Although I’ve refused to get into the “what is cloud computing” argument over the years, it doesn’t mean I don’t have a very specific definition. I believe down at the very core of cloud computing sits an airtight, inviolable principle: A cloud enables the buyer to forgo asset ownership. + Also on Network World: Banking on the cloud +Through my years of consulting I have come to the conclusion that technology asset ownership is an addiction and one that must be overcome through willpower, a support network and a change in habit. I’ve had to commiserate too often with CIOs despondent over the failure of private clouds that don’t meet their goals to remain silent. The best way to illustrate my point is to consider the approaches of my fictional, but all too real, clients: Accumulation, Inc. and Leverage Enterprises.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.ONLYOFFICE Сommunity EditionKey features - A free and open source office and productivity suite that offers a feature-rich online editors integrated with Mail, CRM, Project and Document Management systems, Calendar. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The just-released draft of the Democratic party platform calls for increasing investments in science and technology research. It supports net neutrality and expansion of high-speed broadband networks. But its biggest push is in the areas of clean energy and infrastructure investment.The platform says nothing about the offshore outsourcing of IT jobs and other types of work susceptible to offshoring. It is silent on the use of H-1B visa, similar to the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.Clinton has not discussed the temporary visa program and doesn't mention it in her platform, but does call for "stapling" or nearly automatic green cards for STEM advanced degree graduates.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) represents the first release from Canonical to deliver long-term support since 2011 (version 14). While the latest improvements may not be entirely revolutionary, Ubuntu 16.04 rounds up exciting features to fortify the server base and enhance the desktop experience. InfoWorld reviewed the new desktop release in April. In this review, I’ll focus on the server.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Compensation extras add up for tech CEOsTech CEOs enjoyed a wide range of perks, from corporate aircraft and auto usage to home security, club memberships and financial planning services. Here are the 12 tech CEOs who indulged the most.RELATED: 20 highest paid tech CEOs | Biggest raises and pay cuts | single-page chart of 62 tech CEOs' total pay |To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.Alight Enterprise CloudKey features: a platform for deploying vertical applications for mortgage banking, mining/energy, telecommunications and high tech that show the financial ripples of potential decisions across the enterprise. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Large IT modernization projects often failImage by ThinkstockAccording to the 2011 Institute for Defense Analysis report, business transformation projects are routinely “over budget, behind schedule, and have not met performance expectations.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Security researcher Chris Vickery has a knack for finding unprotected databases, but this time it’s an especially explosive discovery, as he came across a “terrorism blacklist” that contains the names of 2.2 million “heightened-risk individuals and organizations.”Vickery asked Reddit if he should share a copy of the Thomson Reuters World-Check database from mid-2014. He wrote, “This copy has over 2.2 million heightened-risk individuals and organizations in it. The terrorism category is only a small part of the database. Other categories consist of individuals suspected of being related to money laundering, organized crime, bribery, corruption, and other unsavory activities.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
According to one IT professional posting on Reddit’s section for systems administrators, the best way to get an air-conditioning budget approved is to turn up the heat – literally -- on the right company executives. He writes:
After adding a second rack to our server room the portable A/C unit just couldn't hack it anymore. Ambient temperatures were regularly spiking above 30C (86F). I had to come in on weekends to open doors, move fans, etc.Since this is just the beginning of summer I know it's only going to get worse. We need a commercial A/C unit. The portable A/C we have exhausts above the drop ceiling, which just creates a blanket of hot air and compounds the issue.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
U.S. data centers have used about the same amount of energy annually over the past five years or so, despite substantial growth in the sector, according to a new report published by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.In the Berkeley Lab’s previous analysis, which was presented to Congress in 2008, it was found that energy usage by data centers was quadrupling every decade – an unsurprising figure given the explosive overall growth in the sector. Data centers in the U.S. consumed 70 billion kilowatt-hours in 2014, the researchers estimated.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Windows 10’s biggest controversies + HPE's CTO is leaving amid more change at the companyTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Ten years ago, power usage at data centers was growing at an unsustainable rate, soaring 24% from 2005 to 2010. But a shift to virtualization, cloud computing and improved data center management is reducing energy demand.According to a new study, data center energy use is expected to increase just 4% from 2014 to 2020, despite growing demand for computing resources.Total data center electricity usage in the U.S., which includes powering servers, storage, networking and the infrastructure to support it, was at 70 billion kWh (kilowatt hours) in 2014, representing 1.8% of total U.S. electricity consumption.ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Whatever happened to Green IT?
