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Oracle fixes Struts and Shadow Brokers exploits in huge patch release

lukasik — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 09:51:59 +0000

Oracle fixes Struts and Shadow Brokers exploits in huge patch release

The quarterly Oracle patch update fixes a record 299 security vulnerabilities

Oracle has released a record 299 security fixes for vulnerabilities in its products, including patches for a widely exploited vulnerability in the Apache Struts framework and a Solaris exploit supposedly used by the U.S. National Security Agency.

The Struts vulnerability allows for remote code execution on Java web servers and was patched on March 6. Attackers have quickly adopted it and have used it in widespread attacks since then.

Oracle uses Apache Struts 2 in several of its products, which is why Tuesday’s critical patch update (CPU) fixed 25 instances of the vulnerability in Oracle Communications, Retail and Financial Services applications, as well as in the MySQL Enterprise Monitor, Oracle WebCenter Sites, Oracle WebLogic Server and the Siebel E-Billing app.

The company also fixed the vulnerability behind the EXTREMEPARR exploit for Solaris 10 that was leaked recently by a group called Shadow Brokers as part of a larger data dump of alleged NSA cyber tools. Another Solaris exploit that was part of the same arsenal and was dubbed EBBISLAND has been patched since 2012 in Solaris 10 Update 11, Oracle said.

Oracle’s quarterly patch bundle contains fixes for 40 vulnerabilities that are rated as critical, 25 of which have the highest severity score of 10 in the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS). Overall, 162 out of the 299 patched vulnerabilities are remotely exploitable.

Oracle’s applications for specific industry sectors—financial services, retail, communications, utilities, hospitality, health sciences and insurance—account for almost 40 percent of all security fixes this quarter, according to an analysis by security vendor ERPScan.

Oracle business-critical applications like Oracle PeopleSoft, E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, Siebel CRM and the Primavera Products Suite received 83 security fixes.

“Nowadays, hackers set their eyes on enterprises more than on individuals, as they understood that this option is more profitable,” said Alexander Polyakov, CTO at ERPScan. “Taking into account that Oracle’s products are installed in the largest enterprises, these applications can be the ultimate target.”

On the database side, Oracle patched 39 vulnerabilities in MySQL and 3 in its Oracle Database Server. Java also received 8 security fixes.

Triaging and deploying the patches that make up this Oracle CPU, the largest ever for the company, will be a lot of work for systems administrators. The size of Oracle’s quarterly updates has steadily increased over the years, raising the question of whether a monthly update cycle instead of a quarterly one wouldn’t be more appropriate.

By Lucian Constantin, source by InfoWorld

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Oracle Brings Oracle’s Flagship Databases and Developer Tools to the Docker Store

lukasik — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 08:59:56 +0000

Oracle Brings Oracle’s Flagship Databases and Developer Tools to the Docker Store

Developers can easily access leading databases and developer tools as Docker containers to develop and deploy cloud-scale applications.

Oracle announced today that it is collaborating with Docker to release its flagship databases, middleware and developer tools into the Docker Store marketplace via the Docker Certification Program. Together, Oracle and Docker enable developers to quickly build cloud-native applications using Docker Enterprise Edition as their container platform and Oracle’s databases and developer tools immediately available as Docker containers through the Docker Stor e.. The Docker Certification Program is a framework for partners to integrate and certify their technology to the Docker EE commercial platform.

Effective immediately, developers can now pull images of Oracle products in Docker and quickly start developing, testing and deploying modern enterprise applications. Solutions offered include Oracle Database, Oracle MySQL, Oracle Java 8 SE Runtime Environment, Oracle WebLogic Server, Oracle Coherence and Oracle Instant Client, which are now all available in the Docker Store as enterprise-ready containers.

As cloud computing continues to transform every business and industry, developers at global enterprises and emerging startups alike are increasingly leveraging container technologies to accelerate how they build modern Web, mobile and IoT applications. Because the need for new applications in the enterprise consistently outpaces development capabilities, modern developers need to be able to quickly develop, test and deploy their applications without worrying about their deployment environment. With the availability of Oracle in the Docker Store, developers are now free for the first time to deliver best in class secure, high-performance, and resilient applications in containers with confidence. Oracle is a long-time supporter of the Docker ecosystem with more than 100 images of Oracle products already available in the Docker Hub, including OpenJDK and Oracle Linux.

