Azure Stack Portable – The Enterprise Cloud (in a Briefcase)

Azure Stack is Microsoft’s enterprise cloud technology that allows organizations to run Microsoft Azure on their own premise.  During the early adopter testing phase, I needed an Azure Stack host that I could take between my office (by day) and home (on weekends), or to take to client sites to demonstrate.  So I created a portable version of Azure Stack by building a 14-core / 10-terabyte cloud in a briefcase!For those who need a background on Azure Stack, please see a couple articles I wrote on Azure Stack describing the technology in more detail, as well as the business use cases of who is lining up to buy Azure Stack.  My initial article back in February 2016 covers some early experiences, and then a October 2016 article that updated some more recent work on Azure Stack.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google partners with Intel to build machine learning cloud chips and adds a new exec

Google Cloud Platform solidified its partnership with Intel and announced plans to create customized silicon chips for tasks like machine learning, security, container orchestration and the Internet of Things, while bringing on a new executive to help the company flush out its strategy.+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: 10 Tips from the front line of enterprise cloud use +The Cloud Foundry Foundation announced that its former executive director, Sam Ramji has joined Google in a leadership position, but his new title is not yet know. Cloud Foundry Foundation is the home of the open source application development platform of the same name. Companies like Pivotal and IBM base their PaaS off CF. Google cloud is also the preferred public cloud for Pivotal’s hosted CF version.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco’s Service Provider Revenues Fell 12% in Q1 2017

But it may not matter if tax repatriation comes to pass.

2016 Cloud Automation and DevOps Report Available Now

Download now to learn the latest on the Cloud Automation and DevOps

IoT gear will need better security to win a Z-Wave badge

Tighter security will soon be mandatory for IoT devices that use the popular Z-Wave wireless protocol.Starting next April, the Z-Wave Alliance will require all products to include its S2 (Security 2) framework before they can be certified as Z-Wave compliant. S2 is designed to prevent hackers from breaking into IoT devices that are on Z-Wave networks.Home IoT has recently proved to be a dangerous vector for internet-based attacks, such as the one that corralled thousands of IP cameras and other devices into the so-called Mirai botnet that disrupted internet service last month.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IoT gear will need better security to win a Z-Wave badge

Tighter security will soon be mandatory for IoT devices that use the popular Z-Wave wireless protocol.Starting next April, the Z-Wave Alliance will require all products to include its S2 (Security 2) framework before they can be certified as Z-Wave compliant. S2 is designed to prevent hackers from breaking into IoT devices that are on Z-Wave networks.Home IoT has recently proved to be a dangerous vector for internet-based attacks, such as the one that corralled thousands of IP cameras and other devices into the so-called Mirai botnet that disrupted internet service last month.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IoT gear will need better security to win a Z-Wave badge

Tighter security will soon be mandatory for IoT devices that use the popular Z-Wave wireless protocol.Starting next April, the Z-Wave Alliance will require all products to include its S2 (Security 2) framework before they can be certified as Z-Wave compliant. S2 is designed to prevent hackers from breaking into IoT devices that are on Z-Wave networks.Home IoT has recently proved to be a dangerous vector for internet-based attacks, such as the one that corralled thousands of IP cameras and other devices into the so-called Mirai botnet that disrupted internet service last month.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SAP offers cash for referrals in new cloud channel program

To sell its cloud services, ERP vendor SAP is crowdsourcing its sales team.SAP began offering its 15,000 software partners a share of revenue from cloud services they helped sell back in August, under a program called Cloud Choice Profit. It was a way to reward them for helping businesses migrate from traditional on-premise systems, where partners could capture a larger share of the revenue.At a sales conference in New York on Thursday, it extended the program to offer any businesses, partner or not, referral fees if leads they provide result in a sale of cloud services, an option SAP calls Cloud Choice Referral.The program covers sales of SAP's ERP Cloud and HCM Cloud, among other services.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Trump remains frighteningly behind in cybersecurity

As we move into 2017, cybersecurity concerns continue to escalate. This past few months, we’ve seen some scary incidents, such as the Oct. 21 distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the DNS services at Dyn that used IoT devices like home routers and cameras as a botnet. Oh, and the last few months of the U.S. presidential election featured data breaches of the DNC and Clinton campaign manager John Podesta’s email and the subsequent posting of this information on WikiLeaks.It's pretty alarming, and it doesn’t appear things will get better anytime soon. This begs the question: What type of cybersecurity response can we expect from President Donald Trump’s administration? To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Trump remains frighteningly behind in cybersecurity

As we move into 2017, cybersecurity concerns continue to escalate. This past few months, we’ve seen some scary incidents, such as the Oct. 21 distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the DNS services at Dyn that used IoT devices like home routers and cameras as a botnet. Oh, and the last few months of the U.S. presidential election featured data breaches of the DNC and Clinton campaign manager John Podesta’s email and the subsequent posting of this information on WikiLeaks.It's pretty alarming, and it doesn’t appear things will get better anytime soon. This begs the question: What type of cybersecurity response can we expect from President Donald Trump’s administration? To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Chinese smartphone vendors show sales gains as Apple, Samsung sales decline in Q3

Third-quarter smartphone sales showed strength by Chinese vendors but declines of 6% for Apple iPhones and 14% for Samsung smartphones over last year.Samsung’s decline is unsurprising, given the furor over the overheated batteries in its Galaxy Note7s that surfaced in late August, leading to a global recall of millions of the devices.“The decision to withdraw the Galaxy Note7 was correct, but the damage to Samsung’s brand will make it harder for the company to increase smartphone sales in the short term,” said Anshul Gupta, research director for Gartner, which released the smartphone third-quarter sales numbers on Thursday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Republicans kill FCC plan to cap prices for business data lines

