In Chicago on October 26? Come think about SD-WAN with me.

On October 26, 2016 at 5:30p, I’m speaking to a couple of Chicago-based MeetUp groups banding together to hear me discuss implementing SD-WAN. Sign up here. Or here.

The talk will be held at Cisco Systems Building – SkylineATS, 9501 Technology Blvd. 3rd Floor, Rosemont, IL.

This SD-WAN discussion is aimed at network engineers and other technologists who need to understand and recommend technology solutions for their organizations, as well as those who need to make the silly things vendors sell us actually work.

My goal is to make sure you’ve got plenty to think about as you explore SD-WAN. The talk will take away some of the, “You don’t know what you don’t know.”

I’ll cover the following.

• An overview of what SD-WAN really is.
• Integrating WAN optimization and SD-WAN.
• Managing existing private WAN contracts.
• Managing your own internal SLAs.
• Relating SD-WAN to XaaS you might be using.
• Considerations for multi-tenant environments.
• Handling deep packet inspection requirements.
• Leveraging TDM and other non-Ethernet circuits.
• Bandwidth scaling.
• WAN circuit design recommendations.
• Integration with your existing routing domain.
• A list of SD-WAN vendors & their products.

I hope to see you there.

Modern Storage Software Erodes Resistant Data Silos

With the record-breaking $60 billion Dell/EMC acquisition now complete, both of these companies and their customers now have more options than ever before to meet evolving storage needs. Joining forces helps the newly minted Dell Technologies combine the best of both worlds to better serve customers by blending EMC storage and support with Dell pricing and procurement.

But there is some trouble in paradise. Even when sold by the same vendor, most storage systems have been designed as secluded islands of data, meaning they aren’t terribly good at talking to each other.

In fact, this silo effect is exacerbated …

Modern Storage Software Erodes Resistant Data Silos was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

Introducing TLS 1.3

CloudFlare is turbocharging the encrypted internet

The encrypted Internet is about to become a whole lot snappier. When it comes to browsing, we’ve been driving around in a beat-up car from the 90s for a while. Little does anyone know, we’re all about to trade in our station wagons for a smoking new sports car. The reason for this speed boost is TLS 1.3, a new encryption protocol that improves both speed and security for Internet users everywhere. As of today, TLS 1.3 is available to all CloudFlare customers.

The Encrypted Internet

Many of the major web properties you visit are encrypted, which is indicated by the padlock icon and the presence of “https” instead of “http” in the address bar. The “s” stands for secure. When you connect to an HTTPS site, the communication between you and the website is encrypted, which makes browsing the web dramatically more secure, protecting your communication from prying eyes and the injection of malicious code. HTTPS is not only used by websites, it also secures the majority of APIs and mobile application backends.

The underlying technology that enables secure communication on the Internet is a protocol called Transport Layer Security (TLS). Continue reading

Encryption Week

Since CloudFlare’s inception, we have worked tirelessly to make encryption as simple and as accessible as possible. Over the last two years, we’ve made CloudFlare the easiest way to enable encryption for web properties and internet services. From the launch of Universal SSL, which gives HTTPS to millions of sites for free, to the Origin CA, which helps customers encrypt their origin servers, to the “No Browser Left Behind” initiative, which ensures that the encrypted Internet is available to everyone, CloudFlare has pushed to make Internet encryption better and more widespread.

This week we are introducing three features that will dramatically increase both the quality and the quantity of encryption on the Internet. We are are happy to introduce TLS 1.3, Automatic HTTPS Rewrites, and Opportunistic Encryption throughout this week. We consider strong encryption to be a right and fundamental to the growth of the Internet, so we’re making all three of these features available to all customers for free.

Every day this week there will be new technical content on this blog about these features. We're calling it Encryption Week.

TLS 1.3: Faster and more secure

HTTPS is the standard for web Continue reading

Obama administration rolls out policy for self-driving vehicles

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday released an overview of the federal government's automated vehicles policy, which includes a checklist for makers on various aspects of the cars they are developing, as well as guidelines to states on evolving a common framework for regulating the new technologies.“Automated vehicles have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives each year,” wrote Obama in an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday. “Safer, more accessible driving. Less congested, less polluted roads. That’s what harnessing technology for good can look like. But we have to get it right,” he added.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Huawei Matebook vs. Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 in a tablet showdown

The Surface Pro 4 is the result of years of fine-tuning on Microsoft's part, and it's come a long way since the first iteration of the hybrid device. Now that hybrids have hit their stride in the market, other manufacturers are following suit. We've seen the release of the iPad Pro, the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S and, most recently, the Huawei Matebook -- all devices aimed at swaying business users away from traditional notebooks.Huawei is mostly known for smartphones -- not so much in the U.S., but the company has gained a significant amount of the market in other regions. The Matebook is one of Huawei's first attempts at offering a hybrid tablet aimed at business users. It's an attractive and well-made device, but how well does it compete with the Surface Pro 4?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to answer these tricky job interview questions

(Insider Story)

The best (and worst) parts of server virtualization products

Server virtualization software partitions a physical server into multiple, isolated virtual machines to make the most efficient use of server resources. According to the IT Central Station user community, the most important criteria to consider when choosing server virtualization software are simplicity of deployment, stability, and safe automated management. The goals? Increased IT agility and flexibility.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

