IDG Contributor Network: 4 things you can do on a mainframe—without knowing how to use a mainframe

Remember when you got your driver’s license? That was a pretty big day. Now imagine that as the person at the DMV handed you your card, he or she also slipped you permits to operate a boat, drive a motorcycle and fly the Space Shuttle. Sounds crazy, right? Yet it’s happening in the world of mainframes every day thanks to new tools that make it possible to program and manage big iron in just about any language and on any platform. Even five years ago it would have been inconceivable for this to happen. If you wanted to use a mainframe, you had to know COBOL. That’s all fine and good—if you graduated from college in 1978. But what about the next generation of mainframers? How were they supposed to use computers that required users to know a language that wasn’t even taught in most computer science programs anymore?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 4 things you can do on a mainframe—without knowing how to use a mainframe

Remember when you got your driver’s license? That was a pretty big day. Now imagine that as the person at the DMV handed you your card, he or she also slipped you permits to operate a boat, drive a motorcycle and fly the Space Shuttle. Sounds crazy, right? Yet it’s happening in the world of mainframes every day thanks to new tools that make it possible to program and manage big iron in just about any language and on any platform. Even five years ago it would have been inconceivable for this to happen. If you wanted to use a mainframe, you had to know COBOL. That’s all fine and good—if you graduated from college in 1978. But what about the next generation of mainframers? How were they supposed to use computers that required users to know a language that wasn’t even taught in most computer science programs anymore?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Basics: Is there always a feasible successor in EIGRP ?

Question : Is there always a feasible successor in EIGRP ? Background: An operational route is passive. If the path is lost, the router examines the topology table to find an FS. If there is an FS, it is placed in the routing table; otherwise, the router queries its neighbors, sending the route into active mode. Answer: There has to […]

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Random Notes From My Third CPOC

I was lucky enough (volunteering for very challenging work is luck, right? ) to finish my third tour through Cisco CPOC last week. CPOC is Cisco’s Customer Proof of Concept facility where customer’s can bring their network design, build it in Cisco’s lab, and beat the hell out of it. CPOC has tons of network and compute gear, all the right testing tools and processes, and excellent work areas that cater to collaborative work and information sharing. It’s also staffed by very senior and experienced engineers.

I know it’s cliche and I know I’m biased because I have an @cisco.com email address, but I’ve truthfully never seen anything like CPOC before. And the customer’s I’ve worked with at CPOC haven’t either. It’s extremely gratifying to take something you built “on paper” and prove that it works; to take it to the next level and work those final kinks out that the paper design just didn’t account for.

If you want more information about CPOC, get in touch with me or leave a comment below. Or ask your Cisco SE (and if they don’t know, have them get in touch with me).

Anyways, on to the point of this Continue reading

Senate panel votes to weaken net neutrality rules

It's the issue that won't die: A Senate committee has voted to weaken the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules.The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee voted Wednesday to approve a bill that would exempt small broadband providers from rules requiring them to provide their customers with information about network performance, network management practices, and other issues.The rules are intended to give broadband customers data about actual speeds, compared to advertised speeds, and potentially controversial congestion management practices.The Senate bill, the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act, would still ensure "meaningful transparency for consumers" because older FCC rules requiring some disclosure of network management practices remain in place, said Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican and committee chairman.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Senate panel votes to weaken net neutrality rules

It's the issue that won't die: A Senate committee has voted to weaken the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules.The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee voted Wednesday to approve a bill that would exempt small broadband providers from rules requiring them to provide their customers with information about network performance, network management practices, and other issues.The rules are intended to give broadband customers data about actual speeds, compared to advertised speeds, and potentially controversial congestion management practices.The Senate bill, the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act, would still ensure "meaningful transparency for consumers" because older FCC rules requiring some disclosure of network management practices remain in place, said Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican and committee chairman.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Facebook, Google, Twitter sued by father of Paris terror victim

The use of social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube by terrorist groups for propaganda, recruitment, fundraising and other activities has come into sharp focus recently. It seemed inevitable that these companies would at some point be blamed for the misuse of these forums and become targets of lawsuits from families of victims. A lawsuit filed in a federal court in California by the father of Nohemi Gonzalez, a victim of the Paris terror attack in November, charges that Twitter, Facebook and Google “have knowingly permitted the terrorist group ISIS [Islamic State group] to use their social networks as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds and attracting new recruits.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hack the hackers: Eavesdrop for intel on emerging threats

In a sea of vulnerabilities clamoring for attention, it’s almost impossible to know which IT security issues to address first. Vendor advisories provide a tried-and-true means for keeping on top of known attack vectors. But there’s a more expedient option: Eavesdrop on attackers themselves.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Hack the hackers: Eavesdrop for intel on emerging threats

In a sea of vulnerabilities clamoring for attention, it’s almost impossible to know which IT security issues to address first. Vendor advisories provide a tried-and-true means for keeping on top of known attack vectors. But there’s a more expedient option: Eavesdrop on attackers themselves. Given their increasingly large attack surfaces, most organizations tie their vulnerability management cycle to vendor announcements. But initial disclosure of security vulnerabilities doesn’t always come from vendors, and waiting for official announcements can put you days, or even weeks, behind attackers, who discuss and share tutorials within hours of a vulnerability becoming known.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Hack the hackers: Eavesdrop for intel on emerging threats

In a sea of vulnerabilities clamoring for attention, it’s almost impossible to know which IT security issues to address first. Vendor advisories provide a tried-and-true means for keeping on top of known attack vectors. But there’s a more expedient option: Eavesdrop on attackers themselves.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

How to prevent data from leaving with a departing employee

I’ll take thisImage by ThinkstockIt may come as a surprise, but more likely than not, when employees leave a company they’re taking company data with them. While it’s not always out of malicious intent, the amount of unprotected company information that walks out the door can result in bigger losses in the future.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Is open source a clear path to success for new grads?

