Network Automation in Enterprise environments: pipe dream or reality?

When I talk about network automation with enterprise engineers I usually get responses along the lines of “That’s interesting, but it will never happen in my organization. That’s what startups or cloud providers do.”

They couldn’t be more wrong: Thomas Wacker from UBS (one of the top 20 global financial services companies in case you don’t recognize the name) will describe how UBS uses network automation in new data center deployments during our Network Automation DIGS SDN event on September 1st, and we’ll spend the rest of the afternoon focusing on how you could get started and what your first network automation project should be.

50% off LOOP Worldwide Travel Adapter with Dual USB Charging Ports – Deal Alert

Power and charge in over 150 Countries with US UK EU & AUS/CHINA Plugs. This adapter works in Canada, Russia, Asia, Central America, South America and the Middle East to name a few. Dual USB charging ports for simultaneously charging your USB devices as well. A 6-amp fuse (and built-in spare fuse) is included, as well as an 18-month warranty. LOOP's travel adapter averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 580 people (read reviews). It's $39.95 list price has been reduced a generous 50% to just $19.95. To learn more, or to take advantage of this discount, hop over to Amazon. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New Surface Pro 3 firmware update should solve battery woes

Surface Pro 3 owners who have had problems getting reasonable battery life from their tablets have relief coming their way. Microsoft pushed out a firmware update to Surface Pro 3 devices on Monday that's supposed to fix a problem that keeps the battery from charging all the way. An error in a limited number of devices causes the system to get the wrong charge capacity for the Surface Pro 3's battery, the company said. As a result, the battery isn't charged all the way, even though the system thinks it reached capacity. "Think of this like a fuel gauge in a car, where the car looks to the fuel gauge to determine how much to fill the tank," Microsoft said in a support document accompanying the update. "In this case, if the fuel gauge isn’t working right, the car would also not be able to fill the tank—even though the tank is fine."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hackers had a chance to hamper voting by deleting records

A U.S. cybersecurity monitor on Monday described another breach of a voter election system just after after a leaked FBI report revealed two similar attacks.In June, anonymous hackers stole administrative login credentials in an unnamed county that would have let them delete voter registration records and prevent citizens from casting ballots.The information comes from the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), which monitors cyber attacks against state and local governments and shares information with the FBI. MS-ISAC is supported by the Department of Homeland Security.The attack in June targeted a county election official through a phishing email, according to Brian Calkin, vice president of operations for the Center of Internet Security, which runs MS-ISAC.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hackers had a chance to hamper voting by deleting records

A U.S. cybersecurity monitor on Monday described another breach of a voter election system just after after a leaked FBI report revealed two similar attacks.In June, anonymous hackers stole administrative login credentials in an unnamed county that would have let them delete voter registration records and prevent citizens from casting ballots.The information comes from the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), which monitors cyber attacks against state and local governments and shares information with the FBI. MS-ISAC is supported by the Department of Homeland Security.The attack in June targeted a county election official through a phishing email, according to Brian Calkin, vice president of operations for the Center of Internet Security, which runs MS-ISAC.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

VMworld 2016 Day 2 Keynote

This is a liveblog of the day 2 general session here at VMworld 2016 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV. Today, VMware is expected to talk more about containers, end-user computing, and other topics not covered in yesterday’s general session (which focused heavily on Cross-Cloud Services, VMware’s new set of SaaS-based offerings for multi-cloud management).

The general session kicks off with Sanjay Poonen taking the stage. Poonen is an energetic speaker who’s generally very entertaining and lively. He starts his discussion with a nod to VMware’s strong customer loyalty and community, which fosters lifelong learning. That quickly transitions into a discussion of “digital transforamtion”—how technology is affecting many different areas of our lives and our society.

VMware’s proposition in digital transformation is two-fold:

1. Transform the data center to make it cloud-ready.
2. Preparing the end-user for the mobile-cloud era.

Poonen re-iterates VMware’s vision of “any cloud, any device, any application,” focusing primarily on Workspace ONE and the broad ecosystem that has formed/is forming around Workspace ONE. Poonen’s discussion of Workspace ONE will focus on three layers:

1. How apps and identity work together; identity management is key.
2. Unified management for desktops and mobile.
3. Wrapping management and security around the entire solution.

