ONUG Open SD-WAN Exchange Takes a Step Closer to Vendor Interoperability

The Open SD-WAN Exchange (OSE) plans to launch its service level API, which helps SD-WAN vendors talk, at the upcoming ONUG Spring 2018 conference.

Microsoft Beats AWS in Cloud Revenues for the First Quarter of 2018

Microsoft reported cloud revenues of $6 billion, while AWS reported revenues of $5.4 billion for the quarter.

The Universal Fat Tree

Have you ever wondered why spine-and-leaf networks are the “standard” for data center networks? While the answer has a lot to do with trial and error, it turns out there is also a mathematical reason the fat-tree spine-and-leaf is is used almost universally. There often is some mathematical reason for the decisions made in engineering, although we rarely explore those reasons. If it seems to work, there is probably a reason.

The fat-tree design is explored in a paper published in 2015 (available here at the ACM, and now added to my “classic papers” page so there is a local copy as well), using a novel technique to not only explore why the spine-and-leaf fat-tree is so flexible, but even what the ideal ratio of network capacity is at each stage. The idea begins with this basic concept: one kind of network topology can be emulated on top of another physical topology. For instance, you can emulate a toroid topology on top of a hierarchical network, or a spine-and-leaf on top of of hypercube, etc. To use terms engineers are familiar with in a slightly different way, let’s call the physical topology the underlay, and the emulated topology the overlay. Continue reading

Getting started with Terraform and Cloudflare (Part 2 of 2)

In Part 1 of Getting Started with Terraform, we explained how Terraform lets developers store Cloudflare configuration in their own source code repository, institute change management processes that include code review, track their configuration versions and history over time, and easily roll back changes as needed.

We covered installing Terraform, provider initialization, storing configuration in git, applying zone settings, and managing rate limits. This post continues the Cloudflare Terraform provider walkthrough with examples of load balancing, page rules, reviewing and rolling back configuration, and importing state.

Reviewing the current configuration

Before we build on Part 1, let's quickly review what we configured in that post. Because our configuration is in git, we can easily view the current configuration and change history that got us to this point.

$ git log
commit e1c38cf6f4230a48114ce7b747b77d6435d4646c
Author: Me
Date:   Mon Apr 9 12:34:44 2018 -0700

    Step 4 - Update /login rate limit rule from 'simulate' to 'ban'.

commit 0f7e499c70bf5994b5d89120e0449b8545ffdd24
Author: Me
Date:   Mon Apr 9 12:22:43 2018 -0700

    Step 4 - Add rate limiting rule to protect /login.

commit d540600b942cbd89d03db52211698d331f7bd6d7
Author: Me
Date:   Sun Apr 8 22:21:27 2018 -0700

    Step 3 - Enable TLS 1.3,  Continue reading

IETF RFC 8374 BGPsec Design Choices and Summary of Supporting Discussions

Why BGPSec turned out the way it did ?

Gone Fishin’

Well, not exactly Fishin', but I'll be on a month long vacation starting today. I won't be posting new content, so we'll all have a break. Disappointing, I know. Please use this time for quiet contemplation and other inappropriate activities. Se vidiva kmalu!

If you really need a quick fix there's always all the back catalog of Stuff the Internet Says. Odds are there's a lot you didn't read yet.

Somehow, AWS and cloud growth continues to accelerate

If the numbers weren’t so clear, I’m not sure I’d have believed it was possible. After all, an enormous business that earned $17.46 billion in 2017 and grew approximately 45 percent is bound to slow down, right? Simply maintaining that insane level of growth would be virtually impossible, right?But somehow, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is actually boosting its growth. After expanding by 42 percent in the third quarter of 2017, AWS increased that number to 45 percent in the fourth quarter … and then did it again, growing 49 percent in the first quarter of calendar 2018.To read this article in full, please click here

Somehow, AWS and cloud growth continues to accelerate

If the numbers weren’t so clear, I’m not sure I’d have believed it was possible. After all, an enormous business that earned $17.46 billion in 2017 and grew approximately 45 percent is bound to slow down, right? Simply maintaining that insane level of growth would be virtually impossible, right?But somehow, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is actually boosting its growth. After expanding by 42 percent in the third quarter of 2017, AWS increased that number to 45 percent in the fourth quarter … and then did it again, growing 49 percent in the first quarter of calendar 2018.To read this article in full, please click here

