With ransomware attacks growing in frequency and little being done to stop them, IBM is well-timed with its anti-ransomware Safeguarded Copy for its FlashSystems and on-premises storage-as-a-serivce offerings.Safeguarded Copy is part of the IBM FlashSystem family of all-flash storage arrays, and it automatically creates immutable snapshots of date and stores them securely—meaning they cannot be accessed or altered by unauthorized users, the company says. Read about backup and recovery: Backup vs. archive: Why it’s important to know the difference How to pick an off-site data-backup method Tape vs. disk storage: Why isn’t tape dead yet? The correct levels of backup save time, bandwidth, space Safeguarded Copy is based on technology from IBM’s DS8000 mainframe storage array, which does the same thing as described above: it creates immutable copies of data that can be used to restore damaged original data volumes or build new and uncorrupted volumes.To read this article in full, please click here
Network-attached storage (NAS) is a category of file-level storage that’s connected to a network and enables data access and file sharing across a heterogeneous client and server environment.“Ideally, NAS is platform- and OS-independent, appears to any application as another server, can be brought online without shutting down the network and requires no changes to other enterprise servers,” says research firm Gartner in its definition of NAS. Be sure not to miss: What is a SAN and how does it differ from NAS? Pros and cons of hyperconvergence as a service NVMe over Fabrics creates data-center storage disruption Serverless computing: Ready or not? NAS history: evolution of network-attached storage NAS evolved from file servers used in the 1980s to provide access to files for network clients. NAS devices typically consist of bundled hardware and software with a built-in operating system, and they typically use industry-standard network protocols such as SMB and NFS for remote file service and data sharing and TCP/IP for data transfer. In an enterprise setting, NAS can allow IT teams to streamline data storage and retrieval while consolidating their server and storage infrastructure.To read this article in full, please click here
Despite the inarguable advantages of operating Wi-Fi in the 6GHz frequency range, analysts say that the smart time to buy Wi-Fi 6E is whenever an organization would ordinarily make an upgrade – and not before.Wi-Fi 6E is mostly identical to Wi-Fi 6, but the key difference is the 6E standard’s ability to take advantage of the 6GHz spectrum that was made available for unlicensed use by the U.S. last year. It’s a great deal of new bandwidth, enabling larger channels and consequently higher data rates, as well as being a much less busy area of the spectrum compared to the heavily used 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.To read this article in full, please click here
(Enterprise Management Associates has published research called “Post-Pandemic Networking: Enabling the Work-From-Anywhere Enterprise,” a survey of 312 network-infrastructure and operations professionals that finds nearly all of them are budgeting for monitoring tools to better support users working from home. This article by EMA Vice President of Research Networking Shamus McGillicuddy details the major findings.)Network managers will need to update their network monitoring and troubleshooting tools to support the huge increase in end users who will continue to work from home even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.To read this article in full, please click here
The CCNA, which stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate, is Cisco's foundational certification for networking professionals.The CCNA is a commonly required prerequisite for associate-level networking jobs such as network engineer, network administrator, network support technician or help desk technician. There used to be 10 CCNA concentrations, specific to cloud, collaboration, security, data centers, wireless, and other areas. Then, in February of 2020, Cisco combined all of its foundational networking certifications into one comprehensive CCNA certification.To read this article in full, please click here
OK, let's say you're a CIO who's promoted hybrid cloud computing in your company. Then along came all these news stories that call into question the whole notion of cloud economies. Do you send some covert IT team to block the news from the CFO's computer, or do you deal with it? Hopefully, the latter.I've examined audits of over four-dozen cloud projects, and the good news is that most cloud applications make the business case. The bad news is that a lot, a worrisome lot, don’t. If you want yours to succeed, there are some strategies that will help, in the form of five “forgets” and four “remembers”.To read this article in full, please click here
If you're curious about how many packages are installed on your Fedora system or how you can check on them, you might be surprised at how much information you have at your fingertips. With just a few commands, you can find out just about anything you might want know about packages and the repositories they came from.What is a package? To get started, a Linux package is simply a collection of files that performs some particular tasks. For example, the popular image-editing program GIMP is installed as a package, and it includes all of the files that you need to do some impressive image editing. You can easily ask if GIMP is installed with a command like this:To read this article in full, please click here
