Fi experience, but also dramatic cost savings by deploying one AP instead of two with less interference, equipment, cabling, and power consumption.”

http://www.aerohive.com/

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Equinix brings AWS Direct Connect to NY

Equinix has established connectivity into Amazon Web Services (AWS) Direct Connect service in the New York region, enabling all Equinix customers in the New York metro the ability to access AWS Direct Connect at all available speeds via Equinix Cloud Exchange or Equinix-provided metro connectivity options.

The Equinix New York campus consists of eight data centers that serve as business hubs for approximately 825 companies across multiple industries, with a high concentration of financial services and media firms. In addition to directly connecting to AWS, Equinix New York customers can choose from a broad range of network services from 125 providers.  Equinix New York data centers are also home to the Equinix Financial eXchange, a large community of financial market participants that exchange data in close proximity to each other to optimize their electronic trading operations.

The addition of New York brings the total number of Equinix metros offering AWS Direct Connect service to seventeen: Amsterdam, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, London, Munich, New York, Osaka, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Warsaw and Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia.

http://www.equinix.com

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NeoPhotonics appoints new CFO

NeoPhotonics announced the appointment of Elizabeth “Beth” Eby as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, replacing Sandra Waechter, Interim Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately.

Beth Eby brings to NeoPhotonics more than 25 years of financial experience at Intel Corporation where she most recently held the position of Vice President of Finance and Group Chief Financial Officer for Intel’s Internet of Things Group. Prior to that she was Vice President of Finance and Group Controller for Corporate Financial Planning & Reporting where she was responsible for all financial, audit committee and SEC reporting. Over the course of her career Ms. Eby also held finance leadership roles related to cost and manufacturing, sales and product planning, including two multi-year assignments in Asia. Ms. Eby obtained a MBA degree from Carnegie Mellon Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from University of Michigan.

http://www.neophotonics.com

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Trend Micro brings Deep Security to AWS GovCloud

Trend Micro is now offering its Deep Security agent in the recently launched Amazon Web Services (AWS) GovCloud Marketplace.

Trend Micro said its Deep Security provides cloud protection from a single agent that scales seamlessly, helping government organizations maintain continuous compliance. .

https://www.trendmicro.com/aws/

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Extreme posts strong quarterly results

Extreme Networks reported quarterly revenue of $178.7 million, GAAP gross margin of 56.9%, and GAAP net income of $12.2 million, or $0.11 per diluted share.

"Led by solid organic growth and continued execution of our recently acquired WLAN business, we concluded 2017 with one of our strongest performances in recent years," stated Ed Meyercord, President and CEO of Extreme Networks.  "During our fourth quarter, revenue from our Extreme solutions portfolio generated organic growth of 6% driven by record wireless performance that was at or above current industry growth rates, while our non-GAAP gross margins expanded by 230 basis points year-over-year to 57.1% through our high-quality solution selling strategy and disciplined approach to discounting.  Even more noteworthy, for the first time since 2013, we achieved positive GAAP earnings, while delivering non-GAAP earnings at or above our expectations for the ninth consecutive quarter.

"The successful integration of our WLAN acquisition validates our pursuit of accretive acquisitions and we are poised to build on this momentum with the recent closing of the Avaya networking business acquisition and the pending closing of the Brocade data center networking business acquisition.  Heading into fiscal 2018, we plan to leverage our expanded market share and significant cross selling opportunities supported by the combination of these transformative acquisitions, greater penetration across our target verticals and the continued introduction of new products and services.   We anticipate these actions will enable us to reach critical mass and build on our leadership position in the enterprise networking industry as we continue to deliver software-driven, end-to-end, wired and wireless networking solutions for enterprise customers," concluded Meyercord.

http://investor.extremenetworks.com

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