Use software license optimization tools to get your money’s worth out of SaaS
This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.
Software as a Service (SaaS) breaks the shackles of traditional software licensing approaches, but savvy users still optimize their SaaS environments to avoid undue costs.
SaaS subscription models typically require a one to three year commitment. Customers are invoiced, usually on a monthly basis, and the license typically uses some sort of billing metric based on resource usage, such as the number of end users that can access the product. The flexibility of SaaS licensing models enables organizations to expand the use of the product according to their needs during the term of the subscription.
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Exporting RSA keys from Cisco ASA: Harder than it should be
Unlike Cisco IOS routers, which by default don't allow RSA private keys to be exported from NVRAM, Cisco ASAs don't protect private keys. But there's no command (of which I'm aware) to directly export the keys either.Sometimes you need to squirrel away those keys. You can do it by getting a certificate that uses the keys, then exporting a certificate bundle (with private key included). Here's how.
First, create a key:
crypto key generate rsa label mykey modulus 2048
Next, create a trustpoint which references the key, and generate a self-signed certificate:
crypto ca trustpoint throwaway
keypair mykey
enrollment self
crypto ca enroll throwaway noconfirm
Now the throwaway trustpoint has a certificate. Export that certificate to the terminal.
no terminal pager
crypto ca export throwaway pkcs12 <passphrase>
Save the blob of text including the begin/end lines. The blob is a PKCS12 bundle encrypted using the passphrase above and then base64 encoded. Be sure to save the encryption passphrase.
-----BEGIN PKCS12-----
MIIJZwIBAzCCCSEGCSqGSIb3DQEHAaCCCRIEggkOMIIJCjCCCQYGCSqGSIb3DQEH
BqCCCPcwggjzAgEAMIII7AYJKoZIhvcNAQcBMBsGCiqGSIb3DQEMAQMwDQQI4KTD
...etc...
ru1WrVnO7wFa+83BK8D+aQ7UedzQuU6NOiDrjPR0w8uWSLwKmmSVgnZN4BEwPTAh
MAkGBSsOAwIaBQAEFGA2bfp4y+a/R29RZ9TA8sCUSZ+jBBRvppgVbM8rBbW62096
L/HnJErexgICBAA=
-----END PKCS12-----
We no longer need the certificate or the throwaway trustpoint in which it's stored. Kill it. The private key will survive.
no crypto ca trustpoint throwaway noconfirm
The easiest way to Continue reading
PlexxiPulse—Spotlight on SDN
Infonetics analyst Clifford Grossner recently released a SDN enterprise study which found that nearly 80 percent of medium and large size businesses plan to implement SDN technology in the data center by 2017. The survey of 153 businesses also revealed that 65 percent of respondents are currently conducting data center SDN lab trials or plan to do so in 2015. Marcia Savage of NetworkComputing cites the Infonetics data and names SDN as a top networking trend in a piece this week titled “What’s Hot In Networking: 7 Key Trends.” We’re excited to see SDN in the spotlight. Marcia’s piece and the Infonetics study are both worth a read before you kick off your weekend.
Interested in seeing Plexxi in action? Contact [email protected] to schedule a demo today!
Below please find a few of our top picks for our favorite news articles of the week. Enjoy!
Network World: How SDN will help earn money, not just save
By Ajay Malik
Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is transforming the network and giving network operators unprecedented network programmability, automation, and control. Network administrators are exploring it as it can help them not just optimize total cost of ownership, but do more with Continue reading
Arista Jumps into Open Networking — or Do They?
On March 31 Arista announced it will offer its EOS operating system as a subscription license separate from its switch hardware. While the rest of the industry is realizing disaggregation of hardware and software for the sake of customer choice and innovation, Arista’s “disaggregation” is only a new pricing model. Arista hardware and its EOS operating system remain locked. Customer choice is limited to pricing models.
That is not open networking. And it’s not what customers need. This is an open pricing model at the best.
Currently Arista sells its hardware and software as a single bundle, but with this new pricing model, Arista claims it gives customers a better way to balance their CapEx and OpEx budgets. Arista also says this will let customers scale their cloud deployments as they want, paying for their network resources only as they consume them and — given the subscription service — helping them avoid exorbitant upfront investments.
Disaggregation?
Is Arista opening their pricing model because of growing industry support for open networking? Their announcement nods towards a “disaggregated offering,” but EOS still requires Arista hardware, and Arista switches still require EOS. Customers can buy the hardware/software components separately, but they still can’t Continue reading
Show 231 – OpenFlow’s Possible Futures with Curt Beckmann
Seen as a unifier and enabler in its early days, OpenFlow has come up against some adoption barriers in the form of silicon challenges and vendor-specific extensions that has resulted in a marketplace of OpenFlow options awash in inconsistency. How does OpenFlow rise above this current state of things? Or does it? The Packet Pushers discuss with Curt Beckmann.
Author information
The post Show 231 – OpenFlow’s Possible Futures with Curt Beckmann appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Ethan Banks.
ISIS Link-Group
Introduction On the Core or Edge network, we need more and more bandwidth. For a large service provider, in some parts of the world it’s quite expensive to upgrade links, .ie from 1Gb/s to 10Gb/s. There are two alternatives: aggregate the links either on layer 2 or by doing Layer 3 ECMP. With layer 2 […]
Author information
The post ISIS Link-Group appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Youssef El Fathi.
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 4/3/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert client’s who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Thomas Loran, CCIE #7113 (Service Provider)
- Karl-Johan Stjernqvist, CCIE #47637 (Wireless)
- Rob Wiggins, CCIE #8375 (Data Center)
- Michael Fowler, CCIE #47172 (Routing and Switching)
- Patrick Perry, CCIE #47548 (Routing and Switching)
- Heino Ala-Honkola, CCIE #47729 (Wireless)
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!