Being an analyst I’m often asked to look ahead and predict what markets will look like in three to five years. Recently, I’ve been asked that if I were to design a next-generation network, which would be fully operational by 2020, what would it look like? The network industry has gone through more change in the past two years than it had gone through in the previous two decades so a network in 2020 will look significantly different than the networks of today.Predicting the future is obviously challenging but sometimes it’s better to look back to understand what the future will look like. In networking, there are many lessons we can learn from the last 20+ years where networks have evolved to be able to meet ongoing application and business needs. The innovation was obviously necessary but each time something new was bolted on to the network, there was a price to be paid. For example, WiFi being deployed as an overlay means having to manage two separate networks. Below are the top lessons learned from legacy networks over the past two decades.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Techiest speakersMaybe Bradley University in Illinois has the right idea in announcing it will not have any outside commencement speakers, in an effort to move things along. But at least those schools that have chosen technology-related speakers might teach new grads a thing or two before they head off into the wider world. Here’s a look at some of the techiest commencement speakers:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Although vendor-written, this contributed piece does not promote a product or service and has been edited and approved by Network World editors.Requests for Proposal (RFPs) are rarely easy or even straightforward. No one wants to forget anything, so RFPs typically become long, unwieldy lists of questions -- the proverbial kitchen sink.And that translates into even more work when the answers come back -- hours and hours of scrutinizing answers to narrow down the field to the short list. Sadly enough, all too often the RFP process raises even more questions and adds to general confusion. It’s not uncommon for a business to re-issue an RFP for a second round due to inadequate submissions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.FTP turns 45 this year. And, while this original protocol for transferring files over the Internet is still widely used, many companies are looking for a more modern alternative. Initially, concerns about FTP centered on security. But, as IP technology became ubiquitous for global data exchange, FTP’s more fundamental performance limitations also became apparent.Because FTP was originally designed without security features like data integrity and confidentiality, the first security concerns arose around privacy of control channel data like user IDs and passwords, and then spread to the actual data being transferred. “Secure” FTP (FTPS) was developed in response. FTPS is FTP with Transport Layer Security (TLS), which protects file content and user names and passwords while in transit over the Internet from eavesdropping and modification.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-to-2 along party lines Thursday to expand the Lifeline telephone subsidy for low-income Americans to include Internet access.The decision generally follows an earlier proposal by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a Democrat, to expand Lifeline's current $9.25 monthly phone subsidy to include broadband Internet access or bundled voice and data service plans. The fixed speed of the service will be based on what a "substantial majority of consumers receive," which is currently 10 Mbps for downloads and uploads. The changes are expected to go into effect by Dec. 1.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Are you too lazy to open the door or switch on a light? Let Windows 10 and its Cortana voice-activated digital assistant do the job for you.Microsoft's vision is to make home automation a breeze in Windows 10, and the company featured several related Internet-of-things announcements at its ongoing Build conference.Windows 10 will work with a wider range of devices and appliances by integrating new Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) protocols, scheduled to be released in 2017. Additionally, Cortana will allow users to easily automate tasks using a Windows PC, mobile device, Xbox console or Raspberry Pi 3.Users will be able to program "actions" so Cortana can be used to switch on lights, air conditioning or even unlock cars. For example, users will be able to speak, "lights" to their smartphones, and the bulbs will turn on.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
New wireless technology developed by researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab promises to kill the Wi-Fi password at last.Dubbed Chronos, the new system enables a single Wi-Fi access point to locate users to within tens of centimeters without relying on any external sensors. What that means is that it could figure out where people are in a home or office and adjust heating and cooling accordingly. It could also enable a small cafe to better restrict its free Wi-Fi to paying customers.
Existing Wi-Fi devices don’t have wide enough bandwidth to measure the "time of flight" of a signal from transmitter to receiver, or router to device, so typically a person's position can be determined only by triangulating multiple angles relative to the person from multiple access points.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Building botnets made up of routers, modems, wireless access points and other networking devices doesn't require sophisticated exploits. Remaiten, a new worm that infects embedded systems, spreads by taking advantage of weak Telnet passwords.
Remaiten is the latest incarnation of distributed denial-of-service Linux bots designed for embedded architectures. Its authors actually call it KTN-Remastered, where KTN most likely stands for a known Linux bot called Kaiten.
