Playing laser light backwards could adjust data transmission signals so that they perfectly match receiving antennas. The fine-tuning of signals like this, not achieved with such detail before, could create more capacity for ever-increasing data demand."Imagine, for example, that you could adjust a cell phone signal exactly the right way, so that it is perfectly absorbed by the antenna in your phone," says Stefan Rotter of the Institute for Theoretical Physics of Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien) in a press release.To read this article in full, please click here
Cisco and Google have expanded their joint cloud-development activities to help customers more easily build secure multicloud and hybrid applications everywhere from on-premises data centers to public clouds.[Check out what hybrid cloud computing is and learn what you need to know about multi-cloud. Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters]
The expansion centers around Google’s new open-source hybrid cloud package called Anthos, which was introduced at the company’s Google Next event this week. Anthos is based on – and supplants – the company's existing Google Cloud Service beta. Anthos will let customers run applications, unmodified, on existing on-premises hardware or in the public cloud and will be available on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), and in data centers with GKE On-Prem, the company says. Anthos will also let customers for the first time manage workloads running on third-party clouds such as AWS and Azure from the Google platform without requiring administrators and developers to learn different environments and APIs, Google said. To read this article in full, please click here
Everyone seems focused on whether major device makers can ship 5G-ready phones. And indeed they are coming forward with devices (e.g., Samsung, Huawei) based on chip designs from major manufacturers (e.g., Qualcomm, Huawei, Intel).But while many are focused on the device challenges (such as will Apple’s iPhones use Qualcomm or Intel modems, or design their own?) and the potentially billions of connected “things” expected in the next few years, the devices are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to 5G. The real “below the water line” challenges, the more than 80% of the challenges in making 5G real, are in updating and creating networks that can truly provide all of the variety of services and capabilities that we expect.To read this article in full, please click here
Juniper has taken the wraps off a cloud-based SD-WAN service it says will ease the management and bolster the security of wired and wireless-connected branch office networks.The Contrail SD-WAN cloud offering expands on the company’s existing on-premise (SRX-based) and virtual (NFX-based) SD-WAN offerings to include greater expansion possibilities – up to 10,000 spoke-attached sites and support for more variants of passive redundant hybrid WAN links – and topologies such as hub and spoke, partial, and dynamic full mesh, Juniper stated. To read this article in full, please click here
Marie Fiala, Director of Portfolio Marketing for Blue Planet at Ciena
The catalysts and ROI of AI-powered network analytics for automated operations were the focus of discussion for service providers at the recent FutureNet conference in London. Blue Planet’s Marie Fiala details the conversation.Do we need perfect data? Or is ‘good enough’ data good enough? Certainly, there is a need to find a pragmatic approach or else one could get stalled in analysis-paralysis. Is closed-loop automation the end goal? Or is human-guided open loop automation desired? If the quality of data defines the quality of the process, then for closed-loop automation of critical business processes, one needs near-perfect data. Is that achievable?To read this article in full, please click here
This is the first in a 3-part blog series that will detail how deploying a business-driven SD-WAN edge platform can help enterprises successfully accelerate multi-cloud digital transformation initiatives.For a growing number of enterprises, a migration to the cloud is not a simple matter of deploying an application or two onto Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure or some other hosted service. It’s now a multi-cloud strategy that’s a key part of a digital transformation initiative aimed at modernizing business processes. Using multiple cloud computing services such as infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS) in a single unified cloud strategy offers the ability to reduce dependence on any single vendor.To read this article in full, please click here
Companies have found that IoT partners well with a host of other popular enterprise computing technologies of late, and blockchain – the innovative system of distributed trust most famous for underpinning cryptocurrencies – is no exception. Yet while the two phenomena can be complementary in certain circumstances, those expecting an explosion of blockchain-enabled IoT technologies probably shouldn’t hold their breath.Blockchain technology can be counter-intuitive to understand at a basic level, but it’s probably best thought of as a sort of distributed ledger keeping track of various transactions. Every “block” on the chain contains transactional records or other data to be secured against tampering, and is linked to the previous one by a cryptographic hash, which means that any tampering with the block will invalidate that connection. The nodes – which can be largely anything with a CPU in it – communicate via a decentralized, peer-to-peer network to share data and ensure the validity of the data in the chain.To read this article in full, please click here
Organizations in virtually every vertical industry are undergoing a digital transformation in an attempt to take advantage of edge computing technology to make their businesses more efficient, innovative and profitable. In the process, they’re coming face to face with challenges ranging from time to market to reliability of IT infrastructure.It’s a complex problem, especially when you consider the scope of what digital transformation entails. “Digital transformation is not simply a list of IT projects, it involves completely rethinking how an organization uses technology to pursue new revenue streams, products, services, and business models,” as the research firm IDC says.To read this article in full, please click here
Intel on Tuesday introduced its second-generation Xeon Scalable Processors for servers, developed under the codename Cascade Lake, and it’s clear AMD has lit a fire under a once complacent company.These new Xeon SP processors max out at 28 cores and 56 threads, a bit shy of AMD’s Epyc server processors with 32 cores and 64 threads, but independent benchmarks are still to come, which may show Intel having a lead at single core performance.And for absolute overkill, there is the Xeon SP Platinum 9200 Series, which sports 56 cores and 112 threads. It will also require up to 400W of power, more than twice what the high-end Xeons usually consume.To read this article in full, please click here
We’re now at the end of our homage to the iconic David Letterman Top Ten List segment from his former Late Show, as Silver Peak counts down the Top Ten Reasons to Think Outside the Router. Click for the #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9 and #10 reasons to retire traditional branch routers.To read this article in full, please click here
After teasing out details about the technology for a year and half under the code name Falcon Mesa, Intel has unveiled the Agilex family of FPGAs, aimed at data-center and network applications that are processing increasing amounts of data for AI, financial, database and IoT workloads.The Agilex family, expected to start appearing in devices in the third quarter, is part of a new wave of more easily programmable FPGAs that is beginning to take an increasingly central place in computing as data centers are called on to handle an explosion of data.
