AT&T Advances 5G Strategy by Snapping Up Straight Path for $1.6B

The deal builds AT&T’s arsenal of millimeter wave spectrum.

Microsoft acquires Deis to boost its Kubernetes chops

Microsoft is acquiring Deis, a company that makes tools to work with the Kubernetes open-source container orchestration system. The deal, announced Monday, marks Microsoft’s continued interest in container orchestration.Deis creates tools that aim to simplify the development of modern, containerized applications. Containers allow developers to write an application for an isolated, portable runtime that is supposed to be easily transferrable from a workstation to a server environment.Tools like Deis’s Workflow, Helm, and Steward are supposed to ease the complex process of managing multi-container applications. They build on top of Kubernetes, the popular open-source container orchestration system that Google released to the world in 2014. Deis plans to continue its contributions to those tools as part of Microsoft, company CTO Gabe Monroy said in a blog post.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Suspected CIA spying tools linked to hacks in 16 countries

The suspected CIA spying tools exposed by WikiLeaks have been linked to hacking attempts on at least 40 targets in 16 countries, according to security firm Symantec.The tools share “close similarities” with the tactics from an espionage team called Longhorn, Symantec said in a Monday post. Longhorn has been active since at least 2011, using Trojan programs and previously unknown software vulnerabilities to hack targets.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Suspected CIA spying tools linked to hacks in 16 countries

The suspected CIA spying tools exposed by WikiLeaks have been linked to hacking attempts on at least 40 targets in 16 countries, according to security firm Symantec.The tools share “close similarities” with the tactics from an espionage team called Longhorn, Symantec said in a Monday post. Longhorn has been active since at least 2011, using Trojan programs and previously unknown software vulnerabilities to hack targets.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco DevNet Create: 5 things you should know

Cisco is holding its first big developers' conference, DevNet Create, on May 23-24 in San Francisco, and the focus will be on the Internet of Things and cloud computing.You won't find mentions of terms more commonly associated with Cisco, like routers or switches, on this event site, though they're there in spirit in that the conference is described as being "where applications meet infrastructure."You can learn more about DevNet Create via my interview with Susie Wee, Cisco VP and CTO of DevNet Innovations. But here are 5 basic things to know about the event if you're thinking this might be a show for you:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

50% off OxyLED Mini Stick-on 6-LED Wireless Motion Sensing Night Light – Deal Alert

This tiny motion-sensing strip contains 6 bright LEDs, and sticks anywhere. Just the trick for illuminating an entryway door-lock, a kitchen cabinet, drawers, closet or the glove box in your car. Simply turns on when somebody is there, and turns off when no motion is sensed. And the part that sticks is actually a magnetic base, so you can pop the light off and take it with you as a torch if needed. Currently priced at 50% off, so right now you're paying just $14.99 for a two-pack. See this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Anthem to data breach victims: Maybe the damages are your own darned fault

Insurance giant Anthem has effectively scared off possible victims of a 2015 data breach by asking to examine their personal computers for evidence that their own shoddy security was to blame for their information falling into the hands of criminals.Some of the affected Anthem customers sued for damages they say resulted from the breach but then withdrew their suits after Anthem got a court order allowing the exams.The examiners would be looking only for evidence that their credentials or other personal data had been stolen even before the Anthem hack ever took place, according to a blog by Chad Mandell, an attorney at LeClairRyan.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Anthem to data breach victims: Maybe the damages are your own darned fault

Insurance giant Anthem has effectively scared off possible victims of a 2015 data breach by asking to examine their personal computers for evidence that their own shoddy security was to blame for their information falling into the hands of criminals.Some of the affected Anthem customers sued for damages they say resulted from the breach but then withdrew their suits after Anthem got a court order allowing the exams.The examiners would be looking only for evidence that their credentials or other personal data had been stolen even before the Anthem hack ever took place, according to a blog by Chad Mandell, an attorney at LeClairRyan.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Utah is the first Power Five school with its own varsity video games team

The University of Utah announced last week that it had become the first school in a Power Five athletic conference to field its own varsity esports team.+More on Network World: Most notable tech leaders delivering 2017 college commencement addresses+Adding League of Legends and several other as yet unconfirmed games to the varsity list, alongside football, baseball, basketball, track and so on, Utah said that it hopes to prod other schools into following suit, creating a flourishing college esports scene.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

50% off Dishonored 2 Limited Edition, PC, Xbox One and PS4 – Deal Alert

Reprise your role as a supernatural assassin, and play your way in a world where mysticism and industry collide. The story responds to your choices, leading to intriguing outcomes, as you play through each of the game's hand-crafted missions. The game is currently discounted 50%.

