Doctors - particularly the ones that work in emergency rooms – need to have strong stomachs and level heads, since they see illness and injury at their most serious. Violence, accidents and serious diseases are all a matter of routine in the ER.Dr. Christian Dameff is a faculty member at UC San Diego’s medical school, has seen all of that and more, since he’s also a white-hat hacker and expert in medical IoT security. He warned the audience on Thursday at the Security of Things USA convention in San Diego that the state of that security is, frankly, alarming.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Windows Server in the cloud: Can you, should you, and with which provider? + HPE gives up the battle for tier 1 data center customersTo read this article in full, please click here
SD-WAN with its benefits of improved bandwidth economics, application prioritization, and centralized management, is rapidly reshaping the branch network architecture.SD-WAN technologies are becoming mainstream as distributed organizations experience the benefits of plentiful internet bandwidth, prioritized access to critical applications, and the ease of centralized management. Leading IT organizations are deploying SD-WAN solutions with software-based routing and displacing traditional branch router architectures. Over time, Doyle Research expects significant disruption of the branch router market with SD-WAN becoming the primary platform.To read this article in full, please click here
If you’ve researched purchasing an SD-WAN solution from an ISP, there’s a good chance it’s not your ISP who is providing the actual SD-WAN service. [say what?!]Way back in 2016… the demand for SD-WAN emerged so furiously, ISP’s have had to make a quick decision: 1) roll-out a solution immediately; or 2) get tabbed as an old rickety out-of-date ISP. Consequently, rather than building their own solution (a lengthy process), most ISP’s have decided to take the easy route and white label someone else’s vetted product.Many of these ISP’s have chosen VeloCloud to be the SD-WAN solution under the hood.To read this article in full, please click here
HPE and Rackspace have partnered to offer pay-as-you-go services similar to the public cloud but located in private data centers. The OpenStack-based services can have the systems installed in users' own data centers, in a colocation facility, or in Rackspace’s data centers.The move is meant to counter the growing popularity of public cloud services where you pay as you go rather than make the up-front massive investment and then have to maintain and eventually dispose of the systems when they are old.Also on Network World: 6 steps for a future-ready cloud storage strategy
And in case you haven’t noticed, this idea is gaining traction. Microsoft offers Azure Stack, which puts Azure in your private data center, Oracle has Cloud at Customer, and Google and Cisco plan to bring Google Cloud Platform to on-premises users in the near future.To read this article in full, please click here
In separate announcements, Microsoft Corp. and Daimler indicated that hydrogen fuel cells could provide significantly better energy solutions for data centers than existing electrical grid and backup power technology.Daimler, best known for its Mercedes-Benz automobile brand, presented this week its latest-generation fuel cell technology, which is 30 percent smaller, has 40 percent more power and is small enough to fit into the engine compartment of Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles. The company plans to expand the use of that technology in a hydrogen-powered data center power plant, collaborating with HPE, Power Innovations (PI) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).To read this article in full, please click here
With August Smart Lock Pro, you can lock and unlock your door, control keyless access, and keep track of who comes and goes, all from your phone. The 24/7 activity log means you’re always in the know. With your phone in your pocket, simply open the door and you’re in your home. Heading out? August Smart Lock Pro will also automatically lock the door behind you after you leave. The smart lock currently averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon, where the list price on the Lock and Connect Bundle has been reduced 11% to $249.99. See this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full, please click here
What’s in store for the Internet of Things (IoT) in 2018? That’s the question on many people’s minds in the fast-growing IoT industry. One set of answers can be found in a new report from Forrester, called Predictions 2018: IoT Moves From Experimentation To Business Scale. According to Forrester and published reports last week, that journey means many things, but apart from the usual superheated speculation about IoT’s incredible growth and increasing impact, here’s what I think is most interesting. To read this article in full, please click here
