Choosing CoreOS over Project Atomic

Upon hearing the news that Red Hat had released the Atomic Host variant of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, I decided that it would be a good idea for me to take a look at the CentOS flavor of the Atomic Host variant. In case you’re unfamiliar, the Atomic Host variant is the result of Project Atomic, which aimed to provide a container-optimized flavor of RHEL/CentOS/Fedora. This container-optimized flavor would leverage rpm-ostree for atomic system updates (hence the name) and come with Docker preinstalled. What I found, frankly, disappointed me.

Before I continue, I will make two very important disclaimers:

  1. Note that there has been no official announcement of the release of final builds of an Atomic Host variant for CentOS 7. So, it’s entirely possible that all the issues I mention here are known issues that will be addressed. That being said, I did find CentOS 7 Atomic Host builds dated March 5, 2015; this is the same date as the Red Hat announcement. It’s reasonable, therefore, to believe that these builds are very close to final builds.

  2. It’s entirely possible these issues are the result of errors on my part. I’ve spent most of my time with Continue reading

Apple Watch event: What to expect

Ahead of Apple's upcoming special media event this coming Monday, we've seen a flurry of new reports detailing a number previously unknown tidbits about the highly anticipated Apple Watch. When Apple first unveiled the Apple Watch this past September, it remained unusually coy about many of the device's more significant features. With the benefit of hindsight, it's become apparent that Apple was reluctant to disclose certain details because various aspects of the device – from pricing to battery life – remained in flux. With a release date set for April (early April, according to the rumor mill), the Apple Watch rumors have been coming in at a rapid clip lately. That being the case, below is a collection of some of the more recent Apple Watch rumors that shed new light on Apple's brazen jump into the world of wearable technology.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple Watch Event: What to expect

Ahead of Apple's upcoming special media event this coming Monday, we've seen a flurry of new reports detailing a number previously unknown tidbits about the highly anticipated Apple Watch.When Apple first unveiled the Apple Watch this past September, it remained unusually coy about many of the device's more significant features. With the benefit of hindsight, it's become apparent that Apple was reluctant to disclose certain details because various aspects of the device -- from pricing to battery life -- remained in flux.With a release date set for April (early April according to the rumor mill), the Apple Watch rumors have been coming in at a rapid clip lately. That being the case, below is a collection of some of the more recent Apple Watch rumors that shed new light on Apple's brazen jump into the world of wearable technology.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Year of IPv6?

IPv6 adoption has been slow. But I think it’s reaching a tipping point. I’m very close to calling 2015 “The year of IPv6.” There’s plenty of people who won’t believe me, but the statistics are very interesting. You need to keep a close on eye on what the data is saying.

Recently I asked the question “What percentage of Internet traffic needs to be IPv6 for you to consider IPv6 to be mainstream/arrived/the year of IPv6?”

@bobbobob had the best answer for when IPv6 can be considered ‘mainstream’:

But @icemarkom was probably technically correct with this answer:

So how far away is that? It’s tough trying to measure IPv6 adoption. Traffic patterns are region- & user-specific. The services that Chinese users access are different to those that a New Zealand business users. Traffic is often concentrated with a few ISPs and/or a few big services (Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc).

I like to use the Google IPv6 statistics Continue reading

What is the difference between throughput & goodput?

Throughput Throughput is the rate at which data is traversing a link. For example, take a look at the virtual router output below. The throughput rate is 643Kbps in each direction. [crayon-54facc3328376599378258/] Goodput Goodput is the rate at which useful data traverses a link. Assuming an uncongested path between endpoints, goodput and throughput will […]

Google is developing a virtual reality version of Android, report says

Google is reportedly developing a virtual reality version of Android that will compete with software being built by Facebook, Samsung, Microsoft and others.Virtual reality is being eyed as the next big thing, and not just for gaming. Facebook has talked about how VR headsets will let friends communicate as if they’re together in the same room.A team of engineers at Google is building a version of Android for virtual reality applications, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing two people familiar with the project. “Tens of engineers” and other staff are said to be working on the project.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Smartphone dead? Fuel cells offer instant power anywhere

If there’s one thing almost every smartphone user wants, it’s longer battery life.While processors, memory and other components have advanced in leaps and bounds, progress in battery technology has been much slower over the last couple of decades.All those people you see charging their phones at airports, coffee shops and other public places are a testament to how often batteries die out during the day. So while engineers are fighting against basic chemistry and physics to improve current Lithium Ion cells, is there a better way to recharge?One answer might be fuel cells, which generate electricity through a chemical reaction and provide instant power anywhere. Unlike portable battery packs, they don’t need to be charged in advance. You just need a fuel cell cartridge.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cryptocurrency software bundled with BitTorrent triggers complaints

Some people who use uTorrent, the popular BitTorrent client, are up in arms over the presence of cryptocurrency mining software on their computers which they say was installed without their permission.The mining software, made by the company Epic Scale, started appearing for some people earlier this week after they updated to the latest version of uTorrent, a program made by BitTorrent for downloading files. In forums online, users have likened the software to bloatware, as it taxes their computer processor without their consent. Cryptocurrency mining software is used to release bitcoins and other digital currencies by having computers persistently perform complex mathematical calculations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cryptocurrency software bundled with BitTorrent triggers complaints

Some people who use uTorrent, the popular BitTorrent client, are up in arms over the presence of cryptocurrency mining software on their computers which they say was installed without their permission.The mining software, made by the company Epic Scale, started appearing for some people earlier this week after they updated to the latest version of uTorrent, a program made by BitTorrent for downloading files. In forums online, users have likened the software to bloatware, as it taxes their computer processor without their consent. Cryptocurrency mining software is used to release bitcoins and other digital currencies by having computers persistently perform complex mathematical calculations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Two indicted for stealing 1 billion email addresses in historic breach

