Twelve boys and their coach trapped in a cave deep underground with dwindling air and the danger of being flooded by rising water levels. How did a determined international team find and rescue the boys? How did sophisticated geographical information systems (GIS), IoT sensors and 3D simulations assist the rescuers?Tham Luang Nang Non is six mile long underground cave complex in Thailand’s Chiangrai province. A boy’s soccer team was reported missing in July 2018. Thai Navy SEAL divers' found them in a cave that could only be reached after a six hour underground journey in the dark, swimming through narrow tunnels and climbing boulders. An international rescue teams with experts from Thailand, China, Japan, Australia, the US and Britain were able to rescue them.To read this article in full, please click here
The demand is there. The hype is there. But is the world really ready for 5G?In one sense, the answer is, “absolutely.” The fifth-generation of wireless broadband technology will bring an exponential increase in data speeds that will change how people interact with the internet. For example, download time for an HD movie could go from an hour to a few seconds. 5G can also power up remote surgery. And some say truly autonomous vehicles aren’t possible without it. 5G will connect a higher density of devices, people and things in smaller areas – faster and with lower latency than ever. It promises to inspire an astounding array of innovations and new services.To read this article in full, please click here
Want to do a quick performance check on your Linux system? You might want to take a look at the dstat command. Dstat provides valuable insights into Linux system performance, pretty much replacing a collection of older tools such as vmstat, netstat, iostat, and ifstat with a flexible and powerful command that combines their features.With this one command, you can look at virtual memory, network connections and interfaces, CPU activity, input/output devices and more. In today's post, we'll examine some dstat commands and see what they can show you about your systems. [ Two-Minute Linux Tips: Learn how to master a host of Linux commands in these 2-minute video tutorials ]
Dstat options and defaults
First, let's start with a fairly simple command. With the dstat -c (CPU) option, dstat displays CPU stats. In the example below, we're asking for two-second intervals and six reports.To read this article in full, please click here
Ciena
Rick Seeto, VP and General Manager, Asia Pacific & Japan Sales at Ciena
Emerging Asia is one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world, with fast growing economies powered by a youthful population. The communication networks in these countries are often less burdened by legacy systems compared to developed countries, as they have started developing communications infrastructure relatively recently. To read this article in full, please click here
The hype around 5G and its relation to the IoT (Internet of Things) industry has been growing exponentially since its initial launch in 2012. So far, numerous telecoms have promised that 5G will be the next-generation mobile network that provides everything from superfast bandwidth speeds, to ultra-low latency, to ten-times the geographic coverage.However, the attempts to decode what all this means for product creators and enterprises who have some investment in 5G and IoT typically lacks real substance and clarity. While 5G networks may fundamentally transform mobile cellular networks, they are still in early deployment stages despite the just-around-the-corner narrative that is being spread.To read this article in full, please click here
IBM has an answer for some of the biggest trends in enterprise data storage – including Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), artificial intelligence, multi-cloud environments and containers – and it comes in a 2U package.The new FlashSystem 9100 is an all-flash NVMe-accelerated storage platform. It delivers up to 2 petabytes of effective storage in 2U and can provide up to 32 petabytes of all-flash storage in a 42U rack.[ Check out AI boosts data-center availability, efficiency. Also learn what hyperconvergence is and whether you’re ready for hyperconverged storage. For regularly scheduled insights sign up for Network World newsletters. ]
NVMe is a protocol for accessing high-speed storage media that’s designed to reduce latency and increase system and application performance. It's optimized for all-flash storage systems and is aimed at enterprise workloads that require low latency and top performance, such as real-time data analytics and high-performance relational databases.To read this article in full, please click here
It’s hard to remember a time when people thought Amazon was nuts for going into the cloud computing business, since it was so far removed from the company’s core ecommerce business. No one is laughing now.It seems history could repeat itself. According to an article in The Information, Amazon is rumored to be targeting a new industry, albeit one dominated by a giant player and multiple healthy competitors — the network switching business. The move would put it in direct competition with Cisco, HPE, Juniper Networks, and Arista.To read this article in full, please click here
