IDG Contributor Network: Cultivating an app-first mentality in enterprise network management

Today’s enterprise relies heavily on applications for just about every business function, making it critical for administrators to have full visibility into networks to better manage traffic and application usage. With MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) networks, this level of visibility is virtually impossible because those networks weren’t designed with an application-first mentality, but that is changing with the implementation of software-defined networks (SDN).Often, administrators don’t even know what apps are on their network or they know only what traffic comes in and out of their firewall/proxy servers. SDN, which replaces most network hardware with software-based controls, is providing transparency that administrators never had before, allowing them to steer application traffic to achieve the best performance.To read this article in full, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Cultivating an app-first mentality in enterprise network management

Today’s enterprise relies heavily on applications for just about every business function, making it critical for administrators to have full visibility into networks to better manage traffic and application usage. With MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) networks, this level of visibility is virtually impossible because those networks weren’t designed with an application-first mentality, but that is changing with the implementation of software-defined networks (SDN).Often, administrators don’t even know what apps are on their network or they know only what traffic comes in and out of their firewall/proxy servers. SDN, which replaces most network hardware with software-based controls, is providing transparency that administrators never had before, allowing them to steer application traffic to achieve the best performance.To read this article in full, please click here

How White Box Networking is Channeling Trader Joe’s

2018 is a particularly good time to be in the disaggregated networking business. Truth is, it’s never been better – either for the vendors or for the enterprise network managers themselves. The market for network innovation has finally sorted itself out after a long wander through the desert of academic SDN piety, and the hardware that disaggregated Linux-based NOS software runs on is now world class – same ASICs and hardware the legacy guys use, probably even the same power cords if you look close enough.

So where does Trader Joe’s – a highly successful retail food store innovator in the US – possibly come into this equation? Two words: value proposition. While white box NOS vendors like Pica8 did not deliberately set out to emulate the basic business values of Trader Joe’s, it turns out that, well, we basically did.  The mapping is eerily similar.

Higher quality at lower cost? Check.

A focus on service and responsiveness? Double check.

Using the same product sources as their larger competitors but without brand-name labels? Triple check.

And, finally, having absolutely everything you need to make a great meal/network without burying you under unnecessary options that make your head spin? Quadruple Continue reading

How White Box Networking is Channeling Trader Joe’s

2018 is a particularly good time to be in the disaggregated networking business. Truth is, it’s never been better – either for the vendors or for the enterprise network managers themselves. The market for network innovation has finally sorted itself out after a long wander through the desert of academic SDN piety, and the hardware that disaggregated Linux-based NOS software runs on is now world class – same ASICs and hardware the legacy guys use, probably even the same power cords if you look close enough.

So where does Trader Joe’s – a highly successful retail food store innovator in the US – possibly come into this equation? Two words: value proposition. While white box NOS vendors like Pica8 did not deliberately set out to emulate the basic business values of Trader Joe’s, it turns out that, well, we basically did.  The mapping is eerily similar.

Higher quality at lower cost? Check.

A focus on service and responsiveness? Double check.

Using the same product sources as their larger competitors but without brand-name labels? Triple check.

And, finally, having absolutely everything you need to make a great meal/network without burying you under unnecessary options that make your head spin? Quadruple Continue reading

1 year and 3 months working at Cloudflare: How is it going so far?

This post is inspired by a very good blog post from one of my colleague in the US, which I really appreciated as I was a newcomer to the company. It was great to see what it is like working for Cloudflare after one year and to learn from the lessons she had learnt.

I'll try to do the same in three parts. Beginning with how my on-boarding went, my first customer experiences and finally what is my day-to-day life at Cloudflare. These writings only reflect my personal feelings and thoughts. The experience is different for each and every newcomer to Cloudflare.

Chapter 1 - On-boarding, being impressed and filling the (big) knowledge gaps.

Before I joined Cloudflare, I was working as a Security Consultant in Paris, France. I never had the opportunity to move abroad to speak English (me.englishLevel = 0), I never had any reason to live outside of France and was at the same time looking for another Job. Perfect then!

When I saw the job posting, I immediately applied as I knew the company well, the mindset and the products Cloudflare provided. It took me 6 months to get the offer probably because Continue reading

Favourite Section of Anixter Blue Book

A personal work philosophy I have adopted.

The Network Collective One Year Anniversary Show: War Stories

Qualcomm Slashes Up to 1,500 Jobs

Qualcomm has been caught in the crossfire between the U.S. and China, and it's impacting the company's ability to close on its NXP purchase.

Cloud Foundry Scores Alibaba Cloud Deal, Access to China

The integration provides Cloud Foundry with access to the world's No. 3 cloud provider and China-based enterprises.

6 Software-Defined Storage Companies to Watch

While the overall storage market experiences slow growth, software-defined storage is driving significant shifts in revenue. We selected six companies that are pushing the market forward.

Wouldn’t it be nice…if you could trust your device?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could trust that your device is secure, so that it isn’t leaking your private data, becoming a bot and attacking other users, or putting you at risk?

We think so too.

By using their buying power to influence the market, combined with forward-looking, smart policies and regulations, governments can help build an Internet of Things (IoT) we can trust. With over ten billion IoT devices, applications, and services already in use, and the number of connected devices forecasted to jump to over thirty-eight billion by 2020, ensuring that governments take the right actions now around IoT security is critical.

