Cisco Systems is finding its way into storage through its successful server business. On Tuesday, it’s introducing modular systems that can be deployed with many different combinations of computing and storage capacity.Though it’s not Cisco’s first foray into storage, the UCS S3260 Storage Server offers a density and a freedom of configuration that stands out against other systems, even competing on cost with public cloud services, the company says.The server was announced at the Cisco Partner Summit in San Francisco. It’s the first entry in Cisco’s S-Series, a line of systems designed to serve both enterprises and companies that provide cloud services to others.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Cisco today said Roland Acra has rejoined the company as a senior vice-president/general manager for its data center business. If the name sounds familiar to Cisco watchers anyway, that’s because this will be Acra’s third stint with the company since 1991.“As a long-standing industry expert in Internet routing, software engineering and communication protocol development, Roland fits right in – once again. He is a Cisco veteran having held several general management and executive leadership positions from 1991 – 2003. In 2010, he came back to Cisco as Vice President in our Smart Grid Business Unit, following the acquisition of Arch Rock, a developer of IPv6-based wireless sensor networks where he served as President and CEO. Prior to Arch Rock, he was the President and CEO of Procket Networks,” wrote David Goeckeler senior VP/GM for Cisco’s networking and security business in a blog about Acra’s return.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In a previous series of blogs, I talked about why your network is the critical foundation of the digital transformation and of the business benefits of moving to a new IP network architecture. I talked about how networks help you control time, how the effects of Metcalfe’s and Reed’s Laws result in wealth creation, and why there is such a tension between your dumb pipes and your smart business. But it’s not just the technology that matters in this coming digital transformation; it’s also your skills and ultimately your career.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Looking to broaden the qualities of its open source stack, the OpenSwitch project said SnapRoute and Dell EMC will add new features to its network operating system.Specifically, the new contributions include:
SnapRoute’s open source network stack and management services, which support a modular, hardware independent NOS, accessible through a complete set of APIs.
Dell EMC’s OS10 Open Edition, which represents an open, disaggregated base subsystem incorporating hardware and platform abstraction layers for networking switching applications. On top of OS 10 base module run application modules which include traditional Layer 2/3 networking functions and other IP, fabric, security, and management and automation tools from Dell, Linux, third-parties and the open source community.
“OpenSwitch is now one step closer to providing the data center community with an open source network operating system that enables organizations to focus on developing innovative networking solutions, which can exploit Cavium’s extensible switch architecture to address rapidly changing market needs," said Albert Fishman, Linux Foundation OpenSwitch project marketing chair and senior technical marketing manager of Cavium Switching Platform Group.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Boost the range of your existing WiFi and create a stronger signal in hard-to-reach areas with a WiFi range extender like this one from Netgear, which is highly rated and currently discounted 43% on Amazon. . This compact AC750 wall-plug WiFi booster delivers AC dual band WiFi up to 750 Mbps, and is small and discreet, easily blending into your home decor. Well over 13,000 people have reviewed the AC750 on Amazon (read reviews) and have given it an average of 4 out of 5 stars. Right now its list price of $70 has been reduced to $40. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
CenturyLink plans to acquire internet backbone company Level 3 Communications in a US$34 billion cash and stock deal that aims to consolidate the networks and customers of the two companies.The combined company, operating in more than 60 countries, will be able to offer CenturyLink's larger enterprise customers the benefits of a larger global presence, and will also be positioned to further invest in the reach and speed of its broadband infrastructure for small businesses and consumers, the companies said.CenturyLink is currently focused on global communications, hosting, cloud, and IT services, offering both network and data systems management with more than 55 data centers in North America, Europe, and Asia. It provides broadband, voice, video, data, and managed services over a 250,000-mile U.S. fiber network and a 300,000-mile international transport network.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
