​HPE has announced that it is helping the University of Edinburgh build what will be Europe’s first regional data innovation centre.

The company is to provide high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools powered by HPE Apollo Systems and HPE Superdome Flex Servers, as well as software supported by HPE Ezmeral Container Platform. The deal is expected to be worth over $125 million (£95 million) over the next 10 years.

The Edinburgh International Data Facility (EIDF) will assist 1,000 public, private and non-profit organisations in developing products and services using R&D and other data-driven programmes, as well as elevate Edinburgh to the title of the Data Capital of Europe, the company claims.

The EIDF is expected to play a crucial role in the region’s Data Driven Innovation (DDI) programme, pioneered by the University of Edinburgh to overcome societal and industrial challenges as well as deliver benefits from the data economy, all while improving the digital and data skills of over 100,000 people from across the region.

Mark Parsons, director of EPCC at the University of Edinburgh, said that the institution is “pleased to be working with HPE” on what he believes is “the only facility of its kind in Europe focused specifically on data-driven regional growth”.

“With the Edinburgh International Data Facility, we are combining computing and data resources to create a facility that will allow organizations to use data to innovate throughout their organizations. HPE is uniquely positioned to provide the spectrum of infrastructure and services, as well as the flexibility that this project demands,” he added.

In order to manage AI workloads and applications crucial to scientific research and engineering, EIDF will be deploying the HPE Ezmeral Container Platform, which provides native Kubernetes support and enables self-service ML applications with flexible use of accelerators, such as GPUs.

The platform runs on HPE Apollo Systems, which are purpose-built to support HPC, deep learning and other data-intensive workloads. What is more, the platform will also support HPE Superdome Flex Servers to support applications requiring large in-memory processing, as well as include pre-integrated persistent data storage in the form of the HPE Ezmeral Data Fabric file system.

HPE is also set to provide the Cray Shasta ClusterStor E1000 storage system, which is purpose-built to support EIDF’s ongoing data growth and converged HPC and analytics workloads using intelligent data management.

EIDF is expected to gain 20 petabytes of storage capacity with the new system which will also be used for vital COVID-19 research at the University of Edinburgh.

Lee Rand, director of HPC and AI at HPE EMEA, said that the company is “proud to embark on this long-term initiative with the University of Edinburgh, following a highly competitive tender process”.

“We were chosen due to the flexibility and reliability offered through our end-to-end solutions portfolio, and because we were one of the very few organizations able to seamlessly combine all of the Edinburgh International Data Facility’s requirements into a single framework. In the data-centric era deriving insights and value from across multiple datasets will be a key to success for business and government alike. We look forward to boosting the UK’s capacity for data-driven innovation through this initiative.”

The EIDF is expected to be fully operational later this year.

Malware that has remained undetected for six months is exploiting misconfigured Docker API ports to launch malicious payloads, while abusing the Dogecoin cryptocurrency blockchain in the process.

The malware, known as ‘Doki’, is targeting misconfigured containerised environments hosted on Azure, AWS, and a number of other major cloud platforms, according to Intezer researchers, with attackers able to find publicly accessible Docker API ports and exploit them to establish their own containers.

Two months ago, in PC Pro, I advised newly homeworking readers to “Get a Google account and a Chromebook”. This off-the-cuff suggestion made me realise how far I’ve drifted from the original personal computer revolution. That was about everyone having their own CPU and their own data, but I’ve since sold my soul to Google and I can’t say I miss it. When first turned on, my Asus Chromebook C301 sucked down all my personal data within five minutes, because I’d already placed it in Google Keep or Google Drive. I still have a Lenovo laptop but rarely use it, except via those same Google apps, and I don’t miss the excitement of Windows updates one bit. 

My love for Google Keep is no secret and it only grows stronger as features such as flawless voice dictation and pen annotations get added. Previously I had spent over 30 years looking for a viable free-form database to hold all the research data – articles, pictures, diagrams, books, links – that my work makes me accumulate. The task proved beyond any of the database products I tried, with Idealist, AskSam and the Firefox add-on ScrapBook lasting longer than most. Those with long memories might remember how Microsoft promised to put the retrieval abilities I need right into Windows, via an object-oriented file system, but it eventually chickened out.

