The project team behind Apache Hadoop has released version 1.0 of their platform. “Users can be much more confident that this release will be supported by the open source community,” said Apache Hadoop vice president Arun Murthy. “There is no more confusion over which version of Hadoop to use for which feature.”

Three new additions in particular helped make this release worthy of the 1.0 designation, Murthy explained. End-to-end security is the chief feature. Hadoop can now be secured across an entire network, using the Kerberos network authentication protocol. As a result, enterprises can now trust their Hadoop deployments with sensitive and personal data. The second feature, the webhdfs REST API (representational state transfer application programming interface), can be used to interact with Hadoop using Web technologies that many administrators and programmers easily understand, making Hadoop more applicable to more organizations. Finally, this version is the first to fully run HBase, which gives administrators a familiar relational database-like structure to store their data.

Lucene developer Doug Cutting, along with Mike Cafarella, created Hadoop in 2005 as an implementation of Google’s MapReduce algorithm, a technique for analyzing data spread out across many different servers. Cutting would later go on to work for Yahoo to help the portal company use the technology to aid in its search service, an implementation that was eventually spread across over 40,000 servers.

Hadoop can be used to store and analyze large data sets, often called big data. Although originally designed for aiding large search services, the technology is increasingly finding a home within enterprises as well, Murthy said. The project has at least 35 code committers, and hundreds of other contributors.

Using Hadoop for data analysis can be handy for data sets that are too large for traditional relational databases, or in cases where the organization collects lots of data but doesn’t know yet what analysis needs to be done on that data. JPMorgan Chase uses the technology for fraud detection and risk management. EBay is using the technology to build a new search engine for its auction service.

The technology has also gotten a lot of commercial support. Startups Cloudera, Yahoo-spinoff Hortonworks and MapR all offer commercial distributions of the software. IBM has incorporated Hadoop into its InfoSphere BigInsights data analysis package, and Microsoft has a copy of Hadoop running on its Windows Azure cloud service.

Part of the company’s Application Fluent Networking, the modules fit into Alcatel-Lucent’s OmniSwitch 6900 top-of-rack switches. They come in two flavors: a three-port 40G QSFP+ version and a hybrid 10G/40G configuration, with four 10G SFP+ Ethernet ports and two 40G QSFP+ interfaces.

The modules allow users to construct what Alcatel-Lucent call 40G “pods,” smaller fabric switching configurations of two to six 6900 switches. These pods can then be connected together through an Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 10000 core switch to form a mesh of pods, or a cloud-type environment.

Alcatel-Lucent introduced the concept of pod and mesh networking last spring, when it rolled out the 6900. At that time, the company said four pods connected to two OmniSwitch 10000s in the core over 40G links could support 14,400 server ports and 169Tbps of switching capacity across 10 racks of 48 units each, with latency of 5 microseconds.

Application Fluent Networking is competing with other network virtualization and fabric architectures from Cisco, Brocade, HP, Dell, IBM, Extreme, Enterasys, Avaya and others.

The 40G modules cost $1,500 per port, not including optics. They will be available early in 2012. In mid-2012, Alcatel-Lucent will ship OmniSwitch software that supports the IEEE’s Data Center Bridging and Shortest Path Bridging specifications for lossless, multipath Ethernet; and Edge Virtual Bridging for interaction between virtual and physical switches. It will also ship Fibre-Channel-over-Ethernet at that time.

Alcatel-Lucent expanded its partner ecosystem for its Application Fluent Networking strategy. The company lined up Emulex, for server interoperability at 10G; VMware, for interoperability between VMware’s VMotion software and Alcatel-Lucent’s Virtual Network Profile VM mobility package and integration with the Alcatel-Lucent management platform; and NetApp, for a storage array test bed.

Green Hat offers a virtual test environment platform that allows development teams to test applications without the need to set up multiple physical labs, saving them time and money, according to IBM. The faster development cycles necessitated by the rise of smartphones and tablets has exacerbated developers’ need for greater speed and flexibility, IBM added.

