5 burning questions about AMD’s Zen chip

AMD's Zen chip is just around the corner; it'll first come to gaming systems any day now. There's a lot of excitement about Zen, which AMD believes is its most important chip this decade.The high-performance Zen could put AMD back on the map as a legitimate competitor to rival Intel. AMD's chips in recent years haven't been as sophisticated as Intel's offerings, but Zen could bring AMD up to par. The AMD faithful are salivating over Zen, and even some Intel chip enthusiasts can't wait to give it a try.AMD CEO Lisa Su has said Zen would be available in a few gaming systems by the end of the year, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. A more likely scenario is that systems will start coming early next year. Zen chips for servers will follow in the first half of next year, with Zen for laptops and other desktops coming later.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OpenStack Summit 2016: Key takeaways & Rocket Turtles

A few weeks ago, several of Cumulus Networks’ passionate employees headed to Barcelona to connect with other cloud-enthusiasts at the 2016 OpenStack Summit in Barcelona. We were there to visit our customers, partners, talk about our solutions, and connect with other industry experts. Here are the highlights.

 

OpenStack Summit Rocket Turtles

 

 

If you were lucky enough to attend the event, you may have met one of our infectious leaders (CTO and Co-founder) JR Rivers. He was manning our booth along with the EMEA team and a few marketing and product members. The team was there to connect with partners, talk about our technology, and of course, pass out our new rocket turtle.

 

 

 

We’d like to give a special shoutout to JR who unwrapped more than 800 #RocketTurtles! They were an instant hit, and have been spotted in various parts of Barcelona.

 

OpenStack Summit Rocket Turtle in Barcelona

 

OpenStack Summit Giveaway Winner

 

 

 

By visiting our booth or our partners’, Mellanox, Red Hat, Dell and Midokura, attendees were able to enter a chance to win a Lego Mindstorm EV3. Congrats to our winner, Jules Chevalier!

 

 

 

 

One of the highlights of the event for us was connecting with other industry folks in Continue reading

Advanced Persistent Threats

titleAdvanced Persistent Threats

Coming to a network near you, or maybe your network!

 

There are things that go bump in the night and that is all they do. But once in a while things not only go bump in the night, they can hurt you. Sometimes they make no bump at all! They hurt you before you even realize that you’re hurt. No, we are not talking about monsters under the bed or real home intruders; we are talking about Advanced Persistent Threats. This is a major trend that has been occurring at a terrifying pace across the globe. It targets not the typical servers in the DMZ or the Data Center, but the devices at the edge. More importantly, it targets the human at the interface. In short, the target is you.

Now I say ‘you’ to highlight the fact that it is you, the user who is the weakest link in the security chain. And like all chains, the security chain is only as good as its weakest link. I also want to emphasize that it is not you alone, but myself or anyone or any device for that matter that accesses the network and uses its Continue reading

What To Expect from Docker at AWS re:Invent 2016

It’s the age of IT transformation. Spurred on by developers, adoption of Docker containers has empowered application teams to transform the way they build, ship and run applications, allowing for faster and more frequent delivery. Initially seen as a tool mainly for developers, Docker is now at the center of key enterprise initiatives, and has attracted the attention of IT operations teams. Enterprise IT ops teams use Docker to maintain control over their environment and boost security as they embrace cloud strategies like hybrid cloud and multi-cloud.

AWS re:Invent
 

Docker at AWS re:Invent 2016

This adoption of Docker within the cloud is why we are excited to be at AWS re:Invent 2016. If you’re going to be at the show, we hope you stop by booth #622. Docker employees will be showing live demos, and will be on hand to answer questions. We’ll of course be passing out free Docker swag as well.

This year we’ll be showing two types of demos at the booth:

1.     Docker Datacenter (DDC)  demo – In this demo attendees will learn about Docker Datacenter, our commercial solution that delivers an enterprise container management platform. The platform is supported by Docker Continue reading

Nutanix and Plexxi – An Affinity to Converge

nutanix-logo

Nutanix has been lighting the hyperconverged world on fire as of late. Strong sales led to a big IPO for their stock. They are in a lot of conversations about using their solution in place of large traditional virtualization offerings that include things like blade servers or big boxes. And even coming off the recent Nutanix .NEXT conference there were some big announcements in the networking arena to help them complete their total solution. However, I think Nutanix is missing a big opportunity that’s right in front of them.

I think it’s time for Nutanix to buy Plexxi.

Software Says

If you look at the Nutanix announcements around networking from .NEXT, they look very familiar to anyone in the server space. The highlights include service chaining, microsegmentation, and monitoring all accessible through an API. If this sounds an awful lot like VMware NSX, Cisco ACI, or any one of a number of new networking companies then you are in the right mode of thinking as far as Nutanix is concerned.

