Having a very good mentor or "teacher" is not really a bad thing but! the other side of these guys is that they want to squeeze all our energy and drain us out to get what he wants to get us like so with the ospf configurations it is so new to me that a router interface can still be activated as an ospf without the network statement and it took me the whole night to figure out how!, good thing there are many blogs and forums out there and here is one sample of it IOS HINT and here is a sample config from me:
R1#(config-if) ip ospf process-id area area-id ,<- this will be on the interface command
( this would negate the network command in ospf process even if you have configured the network command it still will follow this configuration).
this is still same thing as:
R1#(config-router)network x.x.x.x area y.
Showing posts with label Certification. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Certification. Show all posts
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Monday, May 31, 2010
Winterflood Securities deploys Cisco unified computing system
Winterflood Securities deploys Cisco unified computing system
Working with Logicalis, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, Winterflood Securities has undertaken a project to migrate its VMware infrastructure to the new platform. The solution includes four Unified Computing System (UCS) chassis; Nexus 1000, 2000 and 5000 series switches; Catalyst 6500 series 10 gigabit Ethernet switches; and services and support.
The company said its UCS unites computational, network, storage access and virtualization resources in a single energy-efficient system that can reduce information technology infrastructure costs and complexity, help extend capital assets, and improve business agility.
Grant Davidson, manager of IT special projects at Winterflood, said: "Capitalizing on new market opportunities as and when they arise marks the difference between success and failure in the capital markets. We see this as a strategic implementation that will provide us with the flexibility, agility and reliability that will allow us to adapt with the demands of the market and our clients, delivering the services they require.
"With Cisco Advanced Services working in concert with Logicalis' services, the integration of the Cisco platform with our existing network has been a simple and straightforward process and we look forward to a continued successful relationship."
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
SOURCE:
Working with Logicalis, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, Winterflood Securities has undertaken a project to migrate its VMware infrastructure to the new platform. The solution includes four Unified Computing System (UCS) chassis; Nexus 1000, 2000 and 5000 series switches; Catalyst 6500 series 10 gigabit Ethernet switches; and services and support.
The company said its UCS unites computational, network, storage access and virtualization resources in a single energy-efficient system that can reduce information technology infrastructure costs and complexity, help extend capital assets, and improve business agility.
Grant Davidson, manager of IT special projects at Winterflood, said: "Capitalizing on new market opportunities as and when they arise marks the difference between success and failure in the capital markets. We see this as a strategic implementation that will provide us with the flexibility, agility and reliability that will allow us to adapt with the demands of the market and our clients, delivering the services they require.
"With Cisco Advanced Services working in concert with Logicalis' services, the integration of the Cisco platform with our existing network has been a simple and straightforward process and we look forward to a continued successful relationship."
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
SOURCE:
Trawling for best deals
Trawling for best deals
Don't be surprised if you see a few limos driving slowly down Elliott Avenue, doing a little window shopping.
Big tech companies are expected to be on the prowl again for acquisitions this year, and the Elliott corridor along Seattle's waterfront is lined with prime targets.
Actually, companies around the region could be acquired in the coming year as bigger tech companies feel comfortable that the recovery has taken hold and begin spending the cash they've been accumulating.
"Now that the equity market is back up they're jumping in and catching up," said Nat Burgess, president of Corum Group, a Bothell firm that advises companies on mergers and acquisitions. "If you look out for the next six to nine months, it's going to be fantastic in terms of deal volumes, in terms of valuations."
Venture capitalist Matt McIlwain at Madrona Venture Group is expecting deals to roll over the next year or two.
The biggest tech companies, such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Google, did a remarkable job managing costs through the downturn and may now be realizing that they "underinvested in innovation," he said.
"To get growth and innovation, next-generation products, they're going to have to make some acquisitions," he said.
Interest rates are still low and the seven biggest tech companies together have $200 billion in cash and could generate $75 billion more this year, he said.
"That sets the stage for at least a 12-to-18-month cycle of acquisitions," McIlwain said.
Deals may be good for investors, but there's also a chance the acquiring companies will cut employees or even relocate the businesses.
Buyouts would also continue the Seattle syndrome that leaves the region with an uneven mix of tech companies — a few giants and lots of smaller ones, but not much in between. Companies with promising technologies tend to be sold before they get too big, creating a void in the middle.
