VMware NSX and vRealize Automation Overview – Part 1

VMware NSX network virtualization and vRealize Automation deliver a feature rich, dynamic integration that provides the capability to deploy applications along with network and security services at provisioning time while maintaining compliance with the required security and connectivity policies. This native integration highlights the value of NSX when combined with automation and self-service and shows how VMware brings together compute, storage, network and security virtualization to provide a comprehensive software-based solution. Continue reading

New payment card malware hard to detect and remove

FireEye says it has discovered a type of malware designed to steal payment card data that can be very difficult to detect and remove. The cybercriminal group behind the malware, which FireEye nicknamed "FIN1," is suspected of being in Russia and has been known to target financial institutions. The malware, which FIN1 calls Nemesis, infected an organization that processes financial transactions, which FireEye did not identify. Payment card data is highly sought after by cybercriminals, who have in recent years targeted very large organizations that handle card data. Target, Home Depot and many others have reported large data breaches over the years. Some payment processors were also hit.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Review: Best password managers for the enterprise

The password is ....Image by ThinkstockPassword managers are an important first step for organizations that want to strengthen their security by helping users cope with multiple logins. In this review, we looked at 10 tools: Dashlane for Business, Keeper Security Enterprise, LastPass Enterprise (now part of LogMeIn), Lieberman Enterprise Random Password Manager, LogMeOnce Enterprise Edition, Manage Engine Password Pro, Agilebits1Password for Teams, StickyPassword, SplashID TeamsID, and SingleID. Here are the individual reviews. See the full review along with a related story on how to evaluate password managers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Review: Password managers help keep hackers at bay

In 2013, we reviewed six password managers, some suitable for enterprises and some primarily for consumers. The field has exploded and today there are more than two dozen products on the market. Even the popular TV show “Shark Tank” recently evaluated a password manager startup.But this level of activity doesn’t necessarily indicate quality. We found that some of the products we reviewed two years ago haven’t improved as much as they could have. And some of the newer products are still a work in progress.Password managers are an important first step for organizations that want to strengthen their security by helping users cope with multiple logins. While browsers have gotten more intelligent about storing passwords and synchronizing them across different platforms, you might want to have more control over the way your users manage passwords, which is where these tools come into play. Password managers are often seen as a less expensive and easier to implement solution than single sign-on products, which we’ve also reviewed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

New products of the week 12.07.15

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.OOB Console Access & Remote 240VAC RebootKey features: Out-of-Band access to console ports plus OOB reboot control for managing network applications at inaccessible equipment sites.  Features dual power inlets and built in ATS, plus monitoring and alarm functions. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New products of the week 12.07.15

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.OOB Console Access & Remote 240VAC RebootKey features: Out-of-Band access to console ports plus OOB reboot control for managing network applications at inaccessible equipment sites.  Features dual power inlets and built in ATS, plus monitoring and alarm functions. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

What is route recursion

How does Internet work - We know what is networking

We are going back to networking basics with this post. In few lines below you will find most important theory that makes network gear do its job. The main router job is to making routing decisions to be able to route packets toward their destination. Sometimes that includes recursive lookup of routing table if the next-hop value is not available via connected interface. Routing decision on end device like PC, Tablet or Phone If one device wants to send a packet to another device, it first needs to find an answer to these questions: Is maybe the destination IP address chunk of local subnet

What is route recursion

Segment routing key points

Segment Routing  (SR) leverages the source paradigm. A node. steers a packet through an ordered list of instructions, called ‘ segment ‘.State is kept in the packet header, not on the router, with Segment Routing.

Resources such as the CPU and Memory are saved.

If you have 100 Edge Routers in your network and if you enable MPLS Traffic Edge to Edge, you would have 100×99/2 = 4950 LSP states on your Midpoint LSR. This is prevalent in many MPLS TE enabled network.

If you enable Segment Routing and if you evaluate the same midpoint case (since you assign a Prefix/Node SID for every Edge router), Midpoint LSR would have 110 entries instead of 4500 entries.

As for the scalability, everything is perfect. However, there is a caveat.