It's the catch-22 every new college graduate faces when looking for his or her first job: You need experience or a portfolio of completed work to prove your competency to a potential employer, but it's hard to get that tangible proof of your skills without having had a job first.That's one of the major benefits of the open source world, says Heidi Ellis, professor and chair of Computer Science and Information Technology at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass.Ten years ago, as a visiting professor at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., Ellis challenged her computer science students to use technology to solve some of the logistical and administrative problems than can hamper the effectiveness of humanitarian causes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Case of the Failed IPv6 Ping – Part 2: The Solution

Put your detective hat on your head and your Network Detective badge on your lapel.   It is time to SOLVE for the Case of the Failed IPv6 Ping.

Review the Facts and Clues Again

Let’s review where we left off in our Part 1 of this case — “Case of the Failed IPv6 Ping – Part1: Facts and Clues“.  At the end of Part 1…..we were ON R1 and unable to ping the IPv6 address of our directly connected interface gig0/0/3, 2001:db8:14:1::1.

As you recall the facts were as below. Interface up/up, OSPFv3 configured properly, proper IPv6 address configured on interface gig0/0/3.  Still, we cannot ping R1’s directly connected IPv6 address from anywhere including from R1 itself.

Totally confused.  Time to just stare at the list above, absorb the oddness, and think.

Wait one second!!!! “No valid route for destination” ???   Even the ping from R1 said that?

“That can’t be true“, I think to myself while I type show ipv6 route connected.

What the????….. Why don’t I have R1’s gig0/0/3 interface in the routing table? It is up/up and with the proper IPv6 address configured.  Now Continue reading

CCIE Security v5 Blueprint Update Announced

Finally, Cisco has made the official announcement on the upcoming changes for CCIE Security Version 5. Both the written exam and the lab exam will be changes go live starting 31st of January 2017, which gives you the usual 6 months window to pass the Version 4 exam, before the change to Version 5 occurs.  As opposed to the old blueprint, there are major changes in both the technical content and exam delivery format.

As expected, the new exam topics are inline with Cisco’s current Security product line with pretty much nothing missing. Yes, you got that right! Also, as expected, Cisco is trying to push the same exam delivery model for all CCIE tracks.

Blueprint Technical Topic Changes

We now have a Unified Exam Blueprint,  covering topics for both the written and lab exam, similar to the change that was introduced with CCIE Data Center Version 2. The Blueprint for Version 5 is divided into 6 sections, with the last one being relevant only for the written exam:

• Perimeter Security and Intrusion Prevention
• Advanced Threat Protection and Content Security
• Secure Connectivity and Segmentation
• Identity Management, Information Exchange and Access Control
• Infrastructure Security, Virtualization and Automation
• Evolving Technologies*

*Written Continue reading

Smart City Challenge: 7 proposals for the future of transportation

Self-driving vehicles, traffic lights that adjust based on vehicle flow, bike sharing and smart pavement that provides public Wi-Fi access—those are just a few of the ideas for making cities smarter. Not only have municipalities embraced the smart city concept—using technology to manage a city’s assets, improve the efficiency of services, reduce consumption of resources, reduce costs and improve the quality of life—but many are making it a reality. The U.S. Department of Transportation has joined in to help cities implement smart city ideas, and it is offering a $40 million grant to the winner of its Smart Cities Challenge. The prize will go to the city that has the best plan for integrating innovative technologies such as self-driving cars, connected vehicles and smart sensors into their transportation network.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Troubleshooting Cisco IOS FTP Error Code

The Cloud Malware Threat

Complexity Sells

A blog post on Packet Pushers contained a quote by E. W. Dijkstra (of the SPF fame) and while trying to figure out whether that quote was real I stumbled upon his keynote address from a 1984 ACM conference (original). Not surprisingly, nothing has changed in the last 30+ years…

Samsung to acquire US cloud services firm Joyent

Samsung Electronics is acquiring U.S. cloud services company Joyent as it builds its services business around mobile devices and the Internet of Things.The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Joyent will operate as a standalone subsidiary under the new dispensation and continue providing cloud infrastructure and software services to its customers.Samsung said Thursday the acquisition would give the smartphone maker access to its own cloud platform to support it in the areas of mobile, IoT and cloud-based software and services.The South Korean company said it had evaluated a number of providers of public and private cloud infrastructure but zeroed in on Joyent in San Francisco as it saw “an experienced management team with deep domain expertise and a robust cloud technology validated by some of the largest Fortune 500 customers.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft’s Project Bletchley will let companies add middleware to blockchains

Microsoft is extending blockchain technology with a new set of tools designed to make it possible to build a new ecosystem of enterprise applications on top of it.On Wednesday, the company unveiled Project Bletchley, its term for a pair of tools to expand the potential uses of blockchains. It plans to get more utility out of the distributed ledger technology by using the new secure middleware.The first tool, known as "Cryptlets," is a set of services that let companies bring in data from outside a blockchain system without breaking the security of that system. Cryptlets can be written in any programming language and run within a secure, trusted container.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here