The blockchain industry, historically tied directly to cryptocurrency, has made a right turn in recent months. It has extended its legion of users to offer distributed storage. This threatens to undercut the pricing market established by cloud computing storage giants like AWS and Dropbox.How it works
Blockchain-based distribution storage is centered around the idea that there are large amounts of unused storage space on the hard drives of people all over the world. Using cryptocurrency as an incentive, blockchain distribution companies monetize that storage space for their members. It is an upgraded version of what BitTorrent was in the early 2000s, using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks to form an aggregate of computer resources. But with cryptocurrencies built in to blockchains as a method of payment, users have a monetary incentive to offer up their unused data space to consumers. Because of its extreme distribution of data - known as sharding - blockchain-based storage has the potential to be more secure than cloud-based storage. And by using the in-place hardware maintained by others, it can drastically cut the cost for the end-user. To read this article in full, please click here
Telecommunications equipment maker Nokia has launched a turnkey, sensor-as-a-service offering for Internet of Things (IoT) networks.The idea behind the product is to provide a way for mobile network operators (MNOs), many of which use Nokia cell site equipment, to monetize existing infrastructure, such as towers, by selling live environmental sensor data to cities and others.Read also: When IoT met blockchain | Sign up: Receive daily tech news updates
MNOs increasingly are looking for new revenue sources as consumer smartphone growth plateaus. And cities need to adopt digital strategies to manage assets, increase efficiencies, and keep stakeholders happy. For example, they need granular real-time data about public transportation flow and air quality to ensure they comply with regulations—that the traffic is flowing and no illegal garbage is burning.To read this article in full, please click here
Micron is the latest NAND flash memory maker to announce plans for quadruple-level cell (QLC) flash memory, following similar announcements from Toshiba and Western Digital. It's a very technical story with a very real impact.NAND flash memory stores data in one bit per cell, with billions of cells in the flash memory chips. For flash drives to gain capacity, there are two solutions: increase the number of chips in the drive, which has physical limitations, and increase the density per cell, which is limited by the laws of physics.Also read: Impact of Intel and Micron ending their NAND partnership is negligible | Sign up: Receive daily tech news updates
The first single-level cell, with one bit per cell, first emerged in the late 1980s when flash drives first appeared for mainframes. In the late 1990s came multi-level cell (MLC) drives capable of storing two bits per cell. Triple-level cell (TLC) didn't come out until 2013 when Samsung introduced its 840 series of SSDs. So, these advances take a long time, although they are being sped up by a massive increase in R&D dollars in recent years.To read this article in full, please click here
As pretty much everyone knows, the Internet of Things (IoT) hype has been going strong for a few years now. I’ve done my part, no doubt, covering the technology extensively for the past 9 months. As vendors and users all scramble to cash in, it often seems like nothing can stop the rise IoT.Maybe not, but there have been rumblings of a backlash to the rise of IoT for several years. Consumer and experts worry that the IoT may not easily fulfill its heavily hyped promise, or that it will turn out to be more cumbersome than anticipated, allow serious security issues, and compromise our privacy.To read this article in full, please click here
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are two of the latest networking buzzwords being thrown around the industry. The problem is many enterprise network managers remain confused about the real value of these vastly useful technologies.Emerging network analytics services, powered by AI and machine learning promise to transform traditional infrastructure management models by simplifying operations, lowering costs, and giving unprecedented insights into the user experience – improving the productivity of both IT professionals and their users.For network staff, the concept and value of these technologies is extremely powerful if applied to the right problems.To read this article in full, please click here
When it comes to cloud migration, what kind of adopter are you? Did you jump on the cloud bandwagon early? Are you lagging behind, without having tried to virtualize anything yet? Or are you in the mainstream, with a mix of clouds and some systems on premises?In our cloud migration practice, we have found that each of these groups faces its own challenges. Early adopters are often unable to support their ambitious deployments, having discovered the limits of first-generation cloud systems. Laggards may realize the need to transform, but find themselves blocked by costs, resources and time. Most enterprises are in the mainstream. They have cobbled together a hybrid IT environment, but struggle with managing it all and moving forward.To read this article in full, please click here