Cisco’s first big developers conference to zero in on IoT, cloud

Cisco initially scheduled its inaugural DevNet Create developers’ conference in San Francisco for what turned out to be the same week in May as Google's wildly popular I/O event in Mountain View (that coy old Google didn't reveal its show dates until late January). So Cisco wound up bumping its new event to the following week “to make sure we don’t take audience away from Google I/O. Okay okay — maybe it’s the other way around…” quipped Susie Wee, VP & CTO of Cisco DevNet Innovations in a recent blogpost.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco’s first big developers conference to zero in on IoT, cloud

Cisco initially scheduled its inaugural DevNet Create developers’ conference in San Francisco for what turned out to be the same week in May as Google's wildly popular I/O event in Mountain View (that coy old Google didn't reveal its show dates until late January). So Cisco wound up bumping its new event to the following week “to make sure we don’t take audience away from Google I/O. Okay okay — maybe it’s the other way around…” quipped Susie Wee, VP & CTO of Cisco DevNet Innovations in a recent blogpost.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco’s first big developers conference to zero in on IoT, cloud

Cisco initially scheduled its inaugural DevNet Create developers’ conference in San Francisco for what turned out to be the same week in May as Google's wildly popular I/O event in Mountain View (that coy old Google didn't reveal its show dates until late January). So Cisco wound up bumping its new event to the following week “to make sure we don’t take audience away from Google I/O. Okay okay — maybe it’s the other way around…” quipped Susie Wee, VP & CTO of Cisco DevNet Innovations in a recent blogpost.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

MPLS Quiz

MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) quiz ! Learn while assessing your knowledge. This quiz is part of the MPLS Review Questions of my new version of CCDE Workbook. There are more than two hundred questions in it and you can have it from the website directly (PDF version) or from Amazon (Hardcopy).  This quiz helps for many certification exams […]

The post MPLS Quiz appeared first on Cisco Network Design and Architecture | CCDE Bootcamp | orhanergun.net.

AT&T’s ‘Nirvana Stack’ Uses ODL Rather than Contrail

The open source community derides projects that aren't truly open as 'faux-pen-source.'

Getting Started with NSX Load Balancing

In my conversations with customers and peers, load balancing is becoming an increasingly popular discussion.  Why you may ask?  Simple, load balancing is a critical component for most enterprise applications to provide both availability and scalability to the system.  Over the last decade we have moved from bare metal servers to virtual servers and from manual deployment of operating systems to using tools like Chef, Puppet, vRA or other custom workflows. In addition to the movement towards virtualization and the API being the new CLI, we are also seeing a movement to Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) where Virtualized Network Functions (VNF) such as routing, VPN, firewalls, and load balancing are moving to software. The value of automation, SDN, and NFV has been proven in the largest networks today and this migration to software has proven to have tremendous ROI. Many companies also want to leverage the same cost effective models.   To get us started, here are the most common questions:

1. Does NSX provide load balancing? Yes, NSX has a feature set that addresses the most common deployment requirements for load balancing in enterprises today.
2. Do you charge more for NSX Edge Load Balancing? No, NSX Load Continue reading

Internet VPN or MPLS for branch office IP phone communication?

Many businesses with branch offices that have IP-enabled phones must decide what type of circuit medium to use for their communication to the corporate headquarters site.Two of the most selected choices are a MPLS circuit or internet VPN. Both solutions have their pros and cons, and what is best can depend on your business requirements. Speed, quality of service (QoS), security and cost are the key factors you should consider when making this decision.Pros and cons of an internet VPN A significant advantage of using an internet VPN for communication is the cost. Most times, a branch site can use its existing internet connection for communication back to its headquarters. Usually, a 10 Mbps internet circuit costs much less than a 10 Mbps MPLS circuit. This can encourage a business to purchase more bandwidth for their branch site.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Internet VPN or MPLS for branch office IP phone communication?

Many businesses with branch offices that have IP-enabled phones must decide what type of circuit medium to use for their communication to the corporate headquarters site.Two of the most selected choices are a MPLS circuit or internet VPN. Both solutions have their pros and cons, and what is best can depend on your business requirements. Speed, quality of service (QoS), security and cost are the key factors you should consider when making this decision.Pros and cons of an internet VPN A significant advantage of using an internet VPN for communication is the cost. Most times, a branch site can use its existing internet connection for communication back to its headquarters. Usually, a 10 Mbps internet circuit costs much less than a 10 Mbps MPLS circuit. This can encourage a business to purchase more bandwidth for their branch site.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: We are none of us imposters

Sitting in the conference room, I looked up at the whiteboard covered in a clever design. I hadn’t understood the design immediately, but then as my mentor explained it to me, I comprehended the brilliance of it. —Ethan Banks

The post Worth Reading: We are none of us imposters appeared first on 'net work.

5 strategies to create meaningful mobile engagement with customers

Engaging customers via their mobile devices is an exciting proposition for many organizations; however, it has to be done with care. These solutions often carry a significant cost and depend on a Return on Investment (ROI) model to make sense.Achieving this ROI requires walking a fine line between meaningful engagement and being a nuisance. Here are five best practices to help you do that. 5 ways to ensure your mobile strategy works 1. Think big picture The goal is to create a user experience that provides vast amounts of data to the organization while delivering value to the customer. Accomplishing that means the experience needs to be immersive and omni-channel (e.g., SMS, email, app-based, digital signage, direct mail, etc.).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here