Four databases tested: MySQL Wins

Wow.

Road test: Four databases tested: Builder AU: Architect: Database: "Release 5.0 of MySQL is really taking it to the Oracle and DB2 with advanced features such as cluster support and fault tolerance and in most other departments the features run head to head with the competition. Non-SQL junkies can take heart with the GUIs dramatically reducing the reliance on the CLI, bringing administration and configuration within the realms of the novice. MySQL V5.0 is a compelling product and it is hard to argue against its nomination for the Editor's Choice award."

Byte and Switch - Google Groans Under Data Strain - Storage Networking News Analysis

Byte and Switch - Google Groans Under Data Strain - Storage Networking News Analysis: "There have been recent hints that Google, like other firms, could be wrestling with its data demons. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, the firm?s capital expenditures more than doubled, growing from $259.9 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2004, to $592.4 million for the same period in 2005. Google expects to spend more than $800 million on property and equipment, including IT infrastructure, land, and buildings, to help manage and expand its operations during 2005."

ITworld.com - Oracle outlines new multicore pricing policy

ITworld.com - Oracle outlines new multicore pricing policy: "Pricing for software run on servers based on Intel Corp. or Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s (AMD's) chips will be determined by multiplying the number of processor cores in a server by 0.5, Oracle said. Therefore, an Oracle database running on Hewlett-Packard Co.'s DL585 with four dual-core AMD Opteron processors would require four licenses, or eight total processing cores multiplied by 0.5.

Sun Microsystems Inc.'s new T1 processor, formerly known as Niagara, was assigned a 0.25 multiplier. Niagara processors have up to eight separate processor cores, with each core capable of processing four threads. New servers with the chip have only one processor, but the eight-core version of the processor will only require two licenses, Oracle said. "

The Key Role of Application-Delivered Search

The Key Role of Application-Delivered Search: "The sad fact is that search is still a broken functionality in the experience of most enterprise professionals. Delphi Group Research has repeatedly demonstrated that business users of search technologies have a high frustration level in using the tools. They typically need to use multiple search tools to accomplish a given task or inquiry. They also report needing to spend inordinate amounts of time in their workweek using search tools to access information in the various enterprise electronic environments.
Two out of three professionals surveyed are dissatisfied with their search experience.
It is not uncommon for professionals to use six or more search engines, and some use up to 10.
Roughly three out of four professionals report spending more than four hours per week on search-related activities. "

Myths And Realities of Web Services

Myths And Realities of Web Services: "'The good news about Web services is that we have open standards behind them,' said James Metzler, vice president with IT consulting firm Ashton, Metzler & Associates. This means applications can communicate over any type of platform without proprietary systems getting in the way. 'The bad news is that we don't have all we need yet,' he added. "

Gloves Come Off in Fractious Data Warehousing Appliance Space: TDWI

Gloves Come Off in Fractious Data Warehousing Appliance Space: TDWI: "The gloves have come off in the burgeoning data warehousing appliance space. Earlier this year, executives at two of the leading appliance vendors?Netezza Inc. and DATAllegro Inc.?and at Ur-appliance powerhouse Teradata (a division of NCR Corp.) were loath to acknowledge the reality of competition with one another. Nowadays, however, all three companies are singing a different tune."

Virtual Machine Center - download free VMs, like MySQL and Oracle 10g

This is cool... I stumbled across this on the VMWare site - VMWare, along with a free VMWare player, is offering a number of free Virtual Machines preloaded with software. Included are MySQL, Oracle 10g, and machines for IBM and BEA software, among others including ceveral Linux distros.
Also a cool list of community VMs for download, including one with Asterix, an open source PBX solution.

HP to consolidate data marts into single warehouse

HP to consolidate data marts into single warehouse | InfoWorld | News | 2005-12-13 | By China Martens, IDG News Service: "Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP (Profile, Products, Articles)) plans to consolidate its 762 data marts around the world into a single enterprise data warehouse, according to the head of the company. The move is a way for HP to both get a better sense of its own business and how best to serve its customers. HP also intends to reduce its more than 85 data centers in 29 countries down to six global facilities. "

Discovering the Source of Business Intelligence Within

Discovering the Source of Business Intelligence Within: "One of the most dangerous claims made by business intelligence software vendors is the exaggerated boasts that their software enables ?self service.? Such claims are dangerous for both their customers and themselves. While the idea that business intelligence software should be easy to use for everyone is nice, the suggestion that anyone can install software on their computer and instantly become a skilled and productive data analyst and communicator is a fantasy. Even the best designed business intelligence software imaginable won?t enable you to do what you don?t already know how to do on your own. "

Will Sleepycat Save MySQL?

