Cisco Posts Strong Growth in Income but Guidance Cites Macro Economic Uncertainty

Cisco reported first quarter revenue of $12.7 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $2.4 billion or $0.48 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $3.0 billion or $0.59 per share. Revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same period last year, while net income rose by 33%.

"Q1 was a very strong quarter. We are accelerating our ability to deliver on growth opportunities, aggressively driving our cloud business, and delivering continued strength in our deferred product revenue, as we sell more of our portfolio in software and cloud models," said Chuck Robbins, Cisco chief executive officer. "We guided to solid growth in Q2. Our guidance reflects lower than expected order growth in Q1, driven largely by the uncertainty of the macro environment and currency impacts. Despite these headwinds, I believe we are executing very well. We are moving very fast to capture new opportunities and I feel good about how we are positioned for the second half of the year."

Some highlights:

• Product revenue increased by 4% and service revenue increased by 1%. 
• Total revenue by geographic segment was: Americas up 4%, and each of EMEA and APJC up 3%. 
• Product revenue growth was led by Data Center and Collaboration at 24% and 17%, respectively. 
• Wireless and Security each grew 7%, Switching grew 5%, NGN Routing decreased 8%, and Service Provider Video decreased 2%.
• By product orders per customer segment, Enterprise (3%), Public Sector (0%), Commercial 7%, Service Provider 6%.  Overall 3%.
• By product orders geographically, Americas 1%, EMEA 3%, APJC 9%. Cisco total 3%.
• Cash and cash equivalents were $59.1 billion, up from $52.1 billion a year ago.
• Cisco headcount was 72,063, which is about the same as a year ago.

http://investor.cisco.com/investor-relations/news-and-events/news/news-details/2015/Cisco-Reports-First-Quarter-Earnings/

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Mellanox Intros 100Gbps InfiniBand Switch

Mellanox Technologies introduced its next generation InfiniBand switch for High-Performance Computing, Web 2.0, database and cloud data centers.

The Mellanox Switch-IB 2 is capable of 100 Gbps per port speeds and is the world's first smart network switch that offloads MPI operations from the CPU to the network to deliver 10X performance improvements. It integrates 144 SerDes which can operate at 1Gbps to 25Gbps speeds per lane and delivers 7.02 billion messages-per-second, 90ns switch latency and low power consumption, making Switch-IB 2 the best solution for high-performance computing, cloud, Web 2.0, database and storage centers.

Mellanox said a major innovation is that the switch can manage collective communications (MPI and SHMEM) using embedded hardware, decreading the amount of data traversing the network, reducing application latency with additional benefit of freeing up CPU resources for computation rather than using them to process communication.

“Mellanox smart interconnect solutions will continue to bring not just the widest and fastest interconnect but also more hardware offloads to free the CPU to focus on the application,” said Gilad Shainer, vice president of marketing, Mellanox Technologies. “Mellanox’s smart interconnect technology is a full generation ahead of the competition in terms of performance and return-on-investment advantages it brings to IT and applications managers.”

http://www.mellanox.com/page/press_release_item?id=1627

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Rancher Can Now Orchestrate Persistent Storage Services for Docker

Rancher Labs, a start-up based in Cupertino, California, now offers the ability to orchestrate Persistent Storage Services for Docker.  This makes its easier for developers to define and deploy the exact storage capabilities needed for their containerized applications.

Rancher, which is the company's flagship software tool for building a private container service, can be used with a Docker 1.9 volume plugin to:

• Orchestrate the deployment and configuration of storage services directly on container hosts, utilizing any software defined storage platforms shipped as containers, including, for example, Gluster, Ceph and NexentaEdge.
• Launch applications using Docker Compose that can leverage these storage services to automatically create and mount persistent Docker volumes to support stateful application services such as traditional databases.
• Utilize any vendor-specific advanced storage features offered by storage services such as snapshot, backup, remote replication and data analytics.
• Deploy an application with all of its necessary storage services on any virtual machine or bare metal server, running in any public cloud or private data center.

For example, a user deploying a web application running on Tomcat and MySQL can also use Rancher to deploy a Persistent Storage Service based on Gluster. The Gluster storage service can then be distributed across multiple disks running on different hosts within the Rancher cluster. When the MySQL service is launched, Rancher can orchestrate the deployment of a block storage volume from the Gluster service, which is then connected to the MySQL container as a Docker Volume. Users can leverage GlusterFS geo-replication to backup the application to a remote site.

