How to manage your power bill while adopting AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can be invaluable tools to spur innovation, but they have different management requirements than typical enterprise IT applications that run at moderate CPU and memory utilization rates. Because AI and ML tend to run intense calculations at very high utilization rates, power and cooling costs can consume a higher proportion of the budget than an IT group might expect.It's not a new problem, but the impact is intensifying.As more CPU-heavy applications such as data warehousing and business intelligence became prevalent, IT was often oblivious to the electric bill it was racking up – particularly since the bill usually goes to the ops department, not IT.To read this article in full, please click here

Career roadmap: cloud architect

A vital part of digital transformation efforts, demand for cloud architects is expected to grow, with forecasters suggesting it could be one of the 10 most in-demand technology jobs for 2020. Here’s a look at what it takes to become a cloud architect.

Network training 2021: Businesses grow their own IT expertise to meet new challenges

As the traditional approach to networking is replaced by hybrid cloud, SD-WAN and edge networks, in-house skill sets haven't kept up.Hiring new staff is one option to narrow the deficit, but there's a skills shortage in the industry right now, and hiring is expensive. According to McKinsey, it often costs around $30,000 to bring on a new employee, not counting the onboarding training. As a result, 82% of global executives surveyed by McKinsey say that reskilling and upskilling will be at least half the solution to their skills gaps.To read this article in full, please click here

Looking into Linux user logins with lslogins

One convenient way to list details about user logins on a Linux system is to use the lslogins command. You'll get a very useful and nicely formatted display that includes quite a few important details.On my system and likely most others, user accounts will start with UID 1000. To list just these accounts rather than include all of the service accounts like daemon, mail and syslog, add the -u option as shown in the example below.$ sudo lslogins -u UID USER PROC PWD-LOCK PWD-DENY LAST-LOGIN GECOS 0 root 151 0 0 root 1000 shs 68 0 0 12:35 Sandra H-S 1001 nemo 0 0 0 2021-Jan05 Nemo Demo,,, 1002 dbell 0 0 1 Dory Bell 1003 shark 2 0 0 7:15 Sharon Hark 1004 tadpole 0 0 0 2020-Dec05 Ted Pole 1005 eel 0 0 0 2021-Jan11 Ellen McDay 1006 bugfarm 0 0 0 2021-Jan01 Bug Farm 1008 dorothy 0 0 1 Dorothy Reuben 1012 jadep 0 0 1 2021-Jan04 Jade Jones 1013 myself 0 0 0 2021-Jan12 My Self 1014 marym 0 0 0 2020-Mar20 Mary McShea 1017 gijoe 0 0 0 GI Joe 65534 nobody 0 0 1 nobody What the lslogins command does is grab Continue reading

Cisco adds to its Nexus data-center-management software

After Intel CEO Swan’s cleanup job, Gelsinger will move the company forward

Pat Gelsinger’s return to Intel after a 12-year absence has been greeted positively, with the stock jumping 8% on the news Wednesday, analysts lauding it, and apparently even Intel staff approving, indicating he remained popular there despite leaving the firm in 2009.Replacing outgoing CEO Bob Swan with VMware CEO Gelsinger, isn’t a sign of failure on the part of Swan, who took over in early 2018. Intel is expected to meet or exceed Q1 revenue and income projections when it reports earnings Jan. 21. The fact that Swan is being given time to clean out his desk—he is staying on until mid-February—says that this is a civil parting, unlike that of his predecessor, Brian Krzanich, whom they couldn’t get out the idoor fast enough.To read this article in full, please click here

VMware loses CEO Gelsinger to Intel

Intel said it will bring on current VMware leader Pat Gelsinger as its new chief executive officer, effective Feb. 15, 2021.  The 40-year technology industry vet replaces Intel’s Bob Swan, who will remain CEO until that date.For VMware, the company said it was initiating a global executive search process to name a permanent chief and that Zane Rowe, current VMware CFO will become interim CEO.[Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters.] “Pat led the company in expanding our core virtualization footprint and broadening our capabilities to cloud, networking, 5G/edge and security, while almost tripling revenue to nearly $12 billion,” Rowe said in a statement. “VMware remains focused on helping customers optimize their digital infrastructure—from app modernization and multi-cloud to networking, security and digital workspaces. We look forward to continued growth and innovation across our technology offerings.”To read this article in full, please click here