A U.S. Federal Communications Commission plan to cap, and in some cases cut, prices charged for widely used business data lines is probably dead after Republicans in Congress pressured the agency to drop a scheduled vote.For more than a decade, some U.S. businesses and advocacy groups have been pushing the FCC to regulate prices for middle-mile business broadband connections largely owned by AT&T and Verizon. This so-called duopoly has forced customers to pay billions of dollars in inflated prices, critics say.Supporters of price caps were oh-so-close, with the FCC scheduled to vote on a plan from Chairman Tom Wheeler on Thursday, but the agency abruptly canceled the vote Wednesday afternoon after pressure from congressional Republicans. The proposal remains under consideration by the FCC but appears to be dead, observers said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Republicans kill FCC plan to cap prices for business data lines

A U.S. Federal Communications Commission plan to cap, and in some cases cut, prices charged for widely used business data lines is probably dead after Republicans in Congress pressured the agency to drop a scheduled vote.For more than a decade, some U.S. businesses and advocacy groups have been pushing the FCC to regulate prices for middle-mile business broadband connections largely owned by AT&T and Verizon. This so-called duopoly has forced customers to pay billions of dollars in inflated prices, critics say.Supporters of price caps were oh-so-close, with the FCC scheduled to vote on a plan from Chairman Tom Wheeler on Thursday, but the agency abruptly canceled the vote Wednesday afternoon after pressure from congressional Republicans. The proposal remains under consideration by the FCC but appears to be dead, observers said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

On the ‘Net: The Internet Protocol Journal

The latest IPJ has been published—the first in a while. Ole is just putting the publication back on a sound footing; hopefully we’ll start seeing new editions of this excellent resource on a regular basis. Two good articles this month—

Comprehensive Internet E-Mail Security
William Stallings

At its most fundamental level, the Internet mail architecture consists of a user world in the form of Message User Agents (MUA), and the transfer world, in the form of the Message Handling Service (MHS), which is composed of Message Transfer Agents (MTA). The MHS accepts a message from one user and delivers it to one or more other users, creating a virtual MUA-to-MUA exchange environment. This architecture involves three types of interoperability.

Cloudy-Eyed: Complexity and Reality with Software-Defined Networks
Russ White and Shawn Zandi

Software-Defined Networks (SDN) are promoted as a way to eliminate the complexity of distributed control planes, increase network responsiveness to specific applications and business requirements, and reduce operational and equipment cost. If this description sounds like the classic “too good to be true” situation, that’s because it might just be.

The post On the ‘Net: The Internet Protocol Journal appeared first on 'net work.

On the ‘Net: The Shifting Job of the Network Engineer

As more companies examine the cloud, network engineering tools are changing, requiring engineers to rethink and recraft their job descriptions. —Tech Target

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Nokia Puts Machine Learning Into Its Software Business

Self-learning computers could help reduce truck rolls.

Hottest Black Friday 2016 deals on Apple iPhones, iPads & more

While Apple itself has yet to reveal any Black Holiday 2016 specials, its retail partners have disclosed dozens of deals on iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches. Mac deals? Not so much.Apple traditionally gives retailers little leeway on iPhone, iPad and Mac promotions, even around Black Friday, but retailers do find ways around these restrictions by bundling phones with gift cards and other goodies.MORE: 50-plus eye-popping Black Friday tech deals(Black Friday watchers such as BFads and Best Black Friday have been a big help in keeping tabs on deals.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Future of Automation

Automation is a hot topic. And the automation concept that has captured our imagination the most is the idea of self-driving cars. This is the kind of automation that we can see dramatically changing what we do everyday, within grasp in our lifetime.

The automotive industry, the press, and parents of 16 year-olds will tell you that the promise of self-driving cars is all about societal benefits: people make mistakes, people don’t always have the best information, and people have to drive with…other people. We can keep everybody safe if everybody just moves to self-driving cars.

But I believe that the benefits of automation are actually much more personal. It’s about getting your life back. Let’s let the computers do the tasks that are mundane and that we shouldn’t be spending time on - like waiting in traffic - so that way we can focus on the things that are important to us.

Automation is intensely personal. It’s not necessarily for the organization, although it it does help. And it’s not just for efficiency’s sake or business sake. At the end of the day, it’s really about helping people.

Automation sometimes gets a bad rap because people think, “Well, if I automate my Continue reading

Worth Reading: Beware of Linking Ads

Privacy advocates are warning federal authorities of a new threat that uses inaudible, high-frequency sounds to surreptitiously track a person’s online behavior across a range of devices, including phones, TVs, tablets, and computers. The ultrasonic pitches are embedded into TV commercials or are played when a user encounters an ad displayed in a computer browser. While the sound can’t be heard by the human ear, nearby tablets and smartphones can detect it. —ARS Technica

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Cisco sales tick up, CEO Robbins bullish on data center, security, collaboration

Cisco announced Wednesday that it eked out 1% revenue growth in its fiscal first quarter, compared to the same quarter last year, in what CEO Chuck Robbins described as a “challenging global business environment.” Total revenue for the quarter, which ended October 29, was $12.4 billion. Net income was $2.3 billion, off 4% year over year. Switching, which represents about 30% of the company’s sales, was down 7% in the quarter compared to last year. In an earnings call with financial analysts, CFO Kelly Kramer said the softness was in campus switching, which is two-thirds of the total switching business.CISCO NEWS: Cisco CEO Robbins: Wait til you see what’s in our innovation pipeline | Cisco CEO: Spin-in technologies aren’t dead at Cisco | Cisco/Ericsson: Assessing the mega-deal a year later Asked by analysts if this was a byproduct of macroeconomic trends or a product portfolio issue, Kramer chalked it up to the former, saying the company is confident of its portfolio and expects sales to pick up when spending increases.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here