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Category Archives for "Networking"

New: Expert ipSpace.net Subscription

Earlier this month I got this email from someone who had attended one of my online courses before and wanted to watch another one of them:

Is it possible for you to bundle a 1 year subscription at no extra cost if I purchase the Building Next-Generation Data Center course?

We were planning to do something along these lines for a long time, and his email was just what I needed to start a weekend-long hackathon.

End result: Expert ipSpace.net Subscription. It includes:

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Uptime Institute issues a weather warning for data centers

Data center operators have to take a number of contingencies into account, but many are failing to pay attention to the increase in natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, and wildfires.That’s the word from The 451 Group’s Uptime Institute, which published a report on the impact of natural disasters on data centers. Uptime issued the report to remind data center operators of the growing impact of climate change on data center operations.“Climate change is making us rethink resiliency and operational uptime. Now more than ever, it is crucial to understand any potential vulnerabilities to make new and existing facilities better prepared for extreme weather events,” the report states.To read this article in full, please click here

Uptime Institute issues a weather warning for data centers

Data center operators have to take a number of contingencies into account, but many are failing to pay attention to the increase in natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, and wildfires.That’s the word from The 451 Group’s Uptime Institute, which published a report on the impact of natural disasters on data centers. Uptime issued the report to remind data center operators of the growing impact of climate change on data center operations.“Climate change is making us rethink resiliency and operational uptime. Now more than ever, it is crucial to understand any potential vulnerabilities to make new and existing facilities better prepared for extreme weather events,” the report states.To read this article in full, please click here

Announcement: Cumulus recognized by both our employees & customers

It’s not every day you get recognized. But to get recognized TWICE in one day? Now that’s a rare experience. We’re thrilled to announce that Cumulus Networks has been recognized with both the FORTUNE 2018 50 Best Small and 100 Medium Size Companies to Work For award, as well as  Gartner Customers’ Choice for Data Center Networking.

With recognition like this, we’re taking time to celebrate and appreciate the awesome and talented people we get to work with every day.

Cumulus awarded as a FORTUNE 2018 50 Best Small and 100 Medium Size Companies to Work For

The Fortune award is one of the most prestigious and for good reason — Their rigorous methodology focuses on more than just benefits and office snacks. According to their 2017 methodology statement:

All employees were invited to participate in the survey, which is designed to reveal whether the organization is consistently a great place to work for all its people. Meaning: Do employees trust the people they work for? Are they treated fairly and with respect? Are people proud of their work? Do they enjoy the folks they work with? Are great experiences available to everyone – or does it Continue reading

Encrypt that SNI: Firefox edition

Encrypt that SNI: Firefox edition

A couple of weeks ago we announced support for the encrypted Server Name Indication (SNI) TLS extension (ESNI for short). As promised, our friends at Mozilla landed support for ESNI in Firefox Nightly, so you can now browse Cloudflare websites without leaking the plaintext SNI TLS extension to on-path observers (ISPs, coffee-shop owners, firewalls, …). Today we'll show you how to enable it and how to get full marks on our Browsing Experience Security Check.

Encrypt that SNI: Firefox edition

Here comes the night

The first step is to download and install the very latest Firefox Nightly build, or, if you have Nightly already installed, make sure it’s up to date.

When we announced our support for ESNI we also created a test page you can point your browser to https://encryptedsni.com which checks whether your browser / DNS configuration is providing a more secure browsing experience by using secure DNS transport, DNSSEC validation, TLS 1.3 & ESNI itself when it connects to our test page. Before you make any changes to your Firefox configuration, you might well see a result something like this:

Encrypt that SNI: Firefox edition

So, room for improvement! Next, head to the about:config page and look for the network.security.esni.enabled Continue reading

AIOps the next big thing for Enterprise IT?

Out of everything I think will be big in 2019, AIOps is near the top of the list. My current prediction is Artificial Intelligence (AI) making big moves in the enterprise IT Infrastructure and Operations market. AI-based technology is a hot topic in the media these days, everyone is exploring its benefits in a wide range of markets. From self-driving cars and industrial automation to advertising and fraud prevention. It’s no surprise that 2018 was predicted to be a dominating year for AI in IT. While I believe 2018 was a key year for AI getting it’s foot in the door of IT Ops, the reality is lagging behind the hype. In IT we hear a lot about machine learning, and big data, but with the reality of how this data is organized in most enterprises, the onus is still on us to get that data laid out in an organized structure to extract the potential that AI promises.

But how does all of this relate to IT Infrastructure and Operations? AIOps is the combination of AI and IT Operations. And while the IT community hears the AI related buzzwords, not many of us know where or how it can Continue reading

Human Connection Frames Success of 2018 Indigenous Connectivity Summit

The Internet is an incredible tool that can help amplify voices that may not otherwise be heard. But when it comes to making sure everyone can have access to this tool, we can’t downplay the power of human connections to overcome connectivity challenges.

One of the things that stood out for me most at the 2018 Indigenous Connectivity Summit (ICS) last week in Inuvik, NT was getting a first-hand view of what happens when Indigenous voices are at the forefront of Internet solutions.

Nearly 140 people joined us in the Arctic Circle for a two-day series of panels and presentations focused on finding solutions to improve connectivity in rural and remote Indigenous communities, with a special focus on northern connectivity challenges. The livestream was viewed over 850 times.

It was inspiring to hear speakers shed light on the ways they innovated to bring Internet to underserved Indigenous communities on their own terms through Community Networks throughout North America and abroad.

I think some of the most important successes, however, came when ICS participants were able to interact during breaks, round-table discussions, on the bus trip to Tuktoyaktuk, at the community feast, and even on the flights to and from the Continue reading

BrandPost: Why is OFDMA a Magical Feature in the 802.11ax Standard?

As we explore the new features appearing in 802.11ax, the list is unbalanced. Some would say there’s a pig in the python. One feature – OFDMA – seems much more significant than the others. First, a brief background, then a view of its implications.A Quick Review of OFDMAOFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) is an extension of the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) architecture. OFDM takes an RF channel, such as the 20 MHz channel often used in Wi-Fi, and instead of using a single carrier-frequency modulated by AM, FM, or other means, sets out a number of sub-carriers. 802.11ac used 52 data-carrying sub-carriers in a 20 MHz RF channel, while 802.11ax has 234.To read this article in full, please click here

Splintering the Internet: The Unintended Consequence of Regulation

In early 2000, two Paris-based, anti-racism groups sued Yahoo on the basis that its auction’s site was exposing French people to more than 1,000 objects of Nazi memorabilia. In May of that year, a French court confirmed the illegal nature of the sale under French law, claiming that the company had offended France’s “collective memory.” More importantly, the judge also ordered Yahoo to identify ways to block French users from its Nazi auction site or other Yahoo sites with content deemed to be racist.

The case attracted significant attention, due to the legal precedent it could set on the right of one country to reach across borders and impose its own laws on online material stored in other countries. At the time, Yahoo’s lawyer expressed his hope that “other countries [wouldn’t] take the same route.”

Fast forward 18 years and today’s Internet is going through an intense phase of regulation with similar effects to those of the Yahoo case. Almost every country in the world is currently in the business of “regulating the Internet.” A clarification is important at this stage. “Internet regulation” is a somewhat loaded and misguided phrase. In reality, what most state actors seek Continue reading