Intel has teamed with French-Italian semiconductor maker STMicroelectronics to form a new flash memory company in Switzerland to create memory for consumer and industrial devices. As part of the deal, Intel will sell all of its NOR flash resources to the newly formed company while STMicro will contribute its NAND (define) and NOR (define) flash assets.
"The new company will be positioned to service customers with all of the elements necessary to deliver current and next-generation non-volatile memory technologies, while allowing STMicro to redefine its participation in flash memory," said Carlo Bozotti, STMicro president and CEO, in a statement Tuesday.
NOR-based flash is considered slower but has better read/write capabilities than NAND and is used for executing applications in place, rather than loading them into main memory. NAND is faster and more popular as a means of data storage.
Under the terms of the agreement, Intel (Quote) will receive a 45.1 percent equity ownership stake and a $432 million cash payment at close of the deal for its flash assets, while STMicroelectronics will receive a 48.6 percent equity ownership stake and a $468 million cash payment at close.
Francisco Partners L.P., a Menlo Park, Calif.-based private equity firm, will invest $150 million in cash for convertible preferred stock representing a 6.3 percent ownership interest. The two companies estimate that between the two of them, flash products brought in $3.6 billion in sales last year.
The new, as-yet unnamed company will be set up quite nicely, with a $1.3 billion term loan and $250 million line of revolving credit. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected to occur in the second half of 2007.
In other Intel news, the company found a new way to go green. In addition to its ongoing efforts to cut power consumption, Intel announced it plans to make its entire line of 45nm "Penryn" processors entirely lead-free when manufacturing begins in the second half of the year.
The processor chip doesn't have any lead in it, but the motherboards do. The company will replace lead used in motherboard attachments with an alloy made of tin, silver and copper. The company will make its 65nm chipsets lead free beginning next year as well. Intel said there will be no impact on performance or reliability by the metal switch.
The disposal of old computers has become an increasing problem as more computers have gone into the marketplace, more have eventually ended up in landfills, and chemicals used in building the computers are found to be toxic.
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3679326
Friday, June 1, 2007
Alcatel-Lucent 'Guardian' Locks Up Your Data
LAS VEGAS -- Less than a week after admitting that a disk with sensitive employee information was lost or stolen, Alcatel-Lucent (Quote) today introduced a networking card designed to lock in data on laptops.
Alcatel-Lucent unveiled the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian at the 2007 Interop networking show in Las Vegas, though the company first previewed the product at the Demo show in February.
The Guardian is a Linux-based notebook PC card loaded with security software that checks against a remote server to validate that the notebook hasn't been reported lost or stolen.
Unlike local PC-based solutions, which rely on a client PC stored encryption key, OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian is controlled by a remote server that is accessed by either wired LAN (define), WLAN (define) or a wireless 3G connection.
OmniAccess
OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian.
Source: Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent officials argue this approach provides remote-user, data-loss prevention by locking notebook data as soon as a notebook is lost, stolen or otherwise unaccounted for.
"What the product does is it solves what CIOs often refer to as the mobile blind spot... as soon as I unplug my laptop and leave the enterprise there really is a lack of visibility and control," Dor Skuler, general manager of enterprise security products at Alcatel-Lucent, told internetnews.com.
"The way the solution works is its based on a PCMCIA card with a hardened version of Linux, its own battery and a 3G modem. The benefits enterprises get are the ability to have notebook visibility and control anytime anywhere."
For the card to work, users install the Guardian and turn the notebook on. The card negotiates with the central server to identify the notebook and unlocks user data and access. In case the notebook is reported lost or stolen, the central server administrator can revoke the notebook's certification and encryption keys.
At that point, the notebook's data is encrypted and the data is secured. The encryption keys don't exist on the local PC and only exist on the server, making it nearly impossible for an unauthorized entity to access the data.
Skuler explained that as long as the card is plugged in users can still log into their machines. But there is a timer-based system on the card so the user needs to connect to the central server at regularly specified times, which are defined by the IT organization.