Developers can try these images immediately by downloading them on any public cloud or on-premises servers. With Oracle Cloud, developers can deploy these images on the cloud infrastructure of their choice: virtual, bare metal or managed containers. Developers can try the service and experience Oracle Cloud with $300 in free credits by visiting https://cloud.oracle.com/tryit.

“Docker is revolutionizing the way developers build and deploy modern applications, but mission-critical systems in the enterprise have been a holdout until now,” said Mark Cavage, Vice President of Software Development at Oracle. “Together with Docker, Oracle is bringing bedrock software to millions of developers enabling them to create enterprise-grade solutions that meet stringent security, performance and resiliency SLAs with the high level of productivity and low friction that they have come to expect from Dockerizing their application development stack.”

“Enterprises have relied on Oracle’s technology to power their businesses for decades and their databases and middleware tools are used by millions of developers around the world,” said Marianna Tessel, EVP Strategic Development at Docker. “With this new partnership, developers looking to use containers for their businesses can now access the world’s most popular databases and developer tools and leverage the performance and robustness of Oracle in their applications, all in just a few clicks.”

For more information, please visit https://developer.oracle.com/docker

Oracle Cloud

Oracle Cloud is the industry’s broadest and most integrated public cloud, offering a complete range of services across SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. It supports new cloud environments, existing ones, and hybrid, and all workloads, developers, and data. The Oracle Cloud delivers nearly 1,000 SaaS applications and 50 enterprise-class PaaS and IaaS services to customers in more than 195 countries around the world and supports 55 billion transactions each day.

Source by Oracle

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Fujitsu and Oracle Launch Fujitsu SPARC M12 Servers with World’s Fastest Per-Core Performance

lukasik — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 08:26:01 +0000

Fujitsu and Oracle Launch Fujitsu SPARC M12 Servers with World’s Fastest Per-Core Performance

Providing optimized infrastructure for both on-premises and cloud environments

Fujitsu Limited,Oracle Corporation

Tokyo, Japan, and Redwood City, CA., U.S., April 04, 2017Fujitsu Limited and Oracle today announced the launch of Fujitsu SPARC M12, a new lineup of enterprise servers now available worldwide.

Featuring Fujitsu’s new SPARC64 XII processor, Fujitsu SPARC M12 servers achieve the world’s highest per CPU core performance⁽¹⁾ in arithmetic processing, offering dramatic improvements for a wide range of database workloads, from mission-critical systems on premises to big data processing in the cloud.

The new Fujitsu SPARC M12 servers join the vibrant SPARC technology ecosystem, and together with Oracle’s SPARC systems they leverage the unique security and scalability features of the Oracle Solaris operating system, as well as the efficiency and versatility of the Oracle VM Server for SPARC virtualization software.

Fujitsu SPARC M12 servers are offered in two models: the two-processor Fujitsu SPARC M12-2 server, and the Fujitsu SPARC M12-2S server, which can be expanded incrementally to a maximum of 32 processors.

The new servers can help customers optimize investments in ICT infrastructure and create new value based on cutting-edge digital technology.

The forerunner of the Fujitsu SPARC M12 servers, the Fujitsu M10 server line, has been adopted by many customers as the core of their ICT infrastructure. Fujitsu M10 servers have contributed to optimized ICT investments by providing stable processing power for mission-critical databases at the foundation of corporate business, and reduced search time for information databases used in corporate marketing to 1/300th that of previous technology.

In recent years, as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data and artificial intelligence (AI) have become more prevalent in companies and society, there has been an ever-increasing volume of data to be processed, leading to demands for even greater performance, combined with a reduction in operational and management costs.

Fujitsu SPARC M12-2S

Features of the Fujitsu SPARC M12

1. Supporting customers’ digital transformation by providing high-speed processing

Performance per CPU core is a significant measure to consider when increasing data processing efficiency, and Fujitsu SPARC M12 servers offer up to 2.5 times better core performance compared to the previous Fujitsu M10 models. The Fujitsu-developed SPARC64 XII processor, with the world’s highest per core performance, maximizes processing capability in mission-critical systems and databases without increasing server complexity, contributing to the optimization of customer IT investments.

Software on Chip⁽²⁾, a feature carried on from the Fujitsu M10, accelerates database processing by leveraging the fact that use of in-memory databases for processing large volumes of data has been very effective in the cloud, expanding the number of simultaneous searches to twice that of the Fujitsu M10 when processing with Oracle Database In-Memory. The Fujitsu SPARC M12, which can dramatically accelerate a wide range of data processing, supports the digital transformations of customers by improving the efficiency of mission-critical systems, speeding up decision-making using big data, and improving customer services through multilateral information analyses.

