Does EMC Need A Network?

Network acquisitions are in the news once again. This time, the buyer is EMC. In a blog article from last week, EMC is reportedly mulling the purchase of either Brocade or Arista to add a networking component to its offerings. While Arista would be a good pickup for EMC to add a complete data center networking practice, one must ask themselves “Does EMC Really Need A Network?”

Hardware? For What?

The “smart money” says that EMC needs a network offering to help complete their vBlock offering now that the EMC/Cisco divorce is in the final stages. EMC has accelerated those plans from the server side by offering EVO:RAIL as an option for VSPEX now. Yes, VSPEX isn’t a vBlock. But it’s a flexible architecture that will eventually supplant vBlock when the latter is finally put out to pasture once the relationship between Cisco and EMC is done.

EMC being the majority partner in VCE has incentive to continue offering the package to customers to make truckloads of cash. But long term, it makes more sense for EMC to start offering alternatives to a Cisco-only network. There have been many, many assurances that vBlock will not be going away any Continue reading

Flash-based vulnerability lingers on many websites three years later

Flash files that are vulnerable to a serious flaw patched by Adobe Systems over three years ago still exist on many websites, exposing users to potential attacks.The vulnerability, known as CVE-2011-2461, was found in the Adobe Flex Software Development Kit (SDK) and was fixed by Adobe in November 2011. The development tool, which has since been donated to the Apache Software Foundation, allows users to build cross-platform rich Internet applications in Flash.The vulnerability was unusual because fixing it didn’t just require Flex SDK to be updated, but also patching all the individual Flash applications (SWF files) that had been created with vulnerable versions of the SDK.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

F5 leverages LineRate to go lightweight for software defined IT environments

A little over two years ago, application delivery controller market leader F5 Networks acquired LineRate Systems to jump into the software defined networking (SDN) game. There are a number of SDN solution providers that operate at layer 2/3, but LineRate delivers application-layer services into a software-defined environment. These services include security, acceleration, optimization, and intelligent traffic management.Late last week, F5 unveiled the first fruits of the acquisition when it announced a fully virtualized, lightweight load balancing product. The pure software solution enables customers to extend F5's Synthesis framework to any application regardless of where or how it's deployed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

‘When will IPv4 become obsolete?’

On Reddit’s forum devoted to networking – r/networking – a user asks: “I know that IPv4 is all out of addresses, and most devices are running both IPv4 and IPv6. How long is it going to take before we no longer see both addresses on a device, but only IPv6? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Does anyone have an estimate?”Oh, yes, they do; in fact, 82 Redditors offer their views on the matter. Here are a few that represent the general tenor: Well since I still support IPX for some legacy apps ... in 100 years. Right after POTS dies. And then only after another 30 years. General IPv6 adoption is 18 months away. My college prof told me this in 1995, and he's still right. Not in our career lifetime. IPv6 will take off during the year of the Linux desktop. You'll pull IPv4 from my cold, dead hands... But there were also a fair number of more nuanced replies:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Crazy Busy

For too many of us, the hustle and bustle of electronic activity is a sad expression of a deeper acedia. We feel busy, but not with a hobby or recreation or play. We are busy with busyness. Rather than figure out what to do with our spare minutes and hours, we are content to swim in the shallows and pass our time with passing the time.

Server heating startup teams with energy company to heat Dutch homes

A Dutch utility is inviting five families to use radiator-sized servers to heat their living rooms for free.In a trial organized by local utility Eneco, Nerdalize will install its server radiators in five homes, using them to deliver cloud computing services to its clients.The households using the heater could save €400 (about US$440) on their annual heating bill, said Eneco spokesman Marcel van Dun .Nerdalize pays for the electricity, but doesn’t have to deal with the space and cooling costs of conventional cloud and co-location data centers, allowing it to sell its services for 30 to 55 percent less than more conventional cloud-providers, it said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

VMware NSX Ninjas – VMware TAM Services

VMware Technical Account Managers combine deep expertise with insights from successful implementations to provide unparalleled value to VMware customers’ business. Curtis Miller is a Technical Account Manager for VMware and in this post, which originally appeared on The VMware TAM Blog, he outlines how to help ensure success with VMware NSX TAM Services.

For networking, VMware NSX is a game-changer in the same way VMware vSphere was for data center servers. NSX virtualizes and consolidates legacy networking functionality back into a hypervisor. As a result, adding or changing network capabilities no longer requires the costly replacement of networking gear. It’s all software based—so upgrades are now just a right-click away.

The resulting cost savings are dramatic because network hardware is replaced far less often and used more efficiently. Deployment times and scalability improve substantially because networks can be created in minutes instead of weeks; and if demand falls, those resources can just as easily be reclaimed. Enhanced security via NSX’s micro-segmentation capabilities is another important benefit as well.

Read Curtis’ full blog here: http://blogs.vmware.com/tam/2015/03/ensuring-success-vmware-nsx-tam-services.html

Roger

Introduction to Network Design, Pre-CCDE Training

I am going to start an ONLINE Pre-CCDE  preparation course in Mid of April I realized that many people is not ready to start study CCDE study and they don’t know what they study before attend a CCDE Training or Bootcamps. Course will cover network design principles,theory of the; IGP, BGP, MPLS, VPNs, Qos, Multicast and… Read More »

The post Introduction to Network Design, Pre-CCDE Training appeared first on Network Design and Architecture.

