Oracle adds virtualization, faster performance to Database Appliance for SMBs

Oracle has rolled out version X3-2 of its Database Appliance for small and medium-sized businesses that it says delivers up to twice the speed and more than four times as much storage as the first edition, which was launched in 2011.

In addition, Database Appliance customers can take advantage of a new virtualization option in version X3-2. Independent software vendors could use the virtualization capabilities "to package and ship a complete solution-in-a-box," Oracle said in a statement released Tuesday. It is also capable of "automatically pinning the database and application VMs to specific cores," thereby tying costs to the actual capacity used, according to Oracle.

Another option allows customers to add a storage expansion shelf, providing room for larger data volumes as needed. Oracle has also developed a series of preconfigured virtual templates for its database, WebLogic application server and a number of applications, allowing for easier deployments, according to a statement.

The Database Appliance is aimed at companies that have smaller budgets or appetites for IT spending, but wish to gain some of the performance benefits of Oracle's flagship Exadata database machines.

The new X3-2 systems now have 512GB of RAM and 18TB of raw disk storage and 800GB of flash memory, according to a statement. That compares to 192GB of RAM and 12TB of raw storage in the original. X3-2 also includes 32 processor cores, up from 24 in the first edition.

Oracle has charged US$50,000 for the base Database Appliance hardware, a price that remained valid as of the latest public price list, which is dated Feb. 26. It wasn't immediately clear whether the new, upgraded hardware in version X3-2 will carry a higher cost.

In contrast, an entry-level Eighth Rack version of Exadata lists for $200,000 in hardware costs.

But both systems are better seen as a delivery vehicle for Oracle software licenses, which provide the vendor with lucrative annual maintenance revenue streams.

Still, customers can start by using just a handful of processor cores and then scale up to the full 32 available cores in the system as desired, according to an Oracle data sheet. They can also choose to run a single Oracle database instance or use the vendor's Real Application Clusters technology to create a high-availability environment.

Since acquiring Sun Microsystems and its hardware business, Oracle has focused on selling systems like the Database Appliance rather than trying to compete with the likes of Hewlett-Packard and Dell in the commodity server market.

While Oracle has seen hardware revenues continually fall, officials have stressed that engineered systems carry much higher profit margins for Oracle than basic hardware would. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has also said hardware revenues will begin growing within Oracle's current fiscal year.

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris' email address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com

VMware ships Horizon Mirage with application layering for modular desktops

VMware's Horizon Mirage 4.0 allows IT departments to be more flexible when they put together centrally managed desktop images using separated application packages.

VMware lives and breathes desktop virtualization, but enterprises still want and need to run traditional desktops where applications execute on the PC. To address this fact, VMware last year acquired Wanova, a company whose software was used to centralize and simplify the management of physical desktop images while letting users get the native performance of a PC, it said at the time.

The latest iteration of that software is Horizon Mirage 4.0. It became generally available on Monday and the basic idea is still the same: to centrally manage desktop images.

The most notable feature in version 4.0 is application layering, according to VMware.

In a Mirage environment, the IT department first configures so-called base layers, which include the OS and applications that are used across the whole enterprise. It is possible to create multiple base layers that can be customized for different countries or business units. However, only one base layer can be assigned to each PC, according to VMware.

On top of the base layer, administrators can now configure layers containing only applications -- and deliver them to Mirage-managed devices independently of the base layer. An application layer can include applications for the sales department, for example. Previously the applications were all part of the base layer, but the addition of the application layers allow IT departments to be more granular, according to Erwin Breneis, lead systems engineer at VMware.

Each layer can be migrated, updated, or restored independently of the others.

If the IT department decides to allow it, users can still control their own data and settings, as well as install their own applications on their endpoints. This personalization exists side-by-side with the IT-controlled base and application layers.

Today, Mirage works with Windows XP and Windows 7, and can be used to help migrate from one to the other. That's important because Windows XP support ends next April.

VMware will soon add support for Windows 8 as well.

Mirage is part of VMware's Horizon Suite end-user computing package, which also includes Workspace and View, and is this week being demonstrated by VMware at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany.

Version 5.2 of View -- which is used to remotely access desktops running on a server -- includes bandwidth improvements, hardware accelerated 3D graphics and the platform can now understand native iOS and Android gestures.

