Seattle-based Amperity has launched a Customer Data Cloud – an AI-powered setup designed to help users transform raw customer data in a data warehouse into actionable business assets through its Lakehouse architecture. It enables them to standardize data, resolve identities, build profiles, and provide access to save time and build more accurate data models. It features:
- AI-Powered Identity Resolution – Easy-to-configure, ML-powered identity resolution that quickly finds hidden connections in online and offline customer data;
- Industry-Specific Data Modeling – Turnkey data models and lifecycle management predictions that accelerate the creation of a 360-degree customer view;
- Self-Service Data Access – Business-friendly reverse ETL tools and GenAI capabilities that enable non-technical users to explore and segment data independently, reducing ongoing data requests;
- Intelligent Change Management – End-to-end workflow testing in a full production sandbox that has GenAI built-in to help users resolve errors using natural language.
There are real-time tables, a bridge for Snowflake in real time through Snowflake Secure Data Sharing, eliminating the need for ETL maintenance and complex integrations. A zero-copy data access capability allows AWS users to leverage their existing storage infrastructure to house their customer profiles and data assets.
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AWS re:Invent news roundup part 2
- Amazon Nova – a new generation of foundation models (FMs) that have state-of-the-art intelligence across a wide range of tasks, and industry-leading price performance. Amazon Nova will be available on Amazon Bedrock.
- Trainium 2 instances – AWS announced GA of Trainium2-powered EC2 instances, introduced new Trn2 UltraServers, enabling customers to train and deploy today’s latest AI models as well as future large language models (LLM) and foundation models (FM) with exceptional levels of performance and cost efficiency, and unveiled next-generation Trainium3 chips.
- S3 managed Apache Iceberg tables – See story here.
- DynamoDB and Aurora DSQL – AWS announced new capabilities for Aurora and DynamoDB to support customers’ most demanding workloads that need to operate across multiple Regions with strong consistency, low latency, and the highest availability whether they want SQL or NoSQL.
- SageMaker – AWS announced the next generation of SageMaker, unifying the capabilities customers need for fast SQL analytics, petabyte-scale big data processing, data exploration and integration, model development and training, and GenAI into one integrated platform.
- Bedrock – AI Safeguard, agent orchestration, and customization options, Bedrock is a fully managed service for building and scaling generative artificial intelligence applications with high-performing foundation models.
- Q Developer – AWS announced enhancements to Amazon Q Developer, including agents that automate unit testing, documentation, and code reviews to help developers build faster across the entire software development process, and a capability to help users address operational issues in a fraction of the time. Enhancements to Q Business as well.
- GuardDuty – AWS introduced advanced AI/ML threat detection capabilities in Amazon GuardDuty. This new feature uses the extensive cloud visibility and scale of AWS to provide improved threat detection for your applications, workloads, and data. GuardDuty Extended Threat Detection employs sophisticated AI/ML to identify both known and previously unknown attack sequences, offering a more comprehensive and proactive approach to cloud security.
- OpenSearch Service zero-ETL integration with Amazon Security Lake – This integration enables organizations to efficiently search, analyze, and gain actionable insights from their security data, streamlining complex data engineering requirements and unlocking the full potential of security data.
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AWS is accelerating file reads with a storage caching server. A blog shows how users can create an Amazon EC2-based cache that provides 25GB/sec of read throughput for under $4/hour, which can be scaled to almost unlimited throughput. The workload “should have a working data set small enough to fit into the RAM of a single EC2 instance. It’s primarily read-only (read/write caching might be possible, but we’re not covering it here), and it needs to be a filesystem with Linux support, in this example we use NFS. This caching “relies on the Linux OS file cache, which uses spare system RAM to cache file access. Mounting a filesystem via an Amazon EC2 instance will cache any file accessed. No additional software is needed.” Read the blog to find out more.
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Cloud backup and storage provider Backblaze has a “game-changing media production acceleration case study” with the Philadelphia Eagles. With the team and system integrator CHESA, Backblaze:
- Game-planned a fast, cloud-based media workflow, including Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, Mimir asset management software, and a Quantum shared file system to support accelerated content production for increased fan engagement.
