Lagos, Nigeria – Cloudflare’s 155th city
At just shy of 200 million, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa (Ethiopia is second and Egypt is third). That’s a lot of people to communicate with the world - and communicate they all do!
According to a published report earlier this year, 84% of the Nigerian population own a mobile device (193 million population and 162 million mobile subscriptions). Again, that’s #1 for any country in Africa. But why so connected? Maybe because Nigeria (and Lagos specifically) is always on the move!
Lagos, as those that know the city say, never sleeps, it’s filled with color from the food to fashion to even the diverse people going about their business. The vibrancy of the city is like a hard slap to the face, no matter what you have been told, your first time here will still knock you out. In Lagos, anything is possible, from the sadness of poverty to the clearly visible upper class, the city sucks you in like a surfers dream wave. Visitor come into Lagos and leave feeling like they’ve been through a unique experience. The traffic is mind blowing and the same goes for the work pace.
Lagos, a city always on Continue reading
AWS ABCs — Network Building Blocks
Given that my technical background is largely in the networking space (exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C (CIE)), one of the first things I tried to wrap my head around when being introduced to AWS is how networking works in the AWS cloud.
What I attempted to do was build a mental model by relating cloud networking constructs such as Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), subnets, and routing tables to on-prem, physical networking constructs. This worked pretty well but I did get tripped up at times because some of these constructs don't map exactly one-for-one.
This post will explain the mental model I used while also calling attention to the elements or behaviors that don't map exactly between on-prem and AWS.
Inaugural 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure and VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud
Congratulations to the VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud team for its recognition as a Leader in the first Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure! The report is the first Magic Quadrant that includes evaluation of SD-WAN vendors and to be named a leader with the position furthest on Completeness of Vision is quite an honor.
VeloCloud, now part of VMware, began with the idea to remedy branch networking issues because the networks of yesterday were optimized to haul traffic back to the datacenter, not to the cloud where applications of today are housed. SD-WAN has solved for this issue amongst a plethora of others, becoming a technology disruptor in a way that nothing else has been in decades.
SD-WAN has, in a very short period of time, transitioned from a networking “nice-to-have” to a necessary component of the network infrastructure. We’re excited to have Gartner recognize another key component of our rapidly growing networking portfolio and integral product in the VMware Virtual Cloud Network vision to provide the connectivity across cloud, data center, branches, end user, and applications regardless of where they will be used.
To download the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant on WAN Edge Infrastructure, click here.
Follow VMware NSX Continue reading
Tech Bytes: SwyMed And Silver Peak Partner On Telemedicine Backpack (Sponsored)
The Packet Pushers' Tech Bytes is a short, sponsored interview. Our sponsor is Silver Peak, and today's guest is swyMed, which makes a telemedicine backpack so first responders can videoconference with doctors and nurses from anywhere in the field. Silver Peak's SD-WAN mini-appliance helps enable connectivity and ensure a persistent, high-quality connection.
The post Tech Bytes: SwyMed And Silver Peak Partner On Telemedicine Backpack (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.
Microsoft Offers to Move Employees Averse to JEDI Bid
Employees recently posted a blog protesting the company's plans to bid on the $10 billion, 10-year contract to provide cloud services for all branches of the military.
Ericsson Collaborates With Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in India
The work is part of a wider drive to develop 5G in India, boosted by the Centre of Excellence and Innovation Lab for 5G at the Indian Institute of Technology, which Ericsson established in Delhi in July.
Ossification and Fragmentation: The Once and Future ‘net
Mostafa Ammar, out of Georgia Tech (not my alma mater, but many of my engineering family are alumni there), recently posted an interesting paper titled The Service-Infrastructure Cycle, Ossification, and the Fragmentation of the Internet. I have argued elsewhere that we are seeing the fragmentation of the global Internet into multiple smaller pieces, primarily based on the centralization of content hosting combined with the rational economic decisions of the large-scale hosting services. The paper in hand takes a slightly different path to reach the same conclusion.
