Echo Show Ships on Wednesday, Buy 2 and Get a $100 Discount Right Now – Deal Alert

The newly-announced Echo Show is available for pre-order in black or white and the shipping date is finally right around the corner: Wednesday, June 28. If you're interested, there are two things you need to know. Right now if you buy two of them and enter the code SHOW2PACK at checkout, you'll activate a $100 discount. So you'll get two new Echo Shows for the price of two standard Echos. Go in on this deal with a friend, or buy a few for yourself (they work very well in multiple rooms). The other thing you should know is that by selecting Prime 2-day shipping, Amazon will actually have the Echo Show on your doorstep the very day it's released. Echo Show brings you everything you love about Alexa, and now she can show you things. Amazon has announced an integration with some of the big names in wireless security cams, so you can simply say "Alexa, show me the front door camera". Echo Show should make a good kitchen assistant as well -- just ask for a recipe. You can watch news briefings, YouTube videos, ask for a weather forecast, video chat with family and friends (if they have Echos Continue reading

OpenVPN 2.3.17 on OpenBSD 6.0

On Jun 21, the OpenVPN team released an update for the 2.3.x and 2.4.x branches that resolved some newly discovered security vulnerabilities. The OpenVPN team recommends that users “upgrade to OpenVPN 2.4.3 or 2.3.17 as soon as possible“.

OpenBSD 6.0–which was released Sep 1 2016 and is still receiving security updates to the base system as per OpenBSD’s policy–shipped with a package for OpenVPN 2.3.11. Below you will find a patch and instructions for using the ports system to upgrade to version 2.3.11. Note that if you’re running OpenBSD 6.1, the ports tree has been updated to 2.4.3 so all you need to do is “cvs up” and “make install”.

Instructions:

1. Follow the OpenBSD FAQ for instructions on how to download, verify, and extract the ports tree on your machine.
2. Then:

% cd ports/net/openvpn
% patch < ~/openvpn-2.3.17p0.diff
% make install

Original article: OpenVPN 2.3.17 on OpenBSD 6.0

Copyright © 2017 Joel Knight . All Rights Reserved.

Apcela advises how to build a hybrid IT platform for better performance and stronger security

This column is available in a weekly newsletter called IT Best Practices. Click here to subscribe. To state the obvious, enterprises are moving their applications to the cloud, and this movement is happening at an accelerating pace. Many technology chiefs are working under a “cloud-first policy,” which means that if an application can be deployed as a service, then that should be the first choice for the way to go.While the applications themselves are moving to the cloud, the application delivery infrastructure is still stuck in the enterprise data center. Under the existing network architecture that most enterprises still have today, all traffic comes back to the enterprise data center before going out to the cloud. The on-premises data center is where the switching and routing, security, and application delivery controllers reside. This infrastructure is architected for a bygone era when applications were all in the data center.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apcela advises how to build a hybrid IT platform for better performance and stronger security

This column is available in a weekly newsletter called IT Best Practices. Click here to subscribe. To state the obvious, enterprises are moving their applications to the cloud, and this movement is happening at an accelerating pace. Many technology chiefs are working under a “cloud-first policy,” which means that if an application can be deployed as a service, then that should be the first choice for the way to go.While the applications themselves are moving to the cloud, the application delivery infrastructure is still stuck in the enterprise data center. Under the existing network architecture that most enterprises still have today, all traffic comes back to the enterprise data center before going out to the cloud. The on-premises data center is where the switching and routing, security, and application delivery controllers reside. This infrastructure is architected for a bygone era when applications were all in the data center.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apcela advises how to build a hybrid IT platform for better performance and stronger security

This column is available in a weekly newsletter called IT Best Practices. Click here to subscribe. To state the obvious, enterprises are moving their applications to the cloud, and this movement is happening at an accelerating pace. Many technology chiefs are working under a “cloud-first policy,” which means that if an application can be deployed as a service, then that should be the first choice for the way to go.While the applications themselves are moving to the cloud, the application delivery infrastructure is still stuck in the enterprise data center. Under the existing network architecture that most enterprises still have today, all traffic comes back to the enterprise data center before going out to the cloud. The on-premises data center is where the switching and routing, security, and application delivery controllers reside. This infrastructure is architected for a bygone era when applications were all in the data center.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Project Jengo: Explaining Challenges to Patent Validity (and a looming threat)

We’ve written a couple times about the problem of patent trolls, and what we are doing in response to the first case a troll filed against Cloudflare. We set a goal to find prior art on all 38 Blackbird Tech patents and applications and then obtain a legal determination that Blackbird Tech’s patents are invalid. Such a determination will end Blackbird’s ability to file or threaten to file abusive patent claims, against us or anyone else.