Linux history — the record of commands that you’ve used on the command line — can simplify repeating commands and provide some very useful information when you’re trying to track down how recent system or account changes might have come about.Two things you need to understand before you begin your sleuthing, however, are that the shell’s command memory can be selective and that dates and times for when commands were run are optional.Basic Linux history
Let’s first look at how dates and times are recorded when commands are entered on the command line. By default, they are not. The history command simply provides a list of previously used commands. That’s all that is saved in the history file. For bash users, this information all gets stuffed into the .bash_history file; for other shells, it might be just .history.To read this article in full, please click here
Juniper Networks has announced an expanded portfolio of products for companies to become “multi-cloud ready,” unifying both the public cloud and on-premises computing resources.The new offerings don’t just connect the data center to the cloud; they also cover campus and branch offices, the latter of which can often be overlooked or forgotten due to being remote.Also on Network World: Cloud strategy: hybrid and multi cloud are not the same
Companies are moving more workloads to the cloud to keep up for a variety of reasons, but a recent study from consulting giant PwC and commissioned by Juniper found that while a majority of enterprise workloads are going to move to the cloud in the next three years, the workload on premises will not diminish. If anything, it will need to keep up with the cloud.To read this article in full, please click here
This full-fledged, easy-to-tote first aid softpack is designed to save time and frustration in the midst of an emergency. It's compact and portable, but contains 299 physician-recommended supplies. Among the items neatly organized inside the zippered kit is a first aid guide, vinyl gloves, bandages, cold compress, gauze pads, trauma pad, cotton-tipped applicators, first aid tape roll, antiseptics and all three common OTC pain medications. The kit is currently a #1 best seller on Amazon, averages 4.6 out of 5 stars from over 2,230 customers, and its typical list price of has been reduced to just a hair over $12. Click over to Amazon to see this deal.To read this article in full, please click here
With this smart plug from Etekcity, you can turn your appliances on/off remotely from your mobile device, or with your voice via Alexa. Or automate the on/off cycle with a schedule. The plug also monitors and helps control energy usage, and the slow drain that occurs even when devices are powered down. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 2,200 people on Amazon, the 2-pack of smart plugs has been discounted to just $26.99, or $13.50 per plug. See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full, please click here
With this smart plug from Etekcity, you can turn your appliances on/off remotely from your mobile device, or with your voice via Alexa. Or automate the on/off cycle with a schedule. The plug also monitors and helps control energy usage, and the slow drain that occurs even when devices are powered down. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 2,200 people on Amazon, the 2-pack of smart plugs has been discounted to just $28.99, or $14.50 per plug. See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full, please click here
Linux and recursion are on very good speaking terms. In fact, a number of Linux command recurse without ever being asked while others have to be coaxed with just the right option. When is recursion most helpful and how can you use it to make your tasks easier? Let’s run through some useful examples and see.Easy recursion with ls
First, the ls command seems like a good place to start. This command will only list the files and directories in the current or specified directory unless asked to work a little harder. It will include the contents of directories only if you add a -R option. It provides a -r option, but that option causes the listing to be in reverse order as shown below while -R delves into the various subdirectories.To read this article in full, please click here
Fresh off a positive earnings call that saw Cisco report $11.9 billion in revenue for the 2Q 2018 – a 3 percent increase from the same quarter in 2017 and the first time in 6 quarters the company reported year-over-year sales increases – CEO Chuck Robbins has a lot to crow about. First of all, the company's most strategic new direction: The Network. Intuitive, more commonly known as intent-based networking is rapidly finding acceptance amongst customers, Robbins said.+RELATED: Getting grounded in intent-based networking; What is intent-based networking?+To read this article in full, please click here
