SD-WAN deployments show the power of software-defined networking and virtualization to improve bandwidth efficiency and deliver application performance, and now this software-centric approach is being applied to the unique requirements of branch offices.Known as SD-Branch, this next step in the evolution of branch technology can be defined as a single hardware platform that supports SD-WAN, routing, integrated security and LAN/Wi-Fi functions that can all be managed centrally.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: After virtualization and cloud, what’s left on premises?; Windows Server in the cloud: Can you, should you, and with which provider?; SD-WAN: What is it and why you’ll use it one day+To read this article in full, please click here
Understanding how applications perform has been somewhat of a mystery for IT departments since the advent of networked applications.The reason why it’s been so hard is that traditional management tools operate in a bottoms-up manner. That is, each infrastructure component is monitored, usually with its own management tool, and then the data is rolled up to some kind of manager of managers. Application performance management is inferred by trying to correlate the information manually. The problem is today there is far too much data to be analyzed using manual processes.Also on Network World: Manage user performance, not the network, with machine learning-based tools
Nyansa takes a different approach. It provides a top-down view of the infrastructure, so application performance can be determined through the lens of the user instead of the infrastructure. Its Voyance product can be thought of as actual user performance management instead of traditional application performance management. Voyance uses machine language to interpret the massive amounts of data collected at the access edge, including wireless infrastructure.To read this article in full, please click here
If it weren’t for wide-area networks it wouldn’t be possible to create unified networks for organizations with far-flung locations, to telecommute, or to do online anything. But WANs do exist and have for decades, constantly evolving to carry more and more traffic faster as demands increase and technology becomes more powerful.What is a WAN?
A WAN is a network that uses various links – private lines, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), virtual private networks (VPNs), wireless (cellular), the Internet – to connect smaller metropolitan and campus networks in diverse locations into a single, distributed network. The sites they connect could be a few miles apart or halfway around the globe. In an enterprise, the purposes of a WAN could include connecting branch offices or even individual remote workers with headquarters or the data center, in order to share corporate resources and communications.To read this article in full, please click here
As we swerve onto the runway in 2018, IT leaders are finding themselves under increased pressure to ensure security, high availability and disaster recovery for the applications and systems under their care. The results of several surveys underscore the concerns of nearly 6,000 IT professionals around the globe.These surveys, conducted in 2017 by Vision Solutions, now part of Syncsort, collected responses from 5,632 professionals to determine their key business continuity concerns and their strategies for addressing high-profile hacking attacks, data breaches, disruptive natural disasters and escalating storage and data accessibility needs. The results highlight their areas of greatest concern and the key initiatives they are putting into place for moving forward.To read this article in full, please click here
Companies today face incredible challenges around compliance, security and analytics, as their data lakes fill with invaluable information from ever more sensors. And tomorrow’s challenges will be no easier. As the digital age expands to cover all facets of our lives, more and more computing power will be necessary to process all of the data created.Take the explosion of Internet of Things (IoT) as an example. We have only sampled the benefits that the IoT can provide. In the words of Dan Mitchell, a retail analytics industry expert with SAS, IoT can be fundamentally described as “a network of connected physical objects embedded with sensors. IoT allows these devices to communicate, analyze, and share data about the physical world around us via networks and cloud-based software platforms.”To read this article in full, please click here
Intel and Micron earlier this week announced an end to their long-term joint development partnership for 3D NAND memory. What does this mean for buyers of Intel SSDs? Turns out, not much — if anything.On the surface, it looks like a blow to Intel — which makes chips, not memory — but in fact, it has that base covered. Intel has a 300-mm fab in Dalian, China, that it began to convert to produce 3D NAND flash memory in 2015. With Dalian online, Intel simply didn’t need Micron any more.Intel and Micron will still partner on other things
This is hardly a split between the two. The companies will complete development of their third-generation of 3D NAND flash technology, which will be delivered toward the end of this year.To read this article in full, please click here
