EMC brings out fifth edition of Smarts ADM
EMC Corp. unveiled EMC Smarts Application Discovery Manager (ADM) 5.0. This data centre management solution is designed to allow enterprises to view network and storage resources in the context of their distributed business applications.
Smarts ADM 5.0’s real-time dependency catalogue eliminates reliance on guesswork and minimizes change-induced service outages, degradations and failures, EMC said. Enterprises can detect, log and report on software and hardware configuration changes and compare them on a server-to-server basis. Additionally, the software’s embedded, real-time Configuration Management Database (CMDB) allows enterprises to accurately manage the impact of changes and infrastructure incidents across multiple data centres and throughout the information infrastructure.
The software further extends EMC’s real-time discovery and mapping capabilities, adding reconciliation, federation, analytics and new dashboards. It automatically discovers and maps J2EE applications, their modules and components and relationships. The solution also discovers and maps granular components within packaged enterprise applications, documented and active dependencies, intraserver relationships and multiple instances of installed application server and database applications. Smarts ADM 5.0 also offers a distributed architecture, enabling scalable, worldwide deployments via new models including the EMC Smarts ADM Aggregator and EMC Smarts ADM Collectors. Using fingerprints, Smarts ADM 5.0 uniquely identifies more than 500 packages and applications out-of-the-box. For enterprises with custom applications, the solution’s heuristic fingerprinting recognizes common n-tier application interactions and automatically groups and maps them without prior knowledge of that application.
An open reconciliation engine is designed to enable customers to reconcile CMDB data across diverse discovery sources. The software automatically stages and reconciles the data before it is allowed to enter the CMDB. Starting at US$50,000, Smarts ADM 5.0 is available immediately through EMC.
Big Blue pumps up its Power portfolio
IBM announced low-power additions to its Power Architecture line of microprocessors and processor cores aimed at addressing the growing demand for high-performance processors that conserve energy.
The PowerPC 750CL, a 32-bit microprocessor, consumes half the energy as its predecessor, and performs at speeds ranging from 400 MHz to 1 GHz. The 750CL includes a 256KB L2 cache, and is targeted at networking, storage, imaging, consumer electronic and other high-performance embedded applications.
The PowerPC 970GX, a follow-on to the PowerPC 970FX, supports both 32-bit and 64-bit operations. It features the same power capabilities as its predecessor, but incorporates twice the integrated L2 cache at 1MB. The range of frequencies for the 970GX is 1.2 to 2.5GHz, enabling the chip to support high-bandwidth data processing and algorithmic intensive computations, making it suitable for communications, storage, multimedia and graphics based devices, IBM said.
IBM also introduced the CPC965, a companion chip to the 970 series of processors designed to provide I/O connectivity and run at significantly less power than comparative bridge chips. The highly integrated CPC965 features a very high speed front bus that operates at up to half the processor frequency. Shipment of CPC965 samples is planned for March 2007.
IBM also announced three new 32-bit processor cores, including the 460S synthesizable core, which will allow designers to select the size L1 and L2 cache sizes and processor local bus (PLB) version necessary for implementing a single or cache coherent multi-processor design, and can be manufactured in any fabricator worldwide. The 464FP H90, which is similar to the 464 H90 hard core, but with an integrated double precision floating point unit.
Borland package focuses on lifecycle quality
Borland Software Corp. unveiled its Lifecycle Quality Management (LQM) solution. It includes Gauntlet, a developer test and defect prevention system that builds quality checks into existing development tasks. Gauntlet works with existing software configuration management (SCM) and version control systems to measure and analyze code as it’s checked in, isolating problem code before it affects others. In addition to reducing broken builds and costly rework, Gauntlet promotes a continuous build and testing environment so all teams have greater visibility into application health earlier in the lifecycle. Gauntlet is also designed to support third-party plug-ins to test for a broad range of potential defects such as security vulnerabilities, license compliance violations, code complexity and readability.
Borland SilkCentral Test Manager, meanwhile, serves as the management foundation for all pre-deployment quality activities. The company said it supports all stages of the software quality lifecycle from planning, test management, execution and reporting of automated and manual testing activities. SilkCentral Test Manager integrates tightly with Borland SilkTest for automated functional and regression testing and Borland SilkPerformer for load and performance testing. It is also designed to interface easily with other open-source or commercial testing tools on the market, such as those from Mercury, to ensure customers can leverage their existing assets and investments while still pursuing a more preventative approach to quality.