An initial progress report by the FCC-sanctioned and industry-led Robocall Strike Force this afternoon was highlighted by the claim that a trial of a single fraud-prevention technique had resulted in a 90 percent reduction in consumer complaints about scams involving automated phone calls falsely claiming to be from the IRS.Since the first meeting of the strike force in August, representatives from 30 companies held more than 100 meetings and produced a 47-page report detailing both their short-term accomplishments and future goals. And while the latter outweighed the former – a point emphasized by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler – there was a hopefulness expressed throughout the hour-long presentation that relief from the scourge of robocalls is on the way.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google Fiber has paused plans to roll out fiber optic cables across a number of U.S. cities, as the company reevaluates its strategy to presumably use mainly wireless to provide high-speed Internet service.Work on Google Fiber is to continue in in the cities where it has been launched or is under construction, wrote Craig Barratt, senior vice president at Alphabet and CEO of its Access unit, of which Google Fiber is a part. In the “potential Fiber cities” where Google Fiber was still at the stage of exploratory discussions, the project will pause operations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Two months after accepting its marching orders, the federal Robocall Strike Force chaired by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and featuring industry heavyweights such as Verizon, Google and Apple, will tomorrow make public its plan for dramatically reducing the torrent of automated phone calls.“The Robocall Strike Force is an industry-led group which has been working to develop comprehensive solutions to prevent, detect, and filter unwanted robocalls,” says the FCC. “Robocalls and telemarketing calls are the number one source of consumer complaints received by the FCC. However, giving consumers meaningful control over the calls and texts they receive requires collective action by the industry.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The new APC Back-UPS BE600M1 provides instant battery power to your critical electronics when the power goes out, keeping you connected and available both personally and professionally. Designed specifically to enhance the features that matter most to you, including more runtime, more battery backup outlets, and a USB port for charging convenience, the BE600M1 is also smaller and lighter than the previous model. APC's BE600M1 offers guaranteed surge and lightning protection for attached devices. When the power goes out, the APC BE600M1 will power critical devices including home networking equipment; allowing you to maintain your internet connection. This allows you to work productively, avoid the loss of valuable data, and safely shut down equipment. It currently averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 4,400 people on Amazon (read reviews), where its list price of $74.99 has been reduced 20% to $59.95.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The stars are finally aligned for WiGig, an ultra-fast, short-range wireless network that took a long time to become a reality.On Monday, the Wi-Fi Alliance launched a certification process for WiGig products, which will go as fast as 8Gbps (bits per second) and could include virtual-reality headsets and high-speed office Wi-Fi zones.The technology was announced in 2009 and is based on a standard, IEEE 802.11ad, that’s now available in some shipping products. But the official WiGig logo will assure buyers that networks and devices from different vendors can work together out of the box. That’s a crucial issue for almost anyone investing in network gear.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Nothing slows down a project more than waiting for the IT and network teams to get it deployed. Right? What most of us want is for the network to just get out of our way so we can make progress on the things that really matter. Networks don’t matter. Customers matter. Revenue matters. Competitive advantage matters.+ Also on Network World: The network effect on wealth creation +
In previous blog posts, I’ve made the case that networks are a strategic element for rapid innovation and the critical foundation for a competitive digital business. But aren’t networks just plumbing? Aren’t they just the dumb connections between machines that only need to be fast, cheap and invisible? Don’t we already have networks that are good enough? After all, Google, Amazon and Pokémon Go all seem to work just fine, right? We certainly don’t want to invest more in our networks. In fact, we want to invest less.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
On numerous recent occasions, Cisco Executive Chairman John Chambers has acted as a harbinger for dramatic changes he and others say face the world because of the pace of technology change.In a video recorded at a recent International Monetary Fund event Chambers says technology “will transform every business model that we see,” predicting that “40 percent of the companies in America, Asia, Europe … will disappear in the next decade.”As dramatic as these predictions may seem, they are not unprecedented in business history. In fact, many of the dynamics at play, although happening at a more accelerated pace today, are in part responsible for the success of the company that Chambers led from 1995 to 2006. In this post, I’ll look at two examples from business history, companies whose fates were intertwined with that of Cisco Systems, and compare to the forces at work today.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Quick question, MPLS or SD-WANs, which would you say offers better performance? For the same bandwidth, we’d assume MPLS. After all, MPLS services are managed for a reason, right? However, as we learned on one recent project, internet performance has improved so much over the years that its performance can rival, even exceed, private WAN services.The situation