Once every few decades, we experience a broad shift in how people interact with computers. Think about it. How long have you been relying on your mouse to click on the things you want to interact with? In many ways, the typical user interfaces model hasn’t changed much since 1984 but we’re finally in the midst of a major new shift.What I’m calling the fourth-gen user interface has arrived, and it will create a truly dramatic shift for users over the next few years. These new interfaces will leverage technologies like ubiquitous connected devices, location-based services, speech recognition, computer vision, biometrics and even augmented reality (AR). This isn’t your dad’s computing environment.To read this article in full, please click here
Innovators who make their living pioneering the ever-expanding internet of things always have their eyes open to detect trends and flaws before they ever surface in the mainstream. In today’s rapidly changing age, however, few innovators or tech investors have given sufficient attention to the question of the future of transistors as they relate to the IoT, and only the savviest, most forward-thinking analyst are beginning to understand that we need to rethink transistors entirely.So, what forthcoming changes to the IoT necessitate that we review the fundamental building block of modern electronics, on the back of which we’ve built a digital empire that spans the globe? A review of forthcoming changes to energy consumption show that transistors stand to yet again revolutionize how we work, socialize, and play – and that a failure to rethink them now could seriously cost us in the future.To read this article in full, please click here
If you're a tax time do-it-yourselfer, this is a deal that will save you money, and potentially make you some money as well.H&R Block's popular tax software is fully updated for 2018 and designed to make your 2017 tax prep easier and more convenient. Step-by-step interviews guide you through a customized experience relevant to your tax situation, so you know everything is accounted for. This version contains everything you need to prepare your federal and state taxes in one complete program, and everything can be handled electronically (including the PC or Mac software download). Right now the tax software's price is reduced 25% on Amazon to $33.74.To read this article in full, please click here
Startup Vexata is tackling a vexing problem: how to eliminate input-output bottlenecks in storage fabrics without requiring customers to rearchitect their IT infrastructures.“If you look at the world today, all these IoT environments with [machine learning] and AI ecosystems, where the desire is mass volumes of data that need to be accessed with very high throughputs, at super low latencies and massive scale – how do you do this economically? How do you do it simplistically so that operationally those applications become a reality?” says Ashish Gupta, Vexata’s chief marketing officer. Vexata’s storage software platform “is designed to address this emerging application ecosystem problem.”To read this article in full, please click here
If we could go back in time and start using public cloud in 2009, we’d probably be better off today. The AWS beta started in 2006 and was entirely API-driven, without either a console or a command line interface to make interacting with the service easier than what we know so well now. Three years later, it was more mature. Early adopters started to solve real problems with it, padding their resumes and bringing value to their organizations in ways that seemed impossible before.Serverless computing in 2018 is about where cloud computing was in 2009. But what exactly does serverless mean, and what are some easy ways to get started with it?Function-as-a-Service: making serverless architectures possible
As cool as the technology is, serverless computing is a terrible name because (spoiler alert) there are, in fact, servers under the hood. The name comes from the idea that developers don’t have to worry about the server, or even a container, as a unit of compute any more as public cloud services like AWS Lambda, IBM OpenWhisk, Google Cloud Functions and Azure Functions handle the details.To read this article in full, please click here
If you thought storage was trending towards solid-state mediums and that magnetic drives were edging out, you may want to pause a moment. A slew of scientific breakthroughs in magnetism as it relates to storage and computing were announced last year.The multiple Eureka moments could change how we compute and perform Internet of Things and might, in one case, introduce magnet-driven neural networks — which is computing that mimics how the brain processes things.3D magnets
First on the list was last November's announcement of the invention of 3D nano-magnets that shift data transfers from traditional two dimensions to three dimensions. This kind of add-on could significantly increase storage and processing functions, say its inventors at the University of Cambridge in an article published by Sinc.To read this article in full, please click here
This week the gadget industry descends up on Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). And as in the previous few years, 2018’s CES is chock-full of smart devices of every stripe. Some seem very cool, others unutterably silly, and a tiny percentage might be actually useful. A few will find market success, and many more will never actually hit the market at all.In addition to all the new product previews, this year’s CES is full of summits, seminars, presentations and other sessions devoted to helping consumer products companies make, sell, deploy and monetize everything from smart cars and smart homes to smart cities.To read this article in full, please click here