The Green Hat products will be rolled into IBM’s Rational division, which already offers a wealth of software development and testing tools. But the deal looks additive for IBM, according to one observer.

“I think Green Hat has extended capability over what Rational Quality Manager currently has,” Forrester Research analyst Jeffrey Hammond said via email. “As an example, dedicated support for SAP NetWeaver and Oracle Fusion Middleware.”

Green Hat’s website also lists support for middleware from Tibco, Software AG and Progress Software, among others.

“Also I think the support for REST functional testing is a net add for the Rational group,” Hammond added. “With the proliferation of JSON and XML based web services we’re seeing as companies build corporate engagement platforms, functional regression testing for these APIs is going to become more and more important.”

Huawei’s advances within Giga DSL will enhance the capabilities of the company’s SingleFAN broadband access solution, which along with related offerings are now servicing over one third of the world’s broadband users with ultra-broadband access services.

In allowing users to enjoy bandwidth-hungry services such as IPTV and HDTV, optical fiber access points now need to be located closer to users. While 100 Mbp/s ultra-broadband access can be made available relatively quickly by utilizing legacy copper-line resources, using DSL technology to provide 1,000 Mbp/s bandwidths within 100 meters of twisted pairs is much more complex.

By using a low-power spectral density in-signal transmission, Huawei’s Giga DSL prototype reduces radiation interference and power consumption. This in turn provides a total upstream and downstream rate of one Gbps within 100 meters, and 500 Mb/s-plus within 200 meters—making it a cost-effective option for telecom operators building ultra-broadband access networks.

Dr. Long Guozhu, Huawei’s Principal Expert of DSL technology, said, “Huawei was able to develop a Giga DSL prototype because of our rich capabilities and industry-leading technical strengths in access networks. Huawei’s main goal was to know how to design the high-speed physical layer and high-frequency analogfront end (AFE). To tackle this issue, Huawei’s FBB Innovation Lab used the core solution TDD-OFDM, which simplifies the physical-layer architecture and the AFE design, while at the same time making it possible to be downward compatible with traditional ADSL/VDSL2 technologies.”

Giga DSL is a next-generation access technology solution that is growing rapidly on both a regional and global level. In 2011, the ITU-T set up a G.fast project team dedicated to formulating new standards for ultra-speed access at short distances aiming to achieve a 500 Mb/s access rate per twisted pair within 100 meters. Huawei has actively participated in the work of the team and has become a major technical contributor, having recently worked to incorporate TDD-OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) as a G.fast modulation mode.

Huawei also recently announced the successful development of the world’s first node level vectoring (NLV) prototype. Huawei’s vectoring product provides 100 Mbps access over a single twisted pair in FTTC/FTTB, and has been tested and commercially trialed with many leading telecom operators.  Along with the company’s latest Giga DSL prototype, the move signifies that DSL technology still has great potential to meet the requirements of broadband users for ultra-high-speed access in the future.

The new WaveLink service is aimed at Qatar’s fast-growing large Corporate and Government entities looking to manage higher volumes of data and information. The solution offers failure-resistant architecture and the ability to carry traffic, regardless of protocol or bandwidth requirements.

With companies in Qatar continuing to set new records for growth and development, business customers are increasingly looking for innovative solutions to help them stay on top of their daily data needs.  The team at Qtel Business Solutions recognises that an increasing number of clients want more bandwidth available at their disposal, in order to manage processes like imaging, replication, virtualisation and data centre connectivity.

WaveLink’s supporting applications range from basic voice and data services to virtualisation and storage area network applications, allowing customers to manage traffic over one network.

The new service also provides a powerful established backbone with the flexibility of client-specific tailored protocols and set protection levels to suit individual companies. This is all done in a cost-effective way by using leased capacity that demands no capital investment.

Qtel’s WaveLink provides a complete end-to-end solution offering bandwidths of 1Gbps, 2.5Gbps or 10Gbps, 40Gps going all the way up to 100Gbps.