After years of watching its presence shrink on the Top 500 supercomputer list, AMD is battling back with a new set of EPYC-based server processors and specially-tuned GPUs for high-performance computing (HPC) in a complete server system.The company and its partners announced new servers with the EPYC 7601 processor, which it claims is three times more performance-efficient than Intel’s best Xeon server processors, the Xeon Platinum 8180M1, as measured by SPECfp[i] benchmark. The news came at the Supercomputing ’17 show taking place in Denver.Target workloads for AMD solutions include machine learning, weather modeling, computational fluid dynamics, simulation and crash analysis in aviation and automotive manufacturing, and oil and gas exploration, according to the company.To read this article in full, please click here
As the Internet of Things continues to grow, delving further into every corner of our markets and societies, the ability to secure it from malevolent attackers and massive data-breaches will become more vital towards its survival. Today’s IoT security landscape is a confused mess, with vulnerabilities running rampant and paltry little being done to make it more secure. So how can IoT experts and tech enthusiast alike contribute to a safer IoT?The answer lies in patchable software. By embracing more industry standards and fostering the greater implementation of patchable software, IoT enthusiast can ensure that this much-beloved connectivity phenomenon lives on to serve us for years to come.To read this article in full, please click here
Its application might be a tough concept to grasp, but the idea of multi-cloud computing is a simple one. It’s the choice of a business to distribute its assets, redundancies, software, applications and anything it deems worthy not on one cloud-hosting environment, but rather across several. At its surface, this concept might seem to be rubbing against the grain a bit. For security purposes alone, having all your company’s proverbial eggs in one basket appears the best way to keep your information from suffering leakage. Plus, many cloud-hosting companies will offer perks and discounts when your company use their services in totality. However, the model of using multiple cloud services to house your business’s functions and features has an impressive list of advantages that can provide security, flexibility, cost-effectiveness and more to increase your business’s efficiency and ensure it stays up and running 24 hours a day. To read this article in full, please click here
Over the past decade, network management tools have evolved from being fault based to performance based. This has become a critical element in running infrastructure because faults don’t matter as much.That might seem like a strange thing to say, but consider the fact that critical infrastructure such as switches, routers, Wi-Fi access points and servers are deployed in a way to protect against outages. Infrastructure is built so redundantly today that any hardware device can go down and its likely no one will notice.Also on Network World: 7 must-have network tools
A bigger problem is managing user performance. Often users calling about a certain application not working well, but when the engineer looks at the dashboard, everything is green. Performance problems are much harder to diagnose and can kill employee productivity. To read this article in full, please click here
The sudoers file can provide detailed control over user privileges, but with very little effort, you can still get a lot of benefit from sudo. In this post, we're going to look at some simple ways to get a lot of value out of the sudo command in Linux.Trick 1: Nearly effortless sudo usage
The default file on most Linux distributions makes it very simple to give select users the ability to run commands as root. In fact, you don’t even have to edit the /etc/sudoers file in any way to get started. Instead, you just add the users to the sudo or admin group on the system and you’re done.Adding users to the sudo or admin group in the /etc/group file gives them permission to run commands using sudo.To read this article in full, please click here
Supercomputing is becoming super-efficient. The highest climber in the latest Top500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers is also one of the highest scorers on the Green500 ranking of the world's most efficient.But the November 2017 edition of the Top500 and Green500 is also remarkable in other ways, as it marks a tipping point in U.S. dominance of the list.[ See these top supercomputers at our slideshow 10 of the world’s fastest supercomputers. ]Chinese systems now outnumber U.S. systems on the list by 202 to 144, a reversal of the situation just six months ago, when the U.S. had 169 systems in the Top500 vs China's 160. It will still be a long while before third-placed Japan overtakes the U.S.: It has 35 systems in the list, followed by Germany with 20, France with 18, and the UK with 15.To read this article in full, please click here
It’s heartbreaking. Gun violence kills 93 Americans every day while politicians send their thoughts and prayers. 2017 has seen two of the deadliest mass shootings in American history.How can technology help reduce mass shootings? How can shooters be authenticated before they can fire? How can the police be alerted when a large number of firearms are present at an unusual location? Can an excessive number of shots fired be prevented?Background