Smartphones have become the primary Internet access vehicle for the majority of users across the globe thanks to a combination of favorable pricing for the devices and wireless service plans, Swiss-army-knife-style utility, and a continual increase in available applications.To read this article in full, please click here(Insider Story)
Tunnels for networking are not good. We see a real-life example taking place with the twelve Thai boys that were stuck at the end of a tunnel with a very narrow section under water preventing passage. The tunnel offered them only one way out, and the particular path was not passable. This is what happens in networks. We’re thankful for the heroic rescue of these brave boys, but networks don’t always fare as well.You will hear others speak about how a tunnel-based virtual network is the next amazing trend in networking. In fact, an analyst recently told me tunnels are great. And they are, when used for the purpose they were intended. But, using tunnels to get aggregates of packets to go where they wouldn’t go otherwise is dangerous, and will lead to the accumulation of technical debts.To read this article in full, please click here
An infrastructure design consideration that arguably frustrates users, and creates a never-ending headache for network administrators, is the quality of Wi-Fi service in a building. Typically, a poor user experience is one where users have either no signal on their wireless device or see “full bars” but cannot connect to the network.In an office environment poor Wi-Fi performance is undoubtedly an annoyance, but in a hospital, it could prevent medical staff from delivering care in a timely manner. Waiting for a mobile terminal to retrieve the medical history of a seriously ill patient can literally be a matter of life and death.Proper cabling is the foundation of Wi-Fi performance
Configuring a wireless access point system (AP) is a complex project and is not the subject of this post, although Aps or AP systems of course plays an important role in Wi-Fi network best practice. To provide network integrators with the best chances of success, the cabling infrastructure must be available to support optimal installation and placement of AP.To read this article in full, please click here
Most of us probably know how wonderful a tool Gimp is for editing images, but have you ever thought about manipulating image files on the command line? If not, let me introduce you to the convert command. It easily coverts files from one image format to another and allows you to perform many other image manipulation tasks as well -- and in a lot less time than it would take to make these changes uses desktop tools. Let's look at some simple examples of how you can make it work for you.Converting files by image type
Coverting an image from one format to another is extremely easy with the convert command. Just use a convert command like the one in this example:To read this article in full, please click here
The Internet of Things (IoT) is full of promises to transform everything from transportation to building maintenance to enterprise security. But no field may have more to gain than the healthcare industry. Healthcare providers and device makers are all looking to the IoT to revolutionize the gathering of healthcare data and the delivery of care itself.But while many of those benefits are already becoming reality, others are still on the drawing board. Two very different IoT healthcare stories crossed by desk this month — taken together they provide a surprisingly nuanced picture of healthcare IoT.[ For more on IoT, see tips for securing IoT on your network and our list of the most powerful internet of things companies. | Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ]
Smart bandages still in prototype
First, I was excited to hear about the development of advanced prototypes of “smart bandages.” Developed by researchers at Tufts University using flexible electronics, these smart bandages not only monitor the conditions of chronic skin wounds, but they also use a microprocessor to analyze that information to electronically deliver the right drugs to promote healing. By tracking temperature and pH of Continue reading
AEC companies (architecture, engineering, construction) often deal with large design files that need to be shared across multiple offices or job sites. During collaboration among remote teams, files may need to be locked for exclusive write permission to prevent inadvertent overwriting. When remotely accessing large number of files, the old method of VPN is deemed inefficient due to WAN bandwidth and latency challenges.Cloud storage solutions such as Dropbox are also inadequate to handle the amount of changed files and file locking requirements. A new category of storage solution has emerged to address this type of application and it’s called Hybrid Cloud File Services. The name implies that it uses a file system that spans across cloud and on premises. This is different from the Dropbox-like cloud-only file system.To read this article in full, please click here
A 75-mile, quantum-secured, high-speed fiber link has been built in the United Kingdom, the largest internet supplier there has said.Particles of light, known as photons, carry encryption keys over the same connection as data. Hijacking those photons within the link immediately notifies the system that the keys have become bad — the thief interfering with those keys alters them and then they can’t be used by the interceptor — and the traffic becomes garbled instantly.It’s “virtually un-hackable,” said Gavin Patterson, outgoing BT chief executive, announcing the link at Internet of Things World Europe that I attended in London last month.To read this article in full, please click here