TL;DR
- Networks are built based on a cycle of infrastructure modifications to support services
- When new services are added, pressure builds to redesign the network to support these new services
- Networks can ossify over time so they cannot be easily modified to support new services
- This causes pressure, and eventually a more radical change, such as the fracturing of the network
The author begins by noting networks are designed to provide a set of services. Each design paradigm not only supports the services it was designed for, but also allows for some headroom, which allows users to deploy new, unanticipated services. Over time, as newer services are deployed, the requirements on the network Continue reading
IBM Gobbles Up Red Hat for $34B in Hybrid Cloud, Container Push
Red Hat will maintain its independence to work with other public cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
Accedian Launches Analytics Platform to Provide Front-End View of Its Data
Previously, the performance monitoring company had no way to take the test data it was creating and analyze it to detect anomalies and predict network issues.
Nominations Now Open for 2019 Internet Society Board of Trustees Election
The Internet Society Nominations Committee is now inviting nominations for candidates to serve on the Internet Society Board of Trustees.
In 2019, Internet Society Chapters and the IETF will each select one Trustee, and our Organization Members will select two Trustees. Following an orientation program, all new Trustees will begin 3-year terms commencing with the Internet Society Annual General Meeting in July.
The Board of Trustees provides strategic direction, inspiration, and oversight to advance the Internet Society’s mission of preserving the open, globally-connected, trustworthy and secure Internet for everyone.
If you or someone you know is interested in serving on the Board, please see the official Call for Nominations, additional information, and links to online nomination forms at:
http://www.internetsociety.org/trustees
The nominations period closes at 15:00 UTC on Friday, 14 December 2018.
The post Nominations Now Open for 2019 Internet Society Board of Trustees Election appeared first on Internet Society.
Plenipot 2018 – What’s Up for the Internet?
Two weeks ago, the Editorial Board of the New York Times published a piece predicting that the Internet is heading for a breakup.
Based on the comments made by Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt during a private event the Times set out to paint a picture of a world with three Internets.
The timing is understandable. We’re in a world where things like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation is met with an equal measure of acceptance, annoyance, and confusion around the world.
And, just last week, my colleague Konstantinos Komaitis warned about what could happen as decision-makers are imposing rules that spill over onto the Internet, hamper innovation, deter investment in their own countries, and risk creating new digital divides.
These events set the stage for the Plenipotentiary meeting of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
And, in today’s climate, there are many who believe the Internet could be failing us.
So, we need to speak loudly about the fact that the Internet is not failing.
So far, I think the Internet has been a force for good.
The Internet allows us to do things like expand our access to education, build businesses, and grow our economy.
The Internet Continue reading
VMworld 2018 Europe Sessions on NSX Networking and Security in VMware Cloud on AWS
VMworld 2018 Europe in Barcelona is a week away. Want to learn more about NSX Networking and Security in VMware Cloud on AWS, how you can easily deploy and secure workloads in the cloud, or how to build hybrid cloud solutions with the familiarity and capabilities of vSphere? Make sure to attend the below sessions at VMworld 2018 Europe next week. We will go into a deep dive of all the functionality and show how VMware Cloud on AWS is being used by customers. Continue reading
The Week in Internet News: Rural Maine Looks to Community Broadband
Broadband for themselves: Rural Maine residents are looking into ways to create their own community broadband networks because of a lack of service in some areas, the Press Herald reports. About 15 percent of the state’s residents don’t have access to 25 Mbps broadband service. A project in the St. Croix Valley would create Maine’s first publicly-owned broadband network.
Home patches: Amazon has issued 13 security patches, with some addressing vulnerabilities in its Internet of Things home devices, Engadget reports. If left unpatched, the security holes would let intruders crash devices and remotely run code, giving them full control.
Confusion and delay: Meanwhile, a lot of companies that are potential IoT users are delaying their deployments because of security concerns, reports Betanews. About half of companies labeled as early adopters have delayed an IoT purchase because of security issues, according to a survey from F-Secure.
The cost of a breach: Yahoo has agreed to pay a $50 million settlement to the 200 million people affected the company’s huge 2013 data breach, Fortune says. The company will also pay a tidy $35 million in lawyers’ fees. The settlement applies only to a fraction of the people affected by the email breach.