Prior to the pandemic, SD-WAN was primarily a niche technology pitched to enterprises as a way to cut costs and improve WAN flexibility by allowing traffic to burst directly from the branch office to the Internet, rather than backhauling it over expensive MPLS links to a central site. SD-WAN resources What is SD-WAN and what does it mean for networking, security, cloud? 10 SD-WAN features you're probably not using but should be SD-WAN may be the key to smart network services SD-WAN and analytics: A marriage made for the new normal Native SD-WAN monitoring tools are not enough, survey says Today, SD-WAN has emerged as a key enabler of the post-COVID enterprise in which mission critical applications live in multiple clouds, employees connect and collaborate from everywhere, and remote access to applications like Office 365, Salesforce and Zoom must be fast, secure, reliable, optimized, and automated for maximum business productivity and end user satisfaction.To read this article in full, please click here
The day is coming when enterprise IT professionals will be able to order network infrastructure components from a menu of options, have them designed to fit their business needs, and have the whole thing delivered and running in perhaps hours.The concept is called Network as a Service (NaaS), and it has been around in a number of different forms for a few years, mostly in the service provider arena. Read more about NaaS: NaaS is the future, but it's got challenges Cisco takes its first steps toward network-as-a-service The 10 most powerful companies in enterprise networking How to avoid the network-as-a-service shell game For enterprises, the as-a-service concept took hold as companies started to embrace cloud computing and its model of consumption-based capacity. In the infrastructure space, for example, more than 75% of infrastructure in edge locations and up to 50% of data-center infrastructure will be consumed in the as-a-service model by 2024, according to research firm IDC.To read this article in full, please click here
Linux systems generally start out with a large number of fonts available, especially once you've installed LibreOffice. Even so, you might find yourself craving some highly distinctive or unusual fonts to add a special tone to some of your projects. If so, you're in luck. You're likely to find many thousands of free fonts available online – bold, italic, calligraphy, modern, script, hand lettering, cursive, brush lettering, symbolic and more.Here's a small sampling of popular sites that provide free fonts for easy downloading: dafont.com fontzone.net fonts.google.com fontspace.com You can also type "free fonts" into your favorite search engine. Expect to see a huge number of responses. Keep in mind that not all fonts are free, but plenty of free fonts are available, and they're easy to view, download and install.To read this article in full, please click here
(Editor’s note: EMA has published “Revolutionizing Network Management with AIOps,” a report based on a survey of 309 network infrastructure and operations professionals who have experience with applying AIOps to network management. This article by EMA Vice President of Research Networking Shamus McGillicuddy further details the results of that report.)Enterprise network infrastructure and operations teams are increasingly recognizing the value of applying AIOps to network management, according to new market research from Enterprise Management Associates (EMA).To read this article in full, please click here
By now you’ve heard about the kerfuffle surrounding Windows 11 and its requirement for a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, which is not standard on the majority of PCs and threatens to leave many newer Windows 10 PCs blocked from being upgraded.Normally the issues around a new version of Windows are system requirements, but here, the issue is the TPM chip. TPM is a specially designed chip that assists with security surrounding credentials. It ensures that boot code that’s loaded, such as firmware and OS components, haven’t been tampered with. It can also encrypt the drive contents to protect against theft. Microsoft is mandating that systems have TPM based on 2.0 specifications but few PCs do. Those that do ship with it have it turned off by default but it is easily activated.To read this article in full, please click here
If your computing environment is subject to a large ransomware attack, you will most certainly be enacting your disaster recovery (DR) plan. But before you begin restoring systems, you must first ensure you have stopped the infection, identified it, and removed it. Jumping too quickly to the restore phase could actually make things worse. To understand why this is the case, it’s important to understand how ransomware works.How ransomware spreads in your environment There are many articles such as this one that describe what ransomware does, but it’s important to emphasize that the goal of ransomware is rarely to infect just one system. Modern ransomware variants will immediately attempt to identify and execute various operating system vulnerabilities to gain administrative access and spread to the rest of your LAN. The attack will be coordinated via command-and-control (C&C) servers, and contacting these servers for instructions is the first thing that every ransomware variant does. They key in responding to an active ransomware attack is stopping further communications with C&C servers, as well as further communications between infected systems and the rest of your network.To read this article in full, please click here