For example, if the user is in the mountains without any access either by wired, wireless or cellular 3G beyond the preset time period, the timer will lapse and the notebook will be locked. The user would then have to call their IT department and let them know and they need to reset in order to regain access.
In addition to the lock-down benefits provided by OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian, the card also provides improved security overall for remote users.
Instead of connecting to the public Internet over an unsecured connection, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian provides an automatically established VPN (define) tunnel back to the enterprise so all data transport is encrypted and secured by an enterprise's existing security policies and infrastructure.
While VPN usage is often associated with reduced-access speeds, Skuler noted that with the Alcatel-Lucent solution the notebook user's performance is actually improved.
"We're taking away processing time from the notebook, with VPN tunnel processing all done on the card," Skuler said. "There is also a hardware accelerator both on the card and on the hardware appliance to compress traffic."
Though the hardware side of the equation is obviously a key part of the Guardian, software plays a key role, too. While the card is intended to run on Windows PCs, the card itself runs Linux.
Skuler declined to comment on which particular vendor of version of Linux Alcatel-Lucent was running on the card other than to say it's from a major Linux vendor.
He also noted that Alcatel-Lucent hardens the Linux operating system on the card and does not allow it to run any executables other than control functions from the central server.
That said, the card is running a fully featured version of Linux and runs the application and personal firewalls, IPsec VPN (define) client, encryption-key functionality and Web proxy as part of the solution.
In combination with Alcatel-Lucent's OmniAccess Safeguard product, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian can also be brought into full compliance with a NAC (network access control) policy.
"We can enforce NAC policies at the notebook level making sure that they are always enforced regardless of the network," Skuler said. "We're calling that LAC -- local access control."
OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian is expected to be generally available later this year.
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3679026
Alcatel-Lucent unveiled the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian at the 2007 Interop networking show in Las Vegas, though the company first previewed the product at the Demo show in February.
The Guardian is a Linux-based notebook PC card loaded with security software that checks against a remote server to validate that the notebook hasn't been reported lost or stolen.
Unlike local PC-based solutions, which rely on a client PC stored encryption key, OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian is controlled by a remote server that is accessed by either wired LAN (define), WLAN (define) or a wireless 3G connection.
OmniAccess
OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian.
Source: Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent officials argue this approach provides remote-user, data-loss prevention by locking notebook data as soon as a notebook is lost, stolen or otherwise unaccounted for.
"What the product does is it solves what CIOs often refer to as the mobile blind spot... as soon as I unplug my laptop and leave the enterprise there really is a lack of visibility and control," Dor Skuler, general manager of enterprise security products at Alcatel-Lucent, told internetnews.com.
"The way the solution works is its based on a PCMCIA card with a hardened version of Linux, its own battery and a 3G modem. The benefits enterprises get are the ability to have notebook visibility and control anytime anywhere."
For the card to work, users install the Guardian and turn the notebook on. The card negotiates with the central server to identify the notebook and unlocks user data and access. In case the notebook is reported lost or stolen, the central server administrator can revoke the notebook's certification and encryption keys.
At that point, the notebook's data is encrypted and the data is secured. The encryption keys don't exist on the local PC and only exist on the server, making it nearly impossible for an unauthorized entity to access the data.
Skuler explained that as long as the card is plugged in users can still log into their machines. But there is a timer-based system on the card so the user needs to connect to the central server at regularly specified times, which are defined by the IT organization.
For example, if the user is in the mountains without any access either by wired, wireless or cellular 3G beyond the preset time period, the timer will lapse and the notebook will be locked. The user would then have to call their IT department and let them know and they need to reset in order to regain access.
In addition to the lock-down benefits provided by OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian, the card also provides improved security overall for remote users.
Instead of connecting to the public Internet over an unsecured connection, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian provides an automatically established VPN (define) tunnel back to the enterprise so all data transport is encrypted and secured by an enterprise's existing security policies and infrastructure.
While VPN usage is often associated with reduced-access speeds, Skuler noted that with the Alcatel-Lucent solution the notebook user's performance is actually improved.