- Traded slow access, failure-prone LTO tape for immediate access to decades of rich content stored in the cloud – no more waiting days or weeks, or missing out completely, when historical footage of a player or play is needed.
- Scored early team wins, including enabling its media professionals to access and make more footage in the critical 48 hours after each game so they can then shift attention to the next game, and saving time and hassle by making content sharing with outside vendors and other organizations far more efficient.
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DNA storage startup Biomemory has raised $18 million in Series A funding, led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation, with participation from various French investment organizations. Biomemory has demonstrated the viability and potential of its molecular storage technology. The funding will enable the biz to complete the development of the first generation of its data storage appliance, accelerate the development of partnerships with industry players and cloud providers, recruit top talent in molecular biology and engineering to accelerate the development of the product and its commercialization, and advance research into broader molecular-based solutions.
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Live data replicator Cirata has launched Data Migrator 3.0, with production-ready support for Apache Iceberg, expanded capabilities for Databricks Delta Lake, significant enterprise security enhancements, and comprehensive extensibility. CTO Paul Scott-Murphy claimed: “Our production-ready, direct support for open table formats like Apache Iceberg and Delta Lake eliminates the constraints of closed data architectures, even if you have petabytes of data held in formats or locations that previously required lengthy, complex and risky efforts to modernize. Data Migrator 3.0 is a significant advancement for organizations that want to future-proof their data management, analytics and AI strategies.”
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Cloudera has announced its “Interoperability Ecosystem” with founding members AWS and Snowflake. The ecosystem makes it easier for customers to connect their workloads with Snowflake, Cloudera and now unique AWS services – such as S3, EKS, RDS. EC2 and Athena. Some of the features the collaboration enables include:
- Seamless Data Sharing and Interoperability – AWS customers can leverage Cloudera’s data lakehouse alongside Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud, facilitating unified data access and sharing across platforms while ensuring compliance and scalability for customers handling sensitive data.
- Enhanced AI/ML Performance – The partnership optimizes data workflows for AI/ML applications by enabling Cloudera’s on-premises or hybrid data sets running AWS to integrate with Snowflake’s analytics capabilities, reducing latency and improving insights.
- Maximized Cloud Investments and Support for Multi-Cloud Strategies – Customers can leverage Snowflake for targeted analytics while managing broader data operations with Cloudera, maximizing AWS investments by combining their strengths. This collaboration simplifies connecting AWS data with Snowflake, supports multi-cloud strategies, and enhances data mobility without vendor lock-in.
Check out a Cloudera blog to find out more.
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Michelle Scardino (@m_scardino on X/Twitter) joined DDN as VP of Demand Generation in September, reporting to CMO Jyothi Swaroop.
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Elastic announced general availability of Elasticsearch logsdb index mode, which reduces the storage footprint of log data by up to 65 percent compared to recent versions of Elasticsearch. Logsdb index mode optimizes data ordering, eliminates duplication by reconstructing non-stored field values with synthetic _source, and improves compression with advanced algorithms and codecs. Benefits include reduced costs, preservation of valuable data, expanded visibility and streamlined access to data. Logsdb index mode is generally available for Cloud Hosted and Self-Managed customers starting in version 8.17 and is enabled by default for logs in Elastic Cloud Serverless.
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Data mover Fivetran announced 40 percent year-on-year growth in the AWS Marketplace, attributed to rising enterprise demand for AI and analytics. It says its Managed Data Lake Service automates structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data into Delta Lake or Apache Iceberg formats as it moves into Amazon S3 data lakes. By automating table maintenance, natively integrating with catalogs including AWS Glue, and covering compute costs associated with ingestion, Fivetran reduces the resources needed to keep data continuously query-ready, enabling teams to prioritize AI and ML projects over manual data preparation.
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Intel announced that its Storage Performance Development Kit (SPDK) project will be transitioning to the Linux Foundation in 2025. It declared “this move aims to ensure the long-term sustainability and growth of SPDK, fostering a vibrant community and driving innovation in storage performance. While Intel will be divesting from the project, we remain committed to supporting the community during this transition.”
