Getting Started With NETCONF and YANG on Cisco IOS XE

Everyone who has any interest in network automation inevitably comes across NETCONF and YANG. These technologies have mostly been implemented for and adopted by big telcos and service providers, while support in the enterprise/DC gear has been virtually non-existent. Things are starting to change now as NETCONF/YANG support has been introduced in the latest IOS XE software train. That’s why I think it’s high time I started another series of posts dedicated to YANG, NETCONF, RESTCONF and various open-source tools to interact with those interfaces.

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Meet new Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott

Call it the first real result from Microsoft's recently finalized $26B buyout of LinkedIn: The former has named the career networking site’s Kevin Scott as its new CTO, a job he will hold in addition to being LinkedIn’s SVP of Infrastructure. Having not actually met Scott, where else to start learning about him than on his LinkedIn page, which features a nice fresh post dated Jan. 24, 2017 and titled “Dream Jobs”? (I checked his Twitter profile too, but this self-described “Old School Geek, Husband, Father, Hacker of Things Large and Small” had no public posts there since late 2014.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New Microsoft CTO: Meet the real Kevin Scott (according to LinkedIn)

Call it the first real result from Microsoft's recently finalized $26B buyout of LinkedIn: The former has named the career networking site’s Kevin Scott as its new CTO, a job he will hold in addition to being LinkedIn’s SVP of Infrastructure. Having not actually met Scott, where else to start learning about him than on his LinkedIn page, which features a nice fresh post dated Jan. 24, 2017 and titled “Dream Jobs”? (I checked his Twitter profile too, but this self-described “Old School Geek, Husband, Father, Hacker of Things Large and Small” had no public posts there since late 2014.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Docker Meetup Community reaches 150K members

We are thrilled to announce that the Docker meetup community has reached over 150,000 members! We’d like to take a moment to acknowledge all the amazing contributors and Docker enthusiasts who are working hard to organize frequent and interesting Docker-centric meetups. Thanks to you, there are 275 Docker meetup groups, in 75 countries, across 6 continents.

There were over 1000 Docker meetups held all over the world last year. Big shout out to Ben Griffin, organizer of Docker Melbourne, who organized 18 meetups in 2016,  Karthik Gaekwad, Lee Calcote, Vikram Sabnis and Everett Toews, organizers of Docker Austin who organized 16 meetups, Gerhard Schweinitz and Stephen J Wallace, organizers of Docker Sydney who organized 13, and Jesse White, Luisa Morales and Doug Masiero from Docker NYC who organized 12. 

We also wanted to thank and give a massive shout out to organizers Adrien Blind and Patrick Aljord have grown the Docker Paris Meetup group to nearly 4,000 members and have hosted 46 events since they launched the group almost 4 years ago!

 

Apple to roll out ‘enhanced’ version of Siri on next-gen iPhone

Ahead of the iPhone 8 launch later this year, a new report from Digitimes relays that Apple is currently working on a more "enhanced" version of Siri that may take advantage of Apple's ongoing research in the field of machine learning.While iOS 10 ushered in a number of improvements in this regard—such as the ability to search for photos and people by name—it's no secret the AI space is becoming more and more competitive with each passing month. As a quick example, Samsung with its upcoming Galaxy S8 will introduce a new AI personal assistant dubbed Bixby that will be built on technology the company picked up when it acquired Viv Labs. As a quick point of interest, Viv Labs is led by Dag Kittlaus who helped co-found Siri.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple to roll out “enhanced” version of Siri on next-gen iPhone

Ahead of the iPhone 8 launch later this year, a new report from Digitimes relays that Apple is currently working on a more "enhanced" version of Siri that may take advantage of Apple's ongoing research in the field of machine learning.While iOS 10 ushered in a number of improvements in this regard -- such as the ability to search for photos and people by name -- it's no secret the AI space is becoming more and more competitive with each passing month. As a quick example, Samsung with its upcoming Galaxy S8 will introduce a new AI personal assistant dubbed Bixby that will be built on technology the company picked up when it acquired Viv Labs. As a quick point of interest, Viv Labs is led by Dag Kittlaus who helped co-found Siri.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

In PC comeback, ARM will battle Intel in Chromebooks and Windows 10

ARM tried to break into the PC market but had a disastrous outing starting with Linux-based smartbooks and then tablets with Windows RT.But ARM is launching a comeback in PCs, and the third time could be a charm. ARM chips could emerge as a threat to Intel's x86 as super thin laptops get smartphone-like usability with cellular connectivity and long battery life.The comeback for ARM is starting with Chromebooks, with more models hosting the chip architecture. Lenovo's new N23 Yoga Chromebook -- a 2-in-1 with an 11.6-screen -- has MediaTek's quad-core MT8173c chip, based on ARM.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

