Group Blog
Monday 13 October 2008, 10:00am
“Extreme” retail technology
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The big issue with retail technology used in shops right now is manageability and security, as regulations continue to tighten up the requirements for devices that handle money. These requirements include the PCI specifications.
At the same time retail technology has to be movable, so retailers can change their shops around to gain more custom. These requirements are sometimes in conflict.
NCR is still the big name in retail technology and addresses these demands in its new RealPOS 70XRT point of sale (PoS) terminal - while keeping its PoS reputation shiny.
There are several tiers of management, to keep the system available and allow upgrades and patches without wasting power. Features include an LED dashboard and “out-of-band” remote management using Intel AMT 4.0. The vPro tools support NCR's remote management using NCR Retail Systems Manager.
“Intel helps NCR to provide retailers with the optimum balance of powerful performance and energy efficiency with its new platform based on the Intel Core2 Duo processor with Intel vPro technology and the Mobile Intel GM45 Express chipset,” said Joe Jensen, general manager, embedded computing division, Intel.
“The latest version of Intel Active Management Technology serves as a key component of the NCR RealPOS 70XRT, providing out-of-band manageability to reduce downtime for retailers; even if the unit is powered off, diagnostics can be accomplished remotely.”
We presume it's NCR that's come up with a name that really grabs us - "extreme retail technology".
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RedditFriday 10 October 2008, 12:59pm
Sun shines on Xeon
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Sun Microsystems has long had its own processor range, the Sparc, but has been steadily extending into x86 territory, first with AMD processors and - since January 2007 - Intel's. The move, according to ZDNet, is about boosting support for Sun's Solaris operating system, by extending the platforms on which it runs.
September saw the first Sun machines with Intel Xeon processors - Netra servers aimed at telcos and service providers. The machines are certified to the telco industry's NEBs standard, and use the low-power Intel Xeon L5408, which operates at 40W, and should reduce telco power bills substantially.
Service providers are apparently still buying servers despite the economic downturn, so Sun's move could be a long term winner.
Monday 6 October 2008, 10:00am
vPro goes through the firewall
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Intel has launched new functions for the vPro remote client management, including the ability to punch through corporate firewalls to access systems outside just as easily as if they are on the company LAN.
"With Remote Alerts, PCs can automatically connect to base when security issues arise, so they can be quarantined and repaired," reports ZDNet UK's Charles McLellan.
There's more security improvements for laptops on the road, including a "call for help" function which sends a message directly to system administrations when the user hits a hot-key combination. In future Intel equipped laptops will have anti-theft technology, which will automatically keep thieves out of encrypted data on stolen laptops, using programmable triggers.
The technology has also been upgraded to improve secure access in Microsoft NAP (Network Access Protection) environments, and also to add an Access Monitor that keeps an audit trail of vPro-related activities, including unauthorised access attempts.
Intel also promises virtualisation support, using Intel VT (Virtualisation Technology) and Intel TXT (Trusted Execution Technology) to create a secure "dynamic virtual client" which can contain applications and OS images.
To get up to speed on the new features, go to Intel's vPro Expert Center.
Monday 6 October 2008, 01:01am
Intel Xeon fuels IBM-Lenovo competition
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Processors have been getting more powerful and contain more features to support system-level innovation - but how do server vendors distinguish themselves?
It's a question that exercises server guru Timothy Prickett Morgan, as he muses on Lenovo's entry into the mid-range server market, using the ThinkServer name - based on the ThinkPad brand it bought from IBM - and on IBM's own xSeries servers and using the same Intel processors.
"I would think that IBM's ornery founder Tom Watson - you must have seen the picture of Watson sitting underneath his "THINK" sign in his office with that stern, granite face - is not just rolling over in his grave, but up and about and looking for an ass to kick somewhere in Armonk, New York," says Prickett Morgan.
Whatever he might have thought about the branding, he'd have had to admit the price is good. Powerful processors have driven down the cost of servers, so Lenovo can start the range at $749 - a figure that would have been utterly inconceivable in Watson's day.
Friday 3 October 2008, 10:00am
NYSE Euronext banks on faster Xeon-fed financial systems
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NYSE Euronext's technology division has an enviable sense of timing. Just as the world is watching financial trading screens anxiously, the company announces its newest and best low-latency trading systems rely on Intel's latest Xeon processors.
The latest software from NYSE Euronext's Advanced Trading Solutions division can handle 10 major US equities feeds on a single server, with enough headroom in case the volume of trading hits three times the current market peak capacity.
Its Wombat Data Fabric shares memory, so it can make use of "Dunnington" Intel Xeon 7400 processors. A demonstration published a full day of data from 10 major US equity feeds using a single quad-socket 24-way Xeon server.
"Even at market open and close peaks, CPU utilisation remained under 40 per cent, with average transport latency of less than 10 microseconds," says EuroNext's press release.
Conor Allen, VP Technology, NYSE Euronext Advanced Trading Solutions, added: "The performance of this solution demonstration bodes well for any financial services organisation concerned with latency and the amount of hardware typically needed to process market data and other high volume messaging loads in the capital markets.
"Wombat Data Fabric's Local Direct Memory Access transport provides single digit microsecond latency between processes on the same machine bypassing the I/O stack. This solution is particularly suited to co-location applications."
