Thursday, March 31, 2005

Will Grid have a Voice?

If VOIP services were on a grid, these problems will go away.
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Tuesday, March 29, 2005

EU promotes grid projects

The projects involve universities, researchers and companies across Europe - including several UK institutions - to create tools that will deliver access to the enormous processing power of a computing grid for organisations that would ordinarily be unable to afford to buy standalone systems with a similar capability.
The European Union is providing Eur52m funding to turn 12 grid technology research projects into commercially-available systems for use by industry.

Land Rover is using grid technology to speed up its design process

Land Rover is using grid technology to speed up its design process and cut vehicle production costs.

By grid-enabling its product lifecycle management software, the specialist 4-by-4 carmaker is now able to rapidly determine whether or not pre-production designs are clashing, which in turn speeds up the time it takes to produce a vehicle.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Linux gains ground in enterprise resource planning

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is one of the last application areas in which Linux has little or no impact. The Peerstone Group, a market research firm, found that only two percent of corporations relied on Linux to support their ERP applications in 2004. Yet, recently, a growing number of Linux ERP vendors have emerged. Although obstacles remain, the future of Linux in ERP looks promising.

An early pioneer in Linux ERP was Pharma Nord, a Danish pharmaceutical company that has 300 employees in more than 20 countries. Prior to 2003, the firm relied on the Globus ERP system. However, Globus's MS-DOS foundation could not easily support the new virtual private network functions that Pharma Nord was deploying. Instead, Pharma Nord chose Compiere, an open source ERP system that runs on Linux.

In addition, Peerstone listed a handful of potential problems in its survey. Respondents placed finding and paying experienced Linux personnel at the top of the list. "Microsoft has developed a number of training programs, so companies can find Windows support personnel fairly easily, but there hasn't been the same level of support in the Linux community," says Peerstone's Gould. Red Hat understands the challenge, and is meeting it. According to Crenshaw, "We now have trained more than 100,000 individuals worldwide in the use of our operating system and more training is planned for 2005."

Despite the roadblocks, Linux has a bright future in the ERP space. "In a few years, I expect that about one-third of all ERP applications will run on Linux, with the other thirds evenly divided between Unix and Windows," concludes Peerstone's Gould.


Thursday, March 24, 2005

Get ready for grid

That's the message the backers of grid computing technology are sending to smaller businesses, and the numbers seem to back them up. A February report from Insight Research Corp. predicts that worldwide grid spending will undergo staggering growth in the coming years, rising from $714.9-million (U.S.) this year to about $19.2-billion in 2010.

Monday, March 21, 2005

Wall Street looks to Linux, grid, and services-oriented architecture to up performance

Execs from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Merrill Lynch said they've experienced price-performance improvements by up to a factor of four when they replaced Unix-based systems with those based on Linux. "We're converging on Linux and Windows," said Marc Baumslag, chief technology officer of liquidity and risk technology at Merrill Lynch. "All signs are that Linux is here to stay."

Linux has been crucial to the success of J.P. Morgan's derivatives-trading business, said Scott Marcar, head of technology for global emerging markets. Linux powers about two-thirds of the CPUs that run J.P. Morgan's business of trading derivatives, such as futures and options contracts.
In addition to moving to Linux, J.P. Morgan has linked servers with as many as 3,000 CPUs in a grid-computing project called Compute Backbone, which performs complex risk calculations to support the derivatives-trading business. The company charges internal users less than a dollar per CPU per hour to tap into the grid-computing system using a similar utility-computing-based approach that Sun Microsystems unveiled last fall. "The focus is on getting unit costs down as low as possible," Marcar said.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

SGI's Strategy to Drive Advances in Grid Computing

Building on its long history of innovation in grid computing, Silicon Graphics ( NYSE: SGI ) today announced that it continues to drive new advances in the rapidly growing grid movement with several new compute, storage and visualization products. Recent SGI product introductions mark the latest in SGI's long track record of contributions to grid computing standards bodies and at university, government, and commercial sites.

"SGI technologies and development efforts have been decisive in shaping some of the most important innovations in grid computing, and many of the world's largest grid installations are powered by SGI," said Walter Stewart, business development manager for Grid, SGI. "Our vision of the grid is to give universal access to resources capable of processing, managing, and interacting with big data. With every new product introduction, we push that vision even further, revealing how the benefits of grid stretch far beyond shared compute cycles. The result is a collaborative environment that crosses platforms, organizations and geographies."

