Daily Archives: April 13, 2012

Amazon, Tech

Amazon Web Services launches CloudSearch

The service is based on Amazon’s A9 technology and aims to simplify the use of search

IDG News Service – Amazon Web Services has introduced CloudSearch, which allows users of its cloud to integrate fully managed and highly scalable search functionality into their applications, the company said on Thursday.

CloudSearch is based on the same A9 technology that powers search for Amazon.com, the company said

To use the search functionality, IT staff start by creating a search domain and uploading the data they want searchable. CloudSearch then automatically provisions the technology resources required and the indexes needed, the company said.

To make data searchable, it first needs to be described in the Search Data Format, which can be done using JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) or XML text files, according to an FAQ.

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CloudSearch automatically scales as the amount of searchable data increases or as the query rate changes, and enterprises can change search parameters, fine tune search relevance and apply new settings at any time without having to upload the data again.

Settings are changed using the AWS Management Console, which is also used to administer Amazon’s other services.

As with its other cloud services, Amazon pitches the new addition as way to add search capabilities without needing a lot of expertise.

However, figuring out what the service will cost may not be as simple. Users are billed on a monthly basis for search instances, document batch uploads, IndexDocuments requests and data transfer.

As a managed service, CloudSearch determines the size and number of search instances required to deliver low latency, high throughput search performance. The service builds an index and picks the appropriate initial search instance type to ensure that the index can be stored in RAM.

Instance types come in small, large and extra large, which cost 12 cents, 48 cents and 68 cents per hour.

New IndexDocuments are created by CloudSearch when the IT staff make configuration changes to the index, for example by adding a field. The cost is 98 cents per gigabyte of data stored in the search domain.

Added to that is 10 cents per 1,000 batch upload requests, which each can be up to 5MB. The last part of the bill is a charge for the amount of data transferred out of CloudSearch. In the US East region, the first 10TB costs 12 cents per GB, according to Amazon.

On the CloudSearch website, Amazon details a cost example that includes 100MB of data and adds up to $86.94 per month.

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Tech

EMC unveils preconfigured private cloud for partners

VSPEX platform includes tech from multiple partners like Cisco, Citrix, Intel and Brocade

Computerworld – EMC today announced a pre-configured private cloud platform created through an alliance with six hardware and software vendors.

EMC will sell the new VSPEX Proven Infrastructure cloud through its Velocity Program channel partners, who can rebrand the platform.

Some of the initial 13 channel partners that will sell the offering include Arrow Electronics, Avnet, Ingram Micro, WestconGroup and SiS.

“EMC will be doing a lot to build the brand and customer demand for VSPEX,” said Gregg Ambulos, senior vice president of global channel sales at EMC.

EMC learned not to compete with its channel partners after many were not happy when the storage vendor also offered its Atmos public cloud storage service through its direct sales force.

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The new VSPEX Proven Infrastructure includes EMC’s VNX and VNXe hybrid storage arrays, along with Avamar software and Data Domain backup appliances. The cloud platform also includes processors from Intel, switches from Brocade, servers from Cisco, and software from Citrix, Microsoft HyperV and VMware.

Avamar and Data Domain products will offer data deduplication to users, while EMC’s Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST), will offer data migration between varying disk storage arrays based on data use patterns.

Ambulos said that since delivering the vBlocks integrated computing system through EMC’s Virtual Computing Environment alliance with Cisco, sales have soared.

“What we heard from customers is there were times when they wanted more choice in terms of components with regard to private cloud,” he said.

“By integrating these technologies tightly with the hypervisor and end-user computing environments, customers can also benefit from simpler administration and lower management costs,” EMC stated in a news release.

There are initially 14 VSPEX configurations, which EMC said represent the most popular use cases for companies moving to cloud computing.

For private cloud deployments VSPEX users have the option of running VMware vSphere 5.0 or Microsoft Windows Hyper-V from 50-250 virtual machines. For end-user computing deployments, users can choose between VMware View and Citrix XenDesktop from 50 to 2000 virtual desktops.

EMC said additional VSPEX configurations will be made available based on partner demand.

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Apple, Tech

Apple tops $600 billion in market value

Stock price surges briefly to $649 per share

Apple stock price surged over the $600 mark today, about a month after shooting past $500. For a time, the company’s total market capitalization was more than $600 billion.

The stock price rose to $644 in the morning, and then fell back to $629 by midday. Only one other company has reached the $600 billion value: Microsoft on Dec. 30, 1999, was valued at $619 billion. Today, its value is $260 billion, according to an Associated Press story.

It’s all the more noticeable because stocks on the main exchanges fell yet again in response to poor U.S. job numbers last week, and continued concerns over the European debt crisis.

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BACKGROUND: Apple to issue dividends, repurchase shares from $98B cash balance

SCUTTLEBUTT: iPhone 5 rumor rollup for the week ending April 6

Apple’s stock price has climbed 59% this year. A range of analysts have said the stock has been under-valued by the market, despite the company’s high revenues and huge profits created by the introduction of its iOS-based mobile products.

The question is how high will the stock price, and the company’s value, go? Last week, a stock analyst with Topeka Capital Markets, Brian White, attracted headlines by setting a target price of over $800 per share, and a goal of $1,001, which would bring Apple close to being a $1 trillion company. White argued that the start of iPhone sales on China’s biggest mobile carrier, China Mobile, and the launch of an Apple TV set, would expand Apple’s revenues and profits.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster also raised his price target for Apple’s stock, but not as high as White: Munster’s target lifted to $718 from $670, and others expect the price to at least top $700. Munster was quoted as saying his previous forecast underestimated Apple’s “expected growth rates for the smartphone and tablet markets.”

Some have speculated that the stock price surge was triggered by Apple’s recent announcement that it will use some of its nearly $100 billion in cash to pay a dividend and buy back some shares. But Dirk Schmidt, writing at the Asymco blog, cites data that show the price began ticking upward faster in late 2011, and then even faster starting in February 2012, well before the mid-March dividend news.

According to one account, today’s first intra-day trade over $600 came 22 trading days after the first $500 trade. That pace is faster than the 32 trading days needed to rise from $400 to $500.

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