Maxxcat Offers SQL Connector
August 30, 2013
Specialized hardware vendor MaxxCAT offers a SQL connector, allowing their appliances to directly access SQL databases. We read about that tool, named BobCAT, at the company’s Search Connect page. We would like to note that the company’s web site has made it easier to locate their expanding range of appliances for search and storage.
Naturally, BobCAT can be configured for use with Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and MySQL, among other ODBC databases. The connector ‘s integration with MaxxCAT’s appliances makes it easier to establish crawls and customize output using tools like JSON, HTML and SQL. The write-up emphasizes:
“The results returned from the BobCAT connector can be integrated into web pages, applications, or other systems that use the search appliance as a compute server performing the specialized function of high performance search across large data sets.
“In addition to indexing raw data, The BobCAT connector provides the capability for raw integrators to index business intelligence and back office systems from disparate applications, and can grant the enterprise user a single portal of access to data coming from customer management, ERP or proprietary systems.”
MaxxCAT does not stop with its SQL connector. Their Lynx Connector facilitates connection to their enterprise search appliances by developers, integrators, and connector foundries. The same Search Connect page explains:
“The connector consists of two components, the input bytestream and a subset of the MaxxCAT API that controls the processing of collections and the appliance.
“There are many applications of the Lynx Connector, including building plugins and connector modules that connect MaxxCAT to external software systems, document formats and proprietary cloud or application infrastructure. Users of the Lynx Connector have a straightforward path to take advantage of MaxxCAT’s specialized and high performance retrieval engine in building solutions.”
Developers interested in building around the Lynx framework are asked email the company for more information, including a line on development hardware and support resources. MaxxCAT was founded in 2007 to capitalize on the high-performance, specialized hardware corner of the enterprise search market. The company manages to offer competitive pricing without sacrificing its focus on performance, simplicity, and ease of integration. We continue to applaud MaxxCAT’s recently launched program for nonprofits.
Cynthia Murrell, August 30, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Oracle Focuses On New Full Text Query
August 26, 2013
Despite enterprise companies moving away from SQL databases to the more robust NoSQL, Oracle has updated its database to include new features, including a XQuery Full Text search. We found an article that examines how the new function will affect Oracle and where it seems to point. The article from Amis Technology Blog: “Oracle Database 12c: XQuery Full Text” explains that the XQuery Full Text search was made to handle unstructured XML content. It does so by extending the XQuery XMLDB language. This finally makes Oracle capable of working with all types of XML. The rest of the article focuses on the XQuery code.
When the new feature was used on Wikipedia Content with XML content as well the test results were positive:
“During tests it proved very fast on English Wikipedia content (10++ Gb) and delivered the results within less than a second. But such a statement will only be picked up very efficiently if the new, introduced in 12c, corresponding Oracle XQuery Full-Text Index has been created.”
Oracle is trying to improve its technology as more of its users switch over to NoSQL databases. Improving the search function as well as other features keeps Oracle in the competition as well as proves that relational tables still have some kick in them. Interestingly enough Oracle appears to be focusing its energies on MarkLogic’s technology to keep in the race.
Whitney Grace, August 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Basho Releases Another Riak
August 16, 2013
Without further ado from Basho.com,“Basho Announces Availability Of Riak 1.4,” the popular NoSQL database. Technology news Web sites have been reeling about the new Riak upgrade and what it will offer its users. According to the article, version 1.4 offers more functionality, resolves issues, and adds functions as requested by its users. Also it gives a small taste of what to expect in version 2.0 that will be available for download later in 2013.
Here is what the upgrade features:
· Secondary Indexing Improvements: Query results are now sorted and paginated, offering developers much richer semantics
· Introducing Counters in Riak: Counters, Riak’s first distributed data type, provide automatic conflict resolution after a network partition
· Simplified Cluster Management With Riak Control: New capabilities in Riak’s GUI-based administration tool improve the cluster management page for preparing and applying changes to the cluster
· Reduced Object Storage Overhead: Values and associated metadata are stored and transmitted using a more compact format, reducing disk and network overhead
· Handoff Progress Reporting: Makes operating the cluster, identifying and troubleshooting issues, and monitoring the cluster simpler
· Improved Backpressure: Riak responds with an overload message if a vnode has too many messages in queue
Users will be happy with how Riak 1.4 will provide better functionality and management for clusters and datacenters. The updates and the 2.0 sample are enough to be excited about. There does not seem to be a thing NoSQL databases can do.