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NAND fabber Kioxia and DRAM producer Nanya announced the development of OCTRAM (Oxide-Semiconductor Channel Transistor DRAM) – a new type of 4F2 DRAM comprised of an oxide-semiconductor transistor that has a high ON current, and an ultra-low OFF current, simultaneously. This technology is expected to realize a low-power DRAM by bringing out the ultra-low leakage property of the InGaZnO*1 transistor. The OCTRAM utilizes a cylinder-shaped InGaZnO vertical transistor as a cell transistor. This was first announced at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Francisco, CA on December 9, 2024. InGaZnO is a compound of In(indium), Ga(gallium), Zn(zinc), and O(oxygen).
Each memory cell occupies an area of 4F2, where F is the minimum feature size achievable with the fabrication process. The design enables the adaptation of a 4F2 DRAM, which offers significant advantages in memory density compared to the conventional silicon-based 6F2 DRAM.
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Kioxia announced that the cryptographic module used in its CM7 Series PCIe 5.0 NVMe Enterprise SSDs has been validated to meet Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-3, Level 2 for cryptographic modules.
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Kioxia Europe announced its Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 4.0 embedded flash memory devices designed for automotive applications have received Automotive SPICE(ASPICE) Capacity Level 2 (CL2) certification. Kioxia is the first manufacturer to be awarded this distinction for automotive grade UFS 4.0.
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According to the Wall Street Journal, Kioxia was valued at $18 billion when the Bain-led consortium bought it in 2018. Its IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is expected to reflect a $5.1 billion valuation and raise $800 million. When Kioxia previously planned an IPO in 2020 – which did not come to pass – its valuation was $16 million. The valuation fall is ascribed to its net debt following the Bain buyout: $4.9 billion, “equal to around 1.2 times its shareholders’ equity. Western Digital’s ratio is less than 0.5 times and SK hynix’s is under 0.3 times.” The WSJ observes: “The company has been losing market share in particular to SK hynix. Kioxia’s market share in the NAND flash memory market dropped from 17.8 percent in the first quarter in 2023 to 15.1 percent last quarter, according to industry tracker TrendForce.” Kioxia could become an acquisition target, with the NAND industry potentially consolidating.
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Lightbits Labs, a cloud data storage supplier that developed NVMe over TCP, has joined the Mirantis partner program. Mirantis is a provider of open source-based infrastructure services and systems. The two collaborators aim to move customers from VMware to a Lightbits cloud infrastructure, using OpenStack for Kubernetes, with “dramatically improved performance and cost-efficiency at scale.” Find out more here.
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DRAM, NAND and SSD producer Micron has been awarded $6.1 billion in a federal funding agreement through the CHIPS and Science Act – $4.6 billion for New York and $1.5 billion for Idaho. Reuters reports the funding will support Micron’s long-term plan to invest around $100 billion in a 1,400-acre DRAM campus in New York and $25 billion in Idaho, and is one of the largest government awards to chip companies under the $52.7 billion 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. According to Micron the $100 billion New York plant will create 9,000 jobs over 20 years and 36,000 support positions at related suppliers and service companies. Separately, the US Commerce Department has reached a preliminary agreement to award Micron up to $275 million to expand and modernize its facility in Manassas, Virginia to help update its wafer production.
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NetApp and Futurum have produced a report titled Cloud, Complexity, AI: The Triple Threat Demanding New Cyber Resilience Strategies. The four main findings are:
- Cloud Security Risks – Misconfigurations and vulnerabilities in hybrid multi-cloud environments are now among the top threats, outpacing traditional attacks like ransomware.
- Tool Sprawl Challenges – Seventy percent of respondents use more than 40 cyber security tools, with 84 percent citing operational complexity as a major inhibitor to cyber resiliency, underscoring the need for tool consolidation and integrated solutions to streamline operations.
- AI in Cybersecurity – Forty percent of organizations are leveraging AI for threat detection, with plans to expand its use for automating response and recovery.