Segment list can easily get big if you use explicit routing for the purpose of OAM. If you do that, you may end up with 7-8 segments. In that case, it is pertinent that you check the hardware support.

Cisco claims that they have performed the tests on a number of service provider networks and that their findings show that two or three segments would be enough for the most explicit Continue reading

Obama wants help from tech firms to fight terrorism

U.S. President Barack Obama is seeking the help of tech companies to combat terror threats, which he described as entering a new phase. Obama's remarks could put into sharp focus again the demand by law enforcement agencies for tech companies to provide ways for the government to be able to access encrypted communications. In an address late Sunday from the Oval Office, Obama said he "would urge hi-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Report: Over 80% mobile apps have crypto flaws, 4 of 5 web apps fail OWASP security

Veracode released a new report, State of Software Security: Focus on Application Development, which is a supplement to the original 2015 State of Software Security (SOSS) report that was released in June. The company’s fall 2015 SOSS edition looks at security flaws of apps written in mobile app development languages, compiled languages and traditional web app development languages.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

ansible + ec2 + tags

This post is a direct result of the insightful questions asked by attendees during Ansible Fest 2015 San Francisco during the "Ask an Expert". This was a great opportunity for the Ansible Tower team to engage with customers of both Ansible and Tower and to understand their use cases, frustration, and love when working with our products.

Ansible Fest 2015 San Francisco

*The "Ask an Expert" allowed attendees to sign-up for 15 minute slots to talk with Ansible employees about particular problems or use cases. This resulted in over 50 customer questions! Two Ansible employees were stationed at a heavy traffic area to engage attendees and listen to their initial questions or concerns to help choose from more than 15 experts to best engage with. Attendees then engaged with the expert, identifiable by the "Ask an Expert" picture included in their check-in packet, during their registered time.

* The "Ask an Expert" interaction was much more organic than the above description. Times often ran over when in-depth conversations were had and empty time slots were often filled with discussion from attendees in a more ad-hoc manor.

The feedback from the "Ask an Expert" from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive. I can say that the feeling Continue reading

ansible + ec2 + tags

ansible-amazon-blog-header.png

"How do I spin up multiple ec2 instances, all with differing tags?"

This question is one of the many insightful questions asked by attendees during AnsibleFest 2015 San Francisco at our "Ask an Expert" tables. AnsibleFest was a great opportunity for the Ansible team to engage with customers of both Ansible and Tower and to understand their use cases, frustration, and love when working with our products.

The "Ask an Expert" program allowed attendees to sign-up for 15 minute slots to talk with more than 15 Ansible experts, resulting in over 50 customer questions! 

Feedback from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive. I can say that the feeling is mutual from the Ansible team side! It was a joy to hear from so many users of Ansible and Tower.

 

Example AnsibleFest "Ask an Expert" sign-up sheet:

blog-ask-expert-sf15

 


Onto the Playbook

Now that we have the back story out of the way, let's get into the playbooks. Several attendees asked how to spin up multiple ec2 instances, all with differing tags.

Extrapolating from that question the user wants/concerns are:

  • The ec2 doesn't "count" (spins up multiple identical instances)
  • Run tasks/plays against spun up instances (obviously)
  • Assign different properties to each instance (i.e. tags)

From the above requirements I will demonstrate a general Continue reading

Internet Redundancy with ASA SLA and IPSec

I’ve seen a lot of examples of redundant Internet connections that use SLA to track a primary connection. The logic is that the primary Internet connection is constantly being validated by pinging something on that ISP’s network and routing floats over to a secondary service provider in the event of a failure. I was recently challenged with how this interacted with IPSec. As a result I built out this configuration and performed some fairly extensive testing.

It is worth noting that this is not a substitute for a properly multi-homed Internet connection that utilizes BGP. It is, however, a method for overcoming the challenges often found in the SMB environments where connections are mostly outbound or can alternatively be handled without completely depending on either of the service provider owned address spaces.

In this article, we will start out with a typical ASA redundant Internet connection using IP SLA. Then we will overlay a IPSec Site to Site configuration and test the failover process.

ASA_IPSec_Redundant

The base configuration for this lab is as follows. Continue reading

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