Packet Blast: Top Tech Blogs, Sept. 2

Using BGP in Leaf-and-Spine Fabrics

In the Leaf-and-Spine Fabric Designs webinar series we started with the simplest possible design: non-redundant server connectivity with bridging within a ToR switch and routing across the fabric.

After I explained the basics (including routing protocol selection, route summarization, link aggregation and addressing guidelines), Dinesh Dutt described how network architects use BGP when building leaf-and-spine fabrics.

HPE said to plan sale of its software unit

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is said to be looking to sell its software division, which would include the business from its disastrous acquisition of Autonomy in 2011, according to news reports.The enterprise IT company that emerged from the breakup of Hewlett-Packard has been restructuring its operations recently, including a US$8.5 billion deal announced in May to spin off and merge its enterprise services business with CSC. A sale of the software business would leave the company focused largely on servers, networking, storage, business critical systems and technology services.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A Rogue Effort Brings SDDC to the Lowly Branch Office

Technology isn't the hard part, though.

Details Emerge On China’s 64-Core ARM Chip

While the world awaits the AMD K12 and Qualcomm Hydra ARM server chips to join the ranks of the Applied Micro X-Gene and Cavium ThunderX processors already in the market, it could be upstart Chinese chip maker Phytium Technology that gets a brawny chip into the field first and also gets traction among actual datacenter server customers, not just tire kickers.

Phytium was on hand at last week’s Hot Chips 28 conference, showing off its chippery and laptop, desktop and server machines employing its “Earth” and “Mars” FT series of ARM chips. Most of the interest that people showed in …

Details Emerge On China’s 64-Core ARM Chip was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

Thoma Bravo Might Buy HPE Software Assets for $7.5B

It's unclear exactly which assets are on the block.

49% off Streamlight Rugged Long Lasting Battery Powered Lantern – Deal Alert

The Siege lantern from Streamlight is sturdy, rugged and well-built. It's rated 5 out of 5 stars from over 1,400 people on Amazon (read reviews) and its typical list price of $62.42 has been reduced 49% to just $31.99. The Siege Lantern distributes light 360-degrees. It features four C4 power LEDs for extreme brightness, and one red C4 power LED to preserve night vision. There are five output modes, and a battery level indicator built into the on/off button. Its ergonomic handle makes it easy to carry, while allowing it to hook on any edge or bar. With the outer lantern globe in place, the light is water-resistent and will float. Remove the outer globe, and the lantern's body's ready to hang upside down by the D-ring for large area lighting needs. Low white light mode provides extended run time of 295 hours. Battery replacement is a breeze with the center-post orienting the battery cover correctly every time. See the highly rated and discounted Streamlight Siege lantern now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Raspberry Pi roundup: Now with additional cucumbers!

The goal of technology is to make the world a better place. Sometimes, you can do that by making a gigantic breakthrough that solves a big problem in one fell swoop or opens major new horizons to the whole of humanity.Much more often, however, you can solve a much smaller problem right at home. That’s what Makoto Koite, a cucumber farmer in Japan, did when he used Google’s open-source AI software TensorFlow, an Arduino, and a Raspberry Pi to automatically sort his produce by size and shape.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Big data salaries set to rise in 2017 + Why these victims decided not to pay the ransomTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

No let-up in devastating decline of Microsoft’s browsers

Microsoft's browsers continued to hemorrhage users last month, with no sign that the bleeding will stop.According to Internet analytics vendor Net Applications, the combined user share of Internet Explorer and Edge fell 2.2 percentage points in August, ending the month at 32.5%. It was the fourth month in the last six where IE + Edge lost more than 2 points, and the second-largest decline in the 11-year history of Computerworld's recording of Net Applications' data.The brutal erosion of Microsoft's browser share has been unprecedented, rivaled only by the plunge of Netscape Navigator, which Internet Explorer dethroned in the second half of the 1990s. In the past six months, IE has lost more than 12 percentage points of user share; since the first of the year, IE has shed 16 points.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Biometrics are less secure than passwords

Many technology pundits talk about biometrics as the ultimate authentication solution — the technology that will make the ‘imperfect’ password obsolete. Despite the hype, most companies are approaching with caution. In fact, CEB found that there are varied degrees of biometrics adoption globally, as around 20 percent of firms have actually deployed the technology. A big reason for low adoption could be that they are less secure. And while many are touting the security of biometrics, there are four issues to consider when evaluating the technology. —betanews

The post Worth Reading: Biometrics are less secure than passwords appeared first on 'net work.

Smartphone growth remains flat, with iPhones down 12% this year

Growth in smartphones will only reach 1.6% for all of 2016, mainly because of sales declines in developed markets like the U.S., Japan and Western Europe, IDC predicted Thursday.The analyst firm also said that iPhone shipments for the entire year will decline by 12% globally compared to 2015, while Windows Phone shipments will decline by 75%. Sales of Android smartphones produced by a number of manufacturers will increase by 6.7%, and grab 85% of the global market for all of 2016.The iPhone decline was partly attributed to Apple customers waiting to purchase the next-generation iPhone, IDC said. That phone, probably in a couple of sizes, is widely expected to be announced along with an upgraded Apple Watch at an event next Wednesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple’s Cook calls European tax ruling ‘total political crap’

