Law firm CIO: ‘I run more video than CBS’

The challenges as the head of IT for a major international law firm with 700 attorneys, 1,500 total employees and 20 separate offices around the world aren’t exactly small, but Baker Donelson CIO John D. Green is up to the task – even when that task changes a little every day.Different parts of Baker Donelson’s sprawling practice have different needs, said Green, who sat down with Network World Tuesday at Riverbed’s Disrupt event in New York. The real estate practice, tax, and patent and trademark practices, among others, have their own software, all of which Donelson has to support.MORE: Riverbed upgrades set sights on the SD-WAN edge, cloud integrationTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Brocade’s big new router is all about network size, automation

Brocade this week rolled out a big data center router its says will handle and help manage the massive amounts of traffic expected to cross enterprise networks in the not-to-distant future.The Brocade SLX 9850 expands the Brocade data center routing family and supports 15x more total capacity than the current Brocade MLXe box via a 230Tbps non-blocking chassis fabric capacity for 10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.+More on Network World: Brocade CEO says they've built an easy button for IP networks, are benefiting from SDN/NFV+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Brocade’s big new router is all about network size, automation

Brocade this week rolled out a big data center router its says will handle and help manage the massive amounts of traffic expected to cross enterprise networks in the not-to-distant future.The Brocade SLX 9850 expands the Brocade data center routing family and supports 15x more total capacity than the current Brocade MLXe box via a 230Tbps non-blocking chassis fabric capacity for 10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.+More on Network World: Brocade CEO says they've built an easy button for IP networks, are benefiting from SDN/NFV+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Violin, still pushing flash speeds, looks to the cloud

In flash storage these days, it takes more than speed to win over many enterprises.Violin Memory, an early player in enterprise flash, made strides more than a decade ago with storage arrays that outran spinning-disk systems for applications that needed data fast. Then the giants of the data center got into the game, and enterprises started looking at flash for their primary storage instead of targeted uses.That leaves Violin catching up. It’s added data services like replication and deduplication – the company calls its suite of integrated services the most complete in flash storage – and on Wednesday the company is announcing what it calls the industry’s highest performance all-flash array for primary storage.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Verizon and AT&T Spar Over 5G Standards Process

AT&T says there is no way all of Verizon's 5G specs will be adopted by the 3GPP.

Enough with “firewalls”

A mythical conversation on firewalls, and some observations

“Let’s put the firewall here, so it can protect the servers in this part of the network.”
“How would you define a firewall?”
“You know, the appliance that, well, protects servers and other machines from outside threats…”
“And how does it do this?”
“By filtering the traffic using some sort of stateful mechanism, and network address translation, and deep packet inspection, and blocking certain ports, and…”
“In other words, it’s a bunch of services on a single device?”
“Yes…”
“Then maybe we should think in terms of services instead of appliances.”

I’ve never actually had this conversation, but I’ve had many similar ones across my times as a network engineer. I’ll admit, in fact, that it took a lot of conversations like this (with me on the receiving end) to grock the difference between a service and an appliance, and to see that my constant thinking in terms of appliances (or even devices) was actually hindering my ability to design networks. Let me give you two specific reasons you should think of security services, instead of security appliances.

First, When you disaggregate the “things a firewall Continue reading

Volkswagen is founding a new cybersecurity firm to prevent car hacking

As cars become more computerized, they're also facing a greater risk of being hacked. That’s why Volkswagen is founding a new cyber security company devoted to protecting next-generation vehicles.On Wednesday, the automaker said it would partner with a former Israeli intelligence agency director to jointly establish a new company, called Cymotive Technologies.It’s unclear how much Volkswagen is investing in the new firm, but security experts have been warning that internet-connected cars and self-driving vehicles could one day be a major target for hackers.Even older cars from Volkswagen are vulnerable. Last month, researchers said that millions of vehicles from the automaker can be broken into by exploiting the remote control key systems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Volkswagen is founding a new cybersecurity firm to prevent car hacking

As cars become more computerized, they're also facing a greater risk of being hacked. That’s why Volkswagen is founding a new cyber security company devoted to protecting next-generation vehicles.On Wednesday, the automaker said it would partner with a former Israeli intelligence agency director to jointly establish a new company, called Cymotive Technologies.It’s unclear how much Volkswagen is investing in the new firm, but security experts have been warning that internet-connected cars and self-driving vehicles could one day be a major target for hackers.Even older cars from Volkswagen are vulnerable. Last month, researchers said that millions of vehicles from the automaker can be broken into by exploiting the remote control key systems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Adobe fixes critical flaws in Flash Player and Digital Editions

Adobe Systems has fixed more than 30 vulnerabilities in its Flash Player and Digital Editions products, most of which could be exploited to remotely install malware on computers.The bulk of the flaws, 26, were patched in Flash Player on all supported platforms: Windows, Mac and Linux.Twenty-three of those vulnerabilities can lead to remote code execution and the remaining three can be used for information disclosure or to bypass security features, Adobe said in an advisory.Adobe advises users to update Flash Player version 23.0.0.162 on Windows and Mac or version 11.2.202.635 on Linux. The new version of the Flash Player extended support release, which only receives security patches, is now 18.0.0.375.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Adobe fixes critical flaws in Flash Player and Digital Editions

Adobe Systems has fixed more than 30 vulnerabilities in its Flash Player and Digital Editions products, most of which could be exploited to remotely install malware on computers.The bulk of the flaws, 26, were patched in Flash Player on all supported platforms: Windows, Mac and Linux.Twenty-three of those vulnerabilities can lead to remote code execution and the remaining three can be used for information disclosure or to bypass security features, Adobe said in an advisory.Adobe advises users to update Flash Player version 23.0.0.162 on Windows and Mac or version 11.2.202.635 on Linux. The new version of the Flash Player extended support release, which only receives security patches, is now 18.0.0.375.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Linux’s lack of software is a myth

When I first started dabbling with Linux back in the 1990s, a lot of various types of software was missing for me to be able to use it full time.Games. Video editing tools. High-quality productivity software. Those three categories were the most critical for me (and from what I’ve seen, for most people). Sure, there were some projects in those categories, but not many—and they were not typically overly robust or polished. + Also on Network World: Ultimate guide to Linux desktop environments +So, I kept dabbling. I’d use Linux for a few weeks, then go back to a different system (Mac OS, Windows, OS/2, you name it). There just always seemed to be something—some critical piece of software—missing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Virtualized Security: Finding a Balance Between Opportunity & Threat

Forget about securing a perimeter.

