Zeus Kerravala
Author Archives: Zeus Kerravala
- Home → Author's archive:
Zeus Kerravala
0
Why 802.11ax is the next big thing in Wi-Fi
I know, I know, I’ve heard it before. A new technology comes along, and it promises to be the next big thing. Consumers and businesses buy it, and what happens? It fails to live up to the hype. In my opinion, almost every iPhone release over the past five years has been that way. Sure there were some cool new features, but overall it’s not something I’d say was game changing. One technology that does promise to live up to the hype is 802.11ax, the next standard for wireless LANs. I say that because this next generation of Wi-Fi was engineered for the world we live in where everything is connected and there’s an assumption that upload and download traffic will be equivalent. Previous generations of Wi-Fi assumed more casual use and that there would be far more downloading of information than uploading. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Why 802.11ax is the next big thing in Wi-Fi
I know, I know, I’ve heard it before. A new technology comes along, and it promises to be the next big thing. Consumers and businesses buy it, and what happens? It fails to live up to the hype. In my opinion, almost every iPhone release over the past five years has been that way. Sure there were some cool new features, but overall it’s not something I’d say was game changing. One technology that does promise to live up to the hype is 802.11ax, the next standard for wireless LANs. I say that because this next generation of Wi-Fi was engineered for the world we live in where everything is connected and there’s an assumption that upload and download traffic will be equivalent. Previous generations of Wi-Fi assumed more casual use and that there would be far more downloading of information than uploading. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Why 802.11ax is the next big thing in Wi-Fi
I know, I know, I’ve heard it before. A new technology comes along, and it promises to be the next big thing. Consumers and businesses buy it, and what happens? It fails to live up to the hype. In my opinion, almost every iPhone release over the past five years has been that way. Sure there were some cool new features, but overall it’s not something I’d say was game changing. One technology that does promise to live up to the hype is 802.11ax, the next standard for wireless LANs. I say that because this next generation of Wi-Fi was engineered for the world we live in where everything is connected and there’s an assumption that upload and download traffic will be equivalent. Previous generations of Wi-Fi assumed more casual use and that there would be far more downloading of information than uploading. To read this article in full, please click here
0
What is Linux? A powerful component of modern data centers
Linux is a tried-and-true, open source operating system released in 1991 for computers, but its use has expanded to underpin systems for cars, phones, web-servers and, more recently, networking gear.It’s longevity, maturity and security make it one of the most trusted OSes available today, meaning it is ideal for commercial network devices as well as enterprises that want to use it and its peripherals to customize their own network and data center infrastructure.That in turn makes Linux skills highly sought after by IT hiring managers. Many of the new technologies associated with DevOps, for example, such as containers, OpenSource infrastructure and SDN controllers are built on Linux.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
What is Linux? A powerful component of modern data centers
Linux is a tried-and-true, open source operating system released in 1991 for computers, but its use has expanded to underpin systems for cars, phones, web-servers and, more recently, networking gear.It’s longevity, maturity and security make it one of the most trusted OSes available today, meaning it is ideal for commercial network devices as well as enterprises that want to use it and its peripherals to customize their own network and data center infrastructure.That in turn makes Linux skills highly sought after by IT hiring managers. Many of the new technologies associated with DevOps, for example, such as containers, OpenSource infrastructure and SDN controllers are built on Linux.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
What is Linux? A powerful component of modern data centers
Linux is a tried-and-true, open source operating system released in 1991 for computers, but its use has expanded to underpin systems for cars, phones, web-servers and, more recently, networking gear.It’s longevity, maturity and security make it one of the most trusted OSes available today, meaning it is ideal for commercial network devices as well as enterprises that want to use it and its peripherals to customize their own network and data center infrastructure.That in turn makes Linux skills highly sought after by IT hiring managers. Many of the new technologies associated with DevOps, for example, such as containers, OpenSource infrastructure and SDN controllers are built on Linux.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
What is Linux? A powerful component of modern data centers
Linux is a tried-and-true, open source operating system released in 1991 for computers, but its use has expanded to underpin systems for cars, phones, web-servers and, more recently, networking gear.It’s longevity, maturity and security make it one of the most trusted OSes available today, meaning it is ideal for commercial network devices as well as enterprises that want to use it and its peripherals to customize their own network and data center infrastructure.That in turn makes Linux skills highly sought after by IT hiring managers. Many of the new technologies associated with DevOps, for example, such as containers, OpenSource infrastructure and SDN controllers are built on Linux.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
What is Linux? A powerful component of modern data centers
