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Ossification and Fragmentation: The Once and Future ‘net

Mostafa Ammar, out of Georgia Tech (not my alma mater, but many of my engineering family are alumni there), recently posted an interesting paper titled The Service-Infrastructure Cycle, Ossification, and the Fragmentation of the Internet. I have argued elsewhere that we are seeing the fragmentation of the global Internet into multiple smaller pieces, primarily based on the centralization of content hosting combined with the rational economic decisions of the large-scale hosting services. The paper in hand takes a slightly different path to reach the same conclusion.

TL;DR

Networks are built based on a cycle of infrastructure modifications to support services
When new services are added, pressure builds to redesign the network to support these new services
Networks can ossify over time so they cannot be easily modified to support new services
This causes pressure, and eventually a more radical change, such as the fracturing of the network

The author begins by noting networks are designed to provide a set of services. Each design paradigm not only supports the services it was designed for, but also allows for some headroom, which allows users to deploy new, unanticipated services. Over time, as newer services are deployed, the requirements on the network Continue reading

Spousetivities at DockerCon EU 18

DockerCon EU 18 is set to kick off in early December (December 3-5, to be precise!) in Barcelona, Spain. Thanks to Docker’s commitment to attendee families—something for which I have and will continue to commend them—DockerCon will offer both childcare (as they have in years past) and spouse/partner activities via Spousetivities. Let me just say: Spousetivities in Barcelona rocks. Crystal lines up a great set of activities that really cannot be beat.

Here’s some details on what’s available in Barcelona for DockerCon EU 18:

On Monday, December 3, there will be a private tour of Costa Brava and Girona. Girona is an extremely well-preserved medieval walled city dating back to the first century! If you’re a fan of history, this is one not to miss. The tour will, of course, include an amazing lunch in a traditional local restaurant.
Tuesday, December 4, participants will do a combined Barcelona city tour along with a visit to the famous La Sagrada Familia. The city tour will include stops to sample a wide variety of tapas in local venues. You’ll also get to visit La Sagrada Familia, which is a definite must-see if you’ve never visited before.
Wrapping up the events on Continue reading

IBM Gobbles Up Red Hat for $34B in Hybrid Cloud, Container Push

Red Hat will maintain its independence to work with other public cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.

Accedian Launches Analytics Platform to Provide Front-End View of Its Data

Previously, the performance monitoring company had no way to take the test data it was creating and analyze it to detect anomalies and predict network issues.

Nominations Now Open for 2019 Internet Society Board of Trustees Election

The Internet Society Nominations Committee is now inviting nominations for candidates to serve on the Internet Society Board of Trustees.

In 2019, Internet Society Chapters and the IETF will each select one Trustee, and our Organization Members will select two Trustees. Following an orientation program, all new Trustees will begin 3-year terms commencing with the Internet Society Annual General Meeting in July.

The Board of Trustees provides strategic direction, inspiration, and oversight to advance the Internet Society’s mission of preserving the open, globally-connected, trustworthy and secure Internet for everyone.

If you or someone you know is interested in serving on the Board, please see the official Call for Nominations, additional information, and links to online nomination forms at:
http://www.internetsociety.org/trustees

The nominations period closes at 15:00 UTC on Friday, 14 December 2018.

The post Nominations Now Open for 2019 Internet Society Board of Trustees Election appeared first on Internet Society.

Bringing Researchers to the Frontier of FPGA Development

There are two key barriers to fully exploring the emerging use of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) at the scale found in data centers: capital investment for private equipment, and gaining full, unfettered access to shared equipment. …

Bringing Researchers to the Frontier of FPGA Development was written by Nicole Hemsoth at .

Plenipot 2018 – What’s Up for the Internet?

Two weeks ago, the Editorial Board of the New York Times published a piece predicting that the Internet is heading for a breakup.

Based on the comments made by Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt during a private event the Times set out to paint a picture of a world with three Internets.

The timing is understandable. We’re in a world where things like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation is met with an equal measure of acceptance, annoyance, and confusion around the world.

And, just last week, my colleague Konstantinos Komaitis warned about what could happen as decision-makers are imposing rules that spill over onto the Internet, hamper innovation, deter investment in their own countries, and risk creating new digital divides.

These events set the stage for the Plenipotentiary meeting of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

And, in today’s climate, there are many who believe the Internet could be failing us.

So, we need to speak loudly about the fact that the Internet is not failing.

So far, I think the Internet has been a force for good.

The Internet allows us to do things like expand our access to education, build businesses, and grow our economy.

The Internet Continue reading

Worth Reading: Paying for BGP security in coin

Last week I learned something about BitCoin that entirely changed my view on the urgency for implementing uniform security in the global routing system. —Leslie Daigle @thinkingcat

VMworld 2018 Europe Sessions on NSX Networking and Security in VMware Cloud on AWS

VMworld 2018 Europe in Barcelona is a week away. Want to learn more about NSX Networking and Security in VMware Cloud on AWS, how you can easily deploy and secure workloads in the cloud, or how to build hybrid cloud solutions with the familiarity and capabilities of vSphere? Make sure to attend the below sessions at VMworld 2018 Europe next week. We will go into a deep dive of all the functionality and show how VMware Cloud on AWS is being used by customers. Continue reading

The Week in Internet News: Rural Maine Looks to Community Broadband

Broadband for themselves: Rural Maine residents are looking into ways to create their own community broadband networks because of a lack of service in some areas, the Press Herald reports. About 15 percent of the state’s residents don’t have access to 25 Mbps broadband service. A project in the St. Croix Valley would create Maine’s first publicly-owned broadband network.

Home patches: Amazon has issued 13 security patches, with some addressing vulnerabilities in its Internet of Things home devices, Engadget reports. If left unpatched, the security holes would let intruders crash devices and remotely run code, giving them full control.

Confusion and delay: Meanwhile, a lot of companies that are potential IoT users are delaying their deployments because of security concerns, reports Betanews. About half of companies labeled as early adopters have delayed an IoT purchase because of security issues, according to a survey from F-Secure.

The cost of a breach: Yahoo has agreed to pay a $50 million settlement to the 200 million people affected the company’s huge 2013 data breach, Fortune says. The company will also pay a tidy $35 million in lawyers’ fees. The settlement applies only to a fraction of the people affected by the email breach.

Continue reading