A data center is a physical facility that enterprises use to house their business-critical applications and information. As they evolve, it’s important to think long-term about how to maintain their reliability and security.What is a data center?
Data centers are often referred to as a singular thing, but in actuality they are composed of a number of technical elements. These can be broken down into three categories:
Compute: The memory and processing power to run the applications, generally provided by high-end servers
Storage: Important enterprise data is generally housed in a data center, on media ranging from tape to solid-state drives, with multiple backups
Networking: Interconnections between data center components and to the outside world, including routers, switches, application-delivery controllers, and more
These are the components that IT needs to store and manage the most critical systems that are vital to the continuous operations of a company. Because of this, the reliability, efficiency, security and constant evolution of data centers are typically a top priority. Both software and hardware security measures are a must.To read this article in full, please click here
An IP address is a long string of numbers assigned to every device connected to a network that uses Internet Protocol as the medium for communication; it’s the digital world’s equivalent of the mailing address associated with your home or workplace.The way Internet Protocol works is that information is transmitted over the network in discrete chunks called packets; each packet is mostly made up of whatever data the sender is trying to communicate, but also includes a header, consisting of metadata about that packet.Among other pieces of data stored in the packet header are the IP address of the device that sent the packet and the IP address of device where the packet is heading. Routers and other network infrastructure use this information to make sure the packets get to where they’re supposed to go.To read this article in full, please click here
A Pentagon request for information that led to speculation about a nationwide 5G network created by a partnership between the mobile carriers and the government has provoked the wrath of Congressional leaders.
5G resources
What is 5G? Fast wireless technology for enterprises and phones
How 5G frequency affects range and speed
Private 5G can solve some problems that Wi-Fi can’t
Private 5G keeps Whirlpool driverless vehicles rolling
5G can make for cost-effective private backhaul
CBRS can bring private 5G to enterprises
The controversy started with an official request for information from the Pentagon, which asks for guidance about the Department of Defense owning and operating 5G networks for domestic operations. Per Forrester vice president and research director Glenn O’Donnell, the plan as discussed would amount to a public-private partnership funded through government stimulus money and overseen by the DoD, but it would be implemented and operated by one of the country’s major wireless carriers.To read this article in full, please click here
IBM’s new Cloud Satellite offering will move the company’s open hybrid-cloud framework into new and different environments, thanks to partnerships with AT&T for 5G connectivity and IBM's Red Hat unit for containerization.
5G resources
What is 5G? Fast wireless technology for enterprises and phones
How 5G frequency affects range and speed
Private 5G can solve some problems that Wi-Fi can’t
Private 5G keeps Whirlpool driverless vehicles rolling
5G can make for cost-effective private backhaul
CBRS can bring private 5G to enterprises
Cloud Satellite, currently in beta, is a software product, sold through IBM, that provides a link to IBM and AT&T’s hardware. It offers a one-dashboard method of managing services across multiple computing environments, networks and locations. It leverages Red Hat’s OpenShift containerization platform—built on Kubernetes for the flexibility to deploy applications and services across multiple environments—IBM’s cloud framework for management, and AT&T’s public or private 5G for connectivity between customersites and the cloud. Thus, an application could be deployed at the edge, but managed from IBM’s cloud framework, with connectivity furnished by AT&T, and OpenShift making it simpler to keep workloads virtualized and flexible.To read this article in full, please click here
The rumors were true, only the price was off. AMD formally announced this week it intends to acquire FPGA maker Xilinx for $35 billion, not $30 billion as originally rumored.Xilinx is the biggest maker of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chips, a class of chips that can be reconfigured for a variety of specialized tasks by the end user. They are especially popular in vertical markets like automotive and cellular base stations, where a chip can be reprogrammed for a new or special task.Analysts see Xilinx as an AI play for AMD, which has lagged behind Nvidia in the race for machine learning (ML) and inference.To read this article in full, please click here
The sheer number of connectivity options available for IoT networks will create chaos in the coming year, according to a newly released set of predictions from Forrester Research.As there’s no single connectivity option that meets every use case for IoT, businesses should expect to navigate a landscape that includes proprietary low-power options like Zigbee, unlicensed standards like Bluetooth, both public and private varieties of 5G, Wi-Fi, and even satellite in order to make deployments work.To read this article in full, please click here
Midnight Commander – the "mc" command – provides an easy way to browse directories and to view, move, delete, compare, change and edit files. Similar in some ways to ranger, mc makes it easy to move around directories and offers side-by-side file/directory listings that work independently of each other. In addition, it provides a very wide range of actions that you can take through simple menu choices.To start Midnight Commander, simply type "mc" in a terminal window. When you open mc, both the left and right sides of the display will look the same and will show the contents of whatever directory you started in. You can switch sides using the tab key or simply by clicking on a directory or file in the side of the display. You can select a file or directory simply by clicking on it. You can also browse directory contents using the up and down arrow keys.To read this article in full, please click here
Demand for secure access service edge (SASE) has grown tremendously during the pandemic. As adoption picks up, vendors are promising feature-rich and integrated SASE solutions. Customers have different needs when it comes to SASE, however, and it’s not always easy to understand what a SASE provider is offering.As an approach, SASE combines networking and security into a scalable cloud service that fits with the remote and hybrid work models companies use today. Potential benefits include easier network and security management, flexibility to scale up or down as business needs require, and lower costs.To read this article in full, please click here
Simplifying security options for enterprise customers is a daunting task, and it can be even harder in the current pandemic-driven workforce environment. But Cisco is taking steps to both streamline and bolster its security menu, according to news out of its virtual Partner Summit conference. For starters, Cisco is eliminating 50 product names and simplifying its offerings within the renamed Cisco Secure portfolio. Cisco is also reinforcing its key platforms, including its SecureX and zero trust packages. (See related story, Cisco software upgrades to simplify hybrid-cloud management, operations)To read this article in full, please click here