"We're taking away processing time from the notebook, with VPN tunnel processing all done on the card," Skuler said. "There is also a hardware accelerator both on the card and on the hardware appliance to compress traffic."
Though the hardware side of the equation is obviously a key part of the Guardian, software plays a key role, too. While the card is intended to run on Windows PCs, the card itself runs Linux.
Skuler declined to comment on which particular vendor of version of Linux Alcatel-Lucent was running on the card other than to say it's from a major Linux vendor.
He also noted that Alcatel-Lucent hardens the Linux operating system on the card and does not allow it to run any executables other than control functions from the central server.
That said, the card is running a fully featured version of Linux and runs the application and personal firewalls, IPsec VPN (define) client, encryption-key functionality and Web proxy as part of the solution.
In combination with Alcatel-Lucent's OmniAccess Safeguard product, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian can also be brought into full compliance with a NAC (network access control) policy.
"We can enforce NAC policies at the notebook level making sure that they are always enforced regardless of the network," Skuler said. "We're calling that LAC -- local access control."
OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian is expected to be generally available later this year.
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3679026
Supercomputer Center Gets Super Storage Needs Met
When it comes to demand for data storage, it's hard to top the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). With archived data stores doubling every 14 to 16 months since 1997, it's no surprise that IT decision makers there were once again on the hunt for additional storage infrastructure. At the end of the day, they turned to Brocade Communication Systems for SAN switches and services.
A user of Brocade SAN solutions for almost five years, SDSC saw no need to change the relationship. In fact, the supercomputer center expanded it by contracting for technical support services too.
"We have 15 Brocade directors and quite a bit of complexity in our SAN," said Brian Bannister, manager of SAN and Server Infrastructure at SDSC. "Our issues are so unique that working with multiple vendors, as we had in the past, doesn't work. Working directly with Brocade, we get a faster response to our problems."
The SDSC storage infrastructure consists of more than 500 storage devices, including midrange arrays from IBM and Sun Microsystems, Brocade switches with 1,500 ports, and a DataDirect Network Silicon Storage Appliance (S2A).
A world-renowned research center that supports engineering discoveries, 22-year-old SDSC has provided more than 10,000 researchers at 300 academic, government, and industrial institutions with powerful high-end computing resources. SDSC also serves as the data-intensive site lead in the NSF-funded TeraGrid, a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's first large-scale and production grid infrastructure for open scientific research in life sciences, geosciences, engineering, and other disciplines.
SDSC hosts a 4.4 teraflop IA 64 Linux cluster, 1.4 petabytes of online disk storage with more than 25 petabytes of archival storage, 220 terabytes of General Parallel File System mounted across the TeraGrid, and is connected to other national TeraGrid partners by a 20 Gbps cross-country backbone.
Full Speed Ahead
Along with the NSF-funded TeraGrid came a vastly growing need for storage at SDSC. "A single simulation could take one to two weeks of compute time and result in 100 terabytes of output," said Bannister.
Not only did the supercomputing center require additional storage to hold the output from simulations, but also important data collections, such as oceanic information, seismic studies and astronomy information, including sky surveys.
"We already had a petabyte of storage from a mix of IBM and Sun storage," said Bannister. "But now we're allocating storage space to national researchers for databases, data collections, and for large compute platforms."
About a year ago, SDSC purchased the DataDirect Network S2A 9950 storage system with one petabyte of capacity. Before that, the SDSC had 200 terabytes. To that the center connected 4Gb 48000 director switches from Brocade into the existing SAN fabric. The S2A is housed in the San Diego data center and serves a shared file system across the WAN to partner sites worldwide.
Nine sites make up the TeraGrid. Three of the sites have access to the SDSC production compute systems. The remainder will have access some time in the near future, according to Bannister.
The Brocade Director 48000 and 4Gb Director Class Switches, or Brocade SAN fabric, create pooled storage for file servers and the archive. The new Brocade addition improves SAN capacity and data transfer speed for the center's IBM storage system.
"Brocade is the best solution for the number of ports we need to support storage and file servers, and gives us seamless integration with the existing SAN fabric," said Bannister. "We looked at other solutions, but when it comes to interoperability, Brocade works best."