If you check the processes running on your Linux systems, you might be curious about one called "kerneloops." And that’s “kernel oops,” not “kerne loops” just in case you didn’t parse that correctly.Put very bluntly, an “oops” is a deviation from correct behavior on the part of the Linux kernel. Did you do something wrong? Probably not. But something did. And the process that did something wrong has probably at least just been summarily knocked off the CPU. At worst, the kernel may have panicked and abruptly shut the system down.For the record, “oops” is NOT an acronym. It doesn’t stand for something like “object-oriented programming and systems” or “out of procedural specs”; it actually means “oops” like you just dropped your glass of wine or stepped on your cat. Oops! The plural of "oops" is "oopses."To read this article in full, please click here
In “What the storage industry’s inevitable transition to the cloud means for your business,” I cited the explosive growth of data as one of the primary reasons for a shift in storage architectures from local hardware to the cloud.Let’s take a closer look at this phenomenon and how it impacts your approach to storage, as well as what architecture is the right one for your current and future needs.And what a phenomenon it is! IDC and EMC project that data will grow to 40 zettabytes by 2020, resulting in a 50-fold growth from the beginning of 2010. And forget about the importance of data simply for your business. In a recent white paper for storage firm Seagate, research firm IDC estimates that by 2025, nearly 20 percent of the data in existence will be critical to our everyday lives, with almost 10 percent of that being “hypercritical.”To read this article in full, please click here
One of the potential hindrances to ubiquitous Internet of Things (IoT) take-up is related to how one should power the possibly billions of tiny sensors promised over time. Can one expect a homeowner to change out a hundred or so coin batteries every few years in, say, a networked system, for example? That could get old fast.Also on Network World: Testing RFID IoT devices for enterprise deployment
The same problem arises at an industrial level. Changing out sensor batteries in a remote installation is equally difficult to achieve, although for different reasons — you need to transport expensive people there to do it, for one thing.To read this article in full, please click here
For the most part the dire warnings about running out of internet addresses have ceased because, slowly but surely, migration from the world of Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) to IPv6 has begun, and software is in place to prevent the address apocalypse that many were predicting.But before we see where are and where we’re going with IPv6, let’s go back to the early days of internet addressing.+Related: IPv6 deployment guide; How to plan your migration to IPv6+To read this article in full, please click here
Standing up a private cloud using technology from multiple vendors is a time-consuming, complex process that involves months of post-deployment tweaking and tuning.In 2009, VMware, Cisco and EMC formed a joint venture called VCE that aimed to solve that problem. (Note: Cisco and VMWare are clients of ZK Research.) They created a converged infrastructure (CI) product called “Vblock” that brought together VMware software, Cisco servers and networking with EMC storage in a preconfigured, turnkey, validated solution so customers could essentially turn the product on and start using it.Also on Network World: Azure Stack: Microsoft’s private-cloud platform and what IT pros need to know about it
Vblock had 90 percent of the heavy lifting done, with the other 10 percent being unique the organization. Customers loved it, with many saying Vblock was the only way to get a private cloud up and running inside a week. To read this article in full, please click here
The Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang are underway and all eyes are on the competitors. They are also on the digital infrastructure and technology allowing billions around the world to view world record-breaking moments in real-time. The 2018 Games represent the world’s first deployment of a broad-scale 5G network, thanks to a partnership between domestic telecom provider KT, Intel and Samsung. The new capabilities have been on the horizon for some time. We saw 5G steal the show a year ago at Mobile World Congress, and Verizon and AT&T have each announced plans to offer 5G networks before the end of 2018. So, what does the emergence of 5G networks mean for enterprises?To read this article in full, please click here
Automation is currently the top priority for almost every technology-driven enterprise this year. Ever wondered why automation is taking center stage in the industry today? Why is it impacting and dominating the tech industry?New innovations and cutting-edge technologies are creating a massive demand among end users for high quality products and services. These customers are not willing to compromise when it comes to time, quality results. This demand for quick turn arounds and impeccable quality can only be achieved with the help of automation. In fact, enterprise automation is now essential when it comes to meeting increasing consumer demands, while digitally transforming the industry along.To read this article in full, please click here