Once the application is deployed, Rancher continues to manage both the application and storage services, monitoring hosts and disks for failures and responding whenever necessary to ensure the availability of the application.

“As developers begin to deploy more stateful applications using Docker, it is critical that storage services become as easy to deploy and migrate as regular Docker containers,” said Sheng Liang, co-founder and CEO of Rancher Labs. “We’re thrilled to announce this latest update to Rancher, as we believe persistent storage services will unleash a new wave of innovation for the Docker ecosystem, community and users.”

http://www.rancher.com

Rancher Labs Launches its Container Infrastructure Platform

Monday, June 22, 2015  Containers, Docker, Silicon Valley, Start-ups  No comments

Rancher Labs, a start-up based in Cupertino, California, announced the beta release of its platform for running Docker in production. It includes a fully-integrated set of infrastructure services purpose built for containers, including networking, storage management, load balancing, service discovery, monitoring, and resource management. Rancher connects these infrastructure services with standard Docker plugins and application management tools, such as Docker Compose, to make it simple for organizations to deploy and manage containerized workloads on any infrastructure.

Key Rancher features:

• Cross-host networking: Rancher creates a private software defined network for each user, allowing secure communication between containers across hosts and even clouds.
• Container load balancing: Rancher provides an integrated, elastic load balancing service to distribute traffic between containers or services.
• Storage Management: Rancher supports live snapshot and backup of Docker volumes, enabling users to backup stateful containers and stateful services.
• Service discovery: Rancher implements a distributed DNS-based service discovery function with integrated health checking that allows containers to automatically register themselves as services, as well as services to dynamically discover each other over the network.
• Service upgrades: Rancher makes it easy for users to upgrade existing container services, by allowing service cloning and redirection of service requests. This makes it possible to ensure services can be validated against their dependencies before live traffic is directed to the newly upgraded services.
• Resource management: Rancher supports Docker Machine, a powerful tool for provisioning hosts directly from cloud providers. Rancher then monitors host resources and manages container deployment.
• Native Docker Support: Rancher supports native Docker management of containers. Users can directly provision containers using the Docker API or CLI, as well as using Docker Compose for more complex application management functions. Third-party tools that are built on Docker API, such as Kubernetes, work seamlessly on Rancher.
• Multi-tenancy and user management: Rancher is designed for multiple users and allows organizations to collaborate throughout the application lifecycle. By connecting with existing directory services, Rancher allows users to create separate development, testing, and production environments and invite their peers to collaboratively manage resources and applications.

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Microsoft to offer Cloud Services from UK Data Centers

Microsoft plans to offer commercial cloud services from the UK.

Specifically, Microsoft Azure and Office 365 will be generally available from local UK-based data centers in late 2016 with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online following shortly thereafter.

In addition, Microsoft announced the completion of the most recent expansion of its Ireland site and that its data center facility in Middenmeer, the Netherlands, is now operational. Both locations serve as hubs for Microsoft cloud services, including Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online, and will provide additional capacity for customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

https://news.microsoft.com/2015/11/10/microsoft-announces-plans-to-offer-cloud-services-from-the-uk/

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Rocket Fiber Promises 10G Residential Internet in Detroit

Rocket Fiber, a Detroit-based optical fiber Internet service provider backed by Quicken Loans, announced plans to provide up to 10 Gbps Internet speeds for residential customers and up to 100G for businesses.

Rocket Fiber beta testing has already begun for residents connected to the service at The Albert and Malcomson Buildings in Detroit's Capitol Park neighborhood. In addition, 19 office buildings have been connected to the Rocket Fiber network including the First National Building and One Kennedy Square. The company said a large number of business and residential customers are scheduled to "go live" in early 2016.

Rocket Fiber has already laid 17 miles of fiber in the city and began activating clients earlier this month in downtown Detroit's Central Business District. The company is expected to expand to Midtown Detroit in 2016 and then continue to grow in other areas of the city and eventually beyond.

"Rocket Fiber's mission is to develop and implement critical technology infrastructure that will contribute to transforming Detroit into one of the most attractive cities for technology and other businesses to locate," says Rocket Fiber Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder Randy Foster. "Ten-gigabit Internet will put Detroit in an elite category in which technology start-ups and growth companies will naturally and quickly emerge inside its borders."

http://www.rocketfiber.com

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EZChip Postpones Vote on Acquisition by Mellanox

At the request of Mellanox Technologies, EZChip is postponing the date for its shareholders to vote on the current acquisition agreement by Mellanox. The vote had be scheduled for November 12.