When scanning for new victims, Remaiten tries to connect to random IP addresses on port 23 (Telnet) and if the connection is successful, it attempts to authenticate using username and password combinations from a list of commonly used credentials, researchers from ESET said in a blog post.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Samsung, Huawei and others maybe barking up the wrong tree, or wrong cell tower, when it comes to 5G, if researchers at two universities in Europe are correct.The scientist there think that it might not be necessary to shift mobile networks up the frequency spectrum and into the millimeter bands to gain efficiencies, and thus serve more users with increasing speeds and bandwidth.+ MORE ON 5G 5G: A look at radios and spectrum +All you need do is create bigger antenna arrays, the scientists from the University of Bristol and Lund University believe. With a “massive antenna system,” existing microwave frequencies would work just fine for 5G, they surmise.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Cisco 6500 Series has proven itself time and time again to be a mainstay in the networking industry. Cisco has done a commendable job with continued enhancements to ensure that the industry’s golden child maintains relevance. If this is the case, why do IT professionals still fear its supposedly impending obsolescence and feel pressure to upgrade to newer models? Let’s just say rumors of its demise are greatly exaggerated.As the industry moves toward 10/40Gig and higher, the need for bandwidth and port density only increases. Software-defined networking (SDN), while certainly worthy of consideration, may not be the best option for all organizations just yet. However, the need for high-speed switching connectivity and robust services remains a concern for the here and now. Enter: The Cisco 6500 Series.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Streaming and binge watching have taken over from live television consumption among some demographics, a major consulting firm says.A significant 70% of American consumers overall “now binge watch an average of five episodes at a time,” says Deloitte in a press release about its 10th annual, and latest, Digital Democracy Survey (Summary PDF).Half of consumers (46%) now “subscribe to streaming video services,” the consultant says it’s found.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The concept of using switching infrastructure as a replacement for a core router is certainly nothing new. Years ago, vendors like Foundry Networks and Force10 tried to make the case but were unsuccessful in their attempts. Although the switches were beefy and had massive port density they were missing some key features such as MPLS support, the ability to support a full Internet routing table and carrier class resiliency. From an economic perspective, the cost per port on a switch is about one-tenth what it is on a router, so there is a financial argument to be made but the products just didn’t have the technical chops to hang with big routers.Arista Networks is now taking a shot at this market again but is taking a significantly different approach to the market. Arista is attempting to disrupt the core router market by replacing the big boxes with a distributed spine, similar to the way the company disrupted the legacy data center switching market. Spine-Leaf configurations are well accepted today in big data centers and cloud providers but this wasn’t the case just a few years ago as there was a certain religion around big chassis deployed in multiple tiers. Continue reading
Relying on a cheap power strip to protect your valuable electronic systems can be risky. Unexpected power disruptions and voltage fluctuations can disconnect and cause massive damage to your networking equipment, televisions, gaming equipment, security systems or anything else you've got plugged in. Enter the APC Back-UPS Pro BR1500G uninterruptible power supply. List price is $310, but after a dramatic $143 discount you can purchase this unit now for $166.97 (See on Amazon). It is currently rated 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1,700 reviewers (read reviews).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Internet service providers are picking "winners and losers" in violation of U.S. net neutrality rules by selectively exempting Web traffic from their monthly data caps, according to a coalition of more than 50 advocacy groups.The Federal Communications Commission should stop ISPs from exempting selected Web traffic, known as offering zero-rating plans, and enforce its year-old net neutrality rules, the digital rights and consumer groups said in a letter to the agency Monday.INSIDER: 5 tricks to improve poor TCP performance
Zero-rating plans "present a serious threat" to the open Internet, the letter said. "They distort competition, thwart innovation, threaten free speech, and restrict consumer choice."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
University of Ottawa researchers say their discovery that a twisted optical beam in a vacuum travels more slowly than the speed of light could be a boon for quantum computing and communications, and could benefit enterprise IT shops down the line.Their research, which began in late 2013, is outlined in the paper "Observation of subluminal twisted light in vacuum," published in The Optical Society's Optica journal.MORE: 10 of today's really cool network & IT research projectsTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Small cells, the low-powered radio access nodes, are being deployed at ever increasing rates, says a study. Sixty-percent of enterprises will have deployed the signal-enhancing devices by the end of 2017, the Small Cell Forum says.
It commissioned the study from Nemertes Research.
The study, published in February, discovered that 14% of businesses have already introduced the technology.
The reason for the growth is to fulfill a need for better mobile coverage in hard to reach spots not covered by regular mobile service.
+ ALSO: 10 top reasons for integrating Wi-Fi radios in small cellular cells +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The confluence of applications being hosted in the cloud and end users accessing them via mobile devices is accelerating advancements in wide area networking technologies.A new report issued today by research firm IDC predicts those factors will drive what was a relatively nascent software defined WAN (SD-WAN) industry, worth a mere $225 million last year, to grow at a more than 90% compound annual growth rate for the next five years to become a $6 billion industry by 2020.+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: SD-WAN: What it is and why you’ll use it one day +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
As Network World celebrates its 30th anniversary, we took a look back at the scene in 1986 ... and had a chuckle. NETWORK WORLD/STEPHEN SAUER
NETWORK WORLD TURNS 30: The networked world |9 ways technology will change within the next 10 years | The most momentous tech events of the past 30 years | 30 years of gadgets, computers and video games from my fabulous life | Network World celebrates 30 years | Thumbing through issue No.1 of Network World
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If your ISP or cable provider supplied you with a cable modem, you're probably renting it from them and paying fees of up to $10 per month. In most cases there's nothing preventing you from just buying your own. With this 31% off deal, you may run the numbers and decide that today's the day you exercise this freedom.
The SURFboard SB6141 cable modem from Arris currently receives 4.5 out of 5 stars (9,000 reviews on Amazon). List price is $99.99, but with 31% off you can buy it now for just $69.18. At this price, it may pay for itself in just months. SURFboard supports IPv6, the latest internet standard. DOCSIS 3.0 technology provides eight downstream channels and four upstream channels. Data rates clock in at 343 Mbps download and 131 Mbps upload, depending on your cable internet provider. So there's plenty of speed for streaming HD video, gaming, video-conferencing, shopping, etc.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If your ISP or cable provider supplied you with a cable modem, you're probably renting it from them and paying fees of up to $10 per month. In most cases there's nothing preventing you from just buying your own. With this 30% off deal, you may run the numbers and decide that today's the day you exercise this freedom.The SURFboard SB6141 cable modem from Arris currently receives 4.5 out of 5 stars (9,000 reviews on Amazon). List price is $99.99, but with 31% off you can buy it now for just $69.99. At this price, it may pay for itself in just months. SURFboard supports IPv6, the latest internet standard. DOCSIS 3.0 technology provides eight downstream channels and four upstream channels. Data rates clock in at 343 Mbps download and 131 Mbps upload, depending on your cable internet provider. So there's plenty of speed for streaming HD video, gaming, video-conferencing, shopping, etc.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here