Architect or Designer?

Are you an architect or designer? What’s the difference? A reader asked this last week in email — my (probably) less than perfect response.

First, we have to dispense with this objection — network people aren’t “architects” in the first place. Nor are they “engineers.” Okay, so… A challenge: what else would you call someone who designs and builds things? When someone says, “You’re not a real architect, because you don’t build buildings, and you’re not held responsible for your work,” I tend to reply, “Why are you talking to me if I don’t exist?”

I’ve probably spent a lot more time than most people thinking about what the difference between design and architecture is, as it was a major issue when the CCDE and CCAr were split into two certifications (long ugly story — but then again, whenever marketing is involved, it normally is). With the help of some psychos (psychometricians, actually, but saying you worked with psychos for seven years to develop certification just sounds cooler somehow), we came up with some differentiators that I think are useful.

The difference is in focus, not task — the designer focuses on a solution to a narrower engineering problem, Continue reading

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Monday, June 8

South Korean team wins DARPA bot battleSouth Korea’s Team Kaist took the top honors in the DARPA Robotics Challenge finals on Saturday after a two-and-a-half-year battle. The group won a $2 million prize in the competition among 24 teams of roboticists from around the world, Computerworld reports. Their nearly six-foot-tall, 176-pound humanoid robot finished all eight tasks in the course in just 44 minutes and 28 seconds.Apple Pay for UK, streaming music to debut at WWDCApple is expanding the reach of its mobile payments system, with Apple Pay slated for launch in the U.K. in a couple of months, the Telegraph reports. The newspaper cited sources saying that the news will break at the World Wide Developers Conference on Monday, one of a number of announcements planned for the event. The CEO of Sony Music shocked no one this past weekend by confirming that Apple will unveil a streaming music service at WWDC.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Bing Translator

I’ve rearranged the slideout sidebar a little; tightened up the text a little so more will fit (I might customize the styling a little to make it even tighter). I also added a bing translator widget; slide out the bar, press the translate button, and a small floating popup will appear. Click down to choose a language to translate to. I don’t know how good the translation is, but I thought this might be useful.

The post Bing Translator appeared first on 'net work.

UK spies sued over phone data collection scheme already banned in US

In an effort to put an end to the bulk data collection of phone records and other large datasets from millions of people, campaign group Privacy International has filed a complaint with a U.K. court.The complaint was filed with the U.K. Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which deals with claims against U.K. intelligence agencies, including the country’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). It is meant to put an end to bulk data collection that was already banned in the U.S.Last Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed the USA Freedom Actwhich put a stop to the old U.S. National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk collection of domestic telephone records, restoring a limited telephone records program.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Five network trends challenging the enterprise

As cloud computing, big data and the deployment of mega-scale data centers accelerates, organizations need to continually recalibrate and evolve the network. This challenge has led to the development of new technologies and standards designed to increase and optimize network capacity, security and flexibility, all while keeping a lid on cost. Here are the top five trends as we see them:* Rapid Adoption of 802.11ac. Tablets and smartphones are becoming ubiquitous in the workplace. As the number of mobile devices and the deployment of cloud-based enterprise services continues to scale at a dramatic rate, the keepers of the network must reconsider how they provision, secure and control enterprise computing resources and information access.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Five network trends challenging the enterprise

As cloud computing, big data and the deployment of mega-scale data centers accelerates, organizations need to continually recalibrate and evolve the network. This challenge has led to the development of new technologies and standards designed to increase and optimize network capacity, security and flexibility, all while keeping a lid on cost. Here are the top five trends as we see them:

* Rapid Adoption of 802.11ac. Tablets and smartphones are becoming ubiquitous in the workplace. As the number of mobile devices and the deployment of cloud-based enterprise services continues to scale at a dramatic rate, the keepers of the network must reconsider how they provision, secure and control enterprise computing resources and information access.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New products of the week 06.08.2015

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.Gluware 2.0 SD-WAN Orchestration PlatformKey features: Gluware 2.0 is the intelligent orchestration platform designed to unlock the potential of Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) for enterprise networks and operations teams across the services lifecycle. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to train your Surface Pro 3: Tips, tricks, hacks

Surface Pro 3 tipsWe’ve collected several tips for Microsoft’s popular tablet computer. Most are useful or interesting, one is kind of silly, and another is a nearly literal hack to the Surface Pro 3. Enjoy!Train Surface Pro 3 to better recognize your handwriting The Surface Pro 3 has software that’s already set to learn your handwriting when using the Surface Pen, for converting your written notes to typed text. If you use the tablet a lot for note taking, though, then you should run the Handwriting Personalization program and take a moment to train it to improve its recognition of what you write. There are two ways to do this: by writing specific characters and words you want it to recognize, or following the program as it instructs you to write out sentences or characters (letters, numbers, symbols) that it assigns you.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 low-cost Wi-Fi stumblers and analyzers