Mellanox has proposed a waiver of its merger termination fee and a 30-day go-shop period under which EZChip could solicit third party offers.

Mellanox also reaffirmed its "full, fair and firm" offer of $25.50 per EZchip share, which represents a premium of 16% over the closing price of EZchip shares on September 29, 2015 (the last trading day prior to the public announcement) and a 33% premium and 31% premium over the volume-weighted average closing prices of EZchip shares over the 12-month and 3-month period prior to the public announcement of the transaction.  

http://www.mellanox.com/page/press_release_item?id=1628

Mellanox to Acquire EZchip

Wednesday, September 30, 2015  EZchip, Israel, Mellanox, Mergers and Acquisitions, Silicon  No comments

Mellanox Technologies agreed to acquire EZchip, a supplier of network processors and embedded CPUs for carrier and data center networks, for a cash purchase price of $25.5 per share, implying a transaction value of approximately $811 million (approximately $620 million net of cash).

EZchip’s silicon portfolio of solutions includes network processors, multi-core processors, intelligent network adapters, and high-performance appliances with a comprehensive software ecosystem, that scale to terabit performance levels. The company has expertise in security, deep packet inspection, video, and storage processing. EZChip is based in Yokneam, Israel. Eli Fruchter has served as CEO since the company's inception in May 1999

Mellanox said the EZchip acquisition is a step in its strategy to become the leading broad-line supplier of intelligent interconnect solutions for the software-defined data centers.

“The synergies between EZchip and Mellanox create attractive opportunities. We expect our combined technologies, and product portfolios to deliver leading end-to-end intelligent interconnect and processing solutions to data centers and wide area networks,” said Eyal Waldman, president and CEO of Mellanox Technologies.

“Joining forces with Mellanox represents numerous synergies that create a true powerhouse for connectivity and processing. With Mellanox's leading layer 1 - 3 connectivity solutions for data centers and EZchip's leading layer 3 – 7 processing solutions for carrier networks, the two companies complement each other in technology, products, markets served and customers. Together, we enable a multitude of layer 1 through 7 solutions for data centers and carriers,” said Eli Fruchter, CEO of EZchip.

The combined businesses currently have approximately 2,400 employees, and have generated combined revenues of $668 million for the twelve months ended June 30, 2015.

http://ir.mellanox.com
http://www.ezchip.com

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Zayo to Acquire Viatel for European Fiber Networks

Zayo agreed to acquire Viatel’s infrastructure and non-Irish enterprise businesses for approximately EUR 95 million. Viatel is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Digiweb Group, a full service telecommunications and managed services operator, based in Dublin, Ireland.

Zayo said the Viatel acquisition will bring an 8,400 kilometer fiber network across eight countries. The transaction will add 12 new metro networks, seven data centers and connectivity to 81 on-net buildings. Two wholly-owned subsea cable systems will provide connectivity on two of Europe’s busiest routes – London Amsterdam and London-Paris. The Viatel businesses to be acquired are highly aligned with Zayo’s existing product and customer set, including a higher proportion of dark fiber revenue.

 “Viatel’s long-haul fiber network and colo assets combined with Zayo’s existing national UK, France and U.S. networks provides truly international, seamless connectivity for Zayo’s existing and new customers,” said Dan Caruso, chairman and CEO of Zayo. “Our Pan-European infrastructure capability addresses new growth opportunities, including connectivity to key subsea cable systems delivering traffic to and from high-growth regions such as Asia and Africa.”

http://www.zayo.com

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Juniper Appoints Security CTO

Juniper Networks announced the appointment of Kevin Walker as security chief technology officer (CTO). He joins the company with more than 25 years of experience in information security and technology, most recently serving as vice president and assistant chief information security officer at Walmart.com. He has also served in a variety of roles, including chief information security officer, chief security strategist and director of information security across technology, networking and security companies such as Intuit, Cisco Systems, Symantec Corporation and Veritas Software.