Linux is a tried-and-true, open source operating system released in 1991 for computers, but its use has expanded to underpin systems for cars, phones, web-servers and, more recently, networking gear.It’s longevity, maturity and security make it one of the most trusted OSes available today, meaning it is ideal for commercial network devices as well as enterprises that want to use it and its peripherals to customize their own network and data center infrastructure.That in turn makes Linux skills highly sought after by IT hiring managers. Many of the new technologies associated with DevOps, for example, such as containers, OpenSource infrastructure and SDN controllers are built on Linux.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Guest Wi-Fi access should always be ‘easy, peasy’
My kids use the expression “easy, peasy” to describes something that is super simple. For example, I might ask my youngest child, “How was your math test?” And because high school math is beyond simple, he would respond, “Easy, peasy.” In life, there are things that should be easy, but we often overcomplicate them. One thing that should be easy every time is signing on to guest Wi-Fi. The fact that it isn’t, makes it one of my biggest pet peeves.+ Also on Network World: 9 free Wi-Fi stumbling and surveying tools + Before I get into the why, I’ll take a step back and define guest Wi-Fi. Webopedia describes it as “a wireless router feature that is designed to allow users to easily grant visitor access to your wireless Internet connection.” Not to nitpick, but it’s more a Wi-Fi feature than a router feature, but most readers of this will get that. Also, note the word EASY in the definition, so all you Wi-Fi administrators out there, take note. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Guest Wi-Fi access should always be ‘easy, peasy’
My kids use the expression “easy, peasy” to describes something that is super simple. For example, I might ask my youngest child, “How was your math test?” And because high school math is beyond simple, he would respond, “Easy, peasy.” In life, there are things that should be easy, but we often overcomplicate them. One thing that should be easy every time is signing on to guest Wi-Fi. The fact that it isn’t, makes it one of my biggest pet peeves.+ Also on Network World: 9 free Wi-Fi stumbling and surveying tools + Before I get into the why, I’ll take a step back and define guest Wi-Fi. Webopedia describes it as “a wireless router feature that is designed to allow users to easily grant visitor access to your wireless Internet connection.” Not to nitpick, but it’s more a Wi-Fi feature than a router feature, but most readers of this will get that. Also, note the word EASY in the definition, so all you Wi-Fi administrators out there, take note. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Guest Wi-Fi access should always be ‘easy, peasy’
My kids use the expression “easy, peasy” to describes something that is super simple. For example, I might ask my youngest child, “How was your math test?” And because high school math is beyond simple, he would respond, “Easy, peasy.” In life, there are things that should be easy, but we often overcomplicate them. One thing that should be easy every time is signing on to guest Wi-Fi. The fact that it isn’t, makes it one of my biggest pet peeves.+ Also on Network World: 9 free Wi-Fi stumbling and surveying tools + Before I get into the why, I’ll take a step back and define guest Wi-Fi. Webopedia describes it as “a wireless router feature that is designed to allow users to easily grant visitor access to your wireless Internet connection.” Not to nitpick, but it’s more a Wi-Fi feature than a router feature, but most readers of this will get that. Also, note the word EASY in the definition, so all you Wi-Fi administrators out there, take note. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
A better way to monitor the end-user experience
The concept of user performance management (UPM) is easy to understand but very difficult to implement. The Holy Grail of UPM would be a single, unified dashboard where IT operations would be able to “see” the status of every user. If a website were taking too long to load or an application were performing poorly, the operations staff could click on that user and immediately see where the problem is. One challenge for IT departments is that today’s user isn’t always a person. Thanks to the rise in the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, “headless” clients that provide critical services to users now pump data through the network. For example, medical devices deliver time-critical information that can be the difference between life and death. Getting a grip on how these headless devices are performing on the network has become a daunting task for IT staff. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
A better way to monitor the end-user experience
The concept of user performance management (UPM) is easy to understand but very difficult to implement. The Holy Grail of UPM would be a single, unified dashboard where IT operations would be able to “see” the status of every user. If a website were taking too long to load or an application were performing poorly, the operations staff could click on that user and immediately see where the problem is. One challenge for IT departments is that today’s user isn’t always a person. Thanks to the rise in the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, “headless” clients that provide critical services to users now pump data through the network. For example, medical devices deliver time-critical information that can be the difference between life and death. Getting a grip on how these headless devices are performing on the network has become a daunting task for IT staff. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Mist uses AI to improve wireless network performance
