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Technology Short Take #70

Welcome to Technology Short Take #70! In this post you’ll find a collection of links to articles discussing the major data center technologies—networking, hardware, security, cloud computing, applications, virtualization…you name it! (If there’s a topic you think I’m missing, I’d love to hear from you.)

Networking

  • MTU in OpenStack Neutron has been, as this article by Sam Yaple points out, a bit of a touchy subject. Fortunately, it looks like progress has been made on that front, so check out Sam’s post for more details.
  • Jason Edelman has an article from back in January that describes the use of Big Switch’s Big Cloud Fabric (BCF) and Big Monitoring Fabric (BMF) in conjunction with Ansible (via some Ansible modules that Jason himself developed).
  • Dwayne Sinclair covers the basics of SpoofGuard in NSX, and how to interact with SpoofGuard via API, in this article.
  • This article is a bit more OpenStack-focused, but given that it focuses pretty heavily on Neutron I thought it’d fit better here in the “Networking” section. The article talks about how to use the --allowed_address_pairs extension to build a highly-available proxy server instead of using LBaaS.
  • Numan Siddique describes the native DHCP support available in OVN (Open Continue reading

Auto Renew Let’s Encrypt Certificates

I'm a big fan of Let's Encrypt (free, widely trusted SSL certificates) but not a big fan of most of the client software available for requesting and renewing certificates. Unlike a typical certificate authority, Let's Encrypt doesn't have a webui for requesting/renewing certs; everything is driven via an automated process that is run between a Let's Encrypt software client and the Let's Encrypt web service.

Since the protocols that Let's Encrypt uses are standards-based, there are many open source clients available. Being security conscious, I have a few concerns with most of the clients:

  • Complication. Many of the clients are hundreds of lines long and unnecessarily complicated. This makes the code really hard to audit and since this code is playing with my crypto key material, I do want to audit it.
  • Elevated privilege. At least one of the clients I saw required root permission. That's a non starter.

Millions of Volkswagens can be broken into with a wireless hack

Millions of Volkswagens built over the past 20 years can be broken into with a hack that exploits the cars’ remote control key systems, security researchers have found. Most VWs built since 1995 use one of a handful of electronic “master keys” to remotely open and lock the doors, and those keys can be extracted by reverse engineering the firmware, the researchers wrote in a new paper.  That alone isn’t enough to break into a car -- the master key has to be combined with a unique code generated by each remote key device. But the researchers also devised a way to do that, assembling a piece of radio hardware costing around $40.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Millions of Volkswagens can be broken into with a wireless hack

Millions of Volkswagens built over the past 20 years can be broken into with a hack that exploits the cars’ remote control key systems, security researchers have found. Most VWs built since 1995 use one of a handful of electronic “master keys” to remotely open and lock the doors, and those keys can be extracted by reverse engineering the firmware, the researchers wrote in a new paper.  That alone isn’t enough to break into a car -- the master key has to be combined with a unique code generated by each remote key device. But the researchers also devised a way to do that, assembling a piece of radio hardware costing around $40.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

HPE aims for a big-data boost with $275 million SGI buy

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is buying SGI in a $275 million deal that it hopes will give it a major boost in big-data analytics and high-performance computing.It's the latest surprise development at HPE, which has continued to make big changes since it was formed in the break-up of the old Hewlett-Packard last year.The deal to buy SGI, announced Thursday, fits with HPE's goal to expand its data analytics business. It will also make HPE a bigger player in high performance computing, a growing part of the server market. SGI has roughly 1,100 employees worldwide. On Thursday, it reported a net loss for its last fiscal year of $11 million, on revenue of $533 million.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

HPE aims for a big-data boost with $275 million SGI buy

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is buying SGI in a $275 million deal that it hopes will give it a major boost in big-data analytics and high-performance computing.It's the latest surprise development at HPE, which has continued to make big changes since it was formed in the break-up of the old Hewlett-Packard last year.The deal to buy SGI, announced Thursday, fits with HPE's goal to expand its data analytics business. It will also make HPE a bigger player in high performance computing, a growing part of the server market. SGI has roughly 1,100 employees worldwide. On Thursday, it reported a net loss for its last fiscal year of $11 million, on revenue of $533 million.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