“For Juniper, ‘security’ and ‘networking’ are one and the same and we are committed to building the most secure networks for our customers. Kevin brings years of cybersecurity expertise across product development, research and engineering as well as front-line experience at some of the world’s largest companies. He understands the complex issues that our customers face and will help Juniper continue to innovate, challenge the status quo and deliver security solutions that meet our customers’ needs,” said Jonathan Davidson, executive vice president and general manager, JDI of Juniper Networks.

http://www.juniper.net

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Ericsson Reaffirms Strategic Objectives

Ericsson is projecting that its total addressable market for 2014-2018 will grow at a CAGR of 2 to 4 percent.  It's ambition is to grow faster than the overall market, while focusing on growth areas, implementing cost control measures and seeking new partnerships.  The newly announced alliance with Cisco targets US$1 billion or more in additional sales by 2018.

At its Capital Markets Day earlier this week in Stockholm, Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, commented: "We are continuing our journey to transform Ericsson into a leading ICT player, building on our leadership in our core business and extending into targeted growth areas. The partnership with Cisco is a key step forward in our company transformation and enables us to create unique value for our customers. Together, we will build on our longstanding technology and services leadership to define the networks of the future and accelerate realization of the Networked Society."

The company said its strategy is to excel in its core business - radio, core and transmission, and telecommunications services - while establishing leadership in targeted areas, such as cloud, IP networks, TV and media, OSS and BSS. The cost and efficiency program announced in November 2014 is on target to achieve annual net savings of SEK 9 billion during 2017.

Some highlights:

• Ericsson ambition is to capture opportunities with virtualization and cloud for the IP and core portfolio based on its number one position in telecom core networks
• North America leads the way in average data traffic per active smartphone (GB/month), which is currently at about 4GB per month and projected to grow to around 22GB/month by 2021.
• 30+ VoLTE, Ericsson supports >50%
• 11 live Wi-Fi Calling, Ericsson supports 9
• The Ericsson Dot solution is now live with 41 mobile operators
• Ericsson is well on the way to 5G, having demonstrated numerous technological firsts, such as LTE-LAA
• In Global Services, Ericsson now has 65,000 professionals and 20,000 sourced
• Ericsson has 4 Global Service Centers, incl. Global NOCs
• Ericsson is investing in new global labs to develop IP services capabilities and solutions

Presentations from the day-long event are posted on the Investors page of the company website.

http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/investors/events/2015/capital-markets-day-2015-presentations.shtml

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A10's Thunder Convergent Firewall Delivers 150 Gbps

A10 Networks introduced its Thunder Convergent Firewall (CFW), a standalone security product that leverages its ACOS Harmony platform for converging security and application delivery in a single appliance for service providers, cloud providers, and large enterprises. Firewall performance is rated at over 150 Gbps throughput and 5 million CPS in a one rack-unit appliance. A10's ACOS Harmony platform uses standards-based RESTful APIs to providing access to telemetry data and all aspects of configuration.

Some highlights:

• High-performance Secure Web Gateway with integrated explicit proxy, URL filtering and SSL Insight. It enables security policy enforcement for client outbound HTTP/HTTPS traffic.
• High-performance data centre firewall (DCFW) with integrated network denial-of-service (DoS) protection and Server Load Balancing (SLB). It provides Layer 4 stateful firewall and Layer 7 application-level gateway.
• High-performance Gi/SGi firewall with integrated network DoS and Carrier Grade NAT (CGN). The Gi/SGi firewall protects the mobility infrastructure with advanced policy enforcement.
• High-performance IPSec site-to-site VPN. It helps enterprises to secure application traffic between sites and it enables global enterprises to use public networks to transport application traffic securely.
• aGalaxy Centralised Management System support for Thunder CFW. aGalaxy provides device management, configuration, reporting and troubleshooting for Thunder CFW.

"I'm thrilled to announce the industry's first solution that consolidates multiple converged security solutions in one package," said Lee Chen, CEO of A10 Networks. "Thunder Convergent Firewall provides a highly effective, highly scalable all-inclusive converged secured application network platform to protect organisations' assets. Thunder CFW is a testament to the power and versatility of the ACOS Harmony platform and we've worked with our customers in implementing some of the key security modules."

https://www.a10networks.com

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LG Launches LTE-Connected Android Smart Watch

LG is launching the first Android Wear smartwatch to feature cellular connectivity

The LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, which begins shipping this month in the United States and Korea, allows users to answer calls and check messages. They can receive and respond right from their smartwatch, even when they are not carrying their mobile phone.  It features a hairline-etched stainless steel body and a full-circle 348ppi P-OLED display. The three buttons on the right side of the smartwatch provide quick access to shortcut settings, LG Health and other apps.