But that won't stop the pinstriped buyers from cruising Elliott with trunks full of cash.
advertising
The unusual cluster of tempting opportunities begins with F5, the crown jewel with a market valuation of $4.4 billion as of Friday.
F5 dominates the market for application delivery systems, creating what it calls "strategic points of control" in corporate networks. It's expecting sales of about $200 million this quarter.
Rumors about F5 being sold have come and gone for years. Some analysts said the big opportunity passed in November when likely buyer Hewlett-Packard bought 3Com instead.
One of those analysts is Jeff Evenson, a Bremerton native at Bernstein Research in New York.
Evenson said F5 would be a strategic fit with a number of companies, but he thinks it could be a challenge to get a deal done.
"The most obvious buyers have an issue that I think is almost insurmountable for them," he said.
Cisco would be a natural, he said, but it might have trouble getting antitrust approval for a deal if regulators focused on the niche F5 serves.
Within that segment of the network-switching market, the combination of F5 and Cisco would control 80 percent of the market.
But if regulators looked at the broader sector, it may not be as issue.
HP, Dell and even Oracle could be interested, but the stock's recent climb into the $55 range could cool their enthusiasm.
As expected, F5 wouldn't say much about the topic.
"F5 is a strategic point of control within people's data centers so I can understand why our name may surface in those discussions," said Dan Matte, senior vice president of marketing and business development.
"I can say that the management team at F5 is pleased with the achievements the company has made, and we intend to continue to be a vibrant part of the Seattle technology scene."
Casual-games giant
In the building right next to F5 is Big Fish Games, a quiet giant in the casual-games business that's been hugely profitable for most of its eight years in business.
Big Fish has about 400 employees creating and publishing games and running a Web portal that handles 1 million downloads a day.
Founder Paul Thelen has said he'd like to take the company public someday, but anything could happen.
Especially after Electronic Arts last fall paid $400 million to buy another piscine casual-game giant, London-based Playfish.
Jeremy Lewis, a Goldman Sachs veteran who became Big Fish's chief executive in 2007, declined to comment specifically, but said he's expecting more deals in the industry.
"As a practice we do not comment on rumors," he said via e-mail. "In general, we expect M&A activity within digital media and entertainment to continue."
Storage systems
A bit further south is the headquarters of Isilon Systems, the maker of storage systems used by movie studios, media companies, government agencies and others to add huge storage volumes to their networks.
Storage is a hot sector, Isilon has promising technology and it turned its first profit last quarter after working through a painful restructuring and Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
The company, valued by the market at just under $500 million, seems like an easy target, but Chief Executive Sujal Patel told me last month the company is "very, very focused on growing our business into an independent, large storage company."
Isilon has been giving investors a similar message.
"These guys really believe there's a substantial long-term opportunity — everything they're trying to do is not focused on the near term," said Sid Parakh, an analyst at Seattle's McAdams Wright Ragen who watches both Isilon and F5.
"Isilon sees a big opportunity in front of them, so unless it's a substantial premium to where the stock is, I don't think that's a company that will be sold."
But you never know.
Buyers who really want to shop should keep heading south on Elliott.
A few blocks further they'll come to RealNetworks, which is practically holding a garage sale, putting its music subscription and games businesses into play.
SOURCE:
Don't be surprised if you see a few limos driving slowly down Elliott Avenue, doing a little window shopping.
Big tech companies are expected to be on the prowl again for acquisitions this year, and the Elliott corridor along Seattle's waterfront is lined with prime targets.
Actually, companies around the region could be acquired in the coming year as bigger tech companies feel comfortable that the recovery has taken hold and begin spending the cash they've been accumulating.
"Now that the equity market is back up they're jumping in and catching up," said Nat Burgess, president of Corum Group, a Bothell firm that advises companies on mergers and acquisitions. "If you look out for the next six to nine months, it's going to be fantastic in terms of deal volumes, in terms of valuations."
Venture capitalist Matt McIlwain at Madrona Venture Group is expecting deals to roll over the next year or two.
The biggest tech companies, such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Google, did a remarkable job managing costs through the downturn and may now be realizing that they "underinvested in innovation," he said.
"To get growth and innovation, next-generation products, they're going to have to make some acquisitions," he said.
Interest rates are still low and the seven biggest tech companies together have $200 billion in cash and could generate $75 billion more this year, he said.
"That sets the stage for at least a 12-to-18-month cycle of acquisitions," McIlwain said.