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

UCSD installs a New supercomputer (Cluster/Grid)

The new cluster, which was purchased from Dell for less than $180,000 per Teraflops (trillion floating point operations per second), is a distributed-memory parallel computer. It is valued not only for its speed, but also because its 428 gigabytes of memory capacity and 20 terabytes of storage will enable researchers to solve ever larger and more sophisticated problems. "It's not always just a matter of computational speed with some of our models -- some are memory limited," said McCulloch. "For example, our models of the propogation of an electrical impulse thorough the heart wall require us to generate matricies with millions of individual cells, and our ability to solve such problems is limited by the memory available. This new cluster will enable completely new simulations of the heart and other biological systems."
"No single computational model spans all these biological scales, but this powerful new cluster will enable us to integrate models over many of these scales, which will make it possible for us to predict, in some cases, the clinical consequences of specific genetic mutations or biochemical alterations caused by disease," said Andrew McCulloch, a professor and vice chair of the Jacobs School's Department of Bioengineering. He celebrated the installation of the cluster at a ribbon-cutting ceremony March 9 in the basement of Powell-Focht Bioengineering Hall with fellow project co-leader Peter Arzberger, principal investigator and director of the National Biomedical Computational Resource (NBCR), a program funded by the National Institutes of Health, and director of Life Sciences Initiatives at UCSD.
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Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Computer Grids and Digital Libraries

What both computer and social grid networks offer librarians are faster, more effective methods either to solve problems or exploit our opportunities better. It means that our users are increasingly able to take advantage of whatever methods of communication they wish. It also means that libraries are being challenged to deliver information in whatever form(s) our users choose—whether new book lists via RSS or a podcast on how to research a topic. As the premier information profession, we should at least be familiar with all the various methods in which information can be communicated, if not be fully equipped to use whichever form is best for a given purpose or audience.

Monday, March 14, 2005

The Survey says.....

survey

According to a new nationwide
survey of U.S. adults, awareness and familiarity of Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) are significantly higher among businesses than among
consumers.

* While nearly nine in 10 (87%) business decision makers are aware of
VoIP (76% at least somewhat familiar), one-third (36%) of consumers are
aware of VoIP (56% at least somewhat familiar).
* Furthermore, while 12 percent of business decision makers familiar with
VoIP currently use it, only three percent of consumers familiar with
the technology use it.

These are some of the results from The 2005 Telecommunications Report, a
study conducted quarterly by Harris Interactive(R). The most recent study was
conducted in January 2005 among a sample of 1,473 U.S. adults and 335 business
decision makers.

Barriers for adoption
The survey suggests that there are several barriers to consumer adoption
of VoIP. Some of the barriers relate to attitudes toward the new service.
Among those who are aware of VoIP, but do not use it:

* I just don't know much about VoIP (47%);
* VoIP providers have failed to show me a convincing story (36%);
* I'm waiting for VoIP to become more mainstream (34%);
* Recommendations would help me move toward VoIP (27%);
* Potential savings are just not worth the hassle (25%);
* VoIP seems too complicated (equipment, installation) (22%); and
* VoIP is an unproven technology (22%).

Other barriers stem from the perceived drawbacks of the technology. Among
those who are aware of VoIP, but do not use it:

* VoIP might not support 911 calling in my area (62%);
* VoIP could be subject to security and privacy issues (60%);
* In a power failure situation, VoIP would not work (58%); and
* The quality of my calls could be worse than with traditional phone
service (52%).

Good news for service providers
While these barriers obviously pose challenges for VoIP service providers,
there is some good news about this new technology. Of those consumers surveyed
who currently use VoIP, many say they are either very (13%) or extremely (27%)
satisfied with their service while an additional 44 percent say they are
somewhat satisfied. The same can be said for businesses that use VoIP. Of
those business decision makers surveyed who use the technology, one-third
(34%) say they are very satisfied and seven percent say they are extremely
satisfied with their VoIP service. An additional 54 percent report being
somewhat satisfied with their service.
Also, of those business decision makers surveyed who are likely to use
VoIP technology within the next year, nearly three-fourths (72%) are
projecting a savings of between 11 and 40 percent in their annual telecom
budgets. (See Table 8)
"Addressing the perceived barriers to VoIP technology presents a challenge
for service providers, but the potential savings by businesses may be the
leverage providers need to not only attract the attention of more businesses,
but to seed interest in consumers as well," says Joe Porus, chief architect
for Technology Research at Harris Interactive. "And when consumers take into
account the overall satisfaction levels of both businesses and consumers who
already use the technology, adoption rates may begin to grow."


TABLE 1
AWARE OF VoIP
"New technology has come on the scene ... referred to as Internet Telephony
VoIP. Are you aware of this term?"

Base: All adults

Consumers Businesses
(n=1,473) (n=335)
% %
Yes 36 87
No 64 13


TABLE 2
FAMILIARITY WITH VoIP
"How familiar are you with this new technology?"

Base: Aware of VoIP term

Consumers Businesses
(n=637) (n=297)
% %
Extremely familiar 4 5
Very familiar 10 21
Somewhat familiar 42 50
Not very familiar 35 21
Not at all familiar 9 3


TABLE 3
CURRENT USAGE OF VoIP
"Are you currently using VoIP?"