AT&T will be offering the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE in its store on Nov. 13.  The new Watch Urbane is also available for pre-order online from Verizon.

"Staying connected is of the utmost importance to consumers today. With the introduction of the second edition Watch Urbane LTE, consumers have options when it comes to their devices and we are excited to bring the latest to the wearables category," said Morris Lee, senior vice president and head of North American sales and marketing, LG Mobile Communications Company.

http://www.lg.com

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ESnet and NERSC Build 400G BayExpress Super-Channel

The Department of Energy’s Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) have built the first 400 Gbps super-channel production link to be deployed by a national research and education network. ESnet currently operates a 100G backbone network connecting DOE sites and universities.  The new 400G BayExpress connection will provide support for NERSC’s 6,000 users as the facility moves from its current location in Oakland, Calif. to the main campus of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley over the next year.

BayExpress is deployed as a pair of 200 Gbps per wavelength and allows for a dual subcarrier 400 Gbps connection. ESnet and NERSC worked with Ciena and Level 3 on the project.

ESnet also noted that the team has set up a 400 Gbps research testbed for assessing new tools and technologies without interfering with production data traffic and allowing staff to gain experience operating a 400 Gbps optical infrastructure. For the testbed, the optical frequencies are more narrowly tuned to maximize use of the fiber spectrum, known as “gridless superchannels,” said Chris Tracy, co-leader of the project and a member of ESnet’s Network Engineering team. The testbed uses a dark fiber link provided by Level 3 to ESnet and NERSC for six months. The team will begin conducting field trials on the testbed within the next two months.

“We expect the 400G prototype network to provide us with many valuable insights with regard to future network architectures and be useful to others in the research community,” said ESnet Chief Technologist Inder Monga. “Other universities, national laboratories and regional and commercial networks will be planning their next-generation networks on this time scale and our goal is to publicize not only our experiences from an optical networking perspective, but also from a scientific workflows perspective in which large-scale datasets are moved between facilities coupled by 400 Gbps of dedicated network bandwidth.”

More details on the ESnet site.

http://www.es.net/news-and-publications/esnet-news/2015/esnet-and-nersc-blaze-400g-production-network-path/

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Gogo Hits Inflight Wi-Fi Milestone - 2,500 Aircraft

Gogo's inflight Wi-Fi service hit a significant milestone this month as the company now has 2500 commercial aircraft equipped for its connectivity.

Out of the 2500 aircraft, more than 860 have been outfitted with the company's higher capacity air-to-ground solution – ATG-4 – and more than 150 aircraft are installed with its Ku-band satellite system.

The company expects nearly 1,000 aircraft to be flying with ATG-4 by the end of this year, which represents close to 40 percent of all Gogo equipped aircraft.

 "Increasing bandwidth to the aircraft is a big priority for us. What's notable about this milestone is the fact that we are not only increasing the number of aircraft with Gogo connectivity services, we are increasingly installing higher bandwidth solutions," added Michael Small, Gogo's president and CEO. "This milestone comes right before we get ready to launch our latest and greatest 2Ku technology to the world, which will further increase bandwidth to the aircraft."

http://gogo.to/2Ku

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TIA to Open NFV Testing Lab

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) it will launch a lab for interoperability testing of network functions virtualization (NFV) technology.

The TIA NFV Lab, which is expected to launch in early 2016, will help service providers to ensure that software and applications running on the network are able to perform as designed and work seamlessly together with other software and applications. The lab will now leverage ETSI’s framework for its testing.

“NFV is a game changer for the global communications industry and is rapidly driving innovative new services for consumers and businesses,” said TIA CEO Scott Belcher. “But in order to realize its full potential, companies must have access to sophisticated, neutral testing platforms. With the launch of the TIA lab, we are committed to giving solution providers, vendors and developers a place to test compatibility between multiple platforms.”

“The data revolution has created a need for extremely flexible and predictive network architecture that can only be achieved through virtualization,” said TIA CTO Franklin Flint. “The TIA NFV Lab will be the only lab of its kind to test true cross-platform, industry-wide, ecosystem agnostic equipment, software and solutions. It will serve as a neutral venue for technology companies to prove the compatibility and scalability of NFV solutions.”

http://www.tiaonline.org/tia-nfv-lab

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Perfecto Raises $35 Million for Testing Mobile User Experience

Perfecto Mobile, a start-up based in Boston, announced $35 million in venture funding for its work in ensuring high-quality digital and mobile experiences for enterprises.