SDN in the server space is all about overlay networking. Segmentation of flows and service chaining are the reason why security is so hard to do in the networking space Continue reading

ZoneSavvy taps big data to help SMBs find best sites for businesses

Location, location, location: As the old joke goes, those are the three keys to business success. Now, with big data analysis, corporations can be smarter than ever before about where to open up new offices or businesses.But what if you run a mom-and-pop shop, or you're dreaming of quitting your corporate job and opening a boutique? Even medium-size businesses do not have the money to spend on the sort of systems and analysis teams that corporate behemoths use to locate new businesses.This is where ZoneSavvy, a new website created by software engineer Mike Wertheim, could help. The site is straightforward: You enter a business type, the ZIP code of the general area where you want to locate the business, and the distance from that ZIP code you are willing to consider. ZoneSavvy then gives you suggestions for which nearby neighborhoods would be the best locations for your business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 most difficult IT jobs for employers to fill

Most difficult IT jobs for employers to fillImage by Thinkstock The breakneck pace of technological innovation in an era of digital transformation has made it difficult for companies to find and land talent with the right mix of cutting-edge skills and experience. But even harder to find are candidates with the soft skills and leadership potential to match their technical savvy, says Matt Sigelman, CEO of labor market analytics firm Burning Glass. "In IT, most mid- to senior-level folks currently in the market have advanced to where they are because of their technical skills, not based on their management and soft skills. What that means is that certain roles are incredibly hard to fill, as they need both the technical savvy, as well as domain- and industry-specific expertise and leadership skills. Whenever you're asking a candidate to wear two different hats -- in this case, technical and management -- you're inherently making these roles harder to fill as the pool of qualified candidates becomes smaller," Sigelman says. Here, based on Burning Glass's research into more than 40,000 job posting websites from August 2015 to September 2016, and ranked by the number of days it takes to fill these roles, Continue reading

Nokia uses analytics, machine learning to help mobile providers

Wireless carrier competition in the U.S. is white hot — analysts increasingly see signs of wireless market saturation, meaning that growth is most likely going to come from competitors. Of the four major U.S. carriers, T-Mobile USA has led the way, slashing prices, killing the two-year contract and daring its competitors to follow suit.As competition intensifies, Finnish mobile technology provider Nokia believes customer service will emerge as an even more important key differentiator, and analytics and machine learning will take customer service to the next level in the U.S. and around the globe.In 2011, when AT&T announced its intention to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom, it looked like the wireless market in the U.S. was well on its way to becoming a duopoly. Verizon Wireless and AT&T already held the lion's share of customers between them, and they both held licenses to the majority of wireless spectrum too. But then the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice blocked the proposed $39 billion acquisition.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Your Agenda for HPE Discover London 2016

Docker at HPE Discover
 

Next week HPE will host more than 10,000 top IT executives, architects, engineers, partners and thought-leaders from across Europe at Discover 2016 London, November 29th – December 1st in London.

Come visit Docker in Booth #208 to learn how Docker’s Containers-as-a-Service platform is transforming modern application infrastructures, allowing business to benefit from a more agile development environment.

Docker experts will be on-hand to for in-booth demos, hands-on-labs, breakout sessions and Transformation Zone sessions to demonstrate how Docker’s infrastructure platform, provides businesses with a unifying framework to embrace hybrid infrastructures and optimize resource utilization across legacy and modern Linux and Windows applications.

Not attending Discover London? Don’t miss a thing and “Save the Date” for the live streaming of keynotes and top sessions beginning November 29th at 11:00 GMT and through the duration of the event.

Be sure to add these key Docker sessions to your HPE Discover London agenda:

Ongoing: Transformation Zone Hours Show Floor

DEMO315: HPE IT Docker success stories

Supercharge your container deployments on bare metal and VMs by orchestrating large workloads using simple Docker mechanisms. See how the HPE team automated Continue reading

Voting security experts call on Clinton to demand recount

Hillary Clinton, the apparent loser in the recent U.S. presidential race, should ask for voting recounts in three states, a group of voting security experts and election lawyers have said, and new results could swing the outcome of the election.There are outstanding questions about voting results in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, where the initial counts have Clinton losing by 1.2 percent or less, the group has told her campaign.The group has so far given no concrete evidence of voting irregularities but is planning to release a report. One news report suggested significant differences in the margins of victory for Trump in Wisconsin in counties using electronic voting machines, compared to counties using paper ballots, but the group has not confirmed those concerns.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Voting security experts call on Clinton to demand recount

Hillary Clinton, the apparent loser in the recent U.S. presidential race, should ask for voting recounts in three states, a group of voting security experts and election lawyers have said, and new results could swing the outcome of the election.There are outstanding questions about voting results in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, where the initial counts have Clinton losing by 1.2 percent or less, the group has told her campaign.The group has so far given no concrete evidence of voting irregularities but is planning to release a report. One news report suggested significant differences in the margins of victory for Trump in Wisconsin in counties using electronic voting machines, compared to counties using paper ballots, but the group has not confirmed those concerns.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco sees Wi-Fi market in transition to controller-less solutions

Last week Cisco held its quarterly call for investors. These calls are done to update the financial community on the state of Cisco’s business and discuss other trends that will impact the company in the near future. Because of Cisco’s massive size and dominant market share, the entire industry often looks to Cisco commentary to validate market transitions. One such transition was called out during the Q&A portion by Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins. + Also on Network World: Cisco CEO Robbins: Wait til you see what’s in our innovation pipeline + The wireless business at Cisco is currently going through an evolutionary change. The overall business was down 2 percent due to softness with E-rate funding and declines in traditional Wi-Fi controllers. However, this was offset by strong growth with Cisco’s cloud-managed solution, Meraki. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here