Deals may be good for investors, but there's also a chance the acquiring companies will cut employees or even relocate the businesses.
Buyouts would also continue the Seattle syndrome that leaves the region with an uneven mix of tech companies — a few giants and lots of smaller ones, but not much in between. Companies with promising technologies tend to be sold before they get too big, creating a void in the middle.
But that won't stop the pinstriped buyers from cruising Elliott with trunks full of cash.
advertising
The unusual cluster of tempting opportunities begins with F5, the crown jewel with a market valuation of $4.4 billion as of Friday.
F5 dominates the market for application delivery systems, creating what it calls "strategic points of control" in corporate networks. It's expecting sales of about $200 million this quarter.
Rumors about F5 being sold have come and gone for years. Some analysts said the big opportunity passed in November when likely buyer Hewlett-Packard bought 3Com instead.
One of those analysts is Jeff Evenson, a Bremerton native at Bernstein Research in New York.
Evenson said F5 would be a strategic fit with a number of companies, but he thinks it could be a challenge to get a deal done.
"The most obvious buyers have an issue that I think is almost insurmountable for them," he said.
Cisco would be a natural, he said, but it might have trouble getting antitrust approval for a deal if regulators focused on the niche F5 serves.
Within that segment of the network-switching market, the combination of F5 and Cisco would control 80 percent of the market.
But if regulators looked at the broader sector, it may not be as issue.
HP, Dell and even Oracle could be interested, but the stock's recent climb into the $55 range could cool their enthusiasm.
As expected, F5 wouldn't say much about the topic.
"F5 is a strategic point of control within people's data centers so I can understand why our name may surface in those discussions," said Dan Matte, senior vice president of marketing and business development.
"I can say that the management team at F5 is pleased with the achievements the company has made, and we intend to continue to be a vibrant part of the Seattle technology scene."
Casual-games giant
In the building right next to F5 is Big Fish Games, a quiet giant in the casual-games business that's been hugely profitable for most of its eight years in business.
Big Fish has about 400 employees creating and publishing games and running a Web portal that handles 1 million downloads a day.
Founder Paul Thelen has said he'd like to take the company public someday, but anything could happen.
Especially after Electronic Arts last fall paid $400 million to buy another piscine casual-game giant, London-based Playfish.
Jeremy Lewis, a Goldman Sachs veteran who became Big Fish's chief executive in 2007, declined to comment specifically, but said he's expecting more deals in the industry.
"As a practice we do not comment on rumors," he said via e-mail. "In general, we expect M&A activity within digital media and entertainment to continue."
Storage systems
A bit further south is the headquarters of Isilon Systems, the maker of storage systems used by movie studios, media companies, government agencies and others to add huge storage volumes to their networks.
Storage is a hot sector, Isilon has promising technology and it turned its first profit last quarter after working through a painful restructuring and Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
The company, valued by the market at just under $500 million, seems like an easy target, but Chief Executive Sujal Patel told me last month the company is "very, very focused on growing our business into an independent, large storage company."
Isilon has been giving investors a similar message.
"These guys really believe there's a substantial long-term opportunity — everything they're trying to do is not focused on the near term," said Sid Parakh, an analyst at Seattle's McAdams Wright Ragen who watches both Isilon and F5.
"Isilon sees a big opportunity in front of them, so unless it's a substantial premium to where the stock is, I don't think that's a company that will be sold."
But you never know.
Buyers who really want to shop should keep heading south on Elliott.
A few blocks further they'll come to RealNetworks, which is practically holding a garage sale, putting its music subscription and games businesses into play.
SOURCE:
Saturday, May 8, 2010
HP Buys Palm and Now CISCO BUYS NOKIA?!?!?!?
HP Buys Palm and Now CISCO BUYS NOKIA?!?!?!?
Cisco to buy Nokia? speculates a little-known UK Sunday paper (pub. Andrew "Brillo" Neil; circ. 204,005). I'm saying nothing after my blog melted from a blizzard of hits from Finland after I criticized the Nokia 770. So here's what other bloggers are saying...
Merging the two would be quite a challenge, and the most likely situation would be Cisco leaving much of Nokia as is, while slowly working to merge the equipment areas where they overlap (similar to the way they've handled the Linksys acquisition).
But French blogger-journalist Luc Saint-Elie defends the idea (if my French is up to the job):
The rumor's not so stupid. Cisco and Nokia collaborate on VoIP: a hot sector right now. Cisco has the infrastructure and Nokia has the handsets. See how it makes sense?
