Pandora FMS wins open-source management shootout

Doing more with less remains an ongoing challenge for IT execs. Making sure everything keeps humming along to meet service-level agreements can be challenging for resource-stretched IT departments. For all but the smallest shops, effective monitoring requires tools that provide a meta view of the entire infrastructure with drill-down capabilities.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

2016 – the year 5G wireless testing really took off

The concept of 5G wireless has been around for a long time, but only recently have meaningful moves taken place to bring the new technology to customers.5G stakeholders – which include silicon giants such as Qualcomm and Intel, infrastructure players like Ericsson and Nokia, and, of course the major wireless carriers – have been unsurprisingly bullish on the technology’s rapid advance, announcing numerous breakthroughs and field trials over the past several months. We’ve constructed a timeline of these 5G trials, embedded below, to give you a visual sense of how much action has been taking place.+ MORE: Read our 5G FAQ +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

What we talk about when we talk about 5G wireless

So what is 5G, exactly, anyway? Well, if you’re asking about “exactly,” it doesn’t exist yet. Oh, that helps me a lot. Sorry. But the best answer to your question is probably that 5G is sort of a catch-all name to describe the next generation of carrier wireless technology that’s going to be slinging tweets and videos and connected home signals from the internet to your smartphone or your smartwatch or, really, any smart object you’ve got handy. So why’s it better than 4G? Haven’t we had enough Gs? Oh, not hardly. You see, 5G – like 4G, and the rest of the Gs, in fact – is entirely a marketing term, meant to give an overview of a certain generation of carrier wireless tech. Most of what we’ve got in this country that we refer to as 4G is called LTE, although regular LTE isn’t quite 4G, according to standards groups, and LTE Advanced.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Best open source management tools

Open source holds up to commercial productsOpen source software provides an attractive alternative to more costly commercial products, but can open source products deliver enterprise-grade results? To answer this question we tested four open source products: OpenNMS, Pandora FMS, NetXMS and Zabbix. All four products were surprisingly good. We liked Pandora FMS for its ease of installation and modern user interface. In general, we found configuration to be easier and more intuitive with Pandora than the other contenders. NetXMS came in a close second with a nice user interface, easy to configure rules and a solid user manual. Overall, we found all four products suitable for enterprise use, particularly in small-to-midsize environments. (Read the full review.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

2016 – the year 5G wireless testing really took off

The concept of 5G wireless has been around for a long time, but only recently have meaningful moves taken place to bring the new technology to customers.5G stakeholders – which include silicon giants such as Qualcomm and Intel, infrastructure players like Ericsson and Nokia, and, of course the major wireless carriers – have been unsurprisingly bullish on the technology’s rapid advance, announcing numerous breakthroughs and field trials over the past several months. We’ve constructed a timeline of these 5G trials, embedded below, to give you a visual sense of how much action has been taking place.+ MORE: Read our 5G FAQ +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Ultimate guide to setting up a small business Wi-Fi network

A peek inside a typical small business today will likely reveal lots of wireless devices, with little, if any, wired hardware in evidence. Problems could occur, however, if the small business deploys consumer-centric access points targeted at home users.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

First Speakers in Building Network Automation Solutions Online Course

Like with the Next-Generation Data Center course, the live sessions in the Building Network Automation Solutions course include guest speakers, Q&A discussions, and solutions to sample challenges that you’ll be able to use to complete your homework assignments.

The guest speakers for the January 2016 course include:

Apple offers new battery for iPhone 6s phones that suddenly shut down

Apple has said that a few iPhone 6s smartphones are unexpectedly shutting down, confirming a problem reported last week by a Chinese consumer protection group.The company said the problem is restricted to a small number of phones within a limited serial number range that were manufactured between September and October last year.Apple said it was not a safety issue, and appeared to suggest that the problem would be resolved by a replacement battery which the company offered free. It did not say how many iPhone 6s phones were affected and in which markets.The China Consumers Association asked Apple to investigate problems with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s phones that were automatically shutting off. The unexpected shutdowns were said to happen when the phone’s battery charge dropped to between 60 and 50 percent.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IBM Opens IoT Solutions Group Dedicated to Watson Platform

The goal is to help customers tackle industry-specific IoT challenges.

Symantec will acquire identity protection firm LifeLock in $2.3B deal

Aiming to boost its consumer security business, Symantec is acquiring LifeLock, a vendor of identity protection services, for US$2.3 billion in enterprise value. The deal will create what the two companies described as the world’s largest consumer security business with over $2.3 billion in annual revenue based on last fiscal year revenue for both companies. The immediate opportunity for Symantec comes from the large number of consumers worldwide that have been victims of cybercrime, generating as a result greater user concern in digital safety. The companies estimate the market at $10 billion, and growing in the high single digits. In the U.S. alone, the total addressable market is estimated to be about 80 million people.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Symantec will acquire identity protection firm LifeLock in $2.3B deal

Aiming to boost its consumer security business, Symantec is acquiring LifeLock, a vendor of identity protection services, for US$2.3 billion in enterprise value. The deal will create what the two companies described as the world’s largest consumer security business with over $2.3 billion in annual revenue based on last fiscal year revenue for both companies. The immediate opportunity for Symantec comes from the large number of consumers worldwide that have been victims of cybercrime, generating as a result greater user concern in digital safety. The companies estimate the market at $10 billion, and growing in the high single digits. In the U.S. alone, the total addressable market is estimated to be about 80 million people.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