Continue reading

43% off NETGEAR AC750 WiFi Range Extender – Deal Alert

If you're struggling with wifi dead zones, boost the range of your existing WiFi and create a stronger signal in hard-to-reach areas with a wifi extender, like this one from Netgear. The AC750's design is compact and discrete. Plug it into a wall outlet and it delivers AC dual band WiFi up to 750 Mbps from your existing wifi network. 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz both supported. This model averages 4 out of 5 stars from nearly 12,000 people on Amazon (read reviews) and its typical list price of $69.98 has been reduced a generous 43% to just $39.99. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

43% off NETGEAR AC750 WiFi Range Extender – Deal Alert

If you're struggling with wifi dead zones, boost the range of your existing WiFi and create a stronger signal in hard-to-reach areas with a wifi extender, like this one from Netgear. The AC750's design is compact and discrete. Plug it into a wall outlet and it delivers AC dual band WiFi up to 750 Mbps from your existing wifi network. 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz both supported. This model averages 4 out of 5 stars from nearly 12,000 people on Amazon (read reviews) and its typical list price of $69.98 has been reduced a generous 43% to just $39.99. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

mVPN Fun in the Lab: Add the Multicast at the Customer – Part 4 of 6

Time to add multicast to our MPLS series!  Woot! In this blog we will start simple.  We will focus on adding multicast to the customer portion of the network.  In the NEXT blog I will show you how I have... Read More ›

The post mVPN Fun in the Lab: Add the Multicast at the Customer – Part 4 of 6 appeared first on Networking with FISH.

45% off Dictionary Hidden Book Safe With Lock – Deal Alert

This very realistic looking book cleverly conceals a solid steel locking safe. Designed to look simply like a dictionary, the diversion safe is a good consideration for a college student or anyone looking for a creative way to hide electronics, money, documents and more. You could argue that this is safer than a real safe -- thieves just won't spend their limited time looking through your books. The dictionary safe averages 4 out of 5 stars from over 140 people (read reviews). It's typical list price of $32.99 has been reduced 45% to just $17.99.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

45% off Dictionary Hidden Book Safe With Lock – Deal Alert

This very realistic looking book cleverly conceals a solid steel locking safe. Designed to look simply like a dictionary, the diversion safe is a good consideration for a college student or anyone looking for a creative way to hide electronics, money, documents and more. You could argue that this is safer than a real safe -- thieves just won't spend their limited time looking through your books. The dictionary safe averages 4 out of 5 stars from over 140 people (read reviews). It's typical list price of $32.99 has been reduced 45% to just $17.99.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

VMware CEO pledges cloud computing freedom

In what’s become something of an annual tradition, we talked with VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger at the outset of the virtualization leader’s VMworld 2016 conference. In this interview with Network World Senior Writer Brandon Butler and IDG Chief Content Officer John Gallant, Gelsinger shared the big news from the event, including new tools that make it easier for customers to build cross-cloud environments, as well as an expanded partnership with IBM. With finalization of the Dell/EMC merger just over the horizon, Gelsinger reassured VMware customers about the company’s independence but said the resources available from that powerful ally will put ‘turbochargers’ on VMware’s back. He discussed the state of the software-defined data center and where customers stand in the deployment of virtual networks. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

VMware CEO pledges cloud computing freedom

In what’s become something of an annual tradition, we talked with VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger at the outset of the virtualization leader’s VMworld 2016 conference. In this interview with Network World Senior Writer Brandon Butler and IDG Chief Content Officer John Gallant, Gelsinger shared the big news from the event, including new tools that make it easier for customers to build cross-cloud environments, as well as an expanded partnership with IBM. With finalization of the Dell/EMC merger just over the horizon, Gelsinger reassured VMware customers about the company’s independence but said the resources available from that powerful ally will put ‘turbochargers’ on VMware’s back. He discussed the state of the software-defined data center and where customers stand in the deployment of virtual networks. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

As 5G heads for IoT, 4G is far from done

The iPhone 7 expected to debut on Sept. 7 may offer a glimpse into the future of smartphones, but it won’t have 5G. And even though the next generation of cellular is due to launch in 2020, high-end handsets may be LTE-only for years to come.A new IHS Markit survey of mobile operators says they see 5G as a tool for industry more than for smartphone users. But consumers probably won’t have to worry about getting stuck in the slow lane, because LTE is still getting faster.Increasingly, it looks like 5G will handle things 4G can’t handle while LTE continues to do the job it was designed for, based on the research company’s latest findings.Most of the service providers surveyed – 79 percent – said the internet of things will be the top use case for 5G. More are coming around to this way of thinking, too. Last year, 55 percent called IoT the main application.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pat Gelsinger explains what Dell-EMC deal means for VMware