Darrell Houle runs the numbers:
Nokia certainly has global reach, a solid reputation, and has been smarting recently which makes it a good target for acquisition. Nokia’s market value sits around $71 billion US, whereas the Cisco’s value is around $123 billion.
As El Reg's Tony Smith points out, this isn't the first time:
They have also been rumoured to be looking at merging before. Most recently - February 2005 ... The rumours may have been revived following Nokia's management reshuffle pre-announced last week.
Unstrung's Justin Springham spots the arrival of the wireless industry’s silly season:
As much of Europe shuts up shop for the next few weeks and heads to the nearest beach, the rumor mill is cranking into action. Analysts have been quick to dismiss the idea of a deal, declaring it "unlikely" in light of Cisco's acquisition history. Ah, summer! Roll on September...
Engadget howls "but why?" and then jokes,
What would they name their spawn—Ciscokia, or Nocisco?
NO dude its CisKia...
SOURCE:
Cisco to buy Nokia? speculates a little-known UK Sunday paper (pub. Andrew "Brillo" Neil; circ. 204,005). I'm saying nothing after my blog melted from a blizzard of hits from Finland after I criticized the Nokia 770. So here's what other bloggers are saying...
Merging the two would be quite a challenge, and the most likely situation would be Cisco leaving much of Nokia as is, while slowly working to merge the equipment areas where they overlap (similar to the way they've handled the Linksys acquisition).
But French blogger-journalist Luc Saint-Elie defends the idea (if my French is up to the job):
The rumor's not so stupid. Cisco and Nokia collaborate on VoIP: a hot sector right now. Cisco has the infrastructure and Nokia has the handsets. See how it makes sense?
Darrell Houle runs the numbers:
Nokia certainly has global reach, a solid reputation, and has been smarting recently which makes it a good target for acquisition. Nokia’s market value sits around $71 billion US, whereas the Cisco’s value is around $123 billion.
As El Reg's Tony Smith points out, this isn't the first time:
They have also been rumoured to be looking at merging before. Most recently - February 2005 ... The rumours may have been revived following Nokia's management reshuffle pre-announced last week.
Unstrung's Justin Springham spots the arrival of the wireless industry’s silly season:
As much of Europe shuts up shop for the next few weeks and heads to the nearest beach, the rumor mill is cranking into action. Analysts have been quick to dismiss the idea of a deal, declaring it "unlikely" in light of Cisco's acquisition history. Ah, summer! Roll on September...
Engadget howls "but why?" and then jokes,
What would they name their spawn—Ciscokia, or Nocisco?
NO dude its CisKia...
SOURCE:
Friday, May 7, 2010
IBM to buy VC-backed IT company Guardium IBM to buy VC-backed IT company Guardium
IBM to buy VC-backed IT company Guardium IBM to buy VC-backed IT company Guardium
The company was founded in Israel in 2002, but moved to Boston in 2003, and offers real time database monitoring, auditing and compliance solutions, vulnerability management solutions, and database leak protection.
Guardium has reportedly raised $21m from venture capital funds such as Ascent Venture Partners, Israel’s StageOne Ventures and Veritas, and Cisco Systems. The company was named as a “hot pick” by Information Security magazine. Guardium is a subsidiary of Israel’s Log-On Software.
The company is currently expanding its presence across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Andrew Lawton vice president of EMEA sales, said, “The realisation is dawning across EMEA that corporations and governments need to have greater visibility and control over who accesses their sensitive data, and they need to prove to regulators and the public that these controls exist and are effective.”
SOURCE:
Global technology services giant IBM is preparing to purchase venture-capital-backed database security company Guardium for $225m, according to Israeli newspaper TheMarker. The deal is expected to close in the next few days.
The company was founded in Israel in 2002, but moved to Boston in 2003, and offers real time database monitoring, auditing and compliance solutions, vulnerability management solutions, and database leak protection.
Guardium has reportedly raised $21m from venture capital funds such as Ascent Venture Partners, Israel’s StageOne Ventures and Veritas, and Cisco Systems. The company was named as a “hot pick” by Information Security magazine. Guardium is a subsidiary of Israel’s Log-On Software.
The company is currently expanding its presence across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Andrew Lawton vice president of EMEA sales, said, “The realisation is dawning across EMEA that corporations and governments need to have greater visibility and control over who accesses their sensitive data, and they need to prove to regulators and the public that these controls exist and are effective.”
