Cloud News: Oracle, Violin, Nirvanix, Mirantis

News from the cloud computing sector includes developments from Oracle, Violin Memory and Nirvanix, and Mirantis:

Oracle to acquire DataRaker.  Oracle (ORCL) announced it has entered  into an agreement to acquire DataRaker, a provider of a cloud-based analytics platform that enables electric, gas and water utilities to leverage vast amounts of data to optimize operational efficiency and improve the customer experience. The combination of Oracle and DataRaker’s cloud-based solutions is expected to provide utilities with the most complete solution to harness the benefits of utility Big Data to improve operational performance and enhance customer experience. “Big Data created by smart meters and sensors has presented utilities with an enormous opportunity to improve operations and deliver better customer service by acting on the unique insights that can only be found by understanding the massive amounts of data coming from their customers and networks,” said Rodger Smith, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Oracle Utilities. “With DataRaker, Oracle can provide customers a complete and integrated set of products to further unlock efficiencies and create data insights that maximize business value.”

Violin selected by Nirvanix.  Violin Memory announced it has been selected by Nirvanix for its public Cloud Storage Network spanning 10 data centers around the world. The Violin Flash Memory Arrays are implemented across several multi-petabyte clouds, including a leading $50 billion financial services company. Nirvanix evaluated multiple traditional SAN storage options but Violin convincingly demonstrated superior performance and economics. “Integrating Violin Memory with our public, private and hybrid cloud solutions expands the opportunities for our customers to build their business on a cloud foundation and opens up business opportunities for us to better serve both new and existing customers,” said Dru Borden, CEO of Nirvanix. “The superior performance of Violin’s primary Flash Storage Arrays enhances the enterprise-class scale, security, data integrity and data accessibility that we provide.”

Mirantis offers DIY OpenStack.  Mirantis announced that it will off Do-it-Yourself Assist Services for OpenStack. The solution will incorporate services such as development of company-specific OpenStack reference architectures (hardware architecture and logical deployment architecture of OpenStack components), developer training, and short-term deployment support. “During the past two years, Mirantis delivered more than 30 OpenStack deployment and integration projects for some of the most well-known early adopters of the OpenStack platform, such as NASA, Internap, WebEx, Gap, and PayPal,” noted Adrian Ionel, CEO, Mirantis. “With DIY Assist for OpenStack, we are sharing our accumulated expertise with a broad group of early adopters in a manner that will help them create advanced OpenStack capabilities within their companies and fast-track their OpenStack deployments.”