There is also support for Windows 8 and improved management when used in large deployments, which will decrease the time it takes to provision the platform, VMware promises.

Today, View and Mirage use separate management tools, but VMware's goal is to bring the two together, so administrators can use one console to control both virtual and traditional desktops, according to Breneis.

Horizon Workspace is a new product that allows administrators to create customized sets of applications and data for end users.

Horizon View 5.2 and Horizon Workspace have now also become generally available.

Horizon Mirage 4 and Workspace both cost US$150 per named user, while Horizon View 5.2 costs $250 per concurrent connection and is offered in increments of 10 or 100 licenses. The whole suite costs from $300 per named user, according to VMware.

Send news tips and comments to mikael_ricknas@idg.com

Hot technologies to watch: Augmented reality and 3D printing

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Augmented reality and 3D printing are the hottest emerging technologies to watch, according to Tom Soderstrom, chief technology officer for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The impact of both technologies is already being felt with some new products, including a free augmented reality app in Apple's App Store called Spacecraft 3D. The app was built by JPL designers as an outgrowth of the Jet Propulsion Lab's "petting zoo" -- a development sandbox concept that JPL has had in five locations for four years.

In an interview at the Premier 100 conference here, Soderstrom showed how the Voyager and 10 other spacecraft look in the 3D app. With the app loaded on his iPhone, he focused its camera on a special card, and the 3D image of Voyager appeared on the smartphone's display, and could be rotated to look at all sides of the spacecraft. The image on the card was like the rough surface of a planet, and that same image can be downloaded and printed out -- eliminating the need for the card. The app will soon be available on Google Play for Android, Soderstrom said.

Soderstrom also demonstrated functional plastic tools, including a wrench and a gear that were produced with inexpensive 3D printers. Such printers can now cost $1,500 to $2,500, using a variety of materials, including sheets of highly durable manufactured sapphire, he said. Low-cost 3D printers are being made by MakerBot, Cubify and a number of companies that showed products at the International CES show in January, he said.

JPL engineers helped further develop 3D printing in JPL's five petting zoos, Soderstrom said.

Augmented reality allows computer-generated content to be superimposed over a live camera view of the real world.

Th first uses of augmented reality and 3D printing could be effective in education settings, Soderstrom said. Students could learn how tools and devices look and feel and how to design them with software.

He showed a hand-sized 3D model of the surface of the moon, which blind students can touch to gain an appreciation of the moon's rugged surface. "This model cost just 30 cents to make," he said.

Likewise, augmented reality can be used to enrich the learning experience about spacecraft and other technologies -- all from a student's smartphone or other portable device, Soderstrom said.

JPL engineers are also relying on the virtual world of Second Life to design JPL conference rooms, showing potential users and investors how they would look or could be modified. "Blueprints didn't work, but in Second Life they see how the lighting works, where the walls will be," Soderstrom said.

Soderstrom, a science evangelist of sorts for JPL, spending much of his time in schools explaining the significance of technology to coming generations. This is the second year he has attended Premier 100. He attracted a crowd of CIOs interested in innovations and ways they can promote innovation in their companies.

Soderstrom's purpose in going to schools is to preach about the need for more scientists and engineers. "We're going to need more engineers for all this new technology," he said.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

See more by Matt Hamblen on Computerworld.com.

Read more about emerging technologies in Computerworld's Emerging Technologies Topic Center.

BitTorrent invites testers to help fine tune its new Sync file-sharing program

BitTorrent will crowd source ideas from its 170 million users for its new Sync program for file sharing across multiple computers.

Of course, the company is best known for its slightly less legal uses: Many a pirated movie has been passed around over the peer-to-peer file-sharing client. But BitTorrent opened its virtual doors to the public Thursday, with an invitation to crowdsource innovative products that build on BitTorrent's technology. Sync is the first effort.

BitTorrent Sync is in such early stages of development that the company considers it a pre-alpha product. But for early adopters wanting to get in on the ground floor, the invitation-only programlets you sync files across multiple machines, similar to Dropbox and cloud-storage services offered by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

It's unclear exactly how Sync is (or will be) different from its competitors but, so far, BitTorrent is targeting home users "to help manage personal files between multiple computers," the company said in a blog post. So if you want copies of home movies on both your laptop and desktop, Sync may be where it's at. (Note: peer-to-peer backup has been in discussion since at least 2009.)

