RFIDs proliferate by leaps and bounds. These small devices collect a huge amount of information stored in back-end storage and servers. Data center managers thus have to cope with ever increasing quantities of data. The issue is not only the management of the sheer amount of data involved, but also the separation of useful data from data which were collected merely because it was possible to do so. Chlemsford, MA-based Reva Systems has just come out with a solution to make this management task a bit easier.

The one-rack-unit Tag Acquisition Processor (TAP) sits on a LAN and draws information from RFID readers. The appliance then uses the Auto-ID Infrastructure (AII) interface to make the data available to SAP and SQL applications sitting on back-end servers. The TAP device keeps storage systems from being overloaded with data by filtering the information coming in from RFID readers, passing on only that information which has importance to the business. The TAPs are already available with prices starting at $9,995.

IBM and BEA Systems are developing RFID middleware to handle some of the same tasks. IBM's WebSphere monitors RFID activity, and BEA has recently acquired ConnecTerra to give its own product line similar capabilities.

For more on Reva's solution:
- see James Rogers' Unstrung report
- see product specs at Reva's Web site