WaveLink is based on Wavelength Division Multiplexing technology. WaveLinks are used primarily for high bandwidth requirements such as data warehousing, Storage Area Networking (SAN) and applications.

Qtel WaveLink uniquely supports multiple deliveries of different interfaces as the service is transparent to what technology each wavelength provides. WaveLink can be used to supply Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), Ethernet, or other protocols such as Fibre Connection (FICON) or Enterprise Systems Connection (ESCON). WaveLink based access can meet resilience requirements between sites such as data centres and head offices.

The introduction of LTE technology will give STC’s mobile broadband subscribers access to a huge number of data applications on their smart phones, tablets and laptops.  The increased speeds and quality of experience will allow activities such as the download and transfer of high definition video and real-time gaming, on the move.

STC will be the first in the region to launch massive commercial LTE services to cover 11 major cities inSaudi Arabia’s first phase to provide enhanced mobile broadband services using 4G LTE technology, with dramatic improvements anticipated in the speed and quality of connections. Alcatel-Lucent was selected to support STC’s LTE network deployment in the Northern Region of the Kingdom, following a successful trial of the technology. Alcatel-Lucent, through the ngConnect Program, is also helping STC build an ecosystem of leading companies to provide content, applications and innovative services to meet needs of subscribers in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Zeyad Al-Etaibi, CTO of STC Group  said: “STC is committed to delivering innovative services to its subscribers and together with Alcatel-Lucent we are confident we will enrich our customers’ lives by offering a variety of services for consumers and businesses. Our customers will enjoy the benefits of 4G LTE through an enhanced mobile experience that is unmatched in the industry.”

Abdulrahman Al-Azzam, Country Senior Officer of Alcatel-Lucent in Saudi Arabia said: “This is a big win for Alcatel-Lucent in Saudi market and Alcatel-Lucent is committed to providing STC with the most advanced LTE solution addressing the need to scale and manage network capacity to meet increasing bandwidth demands while delivering differentiated, revenue-generating services at a lower overall cost”.  He also added “ this LTE deal with STC includes Managed Services of all sites Alcatel-Lucent will deploy”.

The data centre, located in a facility owned by NTT Communications, will support the company’s expanding business in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region. Salesforce first announced it would establish the Tokyo data centre in October of last year.

It will be housed in NTT Communications’ large site located in Yokohama, about 20 kilometers outside of Tokyo, according to a person with knowledge of the arrangement.

The new facility goes live two years after Salesforce established its first international data centre in Singapore. The San Francisco-based firm also operates several sites across the U.S.

Salesforce, known for its broad software-as-a-service offerings, has been growing steadily in Japan. The company scored a large contract win in 2007 when the Japanese postal system was privatised, and earlier this year announced deals with mobile content provider Gree and the government of Shizuoka, a central prefecture.

The data center in Tokyo will be fully backed up by Salesforce’s data centres in North America, the company said.

The new design’s dedicated media engine enables full 1080p high-definition playback of videos and Blu-Ray content and includes additional digital display and output options including HDMI and DisplayPort. The integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3600/3650 combined with the integrated memory controller provides enhanced performance and system responsiveness, including an improvement in graphics performance up to 2X compared to the previous generation platform.

Systems based on the new Intel Atom processors may have up to 10 hours of battery life and weeks of standby, allowing for all-day use between charges. Additionally, Intel increased processor and overall system performance while reducing power consumption up to 20 percent compared to the previous platform.

Based on Intel’s leading-edge 32nm process technology, Intel incorporated several new features into the platform such as Intel Wireless Display and Intel Wireless Music. With these new features and wireless enabled devices, people can share videos or photos wirelessly from their netbooks to a television, or stream music through their home stereo speakers.

Additional features such as Intel Smart Connect Technology allows users to have an instant Internet connection as soon as they open their netbook, and have email, Twitter and RSS feeds automatically updated even in sleep mode. Intel Rapid Start Technology enables fast resume from standby mode and helps conserve battery life.