Stumblers and analyzersWi-Fi stumblers and analyzers are a must-have when troubleshooting Wi-Fi interference and performance issues, or when checking channel usage. They’re also needed for Wi-Fi site surveys and for security audits to look for rogue or misconfigured APs. Each of these five tools gives you the basic wireless details of nearby APs, including SSIDs, signal strength, channels, MAC addresses, and security status. Most can also reveal “hidden” or non-broadcasted SSIDs. Some offer additional functionality, such raw 802.11 packet capturing, frame statistics, performance testing, and map-based surveying. (Read the full product review.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 Wi-Fi stumblers and analyzers for less than $100

Wi-Fi stumblers and analyzers are a must-have when troubleshooting Wi-Fi interference and performance issues, or when simply checking channel usage on the wireless bands. They’re also needed for Wi-Fi site surveys during the network design and deployment phases, as well as for security audits to look for rogue or misconfigured access points.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Let’s Revisit The Aruba Networks Acquisition

Aruba-HP-LogoBack in February, I wrote a piece entitled “HP Buying Aruba?”. In that post, I provided some context around why I thought HP buying Aruba could end up being a bad idea. I also mentioned in that post that I hoped HP did right by Aruba’s customer base and didn’t put the corporate handcuffs on them.

After several months and many conversations with HP, Aruba, and my peers, I have a different take. I am not 100% ready to back off from my concerns though. The acquisition has closed. The deal is done. However, it is too early in the process to be certain of much of anything regarding the future state of Aruba, its products, and its ability to execute as they have in the past. Let’s just say I am about 75% headed in the opposite direction of my initial concerns.

This past week, I was fortunate enough to attend HP Discover in Las Vegas. HP paid for my travel and expenses for HP Discover. For that, I thank them and I can definitively tell you that I was not pressured into writing anything as a result of this trip. As luck would have it, Aruba Continue reading

Cisco Announces New CCNA and CCNP IoT Cloud Certifications, Could a CCIE Cloud be on the Horizon?

As many of you have heard by now, Cisco has announced their new CCNA Cloud and CCNP Cloud certifications. These certifications are designed to be a focus-based around their “Internet of Things” (IoT) concept, which will also play into the “Internet of Everything” (IoE) transformation that we’ll see happening over the next several years. In addition to Cisco, so many other companies are participating in the IoT concept, at a minimum, the companies listed here.

As a quick summary, the IoT definition refers to the endpoints, devices, and networks that connect to the internet, whereas their IoE definition is more of a “tied in system” that brings networked devices, and endpoints (IoT) together into a much larger solution that will allow the ability to connect people, places, and things in a much more relevant and valuable way than ever imagined. IoE brings people, processes, data, and the connected devices together to form – essentially, in my own words “a connected world”.

For a visual explanation, check out this slideshow and video (which I love) developed by Cisco.

Top IoT Trends and Their Impact on the Internet of Everything

Cisco’s Internet of Everything | Circle Story

As I read into Cisco’s Continue reading

So You Need ISSU on Your ToR switch? Really?

During the Cumulus Linux presentation Dinesh Dutt had at Data Center Fabrics webinar, someone asked an unexpected question: “Do you have In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) on Cumulus Linux” and we both went like “What? Why?”

Dinesh is an honest engineer and answered: “No, we don’t do it” with absolutely no hesitation, but we both kept wondering, “Why exactly would you want to do that?”

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Considering On-Call Pay

Let’s say you’ve been offered a new job. $70k base salary, with up to $20k per year extra for on-call duties. Great! $90k! That’s $10k more than my salary now! Sign me up!

Wait a minute. Not so fast.

Years ago I received some good advice: Treat your on-call payment as a separate item. Don’t consider it as part of your base salary. This is because you need to be paid properly both for doing your job, and for the inconvenience of being on-call.

Evaluate the base salary for what it is: Your salary for doing your day-to-day job. Ignoring the on-call part, did they offer you enough money for the role? Is it a good match for your experience?

Separately decide if the on-call payment is enough to justify being on-call. Does it represent a fair payment for the extra work?

Why does this matter? A few reasons:

  • Being on-call has a big impact on your life, and you need to be properly paid for it.
  • You still need to get paid properly for the job you do Monday-Friday.
  • On-call payments will vary. Your job role could change. Maybe the team gets bigger, and you go on-call less often. Now you’re earning Continue reading

WWDC 2015 Rumors: What to expect from Apple

Tomorrow at 10 A.M Pacific Time, Tim Cook and his trusted cadre of lieutenants will take the stage at Moscone West in San Francisco where they will show us what the company has been working on over the last 12 months.When it comes to Apple related announcements, WWDC is undoubtedly one of the most exciting events of the year. Per usual, there's been a steady stream of rumors pointing to what we can expect to see from Apple tomorrow. To help you get acquainted with what some of the announcements may touch on, below is a broad overview of what Apple will likely touch on during tomorrow's highly anticipated presentation.iOS 9To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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