The IPv6 Problem is IPv4

At the end of the day, most engineers want to implement IPv6 because they know, deep down, that it is an eventual necessity.  One problem is that no one is talking about quitting IPv4. If you add IPv6 to your network, you increase costs, complexity and operations. IPv4 is going to be around for 25 […]

The post The IPv6 Problem is IPv4 appeared first on EtherealMind.

Give your automated services credentials with Access service tokens

Give your automated services credentials with Access service tokens

Cloudflare Access secures your internal sites by adding authentication. When a request is made to a site behind Access, Cloudflare asks the visitor to login with your identity provider. With service tokens, you can now extend that same level of access control by giving credentials to automated tools, scripts, and bots.

Authenticating users and bots alike

When users attempt to reach a site behind Access, Cloudflare looks for a JSON Web Token (a JWT) to determine if that visitor is allowed to reach that URL. If user does not have a JWT, we redirect them to the identity provider configured for your account. When they login successfully, we generate the JWT.

When you create an Access service token, Cloudflare generates a unique Client ID and Secret scoped to that service. When your bot sends a request with those credentials as headers, we validate them ourselves instead of redirecting to your identity provider. Access creates a JWT for that service and the bot can use that to reach your application.

Getting started

Within the Access tab of the Cloudflare dashboard, you’ll find a new section: Service Tokens. To get started, select “Generate a New Service Token.”

Give your automated services credentials with Access service tokens

You’ll be asked to Continue reading

A Free and Open Course on Data Protection in the Post-GDPR World

Last year, we published “The Dawn of New Digital Rights for Finnish Citizens,” about the launch of the New Digital Rights MOOC, a collaboration between Open Knowledge Finland and the Internet Society’s Finland Chapter. Raoul Plommer wrote, “The aim of the project is to make citizens more aware of their digital rights, initially focusing on explaining GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and MyData…through a MOOC platform and series of workshops that create content and train people and organizations to use it.” Plommer has written an update on the project:

We have come a long way from the beginning of last year, when we were given funding for the project from Internet Society’s Beyond the Net Funding Programme, and Eurooppatiedotus, which is a sub-organization of the Finnish Foreign Ministry.

It took us several months to agree on what is essential to know about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and how we would present it to the general public. It was also challenging to get all the content done without actually paying everyone for all their hard work. Both of our funders had a strict limit on how much money could be spent on salaries (15% and 30%). On Continue reading

How much memory is installed and being used on your Linux systems?

There are numerous ways to get information on the memory installed on Linux systems and view how much of that memory is being used. Some commands provide an overwhelming amount of detail, while others provide succinct, though not necessarily easy-to-digest, answers. In this post, we'll look at some of the more useful tools for checking on memory and its usage.Before we get into the details, however, let's review a few details. Physical memory and virtual memory are not the same. The latter includes disk space that configured to be used as swap. Swap may include partitions set aside for this usage or files that are created to add to the available swap space when creating a new partition may not be practical. Some Linux commands provide information on both.To read this article in full, please click here

IPv6 Buzz 019: IPv6 And Broadband Internet Cable Providers

In the latest episode of IPv6 Buzz we examine IPv6 deployment among cable providers. We'll discuss industry trends, financial and technical drivers for adoption, and how the cable industry is working to transition IPv4 out of the providers' access and distribution networks. Our guest is Dan Torbet.

The post IPv6 Buzz 019: IPv6 And Broadband Internet Cable Providers appeared first on Packet Pushers.

TFDx – Forward Networks

Forward Networks was one of the top presenters at TFDx at Cisco Live 2019 in Barcelona in my opinion.

I really didn’t know much about what they were all about before we had the presentation. One thing I did notice was that they were really organized, even handing out agendas before beginning the presentation. Also, we were told that their engineering department in San Jose were staying up late to watch the Live Stream! Talk about dedication.

So what does Forward Networks provide? – Very deep visibility into your network is the answer. This solution is by far the most comprehensive i have seen. But allow me to perform a breakdown of what im talking about.

These are the components of the solution:

  • Retrieval of both device configuration as well as device state. The later being far more important than just a configuration dump.
  • Common data modeling. A variant of Openconfig is used for this part.
  • Mathematical calculation and graphing based upen the data modeling.
  • Impressive GUI containing multiple “applications”.
  • Open API’s and a query engine.

So let me go into detail and explain the relevance of each.

Retrieval of information:

There are basically 2 different kinds of information that Continue reading

Certifications Are About Support

You may have seen this week that VMware has announced they are removing the mandatory recertification requirement for their certification program. This is a huge step from VMware. The VCP, VCAP, and VCDX are huge certifications in the virtualization and server industry. VMware has always wanted their partners and support personnel to be up-to-date on the latest and greatest software. But, as I will explain, the move to remove the mandatory recertification requirement says more about the fact that certifications are less about selling and more about supporting.

The Paper Escalator

Recertification is a big money maker for companies. Sure, you’re spending a lot money on things like tests and books. But those aren’t usually tied to the company offering the certification. Instead, the testing fees are given to the testing center, like Pearson, and the book fees go to the publisher.

The real money maker for companies is the first-party training. If the company developing the certification is also offering the training courses you can bet they’re raking in the cash. VMware has done this for years with the classroom requirement for the VCP. Cisco has also started doing in with their first-party CCIE training. Cisco’s example also shows Continue reading

Light-based computers to be 5,000 times faster

Electrical currents are best created using semiconductor crystals that absorb light, say researchers who have announced a significant, potential computer-speed breakthrough. The team obtained ultrafast clock rates in the terahertz of frequencies, using light. That is significantly higher than existing single-gigahertz computer clock rates.The “bursts of light contain frequencies that are 5,000 times higher than the highest clock rate of modern computer technology,” researchers at the Forschungsverbund research association in Germany announced in a press release last month. A chip's oscillating frequencies, called clock rate, is one measurement of speed.To read this article in full, please click here

Light-based computers to be 5,000 times faster

Electrical currents are best created using semiconductor crystals that absorb light, say researchers who have announced a significant, potential computer-speed breakthrough. The team obtained ultrafast clock rates in the terahertz of frequencies, using light. That is significantly higher than existing single-gigahertz computer clock rates.The “bursts of light contain frequencies that are 5,000 times higher than the highest clock rate of modern computer technology,” researchers at the Forschungsverbund research association in Germany announced in a press release last month. A chip's oscillating frequencies, called clock rate, is one measurement of speed.To read this article in full, please click here

Light-based computers to be 5,000 times faster

Electrical currents are best created using semiconductor crystals that absorb light, say researchers who have announced a significant, potential computer-speed breakthrough. The team obtained ultrafast clock rates in the terahertz of frequencies, using light. That is significantly higher than existing single-gigahertz computer clock rates.The “bursts of light contain frequencies that are 5,000 times higher than the highest clock rate of modern computer technology,” researchers at the Forschungsverbund research association in Germany announced in a press release last month. A chip's oscillating frequencies, called clock rate, is one measurement of speed.To read this article in full, please click here