In Brief: CERN data grid on tap, ComponentSource buys Flashline mart, and more

• By Scott Adams
• April 15, 2003

* IBM and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) today announced that IBM is joining the CERN openlab for DataGrid applications to collaborate on the creation of a massive data management system built on Grid computing. Conceived in IBM Research as Storage Tank, the new technology is designed to provide scalable, high-performance and highly available management of huge amounts of data using a single file namespace regardless of where or on what operating system the data resides. IBM and CERN will work together to extend Storage Tank's capabilities so that it can manage and provide access from any location worldwide to the torrent of data -- billions of gigabytes a year -- that CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is expected to produce when it goes online in 2007. It seeks to recreate -- on a tiny scale -- conditions that existed shortly after the Big Bang of universal creation.

* ComponentSource has acquired Flashline's online marketplace for commercial, off-the-shelf components. The companies have also formed an alliance to jumpstart and sustain reuse efforts across organizations through access to reusable components.

* Altova Inc. has announced the availability of its XMLSPY 5 Release 4 XML development environment. It includes Stylesheet Designer Enhancements, Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV), and Enhanced Code Generation. The XMLSPY code generator now supports output code that uses the Xerces XML parser.

* Compuware Corp. has reported availability of Uniface 8.3, which offers Web services support. Functionality built into Uniface can now be made available as a Web service, enabling integration between Uniface, J2EE, .NET and legacy applications. This includes applications developed using Compuware OptimalJ, a model-driven, pattern-based (MDPB) Java development environment. In addition, CORBA support has been enhanced in Version 8.3 to include the bundling of The Ace Orb (TAO), an open-source object request broker (ORB).

* Researchers at Binary Simplex Inc. report work on a 3-D rendering algorithm that is said to drastically increase image manipulation speeds. At the heart of the method is a ''constant-time neighbor-finding'' algorithm. Early tests have shown that the method is able to process more than 100,000 cluster updates/sec on a 650-MHz laptop.

* At IBM developerWorks Live! in New Orleans, Curl Corp. announced Linux OS support for its Curl Client/Web Platform development environment. Curl creates rich client-side Internet applications.

* Interactive data visualization software maker Corda Technologies has used its OptiMap and PopChart tools to create a Web-based interactive map that tracks the occurrence and spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). To find out more, please go to http://www.corda.com/examples/go/map/sars.cfm

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