OLAP - Infoworld

MapReduce could be the server's newest friend

admin — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:43:12 +0000

In the future, when an administrator does a server build, he or she may be adding a MapReduce library to the usual stack of server, database, and middleware software.

This copy of MapReduce could be used to analyze log data directly on the server, minimizing the need for a separate cluster to analyze log data, and shortening the length of time until results are generated, noted University of California San Diego researcher Dionysios Logothetis at the Usenix Annual Technical Conference, being held this week in Portland, Oregon.

Oracle Exadata gains certification for SAP applications

admin — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:53:05 +0000

Oracle's Exadata X2 machines are now certified to run applications from rival SAP, following recent steps by SAP to move its customers off Oracle database platforms.

Exadata X2 is the second generation of Oracle's data-processing machines for both transactional and analytic workloads. The systems, which include specialized hardware and software and use Oracle's database, have been a major focus for the company in recent years.

Java developers get OLAP API

Paul Krill — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Pentaho is releasing on Tuesday olap4j 1.0, which provides an open source API for Java developers to access multiple OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) servers in business intelligence applications.

With the API, developers gain a single API for accessing the Mondrian OLAP server and Pentaho BI Server. Other servers supported include Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services 2005 and 2008, SAP BW, and Jedox Palo. Oracle's Essbase server may be supported at some point as well.

Bossie Awards 2010: The best open source platforms and middleware

Doug Dineley — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Dek:

InfoWorld's Test Center picks the top open source operating platforms and middleware of 2010

Source:

InfoWorld

IBM's analytics center focuses on financial services

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:03:59 +0000

IBM has opened a business analytics center in London to focus on services for the U.K.'s financial sector, which drives a major portion of the nation's economy.

IBM said the center's initial focus will be on tracking risk positions across markets and assets classes. The center, opened on Tuesday and located at IBM's South Bank offices, will employ 400, although IBM said that number could double as demand for analytics services increases.

IBM takes aim at midmarket with new BI tools

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:57:32 +0000

IBM on Monday will announce a BI (business intelligence) and planning suite aimed at midsized companies that need more insight into their business than a spreadsheet can provide, but not the complexity of an enterprise-level product.

Dubbed Cognos Express, the applications are meant for businesses with between 100 and 999 workers, said Ben Plummer, general manager of the IBM Cognos midmarket business unit.

Open source Hive: Large-scale, distributed data processing made easy

Doug Dineley — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:01:00 +0000

Bottom Line

Apache Hive is a specialized execution front end for Hadoop. Hive lets you write data queries in an SQL-like language -- the Hive Query Language (HQL) -- that are converted to map/reduced tasks, which are then executed by the Hadoop framework. You're using Hadoop, but it feels like you're talking SQL to an RDBMS.

Suppose you want to run regular statistical analyses on your Web site's traffic log data -- several hundred terabytes, updated weekly.

IBM adds data-warehousing tools to Informix

admin — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:42:06 +0000

IBM is trying to make its Informix OLTP (online transaction processing) server a more potent option for BI (business intelligence) and data warehousing through a new optional toolset, the company announced Thursday.

Oracle updates Tuxedo transaction processing platform

admin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:53:53 +0000

A new release of the venerable Tuxedo transaction processing platform is now available, Oracle announced Wednesday.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is the best SQL Server yet

admin — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:00:00 +0000

SQL Server 2008, aka "Katmai," gives SQL Server shops plenty of reasons to get excited. The best SQL Server release to date, it sports more nice new features than you can count, and the improvements extend to both performance and manageability. In a few cases, such as the Resource Governor, you'll wish Microsoft had taken the functionality a little further. But whether you manage an OLTP environment, or an OLAP environment, or both, you will most likely find Katmai compelling. It easily passes my own five-point test for upgrades.

Test Center preview: Microsoft's "Katmai" is filled to the brim

admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:00:00 +0000

Katmai, the code name for Microsoft's imminent SQL Server 2008 release, comes from an Alaskan territory know for volcanoes, which may not be the best symbol for a database. So far, however, Katmai hasn't blown up on me. And the lower-profile Katmai seems like a good follow-on to Yukon, the code name for the gigantic SQL Server 2005 release.

BI steps into the cloud

admin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Business intelligence functionality has made its way into cloud computing as Panorama Software on Thursday unwrapped PowerApps.

Calling it "analytics as a cloud-computing service," the company said PowerApps goes outside a previous deal with Google that brought analytics and reporting to Google Docs.

Oracle Database 11g shoots the moon

admin — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:00:00 +0000

I like to define a five-point touch system for my database upgrades. If the new version doesn't change my life in five ways, then it's not a significant upgrade. I'll typically quantify my need by approximating how many hours I spend each week performing certain tasks, and then estimate how much time the upgrade will save me. If I spend five hours every week dealing with resource usage and the new release will do it automatically, then I figure the upgrade will save me five hours a week.

The new lightweight service models: A no-brainer for SMB

admin — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:00:00 +0000

Last week I had an experience that drove home the giant leaps IT is making, particularly with Web-based service models. In my spare time, I’ve been developing a niche-content Web site (more on this in a future column). I’m user-testing it now, and the biggest user request has been for a search box. Developing on a shoestring, I’d written off search for version 1, thinking it would take months to build.

DEMOfall 2007: Startups hit the stage

admin — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:28:25 +0000

Startup company asked to leave DEMOfall
mEgo booted out of show because it had presented itself at another, earlier technology event

No, not another Microsoft killer

This year's platform for startups to vie for the attention of VCs and established technology firms reflects what's hot in high-tech in 2007: Collaboration and Web 2.0. InfoWorld's Ephraim Schwartz reports live from the show, and we've posted video of the actual presentations from the show. You be the judge in Talkback on any of the stories.

Google Analytics problems irritate users

admin — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 20:36:00 +0000

A string of recent technical problems at Google Inc.'s Analytics service has webmasters and publishers concerned about this Web site traffic monitoring service.

The latest bump lasted about two days, during which Web traffic data wasn't delivered to affected accounts, leaving webmasters and publishers in the dark about their sites' usage.

McAfee sets Rootkit Detective free

admin — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:12:55 +0000

On July 26, McAfee will begin offering a new application called Rootkit Detective, designed to detect and remove dangerous rootkit attacks. The software will also help end-users ward off the threats, as well as funnel new intelligence into the company's ongoing research operations.

IT rocks the vote

admin — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 10:00:00 +0000

Protesters sue to stop use of French e-voting machines
Voters are concerns about the nature of e-voting and it is being introduced to France

Groups call for e-voting paper trail legislation

IT is in the hot seat for the 2006 mid-term elections. All eyes are on electronic voting machines' performance, but maybe they should be on candidates' IT credentials.

Technology with no past

admin — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:00:00 +0000

To the extent that it’s possible, I’m declaring today the beginning of recorded history in information technology. On this day, the phrase “information technology,” abbreviated IT, came into being as shorthand for electronic devices that aid humans in storage and sharing of, analysis of, protection of, and access to significant amounts of digitized content. Content? That’s anything you’re capable of holding in your brain for even a nanosecond. IT is not a department or a group of people. It’s a smart phone.

IT laughs at itself

admin — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 23:16:14 +0000

A British TV show has taken the best and worst of IT administrator stereotypes and packed them into a clever, side-splitting comedy.

The IT Crowd features Jen, who has been appointed as a supervisor in her company's IT department but knows nothing about computers. When asked during her job interview what she knows about IT, she says, "You know, e-mail. Sending e-mail. Receiving e-mail. Deleting e-mail. Um, I could go on."