The best (and worst) parts of server virtualization products

Server virtualization software partitions a physical server into multiple, isolated virtual machines to make the most efficient use of server resources. According to the IT Central Station user community, the most important criteria to consider when choosing server virtualization software are simplicity of deployment, stability, and safe automated management. The goals? Increased IT agility and flexibility.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Be careful not to fall for these ransomware situations

Gimme all your moneyImage by ThinkstockIn a world where ransomware hackers are expected to extort $1 billion in damages throughout 2016 in the US alone, businesses and individuals are being forced to be on high-alert when it comes to digital security. Carbonite’s customer support team has handled over 7,300 ransomware-related calls just since January 2015 (365/month), encountering breaches occurring through everything from Xerox scans to fake Microsoft IT representatives.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Be careful not to fall for these ransomware situations

Gimme all your moneyImage by ThinkstockIn a world where ransomware hackers are expected to extort $1 billion in damages throughout 2016 in the US alone, businesses and individuals are being forced to be on high-alert when it comes to digital security. Carbonite’s customer support team has handled over 7,300 ransomware-related calls just since January 2015 (365/month), encountering breaches occurring through everything from Xerox scans to fake Microsoft IT representatives.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

No phone is worth drowning over … or dying of embarrassment

Sometimes you’re better off accepting that the phone is a goner … lest you become one yourself.A Rhode Island television station reports: Narragansett firefighters and Environmental Police spent most of their afternoon trying to free a man who they say got himself stuck head first between two rocks on the jetty near the Camp Cronin fishing area.Firefighters say the man was here with one other person when he dropped his phone. When he bent down to pick it up he got himself stuck all the way up to his chest.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Diagnosing Application Performance Problems

IT Pros’ Growing Role Deserves Recognition

Swift hopes daily reporting will help stem payment fraud

Swift is introducing a new reporting system to help banks identify fraudulent payments made over its financial transfer network -- but the reports will arrive up to a day too late to stop them.Over the last year, cybercriminals have hacked systems at a number of banks, using their credentials to issue fraudulent payment instructions over the Swift network. Swift's network wasn't comprimised, but because genuine credentials were used on authorized bank terminals, no alarms were raised until some time after the transfers were made, leaving victims struggling to recover their funds from the destination accounts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Swift hopes daily reporting will help stem payment fraud

Swift is introducing a new reporting system to help banks identify fraudulent payments made over its financial transfer network -- but the reports will arrive up to a day too late to stop them.Over the last year, cybercriminals have hacked systems at a number of banks, using their credentials to issue fraudulent payment instructions over the Swift network. Swift's network wasn't comprimised, but because genuine credentials were used on authorized bank terminals, no alarms were raised until some time after the transfers were made, leaving victims struggling to recover their funds from the destination accounts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Dell-EMC positioned to take the lead in the HCI space

It seems the topic of hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) comes ups in almost every conversation I have with IT leaders regarding their data center modernization plans.A few weeks ago at VMworld, VCE—the converged systems group of EMC, now Dell Technologies—hosted an analyst breakfast, and as expected, HCI was a significant part of the discussion. Since then, I’ve had some time to talk to businesses about HCI and to noodle on the open discussion that we (the analysts) had with the head of VCE, Chad Sakac. I believe VCE's products and the way they go to market positions the combined Dell-EMC extremely well in the HCI marketDuring the breakfast and in a pre-call with the analysts, Sakac said the products in the HCI portfolio (VxRack and VxRail) greatly exceeded internal expectations. Moving forward, I see the strong momentum continuing, with VCE eventually becoming the market leader in HCI for the following reasons: To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Dell-EMC positioned to take the lead in the HCI space

It seems the topic of hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) comes ups in almost every conversation I have with IT leaders regarding their data center modernization plans.A few weeks ago at VMworld, VCE—the converged systems group of EMC, now Dell Technologies—hosted an analyst breakfast, and as expected, HCI was a significant part of the discussion. Since then, I’ve had some time to talk to businesses about HCI and to noodle on the open discussion that we (the analysts) had with the head of VCE, Chad Sakac. I believe VCE's products and the way they go to market positions the combined Dell-EMC extremely well in the HCI marketDuring the breakfast and in a pre-call with the analysts, Sakac said the products in the HCI portfolio (VxRack and VxRail) greatly exceeded internal expectations. Moving forward, I see the strong momentum continuing, with VCE eventually becoming the market leader in HCI for the following reasons: To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Juniper Is Serious about OpenConfig and IETF YANG Data Models

When people started talking about OpenConfig YANG data models, my first thought (being a grumpy old XML/XSLT developer) was “that should be really easy to implement for someone with XML-based software and built-in XSLT support” (read: Junos with SLAX).

Here’s how my simplistic implementation would look like:

Smart cities: The rise of new C-level executives

Assembling a smart city dream teamIncreasingly, cities are adopting smart technology to become more energy efficient, improve transportation, make neighborhoods safer, manage traffic—basically use technology and the data it generates to create better places to live, work and visit.As they do so, they’re discovering they need specialists to head the new departments that the smart technology is enabling. And many have created new C-level executives, such as chief bicycle officer, chief innovation officer, chief data officer and chief citizen officer—to name a few. What follows is a look at nine of the newest C-level positions smart cities are creating.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here