Network Break 182: BGP Hijacked For Cryptocurrency Heist; Juniper, Big Switch Unveil New Products

Businesses need more than one way to achieve multicloud

The term multicloud is one of the more overused terms in IT circles today. At its most basic level, any customer that uses more than one cloud service could be considered multicloud. But that’s not really multicloud, that’s just using multiple clouds. True multicloud should enable businesses to use some combination of private and public clouds, but operationally it would look like a single cloud domain.   There’s not one well-defined path to multicloud. In fact, there shouldn’t be. Every business is different, which means everyone needs options. Some will migrate quickly, some slowly, some will forklift upgrade hardware, and others will sweat their assets. The problem with options is that they add to complexity, and that has become public enemy number one of network operations. Network professionals need to worry about managing the underlay, managing overlay, maintaining policies, automating processes, and other factors to make multi-cloud a reality.To read this article in full, please click here

Businesses need more than one way to achieve multicloud

The term multicloud is one of the more overused terms in IT circles today. At its most basic level, any customer that uses more than one cloud service could be considered multicloud. But that’s not really multicloud, that’s just using multiple clouds. True multicloud should enable businesses to use some combination of private and public clouds, but operationally it would look like a single cloud domain.   There’s not one well-defined path to multicloud. In fact, there shouldn’t be. Every business is different, which means everyone needs options. Some will migrate quickly, some slowly, some will forklift upgrade hardware, and others will sweat their assets. The problem with options is that they add to complexity, and that has become public enemy number one of network operations. Network professionals need to worry about managing the underlay, managing overlay, maintaining policies, automating processes, and other factors to make multi-cloud a reality.To read this article in full, please click here

Future Thinking: Augusto Mathurin on Digital Divides

In 2017, the Internet Society unveiled the 2017 Global Internet Report: Paths to Our Digital Future. The interactive report identifies the drivers affecting tomorrow’s Internet and their impact on Media & Society, Digital Divides, and Personal Rights & Freedoms. In April 2018, we interviewed two stakeholders –Getachew Engida, Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Augusto Mathurin, who created Virtuágora, an open source digital participation platform – to hear their different perspectives on the forces shaping the Internet.

Augusto Mathurin is a 25-year-old Argentinian who strongly believes in the need to enable all people to participate in decision-making which can impact them and their communities. With this in mind, Augusto developed an open source digital participation platform as part of a university project. The main goal of this platform, Virtuágora, was to create a common space in which citizens’ opinions and their representatives’ proposals could converge. The concept was derived from the Greek agora – the central square of ancient Grecian cities where citizens met to discuss their society. In 2017, Augusto was awarded the Internet Society’s 25 under 25 award for making an impact in his community and beyond.  (You can  Continue reading

Red Hat launches turnkey storage solution

Red Hat has always been a software company. It still is, but with an OEM partner, it will now offer a plug-and-play software-defined storage (SDS) system called Red Hat Storage One.Red Hat Storage One is built on the company’s software-defined Gluster storage product, but it includes hardware from Supermicro, which will manufacture and sell the hardware. When you purchase a Storage One box from a Red Hat partner, support for both the hardware and software are rolled up into one package with “a single part number,” as Red Hat puts it.Support contracts are for one-, three-, or five-year periods, and they cover everything — hardware and software. The hardware vendor is the first line of defense, with Red Hat taking over for more serious issues.To read this article in full, please click here

Feeding The Insatiable Bandwidth Beast

Breaking into any part of the IT stack against incumbents with vast installed bases is not easy task. Cutting edge technology is table stakes, and targeting precise customers with specific needs is the only way to get a toehold. It also takes money. Lots of money. Innovium, the upstart Ethernet switch chip maker, has all three and is set to make some inroads among the hyperscalers and cloud builders.

We told you all about Innovium back in March last year, when the company, founded by former networking executives and engineers from Intel and Broadcom, dropped out of stealth and …

Feeding The Insatiable Bandwidth Beast was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

Future Thinking: Getachew Engida on Digital Divides

In 2017, the Internet Society unveiled the 2017 Global Internet Report: Paths to Our Digital Future. The interactive report identifies the drivers affecting tomorrow’s Internet and their impact on Media & Society, Digital Divides, and Personal Rights & Freedoms. In April 2018, we interviewed two stakeholders – Getachew Engida, Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Augusto Mathurin, who created Virtuágora, an open source digital participation platform – to hear their different perspectives on the forces shaping the Internet.

