New Products
Mandriva bills its new Enterprise Server 5 (MES 5) as “simple and innovative”, combining the best of Linux (reliability, security, low admin costs) with the best of Mandriva Linux (easy to use, exclusive Mandriva tools and professional services) for the administration and integration of servers. The most noteworthy new feature in the update is increased scalability in virtualization, driven by the added kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology. Other new features include the integrated Mandriva Directory Server, reduced bootup times, increased modularization to allow easier configuration of specialized servers and reduced energy consumption, among others.
Terracotta's Ehcache, a popular open-source, enterprise-level caching solution, has added a new feature set wrapped in its latest 2.0 release. Terracotta says that Ehcache 2.0 adds enterprise-class capabilities of high-priced and proprietary technologies like Oracle Coherence without requiring application changes. Furthermore, this release brings instant scale to the majority of Java applications without code changes or costly database upgrades. Additional new features simplify the development effort, testing and scale-out, such as an express mode that easily clusters application data via configuration changes. Finally, a series of enterprise features better integrate Ehcache with the database, such as JTA for transactions and data write-behind to increase performance while avoiding database bottlenecks.
Embedded developer 6WIND's newly upgraded 6WINDGate, a packet processing application for networking and telecommunications systems, adds new features, such as ten-fold acceleration of packet processing functions and support for the multicore, embedded Intel Xeon processors EC5549 and E5645. The 10x speed-up compared to a standard Linux implementation allows customers to reuse their existing application software and accelerate their time to market. 6WIND further adds that the 6WINDGate SDS profile is optimized for platforms in which the networking Fast Path runs on dedicated cores without the overhead of a Linux-based Slow Path. 6WINDGate's architecture removes the complexity of integrating high-performance packet processing with the Linux environment, because it fully synchronizes the Fast Path and Linux, while preserving Linux APIs. It includes complete Layer 2 through Layer 4 embedded networking features (routing, IPsec, firewall, QoS, NAT, multicast and so on), reducing development time by as much as 70%.
“Who said dragon slaying was easy?” is author Scott F. Andrews' Bilbo Baggins-esque invitation to try his new book The Guild Leader's Handbook, a guide to leading a guild in massively multiplayer on-line (MMO) games. Subtitled “Strategies and Guidance from a Battle-Scarred MMO Veteran”, the book outlines not just how to create, build and maintain a successful guild but also how to lead it to glory. Andrews should know, because he leads one of the oldest-surviving guilds in World of Warcraft. He shares secrets from his long experience to illustrate how to plan successful raids, player vs. player battles, role-playing sessions and contests; deal with problem players and keep a lid on guild-fracturing drama; solve loot issues and choose the best loot system; boost morale, reputation and server presence; and promote and motivate an effective officer corps. The Guild Leader's Handbook is published by No Starch Press.
The Swedish firm Imsys proudly announced a new generation of its SNAP Classic module, a drop-in replacement for the DSTINI390 reference design—a Java-based networked controller. Using the same module size and interfaces, the SNAP Classic provides all interfaces supported on the TINI platform. The new SNAP Classic offers greatly improved performance while reducing cost and power consumption, retaining all the legacy and adding new compelling features. For heavy-duty, floating-point computations, SNAP Classic now offers a performance increase of more than 200 times that of TINI, says Imsys. A “crypto engine” consisting of 27 new opcodes supports ARC4, DES, AES, RSA, MD5, SHA1 and SHA256, accelerating them by a factor of up to 43 times compared to their C code implementations on the same processor. For development, the SNAP Classic user can use either free Java tools or purchase the optional Imsys Developer, a professional IDE that enables the developer to use a mix of Java, C and assembler programming.
From the “Not Just for Linux Geeks Desk” comes Mobile Edge's new ScanFast line of laptop carrying cases and accessories, which the producer claims to be “the first TSA-Compliant Netbook case collection on the market”. ScanFast is targeted at Netbook owners seeking a case more substantial than a simple sleeve and encompasses the Edge Netbook Briefcase, Messenger Bag and Backpack products. Each product has the additional advantage of being checkpoint-friendly at airports. To be checkpoint-friendly, TSA requires laptop compartments to be independent and clear of any other gadgets, cords, metal zippers and so on, and screeners must have a clear unobstructed view of the laptop itself. The cases support notebooks up to 13.3" (34cm) wide.
DVEO is now shipping the new eYeCatcher ATSC-M/H, a compact test modulator for emulating Mobile DTV (digital TV) signals. Designed for use in development labs and for technology demonstration purposes, the eYeCatcher ATSC M/H is a portable frequency agile modulator with IP, ASI or SMPTE 310M input and ATSC M/H output. It delivers real-time or stored video to cell phones, PDAs, handhelds and vehicles. The device is ideal for laboratory applications, testing set-top boxes and mobile devices, and in-store demonstrations of ATSC M/H devices.
The Cambridge, UK-based Undo Software bills the new version 3.0 of its reversible debugger for Linux, UndoDB, as “a huge step backwards”. UndoDB's reversible debugging capabilities (also known as replay or historical debugging) allows a developer to step or run an application backward and so answer the real question when debugging: “How did that happen?” The Undo folks say that UndoDB 3.0 can debug nearly any Linux process, including those using multiple threads, asynchronous signal handlers and shared memory. The new edition also is reputed to be faster than ever, running applications with a slow-down of just 1.7x while still keeping full visibility of the program's entire execution history. Finally, UndoDB 3.0 supports reverse watchpoints, allowing programmers to find the root cause of elusive memory-corruption bugs easily.
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