(Editor’s note, Oct. 29, 2020: With the FBI and US Department of Homeland Security recently warning of credible cyberthreats to healthcare facilities including ransomware, it’s a good time to review the steps outlined in this article that enterprises can take to guard against such attacks.)Ransomware attacks are becoming more rampant now that criminals have learned they are an effective way to make money in a short amount of time.Attackers do not even need any programming skills to launch an attack because they can obtain code that is shared among the many hacker communities. There are even services that will collect the ransom via Bitcoin on behalf of the attackers and just require them to pay a commission.To read this article in full, please click here
(Editor’s note: An August 2020 Enterprise Management Associates survey of 252 North American and European IT professionals found that most had accelerated their adoption of Zero Trust networking framework. This article by EMA Vice President of Research Networking Shamus McGillicuddy further details the results of the “Enterprise Zero Trust Networking Strategies: Secure Remote Access and Network Segmentation” report.)The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted 60% of enterprises to accelerate their Zero Trust networking strategies. Just 15% of organizations slowed down in response to the public-health crisis, and 25% reported no effect, according to Enterprise Management Associates research.To read this article in full, please click here
There are quite a few changes you can make to user accounts on Linux systems: setting them up, deleting or disabling them, adding or removing users from secondary groups, changing usernames or UIDs, moving home directories, changing users’ shells, altering account expiration timing, and so on.One command that can make nearly all of these changes easier is usermod. The only real constraints are 1) that the accounts you intend to change must already exist on the system (this command won’t set them up from scratch), and 2) that the affected users should probably not be logged in when you make these changes.The basic syntax for the command is usermod [options] LOGIN but that options section has a lot more possibilities than you might anticipate. In addition, sudo permissions will be required for this command since superuser access is required to set up or change nearly all user account settings.To read this article in full, please click here
There are quite a few changes you can make to user accounts on Linux systems: setting them up, deleting or disabling them, adding or removing users from secondary groups, changing usernames or UIDs, moving home directories, changing users’ shells, altering account expiration timing, and so on.One command that can make nearly all of these changes easier is usermod. The only real constraints are 1) that the accounts you intend to change must already exist on the system (this command won’t set them up from scratch), and 2) that the affected users should probably not be logged in when you make these changes.The basic syntax for the command is usermod [options] LOGIN but that options section has a lot more possibilities than you might anticipate. In addition, sudo permissions will be required for this command since superuser access is required to set up or change nearly all user account settings.To read this article in full, please click here
Cisco has upgraded some of its core software packages to help customers manage, control and automate functions in hybrid and multicloud data-center environments.With the needs of the pandemic-driven, highly distributed workforce as a backdrop, Cisco is looking to provide visibility and insights into what’s happening across customers’ cloud infrastructure. At the same time it's busting the siloed IT operations many customers have that hold back agile digital-application development, said Prashanth Shenoy, Cisco vice president of marketing. “Businesses are rethinking their IT platforms for multicloud operations, and we are providing the tools to help them transform faster with insights and automation,” Shenoy said.To read this article in full, please click here
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The data center industry continues to grow. Amazon, Google, Equinix, Digital Reality Trust, and numerous other providers can't build their data centers fast enough, spurring investments in startups and a hefty amount of M&A activity. The sector was hot before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the crisis has only increased interest as companies accelerate their migrations to the cloud.Goldman Sachs is the latest to make a big play in the data center market. The firm's Merchant Banking Division is partnering with a management team led by Digital Reality co-founder and former chief investment officer Scott Peterson to form a new company, Global Compute Infrastructure LP.To read this article in full, please click here
The vehicles manufactured by Volvo Trucks keep getting smarter.More than 350,000 Volvo rigs crossing North American highways each day are outfitted with IoT sensors that monitor conditions and send data for troubleshooting and analysis. Embedded telematics allow for over-the-air updates to engine software. The on-board technology, combined with a back-end analytics platform, enables Volvo Trucks to process millions of data records instantaneously. Using IoT and artificial intelligence, Volvo Trucks has been able to reduce diagnostic time by 70% and truck repair time by 25%. To read this article in full, please click here
The Folding@home project has shared new results of its efforts to simulate proteins from the SARS-CoV-2 virus to better understand how they function and how to stop them.Folding@home is a distributed computing effort that uses small clients to run simulations for biomedical research when users' PCs are idle. The clients operate independently of each other to perform their own unique simulation and send in the results to the F@h servers. (Read more about where the Folding@home network is administered and how it broke the exaFLOPS barrier.)To read this article in full, please click here
As COVID-19 continues to spread, forcing employees to work from home, the services of ISPs, cloud providers and conferencing services a.k.a. unified communications as a service (UCaaS) providers are experiencing increased traffic.ThousandEyes is monitoring how these increases affect outages and the performance challenges these providers undergo. It will provide Network World a roundup of interesting events of the week in the delivery of these services, and Network World will provide a summary here. Stop back next week for another update, and see more details here.To read this article in full, please click here
Analysts had expected 2020 to be a year of rising NAND flash prices after a supply glut in 2019. The reasoning, backed by years of repeating patterns, was that after an oversupply, vendors like SK Hynix and Micron would slow production to drive prices up.Cue COVID-19 and the ensuing chaos.TrendForce, a market research firm that follows the memory market, said there has been a general decline in contract prices starting last quarter due to oversupply. This oversupply situation is attributed to the accumulation of inventory caused by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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