Background

The new file-sharing program follows on the heels of Mega, another major file-sharing product released this month. Mega, the brainchild of MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom, encrypts your files before you upload them to the company's servers and offers 50GB of free storage.

Dotcom has been the target of a federal piracy investigation, which makes the future success of Mega a somewhat dicey prospect. But BitTorrent, whose users have also been targeted in piracy investigations, is trying to move away from the unsavory side of file sharing. The company last year launched a revenue-sharing program to compensate musicians with advertising dollars.

Sync is part of BitTorrent Labs, which the company calls its "test kitchen" and a "not-so-secret fort," which is where it opened up its alpha projects to developers, testers, and the general public.

Other concepts available to experiment with in the Lab are BitTorrent Live, a beta streaming client; Surf, a torrent discovery extension for the Chrome browser; and Beam It Over, a Facebook file-sharing plug-in.

BitTorrent and its client uTorrent have about 170 million active users to draw upon for crowdsourcing ideas and solutions, which could make the public release of Sync a better product than other cloud-storage services.

Office 2013 costs just $9.95 for some

Microsoft today added Office 2013 to the Home Use Program (HUP), which lets employees of some companies and organizations buy the new suite for $9.95.

The deal had been tipped previously by several sources, including a Microsoft HUP marketing portal, which yesterday noted that promotional materials would be available to volume licensees on Jan. 17.Vanderbilt University had also told its faculty and staff that Office 2013 would be hit HUP no later than the middle of this month.

Enterprises and organizations with Software Assurance (SA) plans can enable HUP for employees, who register for the discounted copy of Office 2013 using their work email address and a program code obtained from their IT department. SA is an annuity-like program where firms pay Microsoft set fees per license over a multi-year span for the right to upgrade to any new versions of a particular product.

For $9.95, employees can download Office Professional Plus 2013, a volume license-only edition that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, InfoPath and Lync.

Alternately, workers can purchase Office for Mac Home & Business 2011 for $9.95. That edition includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Software obtained through HUP is intended for use on workers' home PCs or Macs, and its use is tied to the company's or organization's continued SA payments.

Employees can obtain either Office Professional Plus for Windows or Office for Mac 2011, but not both. They can also purchase the suite on physical media for an additional $12; that DVD includes both the 32- and 64-bit editions and can be used to reinstall Office after, for instance, a hard drive disaster or a change of machines.

Those who had previously purchased an older copy of Office through HUP -- say, Office Professional Plus 2010 -- must again pay the $9.95 fee to buy Office 2013 as an upgrade.

The appearance of Office 2013 on HUP is another clue that the retail launch of the new suite is imminent. Based on previous Office release schedules, Computerworld has forecast a late-January or very early-February introduction.

As an aside, Vanderbilt University also said that it expected Microsoft to release an upgraded edition of Office for Mac -- the school called it "Office 2014" -- "during the second half of 2014." Previously, Microsoft has declined to comment on a timetable for the next iteration of Office on OS X.

Microsoft has published more information about HUP in a comprehensive online FAQ.

Microsoft today added Office 2013 to its Home Use Program, which lets workers pay $9.95 for a copy of the new suite.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com.

Read more about applications in Computerworld's Applications Topic Center.

Assange claims US erecting a regime of secrecy and obfuscation

Assange gave a statement via videoconference to a forum at the UN sponsored by Ecuador

The U.S. is trying to erect a national regime of secrecy and obfuscation where any government employee revealing sensitive information to a media organization can be sentenced to death, life imprisonment, or for espionage, and the journalists from a media organization with them, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a U.N. forum through a video link from the Ecuador embassy in London on Wednesday.

U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley E. Manning, who was arrested in 2010 for allegedly passing classified documents to WikiLeaks, was charged with a death penalty offence as the U.S. tried "to break him" into testifying against Assange and WikiLeaks, Assange said.

In June, Assange sought protection and requested political asylum from the Ecuador government, to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning in connection with alleged sexual misconduct. He was granted asylum last month.

The forum, focused on diplomatic asylum, was organized by Ecuador's permanent mission at the U.N., and was led by Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patiño.