Whitney Grace, August 16, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Wolfram Alpha Is The Superman Of Databases
August 16, 2013
Before the better Internet we have today, school children used to have rely on poor search and hacked together Web sites to cheat on their homework. The Wolfram Alpha database did not exist and it made school children rely on their own skills. Wolfram Alpha is a powerhouse database with a snarky attitude that can answer veritably any question. Makeuseof.com points out “10 Surprising Things You Didn’t Know Wolfram Alpha Could Do” and how you can harness the tool to do more than cheat on chemistry homework. Originally built as a computational math engine, geeks have added other and often fun features to Wolfram Alpha. You can upload an image to see how it would look as a comic book, through a dog’s eyes, or via color blindness.
Want a Morse code translator or statistics on everything associated with NFL for the past twenty-five years? Look no further. You can also get a head start on your Christmas shopping by using it as product comparison tool:
“Instead of using filters on any shopping website, you can try an English language query in the search box and see if it helps narrow down your shopping choices. Wolfram Alpha handshakes with Best Buy’s API to source the results, so the results are America and Canada centric. You can also use Wolfram Alpha to make a direct comparison between two products in the same product line by typing in their brand names and model numbers. The results page includes enough details to help you bore down to the right choices.”
Calorie burning calculator, anniversary gift recommender, and medical prescription decoder are yet even more ways. The most artful and mathematical way takes Wolfram Alpha back to its original purpose…almost. The database can take any image and render it into a mathematical equation. What does the Mona Lisa look like in numbers? Play around with Wolfram Alpha and do not forget to ask it a Douglas Adams inspired question.
Whitney Grace, August 16, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Database Indexing Explained
July 29, 2013
Finally, everything you need to explain database indexing to your mom over breakfast. Stack Overflow hosts the discussion, “How Does Database Indexing Work?” The original question, posed by a user going by Zenph Yan, asks for an answer at a “database agnostic level.” The lead answer, also submitted by Zenph Yan, makes for a respectable article all by itself. (Asked and answered by the same user? Odd, perhaps, but that is actively encouraged at Stack Overflow.)
Yan clearly defines the subject at hand:
“Indexing is a way of sorting a number of records on multiple fields. Creating an index on a field in a table creates another data structure which holds the field value, and pointer to the record it relates to. This index structure is then sorted, allowing Binary Searches to be performed on it.
“The downside to indexing is that these indexes require additional space on the disk, since the indexes are stored together in a table using the MyISAM engine, this file can quickly reach the size limits of the underlying file system if many fields within the same table are indexed.”
Yan’s explanation also describes why indexing is needed, how it works (with examples), and when it is called for. It is worth checking out for those pondering his question. A couple other users contributed links to helpful resources. Der U suggests another Stack Overflow discussion, “What do Clustered and Non Clustered Index Actually Mean?“, while one, dohaivu, recommends the site, Use the Index, Luke.
Cynthia Murrell, July 29, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Teradata Uses Revelytix Loom for Smarter Hadoop
July 26, 2013
The popular open source database technology system Hadoop has many strategic partners that have created portfolios for integrating with Hadoop. We heard about another one in Data Center Knowledge’s article “Teradata Announces Portfolio for Hadoop.” Teradata specializes in analytic technologies like data warehousing and business intelligence.
Teradata’s portfolio for Hadoop features Hadoop-based product platforms, software, consulting services, training and customer support. It uses Revelytix Loom. The press release “Revelytix Announces General Availability of Loom for Hadoop” tells us more about that.
According to Scott Gnau, president, Teradata Labs:
‘“Teradata is now off and running as a trusted single source for all things Hadoop with many leading customers such as Dell, Inc., Otto Group, PT XL Axiata Tbk mobile telecommunications, Swisscom Schweiz AG, and Wells Fargo Bank. We built The Teradata Portfolio for Hadoop to support organizations struggling with Hadoop implementations by taking the complexity and cost out of deploying and managing the solutions.’”
As far as the Revelytix Loom, it provides a smarter Hadoop for the Teradata Appliance for Hadoop. What does that mean? Just a little something like dynamic dataset management and automatic parsing for new files.
Megan Feil, July 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Talend and NEO Technology Advance NoSQL Capabilities
July 2, 2013
In the current open source trend, NoSQL databases are a particularly quick growing sector. Oracle, Cloudant, and Elasticsearch are just a few that continually make the headlines. Now there is another name to add to the list. Read all about the latest news in the article, “Enterprise Open Source: Talend and Neo Technology Advance NoSQL Capabilities with Support for Big Graph Databases.”