- Increased Investment – Over 90 pe4rcent of respondents plan to increase cyber security budgets in the next 12 to 18 months, focusing on integrated and proactive solutions.
Get a copy of the report here.
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HPC storage systems engineer Jake Wynne at Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL) has developed a hsi_xfer transfer tool to simplify the process of transferring vast amounts of data at speed and ORNL is making it available for public use. It was created to help transfer large quantities of data from the facility’s tape library-based High Performance Storage System, or HPSS, to the newly deployed nearline storage system, Kronos. Kronos is a 134PB, multi-programmatic nearline storage system that also provides back-end tape-based backups for all data as a disaster-recovery measure. The hsi_xfer transfer tool is named after the hsi command-line interface for the HPSS.
The goal was to prevent overloading the tape library’s robotic tape-retrieval mechanisms and provide users with a simpler, more efficient way to access their data. “By batching all requested files from a single tape and streaming them together, the script minimizes robotic movement, reduces tape loading and seek times, and helps extend the lifespan of both the tapes and the hardware,” Wynne explained.
The script has demonstrated superior transfer performance compared to other tools, while also offering data-integrity features typically found in tools such as Globus – features that are not available in the standard hsi. Like Globus, the script includes a checkpointing feature that allows users to recover quickly from interrupted transfers, resuming exactly where they left off with minimal overhead.
Wynne is currently stewarding the script through ORNL’s open-sourcing process, and he hopes it will soon appear in the OLCF’s public GitHub repository.
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Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson tells subscribers that, per the Korea Daily, Samsung won’t break into Nvidia’s supply chain this year and is hoping to penetrate the largest consumer of HBM next year. And DigiTimes today suggests that Samsung has reassigned 2K engineers to work on this initiative. Assuming DigiTimes is correct, we view this shift of more resource to HBM as confirming that Samsung still has work to do to fix its HBM – a result that should benefit Hynix (and Micron) on the HBM front, but could hurt general DRAM dynamics if Samsung is forced to reallocate HBM capacity to standard DRAM production.
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Silk, which provides superfast software-defined cloud storage, has appointed Ronen Schwartz to its board of directors. “Schwartz, who currently serves as CEO of K2View, brings decades of experience in cloud storage, data management, and enterprise solutions to Silk’s board. Previously, he served as SVP and GM of Cloud Storage at NetApp, where he played a pivotal role in driving cloud adoption and innovation.”
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Sofia, Bulgaria-based primary data storage supplier StorPool Storage has received all 4- and 5-Star reviews as part of the Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice 2024 program based on criteria including product capabilities, evaluation and contracting, integration and deployment, and service and support. The 85 percent 5-Star ratings received by StorPool during the past 12 months is among the highest ratings overview achieved among competitive vendors in the Primary Storage Platforms category. One hundred percent of peers evaluating the StorPool Storage Platform as part of Gartner Peer Insights recommend the product. The supplier’s overall ranking was 4.8 out of 5 stars.
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Stravito, the Swedish SaaS startup (2017) that provides a central place to store and analyze market research data, has appointed Mårten Strömberg VP of Strategy and Analytics to enhance Stravito’s strategic direction and data-driven growth. He previously worked as director of analytics at fintech Zettle by Paypal, and as a strategy consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Stravito has also appointed Stefan Röse as head of client development.
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Object cloud storage supplier Wasabi has added IBM Cloud‘s London datacenter to Wasabi’s storage regions. It says Wasabi’s ability to leverage IBM’s Multizone Region (MZR) addresses the need to help joint customers address their evolving regulatory requirements and leverage AI and other emerging technologies with a secured, enterprise cloud platform. IBM Cloud MZRs are composed of three or more datacenter zones, with each being an Availability Zone. Wasabi “aims to help new and existing UK customers utilizing Wasabi AiR, an intelligent media storage solution for the sports, media, and entertainment segment, address their data residency requirements. Wasabi AiR customers such as Liverpool Football Club (LFC) in the Premier League, will be able to access and leverage key sports data securely across a hybrid cloud infrastructure.”
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