2. Stable operations with industry-first, new cooling technology

Fujitsu cutting-edge IT expertise has been used to develop Vapor and Liquid Loop Cooling (VLLC) technology⁽³⁾. This industry-first cooling technology reliably cools the interior of the server through the phase change of liquid to vapor, roughly doubling cooling efficiency⁽⁴⁾, and enabling safe and stable operations when building a private cloud environment with multiple Fujitsu SPARC M12 servers installed in a data center.

3. Optimized operations and management costs suited for business growth

Fujitsu SPARC M12 servers provide CPU Core Activation functionality, for configuring CPU resources one core at a time from a minimum of just two cores per server. CPU Core Activation allows servers to be configured to meet business needs, with the dynamic flexibility to grow as needed.

The high-end Fujitsu SPARC M12-2S model offers additional scalability in the form of building block architecture to connect additional Fujitsu SPARC M12-2S server chassis to form flexible scale-up and scale-out servers. By connecting a maximum of 16 building blocks, a single system with over 3,000 CPU threads can be created. Fujitsu SPARC M12-2S servers provide an ideal foundation for private cloud implementations by mitigating initial investment risks while allowing for gradual expansion.

4. Supporting business continuity with stable system operation

Building on the Fujitsu mainframe heritage and the trusted RAS features⁽⁵⁾ found in Fujitsu M10 servers, Fujitsu SPARC M12 servers provide error detection and recovery mechanisms for error protection across all processor circuits, supporting stable operation of mission-critical processing.

Comment from Toshiyuki Awai, Managing Executive Officer, COO, IT Services Group, ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation

ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) welcome the announcement of a new product to the SPARC platform. Leveraging our broad implementation experience and SPARC server know-how, CTC have been offering safety and confidence to customers by providing various services, such as POC, system integrations and operations or maintenance support services. I am confident that the combination of SPARC servers, equipped with the world’s highest performance processor, the SPARC64 XII, and CTC’s solutions and services will contribute to optimizing customers’ IT investments.

Comment from Edward Screven, Chief Corporate Architect, Oracle Corporation

Oracle and Fujitsu have worked together for more than three decades to produce SPARC systems satisfying the demanding requirements of mission critical infrastructure. Fujitsu SPARC M12 servers featuring the new SPARC64 XII processor for extreme core performance is an exciting addition to the SPARC family, allowing customers to address their most difficult computing challenges with systems that offer both high performance and enterprise reliability.

Comment from Akira Kabemoto, SEVP, Fujitsu

The revolutionary technology of the Fujitsu SPARC M12 enables real-time connections between people, businesses and a variety of things, and represents a step toward achieving Fujitsu’s aim of a Human Centric Intelligent Society. In addition to the Fujitsu SPARC M12, which is a result of close collaboration between Fujitsu and Oracle, Fujitsu will continue to develop cutting-edge technology that contributes to the creation of new value and supports customers in expanding their businesses.

Related Websites

Sites introducing Fujitsu SPARC M12:Fujitsu
Oracle
Fujitsu SPARC M12 social media links:YouTube
Oracle Hardware Social media links:Facebook
Twitter

Trademark Notice

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation, its subsidiaries, and its affiliates in the US and other countries.

All SPARC trademarks, which are used under license, are trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the US and other countries. The SPARC64 trademark is a trademark of SPARC International, Inc. in the US and other countries, and is being used under license.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the US and other countries.

SPEC and the SPECint benchmark name are trademarks or registered trademarks of Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) in the US and other countries.

All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

[1] World’s highest per CPU core performance

Comparison based on registered results per core in the SPECint_rate2006 and SPECfp_rate2006 benchmark tests.

SPECint_rate2006 performance results and measurement environment: Fujitsu SPARC M12-2S Performance result (peak): 102 per CPU core Measurement environment: SPARC64 XII (4.25GHz) x1 core, Oracle Solaris 11.3, Version 12.6 of Oracle Developer Studio

SPECfp_rate2006 performance results and measurement environment: Fujitsu SPARC M12-2S Performance result (peak): 102 per CPU core Measurement environment: SPARC64 XII (4.25GHz) x1 core, Oracle Solaris 11.3, Version 12.6 of Oracle Developer Studio

These performance results were submitted to SPEC (The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation) on April 3, 2017.
[2] Software on Chip

Functionality of Fujitsu SPARC M12 and Fujitsu M10 in which hardware (a processor) is used to process some of the tasks that are otherwise performed with software, such as decimal arithmetic processing, cryptographic processing, and copying.
[3] Developed Vapor and Liquid Loop Cooling (VLLC)

A depressurization vaporization cooling method that circulates cooling fluid with a pump. Patent pending in Japan and the US.
[4] Roughly doubling cooling efficiency

It can limit temperature increases to half that of the cooling system on the previous products (Fujitsu M10-4, Fujitsu M10-4S), when cooling a CPU with the same heat output.
[5] RAS features

Acronym for Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability. Functions that support the stable operation of the system.