Worth Reading: HPE trims back

The trouble that Dell and HPE found themselves in is that they did not build platforms fast enough as the market shifted away from selling or reselling licensed software and putting platforms together piecemeal for customers and towards companies using a public cloud as a platform or companies using a set of open source components figuring it out on their own. Frankly, companies like IBM, HPE, and Dell charge too much for such integration services, they take too long, and companies are always dependent on others to make changes to that platform because they lack expertise. —The NExt Platform

The post Worth Reading: HPE trims back appeared first on 'net work.

Extreme swallows Zebra’s WLAN biz for $55 million

Looking to fill in some gaps in its own wireless LAN portfolio – such as security and managed services -- and jump into some new vertical markets like retail and transportation, Extreme Networks said it would buy Zebra Technologies wireless business for $55 million in cash.With the purchase, Extreme will get Zebra’s wireless LAN 802.11ac high-speed wireless access portfolio, which includes Zebra’s WiNG wireless operating system, NSight advanced network troubleshooting package as well as a managed service suite that Extreme does not currently offer, said Extreme President and CEO Ed Meyercord.+More on network World: CEO Ed Meyercord talks about Enterasys merger and an expanding set of software capabilities undergirding Extreme’s wired-wireless switches+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OpenText to buy Dell EMC’s enterprise content division

Canadian enterprise information management vendor OpenText has agreed to buy Dell Technologies' EMC enterprise content division for $1.62 billion in a deal that, the companies say, will allow them to focus on their core missions. The acquisition of the "highly profitable" Dell EMC Enterprise Content Division will allow OpenText to expand its related services to Asia and Africa and across a larger customer base, including the healthcare and oil production industries, said OpenText CEO and CTO Mark Barrenechea. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Docker + Golang =

This is a short collection of tips and tricks showing how Docker can be useful when working with Go code. For instance, I’ll show you how to compile Go code with different versions of the Go toolchain, how to cross-compile to a different platform (and test the result!), or how to produce really small container images.

The following article assumes that you have Docker installed on your system. It doesn’t have to be a recent version (we’re not going to use any fancy feature here).

Go without go

… And by that, we mean “Go without installing go”.

If you write Go code, or if you have even the slightest interest into the Go language, you certainly have the Go compiler and toolchain installed, so you might be wondering “what’s the point?”; but there are a few scenarios where you want to compile Go without installing Go.

• You still have this old Go 1.2 on your machine (that you can’t or won’t upgrade), and you have to work on this codebase that requires a newer version of the toolchain.
• You want to play with cross compilation features of Go 1.5 (for instance, to make sure Continue reading

Standards Move at Snail’s Pace for the NFV Community

Code or die!

Microsoft releases one of its biggest security updates this year

Microsoft released one of its biggest security updates this year, fixing 50 vulnerabilities in its products and 26 more in Flash Player, which is bundled with its Edge browser.The patches are split into 14 security bulletins, including the one dedicated to Flash Player, seven of which are rated critical. They address vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office web services and apps.For desktop deployments, administrators should prioritize the fixes for Internet Explorer, which are covered in the MS16-104 bulletin, Microsoft Edge (MS16-105), Microsoft Office (MS16-107), Microsoft Graphics Component (MS16-106), OLE Automation for VBScript Scripting Engine (MS16-116) and Adobe Flash Player (MS16-117).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft releases one of its biggest security updates this year

Microsoft released one of its biggest security updates this year, fixing 50 vulnerabilities in its products and 26 more in Flash Player, which is bundled with its Edge browser.The patches are split into 14 security bulletins, including the one dedicated to Flash Player, seven of which are rated critical. They address vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office web services and apps.For desktop deployments, administrators should prioritize the fixes for Internet Explorer, which are covered in the MS16-104 bulletin, Microsoft Edge (MS16-105), Microsoft Office (MS16-107), Microsoft Graphics Component (MS16-106), OLE Automation for VBScript Scripting Engine (MS16-116) and Adobe Flash Player (MS16-117).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Riding the new Wi-Fi wave, part 3: AmpliFi

New home Wi-Fi systems based on wireless mesh technologies keep coming out of the woodwork. That’s a good thing, because being able to compare different systems, seeing what works and what doesn’t, should spur innovation. While most people want a system that you just set up and forget (until the kids complain), I like having a system that you can tweak or obtain data from. But yeah, easy setup also makes it worthwhile.Enter the AmpliFi wireless mesh system, courtesy of Ubiquiti Labs (the new consumer arm of Ubiquiti Networks). This system includes a cube-shaped router with two satellite units - vertical rectangles attached to a magnetic sphere with a power outlet (more on that later). The router includes an LED screen that displays data about your Wi-Fi network, as well as four Ethernet LAN ports and a USB port (reserved for later use). The company offers three models - the basic system ($199) includes a router and two satellites; the LR system ($299) stands for Super Long Range, and the HD system ($349) supports high-density environments. For this review, I tested the HD system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here