The dual-core Intel Atom processor N2600 and Intel Atom processor N2800 are paired with the Intel NM10 Express Chipset and feature a small form factor package size that saves system board real estate and enables thinner netbook designs. In addition to the mobile processors, Intel offers the Intel Atomprocessor D2500 and D2700 for entry-level desktop and all-in-one designs, as well as intelligent system solutions. The platform supports a range of operating systems including: Windows, MeeGo, and Tizen.

About the same time as those flaws were publicly bedeviling Siemens, security software researcher Billy Rios reported an authentication bypass flaw within the company’s software that is used to manage industrial control and critical infrastructure systems. “I’ve been patiently waiting for a fix for the issue which affects pretty much every Siemens SIMATIC customer,” Rios said in a blog post yesterday.
After waiting roughly seven months for a response, or a fix, Rios was recently told, through a Reuters reporter, that Siemens was not aware of “open issues regarding authentication bypass bugs at Siemens.”

After that feedback, Rios decided to take what he knew about the flaws public in this blog post.

In one of the flaws, Rios contends that the default password for a number of services on these Siemens systems was “100.” Also, if a user changes the default password to one that contains a special character, that password may revert back to its default. Additionally, services in the systems (Web, VNC, and Telnet) each maintain their credentials separately, so when one changes the Web default passwords the others remain in default.

Also troubling, Rios said he is able to find “many” of the services for these at-risk Siemens systems available on the Internet.

Rios also claims that session tokens generated by a Siemens Web HMI are fully predictable — making it straightforward for attackers to make their own tokens to use for access without having to know an actual username and password credential.

In an email response, Siemens acknowledged that they knew of the flaws. “We are aware of the reported vulnerabilities, first reported in May 2011. Our development had immediately taken action and addressed these issues. The vulnerabilities will be fixed by security updates, [the] first is planned to be issued in January 2012. In December 2011 further vulnerabilities have been reported which are currently under investigation. We thank Billy Rios and Terry McCorke for reporting the vulnerabilities,” Siemens said in their reply.

“It’s not surprising to learn that these systems have weak, insecure, and generic administrative passwords. It’s a problem that’s not new,” says Pete Lindstrom, research director at Spire Security. “Systems should force default passwords to be changed on initial log-in.”

And that, experts say, hints at the challenge. They say that IT security in industrial control systems remains, if not immature — awkward. “The biggest obstacle to security in this area (which Gartner now calls Operational Technology to differentiate from Information Technology) is that power companies, manufacturers, and related players have very different governance and management processes for general purpose PCs and servers vs. power control/SCADA/process control/medical machinery,” Gartner analyst John Pescatore said in an earlier interview.

“Even though those things are increasingly CPU and software driven, they are still treated like machines vs. computers in many cases — meaning that security has been focused on physical security, not information security, and there has been an overdependence on security through obscurity,” he said.

Imation, a provider of tape, optical and removable disc and flash drives, said Nine Technology’s deduplication software is the primary reason for the acquisition.

Deduplication software eliminates redundant data, enabling shorter backup windows, quicker recovery, lower infrastructure costs. Top vendors have been acquiring makers of the technology for the past two years or so. For instance, EMC purchased Data Domain in 2009 and Dell acquired Ocarina Networks in 2010.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Imation said Nine Technology will operate as a standalone service provider of data protection offerings. “Imation’s acquisition of this important data deduplication technology is another major step in our scalable storage growth strategy,” Ian Williams, Imation’s vice president global marketing and product management, said in a statement. “We chose to acquire this technology because we recognize the power of block-level deduplication. This will be one of the key differentiating features of Imation’s data protection portfolio for small and medium businesses.”

The acquired data backup and recovery intellectual property is a patented two-stage, block-level deduplication technology. “Imation needs block-level deduplication to compete effectively in the new world order, and Nine Technology is the right partner at the right time,” said Steve Duplessie, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. “The combination of Imation’s global reach and recent storage and security investments creates a potent opportunity.”