50-plus jaw-dropping Black Friday 2016 tech deals

Some have begun referring to this month as Black November since pre-Black Friday, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales have all blended together. Not all the supposed deals are actually deals at all – in many cases, the retailers are just trying to offload stuff – but there are plenty of bargains to be had on the hottest smartphones, tablets, PCs and gaming systems. Here’s a look at some of the best deals.Websites such as BFads.net, BlackFriday.com and BestBlackFriday.com have all been helpful in collecting this information. MORE: Best Black Friday Apple Watch dealsTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

iPhone 8 launch will see Apple release 3 brand new devices

Given that the overall design of the iPhone hasn't changed much since the release of the iPhone 6 back in 2014, there's a lot of pressure on Apple to deliver a home run when the company launches the iPhone 8 later next year.Though next year's iPhone would ordinarily be called the iPhone 7s, it's widely believed that Apple's next-gen iPhone will represent such a compelling upgrade that Apple will opt to call it the iPhone 8 instead.Now as for what Apple has in store for us with the iPhone 8, the company's plans are beginning to crystalize slowly but surely. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via Apple Insider), Apple next year will introduce three distinct iPhone models.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

iPhone 8 launch will see Apple release 3 brand-new devices

Given that the overall design of the iPhone hasn't changed much since the release of the iPhone 6 back in 2014, there's a lot of pressure on Apple to deliver a home run when the company launches the iPhone 8 later next year.Though next year's iPhone would ordinarily be called the iPhone 7s, it's widely believed that Apple's next-gen iPhone will represent such a compelling upgrade that Apple will opt to call it the iPhone 8 instead.Now, as for what Apple has in store for us with the iPhone 8, the company's plans are beginning to crystalize slowly but surely. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via Apple Insider), Apple next year will introduce three distinct iPhone models.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IoT security camera infected within 98 seconds of plugging it in

One and a half minutes is all it took after plugging in an internet-connected security camera for the camera be infected with malware.Unlike the average Jane or Joe Doe who would not want their security camera to be immediately infected with malware, Rob Graham, CEO of Errata Security, called it “fun” to watch the infection happen. He tweet-documented his experience.Graham purchased an inexpensive device – this $55 IoT security camera made by JideTech.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IoT security camera infected within 98 seconds of plugging it in

One and a half minutes is all it took after plugging in an internet-connected security camera for the camera be infected with malware.Unlike the average Jane or Joe Doe who would not want their security camera to be immediately infected with malware, Rob Graham, CEO of Errata Security, called it “fun” to watch the infection happen. He tweet-documented his experience.Graham purchased an inexpensive device – this $55 IoT security camera made by JideTech.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OFNet SDN network emulator

OFNet is a new software-defined network (SDN) emulator that offers functionality similar to the Mininet network emulator and adds some useful tools for generating traffic and monitoring OpenFlow messages and evaluating SDN controller performance.

OFNet is an open-source project that is distributed as a virtual machine (VM) image. The OFNet source code is available in the OFNet VM’s filesystem. In this post, we will use the OFNet VM provided by the OFNet developer to run SDN emulation scenarios in OFNet.

The OFNet Virtual Machine

The OFNet VM image is packaged as an OVA file which can be imported into most virtual machine managers. In this case, we are using VirtualBox. You may download the OFNet VM from this link.

The OFNet VM contains a Linux system running Ubuntu 12.04 and has the VirtualBox extensions installed.

Create a new virtual machine using the OFNet VM image, start up the VM and log in. After logging in, review the available OFNet documentation and install Wireshark.

Install the OFNet VM in VirtualBox

Import the OFNet.ova file into VirtualBox. Use the File → Import Appliance VirtualBx menu command or press <Ctrl-I>. Navigate to the location where you saved the OFNet.ova file Continue reading

Amazon Discounts Kindle E-Readers Up To $30 Through 11/28 – Deal Alert

Amazon has quietly released another good set of deals on its popular Kindle series of e-readers, and this time the discount runs through 11/28 only. Kindle's price sinks $30, Kindle Paperwhite is discounted $20, the Kindle Voyage drops $30, and the worry-free Kindle for Kids Bundle is reduced $30 as well.  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Best Black Friday 2016 Windows deals

While Windows phone deals are not surprisingly few and far between for Black Friday 2016, plenty of other Microsoft Windows desktops and laptops, Surface tablets and Xbox gaming deals can be had this holiday shopping season. Come Nov. 25, and even earlier for Microsoft itself and retailers, here are some of the best deals around.(Websites such as BFads.net, BlackFriday.com and BestBlackFriday.com have all been helpful in collecting this information.) To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Internet of Things Messaging, Part 1: Introducing MQTT

In the world of the Internet of Things one thing you’ve got lots of, apart from things, is messages. When IoT devices generate messages, they send stuff like status reports and environmental measurements; when they receive, they’re being told what to do (“open that valve” or “send your status”) or they’re storing data from other devices or, or ,or … there are endless use cases. Moreover, the number of IoT devices is growing incredibly fast and only their combined message traffic is growing faster. And as well as the explosion of the IoT, there are applications running on smartphones, tablets, and computers that all need the same type of messaging service.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here