Welcome to the Howling Fjord from NordicMan Robert Reagan's Perspective from the Field

You have to check out this site and learn about some of the awesome Sun HPC Compute Systems like Red Sky !

Thanks Marc !

As Always, Enjoy the Journey . . . .

Oracle Exadata Storage Servers combine smart storage software from
Oracle and industry-standard hardware from Sun to deliver the
industry's highest database storage performance. To overcome the
limitations of conventional storage, Oracle Exadata Storage Servers use
a massively parallel architecture to dramatically increase data
bandwidth between the database server and storage. In addition, smart
storage software offloads data-intensive query processing from Oracle
Database 11g servers and does the query processing closer to
the data. The result is faster parallel data processing and less data
movement through higher bandwidth connections. This massively parallel
architecture also offers linear scalability and mission-critical
reliability.

Hear from customers that have seen extremely positive results with Exadata V2. -  Sun Hardware and Oracle Software.

You can check on updates on Twitter here.

And you can check out the new Oracle Assessment Tool here.

As always, Enjoy the Journey . . .

Here again are the recent quotes and comments compiled together from the interview with Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison at the Churchill Club Event held on September 21, 2009

When asked if Oracle planned to keep all of Sun's existing systems,
Ellison was adamant: "We are keeping everything. We're keeping tape.
We're keeping storage. We're keeping x86 technology and SPARC
technology - and we're going to increase the investment in it.”

As always .....Enjoy the Journey. 

I thought I would share with you all a recent interview with Larry Ellison at a Churchhill Club event moderated by former Sun President, Ed Zander. 

In the interview, Mr. Ellison states "We are keeping Everything" and referring to Sun as a National Treasure.

READ HERE.

You can also view current information on the Oracle website here and on the Sun website here.

I am also intrigued by Oracle's Commitment to Advance Education.

Oracle President and Board of Director Safra Catz shares her views on Oracle's Education Foundation.

As always...enjoy the Journey.

I thought I would share this front page ad in it's entirety in The Wall Street Journal today here.

WSJ ad

Or you can see it on the Oracle website. 

As Always, Enjoy the Journey . . . 

I recently returned from a well attended and successful International Desire2Learn User's Conference where the use of Sun Virtual Desktop's were deployed as D2L demo stations, classrooms and labs. With expert support and coordination from the partner community, MnSCU and Saint Paul College, I saw many happy faces and happy users. I wish to express my gratitude and thank everyone involved at Fusion 2009 to make it a success and a positive experience. 

Multitudes of customers and colleagues are buying and talking about Sun's cool Virtual Desktop solutions because they save money and integrate well with many diverse technologies including Microsoft. 

Check out these video stories below to hear first hand.

	Greetings Robert, I want to personally thank you for being a part of South Dakota's hunting community last year. I hope you will come to South Dakota for the 2009 pheasant season. The traditional season begins Oct. 17 and concludes Jan. 3, 2010. We anticipate another banner season. Great pheasant hunting and South Dakota are synonymous. There's nothing like the rush you get when a cackling rooster launches itself from hiding and you put a bead on it with your trusty shotgun. It just doesn’t get much better. In our state, we think of hunting as more than just a sport. It's a passion passed down through the generations. It's also an opportunity to instill in our children and grandchildren an appreciation for conservation and preservation, so everyone can enjoy the world-class hunting and hospitality South Dakota is known for. Thank you again for being a part of our state's tradition. We hope to see you again in the land of Great Faces and Great Places. Visit www.HuntInSD.com for more information on the pheasant season and other hunting seasons. Governor Mike Rounds
This email was sent by the South Dakota Office of Tourism, 711 E. Wells Ave., Pierre, SD 57501.
To no longer receive information from the South Dakota Department of Tourism and State Development please unsubscribe or contact us at: Department of Tourism and State Development Capitol Lake Plaza 711 East Wells Avenue c/o 500 East Capitol Avenue Pierre, SD 57501-5070

http://www.educonnection.org/

The site includes a compelling story from Warren Sheaffer, Chairman of St. Paul College about the use of Sun Virtual Desktop technology in a teaching and learning environment.

A conversation with Warren is here.

As always, Enjoy the Journey . . . 

At Sun, our vision is to eliminate the "Digital Divide" that prevents
people from getting an education because they don't have access to the
right technology. Bridging this divide will accelerate everyone’s
ability to join the Participation Age, enabling us to learn, share,
interact, and solve problems together.
To fulfill that vision, Sun's mission is to help customers build the
Digital Campus, a unified campus network in which individuals can
interact and collaborate—no matter where they are—in a seamless,
secure, personalized environment for learning and achievement.