When Dell announced the $67 billion debt-financed takeover of VMware parent company EMC in October, the news sent shockwaves across the EMC portfolio of companies, including internally at VMware, and with customers and partners."When the deal was announced, everybody was surprised, shocked," VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a pre-VMWorld interview with Network World. "It was a big, big deal and those questions were internal as well as with customers and partners... As I described it, everybody had the deer in the headlights response." (L-R) Joe Tucci, David Goulden, Pat Gelsinger and Michael Dell in October, 2015. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Cloud Key and Key Escrow

The problem Apple wanted to solve is this. Suppose that you have some sort of iToy — an iPhone, an iPad, etc. — or Mac. These systems allow you to back up your keychain to Apple’s iCloud service, where they’re protected by your AppleID (an email address) and password. If you buy a new device from Apple, your keychain can be downloaded to it once you log on to iCloud. (Note: uploading keys to iCloud is optional and disabled by default, though you are prompted about enabling it during device setup.) —CircleID

The post Worth Reading: Cloud Key and Key Escrow appeared first on 'net work.

Cybersecurity and VMworld

With memories of Black Hat still in my head, I’m back in Las Vegas for VMworld.  I’m sure there will be plenty of generic VMware and partner announcements but I’m here to assess how VMware is addressing enterprise security requirements with its technologies and partner relationships.  I will be focusing on a few key areas:1.      NSX penetration.  Last year, VMware talked a lot about emerging demand for NSX but I’ve seen a lot of momentum over the past 12 months.  From a security perspective, large organizations adopt NSX to do a better job of segmenting workloads and network traffic, as well as network security operations.  I’m interested to see how VMware security use cases are maturing and how VMware customers are moving toward building additional security controls and monitoring on top of NSX capabilities.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cybersecurity and VMworld

With memories of Black Hat still in my head, I’m back in Las Vegas for VMworld.  I’m sure there will be plenty of generic VMware and partner announcements but I’m here to assess how VMware is addressing enterprise security requirements with its technologies and partner relationships.  I will be focusing on a few key areas:1.      NSX penetration.  Last year, VMware talked a lot about emerging demand for NSX but I’ve seen a lot of momentum over the past 12 months.  From a security perspective, large organizations adopt NSX to do a better job of segmenting workloads and network traffic, as well as network security operations.  I’m interested to see how VMware security use cases are maturing and how VMware customers are moving toward building additional security controls and monitoring on top of NSX capabilities.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft’s new Catapult v2 server design is targeted at AI

For years, Microsoft has been delivering speedy and accurate Bing results with experimental servers called Project Catapult, which have now received an architectural upgrade.The Catapult servers use reprogrammable chips called FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), which are central to delivering better Bing results. FPGAs can quickly score, filter, rank, and measure the relevancy of text and image queries on Bing.Microsoft has now redesigned the original Catapult server, which is used to investigate the role of FPGAs in speeding up servers. The proposed Catapult v2 design is more flexible in circumventing traditional data-center structures for machine learning and expands the role of FPGAs as accelerators.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

VMware ‘Cloud Foundation’ integrates virtual compute, network and storage systems

At VMWorld this week the virtualization giant is announcing a new integrated system for building private clouds made up of the company’s virtualized compute, network and storage products packaged together with a new management software.VMware calls its new VMware Cloud Foundation product a hyperconverged infrastructure offering. It’s also meant to be the basis for VMware’s software defined data center (SDDC). Cloud Foundation will be available to run on customers’ premises or in the public cloud, making it the basis for a hybrid cloud too.Cloud Foundation is a packaging of the company’s traditional compute virtualization software vSphere with its NSX network virtualization product and its VSAN software-defined storage area network product. Cloud Foundation also includes a new software management product named SDDC Manager which controls the virtualized compute, network and storage resources. Combined, VMware envisions this system as the basis for building private clouds, running virtual desktops and hosting newly-built applications.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here