SUSE has released its enterprise Linux distribution, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), for all major ARM server processors. It also announced the general availability of SUSE Manager Lifecycle.SUSE is on par with the other major enterprise Linux distributions — Red Hat and Ubuntu — in the x86 space, but it has lagged in its ARM support. It’s not like SLES for ARM is only now coming to market for the first time, either. It has been available for several years, but on a limited basis. [ Two-Minute Linux Tips: Learn how to master a host of Linux commands in these 2-minute video tutorials ] "Previously, SUSE subscriptions for the ARM hardware platforms were only available to SUSE Partners due to the relative immaturity of the ARM server platform," Jay Kruemcke, a senior product manager at SUSE, wrote in a blog post announcing the availability.To read this article in full, please click here
When you use the apt command to install new packages or run routine upgrades on your Debian-based Linux system, you might wonder where information about your activities are being recorded. For one, your history file probably retains information on the commands that you use, though history files like ~/.bash_history will only keep the most recent commands that you've run — depending on your $HISTSIZE setting — and generally will not include dates and times. There is, however, another place to find information about apt commands and that place is /var/log/apt.The /var/log/apt directory contains a number of log files — the history.log file, plus a series of older versions of the file named history.log.1.gz, history.log.2.gz, history.log.3,gz and so on. Each of these logs will contain information on apt commands that have been run within a particular timeframe.To read this article in full, please click here
Chinese telecom giant Huawei introduced a new data center switch powered by an artificial intelligence (AI) chip designed to improve performance and reduce latency to near zero. The new switch follows the announcement of a 64-core ARM server processor.The CloudEngine 16800 series of data center switches use AI to improve network operations and also provide an underlying network foundation for companies to build new apps that utilize AI for network performance.Huawei claims the CloudEngine 16800 is the first data center switch use an embedded AI chip, using the iLossless algorithm to implement auto-sensing and auto-optimization of the traffic model, thereby lowering latency and providing higher throughput based on zero packet loss.To read this article in full, please click here
Enterprises operating in the traditional monolithic environment may have strict organizational structures. As a result, the requirement for security may restrain them from transitioning to a hybrid or cloud-native application deployment model.In spite of the obvious difficulties, the majority of enterprises want to take advantage of cloud-native capabilities. Today, most entities are considering or evaluating cloud-native to enhance their customer’s experience. In some cases, it is the ability to draw richer customer market analytics or to provide operational excellence.Cloud-native is a key strategic agenda that allows customers to take advantage of many new capabilities and frameworks. It enables organizations to build and evolve going forward to gain an edge over their competitors.To read this article in full, please click here
Seven months ago, Intel got a blessing not in disguise when its CEO, Brian Krzanich, was forced out amid a sexual impropriety scandal. Since then, there has been near radio silence and not a hint of who could take the captain’s chair of this $50 billion ship.It stands in stark contrast to the CEO search at Microsoft, where one outsider name after another came up in the press, only for the company to go with the internal candidate, Satya Nadella, and no one would dare say that was a bad choice.Initially, the betting money was on Murthy Renduchintala, head of Intel's client group, to lead the company, but that talk has faded. The problem now, according to analysts I spoke with, is the board can’t make up its mind and the best people aren’t in the running.To read this article in full, please click here
Cisco is rolling out a cloud-based geolocation package it expects will help customers grow mobile location services and integrate data from those services into enterprise analytics and business applications.The package, called DNA Spaces, is comprised of Cisco’s Connected Mobile Experience (CMX) wireless suite and enterprise geolocation technology purchased from July Systems. Cisco CMX is a software engine that uses location and other intelligence gleaned from Cisco wireless infrastructure to generate analytics data and help deliver services to customers on their mobile devices.[ Check out our hands-on reviews: 5 top hardware-based Wi-Fi test tools and Mojo wireless intrusion prevention system. ] Cisco bought July last June for an undisclosed price. July provides businesses with deep and accurate analytics about who and what are in their physical locations along with the ability to act on those insights in real-time, Cisco said.To read this article in full, please click here
Security questions have dogged the Internet of Things (IoT) since before the name was invented. Everyone from vendors to enterprise users to consumers is concerned that their fancy new IoT devices and systems could be compromised. The problem is actually worse than that, as vulnerable IoT devices can be hacked and harnessed into giant botnets that threaten even properly secured networks.But what exactly are the biggest problems and vulnerabilities to avoid when building, deploying, or managing IoT systems? And, more to the point, what can we do to mitigate these issues?To read this article in full, please click here