Keep’s combination of categories, labels, colour coding and free text search gives me the flexible retrieval system I’ve been seeking, but it still isn’t quite enough on its own: While it can hold pictures and clickable links, they’re not as convenient as actual web pages. For a couple of decades, I religiously bookmarked pages, until my bookmark tree structure became as unwieldy as my on-disk folders. 

Nowadays, I just save pages to Pocket, which is by far the most useful gadget I have after Keep. A click on Pocket’s icon on the Chrome toolbar grabs a fully formatted page, complete with pictures and a button to go to the original if needed, making bookmarks redundant. I use the free version that supports tags similar to Keep’s labels, but the paid-for Premium edition has a raft of extra archival features for professional use. And, like Keep, it’s cross-platform so I can access my page library from Windows or a phone. 

Does the cloud make stuff easier to find? To an extent, yes. Save too many pages to Pocket and, as with bookmarks, you’ve merely shifted the complexity rather than removing it. Sometimes I fail to save something that didn’t feel important at the time, then discover months later that it was, at which point Chrome’s history function comes in handy. I use it most to reopen recent tabs closed by mistake (I have an itchy trigger finger) but by going to myactivity.google.com I can review searches years into the past – if I can remember the keywords. Failing that, it’s plain Google Search or the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, recently released as a Chrome extension.

My music nowadays comes entirely from Spotify. My own photos remain the main problem. I take thousands and store them both in the cloud and on a local hard disk, organised by camera (Sony A58, Minolta, Lumix), then location (park, Italy, Scotland). I’ve tried dedicated photo databases that organise by date, but find them of little help: place reminds me far more effectively than time. My best pictures still go onto Flickr, tagged thoroughly to exploit its rather superior search functions (it can even search by dominant colour). Pictures that I rate less Flickr-worthy I sometimes put on Facebook in themed albums, which also helps to find them. The technology does now exist to search by image-matching, but that’s mostly used by professionals who need to spot theft or plagiarism. I can only express what I’m looking for in words, such as “Pip fixing the Gardner diesel engine”. 

What’s required is a deep-AI analysis tool that can facially identify humans from their mugshots in my contacts, recognise objects such as tables, chairs or engines, can OCR any text in a picture (such as “Gardner” embossed on a cylinder block), and then output its findings as searchable text tags. It wouldn’t surprise me if some Google lab is working on it. I realise that if Google went bust, or the internet closed down, I’d be stuck with local data again, but if things get that bad then foraging for rats to eat will probably be a higher priority. 

So, while I still stand by my original answer recommendation to buy a Chromebook, my more thoughtful advice would now be this: keep your feet on the ground and your data in the cloud(s).

Orange and Google Cloud have announced a strategic partnership that will cover data, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing services.

Google Cloud will contribute its expertise in cloud, analytics, and AI tools, while Orange will use the help of Google technologies to manufacture a state of the art data analytics and machine-learning platform.

Targeting the B2B, B2C, and wholesale markets, the partnership aims to provide “flexible, secure and cutting-edge solutions”, as well as take advantage of the 5G rollout in Europe by developing edge computing services.

The partnership is expected to benefit Orange by expanding its Orange Business Services’ portfolio, while Google Cloud is hoping the deal will strengthen its presence in Europe. 

Orange and Google Cloud are also planning to jointly create an Innovation Lab, which will enable new industry solution development based on data and AI, as well as a Centre of Excellence that will provide training in data, AI and cloud services for several thousand Orange employees.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the partnership “will help pave the way for new advanced cloud and edge computing services for the telecommunications industry in Europe”. 

“We look forward to working together with Orange to bring new services and applications to customers and businesses alike, while also continuing to grow our support for European enterprises in their digital transformation journeys,” he added.

In a statement, Orange chairman and CEO Stephane Richard said that the French telecom giant is “pleased to partner with Google to accelerate its data and AI transformation and continue towards a better service for its customers”. 

“Google has been a long term partner of Orange and, as Google is eager to invest in Europe – and especially in France – to develop new data centres, this is the perfect time to work on new services and opportunities in French and European markets”, he added.

The news comes weeks after Google Cloud signed a letter of intent with Deutsche Bank, revealing plans to sign a multi-year contract within the next few months. The partnership will accelerate the German bank’s cloud migration and transform its IT architecture, including optimisation of the bank’s current systems in a phased approach.