Roundup: Intel Earnings, Oracle MySQL, SGI

Here’s a roundup of some of some of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:

Intel reports record first quarter. Intel Corporation (INTC) reported first quarter revenue of $10.3 billion and net income of $2.4 billion Tuesday. "The investments we're making in leading edge technology are delivering the most compelling product line-up in our history," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. Intel beat many estimates from analysts, increasing revenue 44 percent to $10.3 billion, ahead of the analysts forecast consensus for $9.8 billion. Otellini said many companies are starting to increase their PC refresh cycle simply because it is less expensive than hanging on to older machines that need frequent maintenance.

Oracle announces MySQL Cluster. Oracle's Edward Screven delivered the State of the Dolphin Tuesday at the O'Reilly MySQL Conference and Expo 2010. Oracle announced a demonstration of their investment in MySQL development by introducing MySQL Cluster 7.1.  The new MySQL Cluster 7.1 will allow users to easily manage a cluster of many nodes, present real-time status and usage statistics from the MySQL Cluster Data Nodes as SQL tables and views, and allow developers to write Java applications that can use JDBC or JPA to communicate directly with MySQL Cluster. “With the new MySQL Cluster 7.1 release enhancing high availability and simplifying management of real-time telecom and embedded applications, companies can deliver new services faster and more reliably," said Edward Screven, Oracle chief corporate architect.

SGI announces InfiniteStorage Server 3500.  SGI announced the release of SGI Infinite Storage Server 3500, a fully integrated storage server that offers high density and power efficiency in an extremely cost-effective package.  The new ISS3500 will support low latency protocols such as iSER for iSCSI over InfiniBand and is targeted at high performance computing (HPC) clusters such as SGI Altix ICE.  The ISS3500 can pack up to 72TB in a 4U chassis, featuring 36 drive bays for 3.5" SATA , SAS and SSD drives, all for a price point less than $0.90/GB.  "SGI has a rich history of delivering high performance file serving solutions to very large data environments," said Natalya Yezhkova, research director, Storage Systems at IDC. "The flexibility and pricing of the InfiniteStorage Server 3500 give SGI an opportunity to bring its expertise to a much broader customer base."  The Infinite Storage Server 3500 is available immediately, with pricing available upon request.