Based on current trends, data centers are expected to consume approximately 73 billion kWh in 2020, becoming nearly flat over the next four years. "Growth in data center energy consumption has slowed drastically since the previous decade," according to a study by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "However, demand for computations and the amount of productivity performed by data centers continues to rise at substantial rates."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Arista’s President & CEO Jayshree Ullal issued a letter to customers who may have been worried over the impact of last week’s US International Trade Commission ruling that the company had infringed on three Cisco patents.The ITC on June 23rd issued a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order that will forbid Arista from importing products (with these specific infringed features) into the U.S., Ullal wrote.“We recently released a new version of EOS (4.16.6M) that we believe addresses the ITC’s infringement findings in this case. This new version of EOS is now available for download and will be shipped as the default image on all of new products in the near future. Consistent with the standard practice in the ITC, we plan to request regulatory approvals of our new software to clarify that our products fully comply with the ITC’s orders,” Ullal wroteTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The big missionImage by NASANASA’s Juno spacecraft, once described as a flying armored tank, has almost reached its destination: Juniper. Once arriving July 4 the spacecraft will spend a year surveying Jupiter to find out, among other things whether there is a solid core beneath its multi-colored clouds, how much water is in its atmosphere and map Jupiter's magnetic and gravity fields. Underneath its dense cloud cover, Jupiter holds secrets to the fundamental processes and conditions that governed our solar system during its formation, NASA said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The big missionImage by NASANASA’s Juno spacecraft, once described as a flying armored tank, has almost reached its destination: Jupiter. Once arriving July 4 the spacecraft will spend a year surveying Jupiter to find out, among other things whether there is a solid core beneath its multi-colored clouds, how much water is in its atmosphere and map Jupiter's magnetic and gravity fields. Underneath its dense cloud cover, Jupiter holds secrets to the fundamental processes and conditions that governed our solar system during its formation, NASA said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise can't seem to settle down. Nine months after it separated from HP's PC and printer group and a month after it said it would spin off its enterprise services division, CEO Meg Whitman has announced yet more changes that will see CTO Martin Fink leave at the end of the year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Raspbian 8.0Image by Mark GibbsIn my Ultimate Guide to Raspberry Pi Operating Systems (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3; 58 choices in total!) I listed pretty much every noteworthy OS available for the Raspberry Pi family of single board computers. Of these OSes the 800-pound gorilla has to be Raspbian. Based on Debian, Raspbian 8.0 ("Jessie") on a Raspberry Pi boasts an amazing and rich set of tools, including some of the most widely used programming languages. Let's take a look at what you get out of the box with Raspbian 8.0 …To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Traditional fiber-optic communication sends data using just one light pattern. That’s fine, but it means the amount of bandwidth that a fiber strand can deliver is limited. If you could add more light patterns alongside the initial one, you could increase the bit rate, some scientists say.By bundling more information-containing light arrangements into a fiber, you could theoretically increase bandwidth.And scientists think they might have figured out how to do it. They say they are ready to crack what they call a “bandwidth ceiling.”+ Also on Network World: First light-based chip could signal revolution for fiber networks +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In a move that could lead to a ban on selling its products in the United States, the US International Trade Commission has ruled that Arista does in fact infringe on a number of Cisco’s technology patents.Arista now must decide if it wants to ask the US government to overturn the so-called “import ban” or ask that an appeals court toss the decision, observers say. It could also decide to build products in the US – a move that Cisco says would “not only would violate the ITC orders, but the federal court has the authority to enjoin local manufacturing of infringing products.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
IBM and the XPrize organization have opened registration and set guidelines to competing for a $5 million purse to those interested in building advanced AI-based applications that could address the world’s biggest issues – everything from clean water to better energy resources.According to IBM and XPrize, the four-year competition aims to “accelerate adoption of AI technologies, and spark creative, innovative and audacious demonstrations of the technology that are truly scalable and solve societal grand challenges.+More on Network World: Cisco: IP traffic will surpass the zettabyte level in 2016+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Windows administrators have a problem -- passwords. Specifically, administrator passwords that lurk out there, identical across machines, just ready to be compromised. But there is finally a solution at the right price that mitigates this problem almost completely. Interested? Let's dive in.The solutionTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)