24% off Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571-C1DZ (15.6-Inch Full HD IPS, 4GB RAM, 16GB SSD) – Deal Alert

Acer's 15.6-inch Full HD Chromebook allows you to see more, do more and explore more than ever before. With a 27% larger screen area than the 13.3-inch Chromebook, and a 24% larger screen than a 14-inch Chromebook means more content can be shown and less scrolling and productivity tools such as Excel are easier to interact with.  The display is bright and crisp with a 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution with wide viewing angle display, allowing you to share content simply and easily with those around you. It also has a high-dynamic-range imaging (HDR) web cam which provides clearer photos and supports better Google Hangouts experience in HD, The two full-sized upward facing speakers bring movies to life, give songs more depth and make games more engaging and immersive.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

32% off Pulse Solo Dimmable LED Light with Dual Channel Bluetooth Speakers – Deal Alert

Pulse Solo is the world's first LED light with dual speakers in one bulb. Pulse Solo combines the energy efficiency of a dimmable LED light with the high-quality audio of JBL Bluetooth speakers. Setup is easy, twist the Pulse Solo into any standard light socket, and adjust both lighting and sound from any Bluetooth enabled iOS or Android device. Experience the soaring highs and the rich stereo sound of JBL combined with warm, dimmable lighting, without the fuss of speaker wires, power cords, or an independent remote control. The intuitive iOS and Android App offers seamless control of both light and sound while listening to your favorite streamed music or media, offering you the ability to customize your light and music to suit any mood.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Amazon Kinesis Analytics lets devs analyze real-time data with SQL

Amazon launched a new tool on Thursday aimed at helping developers build applications that offer insights from a firehose of data in real time. Kinesis Analytics will let users set up SQL queries that run on data that's constantly updating, expanding the reach of the popular data analysis language beyond traditional database applications. Once a user has set up a Kinesis Analytics stream, the results can then be routed to up to four different services, including Amazon S3, Redshift, and Elasticsearch Service.It's a service that's useful for bringing in data from sources that are rapidly shifting in real time, like sensor information from the internet of things, or live data from a stock market. That's key as more and more companies start leaning on big sets of live data to help drive business applications. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AMD turns back to x86 for server reboot as it downgrades ARM

AMD's move three years ago to rely on ARM for server chips is turning out to be a big mistake.The company is putting its faith back in x86 chips as it seeks a reboot in servers, a market in which the company was once a big player. Riddled with chip delays and abandoned projects, AMD has downgraded ARM in its server strategy.Instead of ARM-based servers, AMD is relying again on x86 chips, this time based on the promising Zen architecture, to take market share from Intel.AMD shipped its first ARM-based Opteron A-series processors early this year after delays. The first server chips based on a custom ARM-based core, called K12 core, could be released next year, an AMD spokesman said, but the company's server strategy next year is centered on Zen and x86.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Living in an age of cyber extortion

One of the most famous examples of DDoS attacks used for extortion was attributed to an attacker using the moniker “DD4BC,” which stands for “DDoS for Bitcoin.” ASERT wrote about this in June. Due to DD4BC’s success copy cats emerged and these types of attacks spread quickly around the world. In fact, there have been stories reported of “copy cats of copy cats,” simply threatening to launch DDoS attacks in exchange for bitcoin – even though they had no such botnet at their disposal. —Arbor

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Microsoft relents on shorter Windows 7 support decree

Microsoft today repudiated an early retirement date for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 support, saying that it will patch those operating systems on PCs running Intel's Skylake silicon until 2020 and 2023, respectively.The move was a complete rollback of a January degree that Microsoft called a "clarification" of its support policy. Under the January plan, Microsoft would have ended most support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 on July 17, 2017, if the operating systems were powering machines equipped with Intel's now-current Skylake processor family.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Syria goes to extremes to foil cheaters

Early this morning in Syria, the Internet was almost entirely down for four hours.  It was the ninth such outage since 31 July 2016 — each one lasting from approximately 4am to 8am local time.  And, according to sources inside Syria, the objective of these outages was to prevent cheating on national High School exams.  The motivation for today’s national outage: a Chemistry final.

