Jeff Burt

Supercomputer maker Cray will get $36 million to upgrade the systems running a European weather forecasting facility, highlighting the growing use of such massive infrastructures by meteorological and climate research facilities. Cray officials announced the agreement Jan. 25, saying the company will upgrade the supercomputers and high-end storage systems that it put in place for […]

Researchers at MIT have been studying whether molecules called block copolymers can be used as a new way to manufacture processors for memory and optical chips, and possible processors for computers. Now, the researchers are outlining a technique for creating what they call “mesh structures” by using block copolymers that can spontaneously self-assemble into particular […]

The first month of 2016 has been kind to some vendors in the network virtualization space. Both Big Switch Networks and Plexxi this week announced that they each had received fresh venture capital funding from new and existing investors. In Big Switch’s case, it was $48.5 million from the likes of Khosla Ventures and MSD […]

Ciena is bulking up its optical networking capabilities through the upcoming acquisition of TeraXion’s high-speed photonics components assets. Officials with Ciena, which expanded its software-defined networking (SDN) portfolio last year when it bought rival Cyan for $400 million, said TeraXion’s technologies will boost Ciena’s WaveLogic coherent optical chipsets. The chipsets are designed to make the […]

Arista Networks is broadening the capabilities in its network operating system to make it easier for enterprises to move away from legacy infrastructures and embrace cloud networking. Company officials this week introduced the latest generation of its Extensible Operating System (EOS) with enhanced capabilities for managing and improving performance in hybrid cloud environments. EOS is […]

Verizon is the latest major service provider to join the ONOS open-source network virtualization initiative, teaming up with other carriers like AT&T, NTT Communications, China Unicom and SK Telecom in the effort. Verizon officials said Jan. 21 that they joined the ONOS (Open Network Operating System) in hopes of accelerating the development of open-source software-defined […]

Kumu Networks, a four-year-old startup that is working to improve how mobile carriers can use their wireless spectrum, is getting $25 million in funding from some of those same telecommunications vendors. Verizon and Deutsche Telekom were among the companies contributing to the latest round of investments, which brings total money raised by Kumu since its […]

Intel is partnering with two Chinese entities to build data center offerings based on the chip maker’s Xeon server processors that will be used in infrastructures in the country. The chip vendor is working with Tsinghua University and Chinese tech company Montage Technology Global Holdings to develop what Raj Hazra, vice president of Intel’s Data […]

Dell two years ago unveiled its Open Networking initiative, a plan to enable businesses to buy a Dell-branded switch and then choose from among a range of Dell or third-party operating systems and applications. The idea was to give enterprises options and flexibility when determining the best technologies for running their workloads, and to enable […]

Chip maker Qualcomm, which is looking to expand its business beyond mobile devices, will be building ARM-based server processors in China. Qualcomm, the world’s top mobile chip provider, is creating a joint venture with a Chinese province to design and build systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) that company officials hope will challenge Intel’s dominance in the data center […]

Big Switch Networks and Plexxi, two of a broad array of growing smaller companies in the network virtualization space, announced new rounds of funding that show the growing interest in changing the way things are done in the data center. Big Switch officials on Jan. 19 announced $48.5 million in Series C funding from a […]

Advanced Micro Devices has a lot of moving parts, from a rapidly expanding graphics division and new processors for business PCs to the newly launched ARM-based server chips, an upcoming new x86 core architecture and new wins for its custom chip business that will come later this year. They’re all part of a larger effort […]