The article begins:
“Talend, a global open source software leader, and Neo Technology, creators of Neo4j, the world’s leading graph database, today announced a partnership to advance the deployment and integration of NoSQL graph databases to enterprise environments. As part of the agreement, Talend has added a new connector for Neo4j in its integration solutions, Talend Platform for Big Data and Talend Open Studio for Big Data, enabling users to easily connect and analyze data from disparate systems to help drive and improve business performance.”
The recently announced Solr 4 update adds NoSQL features to the Apache Lucene Solr platform. LucidWorks builds on this open source infrastructure to offer its suite of solutions including LucidWorks Search and LucidWorks Big Data. The power of open source lies in its community, which enables affordability and creativity.
Emily Rae Aldridge, July 2, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Enterprises Move Away from Oracle
June 19, 2013
Recent news tells us that Netflix, Openwave Messaging, and Ooyala have moved away from Oracle and into the DataStax fold. DataStax is an Apache Cassandra based enterprise and Big Data solution centered on NoSQL database architecture. The latest news by ZDNet is offered in their article, “DataStax CEO: Open source databases onslaught for Oracle.”
The article begins:
“Enterprises are increasingly moving to open source database to cut their dependence on Oracle, Apache Cassandra has a strong community resistant to fracturing and business leaders are calling the tech shots at first over CIOs. Those are some of the key takeaways from my chat with DataStax CEO Billy Bosworth. Bosworth, a former Oracle database admin and executive at Quest Software, has been pushing an enterprise version of the Apache Cassandra NoSQL database platform.”
While NoSQL databases are making a strong showing, there are other open source search architectures to choose from as well. For instance, LucidWorks builds its value-added open source search and Big Data solutions on top of the trusted power of Apache Lucene Solr. But LucidWorks sets itself apart by offering an industry-leading support and services package, which sets enterprise developers and users at ease.
Emily Rae Aldridge, June 19, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Basho Cofounder Takes New Direction
May 28, 2013
Antony Falco was a co-founder of the Basho Riak distributed open source database. However, he has changed directions and is working on a new project. Read about Falco’s latest project in the TechCrunch article, “Basho Co-Founder Raises $3M To Launch Orchestrate.io, A Twilio For Databases.”
The article begins:
“Basho Co-Founder Antony Falco has raised $3 million for Orchestrate.io, a database API similar to Twilio in its capability to ease the complexity of adding features to mobile and web applications. True Ventures led this initial round joined by Frontline Ventures and Resonant Venture Partners. Falco, who left Basho a few months ago, said Orchestrate.io solves the problems that developers face when building feature-rich applications. Often it means adding multiple databases for geo-spatial, time series or any number of other features.”
The article goes on to explain that the limits of scale of relational databases has led large tech companies like Google and Amazon to develop new types of databases for high-volume queries. Falco hopes his new service will add functionality by pulling the data through an API. He is using existing open source databases to build the project, including Riak.
This is an example of the type of creativity and innovation that flourishes in the open source community. Also in the open source field serving enterprises, LucidWorks focuses on another angle, enterprise search and Big Data. These elements are complimentary, with organizations finding that open source solutions often pair well together, adapting and scaling efficiently.
Emily Rae Aldridge, May 28, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Spotlight on Access Innovations Living Up to Name
May 14, 2013
New York-based print and digital educational content company, Triumph Learning, has struck up a partnership with taxonomy development leader Access Innovations, Inc. Together, they will be creating a new taxonomy designed to align standards-based instructional content for the k-1 education market. The news release, “Triumph Learning Partners with Access Innovations on Common Core Standards-Integrated Taxonomy,” explains more.
Content management can be a difficult challenge for companies like Triumph learning but Access Innovations facilitated a more efficient management system by developing and building taxonomy out of a structured vocabulary for math and English.
We learned about how the Common Core State Standards apply:
The Common Core State Standards provide concepts and terminology that Triumph Learning writers and editors can use to link pieces of content such as instruction and practice activities, as well as other supplemental material, to corresponding grade-level standards. ‘By using Access Innovations expertise we will be able to properly align our content for both teachers and students,’ said Aoife Dempsey, Chief Technology Officer at Triumph Learning.
For a company that has been around since 1978, Access Innovations truly lives up to their name. Their database and taxonomy creation capabilities and semantic integration technology stand out among others and it looks like their spotlight will continue to shine — especially now that they are involved in bolstering educational reform on a national level.
Megan Feil, May 14, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
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