Assange also criticized what he described as U.S. attempts to take credit for pro-democracy movements in the Middle East, popularly referred to as the Arab Spring, and claimed WikiLeaks played a role in exposing the U.S. role.

Tunisian protester Tarek al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi did not set himself on fire so that Barack Obama could be reelected, Assange said. "The world knew, after reading WikiLeaks publications, that the Ben Ali regime and its government had for long years enjoyed the indifference, if not the support, of the United States - in full knowledge of its excesses and its crimes," he added.

"It must come as a surprise to the Egyptian teenagers who washed American teargas out of their eyes that the US administration supported change in Egypt," said Assange who accused U.S president Barack Obama of trying to exploit the reforms of the Arab Spring for his re-election campaign in footage of the speech provided by Russian news channel RT.

WikiLeaks has published leaked diplomatic cables and other information that embarrassed several governments and international businesses.

Assange could not travel to New York as he cannot step out of the embassy without being arrested by British police who surround the building. The U.K. has refused to grant him passage to Quito stating that the government is under obligation to comply with court rulings and send him to Stockholm. But Assange's supporters fear that from Sweden, he could be transferred to the U.S. to face charges under the country's Espionage Act.

DefensePro: All-in-One Attack Protection with IPS, NBA, DoS Protection and Reputation Services

Radware's award-winning DefensePro^® is a real-time network attack prevention device that protects your application infrastructure against network & application downtime, application vulnerability exploitation, malware spread, network anomalies, information theft and other emerging network attacks.

• DefensePro includes the set of security modules – Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), Network Behavioral Analysis (NBA), Denial-of-Service (DoS) Protection and Reputation Engine - to fully protect networks against known and emerging network security threats. It is based on standard signature detection technology to prevent the known application vulnerabilities. The core of DefensePro is patent protected behavioral based real-time signatures technology that detects and mitigates emerging network attacks in real time such as zero-minute attacks, DoS/DDoS attacks and application misuse attacks. All without the need for human intervention and without blocking legitimate user traffic.
  
  
   
• DefensePro uses a dedicated hardware platform based on Radware's OnDemand Switch supporting network throughputs up to 12Gbps. It embeds two unique and dedicated hardware components: a DoS Mitigation Engine (DME) to prevent high volume DoS/DDoS flood attacks - without impacting legitimate traffic– and a StringMatch Engine (SME) to accelerate signature detection.
  
  
   
• APSolute Vision™ offers a centralized attack management, monitoring and reporting solution across multiple DefensePro devices and locations. It provides the user real-time identification, prioritization and response to policy breaches, cyber attacks and insider threats.

Cutting Edge Network Security Technologies

DefensePro uses multiple technologies to provide APSolute Attack Prevention for data centers and networks:

Intrusion Prevention System

• The Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) module is based on stateful static signature detection technology with periodic signature updates and emergency updates in case of a newly discovered high risk attacks.
   

Network Behavioral Analysis

• The Network Behavioral Analysis (NBA) module employs patented behavioral-based real-time signature technology. It creates baselines of normal network, application and user behavior. When an anomalous behavior is detected as an attack the NBA module creates a real-time signature on- the-fly that uses the attack characteristics and start blocking the attack immediately. In case of DDoS attacks it injects the real-time signature into the DME hardware offloading the main CPUs from the excessive unwanted traffic.

Denial-of Service Protection

• The Denial-of Service (DoS) Protection module is based on several technologies: signature detection, behavioral based real-time signatures and SYN cookies mechanism that challenge new connections prior to establishing a new session with the servers.

Reputation Services Engine

• The reputation engine offers real-time Anti-Trojan and Anti-Phishing service , targeted to fight against financial fraud, information theft and malware spread.

Business value

Maintain business Continuity of Operations (COOP) even when the network is under attack

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Best security solution for data centers in a single box

• Combining intrusion prevention system (IPS), network behavioral analysis (NBA), denial-of-service (DoS) protection and Anti Trojan & Anti Phishing

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• Per user customization of real-time dashboards and historical reports
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• Multitude of security tools in a single box
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• Full investment protection and extending platform life time thanks to the pay-as-you-grow license upgrade scalability delivering best ROI and CAPEX investment protection