Governments have important choices to make now to help ensure that IoT consumers are secure, innovation can flourish, and we can all fully benefit from IoT.

We are pleased to release IoT Security for Policymakers, a discussion paper to help provide a solid foundation for policymakers and regulators as they address IoT security. In the paper, we highlight key issues and challenges of IoT security, along with guiding principles and recommendations. While many of IoT’s challenges are technical, some of the most pressing are social, economic, or legal. There are countless consumers with little Continue reading

Cray reunites with AMD for new supercomputers

Cray owes its survival to AMD. The company was bought by SGI in 1996, hollowed out, and spun off in 2000 with very little left. SGI had taken most of the talent and IP.Desperate for a win, Cray began working with Sandia National Labs in 2002 to build a supercomputer based on x86 technology. Intel at the time was dismissive of 64-bit x86 and was promoting Itanium. AMD had other plans and was in the process of developing Athlon for desktops and Opteron for servers.[ Learn how server disaggregation can boost data center efficiency and find out what the top 10 fastest supercomputers are. | Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ] The project came to be known as Red Storm, starting with single-core Opterons and upgrading to dual- and quad-core CPUs as they hit the market. Red Storm ranked as high as number two on the Top 500 list of supercomputers. More important, it served as the basis for the XT3 line of supercomputers that revived Cray as a player in that field, and lit a fire under Intel as well.To read this article in full, please click here

Cray reunites with AMD for new supercomputers

Cray owes its survival to AMD. The company was bought by SGI in 1996, hollowed out, and spun off in 2000 with very little left. SGI had taken most of the talent and IP.Desperate for a win, Cray began working with Sandia National Labs in 2002 to build a supercomputer based on x86 technology. Intel at the time was dismissive of 64-bit x86 and was promoting Itanium. AMD had other plans and was in the process of developing Athlon for desktops and Opteron for servers.[ Learn how server disaggregation can boost data center efficiency and find out what the top 10 fastest supercomputers are. | Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ] The project came to be known as Red Storm, starting with single-core Opterons and upgrading to dual- and quad-core CPUs as they hit the market. Red Storm ranked as high as number two on the Top 500 list of supercomputers. More important, it served as the basis for the XT3 line of supercomputers that revived Cray as a player in that field, and lit a fire under Intel as well.To read this article in full, please click here

Worth Reading: White box switching

White box switching seems to be all the networking hype. For some in-depth research, check out this podcast from packet pushers about ATT making its move into white box switching. Cisco is also committed to offering a decoupled version of IOS-XR from Cisco hardware to enable running their NOS on OCP (open compute project) compliant hardware aka “white box switching.” Fascinating stuff, but what’s the big deal? Well, I’m going to try and make a comparison. —Javi Isolis

PQ 146: Practical Python For Deploying BFD

The post PQ 146: Practical Python For Deploying BFD appeared first on Packet Pushers.

BrandPost: Evolution to SDN, NFV, and Intelligent Automation

Mobile devices. The data center. The WAN. All are players in the move to a software-defined industry that gives network operators more control, programmability and responsiveness to business needs.The momentum behind the shift to Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) has seen organizations embrace the benefits and advantages offered by software and virtualization—benefits that center around agility, flexibility, and adaptability. This shift significantly changes how networks are built and operated, as well as how services are created and delivered. An increasingly critical component of any network, software helps meet evolving end-user demands for greater programmability and openness.To read this article in full, please click here

Get Juniper Certified – AT HOME!

Are you looking to get started with Juniper certification but having a hard time finding the time to travel to a …

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The post Get Juniper Certified – AT HOME! appeared first on Fryguy's Blog.

Storage Management Software: Users Weigh In

Scalable, Flexible Networking Included in Docker Enterprise Edition 2.0

Docker believes in making technology easy to use and accessible and that approach also extends to our enterprise-ready container platform. That means providing out-of-the-box integrations to key extensions of the platform that enterprise organizations require, but also making it possible to swap these built-in solutions with other tools as desired.

Docker Enterprise Edition 2.0, integrates Kubernetes to our platform and delivers the only Kubernetes platform that can be deployed across multiple clouds and multiple operating systems. As part of this release, we have included Project Calico by Tigera as the “batteries included” Kubernetes CNI plug-in for a highly scalable, industry-leading networking and routing solution.

Why Project Calico?

While we support our customers using their preferred CNI plug-in, we chose to integrate Project Calico for our built-in solution because it aligns well with our design objectives for Docker EE 2.0:

• • Choice & Flexibility for Different Deployment Models: Enterprise organizations are largely pursuing hybrid and multi-cloud strategies and we want to ensure that you have the flexibility to operate Docker EE in any environment. The Tigera team behind Project Calico has worked closely with all the major cloud providers to ensure that Calico works well with their Continue reading

Why Can’t We All Use Provider-Independent IPv6 Addresses?

Here’s another back-to-the-fundamentals question I received a while ago when discussing IPv6 multihoming challenges:

I was wondering why enterprise can’t have dedicated block of IPv6 address and ISPs route the traffic to it. Enterprise shall select the ISP's based on the routing and preferences configured?

Let’s try to analyze where the problem might be. First the no-brainers: