Scenes from Oracle OpenWorld (photos)

SAN FRANCISCO--Thousands of Oracle OpenWorld attendees swarm the intersection of 4th and Howard streets today, quickly moving from Moscone West to the North and South Halls of Moscone Center along Howard Street.

OpenWorld is the largest convention to take place in San Francisco every year and, according to Oracle, is the world's largest information technology event.

The annual show, which has come to town again this week, is known to locals for causing some disruptions in traffic due to these street closures. But it also does its part for the local economy, selling out downtown hotel rooms and bringing more than $100 million in business to the city, according to the company.

Oracle says there are thousands of events taking place throughout the week, including keynote speeches by CEO Larry Ellison and Oracle's most high-profile new hire, Mark Hurd.

BMX bike rider John Parker catches some air on the half pipe during a stunt show along Howard Street at Oracle OpenWorld today.

From the pedestrian overpass leading to Yerba Buena Gardens, one can see the tent city that has sprung up along Howard Street to host the nearly 41,000 people who are expected to attend this year's expo.

Spilling over into nearby Yerba Buena Gardens, lunchtime seating and a stage featuring live music are set up on the park overlooking downtown San Francisco.

On February 14, Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle team beat the defender Alinghi 2-0, winning the 33rd America's Cup for the Golden Gate Yacht Club.

The prize for the America's Cup race, founded in 1851, is this ornate sterling silver trophy, the oldest active trophy in international sport.

During this year's OpenWorld, the America's Cup is on display in the North Hall of the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

Professional BMX rider Gabe Weed put on a show today on Howard Street in San Francisco, which is closed off between Third and Fourth streets all week to accommodate Oracle OpenWorld.

Dustin McCartney pulls a few BMX acrobatics on the half pipe at Oracle OpenWorld.

When Oracle bought Sun Microsystems last year, it gave Oracle the power of having extensive resources in both hardware and software.

There is a huge focus on cloud computing this year, and as you walk through the halls of Moscone, it's clear that Oracle hopes to leverage its cloud computing capabilities with the hybrid services of hardware and software, including security and application management.

The view inside the Intel booth on the expo floor of Moscone's South Hall, where partners are putting their integrated applications on display.

Intel's Thomas Kilroy spoke this morning, focusing on the organization and management of information on the Web, and how Intel is partnering with Oracle to make management of data in the cloud better.

There are 2 billion Internet-connected devices today, but by the 2015, Kilroy said, we will need to manage the flow of information coming from around 10 billion devices, all sending increasing amounts of data streaming across the Web.

The show floor at Oracle OpenWorld, where IBM, HP, and Fujitsu each put their enterprise solutions on display, with cloud-based IT infrastructure and engineering for better business growth.