Data backup and records management vendor Iron Mountain has launched Iron Cloud, an enterprise-class cloud storage platform and services offering for data protection, preservation, restoration and recovery.The Iron Cloud hybrid data management system combines cloud storage with the ability to manage policies governing data access while migrating more and more data to the cloud, which can get expensive as storage and bandwidth costs accumulate.As more companies embrace cloud services, they are also getting hit with rude surprises, like the monthly bandwidth and storage bill. Then they have to deal with compliance regulation, especially firms in heavily regulated industries like healthcare and finance, and decide what can go into the cloud and what must stay on premises.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
This bias lighting strip, currently discounted by 74% on Amazon from $49.99 down to just $12.99, reduces eye-strain caused by differences in picture brightness from scene to scene in movies, shows and games, by adding a subtle backlight to your monitor or TV. The LED lights can be changed with up to 20 color selections customizing and setting the mood of your workspace. The strip is easy to install and can be cut to size and plugs directly in the USB port of the TV or monitor. Just Plug-and-play!To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Stream audio from your Bluetooth device to any non-Bluetooth enabled receiver, speaker, or car stereo with this adapter from Etekcity, which is currently discounted 61% down to just $19.58. Simply connect the receiver to your speaker system via a traditional RCA or 3.5mm aux audio input, and pair with your Bluetooth device. Its compact design makes it super portable, and its long lasting battery provides up to 10 hours of streaming before needing a re-charge. See this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Scouring the online IT forums, it’s hard not to get sucked-in to all the talk about how MPLS is too expensive and can easily be replaced with high-bandwidth, fiber Internet circuits and an IPsec VPN. If you currently have an MPLS network, it almost makes you want to throw a blanket over it and hope nobody notices your “antiquated” Wide Area Network. [blushing]The final straw was when you read how username Pauly-Packet-Loss just saved thousands by scrapping his company’s MPLS and it works great. [single tear rolls down your cheek]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
How much do you need to know about disks to successfully manage a Linux system? What commands do what? How do you make good decisions about partitioning? What kind of troubleshooting tools are available? What kind of problems might you run into? This article covers a lot of territory – from looking into the basics of a Linux file systems to sampling some very useful commands.Disk technology background
In the beginning days of Unix and later Linux, disks were physically large, but very small in terms of storage capacity. A 300 megabyte disk in the mid-90’s was the size of a shoebox. Today, you can get multi-terrabyte disks that are the size of a slice of toast.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If Akamai, Cisco and Google’s post-platform security and privacy machine learning security systems protecting the web and mobile platforms are indicative of the future, IoT device makers will only be part of a larger security ecosystem. That’s because they will not have the data to train the AI machine learning models. As a result, IoT post-platform security and privacy will become a layer on top of IoT device security. These five factors are why that will happen.1. Product developers underestimated IoT security
In their race to market, product developers building for new platforms will underestimate the security and privacy features that should be built into their products. In some cases, this will be an act of commission, but most will be an act of omission because it is difficult to anticipate the vulnerabilities until the products reach the market at scale. Windows and mobile devices experienced something similar. They have been hardened, but earlier in their evolution they were an easy target for cyber criminals.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Tracking storms and weather patterns accurately has become even more critical as weather records fall like bowling pins.What causes hurricanes? How are ocean temperatures monitored across thousands of square miles? What kinds of sensors are used? How is this data converted into actionable intelligence to save lives and protect property? What role does global warming have to play?We should all know this given the devastation from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.What causes hurricanes?