Use of the 1,500 Fibre Channel ports is divided equally among compute systems, storage systems and for interconnecting the switches.
It appears there's no end in site to the center's data storage needs. According to Bannister, SDSC currently has 5 petabytes of stored data in its archives. "In a year and a half, that will double to 10 petabytes," he said. The same doubling of storage holds true for online Fibre Channel and SATA, he added.
Supporting It All
Given the complexity in SDSC's SAN infrastructure and the fact that all of the center's computer systems connect to the SAN, it was an easy decision to partner with Brocade for Direct Support services, according to Bannister. "They've always given us good support," he said.
The Direct Support plan includes round-the-clock technical phone support from engineers located at the vendor's San Jose, Calif., facility. The plan also gives SDSC access to new product features and enhancements.
SDSC called in Brocade for initial deployment of the 48000 Director and today utilizes the service for standard support calls.
http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3680026
A user of Brocade SAN solutions for almost five years, SDSC saw no need to change the relationship. In fact, the supercomputer center expanded it by contracting for technical support services too.
"We have 15 Brocade directors and quite a bit of complexity in our SAN," said Brian Bannister, manager of SAN and Server Infrastructure at SDSC. "Our issues are so unique that working with multiple vendors, as we had in the past, doesn't work. Working directly with Brocade, we get a faster response to our problems."
The SDSC storage infrastructure consists of more than 500 storage devices, including midrange arrays from IBM and Sun Microsystems, Brocade switches with 1,500 ports, and a DataDirect Network Silicon Storage Appliance (S2A).
A world-renowned research center that supports engineering discoveries, 22-year-old SDSC has provided more than 10,000 researchers at 300 academic, government, and industrial institutions with powerful high-end computing resources. SDSC also serves as the data-intensive site lead in the NSF-funded TeraGrid, a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's first large-scale and production grid infrastructure for open scientific research in life sciences, geosciences, engineering, and other disciplines.
SDSC hosts a 4.4 teraflop IA 64 Linux cluster, 1.4 petabytes of online disk storage with more than 25 petabytes of archival storage, 220 terabytes of General Parallel File System mounted across the TeraGrid, and is connected to other national TeraGrid partners by a 20 Gbps cross-country backbone.
Full Speed Ahead
Along with the NSF-funded TeraGrid came a vastly growing need for storage at SDSC. "A single simulation could take one to two weeks of compute time and result in 100 terabytes of output," said Bannister.
Not only did the supercomputing center require additional storage to hold the output from simulations, but also important data collections, such as oceanic information, seismic studies and astronomy information, including sky surveys.
"We already had a petabyte of storage from a mix of IBM and Sun storage," said Bannister. "But now we're allocating storage space to national researchers for databases, data collections, and for large compute platforms."
About a year ago, SDSC purchased the DataDirect Network S2A 9950 storage system with one petabyte of capacity. Before that, the SDSC had 200 terabytes. To that the center connected 4Gb 48000 director switches from Brocade into the existing SAN fabric. The S2A is housed in the San Diego data center and serves a shared file system across the WAN to partner sites worldwide.
Nine sites make up the TeraGrid. Three of the sites have access to the SDSC production compute systems. The remainder will have access some time in the near future, according to Bannister.
The Brocade Director 48000 and 4Gb Director Class Switches, or Brocade SAN fabric, create pooled storage for file servers and the archive. The new Brocade addition improves SAN capacity and data transfer speed for the center's IBM storage system.
"Brocade is the best solution for the number of ports we need to support storage and file servers, and gives us seamless integration with the existing SAN fabric," said Bannister. "We looked at other solutions, but when it comes to interoperability, Brocade works best."
Use of the 1,500 Fibre Channel ports is divided equally among compute systems, storage systems and for interconnecting the switches.
It appears there's no end in site to the center's data storage needs. According to Bannister, SDSC currently has 5 petabytes of stored data in its archives. "In a year and a half, that will double to 10 petabytes," he said. The same doubling of storage holds true for online Fibre Channel and SATA, he added.