Americans make up about 4.4 percent of the global population but own 42 percent of the world’s guns. And approximately one in three gunmen is American according to a study by Adam Lankford, a professor at the University of Alabama. Firearms are an $11 billion per year industry with over 300 million existing guns in circulation. About 40% of Americans say they own a gun or live in a household with one. A recent survey reports that the US has the highest rate of murder by firearms in the developed world. Mass shootings cost Americans over $229 billion per year.To read this article in full, please click here
When Cisco announced its intent-based networking (IBN) strategy this summer, CEO Chuck Robbins called it the company’s biggest announcement in years.To read this article in full, please click here(Insider Story)
Few things are drawing as much attention in today’s markets and society alike as the Internet of Things. Almost entirely unknown to the public but a few years ago, today’s IoT is continuously reshaping our lives, changing how we communicate, do business, and share our ideas. Given that few businesses seem to know where to begin when it comes to leveraging the IoT for continuous improvements to their commercial models, then, what steps should managers be taking today to improve their future?A quick review of the IoT’s positive impact on business efficacy shows just how vital it is for corporate CEOs and small business owners alike to get moving immediately when it comes to IoT investment. It’s a brave new interconnected world out there, and those who don’t learn how to manipulate the IoT for their own success will quickly find themselves left in the dust.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The view of the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) as billions of sensors connected into intelligent systems distracts from its true role: digital transformation. The gargantuan task and investment of making all these connections, reliably and securely, is pointless unless there is a solid business reason — and there are two very good ones.2 reasons manufacturers invest in IoT
The first reason big companies invest in IoT is they are worried about being digitally disrupted by a Tesla, Uber, or the next AirBnb in their industries — disrupt or be disrupted.The second reason: a company’s slowing growth and the need for increased productivity. BCG’s Olivier Scalabre explained that driver during a 2016 Ted talk.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Be it a lightning strike that destroys a home entertainment center or consistently fluctuating power that degrades the performance and shortens the life of your electronics – surges, lightning, and other power disturbances can have a devastating impact on the valuable electronics you rely on every day. The P11U2 from APC offers guaranteed surge protection. Connect and protect up to 11 electronics, and conveniently charge your mobile devices via 2 additional USB ports. Installation is convenient and easy with a 180-degree rotating power cord and right-angle plug. Lastly, three LED indicators inform you if there is any overload, unit, or wall wiring issues. The P11U2 averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1,800 people on Amazon (read reviews), where its typical list price of $34.25 is discounted 15% to $28.99. See this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It’s been over a year since AT&T introduced its FlexWare offering. It was positioned as the next big thing in enterprise networking, and in the intervening months, AT&T has rolled out a number of important virtual network functions (VNFs) that run on its x86-based FlexWare devices.Those VNFs essentially replace proprietary boxes that historically have been costly to operate and replace in terms of time and money.Light Reading’s Carol Wilson said that AT&T’s venture into “white box services” is “a clear signal to traditional telecom suppliers that the gig’s up on closed system sales.” That’s cheery news to enterprises that have long chafed over the relative inflexibility of on-site equipment solutions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For a very long time, IT professionals have made storage investments based on a few key metrics – how fast data can be written to a storage media, and how fast it can be read back when an application needs that information, and of course, the reliability and cost of that system. The critical importance of storage performance led us all to fixate on latency and how to minimize it through intelligent architectures and new technologies.Given the popularity of flash memory in storage, the significance of latency is not about to fade away, but a number of other metrics are rapidly rising in importance to IT teams. Yes, cost has always been a factor in choosing a storage investment, but with Cloud and object storage gaining popularity, the price of storage per GB is more than a function of speed and capacity, but also the opportunity cost of having to power and manage that resource. When evaluating whether to archive data on premises, or to send it offsite, IT professionals are now looking at a much wider definition of overall cost.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here