AEC companies (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) often deal with large design files that need to be shared across multiple offices or job sites. During collaboration among remote teams, files may need to be locked for exclusive write permission to prevent inadvertent overwriting. When remotely accessing large number of files, the old method of VPN is deemed inefficient due to WAN bandwidth and latency challenges. Cloud storage solutions such as Dropbox are also inadequate to handle the amount of changed files and file locking requirements. A new category of storage solution has emerged to address this type of application and it’s called hybrid cloud file services. The name implies that it uses a file system that spans across cloud and on premises. This is different from the Dropbox-like cloud-only file system.To read this article in full, please click here
China’s Baidu made two big moves that are going to make it a major player in the artificial intelligence (AI) space: an extremely powerful new chip designed to compete with Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) and a wide-spanning alliance with Intel.First, the company introduced the Kunlun, a cloud-to-edge range of AI chips built to accommodate high-performance requirements of a wide variety of AI scenarios. The announcement was made at Baidu Create, a developer show that is starting to look an awful lot like Google I/O in terms of content and sessions.Kunlun leverages Baidu’s AI ecosystem, which includes AI scenarios such as search ranking and deep learning frameworks, including its open source deep learning framework called PaddlePaddle. Kunlun can be used in everything from autonomous vehicles to data centers.To read this article in full, please click here
Seasonal softness and a looming tariff dispute between China and the U.S. put a dampener on the chip market, and it only looks to be getting worse with China interfering in the business of a U.S. company.Last week, Micron Technology, the number four chip vendor, according to IHS Markit, said China is blocking sales of some of its memory products. While based in Boise, Idaho, and having a large fabrication plant there, Micron also makes a lot of products in China for the Chinese market. And Micron is currently in a legal battle with Taiwanese chip maker United Microelectronics over alleged patent violations in China.Last week, a Chinese court granted a preliminary injunction banning Micron subsidiaries in China from manufacturing or selling DRAM modules and NAND flash chips used in solid-state drives. The good news, according to Micron, is that the injunction covers only 1 percent of its revenue.To read this article in full, please click here
What keeps me awake at night is the thought of artificial intelligence lying in wait in the hands of bad actors. Artificial intelligence combined with the powers of IoT-based attacks will create an environment tapped for mayhem. It is easy to write about, but it is hard for security professionals to combat. AI has more force, severity, and fatality which can change the face of a network and application in seconds.When I think of the capabilities artificial intelligence has in the world of cybersecurity I know that unless we prepare well we will be like Bambi walking in the woods. The time is now to prepare for the unknown. Security professionals must examine the classical defense mechanisms in place to determine if they can withstand an attack based on artificial intelligence.To read this article in full, please click here
IT and business executives nearly always say data security is the No. 1 issue keeping them awake at night. The ramifications of a breach or attack loom large — whether it’s the potential of financial losses, brand damage, or loss of intellectual property.The concerns escalate when it comes to data stored in the cloud. As companies increasingly deploy either their own private clouds or a mix of private and public, they’re recognizing the need to pay greater attention to data protection. And with forecasts rising for the volume of data in cloud storage, it’s becoming a critical issue.To read this article in full, please click here
Server virtualization is one of those technologies that’s simple in concept and profound in its impact on enterprise data centers.What if, instead of running one operating system instance and one application per server, you could add a layer of software, known as a hypervisor, that enables you to run multiple operating system instances and associated workloads on a single physical server?[ See where SDN is going and learn the difference between SDN and NFV. | Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ]
That’s the idea behind server virtualization, and the idea dates back to IBM mainframes in the 1960s and was popularized by VMware, which introduced virtualization software for x86 servers in the early 2000s. Since then, other vendors have developed their own server-virtualization platforms and the industry as a whole has created advanced management, automation and orchestration tools that make deploying, moving and managing virtual machine (VM) workloads a breeze.To read this article in full, please click here