Will Sleepycat Save MySQL?: "'Obviously, because Oracle made that acquisition, we are evaluating options to replace that functionality in some way,' said Richard Mason, vice president of MySQL for EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), as quoted in a Computerworld article. 'We're not at the point yet where we can go public with what that plan is, but we will be shortly.' "

For Partners, It's GM's Way Or The Highway - Yahoo! News

Cool article about how GM is handing out $15 billion in outsourcing contracts, and how it intends to force standards on recipients so that another vendr can step in easily. Very good writeup on the current state of outsourcing. Makes me believe that after GM sets these expectations, within a few years many more companies will expect the same. I never thought much of outsourcing before, but if GM follows this path, it makes me think that outsourcing is a major trend that hasn't lost steam, and will only get more widespread.

For Partners, It's GM's Way Or The Highway - Yahoo! News: "Szygenda says he came to the conclusion three years ago that the outsourcing status quo was out of kilter. GM had a Web site called Hermes, to sell cars in Brazil. The site -- run by EDS, IBM, and a handful of others -- kept crashing. And when Szygenda got on a conference call with his tech suppliers, 'there was a lot of finger-pointing, and nobody would fess up to the problem,' he recalls. 'I realized this wasn't going to work. And I saw it wasn't just a GM problem. It was an industry problem.'
So Szygenda set out to rethink how technology should be managed. With his leverage as the world's largest tech outsourcer, he had the muscle to turn these thoughts into action. Last year, he invited a dozen major tech companies to help him design the rules that all would have to follow. The result: No matter which suppliers do a particular job, they do it GM's way."

What It Takes to Get Promoted - Editorial - CIO

What It Takes to Get Promoted - Editorial - CIO: "Before John Deane was promoted last spring from executive VP and CIO at Wendy's to executive VP of the fast-food chain's America operations, he oversaw store budgeting, store automation and electronic payment initiatives. By going paperless, Wendy's says it saved $1.7 million between February 2004 and February 2005."

SQL Server 2005 Options

SQL Server 2005 Options: "A major change since SQL Server 2000 is the introduction of the free Express version of SQL Server 2005, designed for smaller-size database applications and to spur developer interest."

How Microsoft Does IT: Using Business Scorecard Manager 2005 to Enhance Business Performance

Events Home: "TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft Does IT: Using Business Scorecard Manager 2005 to Enhance Business Performance (Level 300) "

How to Do More With the IT You've Got - Editorial - CIO

How to Do More With the IT You've Got - Editorial - CIO: "It's futile for CIOs to try to explain why IT projects cost so much and take so long. No one is interested in hearing about the cumulative impact of having to chase after ever-fickle, self-interested business partners with a series of uncoordinated, short-term development activities built on the technology du jour. When IT leaders do this rant, they sound like teenagers who aren't taking responsibility for wrecking the car. It's up to CIOs to push out the dents in their architectures and get their (or really their company's) money's worth. "

Backup your SQL Server Analytical Database ? Part I

Backup your SQL Server Analytical Database ? Part I: "One of the many tasks of the SQL Server Database administrator is to take and maintain backups of SQL Server databases. This includes taking backups of analytical databases as well.
This article demonstrates how to backup an Analysis service database. "

BAM: Powering Operational Performance Management

BAM: Powering Operational Performance Management: "It's an idea whose time has come. A recent Ventana Research report asserted, '[We] expect operational use of BI to accelerate and expand in previously unrealized ways, and we anticipate that operational BI will become a major focus in global organizations in 2005 and beyond.'1 Why? Line managers and operational decision-makers need instant access to critical information to monitor and manage business performance and thus are optimal candidates for implementing an OPM system. From inventory optimization to instant demand visibility to risk mitigation, OPM is a powerful promise that is rapidly gaining traction."

Susan Mernit's Blog: New: U.S. Congress Votes Database

Susan Mernit's Blog: New: U.S. Congress Votes Database: "Adrian Holovaty of the Washington Post just released his latest project--a U.S. Congress Votes Database, which lets readers browse voting records from the U.S. Congress since 1991.
There are RSS feeds for the data, an RSS page for core info, aggregated data for each Congress, includingf votes that happened after midnight, vote missers and, on vote totals by astrological sign. Best of all--andmost useful--you can see voting records, as in this page for San Jose CA House member Zoe Lofgren.
The site doesn't have a good search tool yet, but it's a tremendous start on something much needed-and probably soon to be the basis for some cool mash-ups!"