Getachew Engida is the Deputy Director-General of UNESCO. He has spent the past twenty years leading and managing international organizations and advancing the cause of poverty eradication, peace-building, and sustainable development. He has worked extensively on rural and agricultural development, water and climate challenges, education, science, technology and innovation, intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity, communication and information with emphasis on freedom of expression, and the free flow information on and offline. (You can read Augusto Mathurin’s interview here).

The Internet Society: You have, in the past, stressed the role that education has played in your own life and can play in others’ lives. Do you see technology helping to promote literacy and Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: Why carriers aren’t ready for SD-WAN services

Throughout my early years as a consultant, when asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) was the rage and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) was still at the outset, I handled numerous roles as a network architect alongside various carriers. During that period, I experienced first-hand problems that the new technologies posed to them.The lack of true end-to-end automation made our daily tasks run into the night. Bespoke network designs due to the shortfall of appropriate documentation resulted in one that person knows all. The provisioning teams never fully understood the design. The copy-and-paste implementation approach is error-prone, leaving teams blindfolded when something went wrong.To read this article in full, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Why carriers aren’t ready for SD-WAN services

Throughout my early years as a consultant, when asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) was the rage and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) was still at the outset, I handled numerous roles as a network architect alongside various carriers. During that period, I experienced first-hand problems that the new technologies posed to them.The lack of true end-to-end automation made our daily tasks run into the night. Bespoke network designs due to the shortfall of appropriate documentation resulted in one that person knows all. The provisioning teams never fully understood the design. The copy-and-paste implementation approach is error-prone, leaving teams blindfolded when something went wrong.To read this article in full, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: WAN Summit recap: challenges facing SD-WAN services

If the recent WAN Summit in New York where I moderated a panel on last-mile access (more on that later) was any indication, the SD-WAN market is shifting towards a service-delivery model where sufficient network security and predictability are baked into the SD-WAN so the service can replace MPLS.In session and private conversations, topics related to secure SD-WAN services kept popping up. The challenges of today’s managed services. The impact of the cloud. The need for SLAs in SD-WAN services. How encryption complicates visibility and, by extension, enterprise security. These and other issues point to the change and challenges facing SD-WAN services.To read this article in full, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: WAN Summit recap: challenges facing SD-WAN services

If the recent WAN Summit in New York where I moderated a panel on last-mile access (more on that later) was any indication, the SD-WAN market is shifting towards a service-delivery model where sufficient network security and predictability are baked into the SD-WAN so the service can replace MPLS.In session and private conversations, topics related to secure SD-WAN services kept popping up. The challenges of today’s managed services. The impact of the cloud. The need for SLAs in SD-WAN services. How encryption complicates visibility and, by extension, enterprise security. These and other issues point to the change and challenges facing SD-WAN services.To read this article in full, please click here

The Week in Internet News: A New Use for Blockchain

Blockchain takes on censorship: Students looking into sexual harassment accusations involving a professor at Peking University in China wrote a letter accusing the school of trying to silence one of them, but the letter was removed from social media outlets for “violating rules.” So some supporters distributed the letter using the Ethereum blockchain, reports Yahoo finance.

Why routing security matters: Hackers used a well-known weakness in Border Gateway Protocol routing to hijack Amazon Web Services’ DNS traffic for about two hours last Tuesday. Attackers were able to redirect an Ethereum wallet developer’s website to a phishing site and steal about $150,000 from MyEtherWallet.com users, ZDNet reports.

Hacking-for-hire site attacked: In this case, law enforcement agencies from 12 countries were the people who shut down hacking-for-hire site Webstresser.org. The site had 136,000 customers and its hackers launched more than 4 million DDoS attacks in recent years, according to Europol. GovTech.com has a story.

Inspecting the IoT: Researchers at Princeton University are launching IoT Inspector, an open-source tool designed to give Internet of Things users insight into the security of their devices. There’s even Raspberry Pi code for the project, says The Register.

Cryptocurrency for the suits: The Continue reading