Supporting It All
Given the complexity in SDSC's SAN infrastructure and the fact that all of the center's computer systems connect to the SAN, it was an easy decision to partner with Brocade for Direct Support services, according to Bannister. "They've always given us good support," he said.
The Direct Support plan includes round-the-clock technical phone support from engineers located at the vendor's San Jose, Calif., facility. The plan also gives SDSC access to new product features and enhancements.
SDSC called in Brocade for initial deployment of the 48000 Director and today utilizes the service for standard support calls.
http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3680026
Supercomputer Center Gets Super Storage Needs Met
When it comes to demand for data storage, it's hard to top the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). With archived data stores doubling every 14 to 16 months since 1997, it's no surprise that IT decision makers there were once again on the hunt for additional storage infrastructure. At the end of the day, they turned to Brocade Communication Systems for SAN switches and services.
A user of Brocade SAN solutions for almost five years, SDSC saw no need to change the relationship. In fact, the supercomputer center expanded it by contracting for technical support services too.
"We have 15 Brocade directors and quite a bit of complexity in our SAN," said Brian Bannister, manager of SAN and Server Infrastructure at SDSC. "Our issues are so unique that working with multiple vendors, as we had in the past, doesn't work. Working directly with Brocade, we get a faster response to our problems."
The SDSC storage infrastructure consists of more than 500 storage devices, including midrange arrays from IBM and Sun Microsystems, Brocade switches with 1,500 ports, and a DataDirect Network Silicon Storage Appliance (S2A).
A world-renowned research center that supports engineering discoveries, 22-year-old SDSC has provided more than 10,000 researchers at 300 academic, government, and industrial institutions with powerful high-end computing resources. SDSC also serves as the data-intensive site lead in the NSF-funded TeraGrid, a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's first large-scale and production grid infrastructure for open scientific research in life sciences, geosciences, engineering, and other disciplines.
SDSC hosts a 4.4 teraflop IA 64 Linux cluster, 1.4 petabytes of online disk storage with more than 25 petabytes of archival storage, 220 terabytes of General Parallel File System mounted across the TeraGrid, and is connected to other national TeraGrid partners by a 20 Gbps cross-country backbone.
Full Speed Ahead
Along with the NSF-funded TeraGrid came a vastly growing need for storage at SDSC. "A single simulation could take one to two weeks of compute time and result in 100 terabytes of output," said Bannister.
Not only did the supercomputing center require additional storage to hold the output from simulations, but also important data collections, such as oceanic information, seismic studies and astronomy information, including sky surveys.
"We already had a petabyte of storage from a mix of IBM and Sun storage," said Bannister. "But now we're allocating storage space to national researchers for databases, data collections, and for large compute platforms."
About a year ago, SDSC purchased the DataDirect Network S2A 9950 storage system with one petabyte of capacity. Before that, the SDSC had 200 terabytes. To that the center connected 4Gb 48000 director switches from Brocade into the existing SAN fabric. The S2A is housed in the San Diego data center and serves a shared file system across the WAN to partner sites worldwide.
Nine sites make up the TeraGrid. Three of the sites have access to the SDSC production compute systems. The remainder will have access some time in the near future, according to Bannister.
The Brocade Director 48000 and 4Gb Director Class Switches, or Brocade SAN fabric, create pooled storage for file servers and the archive. The new Brocade addition improves SAN capacity and data transfer speed for the center's IBM storage system.
"Brocade is the best solution for the number of ports we need to support storage and file servers, and gives us seamless integration with the existing SAN fabric," said Bannister. "We looked at other solutions, but when it comes to interoperability, Brocade works best."
Use of the 1,500 Fibre Channel ports is divided equally among compute systems, storage systems and for interconnecting the switches.
It appears there's no end in site to the center's data storage needs. According to Bannister, SDSC currently has 5 petabytes of stored data in its archives. "In a year and a half, that will double to 10 petabytes," he said. The same doubling of storage holds true for online Fibre Channel and SATA, he added.
