News

• IBM preps SmartCloud for real-time analytics

  Deploying an update of its DB2 database, IBM is pitching its SmartCloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) for use in data reporting and analysis.

• SAP builds out HANA platform and ecosystem

  Anyone remotely within the orbit of SAP lately knows that its number-one focus is the HANA in-memory database and development platform. At this week's Sapphire conference in Orlando, the vendor sought to show the progress it is making in both building out HANA's capabilities as well as attracting developers and partners to HANA.

• Amazon gives DynamoDB a performance boost

  Amazon Web Services is improving the performance of its DynamoDB database service with Parallel Scan, which gives users faster access to their tables.

• SAP says HANA will power all Cloud applications

  SAP's HANA Cloud Platform, consisting of the core in-memory database plus application development tools, analytics and integration services, will eventually underpin all of its cloud-based applications, the company said at its Sapphire conference.

• More data isn't always better, says Nate Silver

  Big data may seem to promise big insights to users, but more isn't always better, cautions statistician Nate Silver, who became one of America's most well-known faces of data analysis after his FiveThirtyEight blog accurately predicted 2012 presidential election results in all 50 states.

• SAP unveils HANA Enterprise Cloud service

  SAP is set to offer customers the option of running their applications on top of a cloud-based version of its HANA in-memory database technology.

• SAP launches free online training for HANA, other new technologies

  SAP is hoping to sow more seeds of interest in its newest technologies, including the HANA in-memory database, through a new online training program available at no charge.

• Hadoop gets more search with MapR, Cloudera releases

  Users of the Hadoop data processing platform now have two more search engines to help them sort through their mountains of information.

• 10gen expands MongoDB with storage service

  Open source database provider 10gen is expanding into storage services, offering a hosted backup service for its flagship MongoDB data store.

• SkySQL, MariaDB to merge

  Two companies offering third-party support for Oracle's open-source MySQL database, as well as the MySQL offshoot MariaDB, have announced plans to merge.

• Oracle rolls out new in-memory applications, scaled-down Big Data Appliance

  Oracle is planning to release a series of applications that take advantage of in-memory computing, a move that will up the competitive ante between itself and SAP.

• Red Hat JBoss Data Grid now spans data centers

  Red Hat has revised its JBoss Data Grid software package, which now offers the ability to replicate copies of data across different data centers, and also comes with a number of other new features that can limit downtime.

• SAP's effort to get startups on HANA bandwagon chugging along

  SAP has spent the past year wooing entrepreneurs around the world in hopes they'll be entranced enough by its much-hyped HANA in-memory database to build products and even entire companies around the technology. On Friday, SAP brought the road show to Cambridge, Massachusetts, home of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a vibrant community of tech entrepreneurs.

• PostgreSQL releases updates to address high-risk vulnerability, other issues

  The PostgreSQL developers released updates for all major branches of the popular open-source database system on Thursday in order to address several vulnerabilities, including a high-risk one that could allow attackers to crash the server, modify configuration variables as superuser or execute arbitrary code if certain conditions are met.

• MongoDB refines load balancing

  Following the tradition set by recent versions, the new release of the MongoDB NoSQL data store comes with a batch of new features designed to appeal to the enterprise market, including a new built-in search engine, more support for geospatial data and the ability to balance workloads across multiple servers more effectively.