GPG Suite updated for secure email on OSX Sierra

GPG Suite, an application that brings encrypted email to Mac OS, is now available in public beta for Sierra.The software package had been compatible up to El Capitan but wasn't working with Sierra, which was released by Apple in September. The new software can now be downloaded from the GPG Tools website.It adds support for the OpenPGP encryption standard, which is an open-source version of the PGP encryption package first developed in 1991.Four software apps are contained in the package:-- GPG Mail is a plugin for Apple Mail that allows users to encrypt, decrypt, sign, and verify mails sent using OpenPGP.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

GPG Suite updated for secure email on OSX Sierra

GPG Suite, an application that brings encrypted email to Mac OS, is now available in public beta for Sierra.The software package had been compatible up to El Capitan but wasn't working with Sierra, which was released by Apple in September. The new software can now be downloaded from the GPG Tools website.It adds support for the OpenPGP encryption standard, which is an open-source version of the PGP encryption package first developed in 1991.Four software apps are contained in the package:-- GPG Mail is a plugin for Apple Mail that allows users to encrypt, decrypt, sign, and verify mails sent using OpenPGP.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BGP in 2016

Once more its time report on the experience with the inter-domain routing system over the past year, looking in some detail at some metrics from the routing system that can show the essential shape and behaviour of the underlying interconnection fabric of the Internet.

Boutique browser maker to Microsoft: ‘Stop stealing the default’ in Windows 10

The CEO of Vivaldi Technologies, the maker of a niche browser, today blasted Microsoft for forcing Edge, the default browser in Windows 10, onto users."I understand that Microsoft is concerned with the low usage of Edge, but instead of building a better browser, Microsoft is forcing its product onto people in the most unapologetic manner," said Jon von Tetzchner, the co-founder and CEO of Norway-based Vivaldi.Vivaldi's same-named browser reached version 1.0 in April 2016, following more than a year of beta testing. The browser runs on Windows, OS X/macOS and Linux.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Clouds may not reign supreme

The funny thing about pendulums is that they love to swing. There are plenty of examples, from politics to nutrition, but computing cycles just might illustrate it best.The mainframe computer was a centralized model, with access through dumb terminals. PCs enabled distributed client/server computing. Now we are swinging back to centralized computing, with dumb smartphones connecting back to robust cloud-services. Enterprises are shuttering their data centers and moving to cloud services.Most of yesterday’s applications, such as CRM, ERP and UC, are moving toward the cloud. But the swing back to a distributed model is inevitable. If not for those applications, then something else. The Internet of Things (IoT) just may be the killer app that does it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech world not immune to fake news

Yes, the term “fake news” has already been politicized to the point of near-meaninglessness, but before it is relegated to the dustbin of our lexicon, allow me to note that the practice itself has been around for eons and is no stranger to the world of technology.Just ask the peddlers of eBay’s famously fake tale of being born out of a girlfriend’s love for Pez dispensers, a fib I fumed about in the former print edition of Network World way back in 2002.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

LinkedIn pumps water down to its server racks, uses an interesting spine and leaf network fabric

It takes a lot of horsepower to support LinkedIn’s 467 million members worldwide, especially when you consider that each member is getting a personalized experience, a web page that includes only their contacts. Supporting the load are some 100,000 servers spread across multiple data centers.  To learn more about how LinkedIn makes it all happen, Network World Editor in Chief John Dix recently talked to Sonu Nayyar, VP of Production Operations & IT, and Zaid Ali Kahn, Senior Director of Infrastructure Engineering. LinkedIn Sonu Nayyar, LinkedIn VP of Production Operations & ITTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

LinkedIn pumps water down to its server racks, uses an interesting spine and leaf network fabric

It takes a lot of horsepower to support LinkedIn’s 467 million members worldwide, especially when you consider that each member is getting a personalized experience, a web page that includes only their contacts. Supporting the load are some 100,000 servers spread across multiple data centers.  To learn more about how LinkedIn makes it all happen, Network World Editor in Chief John Dix recently talked to Sonu Nayyar, VP of Production Operations & IT, and Zaid Ali Kahn, Senior Director of Infrastructure Engineering. LinkedIn Sonu Nayyar, LinkedIn VP of Production Operations & ITTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here