Everyone knows that backups are important, but most of us tend to think of backups solely as the process of backing up our data files -- not necessarily our applications, our passwords or our computers. And, when we run into a serious problem that threatens our ability to get our work done, it just might be time to rethink what "backing up" should involve.Even if you have more than one computer at your disposal, it could easily be that only one of them is ready to help you with passwords you rarely use, provide access to your cloud backups, allow you to connect to the VPN you use for special projects, probe your network for problems or offer you a way to log into remote systems.To read this article in full, please click here
If your enterprise has a website (and one certainly would hope so in 2021!), it also has subdomains. These prefixes of your organization’s main domain name are essential for putting structural order to the content and services on your website, thus preventing online visitors from instantly fleeing in terror, disdain, or confusion.Large enterprises can have thousands of subdomains. IBM, for example, has roughly 60,000 subdomains, while Walmart.com has “only” 2,132 subdomains.What is DNS and how it works Whatever value subdomains bring to enterprises--and they bring plenty--they present more targets for bad actors. Why, just last year the subdomains of Chevron, 3M, Warner Brothers, Honeywell, and many other large organizations were hijacked by hackers who redirected visitors to sites featuring porn, malware, online gambling, and other activities of questionable propriety.To read this article in full, please click here
If you’re an enterprise CIO, CFO, or network operations type, you’ve probably been reading about how this service provider or that cloud provider have saved up to 50% on network equipment by using generic “white-box” technology instead of proprietary routers and switches. It’s hard not to wonder whether your own network budget could buy twice as much gear, and what projects might now meet their business case. Could enterprises get in on the white-box revolution? Maybe, if they can address the issues that even service providers and cloud providers have already faced, and in some cases been bitten by.Compatibility The first issue is finding the hardware and software. White-box hardware needs software, either an all-inclusive “network operating system” that provides all the features you need, or an operating system plus a separate routing/switching package. The software can’t just be shoveled onto something and run; it has to match the hardware. In some cases, the matching process is facilitated through the same sort of drivers found on PCs and servers, but not all hardware has a driver suitable for all software. Pick a white box and you may not find software you like for it. Continue reading
By now you’ve undoubtedly heard the complaining about computing parts shortages, particularly from gamers who can’t get modern GPU cards and from car makers, since new cars these days are a rolling data center.The problem is also affecting business IT but in a different way, and there are steps you can take to address the problem. The first step, though, is patience. This shortage isn’t due to staffing or fabs being out of commission, it’s that demand is so high that it’s leading to very long lead times.Chip shortage will hit hardware buyers for months to years That delay can mean 36 weeks, according to Mario Morales, program vice president for the semiconductor and enabling technologies team at IDC, with the demand for components “seeing untempered demand.”To read this article in full, please click here
This week the TOP500 list of the world’s fastest supercomuters found that, once again, Fugaku is number one, benchmarking at 442 Pflop/sec, making it three times faster than the second place machine. Impressive, but also indicative that it might also be the first to break the exaflop barrier if it’s working on the right kind of problem.TOP500 pointed out that Fugaku’s score (and everyone else’s) is based on double-precision benchmarks, the most accurate floating point math calculation you can do. But much of AI and machine learning is single-precision, which can be less than half the compute power of double precision.To read this article in full, please click here
In compiling this iteration of our list of competitors Cisco can’t kill off, one thing is clear: The competition is fierce amongst the bigger players.Nearly all the networking giant’s competitors have refreshed their product lines or bought into technology to compete more closely with Cisco. But that’s not to say Cisco has been sitting still by any means.The 10 most powerful companies in enterprise networking 2021 The company has expanded and refreshed its core Catalyst, Nexus and Silicon One networking gear and made major strides in security and software. Going forward, it wants to lead the industry in network-as-a-service.To read this article in full, please click here
Cisco continues to bulk-up its security portfolio, this week closing the deal on risk-based management company Kenna Security for an undisclosed amount.Kenna’s Risk-Based Vulnerability Management system collects and analyzes security data to provide security teams with information about threats so they can prioritize remediation and better understand risks. Read about edge networking How edge networking and IoT will reshape data centers Edge computing best practices How edge computing can help secure the IoT The technology will become part of Cisco’s SecureX service that integrates numerous security components. Cisco says the service is an open, cloud-native system to detect and remediate threats across Cisco and third-party products from a single interface. The SecureX dashboard shows operational metrics, triggers alerts to emerging threats, and accelerates threat investigations and incident management by aggregating and correlating global intelligence and local context in one view. To read this article in full, please click here