Internet slowdowns might become a thing of the past

Internet throughput issues, prevalent in many homes, may become a thing of the past thanks to a new and inexpensive invention that copies how major internet networks perform data links between cities and countries.Scientists at University College London (UCL) say they’ve figured out how to bring down the cost of highly efficient optical transceivers so that they can be installed en masse around consumer environments.Also read: 5G wireless could change networking as we know it The receiver technology, when fully developed, will be able to provide a consistent 10,000 Mbps connection to homes and small businesses by removing a choke point that exists now at the point where fiber subscribers are connected to the ISP, the researchers claim. Average all fixed-line, download speeds in the U.S. are currently only 64 Mbps in comparison, according to a Speedtest study. Optimization should be able to increase that, though.To read this article in full, please click here

REVIEW: 5 top hardware-based Wi-Fi test tools

Software tools for testing Wi-Fi can run on a laptop, but dedicated hardware tools offer the convenience of a sometimes less cumbersome form-factor that are compact enough to fit in the pouch of a laptop bag.This article looks at five of these devices: AirCheck G2 Wireless Tester (NETSCOUT), Cape Networks Sensor, EyeQ Wi-Fi Monitor (7SIGNAL), NetBeez Wi-Fi Monitor and WiFi Pineapple Tetra.+Also see: REVIEW: Mojo wireless intrusion prevention system; 8 Free Wi-Fi Stumbling tools+To read this article in full, please click here

REVIEW: 5 top hardware-based Wi-Fi test tools

Software tools for testing Wi-Fi can run on a laptop, but dedicated hardware tools offer the convenience of a sometimes less cumbersome form-factor that are compact enough to fit in the pouch of a laptop bag.This article looks at five of these devices: AirCheck G2 Wireless Tester (NETSCOUT), Cape Networks Sensor, EyeQ Wi-Fi Monitor (7SIGNAL), NetBeez Wi-Fi Monitor and WiFi Pineapple Tetra.+Also see: REVIEW: Mojo wireless intrusion prevention system; 8 Free Wi-Fi Stumbling tools+To read this article in full, please click here

Coming soon to a university near you

Coming soon to a university near you

Attention software engineering students: Cloudflare is coming to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and we want to meet you! We will be attending UW–Madison’s Career Connection on Wednesday, February 7 and UIUC’s Startup Career Fair on Thursday, February 8. We’ll also be hosting tech talks at UIUC on Friday, February 2 at 6:00pm in 2405 Siebel Center and at UW–Madison on Tuesday, February 6 (time and location coming soon).

Coming soon to a university near you
Cloudflare staff at YHack 2017. Photo courtesy Andrew Fitch.

Built in Champaign

In early 2016, Cloudflare opened an engineering office in Champaign, IL to build Argo Smart Routing. Champaign's proximity to the University of Illinois, one of the nation's top engineering schools, makes it an attractive place for high-tech companies to set up shop and for talented engineers to call home. Since graduating from UIUC in 2008, I've had opportunities to work on amazing software projects, growing technically and as a leader, all while enjoying the lifestyle benefits of Champaign (15 minute commute, anyone?).

Cloudflare has attended annual recruiting events at UIUC since the Champaign office was opened. This year, we've started to expand our search to other top engineering schools in the midwest. Continue reading

Off the Cuff – NFD17 Wrap Up

Networking Field Day 17 (NFD17) was in Silicon Valley last week, with two of our co-founders participating as delegates – but the conversation doesn’t have to stop there. In this Off The Cuff episode of Network Collective, we’ve gathered a few of the delegates from the event to talk about their impressions on the information that was presented and some of the broader themes they experienced across the presentations. Vendors at the invent included Cisco, Cumulus, Extreme, Ixia, Juniper, Mellanox, Thousand Eyes, and VMware.

You can check out the event and see the presentations for yourself over at the Event Page at techfieldday.com.

Nick Buraglio
Guest
Drew Conry-Murray
Guest
John Herbert
Guest

Jordan Martin
Co-Host
Eyvonne Sharp
Co-Host
Phil Gervasi
Co-Host


Outro Music:
Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The post Off the Cuff – NFD17 Wrap Up appeared first on Network Collective.

Cisco unveils container management on HyperFlex

Cisco continued its HCI momentum this week, announcing at Cisco Live its new Cisco Container Platform (CCP), which runs on its HyperFlex hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution. This news follows last week’s HyperFlex 3.0 release and acquisition of Skyport. One of the key themes of Cisco Live was the need for businesses to be more agile and move faster. Businesses want to modernize the infrastructure to meet the changing demands on IT, and they are adopting the DevOps model. Along with that, containers have grown in popularity, as the lightweight nature of them makes them ideal for organizations that have embraced the concepts of DevOps.To read this article in full, please click here

Rehashing Certifications

While at Cisco Live in Barcelona this week, I had a chat with someone—I don’t remember who—about certifications. The main point that came out of the conversation was this:

One of the big dangers with chasing a certification is you will end up chasing knowledge about using a particular vendor feature set, rather than chasing knowledge about a technology.

At some point I’m going to edit a post a video short on engineering versus meta-engineering (no, it won’t be next week), but the danger is real. For instance, in an article I’ve had in my bookmarks pile for a long while, the author says—

My boss advised me that getting my WPCE (WordPerfect Certified Resource) cert would accomplish two things: 1. It would establish my credibility as a trainer; and 2. If I didn’t know a feature before the test, I sure as heck would afterward.

I’m not going to name the author, because this is his description of thinking through a certification many years ago, rather than his current thinking on certifications—but the example is telling. I know a lot of folks studying for certifications. They mostly spend their time labbing up various protocols and… features. The temptation to Continue reading