Microsoft scoops up LinkedIn for $26.2B in cash

Microsoft announced early Monday that it will acquire enterprise social network LinkedIn for approximately $26.2 billion in cash.  In a press release announcing the news, Microsoft said that LinkedIn will retain its brand, culture and independence as part of the deal. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner will remain in power there, and will report directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as a member of his senior staff.  This is the largest acquisition in Microsoft's history, worth more than its acquisitions of Nokia and Skype combined.  The deal is supported by Reid Hoffman, the co-founder and controlling shareholder of LinkedIn. It's expected to close by the end of 2016.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Did the free Windows 10 upgrade push hamstring PC sales?

It has always been tradition with a new Windows release that there is both an upgrade path for some users with the smarts to do it and the guts to risk it, while those preferring a safer path would just buy a new PC with the new operating system.So, what happens when Microsoft practically shoves a new OS down people's throats, pesters people to upgrade and even performs upgrades they didn't ask for? Well, that gets the installed base to 300 million in under a year, as Microsoft recently announced. It also kneecaps the PC market for new desktops.+ Also on Network World: Credibility and trust: Microsoft blows it +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

VMware launches new service to manage endpoint security

VMware wants to help companies get a better handle on the security of the computers their employees use. The new TrustPoint product the company announced Monday uses software to make it possible to track and manage computers easily and quickly, without taking up a whole bunch of data.  First off, the software allows companies to detect what devices are on their networks, along with which ones are being managed by IT. That helps businesses understand if they have machines operating outside the reach of their security systems, which could be a problem for protecting company data.  In addition, businesses will also be able to use TrustPoint to handle operating system imaging with VMware's technology, so it's easier for them to patch systems that are managed with TrustPoint. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

VMware launches new service to manage endpoint security

VMware wants to help companies get a better handle on the security of the computers their employees use. The new TrustPoint product the company announced Monday uses software to make it possible to track and manage computers easily and quickly, without taking up a whole bunch of data.  First off, the software allows companies to detect what devices are on their networks, along with which ones are being managed by IT. That helps businesses understand if they have machines operating outside the reach of their security systems, which could be a problem for protecting company data.  In addition, businesses will also be able to use TrustPoint to handle operating system imaging with VMware's technology, so it's easier for them to patch systems that are managed with TrustPoint. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Gartner tips virtual data centers as future

As the amount of structured and unstructured data generated through digital growth increases, the need for places to put the stuff is also growing.And it’s going to be in Hyper-converged Integrated Systems (HCIS), according to Gartner analyst Michael Warrilow, speaking at Gartner’s Tech Growth and Innovation Conference in Los Angeles last week.Hyper-converged systems are where software tools are used on commoditized hardware. HCIS is the platform for shared computing and storage resources. It’s “based on software-defined storage, software-defined compute, commodity hardware and a unified management interface,” Gartner explains on its website.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Gartner tips virtual data centers as future

As the amount of structured and unstructured data generated through digital growth increases, the need for places to put the stuff is also growing.And it’s going to be in Hyper-converged Integrated Systems (HCIS), according to Gartner analyst Michael Warrilow, speaking at Gartner’s Tech Growth and Innovation Conference in Los Angeles last week.Hyper-converged systems are where software tools are used on commoditized hardware. HCIS is the platform for shared computing and storage resources. It’s “based on software-defined storage, software-defined compute, commodity hardware and a unified management interface,” Gartner explains on its website.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Arkin Acquisition will Further Simplify VMware NSX Operational Planning and Visibility

VMware NSX is experiencing tremendous growth across the board – in number of customer deployments, sales, and partnerships. Lots of organizations have been vocal in their support of NSX, including Heartland Payment Systems, University of New Mexico, Sugar Creek, Tribune Media, and many others.

These customers are deploying NSX for use cases such as micro-segmentation, automation for IT and developers, and application continuity. We’re helping customers to scale their NSX use cases with a number of new capabilities, resources and tools. Everything from design guides, operations guides, and white papers to courses, certifications, and new product capabilities.

Today we have more good news to share with you on that front. We just announced our intent to acquire one of our strategic technology partners: Arkin. As we have seen among our rapidly growing customer base, the Arkin platform helps IT organizations to simplify planning and operations for NSX, allowing them to quickly scale NSX to thousands of applications.

Arkin brings two important capabilities to VMware. It extends the cross-domain visibility of VMware vRealize Operations to more of the SDDC infrastructure. From compute and storage to networking and security – across network overlays and underlays.

Arkin also helps Continue reading

Data Storage Terms You Should Know

WWDC 2016: What Apple plans to announce

What we expect Apple to announce at WWDC 2016In just a few hours, Tim Cook and other Apple executives will take the stage and officially kick off Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2016. Per usual, WWDC provides Apple with a forum to give us all an exciting glimpse into what the future of Apple software looks like. Hardware is, of course, important, but Apple's intuitive software has long been the driving force behind the company's success.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 free apps that add cool Windows 7 features to Windows 10

A new OS often retires features that were in its predecessor. If you’re still holding onto Windows 7 because a feature you’re fond of doesn’t appear in Windows 10, chances are there are alternative programs you can install to replace it. Here are five of them, and they’re all free.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

WLAN Industry Consolidation Pros And Cons

IDG Contributor Network: Swatting and phone scams: Hazards of caller ID spoofing

When I was a kid in the 60s, 70s and arguably the 80s, the telephone provided me with a source of entertainment. I was able to make a free local call to anyone while maintaining full anonymity. I could pretend to be anyone I wanted to be, ask people if their refrigerator was running and then tell them that they should catch it, or play a multitude of pranks.Caller ID was not available, so each time you answered the phone there was a great level of anticipation and mystery finding out who was on the other end each time the phone rang.Today, almost everyone has caller ID with name display. Because of this, your number and name are shown to the person you're calling. And from their perspective, a certain level of confidence is assumed because we believe and trust what we see.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Malware Museum causes controversy among security pros

Ah, the edifying trip to the museum. Basking in the Dutch masters. Pondering Warhol’s soup cans. Watching a pixelated marijuana leaf unfold on your screen… Wait. What? The latter work (COFFSHOP.COM, artist unknown, if you’re keeping score) can be found at the Malware Museum, the brainchild of F-Secure Chief Research Officer Mikko Hypponen. The museum, part of the Internet Archive, houses DOS viruses from the 1980s and 1990s. Visitors can watch malware’s on-screen manifestations at the website and can even download emulations to their PCs. The viruses have long since been defanged.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Malware Museum’s 10 greatest hits

Big hitsSince the malware museum opened its virtual doors in February, its collection of de-fanged DOS-based malware from the 80s and 90s has attracted nearly 1 million views. (Read the full story.) Here are the museum’s most downloaded viruses:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New products of the week 6.13.16

New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.AppFolio Property ManagerKey features: offers enhanced functionality for mobile devices and is designed for the modern manager, enabling full access to the same features available through AppFolio’s cloud-based property management software. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New products of the week 6.13.16

New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.AppFolio Property ManagerKey features: offers enhanced functionality for mobile devices and is designed for the modern manager, enabling full access to the same features available through AppFolio’s cloud-based property management software. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Who Needs an IPO? Blue Coat Gets a $4.65B Bid from Symantec

So much for going public.

Virtual Firewalls: Featured Webinar in June 2016

Virtual Firewalls is the featured webinar in June 2016, and the featured videos (marked with a star) explain the difference between virtual contexts and virtual appliances, and the virtual firewalls taxonomy.

To view the videos, log into my.ipspace.net (or enroll into the trial subscription if you don’t have an account yet), select the webinar from the first page, and watch the videos marked with star.

If you're a trial subscriber and would like to get access to the whole webinar, use this month's featured webinar discount (and keep in mind that every purchase brings you closer to the full subscription).

Brussels, Belgium: CloudFlare’s 81st Data Center is Live!

Our week begins in Brussels, where we announce our newest data center. This is our 23rd data center in Europe alone, and our 81st data center globally - providing additional redundancy to nearby facilities in Amsterdam and Paris.

Millions of websites using CloudFlare are now faster in Brussels, and we are excited to exchange traffic at the Belgium National Internet Exchange (BNIX).

Strategic City

Brussels - which hosts several strategic European institutions such as the European Commission and the Council of the European Union - is home to over 40,000 EU employees. With the turn up of our Brussels data center, they join the rest of the country in experiencing a faster Internet. Impressively, close to 90% of Belgium's citizens are online.

Two more cities

We will be announcing two more data centers this week - each in one of the world’s most populous countries. Could you guess which ones?

The CloudFlare network today:

Symantec to acquire Blue Coat for $4.65 billion

Security company Symantec is to acquire Web security provider Blue Coat for US$4.65 billion in cash in a deal that will broaden the portfolio of security technologies the combined company can offer customers as they move to the cloud.The deal, which is expected to be closed by the third quarter, will also see Greg Clark, CEO of Blue Coat, taking over as CEO of Symantec and joining its board at the the closing of the transaction. Symantec, well-known for its anti-virus software, has been looking out for a new CEO since April after it was announced that its CEO Michael Brown was stepping down, following poor financial results. Ajei Gopal was appointed as interim president and chief operating officer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here