SOURCE:
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Cisco Announces Mobile WebEx Meeting Center Application for BlackBerry
Cisco Announces Mobile WebEx Meeting Center Application for BlackBerry
Cisco (News - Alert), a global provider of networking solutions, recently announced its latest free downloadable Cisco WebEx Meeting Center application for BlackBerry (News - Alert) smartphones. This application will help Cisco to expand their mobile business collaboration services, and to improve the online meeting experience for its users.
For its users, Cisco’s WebEx Meeting Center for BlackBerry smartphones offers the flexibility and ease to participate in online meetings. Also, it gives the ability to view shared documents and desktops directly from their smartphones.
"Cisco continues to show its commitment to business customers through enhanced availability of online meetings on mobile devices,” said Debra Chrapaty, the senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Collaboration Software Group. “This mobile application makes participating in online meetings accessible for the millions of BlackBerry users who rely on Cisco WebEx for collaboration. It's very user friendly and completely intuitive."
When the user clicks the URL to join the Cisco WebEx online meeting from their BlackBerry smartphone, they are called back by WebEx audio conferencing to join the meeting. If the user answers the audio call, the data portion of the meeting is automatically launched on their smartphones. Other audio configurations also can be supported with the help of this application. Now, this application enables the meeting participants to use the menu options to access the features and shortcuts for fast navigation at the time of travel.
In addition to that, with this new application, the meeting hosts gets the flexibility to start a scheduled meeting that has been previously scheduled on a computer and to pass the presenter control to another attendee who participates from a computer. Also, with live annotations, the meeting participants are able to view shared presentations, applications, and desktops. It also enables the users to view the attendee list to find out who's on conversation at a particular time, and chat privately with one or all of the attendees.
"Together, Cisco WebEx Meeting Center and BlackBerry smartphones provide a highly secure, rich, and intuitive experience for mobile business users,” Jeff McDowell, the senior vice president of Business Segment Marketing and Alliances at Research In Motion.
Cisco’s WebEx Meeting Center application for BlackBerry smartphones is available for download at webex.com or at www.blackberry.com/appworld.
SOURCE:
Cisco (News - Alert), a global provider of networking solutions, recently announced its latest free downloadable Cisco WebEx Meeting Center application for BlackBerry (News - Alert) smartphones. This application will help Cisco to expand their mobile business collaboration services, and to improve the online meeting experience for its users.
For its users, Cisco’s WebEx Meeting Center for BlackBerry smartphones offers the flexibility and ease to participate in online meetings. Also, it gives the ability to view shared documents and desktops directly from their smartphones.
"Cisco continues to show its commitment to business customers through enhanced availability of online meetings on mobile devices,” said Debra Chrapaty, the senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Collaboration Software Group. “This mobile application makes participating in online meetings accessible for the millions of BlackBerry users who rely on Cisco WebEx for collaboration. It's very user friendly and completely intuitive."
When the user clicks the URL to join the Cisco WebEx online meeting from their BlackBerry smartphone, they are called back by WebEx audio conferencing to join the meeting. If the user answers the audio call, the data portion of the meeting is automatically launched on their smartphones. Other audio configurations also can be supported with the help of this application. Now, this application enables the meeting participants to use the menu options to access the features and shortcuts for fast navigation at the time of travel.
In addition to that, with this new application, the meeting hosts gets the flexibility to start a scheduled meeting that has been previously scheduled on a computer and to pass the presenter control to another attendee who participates from a computer. Also, with live annotations, the meeting participants are able to view shared presentations, applications, and desktops. It also enables the users to view the attendee list to find out who's on conversation at a particular time, and chat privately with one or all of the attendees.
"Together, Cisco WebEx Meeting Center and BlackBerry smartphones provide a highly secure, rich, and intuitive experience for mobile business users,” Jeff McDowell, the senior vice president of Business Segment Marketing and Alliances at Research In Motion.
Cisco’s WebEx Meeting Center application for BlackBerry smartphones is available for download at webex.com or at www.blackberry.com/appworld.
SOURCE:
Cisco dives deeper into the data center
Cisco dives deeper into the data center
Lest anyone forget, Cisco's broad data center sweep this week is a reminder that the networking giant's network-centric approach to data center transformation includes giving the network administrator more control over IT operations. Further evidence of that is found in the Nexus 1010 appliance, a virtual service control plane for provisioning services to virtual machines (VMs).