Two Vietnamese men have been indicted, with one pleading guilty, for hacking into eight U.S. email service providers and stealing 1 billion email addresses and other confidential information, resulting in what’s believed to be the largest data breach in U.S. history, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.The attacks, running from February 2009 to June 2012, resulted in the largest data breach of names and email addresses “in the history of the Internet,” Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said in a statement. After stealing the email addresses, the defendants sent spam emails to tens of millions of users, generating US$2 million in sales, according to the DOJ.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OSPF Design Considerations

Introduction

Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is a link state protocol that has been around for a long time. It is geneally well understood, but design considerations often focus on the maximum number of routers in an area. What other design considerations are important for OSPF? What can we do to build a scalable network with OSPF as the Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP)?

Prefix Suppression

The main goal of any IGP is to be stable, converge quickly and to provide loop free connectivity. OSPF is a link state protocol and all routers within an area maintain an identical Link State Data Base (LSDB). How the LSDB is built it out of scope for this post but one relevant factor is that OSPF by default advertises stub links for all the OSPF enabled interfaces. This means that every router running OSPF installs these transit links into the routing table. In most networks these routes are not needed, only connectivity between loopbacks is needed because peering is setup between the loopbacks. What is the drawback of this default behavior?

  • Larger LSDB
  • SPF run time increased
  • Growth of the routing table

To change this behavior, there is a feature called prefix suppression. When Continue reading

IoT’s dark side: Hundreds of unsecured devices open to attack

ATLANTA -- A self-described security "amateur" discovered hundreds of Internet-connected devices ranging from cameras to industrial control systems that were connected to the Internet without even basic password protection -- meaning they could be easily turned on and off or otherwise manipulated with a single click of a mouse."You would be amazed [what] you could find," Espen Sandli, a journalist at the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, told the Computer Assisted Reporting conference Thursday. "The project was made from people who had no idea about data security at the start."MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: 12 most powerful Internet of Things companies They began by searching for basic security cameras, such as finding and taking control of a surveillance camera inside a nightclub. After that, they graduated to finding compromised control systems at military installations and railroads. In one case, they found a security company's list of clients and passwords in the clear online. In another, they could have accessed who was allowed to enter or leave a military building. Another device on the open Internet could have allowed them to switch off a railway fire-alarm system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Five takeaways for CIOs from this year’s MWC

A broad range of companies at Mobile World Congress this week have teamed up to improve smartphone security and offer better software integration for Internet-of-things deployments.The conference in Barcelona covered a wide range of topics, but for enterprises the most important issues were IoT and how enterprise resources can be made available on smartphones without sacrificing security.Here are some of the trends and announcements from this year that will have an impact on enterprise mobility:IoT can be more tightly integrated with business processesTo make data from connected sensors more useful, IoT platform vendors are joining forces with software companies to open the door for better integration.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IBM Internet of Things boss takes new job at Internet2

Florence Hudson, Twitter Florence Hudson, Internet2 CINO Florence Hudson, most recently IBM's director of Internet of Things Business, has been named Senior VP and Chief Innovation Officer for computer network consortium Internet2. Internet2 had been on the hunt for a CINO since October.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

PlexxiPulse—What Does a Third Era Network Look Like?

You may have noticed that we’ve been spending some time out west demonstrating our big data fabrics and sharing our vision for the third era of networking. You’ll be seeing more meet-ups and live demonstrations in the near future, so keep an eye on the blog and on Twitter to see where we are headed next. In the meantime, can you name the 5 main characteristics of a third era network? Hint: the answer is somewhere on the Plexxi website. Tweet us your answers for the chance to win some Plexxi swag. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Below please find a few of our top picks for our favorite news articles of the week. Enjoy!

InformationWeek: 8 Ways IoT Will Change IT Forever
By Andrew Froehlich
There has been a great deal of discussion lately surrounding the concept of how the Internet of Things (IoT) will change everything. But very little of it really dives into the nuts and bolts of how IoT could dramatically change the roles and opportunities for those of us who work within IT. Here are eight ways we think IT will change in an IoT world. We’re focusing on areas of IT that Continue reading

Visa, MasterCard partner with mobile money providers in Africa

Visa and MasterCard are jumping on the mobile payments bandwagon in Africa, a region where consumers are ahead of their counterparts in other parts of the world.Both financial powerhouses announced their expansion plans, which include partnerships with mobile money service providers, at Mobile World Congress this week in Barcelona.The African mobile money market is very attractive. The continent has a large population of people who do not have traditional bank accounts, especially in rural areas. It has also has experienced an explosion of mobile money services as operators and banks compete for customers.The increase in mobile money services has also been fueled by the rapid uptake of mobile phones on the continent, which for many people are their only Internet access devices.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Visa, MasterCard partner with mobile money providers in Africa

Visa and MasterCard are jumping on the mobile payments bandwagon in Africa, a region where consumers are ahead of their counterparts in other parts of the world.Both financial powerhouses announced their expansion plans, which include partnerships with mobile money service providers, at Mobile World Congress this week in Barcelona.The African mobile money market is very attractive. The continent has a large population of people who do not have traditional bank accounts, especially in rural areas. It has also has experienced an explosion of mobile money services as operators and banks compete for customers.The increase in mobile money services has also been fueled by the rapid uptake of mobile phones on the continent, which for many people are their only Internet access devices.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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