Jeff Burt

Organizations with high-performance computing (HPC) environments over the past few years have increasingly turned to GPU accelerators from the likes of Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to ramp up the performance of their supercomputers while keeping power consumption in check. Now Intel is looking to muscle in on the trend, offering its new Xeon Phi […]

Dell is expanding its data center capabilities, buying Gale Technologies for its infrastructure automation software and announcing a new business unit that will focus on integrated converged and enterprise IT solutions. The announcements come a day after Dell executives released the company’s third-quarter financial numbers, which showed the vendor making good strides in its transformation […]

Dell officials say they are making progress in their four-year effort to become an IT solutions provider to corporations, but the company’s legacy PC business continues to be a drag on its financial numbers. Even as Dell executives have worked to build its enterprise business—from building out its server capabilities to expanding its storage, networking, […]

Cisco Systems is buying Cloupia, a startup whose software will enable businesses using the networking giant’s converged data center solutions to automate and centralize everything from the servers and storage devices to networking services and virtual machines. Cisco, which offers converged IT solutions through its own Unified Computing System (UCS) as well as the Vblock […]

Cisco Systems wants to make it easier for public venues such as retail stores, airports, hotels and hospitals to leverage their WiFi networks to offer customers with mobile devices more personalized, location-based services. Cisco officials are announcing a new WiFi location data analytics platform that will enable businesses and organizations in public venues to better […]

Extreme Networks is adding 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet modules to its high-end BlackDiamond X8 networking switch while also extending support for software-defined networking solutions unveiled by Big Switch Networks Nov. 13. The 100/40GbE XL modules are designed to bring greater scale to the BlackDiamond X8 switch, which was introduced last year as the cornerstone […]

Palo Alto Networks, just months after its high-profile IPO to take the company public, is unveiling a host of new-product offerings designed to increase network security in both virtual and physical data center environments. In what Palo Alto officials are calling their largest product rollout, the five-year-old company is introducing new solutions to ramp up […]

Advanced Micro Devices officials are saying that neither the company nor any of their assets are for sale, despite a report that the chip maker has hired JP Morgan Chase to work out options for the company, including a possible sale. Quoting unnamed sources, Reuters reported Nov. 13 that an outright sale was not at […]

Cisco Systems executives’ efforts to expand the company’s reach in the data center appear to be paying off. The networking giant in the past few years has been extending its capabilities beyond its core switch and router businesses into areas such as cloud computing, security, mobility, software and services, fueled by CEO John Chambers’ desire […]

No. 1: Cray Titan This supercomputer boasts 560,640 processors, including 261,632 of Nvidia’s Tesla K20x GPU accelerators, which also were announced at SC12. It also is powered by AMD’s Opteron 6274 chips. It leverages Cray’s Gemini interconnect. No. 2: IBM Sequoia When IBM’s Sequoia, a BlueGene/Q supercomputer, topped the Top500 list in June, it was […]

Big Switch Networks, one of the new higher-profile companies that have sprung up around the software-defined networking (SDN) trend in data centers, is rolling out its first SDN-based product suite, offering greater manageability and visibility into the network and the ability to support more virtual machines on servers. The two-year-old company unveiled its Open SDN […]

Intel has begun shipping the first of its Xeon Phi coprocessors to systems makers as it looks to improve performance and drive down power consumption in supercomputers used for scientific research. Intel engineers for several years have been working on what had been called the “Knights Corner” chips as part of the company’s Many Integrated […]