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Below is the High School exam schedule that was evidently driving these national Internet blackouts.

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Last year, we first reported on country-wide Internet blackouts in Iraq to prevent cheating during their national 6th grade placement exams.  The Atlantic magazine covered this story when Iraq began conducting Internet outages again earlier this year for more exams.  Also Algeria, Uzbekistan, and the Gujarat region of India have also all recently blocked mobile service to prevent students from cheating on their exams.

It is striking how far we have come since Egypt in 2011, when their country-wide outage was a huge international story.  National Internet blackouts are so routine and banal that they are now becoming a common tactic to prevent cheating among youth.  In fact, this latest round Continue reading

iPhone 7 to be unveiled Sept. 7 ahead of Sept. 16 release date

With September steadily approaching, we're inching ever closer to the grand unveiling of Apple's iPhone 7. While the iPhone 7 likely won't introduce a radical new redesign or futuristic features, the device will undoubtedly carry a number of internal enhancements, along with much-improved cameras on both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models.Last week, we detailed how Apple's iPhone will likely hit store shelves on Friday, Sept. 16. And now comes word via Bloomberg that the device will officially be unveiled on Wednesday, Sept. 7.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

iPhone 7 to be unveiled on September 7 ahead of September 16 release date

With September steadily approaching, we're inching ever closer to the grand unveiling of Apple's iPhone 7. While the iPhone 7 likely won't introduce a radical new redesign or futuristic features, the device will undoubtedly carry a number of internal enhancements along with much improved cameras on both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models.Last week, we detailed how Apple's iPhone will likely hit store shelves on Friday, September 16. And now comes word via Bloomberg that the device will officially be unveiled on Wednesday, September 7.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Intel’s new Atom chips for cars and IoT could shed ugly mobile past

Intel's Atom chips are on their way out of mobile devices, and the next generation of the chip line will instead be targeted toward drones, self-driving cars, and IoT devices.The new Atom chips will retain the line's focus on low power consumption, with an emphasis on graphics and visual computing. The chip line, to be announced next week at Intel Developer Forum, will be used to maneuver cars, drones, and robots and to also help them recognize objects.Many Atom mobile and server chips have been on Intel's chopping block. The troubled chip's future now is in the growing markets of IoT and virtual reality. The chips will integrate into devices with the company's 3D RealSense cameras, according to a technical session description at IDF. That points to the chips also being used in low-power virtual reality headsets.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech giants aren’t as innovative as you think

Many titans of technology today have well-known reputations of being innovative and creative. However, new research based on the experiences of employees who work at these firms suggests external perceptions may not represent reality. Facebook, for example, doesn't prioritize creativity in the workplace as well as its peers, and Microsoft is more specific than Facebook and Google when it looks for certain traits in employees, according a report from Good&Co, a firm that surveys professionals on their work histories and tries to match people with appropriate employers. The company recently evaluated responses from 4,364 users who work at the tech companies featured in the study and compared findings to develop profiles of tech's biggest stars.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

‘Golden keys’ that unlock Windows’ Secure Boot protection discovered

Microsoft just offered a masterclass on why building back doors into secure systems are a bad idea. Two security researchers who go by the handles @never_released and @TheWack0lian on Twitter recently announced in a blog post that malicious actors can bypass Windows’ Secure Boot feature on vulnerable machines, as first reported by ZDNet.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

‘Golden keys’ that unlock Windows’ Secure Boot protection discovered

Microsoft just offered a masterclass on why building back doors into secure systems are a bad idea. Two security researchers who go by the handles @never_released and @TheWack0lian on Twitter recently announced in a blog post that malicious actors can bypass Windows’ Secure Boot feature on vulnerable machines, as first reported by ZDNet.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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