CC BY-SA 2.0 image by hyku

The patent system exists to reward inventors, so it is no surprise that a patent has to claim something new — an “invention.” Sometimes the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) — the agency that administers the patent system — mistakenly issues patents that do not claim anything particularly new. The patent examiner may not be aware that the proposed “invention” was already in use in the industry, and the patent applicant (the only party in the process) doesn’t have an incentive to share that information. Often, the USPTO issues patents that are too vague and can later be broadly interpreted by patent owners to cover different and subsequent technologies that could not otherwise Continue reading

It’s time to upgrade to TLS 1.3 already, says CDN engineer

Businesses dragging their heels over rolling out TLS 1.2 on their website might have an excuse to delay a little longer: Version 1.3 of the TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption protocol will be finalized later this year, and early deployments of it are already under way.TLS, the successor to SSL, is used to negotiate secure connections to web or mail servers, encrypting data on the move.Six years in the making, TLS 1.2 added new, stronger encryption options -- but retained all the older, weaker encryption schemes that had gone before in the name of backward compatibility. Unfortunately, this meant that someone able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack could often downgrade connections to a weaker encryption system without the user being aware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

It’s time to upgrade to TLS 1.3 already, says CDN engineer

Businesses dragging their heels over rolling out TLS 1.2 on their website might have an excuse to delay a little longer: Version 1.3 of the TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption protocol will be finalized later this year, and early deployments of it are already under way.TLS, the successor to SSL, is used to negotiate secure connections to web or mail servers, encrypting data on the move.Six years in the making, TLS 1.2 added new, stronger encryption options -- but retained all the older, weaker encryption schemes that had gone before in the name of backward compatibility. Unfortunately, this meant that someone able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack could often downgrade connections to a weaker encryption system without the user being aware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

It’s time to upgrade to TLS 1.3 already, says CDN engineer

Businesses dragging their heels over rolling out TLS 1.2 on their website might have an excuse to delay a little longer: Version 1.3 of the TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption protocol will be finalized later this year, and early deployments of it are already under way.TLS, the successor to SSL, is used to negotiate secure connections to web or mail servers, encrypting data on the move.Six years in the making, TLS 1.2 added new, stronger encryption options -- but retained all the older, weaker encryption schemes that had gone before in the name of backward compatibility. Unfortunately, this meant that someone able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack could often downgrade connections to a weaker encryption system without the user being aware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why The Network Is Critical To Digital Transformation

Cisco Launches Catalyst 9300 series Switches

Solutions Published for Wireshark Challenges

Johannes Weber published the solutions to his Wireshark challenges. How many did you solve?

Understanding DHCP Snooping and Basic Configurations : Cisco, Juniper and Huawei

More Specifics in BGP

General – My Packing List for CLUS and Advice for International First Timers

It’s almost time for Cisco Live in Las Vegas. It’s Friday morning here and I have 95% of the packing done and I leave on Saturday. If this is your first time going to CLUS or even going to the US it can be challenging to know what to pack and if you need to bring cash etc. Here are some of my recommendations for packing. Make a list so that you don’t forget to pack things.

Essentials

Make sure to pack your passport. This is pretty obvious. Hopefully you already made sure that the passport is up to date as well.

I bring a copy of my approved ESTA. This is not mandatory but it’s nice having it there in case a security officer asks you. Depending where you are from you might not be part of the ESTA program.

I always print a copy of my booking for the flight and hotel etc. While not something you need when you have electronic check-in etc. I still like to keep a copy so that I have all of the info about my flight and hotel in case I can’t get on my phone.

Electronic Devices

Bring a power bank. Continue reading

Episode 6 – What I Wish I Had Known

In this episode of Network Collective, the panel takes some time to acknowledge some of the lessons they have learned along the way, and share what from them they wish they had known when they were starting out. Topics range from mentorship, study, technical specialization, job selection, and more. Guest for this episode are Daniel Dib, Denise Donohue, Lindsay Hill, and Mathew Norwood.

Denise Donohue

Guest

Matthew Norwood

Guest

Lindsay Hill

Guest

Daniel Dib

Guest

Jordan Martin

Co-Host

Eyvonne Sharp

Co-Host

Phil Gervasi

Co-Host

Outro Music:
Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The post Episode 6 – What I Wish I Had Known appeared first on Network Collective.

Episode 6 – What I Wish I Had Known

In this episode of Network Collective, the panel takes some time to acknowledge some of the lessons they have learned along the way, and share what from them they wish they had known when they were starting out. Topics range from mentorship, study, technical specialization, job selection, and more. Guest for this episode are Daniel Dib, Denise Donohue, Lindsay Hill, and Mathew Norwood.

Denise Donohue

Guest

Matthew Norwood

Guest

Lindsay Hill

Guest

Daniel Dib

Guest

Jordan Martin

Co-Host

Eyvonne Sharp

Co-Host

Phil Gervasi

Co-Host

Outro Music:
Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The post Episode 6 – What I Wish I Had Known appeared first on Network Collective.

OpenVPN 2.3.17 on OpenBSD 6.0

Nuage Wins SDN and SD-WAN Business with Italian Service Provider

Nuage uses the same SDN controller for both data center and WAN sites.

Trend: Colocation facilities provide tools to manage data center infrastructure

Enterprises understand the advantages of colocation, but they also know that entrusting mission-critical infrastructure to third-party data centers means giving up some control over their servers.Data center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) tools can provide colocation customers with transparency into their data center's operations, to verify that providers are fulfilling the terms of their Service Level Agreements. A DCIM platform gives customers a "single pane of glass" to view the status of their IT infrastructure."Today, more colocation providers are offering their customers access to DCIM portals," explains Rhonda Ascierto, Research Director for Data centers and Critical Infrastructure at 451 Research. "Customers want to see how well a colocation facility is operating, not just rely on the SLA. A DCIM tool gives the customer visibility into data center operations, and assurance that the colocation provider is meeting their obligations."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here