Think visually: How graphics skills help engineers

Among all the skills I hear network engineers talk about, two that are often underrated are writing skills and graphics skills. There is some small slice of the networking world that is serious about writing (though I often think we make too big of a production out of writing, getting wrapped around tools and process instead of focusing on actual writing), but graphics is one area the we really don’t talk about a lot. After all, I’m an engineer, not a graphic designer, right? Or maybe — I’ve always heard I should be a master of one skill, rather than a jack of all trades…

Diane, over at Data Center Mix, has a great post up on four ways being an artist has helped her sell data center products. There are some great ideas in there, but as someone with formal training in graphic design (in a distant past I can barely remember any longer), I wanted to add a few thoughts about graphics skills as a network engineer.

She begins with this thought: a picture is worth a thousand words. I’m never quite certain this is actually true in every case (Charles Dickens in cartoon format doesn’t sound very Continue reading

AMD throws down the GPU gauntlet with new 4th-gen “Polaris”

AMD's new Polaris graphics architecture ushers in a fourth-generation graphics core, unheard of power efficiency, and perhaps more importantly for the company, hope.The company said Monday that Polaris will pack a mostly redesigned GPU including the new fourth-gen GCN cores, a new memory controller, new multimedia cores, and a new geometry processor. Perhaps more importantly, it'll be just as fast as a comparable Nvidia part, while using a lot less power, the company said. In a demo to the press, AMD showed off a PC with an early Polaris GPU running Star Wars Battlefield at 1920x1080 resolution at 60 fps and consuming just 86 watts. The exact same system outfitted with a GeForce GTX 950 consumed 140 watts. AMD used desktop parts to sub in for laptop parts as it didn't have mobile components yet, but the chip will initially be aimed at laptops and more entry-level desktop graphics cards.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

HP tackles ‘visual hacking’ with privacy filters in laptop, tablet screens

HP is putting integrated filters in laptop and tablet displays this year so Peeping Toms can't steal confidential information when surreptitiously viewing your screen. HP's privacy filters will make laptop and tablet screens visible to users in direct view of the display. Moving slightly away makes what's displayed on the screen fuzzier and then virtually invisible the further you go. Users won't be able to see a screen from a 35 degree angle on the left or right, said John Groden, director for Elitebook products at HP. This feature could be handy in planes, airports or cafes, where sensitive information on the laptop could be visible to others.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OED Tools: ConzoleZ

The problem As many IT professionals I work quite often on the command line with many command prompts open. Windows lacks a good native command prompt software so usually you see monitors filled with black terminals that are hard to manage and track. The automation ConsoleZ allows multiple tabs and to split tabs vertically or […]

Getting VMRC links with Python

It became quite a pain to get Web-based console working on ESXi hosts or vCenter servers with deprecation of NPAPI plugins in modern browsers. As for me, the most comfortable method to get a remote console access is to use standalone Virtual Machine Remote Console client (VMRC) which is available for free for major OSes. The sad

Review: Best smart switches for under $500

Smart switchesSmart switches offer functionality found in managed switches, such as VLANs, port mirroring, and link aggregation. However, smart switches are typically targeted towards small and midsized networks that don’t need the complete management capabilities and fine-tuning offered in fully managed switches. We looked at switches from six vendors, the same vendors from our recent small business router review. So if you’re building an SMB network, reference both reviews to find a matching router and switch that meets your needs. Vendors include the big-name Cisco, popular home and business brands D-Link, Linksys, and Netgear, and also lesser-known names DrayTek and UTT Technologies. We setup and evaluated each switch and in this review we compare product in regards to price, features, and user-friendliness. Read the full review.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Dual Carrier MPLS VPN Design

For the purpose of high availability, critical locations of company A – a customer of VPN service provider – is connected to two different carriers. However, this connectivity requires an important design consideration. Figure-1 In the network design shown above, customer AS 64512 is connected to two different providers: AS100 and AS200. Since this site is critical to the […]

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OSPF in a Full-Mesh Topology Design

Flooding in full-mesh topology is a big concern for network-design experts, especially in large-scale OSPF deployments. When the link or node fails in an OSPF network, failure information is flooded everywhere in the same area. If Flat OSPF network design is used, then the problem gets bigger. Each router receives at least one copy of the new information from […]

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OSPF in a Full-Mesh Topology Design

Flooding in full-mesh topology is a big concern for network-design experts, especially in large-scale OSPF deployments. When the link or node fails in an OSPF network, failure information is flooded everywhere in the same area. If Flat OSPF network design is used, then the problem gets bigger. Each router receives at least one copy of the new information from […]

The post OSPF in a Full-Mesh Topology Design appeared first on Network Design and Architecture.

My Getting Things Done Setup, Circa Early 2016

Almost six years ago I shared my (then) current Getting Things Done (GTD) setup, in which I described how I used various tools, techniques, and applications to try to maximize my productivity. I’d been toying with updating that post, but I wasn’t sure that anyone would find it useful. However, a recent e-mail from a reader indicated that there probably is some interest; with that in mind, then, here’s an update on my GTD-like setup, circa early 2016.

Before I dive into the details, a couple quick notes:

  • First, I call this a “GTD-like” setup because it doens’t necessarily strongly adhere to all the tenets of Getting Things Done. I’ve adapted the system to fit my particular role and responsibilities, which is something I strongly encourage every reader to also do.
  • Although I’ve previously discussed moving away from OS X (and this is something that I continue to evaluate and explore), this is—for now—a decidedly Mac-specific system. It’s probably possible to emulate a similar system on other platforms, but I leave that as an exercise for interested readers.

If you read the 2010 post, you may recall that I think of my workflow as having three “layers” of applications:

orhanergun.net 2015 review

I’m proud to be the owner of the best computer network design blog and get positive feedbacks from users all over the world. In recent times, I have observed that everybody has been reading this blog. Because of this, I owe all the readers of this blog my achievements. Indeed, your comments and post views have encouraged […]

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Microsoft roundup: The Windows 7 threat, notifying nation-state targets, Bing censorhip

When checking around for what’s been happening with Microsoft, it seems like the company is following its normal pattern of gaining ground and then shooting itself in the foot. Here are a few examples:At the end of 2015, Microsoft announced that it will start notifying users if the company believes “your account has been targeted or compromised by an individual or group working on behalf of a nation state.” Scott Charney, Microsoft’s Corporate VP of Trustworthy Computing, added: We’re taking this additional step of specifically letting you know if we have evidence that the attacker may be “state-sponsored” because it is likely that the attack could be more sophisticated or more sustained than attacks from cybercriminals and others.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Single Vs. Dual Carrier Design

Companies don’t always have high availability. What’s more, there is always a concern of budget and complexity with the high availability even though a number of factors need to be considered during network design. If the applications of the company do not require high availability, dual carrier or two links to the same carrier is not […]

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