The European Commission's decision to force Apple to pay Ireland billions of dollars in back taxes is "total political crap" and a reflection of anti-U.S. sentiment, company CEO Tim Cook told the Irish Independent in an interview published Thursday."No one did anything wrong here," Cook said. "Ireland is being picked on, and this is unacceptable."The EC ruled on Tuesday that Ireland gave Apple illegal tax benefits by not collecting €13 billion (US$14.5 billion) in taxes owed to it over a 10-year period. It was the culmination of a two-year investigation into the company's tax affairs that found Apple's effective tax rate on profit reported in Ireland was just €500 per million euros in profit, falling to €50 per million in 2014.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Iris scans as ID grow in use

Iris scanner technology is emerging in smartphones, including the new Samsung Note 7, but is expected to come soon to cars and ATM machines to verify a user’s identity.Experts say an iris scan can be more reliable than a fingerprint scan, which is a big reason it is expected to be used in more devices in coming years. Each iris, the colorful part of the eye that forms a ring around the pupil, is unique and therefore a good biometric indicator.Samsung’s Android 6-based Note 7, which shipped on Aug. 19, takes advantage of the technology as well as the Windows 10 Mobile-based HP Elite X3.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Windows 10 growth slowdown has bright side

Although Windows 10's growth slowed in August, the one-year-old operating system didn't slam on the brakes as expected, according to data from multiple analytics sources.The smaller-than-anticipated slowdown may signal the start of enterprise deployments, a move that would vindicate Microsoft's efforts to nudge businesses to adopt the OS faster than they had earlier editions.According to U.S.-based metrics vendor Net Applications, Windows 10 gained 1.9 percentage points of user share during August, putting its mark at 23% of all personal computers for the month.INSIDER Review: Enterprise guide to Windows 10 Windows 10 powered 25.4% of all machines running Windows: The difference between the user share of all PCs and only those running Windows stemmed from the fact that Windows powered 90.5% of all personal computers, not 100%.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Regular password changes make things worse

Security experts have been saying for decades that human weakness can trump the best technology.Apparently, it can also trump conventional wisdom.Since passwords became the chief method of online authentication, conventional wisdom has been that changing them every month or so would improve a person’s, or an organization’s, security.Not according to Lorrie Cranor, chief technologist of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who created something of a media buzz earlier this year when she declared in a blog post that it was, “time to rethink mandatory password changes.” To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 reasons why Apple could announce a partnership with Oculus on Sept. 7

Apple’s absence in the virtual reality (VR) market could be lethal. Mobile VR is going to sell expensive top-tier phones. And without a dog in the fight, Apple will cede mobile VR to Google’s Android.Recent activity leads me to believe, however, that an Apple/Oculus partnership could be announced at Apple’s Sept. 7 media event. Here are 10 reasons why I think it could really happen:1. UploadVR reported that Apple filed a patent on a head-mounted display (HMD)Apple filed a patent on an HMD and hand trackers similar to what are being sold today. It’s likely a defensive patent to prevent a damages award in patent litigation with the innovators such as Oculus, HTC and their predecessors. Apple’s claim in its patent reads: “A head-mounted device that is worn on a user's head and configured to integrate with a cellular telephone…”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

23% off Tripp Lite 12 Outlet Surge Protector With Tel/Modem/Coax/Ethernet & 8ft Cord – Deal Alert

Protect your home theatre equipment, computers, and other expensive equipment with Tripp Lite's TLP1208SAT surge suppressor. This highly rated model has 12 outlets, an 8-foot cord with space-saving right-angle plugs, and diagnostic LEDs. The unit has a surge suppression rating of 2880 joules to handle the strongest surges. Built-in RJ11, RJ45, and Type F coax jacks prevent surges from damaging your modem/fax/cable/satellite equipment. Coaxial jacks provide digital broadband quality and can handle 2.2 GHz bandwidth. 8 outlets are regularly spaced, while 4 are widely spaced transformer outlets with safety covers. 4 keyhole mounting slots included as well. The TLP1208SAT averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from 700 people (read reviews) and its list price of $39.59 has been reduced to $30.54.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Take a look at the cool 2-in-1s and laptops from IFA

See the cool laptops and 2-in-1s introduced at IFAAn impressive array of 2-and-1s and laptops were shown at this year's IFA show in Berlin. A common thread was innovation; devices with boom-or-bust features stood out. Sleeker laptops and 2-in-1s used Intel's latest Kaby Lake chips, which were launched just ahead of the show. Feast your eyes on our selection of IFA's best PCs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

33% off Energizer Ultra Compact DC to AC 100W Vehicle Power Inverter – Deal Alert

On a road trip, camping, or during a power outage or emergency, this adapter plugs into your vehicle's power socket and, more or less, mimics a household wall power outlet. The fanless inverter quietly and safely delivers 100 watts of continuous power to your laptop, fan, DVD player, musical instrument, video game system and much more (just be mindful of the wattage requirements on your device). Dual USB ports are built-in, and with a max power output of 2.1A, the power inverter is also ideal for charging your iPhones, iPods, iPads, tablets, Samsung Galaxy, and other mobile phones or USB powered devices. Currently averaging 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 580 people on Amazon (read reviews), its typical list price of $29.99 has been reduced 33% to $19.99. See the discounted Energizer 100W power inverter now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Consumer drones get fixed wings

As holiday gadget season kicks in, we are about to be inundated with gift ideas. And for those used to seeing, or indeed flying quadcopter drones, looking as one would imagine aerial food mixers to appear with four motors and props at the end of four arms, there’s a new form-factor—tailless, single-wing drones.At hobbyist flying fields, more of the fuselage-lacking wing-style drones, reminiscent of Northrop’s B2 stealth bomber, are appearing. And while multi-rotors are by no means off the field, some of the more experienced flyers have taken to piloting and/or building flying wings.Existing model aircraft designers include TBS and Zeta.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here