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FPGAs, or field programmable gate arrays, are built around around a matrix of configurable logic blocks (CLBs) linked via programmable interconnects that can be programmed after manufacturing – and even reprogrammed after being deployed in devices – to run algorithms written for specific workloads. They can thus be more efficient on a performance-per-watt basis than general-purpose CPUs, even while driving higher performance. To read this article in full, please click here
“The IT industry has done a good job of making robust data centers that are highly manageable, highly secure, with redundant systems,” says Kevin Brown, SVP Innovation and CTO for Schneider Electric’s Secure Power Division.
However, he continues, companies then connect these data centers to messy edge closets and server rooms, which over time have become “micro mission-critical data centers” in their own right — making system availability vital. If not designed and managed correctly, the situation can be disastrous if users cannot connect to business-critical applications. To read this article in full, please click here
I’ve worked with a number of companies that have implemented digital projects only to see them fail. The ideation was correct, the implementation was sound, and the market opportunity was there. The weak link? The Wi-Fi network.For example, a large hospital wanted to improve clinician response times to patient alarms by having telemetry information sent to mobile devices. Without the system, the only way a nurse would know about a patient alarm is from an audible alert. And with all the background noise, it’s often tough to discern where noises are coming from. The problem was the Wi-Fi network in the hospital had not been upgraded in years and caused messages to be significantly delayed in their delivery, often taking four to five minutes to deliver. The long delivery times caused a lack of confidence in the system, so many clinicians stopped using it and went back to manual alerting. As a result, the project was considered a failure.To read this article in full, please click here
The next step in the evolution of wireless WAN communications - 5G networks - is about to hit the front pages, and for good reason: it will complete the evolution of cellular from wireline augmentation to wireline replacement, and strategically from mobile-first to mobile-only.To read this article in full, please click here(Insider Story)
5G wireless is an umbrella term to describe a set of standards and technologies for a radically faster wireless internet that ideally is up to 20 times faster with 120 times less latency than 4G, setting the stage for IoT networking advances and support for new high-bandwidth applications.What is 5G? Technology or buzzword?
It will be years before the technology reaches its full potential worldwide, but meanwhile some 5G network services are being rolled out today. 5G is as much a marketing buzzword as a technical term, and not all services marketed as 5G are standard.To read this article in full, please click here
We’re now near reaching the end of our homage to the iconic David Letterman Top Ten List segment from his former Late Show, as Silver Peak counts down the Top Ten Reasons to Think Outside the Router. Click for the #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9 and #10 reasons to retire traditional branch routers.To read this article in full, please click here
The Russian censorship agency Roskomnadzor has ordered 10 VPN service providers to link their servers in Russia to its network in order to stop users from reaching banned sites.If they fail to comply, their services will be blocked, according to a machine translation of the order.RELATED: Best VPN routers for small business
The 10 VPN providers are ExpressVPN, HideMyAss!, Hola VPN, IPVanish, Kaspersky Secure Connection NordVPN, OpenVPN, VPN Unlimited and VyprVPN.To read this article in full, please click here
The configuration of your user account on a Linux system simplifies your use of the system in a multitude of ways. You can run commands without knowing where they're located. You can reuse previously run commands without worrying how the system is keeping track of them. You can look at your email, view man pages, and get back to your home directory easily no matter where you might have wandered off to in the file system. And, when needed, you can tweak your account settings so that it works even more to your liking.Linux environment settings come from a series of files — some are system-wide (meaning they affect all user accounts) and some are configured in files that are sitting in your home directory. The system-wide settings take effect when you log in and local ones take effect right afterwards, so the changes that you make in your account will override system-wide settings. For bash users, these files include these system files:To read this article in full, please click here
In a move that could upend how workers access data in the enterprise, Motorola has announced a broadband product that it says will deliver data at double the capacity and four-times the range of Wi-Fi for end users. The handheld, walkie-talkie-like device, called Mototrbo Nitro, will, importantly, also include a voice channel. “Business-critical voice with private broadband data,” as Motorola describes it on its website.The company sees the product being implemented in traditional, moving-around, voice communications environments, such as factories and warehouses, that increasingly need data supplementation, too. A shop floor that has an electronically delivered repair manual, with included video demonstration, could be one example. Video could be two-way, even.To read this article in full, please click here
Hybrid cloud is pretty much the de facto way to go, with only a few firms adopting a pure cloud play to replace their data center and only suicidal firms refusing to go to the cloud. But picking the right balance between on-premises and the cloud is tricky, and a mistake can be costly.Enter Right Mix Advisor from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a combination of consulting from HPE's Pointnext division and software tools. It draws on quite a bit of recent acquisitions. Another part of Right Mix Advisor is a British cloud consultancy RedPixie, Amazon Web Services (AWS) specialists Cloud Technology Partners, and automated discovery capabilities from an Irish startup iQuate.To read this article in full, please click here