Is Interop Dead?

I’m at Interop this week talking all things networking with a great group of people. There are quite a few members of the community here presenting, listening and discussing. There’s a great exchange of ideas flowing back and forth. Yet one thing I keep hearing in quiet corners of the room is a hushed discussion of the continued viability of Interop as a conference. Is it time to write the Interop obituary?

Only Mostly Dead

Some of the arguments are as old as tech itself. People claim that getting vendors to interoperate today is an afterthought thanks to protocols like OSPF. All of the important bits in a network are standardized now. Use of APIs and other open technologies are driving vendors to play nice with each other. The need to show up in a faraway place and do the work has long passed.

There’s also the discussion around the bigger conferences out in the world. Vendor conferences like Cisco Live and VMworld draw tens of thousands. New product announcements are dropping left and right during these events. People also want to fracture into tool-specific events like OpenStack Summit or DockerCon. Or the various analyst events or company days that Continue reading

Mothers Day Miracle: How 1800Flowers uses the cloud to handle the holiday rush

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Featured Interview: Cisco’s Balaji Sivasubramanian & Vipin Jain – Container Networking Challenges & The Current State

Hear from Cisco's Balaji Sivasubramanian & Vipin Jain on Project Contiv, the benefits of containerization, challenges of container networking, and top concerns and focus area of running containers in production.

NVLink Takes GPU Acceleration To The Next Level

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NVLink Takes GPU Acceleration To The Next Level was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

Worth Reading: Silicon Photonics

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The post Worth Reading: Silicon Photonics appeared first on 'net work.

Google turns on HTTPS for all blogspot blogs

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Interop: 12 killer (and free) tools for network engineers

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Interop: 12 killer (and free) tools for network engineers

LAS VEGAS -- Visibility is key to troubleshooting network woes, but getting such access can be expensive. To help out, a veteran networking pro shared with attendees of the Interop conference in Las Vegas his list of a dozen mostly free “killer” tools. Network Protocol Specialists owner Mike Pennacchi: Free tools can be customized to fit your needs “There are commercial tools that do most of these functions,” says Mike Pennacchi, owner and lead network analyst at Network Protocol Specialists. “If you don’t have any budget, this gives you the tools without spending a lot of money.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google turns on HTTPS for all blogspot blogs

All blogs hosted on Google's blogspot.com domain can now be accessed over an encrypted HTTPS connection. This puts more control into the hands of blog readers who value privacy.Google started offering users of its Blogger service the option to switch their blogspot.com sites to HTTPS in September, but now that setting was removed and all blogs received an HTTPS version that users can access.Instead of the "HTTPS Availability" option, blog owners can now use a setting called "HTTPS Redirect," which will redirect all visitors to the HTTPS version of their blogs automatically. If the setting is not used, users will still be able to access the non-encrypted HTTP version.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SDN and NFV for Network Automation – Promises of Network Transformation

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Currently averaging 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon (read reviews), Robin has been discounted through May 10th by 25%. With a list price of $399, this item is discounted by $100 and can be purchased via Amazon right now for $299. Robin was born from a Kickstarter campaign (over $1.3M raised from 3,611 backers), and a desire to create something that uniquely stands out. This very well designed smartphone merges 32GB of onboard storage with 100GB of cloud storage, seamlessly backing up your apps and photos into intelligent archives that can be restored instantly and effortlessly. It features a 5.2" 1080p LCD with Gorilla glass 4, 13 MP rear Camera with phase detection Autofocus and Dual tone flash, and Dual Front facing speakers with Dual amplifiers. Learn more about the discounted Nextbit Robin unlocked smartphone and explore buying options on Amazon now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Datanauts 034: Automate All The Packets

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The post Datanauts 034: Automate All The Packets appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Datanauts 034: Automate All The Packets

On today's Datanauts episode we're joined by Jason Edelman to dig into why the network has traditionally been so hard to automate, what tools are available, and how to get started.

The post Datanauts 034: Automate All The Packets appeared first on Packet Pushers.

IBM’s quantum processor comes out of hiding

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Review: HPE’s machine learning cloud overpromises, underdelivers

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5 secure habits of the paranoid PC user

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5 secure habits of the paranoid PC user

We know how it goes: You mean to practice safe computing habits, really you do. But when you fire up your computer, you just want to get stuff done -- and that's when even savvy users begin to cut security corners.We'd all do well to take a lesson from truly paranoid PC users, who don't let impatience or laziness stand in the way of protecting their data. Let's take a look at some of their security habits that you may want to practice regularly.After all, staying safe online doesn't have to be onerous or time-consuming. Invest an hour or two this weekend to put a few safeguards in place, consciously start to practice a few good habits -- and before you know it, your good intentions will become a daily reality.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Ads mislead over broadband Internet access pricing, regulator warns

Pricing in ads for broadband Internet access is too often misleading and needs tighter regulation.That's the verdict of the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority, which on Wednesday gave ISPs six months to clean up their act before it introduces new rules on how they can promote their services.The monthly cost of broadband Internet access bundled with fixed-line telephone service ought to be simple enough to determine.INSIDER: 5 tricks to improve poor TCP performance However, after viewing a typical ad, only 23 percent of people could correctly identify the cost in a study by the ASA and the U.K.'s communications regulator, Ofcom.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 videoconferencing fears (and how to overcome them)

More than half (54 percent) of employees regularly take part in work-related videoconferences, but not all of them are eager participants, according to a recent report. In the survey of more than 230 full-time U.S. workers by West Unified Communications, 23 percent of the respondents said that videoconferencing makes them feel uncomfortable, and three-quarters said they still prefer audio to video. “There’s a definite fear factor among employees when it comes to using videoconferencing,” says Dennis Collins, director of marketing at West. “Just like listening to a recording of your voice makes people uncomfortable, many are uncomfortable with seeing themselves on camera.” To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here