Hurricanes are severe storms with winds that rotate at 74 miles per hour or more around a central, low-pressure core. They result from weather disturbances that pull in warm surface air to interact with warm seawater. Hurricanes occur close to the equator where the seawater is hot enough to power the storms and the rotation of the Earth makes them spin.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It’s no longer necessary for enterprises to install dedicated Wi-Fi controllers in their data centers because that function can be distributed among access points or moved to the cloud, but it’s not for everybody.While the arrangement is often referred to as controllerless, that is a misnomer; there is still a control plane, it’s just not located in a dedicated device.The traditional data-center deployment of a controller really isn’t a strict necessity for enterprise WLAN use any more, according to Farpoint Group principal Craig Mathias,+RELATED: 5 Wi-Fi analyzer and survey apps for Android; The future of Wi-Fi: The best is yet to come+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Using the sky as a free heat sink could be a solution to an impending energy crunch caused by increased data use. More data generated in the future will require evermore electricity-intensive cooling — the data centers will be getting bigger.Researchers at Stanford University think they have a solution to cooling creep. They say the way to reel in the cost of getting buildings cold enough for all the servers is to augment land-based air conditioning by sending excess heat into space and chilling it there.+ Also on Network World: 9 tips to turn your data center green +
The scientists say cost savings will be in the order of 21 percent through a system they’ve been working on, and up to 70 percent, theoretically, by combining the kit with other, newer radiant systems, according to an article in IEEE Spectrum this week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Question: Remote users, IPsec VPN’s to other sites, Remote Desktop, VoIP, Cloud Apps… What do they all have in common?“Reasons why I keep Tums in my drawer?” … No.Answer: These are data center applications which might require your company to need a Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) circuit, instead of the average, cost-effective business Internet access types, like Fios, U-verse, business-class cable, and DSL.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In the world of technology, August is normally a fairly quiet month, and overall it was—but not in the realm of hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI).Around mid-August, Cisco finally announced the long overdue acquisition of Springpath, indicating it sees a strong potential upside in this market. Also in August, VMware held its annual user event, VMworld, and at the event it and its closest technology partner, Dell EMC, made a significant amount of news in the area of HCI. Historically, HCI has been used for desktop virtualization, but recently the uses cases have expanded into other business critical areas. And last week, Dell EMC and VMware announced new joint solutions. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Internet of Things – a vast network of connected microdevices, sensors, and small computers generating vast amounts of data – is all around us. In fact, it's hard to find an industry that remains untouched by IoT.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Ensuring cybersecurity for computers and mobile phones is a huge, complex business. The ever-widening scope and unbelievable variety of threats makes keeping these devices safe from cyber criminals and malware a full-time challenge for companies, governments and individuals around the world.But at least the vast majority of those devices are easily accessible, safe in the pockets or sitting on the desktops of the very people who want to protect them. The Internet of Things (IoT) devices that need protection, on the other hand, could be almost anywhere: sitting in a remote desert, buried deep in coal mine, built into a giant truck. Or, even implanted inside the human body.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
After years of struggle and fading recognition, it seems the end is finally here for Solaris and Sparc, the Unix operating system and RISC processor designed and championed by Sun Microsystems and inherited by Oracle in 2010.In a move that will win it no PR points, Oracle sent out recorded telephone messages to employees who were let go on the Friday before the Labor Day weekend. Yes, firing by voice mail. Classy.The exact number is being debated, but talk on one message board puts it at 2,500. That’s both Solaris and Sparc engineers. The workers affected are primarily in the Santa Clara area, in a former Sun office not even a mile from Intel’s headquarters, but they are in three other states and India as well. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It’s an interesting paradox: the more connected the car, the less connected the driver.As a gearhead, that frightens me. I’ve always gravitated toward muscle cars, both new and old, because I like to feel connected to the car. I like the feeling of being pushed back in the seat when I press the long, skinny pedal. I love the experience of going through the gears and the throaty roar of a finely-tuned V8, like the one in my “TrackPack” optioned Mustang GT.But as a techie, I also appreciate connected and autonomous cars – so long as they don’t look like inflated characters from classic video game, Dig Dug.You Googlers know exactly what I mean!To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Newsflash: Someone just found a viable use case for the Apple Watch. Too bad it turned out to be cheating at baseball!Wearable technology such as fitness trackers and smart watches have long been seen as aids for athletes to improve their performance and help them win. And that’s great. But now that the Boston Red Sox have been caught red handed using Apple Watches to communicate and transfer signs stolen from the Yankees, it seems there may also be an unanticipated dark side to the Internet of Things (IoT) in sports.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A survey of technology decision-makers at mid- to large-scale enterprises found that IoT adoption is coming to the vast majority of businesses within the next two years, but many of those businesses aren’t yet ready to cope with the change.A major part of the problem is a perceived skills gap. Of the 500 IoT-involved technology pros surveyed, just 20% said that they “had all the skills they needed” to successfully implement their organization’s planned IoT projects.The other four out of five respondents to the survey conducted by Vanson Bourne and backed by UK-based satellite communications company Inmarsat said that they had some degree of need for additional IoT skills.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If you’re looking for a free Linux Server that gives you access to the latest Linux features as they become available without waiting for a major version release, then Fedora Server 26 could be for you.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Oracle Linux has been around for more than 10 years, but has been gaining market share and the company says it has over 14,000 customers world-wide.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is a multi-purpose server that has long been popular with Internet Service Providers for various Web-based workloads, but it’s well suited for enterprises as well, and even small businesses.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)