The project was with a manufacturing company that wanted to see if modernizing its MPLS WAN made sense. The alternative would be an SD-WAN or hybrid WAN.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Malware that can build botnets out of IoT devices is at least partly responsible for a massive distributed denial-of-service attack that disrupted U.S. internet traffic on Friday, according to network security companies.Since Friday morning, the assault has been disrupting access to popular websites by flooding a DNS service provider called Dyn with an overwhelming amount of internet traffic.Some of that traffic has been observed coming from botnets created with the Mirai malware that is estimated to have infected over 500,000 devices, according to Level 3 Communications, a provider of internet backbone services.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
This column is available in a weekly newsletter called IT Best Practices. Click here to subscribe. Logs are one of those things that a lot of people take for granted. Every software, device and application generates its own logs, and they are often overlooked until something happens and someone needs to dig into the logs to try to discover a root cause of the issue. Companies that treat logs in this way are missing out on an opportunity to improve their business.Logs have an interesting property that makes them quite valuable: they are the only common thread across a company's entire technology stack. It doesn't matter if it's network devices, security devices, operating systems or applications—all generate logs. Because of that, and with the proper tools, it's possible to look end-to-end in the infrastructure and the application stack using logs. The result is the ability to see what is happening from node to node, and from process to process.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Here's an adapter you might want to have on hand. This highly rated all-in-one style adapter from HooToo charges and powers your laptop, while allowing you to connect multiple peripherals, transfer data, and even extend/mirror your screen to an external display in 4k. Ports include USB Type-C, HDMI, 3 x USB 3.0 Ports, and an SD Memory Card slot. Its display port is capable of outputting 4K UHD or Full HD 1080p video to HDTV, monitor or projector. Its Mac-inspired design features a unibody aluminum alloy exterior, ionized finish, reinforced TPE cable coating, and Mac-style LED activity indicator. EMI protection prevents interference with wireless devices. It averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 180 people on Amazon (read reviews). Its list price of $79.99 has been reduced 19% to $64.99. See the discounted HooToo Shuttle now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Call it the “Un-fine.” Perhaps that’s how T-Mobile, the self-described uncarrier, will spin Wednesday’s settlement with the FCC. The nation’s third-largest wireless network will pay $48 million total including customer benefits, education donations, and a fine as part of an agreement reached with the FCC.
Good settlement with FCC today. @TMobile believes more info is best for customers. #themoreyouknow https://t.co/XFY6dHPfN6To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A person who had access to the nation's deepest secrets, Robert Gates, the former CIA chief and U.S. Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011, is lot more open in retirement.Gates had the crowd at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo laughing over his observations about IT and applauding at some of the things he believes in.On stage here, for instance, Gartner analyst Richard Hunter fired off questions, asking at one point whether Edward Snowden, the former security contract employee who in 2010 took thousands of classified documents, was a "traitor or hero?"To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Future self-driving cars and up-and-coming commercial drone aviation are behind a mad scramble to find a better solution for location services than the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS).Advances in Signals of Opportunity (SOP), along with software-defined radios, could be the solution.GPS isn’t ideal. Firstly, it’s a free service made available by the U.S. government out of the kindness of its heart, and the civilian element could conceivably be switched off in times of national crisis—there are no contracts with smartphone makers, for example.Secondly, GPS wasn’t really designed for non-military applications such as civilian automobile navigation—it’s a weak signal and prone to interference, including that from space weather. It’s also not secure at the civilian level. It’s completely unencrypted and open to spoofing, in fact. Further, GPS jamming could bring existing satellite-based systems to a standstill.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here