Perfecto Mobile addresses the need for enterprises to continuously test and monitor their mobile and digital user experiences on real devices under real end-user conditions. Perfecto’s Continuous Quality Lab gives users access to a cloud-based test lab, complete with automated test scenarios that account for real user conditions across real devices. The company said its workforce has doubled this year with high growth projections for next year. Its customer base includes brands like Discover, Weather.com and Sky.

The funding came from new investor Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), with continued participation from existing investors FTV Capital, Carmel Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners and Vertex Ventures.

“Customers now expect and depend on high-quality digital experiences when interacting with brands via the Web, mobile apps and IoT devices,” said Eran Yaniv, CEO of Perfecto. “Perfecto has developed leading solutions that help enterprises deliver high-quality digital experiences via our Continuous Quality Lab. I am excited about the partnership with TCV and look forward to working together in growing Perfecto’s global presence, expanding our quality offerings and positioning Perfecto for continued growth and innovation.”

http://www.perfectomobile.com/

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NVIDIA's Jetson Wants to be the Brain of Autonomous Robots and Drones

NVIDIA unveiled a credit-card sized module named Jetson for a new generation of smart, autonomous machines that can learn.

The NVIDIA Jetson TX1 module is an embedded computer designed to process deep neural networks -- computer software that can learn to recognize objects or interpret information. The module brings 1 teraflops of processing performance to enable autonomous devices to recognize visual data or interpret images, process conversational speech or navigate real world environments.

"Jetson TX1 will enable a new generation of incredibly capable autonomous devices," said Deepu Talla, vice president and general manager of the Tegra business at NVIDIA. "They will navigate on their own, recognize objects and faces, and become increasingly intelligent through machine learning. It will enable developers to create industry-changing products."

Key features of Jetson TX1 include:

• GPU: 1 teraflops, 256-core Maxwell architecture-based GPU offering best-in-class performance
• CPU: 64-bit ARM A57 CPUs
• Video: 4K video encode and decode
• Camera: Support for 1400 megapixels/second
• Memory: 4GB LPDDR4; 25.6 gigabits/second
• Storage: 16GB eMMC
• Wi-Fi/Bluetooth: 802.11ac 2x2 Bluetooth ready
• Networking: 1GB Ethernet
• OS Support: Linux for Tegra
• Size: 50mm x 87mm, slightly smaller than a credit card

http://www.nvidia.com

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Micron Debuts DDR4 NVDIMM, Combining DRAM with NAND Flash

Micron Technology introduced a persistent memory technology that combines the low-latency benefits of DRAM with the lower cost of NAND Flash. The NVDIMM technology from Micron could play a key role in data center server design, allowing greater volumes of data to be stored closer to the CPU, boosting the performance of applications such as big data analytics, storage appliances, RAID cache, In-Memory Databases and On Line Transaction Processing.

Micron is now producing 8GB DDR4 NVDIMM, the company's first commercially available solution in the persistent memory category.  In the event of a power failure or system crash, Micron's NVDIMM solution provides an onboard controller that safely transfers data stored in DRAM to the onboard non-volatile memory, thereby preserving the data that would otherwise be lost.

"Micron is delivering on the promise of persistent memory with a solution that gives system architects a new approach for designing systems with better performance, reduced energy usage and improved total cost of ownership," said Tom Eby, vice president for Micron's compute and networking business unit. "With NVDIMM, we have a powerful solution that is available today. We're also leading the way on future persistent memory development by spearheading R&D efforts on promising new technologies such as 3D XPoint™ memory, which will be available in 2016 and beyond."

http://www.micron.com/persistentmemory

Intel and Micron Unveil 3D XPoint Memory 1000x Faster than NAND

Tuesday, July 28, 2015  Flash, Intel, Micron, Storage  No comments

Intel and Micron Technology have developed a non-volatile memory that is up to 1,000 times faster and has up to 1,000 times greater endurance than NAND, and is 10 times denser than conventional memory.

The 3D XPoint technology, which is now entering production, is described as the first new memory category since the introduction of NAND flash in 1989.

"For decades, the industry has searched for ways to reduce the lag time between the processor and data to allow much faster analysis," said Rob Crooke, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. "This new class of non-volatile memory achieves this goal and brings game-changing performance to memory and storage solutions."

