In any discipline, the road to true mastery and wisdom requires a comprehensive view. If programming is the discipline in which you seek such mastery, crack open Bruce A. Tate's new book Seven Languages in Seven Weeks, A Pragmatic Guide to Learning Programming Languages. The book has what publisher Pragmatic Bookshelf calls an “audacious goal”, which is to present a meaningful exploration of seven languages—namely Clojure, Haskell, Io, Prolog, Scala, Erlang and Ruby—within a single book. Seven Languages covers what's essential and unique about each language and the most critical programming models of our time. For each language, readers solve a nontrivial problem, using techniques that show off the language's most important features, strengths and weaknesses.
Jothy Rosenberg and Arthur Mateos' penned the new book The Cloud at Your Service because the market needed a book on cloud computing targeted at corporate decision-makers. The book, which is subtitled “The when, how, and why of enterprise cloud computing”, seeks to inform managers, buyers, enterprise architects, CIOs and CEOs on the what, when and how of moving to the cloud. It is the book the authors wished they had when they were in that role. Cloud-computing-related topics include an introduction, the business case, private clouds, designing and architecting for scale and reliability, practical considerations, deployment and operations and a look into the future of cloud computing.
STM, specialists in the toting of precious gear, has released its new Revolution Laptop Backpack line for organized and protected transport of laptops. Each of today's critical elements in the digital lifestyle gets its own space, including a concealed, plush-lined section for the laptop, an integrated pocket for the iPad, a main component for books and paperwork, two versatile side pockets, and an organizational panel for cords, drives, pens and so on. Comfort features include an adjustable suspension system, sternum strap and tuck-away waist straps. There's also a tuck-away rain cover for unexpected downpours. The Revolution is available in two sizes and two colors.
Symantec recently released two new solutions for VMware environments—that is, ApplicationHA and VirtualStore, which the company says “will enable organizations to virtualize their mission-critical applications and minimize their storage costs on the VMware platform.” Symantec ApplicationHA, which is based on Veritas Cluster Server technology, provides high availability for business-critical applications through application-level visibility and control in VMware environments. Meanwhile, the Symantec VirtualStore, based on Veritas Storage Foundation technology, is a software-based storage management solution for VMware virtual machines that provides rapid provisioning of servers and virtual desktops, efficient cloning and accelerated bootup of virtual machines. Both ApplicationHA and VirtualStore are integrated seamlessly with VMware management tools, such as VMware vCenter Server, enabling customers to deploy these tools without impact to their operational models.
NoMachine calls its long-awaited NoMachine NX 4.0 software release “the biggest since the day the company was founded” and promises to take “remote access and desktop and application delivery software to an unprecedented level for both physical and virtualized computing environments.” New functionality includes secure remote access to Windows and Mac desktops and applications; browser-based access to NX sessions from anywhere; access from smartphones, video support, recording and playback of NX sessions; USB forwarding to remote devices; a new client GUI and more. Version 4.0 will be guaranteed to all subscribed customers, and a basic free version for personal use is available for download.
The developers at Generation D have launched High Availability ASTerisk (HAAST), a software application that allows customers to create cost-effective Asterisk clusters using any pair of off-the-shelf Linux boxes. HAAST is a software application that creates a high-availability, clustered group of Asterisk servers that act as a single server. It can detect a range of failures on any single Asterisk server and automatically transfer control to its mate, resulting in a telephony environment with minimal down time. Key features include rapid failover (as low as seven seconds), detailed logging, Web interface, extendable API, intuitive installation and the ability to leverage low-cost hardware yet achieve a high-availability solution.
The raison d'être of Gluster's new VMStor is to simplify scalable NAS for virtual machine storage. Gluster's strategy is eliminating the requirement to use a traditional storage area network (SAN) based environment, which can be expensive to scale. Initially supporting VMware, Gluster VMStor scales to multiple petabytes and can store an unlimited number of VM images. Key capabilities, such as VM-level snapshots and backup, can be performed with a single mouse click or automated with existing tools and cloud management software. Other features include integration with VMware UI and utilization of standard NFS filesystem architecture.
Vyatta calls the new 6.1 release of Vyatta Network OS a “jump forward” due to advances in IPv6 interoperability, cloud-specific features and enhanced enterprise security. Vyatta version 6.1 has received IPv6 Ready Logo Phase 2 certification, verifying the implementation of IPv6 core routing protocols. For cloud providers and enterprises moving applications or servers to the cloud, Layer 2 cloud bridging allows physically separate networks to communicate with each other over the Internet securely, as if they were on a single Ethernet network. Regarding security enhancements, Vyatta also has added stateful firewall failover and enhanced intrusion prevention services through a partnership with Sourcefire. The upshot, says Vyatta, is that the Vyatta Network OS makes it “even easier for large, distributed organizations to connect, protect and secure physical, virtual and cloud computing environments.”