If you're contemplating a career in cybersecurity and haven't come up to speed on Linux, now's the time to get ramped up and here's one easy way to do it. This new book from no starch press was written with people like you in mind. Authored by OccupyTheWeb, the force behind Hackers-Arise, Linux Basics for Hackers provides everything from basic Linux command line skills through to scripting, manipulating logging, network scanning, using and abusing system services, and remaining stealthy in the process.Why Linux? Because Linux is open source, tool developers (and you) have a level of access that is unsurpassed. Linux is transparent and this means that you can learn to manipulate it in ways that are not possible with most OSes. In addition (and undoubtedly for the reason just mentioned), most cybersecurity tools are written to run on Linux.To read this article in full, please click here
If you're contemplating a career in cybersecurity and haven't come up to speed on Linux, now's the time to get ramped up and here's one easy way to do it. This new book from No Starch Press was written with people like you in mind. Authored by OccupyTheWeb, Linux Basics for Hackers: Getting Started with Networking, Scripting, and Security in Kali provides everything from basic Linux command-line skills through to scripting, manipulating logging, network scanning, using and abusing system services, and remaining stealthy in the process.Why Linux is important to security Because Linux is open source, tool developers (and you) have a level of access that is unsurpassed. Linux is transparent, and that means you can learn to manipulate it in ways that are not possible with most OSes. In addition (and undoubtedly for the reason just mentioned), most cybersecurity tools are written to run on Linux.To read this article in full, please click here
Data created by Internet of Things (IoT) sensors must be secured better, say some. A simple password-on-device solution is no longer sufficient thanks to increasing data protection regulations, a new public awareness of tracking, and hugely proliferating devices. A new kind of architecture using Security Agents should be aggressively built into local routers and networks to handle IoT security and computation rather than offloading the number-crunching to a data center or the cloud, or indeed trying to perform it on the resource-limited IoT device, IEEE researchers say. In other words, IoT security should be handled at the network level rather than device for best results.To read this article in full, please click here
The global server market grew about 5 percent in 2018, but it will slow in the first half of 2019, according to market researcher TrendForce. However, the company also projects a buyer’s market for DRAM, as a glut of memory hits and memory manufacturers slow down production.Enterprise servers continue to account for the majority of the global shipments, but the percentage of servers used for internet data centers, such as hyperscale data centers from Amazon and Facebook, grew to nearly 35 percent of total sales. [ Read also: How to plan a software-defined data-center network ] While total server sales were up 5 percent, with Q2 of 2018 being especially strong with more than 10 percent quarter-over-quarter growth in global server shipments, the shipment growth is expected to slow down to 2 percent in the first half of the year.To read this article in full, please click here
(Editor’s note: Recent research by Enterprise Management Associates takes a look at how enterprises view currently available SD-WAN products. This article by Shamus McGillicuddy, EMA’s research director for network management, details highlights of “Wide-Area Network Transformation: How Enterprises Succeed with Software-Defined WAN,” a report based on EMA’s survey of 305 WAN decision-makers at distributed enterprises. EMA has posted a free webinar about the report.) To read this article in full, please click here
Wi-Fi 6, also known as 802.11ax, is viewed by many to be game changing, as it’s the first major architectural change to the wireless LAN since its inception. Unlike other standards, which were just faster versions of the previous incarnation, Wi-Fi 6 is built from the ground up to support a world that is hyper-connected over Wi-Fi. To accomplish this, Wi-Fi 6 includes several new features and design enhancements.OFDMA enables more clients to connect to access points Many industry people I have discussed Wi-Fi 6 with believe the most important new feature is something called orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), which allows multiple clients with varying bandwidth requirements to be connected to a single AP simultaneously.To read this article in full, please click here
Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) is a memory-protection process for operating systems that guards against buffer-overflow attacks. It helps to ensure that the memory addresses associated with running processes on systems are not predictable, thus flaws or vulnerabilities associated with these processes will be more difficult to exploit.ASLR is used today on Linux, Windows, and MacOS systems. It was first implemented on Linux in 2005. In 2007, the technique was deployed on Microsoft Windows and MacOS. While ASLR provides the same function on each of these operating systems, it is implemented differently on each one.The effectiveness of ASLR is dependent on the entirety of the address space layout remaining unknown to the attacker. In addition, only executables that are compiled as Position Independent Executable (PIE) programs will be able to claim the maximum protection from ASLR technique because all sections of the code will be loaded at random locations. PIE machine code will execute properly regardless of its absolute address.To read this article in full, please click here
Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) is a memory-protection process for operating systems that guards against buffer-overflow attacks. It helps to ensure that the memory addresses associated with running processes on systems are not predictable, thus flaws or vulnerabilities associated with these processes will be more difficult to exploit.ASLR is used today on Linux, Windows, and MacOS systems. It was first implemented on Linux in 2005. In 2007, the technique was deployed on Microsoft Windows and MacOS. While ASLR provides the same function on each of these operating systems, it is implemented differently on each one.The effectiveness of ASLR is dependent on the entirety of the address space layout remaining unknown to the attacker. In addition, only executables that are compiled as Position Independent Executable (PIE) programs will be able to claim the maximum protection from ASLR technique because all sections of the code will be loaded at random locations. PIE machine code will execute properly regardless of its absolute address.To read this article in full, please click here
Wireless mesh has been around since the early times of Wi-Fi, and it's getting more attention lately in the consumer world. There are mesh systems available from Google, Eero, Linksys, Netgear, and nearly every networking brand that targets homes and small offices. But there are Wi-Fi mesh solutions for the enterprise market as well, and advances in wireless technology have increased the viability of deploying enterprise mesh networks, particularly in settings where it's not practical to run cabling.The idea behind Wi-Fi mesh networks is that not all the access points (AP) have to plug into the wired infrastructure. Those that aren't plugged in get their network connection wirelessly from a nearby mesh AP. Small mesh networks might require only a single mesh AP plugged into the wired network. Larger networks require multiple mesh APs to be plugged into the network to support those that are connected wirelessly.To read this article in full, please click here
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will this week do some important housecleaning from its successful, first-ever cryptographic key change performed last October.In October ICANN rolled out a new, more secure root zone Key Signing Key -2017 (KSK-2017) but the process wasn’t complete as the old key, KSK-2010 remained in the zone. On January 10 ICANN will revoke the old key and remove it from the root zone. The KSK helps protect the internet’s address book – the Domain Name System (DNS) and overall Internet security.To read this article in full, please click here
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) this week will do some important housecleaning from its successful, first-ever cryptographic key change performed last October.In October, ICANN rolled out a new, more secure root zone Key Signing Key -2017 (KSK-2017), but the process wasn’t complete because the old key, KSK-2010 remained in the zone. On Jan. 10, ICANN will revoke the old key and remove it from the root zone. The KSK helps protect the internet’s address book — the Domain Name System (DNS) and overall Internet security.To read this article in full, please click here
While the IoT is already a well-known phenomenon in the tech world, the specifics of IoT implementations are sometimes less than obvious. Here’s a quick-and-dirty overview of the wildly diverse and still evolving landscape of the IoT devices themselves, divided for your reading pleasure into the consumer and enterprise realms.Consumer IoT devices The consumer side of the IoT is mostly about inserting Internet connectivity into objects that a person born before 1990 wouldn’t really have thought needed it – from the toaster and refrigerator in your kitchen, to the locks on your doors, to your car and your wristwatch.[ Read also: 20 hot jobs ambitious IT pros should shoot for ] Smart home IoT devices are, arguably, the biggest deal on the consumer side of things – some people really like the idea of being able to control their lights, door locks and so on from their smartphones. Smart lightbulbs, locks and their ilk are big business, according to Statista, which estimated the total revenue from their sales at nearly $12 billion in 2018. The devices themselves have a wide range of sophistication – a smartlock could be as simple as a device with a servo to move Continue reading
You've probably already heard about 5G, the new cellular technology that's poised to bring massive change to both mobile and fixed wireless data networks. What you may be wondering is how 5G differs from 4G, the current cellular network standard, and what benefits the new technology will bring both enterprises and individual users.To bring you up to speed on 5G's structure and capabilities, and how it improves on 4G technology, here's a quick update:What is 5G? As the latest step forward in cellular network evolution, 5G will see untold thousands of small antennas deployed onto cell towers, utility poles, lampposts, buildings and other public and private structures. The technology, which is designed to supplement rather than replace current 4G networks, promises to accelerate cellular data transfer speeds from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps and beyond, a massive boost that will make next-generation wireless competitive with even the fastest fiber-optic wired networks.To read this article in full, please click here