Check out Sun Education Blog Talk Radio here

Here is the latest and most detailed PASIG San Francisco agenda to
date. I think it is very impressive. Thanks to all the volunteer
speakers.


You can register by going to www.sun-pasig.ning.com. The cost is $100
for Early Bird customers up to September 7 and $200 after this date.
The fee for Sun partners and Sun employees is $400 before Sept. 7 and
$500 after. There is no fee for speakers. The hotel rate at the Westin
St. Francis is $199 per night.


All agenda spots have been committed, even ones with "TBDs" noted. Art will be posting abstracts in a week.

The goal of the meeting is to
review practical architectures. Art is asking the speakers to give
project overviews and then jump into new content and directions.


Michael Keller and Art will be hosting a PASIG Directions working group
Friday at 1:30pm for any of you who want to discuss future focus areas
and collaboration areas. Friday afternoon is also open for vendor
sessions. We will have 4-5 meeting rooms available. These must be
booked prior to the meeting.



As usual, we will provide Sun architects for 1-1 customer discussions
before the event and after. These need to be requested by email before
the PASIG.


-------------------------------------------------------


PASIG Agenda as of August 5, 2009 (Rev. 3)


Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Sun Bootcamp



8:30am-9:00am        Introduction to the PASIG - Art Pasquinelli, Sun
Microsystems


9:00am-9:15am        Introduction to the Agenda - Michael Keller,
Stanford U.


9:15am-9:35am        DuraSpace:  Open Technologies for Durable Digital
ContentSandy Payette, DuraSpace


9:35am-9:55am        Islandora (Prince Edward Island's Implementation
of DuraSpace and Drupal) - Mark Leggott, PEI


9:55am-10:15am      BHL Architecture with Fedora and DuraCloud - Roger
Essoh, ATOS Origin



10:15am-10:40am    Break



10:40am-11:00am    VTLS Update on VITAL Institutional Repository -
Vinod Chachra, VTLS


11:00am-11:20am    Fez Update - Keith Webster, U. Queensland


11:20am-11:40am    iRods: Policy Based Use of Cloud Storage - Reagan
Moore, U. North Carolina


11:40am-12:00pm    EPrints - David Tarrant, U. Southampton


12:00pm-12:20pm    Planets and Standards Update - Lee Dirks and TBD,
Microsoft



Lunch 12:20pm-1:30pm



1:30pm-2:30pm        Sun Technology Update - Keith Rajecki, Raymond
Clarke, Sun Microsystems


2:30pm-2:50pm        Oxford U. Update - Neil Jefferies, Oxford U.



2:50pm-3:10pm        Break



3:10pm-3:30pm        Family Search, The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints - Gary Wright, Family Search


3:30pm-3:50pm        Stanford Digital Repository - Tom Cramer, Stanford


3:50pm-4:10pm        National Library of New Zealand; Obsolescence,
Format Registries, and Preservation Risk Mgt. - TBD 

4:10pm-4:30pm        The French National Library (BNF) SPAR
Architecture Developments - Thomas Ledoux, BNF

4:30pm-4:50pm        From Ingest to Access: A Day in the Life of a
HathiTrust Digital Object - Jeremy York, U. Michigan,
Heather Christenson, California Digital Library


4:50pm-5:10pm        Shaman - Ruben Riestra, Matthias Hemmje, Shaman


5:10pm-5:15pm        Summary - Michael Keller, Stanford



5:15pm-6:00pm        Immersive Technologies: Project Wonderland - Kevin
Roebuck, Sun Microsystems (Optional)



6:30pm Reception at the Westin St. Francis (with vendor and project
tables)



Thursday, October 8, 2009



8:45am-9:00am        Recap - Michael Keller, Stanford


9:00am-9:20am        Where Are Things Going - Michael Keller, Stanford


9:20am-9:45am        Storage Futures: Planning for Long-Term
Sustainability - Chris Wood


9:45am-10:05am      Internet Archive Technical Overview - TBD


10:05am-10:25am    USC Shoah Foundation Institute Architecture - Sam
Gustman, USC



10:25am-10:45am    Break


10:45am-11:05am    Digital Submission System - Experiences from the
Library of Congress - Carl Watts, PC Mall


11:05am-11:25am    Next Generation Storage at Penn State - TBD, Penn
State


11:25am-11:45am    Permanent Objects, Evolving Services, and Disposable
Systems: An Emergent Approach to Digital Curation Infrastructure - TBD,
California Digital Library


11:45am-12:05pm    Improving Inter-Institutional Preservation - Tyler
Walters, Georgia Tech, David Minor, UCSD



12:05pm-1:30pm     Lunch



1:30pm-1:50pm       Southampton and Oxford Preservation Network
Collaboration - David Tarrant, Southampton U., Neil Jefferies, Ben
O'Steen, Oxford U.


