Teradata, Microsoft ensure compatibility
Teradata, a division of NCR Corp., recently announced joint support for customers with the signing of a multi-year agreement with Microsoft Corp. to ensure product interoperability by jointly testing Analysis Services in Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and the forthcoming SQL Server 2005 with new releases of Teradata data warehouse solutions. As part of the agreement, Teradata will provide its latest release of Teradata Warehouse 7.1 and supply consulting services to assist Microsoft in testing and optimization. The companies will publish best practices for using the products together. Bill Baker, Microsoft’s SQL Server business intelligence general manager, noted that Microsoft is working with industry partners to provide customers with better connectivity.
New storage products address cost
In May, IBM announced new tape and disk storage products that it claims will help companies address growing data retention and government regulatory concerns while taking advantage of new, lower-cost technologies. The new storage products can help companies efficiently manage the lifecycle of data from creation to disposal. These include the IBM TotalStorage FAStT100 Storage Server, an entry-level near-line disk storage system, and Write Once Read Many (WORM) media technology for the IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Tape Drive 3592 for long-term data retention. Dell Inc. is planning to make storage-attached networks (SANs) mainstream with the release of its AX100, aimed at remote departments, workgroups and enterprises smaller than the top tier. Made up of integrated components from EMC Corp., QLogic Corp. and Brocade Communications Systems Inc., the resulting SAN will provide fast access to consolidated data storage, with each connected server having access to its own unique part of the SAN’s disk storage. It will also cost less than US$10,869. Dell CEO Kevin Rollins said the AX100 is of interest to “more than one third of Dell’s addressable market.” However, the AX100 will scale from 480GB to 3TB and is easily set up with Wizard-based tools. It can be configured in just four steps, Dell boasts. EMC head Joe Tucci said, “What we’re providing is a SAN environment for the price of what used to be direct-attached.” — with file from Chris Mellor, Techworld.com
CME aims to redefine ‘made in Canada’
Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters in May launched Manufacturing 2020: Building Our Vision For The Future, which it hopes will produce by October an action plan for industry and government that identifies specific elements needed to preserve a strong industrial base in Canada. The CME has begun a series of meetings coast to coast where manufacturers, exporters, suppliers and service partners will discuss industry challenges, global trends and other critical factors for business success. “Manufacturing in Canada and around the world is being transformed. In ten years time it will be unrecognizable,” reported Perrin Beatty, CME president and CEO. “The challenge for us is to anticipate how manufacturing will look, to determine the future we want, and to work together to achieve it.” According to CME chair Dan Gagnier, “while there is no way we can defy change, we can define it. Drawing on the ingenuity that has shaped our country over the generations, we can make today’s global shifts work for us rather than against us.” Check out www.cme-mec.ca/mfg2020/index.asp.
Storage backup appliances scale to 20TB
Unitrends Software Corp. in June unveiled storage systems to help businesses protect their data. The Data Protection Units (DPU) are available in desktop or rack-mountable configurations and include data backup-and-restore software, bare metal restore, and scalability to as much as 20TB. Further, the new DPUs are as much as 50 per cent faster than previous DPUs. They include the ability to perform disk-to-disk backup and can be configured as a near-line vaulting product. The DPUs support a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, NetWare, Solaris and UnixWare. They also feature a compression technology called RX9 that allows data backups and restores to be done in a fraction of the time of tape-based alternatives. The DPUs are available in a variety of configurations, scaling from 250GB and starting at US$4,500. — Deni Connor, Network World Fusion (U.S.)