For those of us intrigued by telepresence technology, the new BeamPro 2 might be what Santa should have left under our trees — except, well, that it wouldn’t have fit. But on other scales, the release of this new and improved device promises more realistic visits with colleagues, customers, patients, and others with respect to video, audio and maneuverability.Available this summer, the BeamPro 2 provides better face-to-face interactions with its enlarged multi-touch display and vertical screen height adjustment. It has been engineered to move more easily around crowded spaces with its wide-angle cameras and additional sensors for detecting obstacles. It also provides improved audio and video.To read this article in full, please click here
Cisco’s CEO, Chuck Robbins, is a busy guy. I never see him not talking to a customer, partner, employee, analyst or some other person in the company’s ecosystem. Over the holiday break, I hope he took the time to put his feet up, light a cigar and reflect on what’s happened to the company he is leading over the past two years.If we roll the clock back to Jan. 1, 2016, the stock was at $23.79, which was the lowest price point since April of 2014, and many Cisco investors were skeptical of Cisco’s future prospects.Read also: Cisco CEO Robbins: Wait til you see what’s in our innovation pipeline
A hefty amount of my business comes from my interactions with Wall Street, and two years ago, very few wanted to talk about Cisco. There were far more bears than bulls, and the feeling was that the cloud, software-defined networking (SDN) and other trends would slowly eat away at Cisco and it would go the way of Lucent, Nortel and so many other companies that were too stubborn to change their business models.To read this article in full, please click here
As the new year roars into its full swing, innovators everywhere are beginning to ask themselves what technological advancements 2018 may have in store that could change the faces of our societies forever. Increasingly, tech analyst and investors eager to find and back the next big thing are looking to advancements in wireless capabilities, with many believing it to be the key to the future of our infrastructure.So how will wireless technology impact advanced metering infrastructure as we know it today, and what will the smart grids and smart cities of tomorrow look like thanks to this tech? A quick dive into recent advancements shows that a wireless world is just around the corner.To read this article in full, please click here
As the fallout continues over the Meltdown and Spectre exploits in Intel and now some ARM processors, the issue of what to do about it is coming front and center. Clearly there is no fixing a silicon problem; Intel will have to adjust future chips to deal with it. So, for now, we have the software fixes.Linux distros are rolling out fixes, and Microsoft has issue patches for Windows — although the threat to consumers is minimal. Apple has also issued a macOS fix.To read this article in full, please click here
It’s only the beginning of 2018, but the Internet of Things (IoT) has already once again seized the media and the market’s attention spans. Tech investors, aspiring entrepreneurs, and avid consumers of digital gadgets and software are wondering what the new year has in store for the IoT, and the smartest amongst them are beginning to ask questions.Perhaps the number one question that’s plaguing the mind of IoT onlookers is how to discern broader IoT trends from industry-specific ones, and few have more questions than those betting on the future of industrial IoT. So, what are the key differences between the IoT and Industrial IoT in particular, and what common myths should you be aware of?To read this article in full, please click here
The telecom industry is racing toward a software-defined networking (SDN) world, but needs to go beyond traditional cooperation on standards to actually sharing software code, in order to keep pace with innovation.Telecom companies have always cooperated in development of standards. It’s essential for interoperability – otherwise each company’s customers would only be able to interact with its other customers. But there’s a difference between agreeing on standards and sharing software.“The telecommunications space has conventionally used proprietary hardware and software to deploy solutions from various vendors,” writes RCR Wireless staffer Nathan Cranford. “Using multiple vendors enabled telecom operators to open source some network functions, but not to the extent usually fastened to open source software.” But, he contends, “Open source software is indispensable to a faster, more malleable communications network.”To read this article in full, please click here
VMware's vSAN (virtual SAN) architecture is designed to be a significant step into software-defined-computing, where the vSAN component is responsible for providing software-defined storage.Previously, systems architecture was one server containing its own compute, operating system, networking and storage. Virtualization abstracted this so that more than one OS could run per server, if still bound by captive network functionality, and storage.+See our review of vSAN 6.6+What is hyper-convergence?
Hyper-convergence is the ability to abstract all of the components, be it the OS, storage, the network relationships a system has, and so forth. It’s the foundation of the software-defined-datacenter, distributed yet converged into a workload unit.To read this article in full, please click here