1:50pm-2:10pm       PASIG Repository Working Group Collaboration
Directions - Tom Cramer. Stanford, Neil Jefferies, Oxford U.


2:10pm-2:30pm       Florida Digital Archive Architecture Overview -
Priscilla Caplan, FDA


2:30pm-2:50pm       French Public Information Library Federated Search
Implementation - Terry Reese, Oregon State, Roger Essoh, ATOS Origin



2:50pm-3:15pm       Break



3:15pm-3:35pm       Australian National Data Service (ANDS) Update -
Robin Stanton, Australian National U


3:35pm-3:55pm       Data-Intensive Environmental Research:
Re-envisioning Science, Cyberinfrastructure, and Institutions - TBD,
California Digital Library


3:55pm-4:15pm       Johns Hopkins U. eScience Directions - Sayeed
Choudhury, Johns Hopkins U.


4:15pm-4:50pm       eScience - TBD

4:50pm-5:00pm       Summary - Michael Keller, Stanford



6:30 Off-site Reception



Friday, October 9, 2009



9:00am-9:30am        Working Group Introduction


9:30am-11:30am      Working Groups:



Ex Libris Rosetta


PASIG Repository Group


Islandora Demo and Discussion


SAM/IAS Deep-Dive


Tessella SDB Discussion



11:30am-12:00pm      Working Group Summaries and Going Forward
Discussion



12:00pm - Meeting end.



1:30pm-3:00pm    Taking the PASIG Forward: Tangible Action Plans (Open
to All Who Want to Influence the PASIG Directions)

HPC Virtual Conference: September 17, 2009

Lots of Sun Constellation System information.

SAVE THE DATE

HPC Virtual Conference
September 17, 2009
8:00 AM Pacific
11:00 AM Eastern
3:00 PM GMT

High
Performance Computing (HPC) is business ready. HPC can give your
organization a competitive advantage through shorter development
cycles, better decision making and lower costs.

Join us for the
only virtual conference dedicated to the best in high performance
computing. The online event will give you an opportunity to hear from
compute and HPC guru Andy Bechtolsheim and industry experts discussing
the trends and issues facing the computational ecosystem. There will
also be industry and technology exhibits offering virtual opportunities
to discuss technologies, accomplishments, and collaborations in HPC,
networking, storage, software, and data management.

Save the date. Register today!

For questions or more information about this message email HPCVirtualEvent@sun.com

Just a friendly reminder that only 2 weeks remain for you to take advantage of Sun's Matching Grant Program before June 19th !

Please click on the banner below to learn more.

I have to thank and recognize Sébastien Stormacq, Senior Sun Software Architect for this unique blog posting during JavaONE on Virtual Desktop and use of Sun Ray technology for JavaONE.

Sébastien includes an overview and diagram of the implementation which is very insightful and very Sun cool !

Thank You Sébastien !

You can view the article HERE.

Sun also has the video of the JavaONE Opening General Session here and from the ZDnet website here which includes Scott McNealy and Larry Ellison together for the first time on stage since the April announcements.

Here are a few highlights from Larry Ellison's comments on stage with Scott at JavaONE -

* Oracle's middleware strategy is based 100% on Java

* Next Generation Oracle Fusion is built entirely on Java

* Java is Open and Extensible for the community and ISVs

* He acknowledged James Gosling as the key architect of Java and recognized his leadership of Java

* Oracle plans to accelerate development of Java throughout the community

* Larry has met with groups within Sun and encourages them to develop more libraries that are JavaFX based

* Oracle plans to accelerate development of JavaFX - will be glad to see AJAX fade away

* Desires to build fantastic UIs using JavaFX

* Recommends OpenOffice developers to use more JavaFX

* Oracle will expand investment and enthusiasm in Java

* Larry has a vision of more Java application development by Oracle and Google for mobile phone and netbook devices

http://www.sun.com/featured-articles/2009-0528/feature/index.jsp