A couple of months ago I was having dinner with a fairly well-known Silicon Valley executive who predicted that success for an IT vendor is based on two things: having lots of data and a robust artificial intelligence (AI) engine to discover new insights.If that is true, then Mist Systems seems to be in a strong position, as the company’s solutions were designed to use AI to solve some of the bigger challenges in Wi-Fi today.This week the wireless network company announced several new access points, as well as use cases, for its solution. Specifics are as follows:Introduction of client service-level expectations (SLE) In telecommunications, the concept of a service-level agreement (SLA) is a threshold that service providers are contracted to meet. The SLE from Mist is similar, although more proactive than a carrier’s SLA. With Mist, administrators can use data to set, monitor and enforce things that impact performance pre and post connection. Examples of this are time to connect, failed connection attempts, roaming, coverage, capacity and AP uptime. The SLEs can be monitored in real time and watched over time to provide up-to-the minute insight as to the health of Wi-Fi.To read this article Continue reading
0
How City Furniture built a better Wi-Fi network
Founded in 1971, City Furniture got its start when Kevin Koenig and his brothers constructed wood bed frames in a garage. They started with a single showroom, Waterbed City, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but have now grown to 27 locations across the state and operate under the brands of City Furniture and Ashley Furniture HomeStore brands. The company currently has an older Cisco 802.11g Wi-Fi network that it uses for bar code scanning and inventory management and was reaching the end of its life. City Furniture had big plans to digitize the company by moving its point-of-sale (POS) operations and capabilities to Wi-Fi-enabled tablets so the employees could transact business from anywhere in the store. Also, it wanted to use VoIP to take calls from iPads anywhere in the showroom, as well as access radio apps. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
How City Furniture built a better Wi-Fi network
Founded in 1971, City Furniture got its start when Kevin Koenig and his brothers constructed wood bed frames in a garage. They started with a single showroom, Waterbed City, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but have now grown to 27 locations across the state and operate under the brands of City Furniture and Ashley Furniture HomeStore brands. The company currently has an older Cisco 802.11g Wi-Fi network that it uses for bar code scanning and inventory management and was reaching the end of its life. City Furniture had big plans to digitize the company by moving its point-of-sale (POS) operations and capabilities to Wi-Fi-enabled tablets so the employees could transact business from anywhere in the store. Also, it wanted to use VoIP to take calls from iPads anywhere in the showroom, as well as access radio apps. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Apstra lands Tokyo Electron Device as first channel partner
Intent-based networking pioneer Apstra announced today that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Tokyo Electron Device (TED) for the Japanese market.For those who don’t know Apstra, the company came to market with an intent-based networking solution for the data center in June 2016. Since then, Cisco’s “Network Intuitive” launch, which was all about intent-based networking, has made intent-based networking a household term (at least for households with Cisco engineers in them). Cisco’s solution is focused at the campus and Apstra at the data center, but the two companies are working with the same vision of automating network operations using intent rather than manual processes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Apstra lands Tokyo Electron Device as first channel partner
Intent-based networking pioneer Apstra announced today that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Tokyo Electron Device (TED) for the Japanese market.For those who don’t know Apstra, the company came to market with an intent-based networking solution for the data center in June 2016. Since then, Cisco’s “Network Intuitive” launch, which was all about intent-based networking, has made intent-based networking a household term (at least for households with Cisco engineers in them). Cisco’s solution is focused at the campus and Apstra at the data center, but the two companies are working with the same vision of automating network operations using intent rather than manual processes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Apstra lands Tokyo Electron Device as first channel partner
Intent-based networking pioneer Apstra announced today that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Tokyo Electron Device (TED) for the Japanese market.For those who don’t know Apstra, the company came to market with an intent-based networking solution for the data center in June 2016. Since then, Cisco’s “Network Intuitive” launch, which was all about intent-based networking, has made intent-based networking a household term (at least for households with Cisco engineers in them). Cisco’s solution is focused at the campus and Apstra at the data center, but the two companies are working with the same vision of automating network operations using intent rather than manual processes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Cisco continues to shift its security strategy by moving to acquire Observable Networks
Over the past few years Cisco has changed the face of its security business. What was once a struggling concern is now the fastest-growing part of Cisco. How did the company do this? Part of the rebirth of Cisco security can be traced to a change in focus, away from point products to a more data-driven model. Big data, analytics and machine learning have been hot topics in IT, and Cisco has gotten religion in this area and applied it masterfully to its security business.Today, Cisco added to that when it announced its intent to acquire privately held Observable Networks. The St. Louis-based company provides dynamic network behavior monitoring to help security teams find anomalies that could indicate a breach. The product captures data and analyzes it to gain situational awareness of all users, devices and traffic, not only on a company’s network, but also out to the cloud, with support for both Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here