"One of the most significant hurdles in modern computing is the time it takes the processor to reach data on long-term storage," said Mark Adams, president of Micron. "This new class of non-volatile memory is a revolutionary technology that allows for quick access to enormous data sets and enables entirely new applications."

Intel said the 3D XPoint technology follows more than a decade of research and development. The innovative, transistor-less cross point architecture creates a three-dimensional checkerboard where memory cells sit at the intersection of word lines and bit lines, allowing the cells to be addressed individually. As a result, data can be written and read in small sizes, leading to faster and more efficient read/write processes.

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2015/07/28/intel-and-micron-produce-breakthrough-memory-technology


In March 2015, Intel and Micron Technology announced availability of their 3D NAND technology, the world's highest-density flash memory, for use in data center servers, laptops, tablets and mobile devices.

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T-Mobile's Binge On Offers Unlimited Streaming from Netflix, HBO, Hulu

Starting November 15th, T-Mobile (U.S.) will allow its Simple Choice users on a qualifying plan to stream unlimited video from Netflix, HBO NOW, Hulu, and other cites without using any of their data plan. There is no additional cost.

The announcement marks T-Mobile's 10th Un-carrier move.

T-Mobile is also boosting its Simple Choice plan by doubling the data at every level and cutting the cost of extra gigs.

“Un-carrier X marks the next step in this revolution, and it is massive,” said John Legere, President and CEO of T-Mobile. “Today, we’re not only doubling your data in Simple Choice, we’re making your data work a lot harder for you! With Binge On, video streams free from 24 streaming services to start, and more to come! Only T-Mobile would find a way for customers to watch unlimited HBO, Hulu, Netflix, Sling TV and more…without eating into their LTE data, while the Duopoly is squeezing consumers with overage fees and over-buying!”

https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/media-kits/un-carrier-x.htm

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ARM Debuts Cortex-A35 for Mobile and Embedded Applications

ARM introduced the first CPU in a new family of ultra-high-efficiency ARMv8-A processors designed for high-growth mobile and embedded applications. Currently more than 50 percent of smartphones now shipping using an SoC based on the ARMv8-A architecture.

The new ARM Cortex-A35, which is expected to begin shipping in production silicon from the company's partners by late 2016, offers 64-bit and 32-bit computational capability with cryptography features.

ARM said its design delivers an average of 20 percent greater performance and efficiency across a range of 32-bit mobile workloads relative to Cortex-A7 while consuming less than 90mW total power per core when operating at 1GHz in a 28nm process node. The Cortex-A35 consumes about 33 percent less power per core and occupies 25 percent less silicon area, relative to the Cortex-A53.

“Cortex-A35 is the natural successor to the compact-footprint Cortex-A7, the leading energy-efficient processor, which has powered more than a billion smartphones and tablets,” said James McNiven, general manager, CPU group. “With the introduction of the world’s most efficient 64-bit capable mobile processor, ARM and its partners will deliver the benefits of 64-bit computing to the next billion smartphone users and beyond.”

At this week's ARM TechCon 2015 conference in Santa Clara, California, ARM is also releasing a new suite of products to accelerate secure IoT deployments. The release includes mbed Device Connector, a free service that businesses can use to connect and securely manage IoT devices. It also includes the enhanced mbed OS (Technology Preview version) and new mbed Reference Designs.

http://www.arm.com

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Dell'Oro: SDN Market to Grow Over 70 Percent in 2015

Dell'Oro Group is forecasting that the Software Defined Networking (SDN) Market will grow more than 70% in 2015, versus 2014. A new report finds that 2015 marked an important milestone in SDN, with many Ethernet Switch architectures ratified and production deployments under way.

"SDN's impact on the Ethernet Switch market increased significantly in 2015 as deployments expanded beyond the large Cloud Providers," said Alan Weckel, Vice President at Dell'Oro Group.  "It is clear that, by 2020, data centers will look significantly different from today's.  We are already seeing an impact on the overall networking and IT markets as enterprise customer spend stagnates while spend from Cloud Providers such as AWS and Azure explodes.  As we look towards next generation 25 GE and 50 GE server access we expect to see significant disruption amongst the vendors with Dell's planned acquisition of EMC being a prelude to further market consolidation," Weckel stated.

http://www.delloro.com

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