Supporting It All
Given the complexity in SDSC's SAN infrastructure and the fact that all of the center's computer systems connect to the SAN, it was an easy decision to partner with Brocade for Direct Support services, according to Bannister. "They've always given us good support," he said.
The Direct Support plan includes round-the-clock technical phone support from engineers located at the vendor's San Jose, Calif., facility. The plan also gives SDSC access to new product features and enhancements.
SDSC called in Brocade for initial deployment of the 48000 Director and today utilizes the service for standard support calls.
http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3680026
A user of Brocade SAN solutions for almost five years, SDSC saw no need to change the relationship. In fact, the supercomputer center expanded it by contracting for technical support services too.
"We have 15 Brocade directors and quite a bit of complexity in our SAN," said Brian Bannister, manager of SAN and Server Infrastructure at SDSC. "Our issues are so unique that working with multiple vendors, as we had in the past, doesn't work. Working directly with Brocade, we get a faster response to our problems."
The SDSC storage infrastructure consists of more than 500 storage devices, including midrange arrays from IBM and Sun Microsystems, Brocade switches with 1,500 ports, and a DataDirect Network Silicon Storage Appliance (S2A).
A world-renowned research center that supports engineering discoveries, 22-year-old SDSC has provided more than 10,000 researchers at 300 academic, government, and industrial institutions with powerful high-end computing resources. SDSC also serves as the data-intensive site lead in the NSF-funded TeraGrid, a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's first large-scale and production grid infrastructure for open scientific research in life sciences, geosciences, engineering, and other disciplines.
SDSC hosts a 4.4 teraflop IA 64 Linux cluster, 1.4 petabytes of online disk storage with more than 25 petabytes of archival storage, 220 terabytes of General Parallel File System mounted across the TeraGrid, and is connected to other national TeraGrid partners by a 20 Gbps cross-country backbone.
Full Speed Ahead
Along with the NSF-funded TeraGrid came a vastly growing need for storage at SDSC. "A single simulation could take one to two weeks of compute time and result in 100 terabytes of output," said Bannister.
Not only did the supercomputing center require additional storage to hold the output from simulations, but also important data collections, such as oceanic information, seismic studies and astronomy information, including sky surveys.
"We already had a petabyte of storage from a mix of IBM and Sun storage," said Bannister. "But now we're allocating storage space to national researchers for databases, data collections, and for large compute platforms."
About a year ago, SDSC purchased the DataDirect Network S2A 9950 storage system with one petabyte of capacity. Before that, the SDSC had 200 terabytes. To that the center connected 4Gb 48000 director switches from Brocade into the existing SAN fabric. The S2A is housed in the San Diego data center and serves a shared file system across the WAN to partner sites worldwide.
Nine sites make up the TeraGrid. Three of the sites have access to the SDSC production compute systems. The remainder will have access some time in the near future, according to Bannister.
The Brocade Director 48000 and 4Gb Director Class Switches, or Brocade SAN fabric, create pooled storage for file servers and the archive. The new Brocade addition improves SAN capacity and data transfer speed for the center's IBM storage system.
"Brocade is the best solution for the number of ports we need to support storage and file servers, and gives us seamless integration with the existing SAN fabric," said Bannister. "We looked at other solutions, but when it comes to interoperability, Brocade works best."
Use of the 1,500 Fibre Channel ports is divided equally among compute systems, storage systems and for interconnecting the switches.
It appears there's no end in site to the center's data storage needs. According to Bannister, SDSC currently has 5 petabytes of stored data in its archives. "In a year and a half, that will double to 10 petabytes," he said. The same doubling of storage holds true for online Fibre Channel and SATA, he added.
Supporting It All
Given the complexity in SDSC's SAN infrastructure and the fact that all of the center's computer systems connect to the SAN, it was an easy decision to partner with Brocade for Direct Support services, according to Bannister. "They've always given us good support," he said.
The Direct Support plan includes round-the-clock technical phone support from engineers located at the vendor's San Jose, Calif., facility. The plan also gives SDSC access to new product features and enhancements.
SDSC called in Brocade for initial deployment of the 48000 Director and today utilizes the service for standard support calls.
http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3680026
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