IT specialist Atos makes bid for DXC

IT outsourcing giant Atos has put in a bid to acquire DXC Technology, which would give the French IT giant a big foot in the door to the U.S. market.The rumor first ran last week on Reuters, which put the purchase price at $10.1 billion. Atos issued a rather short statement confirming the talks, but did not confirm the rumored price. It said there was no certainty of an outcome and further announcements would be made “when appropriate.”For its part, DXC said it had indeed received an offer from Atos, again without mentioning the price, and said it would be “evaluating the proposal.”To read this article in full, please click here

How to prep for becoming an IoT leader

As the Internet of Things (IoT) explodes in enterprise settings, there's an opportunity for IT pros to step into new leadership roles. Often, IoT deployments are key to transformational initiatives, so having the skills to head up a significant IoT project can have a beneficial effect on career advancement. Tech Spotlight: IT Leadership The CIO’s next key role: Change agent (CIO) How IT must adapt to the emerging hybrid workplace (Computerworld) How to mandate agility in software development, operations, and data science (InfoWorld) The CISO’s newest responsibility: Building trust (CSO) How to prep for becoming an IoT leader (Network World) Companies are grappling with how to properly manage and secure their IoT deployments. They need people who can evaluate a wide range of IoT connectivity options, balance the requirements of different connected devices, and deploy appropriate edge infrastructure to gather and process IoT input. For IT leaders, now's the time to think about building an IoT team with the right expertise.To read this article in full, please click here

What IT leadership looks like in 2021

As IT leaders meet the challenges of the COVID era, only one thing is assured – more change is coming sooner than you think.

Cisco fights to keep alive its planned $2.6B purchase of optical-tech vendor Acacia

Cisco’s planned acquisition of Acacia Communications took a litigious turn this week as the networking giant has gone to court to keep the optical technologies vendor from terminating the purchase.Cisco filed for a temporary restraining order in Delaware Chancery Court Jan. 8 to prevent Acacia from terminating its acquisition agreement with the company. The move followed an Acacia statement issued earlier on Jan. 8 that stated the company “has elected to terminate its merger agreement with Cisco Systems, Inc., effective immediately.”[Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters.] Acacia said the proposed merger was conditioned on the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions, including obtaining necessary regulatory approvals within the timeframe contemplated by the merger agreement. One of those was the approval of China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), and Acacia said that hasn't been obtained within the originally agreed time frame.To read this article in full, please click here

Spotlight on home-office connectivity intensifies in 2021

Now that it's clear remote work is here to stay, what are the technology priorities for IT departments charged with keeping the enterprise workforce productive and secure?In a December report, research firm Gartner said it expects 48% of employees will work from home, even after the pandemic, compared with 30% pre-pandemic.More about SD-WAN: How to buy SD-WAN technology: Key questions to consider when selecting a supplier • How to pick an off-site data-backup method •  SD-Branch: What it is and why you’ll need it • What are the options for security SD-WAN? Forrester, too, expects the remote worker population to remain elevated. "While there is no clear end point to the pandemic yet, the number of employees working remotely will begin to dwindle, eventually settling in at 300% of pre-pandemic levels at the minimum," wrote Forrester principle analyst David Johnson, in a blog post about 2021 remote work and automation trends.To read this article in full, please click here

You’re not imaging things, there is a serious chip shortage

If you’ve noticed components are hard to get these days, you are not alone. The supply of computing components can get a little tight around the end of the year but this year is especially bad, much of it due to Covid-19-related issues.Intel spent much of 2020 struggling with CPU shortages. In the latter half of the year it was hit with chipset shortages, with the B460 and H410 chipsets reportedly out of stock through the end of last year, and availability of the Z590 chipset is also constrained.AMD also has a problem: it can’t make enough chips. Some of its Ryzen processors, particularly the Ryzen 5 line, are immensely popular, and there are simply none to be had on Amazon, Newegg, or any other online retailer.To read this article in full, please click here