ONJava.com: What Is On-Demand Computing

ONJava.com: What Is On-Demand Computing: "On-demand computing (ODC) is a computing and communications infrastructure that facilitates flexible business service delivery and provides the basis for:
Autonomic computing.
Fast response to external business-affecting changes.
Adaptive business processes to protect revenues and contain costs.
Complex interactions inside and outside of organizational boundaries.
Resilience against external threats such as viruses, intrusions, and power outages. "

The Business Value for Investing in Pre-Clinical Safety Data Warehousing

The Business Value for Investing in Pre-Clinical Safety Data Warehousing: "Without question, the greatest opportunity to maximize the return on investment in Drug Safety and mitigate the risk associated with the use of drugs in humans is within Pre-Clinical Safety. Arming this line function with the right tools and technologies to predict and evaluate drug effects on animals?prior to their use on humans?is the answer for bringing newer, safer and more effective drugs to the market. "

Overcome the Humpty Dumpty Effect to Maximize Profits

Overcome the Humpty Dumpty Effect to Maximize Profits: "Big companies have economies of scale but they suffer diseconomies of intelligence. They lose informational coherency as they functionalize and divide authority. Data is housed in functional silos and details are aggregated from bottom to top. One department doesn't easily see the effect it has on others, and higher executives see less than lower ones - the who and what is driving profit and growth. Turning sensory data into intelligence is like putting the famous 'Humpty' back together again: tough, slow, imprecise and maybe impossible."

Pay-As-You-Go: Migration to the IT Utility Confirmed by Survey Results

Ontersting write-up... some companies are actually going to the "utility" model according to this survey. Interesting that Sun hasNO customers on their version of this though.

Pay-As-You-Go: Migration to the IT Utility Confirmed by Survey Results: "Saugatuck's second annual IT Trends Survey shows increasing adoption of pay-as-you-go (PAYG) models in core IT infrastructure over the next five years. These results support Saugatuck's contention that the IT utility is the IT delivery model of the future.
An IT utility links servers, clients and storage from across a local environment, the Internet and/or a WAN to form virtual server, network and storage pools which may be dynamically allocated, provisioned and monitored to an application based upon business-driven policies and service levels. PAYG IT infrastructure is a cornerstone of the IT utility and is quickly moving beyond the planning stage into proof of concept."

The Impact of RFID on the Data Warehouse

The Impact of RFID on the Data Warehouse: "RFID will impact the DW in several ways. First and foremost, the DW will need to accommodate the additional data afforded by RFID. In addition, RFID will also impact the DW by imposing new requirements for increased collaboration with trading partners as well imposing more stringent service level agreements."

Mosha Pasumansky : Analysis Services 2005 protocol - XMLA over TCP/IP

Mosha Pasumansky : Analysis Services 2005 protocol - XMLA over TCP/IP: "So what we are going to do is to reveal piece by piece and layer by layer what happens on the wire when Analysis Services client (either OLEDB, ADOMD.NET or AMO) works with Analysis Services server through TCP/IP. By doing so, we will discover and discuss several important performance and security tradeoffs which are useful for tuning performance and for secure maintaining the server as well as for troubleshooting."

Lifecycle of database code: Development, packaging, and distributed deployment solutions in MS-SQL farms - from Only4Gurus.com

Lifecycle of database code: Development, packaging, and distributed deployment solutions in MS-SQL farms - from Only4Gurus.com: "In this presentation we will go over key concepts and best practices in SQL code development, and dive into details regarding: Best practices in schema design (How to design efficient tables and views; Indexes - where and how to apply them; Tips for table design under high data volume; Permissions and security policies) and Best practices in developing routines (stored procedures, function)."

Windows Virtualization Architecture - from Only4Gurus.com

Windows Virtualization Architecture - from Only4Gurus.com: "This presentation will cover the following topics: Current virtualization uses and benefits (Uses for virtualization today and Microsoft's current virtualization offerings); Windows Virtualization Architecture (Hypervisor, Virtualization stack, Device virtualization)."

Congrats Mark Rittman!

If you don't read Mark's blog, you should...

Update, Awards and Articles: "... I also just got an email through from SearchCRM.com to say I'd got their 'BI Blog of the Year 2005' award..."

Bayon Technologies :: OWB 10gR2 : Real Time Data Warehousing

Bayon Technologies :: OWB 10gR2 : Real Time Data Warehousing: "Those cases do exist, and OWB 10gR2 has some new features for those that do have some Real Time DW/BI needs."