Source by Fujitsu

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Oracle promises IaaS growth as cloud business rises

lukasik — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 09:30:06 +0000

SaaS and PaaS are still the stars, though, and its cloud is still dwarfed by AWS’ revenue

Oracle’s third quarter financial results continue to show that the company’s future is in the cloud. On Wednesday, the company reported massive growth in its software- and platform-as-a-service businesses, promising further gains as its customers do away with their data centers.

The company’s SaaS and PaaS revenue from December 2016 through February 2017 was a little over $1 billion, up from $583 million during the same period a year prior. Its infrastructure-as-a-service business brought in $178 million during the same period, bringing the company’s total cloud revenue for the quarter to almost $1.2 billion.

IaaS lets customers rent raw compute power for the applications they’re building. PaaS offerings are tailored for particular tasks and include products like Oracle’s Exadata Database Cloud Service, IT Analytics Cloud, Business Intelligence Cloud and Internet of Things Cloud.

All together, the cloud offerings added up to 13 percent of Oracle’s $9.2 billion in total quarterly revenue, up from $9 billion during the same period a year ago. Oracle’s total profit for the quarter was roughly $2.2 billion, up from about $2.1 billion.

Blair Hanley-Frank

One of the major stories coming out of the enterprise tech titan’s financial report on Wednesday is its high expectations for its cloud infrastructure services. Oracle CEO Safra Catz told financial analysts on a conference call that the company’s IaaS business is expected to grow 25 percent to 29 percent year over year, not accounting for an expected negative impact from foreign exchange rates.

That expected growth is driven by interest in IaaS products from Oracle PaaS customers, Catz said. If the company comes through on that promise, it would be a massive spike in growth for a business that has seen steady but unimpressive sales gains over the past year.

Customers may be more interested now than before in part because of the company’s Bare Metal Cloud infrastructure offering, introduced at its OpenWorld conference in San Francisco last year. It’s designed to provide customers with the ability to purchase high-performance compute resources from Oracle data centers.

That service is a key part of Oracle’s plan to compete against the bigger players in the cloud industry like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM and Google Cloud Platform. Oracle Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison called out AWS specifically in the company’s earnings press release on Wednesday.

“Our new Gen2 IaaS is both faster and lower-cost than Amazon Web Services. And now our biggest customers can run their largest and most demanding Oracle database workloads in the Oracle Cloud — something that is absolutely impossible to do in the Amazon Cloud,” he said.

Drawing direct price comparisons between Oracle Bare Metal Cloud and AWS is difficult, since the companies don’t offer comparable virtual or physical machine shapes.

But Oracle has to deal with reality: Amazon’s latest earnings report showed AWS’s quarterly revenue was more than $3.5 billion, up 47 percent year over year. It’s not a perfect comparison, given the strength of Oracle’s cloud SaaS business and Amazon’s lack of competing products in the ERP, HCM and CRM sector.

But it does highlight one of the major issues with Oracle’s offering: The company’s marquee IaaS offering is late to the game. Even its first-generation Oracle Compute Cloud has only been on the market since 2015. Compare that to AWS’ Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), which launched in 2006.

One of the key issues with the Bare Metal Cloud offering is geographic reach. Right now, it’s only available from a single region, the U.S. southwest. Oracle has promised additional (and increasingly rapid) expansion of its physical footprint.

Meanwhile, AWS has 16 cloud regions, Azure has 34, and Google has 6. All of those providers have plans to launch several more over the course of this year. (It’s not a perfect comparison, since Oracle’s first-generation IaaS offering is available in other regions and competitors like Azure don’t strictly follow Oracle’s model of three availability domains per region.)

Broad geographic availability is important for reducing application latency for customers outside the U.S., in addition to satisfying data residency compliance requirements for customers in other countries.

Oracle CTO Larry Ellison said that he expects increased cloud growth over the next five years as the company’s database customers continue to move away from on-premises technology deployments.

By Blair Hanley Frank, source by ComputerWorld

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