You’re not imagining things, there is a serious chip shortage

If you’ve noticed components are hard to get these days, you are not alone. The supply of computing components can get a little tight around the end of the year but this year is especially bad, much of it due to Covid-19-related issues.Intel spent much of 2020 struggling with CPU shortages. In the latter half of the year it was hit with chipset shortages, with the B460 and H410 chipsets reportedly out of stock through the end of last year, and availability of the Z590 chipset is also constrained.AMD also has a problem: it can’t make enough chips. Some of its Ryzen processors, particularly the Ryzen 5 line, are immensely popular, and there are simply none to be had on Amazon, Newegg, or any other online retailer.To read this article in full, please click here

Disaster recovery lessons from an island struck by a hurricane

(A hurricane devastated an island that held two data centers controlling mission-critical systems for an American biotech company. They flew a backup expert with four decades of experience to the island on a corporate jet to save the day. This is the story of the challenges he faced and how he overcame them. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, so we call him Ron, the island Atlantis, his employer Initech, and we don’t name the vendors and service providers involved.)Initech had two data centers on Atlantis with a combined 400TB of data running on approximately 200 virtual and physical machines. The backup system was based on a leading traditional backup software vendor, and it backed up to a target deduplication disk system. Each data center backed up to its own local deduplication system and then replicated its backups to the disk system in the other data center. This meant that each datacenter had an entire copy of all Initech’s backups on Atlantis, so even if one data center were destroyed the company would still have all its data.To read this article in full, please click here

2021 New Year’s resolutions for Linux users

It's a good idea to start each year with some ideas about how to make the new year better--even when it comes to working with Linux. This post offers some suggestions on how you might get more value and enjoyment from Linux in 2021.Commit favorite commands to aliases or scripts Linux commands make it easy to manipulate files and command output, but the cleverest commands can be very difficult to remember and reuse. Commit them to a script or alias, on the other hand, and you can give them meaningful names that are easy to remember  and use them easily  any time you need. Here's an example of a complicated Linux command turned into an alias:To read this article in full, please click here

Checking network connections with arp and ip neigh

Linux provides two very useful tools for diagnosing network troubles: arp and ip neigh.The arp command is a tool that allows you to display the IP-address-to-MAC-address mappings that a system has built so that it doesn't have to fetch the same information repeatedly for systems it communicates with. In doing this, arp allows you to discover and display details about systems on your network.The other is the arp command's younger brother, ip neigh, which can also display and manipulate arp tables. In this post, we'll take a look at how these commands work and what they can tell you.To read this article in full, please click here

IoT adds smarts to IT asset monitoring

The Internet of Things (IoT) is beginning to play a key role in monitoring and maintaining internal IT systems and environments. With many IT pros working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic, IT teams are leveraging networked sensors to gauge the performance and condition of servers, storage systems, network devices, and other technology components.IoT can help organizations not only evaluate how well equipment in data centers is performing and when systems need to be updated or repaired, but also monitor environmental conditions and events such as air temperature, humidity, and water leaks. IoT systems can also help organizations detect intrusions that could result in downtime or data breaches.To read this article in full, please click here

Microsoft updates Azure Stack HCI

Microsoft has updated its Azure Stack HCI software, an on-premises version of its Azure cloud services to try and catch up with hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) leaders VMware and Nutanix.Hyperconverged infrastructure is where compute, storage, and networking are all tightly integrated on the same server in a cluster. The tight hardware and software integration makes it easier to deploy than having to configure the parts separately.Azure Stack HCI was launched in 2019 and is built on Windows Server 2019 Datacenter, Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualization software, Storage Spaces Direct software-defined storage, and software-defined networking.To read this article in full, please click here

How to deploy 802.1x for Wi-Fi using WPA3-Enterprise

Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) has brought significant security improvements to Wi-Fi networks, particularly WPA-3Enterprise, which includes tweaks to make authenticating to the network more secure. One of these is has to do with 802.1x authentication that is used to determine whether Wi-Fi clients will be granted access to the enterprise network. Wi-Fi resources Test and review of 4 Wi-Fi 6 routers: Who’s the fastest? How to determine if Wi-Fi 6 is right for you Five questions to answer before deploying Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi 6E: When it’s coming and what it’s good for The enterprise mode of WPA has always allowed you to give each user a unique username/password to login to the Wi-Fi or to utilize unique digital certificates for each user to install on devices for even more security. Now with WPA3-Enterprise, the security is increased as clients are now required to make sure it’s communicating with the real authentication server before sending login credentials. That verification was optional with the earlier two versions of WPA.To read this article in full, please click here