Base: Familiar with VoIP

Consumers Businesses
(n=580) (n=288)
% %
Yes 9 12
No 91 88


TABLE 4
LIKELIHOOD OF ADOPTING VoIP
"How likely are you (your company) to use VoIP within the next year?"

Base: Does not use VoIP

Consumers Businesses
(n=520) (n=229)
% %
Extremely likely 2 2
Very likely 4 6
Somewhat likely 30 21
Not very likely 45 45
Not at all likely 19 25


TABLE 5
ATTITUDES TOWARD VoIP
Percentages represent combined "4" and "5" responses from a scale of 1 to 5 (5
= "very important")
"Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each of the
following statements."

Base: Does not use VoIP

Consumers
(n=520)
%
VoIP providers have failed to show me a convincing story. 36
I'm waiting for VoIP to become more mainstream. 34
Recommendations would help me move toward VoIP. 27
Potential savings are just not worth the hassle. 25
VoIP seems too complicated (equipment, installation). 22
VoIP is an unproven technology. 22
I just don't know much about VoIP 47


TABLE 6
BARRIERS TO ADOPTING VoIP
"VoIP offers many advantages, but there are some drawbacks as well. In
deciding whether or not to adopt this technology, please rate each of the
following limitations of VoIP in terms of that limitation's potential impact
on your decision."
Percentages represent combined "4" and "5" responses from a scale of 1 to 5 (5
= "A Show Stopper" and 1 = "No big deal")

Base: Consumers who do not use VoIP

Consumers
(n=520)
%

VoIP might not support 911 calling in my area. 62
VoIP could be subject to security and privacy issues. 60
In a power failure situation, VoIP would not work. 58
The quality of my calls could be worse than the
traditional phone service. 52
I must have a high-speed Internet line and some additional
equipment to use VoIP. 35
There is not directory (white pages) with VoIP. 30


TABLE 7
SATISFACTION WITH VoIP
"Overall, how satisfied are you with VoIP?"

Base: Use VoIP

Consumers* Businesses*
(n=45) (n=51)
% %
Extremely satisfied 27 7
Very satisfied 13 34
Somewhat satisfied 44 54
Not very satisfied 12 5
Not at all satisfied 4 1

* Very small base.


TABLE 8
PROJECTED COST SAVINGS
"With the adoption of VoIP, what level of cost savings are you projecting
with respect to your annual telecom budget?"

Base: Likely to use VoIP

Businesses*
(n=76)
%

0 to 5% 11
6 to 10% 12
11 to 20% 34
21 to 30% 27
31 to 40% 11
More than 40% 5

* Very small base.

Methodology
Harris Interactive(R) conducted the online study in January 2005 among a
nationwide sample of 1,473 U.S adults (aged 18 years and over) and 335 U.S.
business decision makers aged 18 and over. Figures for age by gender,
race/ethnicity, education, region, household income and sexual orientation
were weighted to reflect the total U.S. adult population. Propensity score
weighting was used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95
percent certainty that the results for the consumer sample have a sampling
error of plus or minus 3 percentage points and results for the business sample
have a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. Sampling errors
for sub-sample results (see tables above) are higher and vary. Unfortunately,
there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that
are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error.
They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and
question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that
may result from these factors. This online sample was not a probability
sample.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National
Council on Public Polls.

About Harris Interactive Technology Research
The Harris Interactive Technology Research group doesn't just monitor and
measure the industry. It interacts with the thought leaders who drive
technology, telecom and e-business everyday and provides insights from a
variety of vertical perspectives. Using the group's unique knowledge,
experience, and expertise in both the telecommunications and information
technology sectors, Harris Interactive asks the right questions, confirms
business issues, designs and implements studies to provide clients with
actionable results.
A copy of The 2005 Telecommunications Report can be obtained upon request.

About Harris Interactive(R)
Harris Interactive Inc. (http://www.harrisinteractive.com), the 15th
largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world, is a Rochester,
N.Y.-based global research company that blends premier strategic consulting
with innovative and efficient methods of investigation, analysis and
application. Known for The Harris Poll(R) and for pioneering Internet-based
research methods, Harris Interactive conducts proprietary and public research
to help its clients achieve clear, material and enduring results.
Harris Interactive combines its intellectual capital, databases and
technology to advance market leadership through U.S. offices and wholly owned
subsidiaries: London-based HI Europe (http://www.hieurope.com), Paris-based
Novatris (http://www.novatris.com), Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan,
through newly acquired WirthlinWorldwide, a Reston, Virginia-based research
and consultancy firm ranked 25th largest in the world, and through an
independent global network of affiliate market research companies. EOE M/F/D/V
To become a member of the Harris Poll Online(SM) and be invited to
participate in future online surveys, visit http://www.harrispollonline.com.

Press Contacts:

Nancy Wong
Harris Interactive
585-214-7316

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