Networking Quiz -2

In this networking quiz you have 5 questions. It is not a basic, also not too hard.It should take less than 10 minutes for an experienced engineers. If you want to learn the basics of NETWORK DESIGN, check my latest PRE-CCDE Training. You can enjoy with more quizzes by clicking here.   How was it ?… Read More »

The post Networking Quiz -2 appeared first on Network Design and Architecture.

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Tuesday, March 24

Samsung, Dell getting Microsoft appsUses of Samsung’s Android devices are getting more choice in software: the South Korean device maker is giving its customers access to Microsoft services and apps on its flagship phones and tablets, while also letting them delete bloatware they don’t want, Computerworld reports. Samsung has been criticized for shipping its phones with too much pre-installed stuff. Meanwhile, Microsoft also announced a deal to get its apps onto Dell’s Android tablets.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Tuesday, March 24

Samsung, Dell getting Microsoft appsUses of Samsung’s Android devices are getting more choice in software: the South Korean device maker is giving its customers access to Microsoft services and apps on its flagship phones and tablets, while also letting them delete bloatware they don’t want, Computerworld reports. Samsung has been criticized for shipping its phones with too much pre-installed stuff. Meanwhile, Microsoft also announced a deal to get its apps onto Dell’s Android tablets.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Avni Networks Wants to Build the Self-Driving Cloud

Avni's cloud-centric approach to Layer 4-7.

India’s Supreme Court strikes down law against offensive online content

India’s Supreme Court has struck down as unconstitutional an Internet law that provided for the arrest of people sending online messages considered offensive or menacing.The court struck down on Tuesday section 66A of the Information Technology Act, describing it as vague, and said it did not fall under reasonable restrictions on free speech.The decision by the Supreme Court follows a bunch of lawsuits that alleged that this section of India’s cyberlaw was a threat to free speech in the country, and had led to arbitrary arrests.“This is a clear win for democracy and free speech,” said Mishi Choudhary, a lawyer focused on technology. She added that the Supreme Court had proven to be “very tech-savvy.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Whitebox Switching: Follow the R&D Budget

A few weeks ago HP announced that they’d start selling branded whitebox (brite-box) switches, and as expected the industry press was immediately full of opinions. As always, it makes sense to follow the money (or, in this case, the R&D budget) to understand what’s going on behind the scenes.

Beware the pretty ones? This isn’t high school

Normally, I’d be the first to agree with an article whose premise implies that the nature of the tech industry is changing, because when is it not? However, I’m not sure I agree with the central premise of this article by Jon Evans at TechCrunch. He asserts that the tech industry was originally the personal playground of geeks and has become co-opted by the “cool kids” as the industry has matured and grown.  

It is true, as Evans contends, that many geeks are motivated more by the work than by impressing other people or making money, and that the tech industry probably offers more opportunities to people like that than some other industries.

But I think Evans’ idea of the geek vs. the pretty people is, well, short-sighted, and kind of “high schoolish.”  It is not us vs. them - there isn’t even an us or them. “People skills” and “technical skills” are not mutually exclusive.  And they never have been.

Yes, it is true that the tech industry has been the go-to “safe haven” for technically minded, socially awkward people, Continue reading

US FCC faces lawsuits against proposed net neutrality order

U.S. broadband industry trade body USTelecom and Internet provider Alamo Broadband filed Monday lawsuits against a controversial U.S. Federal Communications Commission proposal to reclassify broadband providers, which could be the harbinger of similar lawsuits from Internet companies.The FCC voted by 3-2 in February to approve new net neutrality rules that would help ensure the uninhibited flow of Internet traffic. It aims to reclassify broadband as a regulated public utility, thus prohibiting providers from selectively blocking or throttling or offering paid prioritization of traffic.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google catches bad digital certificates from Egyptian company

Google said Monday an Egyptian company issued digital certificates that could have been used to intercept data traffic to its services, which did not appear to have been abused.The incident is the latest example of longstanding problems around the issuance of digital certificates, which are used to encrypt data and verify the legitimacy of websites.Google detected on March 20 that unauthorized digital certificates had been issued for several of its domains by MCS Holdings, a Cairo-based networking and security company, wrote Adam Langley, a Google security engineer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Twitter tests videos that play automatically

Twitter has started to let videos play automatically in some people’s feeds, in a test that could allow it to make more money from video advertising.The videos will play automatically for a small percentage of people who use Twitter’s iOS app in the U.S. “We’re running a small test on a few variations on the video playback experience,” a Twitter spokesman said.The test, first reported by Advertising Age, applies both to videos uploaded by users and to those posted by advertisers, but it doesn’t apply to looped videos from Twitter’s Vine service.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Arista Likes Cavium as a Broadcom Alternative, Analysts Say

An analyst report envisions Arista ramping up with XPliant.

Imagination floats sub-$100 MIPS tablet running Firefox OS

With Android and iOS dominating the tablet market, Mozilla’s Firefox OS hasn’t had much of a look in. It’s now getting a bit of help from ARM rival Imagination Technologies, which has ported a version of Firefox to a prototype tablet based on its MIPS chip architecture.The tablet is a reference design built by China’s Ingenic and it’s designed to be priced under $100. It can run either Android 4.4, known as KitKat, or an experimental version of the Firefox OS, Imagination said in a blog post.It’s designed to help Imagination and Mozilla target the market for very low cost tablets sold in emerging markets like Brazil and India.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here