The Nexus 1010 hosts virtual services, such as the Nexus 1000V virtual switch, to ease installation and bestow "ownership" of virtual services to the network administrator, according to Cisco, instead of the server administrator. The Nexus 1010 also supports network analysis down to the VM layer, giving the net admin granular visibility into the virtual workload - perhaps the same visibility the admin would have into network traffic.
At the same time, though, Cisco is attempting to make its data center offerings more appealing to server admins as well. This week's launch also included enhancements to its Unified Computing System platform and blade and rack servers that make the products more suitable for general purpose computing - handling physical workloads as well as virtual.
As Jonathan Eunice of Illuminata points out, this broadens Cisco's initial focus, which was on only the virtualized data center and virtualized workloads. Now Cisco's going after the whole shebang, which will only turn up the competition with server incumbents IBM, HP and Dell.
The HP bridge has already been blown up. Time will tell what ultimately happens with the relationship with IBM. And Dell's already feeling the increase in temperature.
"(This week's) announcement by Cisco demonstrates the bifurcation in the market with some vendors pushing a closed and propriety approach to the data center and Dell's differentiated approach of delivering choice and solutions that are open, capable and affordable," said Dell's Forrest Norrod, vice president and general manager, Server Platforms, in an e-mailed statement. "We've heard loud and clear customers are looking to reap the benefits of virtualization and reduce datacenter complexity but not at the expense of handing their infrastructure over to a single vendor as Cisco is asking them to do."
SOURCE:
Lest anyone forget, Cisco's broad data center sweep this week is a reminder that the networking giant's network-centric approach to data center transformation includes giving the network administrator more control over IT operations. Further evidence of that is found in the Nexus 1010 appliance, a virtual service control plane for provisioning services to virtual machines (VMs).
The Nexus 1010 hosts virtual services, such as the Nexus 1000V virtual switch, to ease installation and bestow "ownership" of virtual services to the network administrator, according to Cisco, instead of the server administrator. The Nexus 1010 also supports network analysis down to the VM layer, giving the net admin granular visibility into the virtual workload - perhaps the same visibility the admin would have into network traffic.
At the same time, though, Cisco is attempting to make its data center offerings more appealing to server admins as well. This week's launch also included enhancements to its Unified Computing System platform and blade and rack servers that make the products more suitable for general purpose computing - handling physical workloads as well as virtual.
As Jonathan Eunice of Illuminata points out, this broadens Cisco's initial focus, which was on only the virtualized data center and virtualized workloads. Now Cisco's going after the whole shebang, which will only turn up the competition with server incumbents IBM, HP and Dell.
The HP bridge has already been blown up. Time will tell what ultimately happens with the relationship with IBM. And Dell's already feeling the increase in temperature.
"(This week's) announcement by Cisco demonstrates the bifurcation in the market with some vendors pushing a closed and propriety approach to the data center and Dell's differentiated approach of delivering choice and solutions that are open, capable and affordable," said Dell's Forrest Norrod, vice president and general manager, Server Platforms, in an e-mailed statement. "We've heard loud and clear customers are looking to reap the benefits of virtualization and reduce datacenter complexity but not at the expense of handing their infrastructure over to a single vendor as Cisco is asking them to do."
SOURCE:
New foundation to manage Cisco funds
New foundation to manage Cisco funds
The Board of Trustees for the Hattiesburg Public School District has asked for legislative permission to transfer money from the district's general fund into a recently created foundation.
The American Red Cross
The twist: The $174,457 to be transferred had accrued in an earlier foundation incarnation that was dissolved at the request of the state auditor.
Trustees voted to send along a request to Rep. Toby Barker, R-Hattiesburg, to introduce a local and private bill to "allow the district to relinquish that money back to the new foundation," said Eddie Holloway, president of the reconstituted nonprofit entity, the Hattiesburg Public School District Foundation.
The original foundation, Hattiesburg Public Schools Foundation, was created in 2006 to manage a multi-million dollar grant from Cisco Systems Inc.
Cisco grant money, which became available in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, primarily was used to upgrade technology in the district's classrooms.
That included the purchase of Activboards, a whiteboard that functions as a touch screen and Internet portal.
But in 2008, the state auditor's office ruled that the foundation had been flawed in its structural inception.
"The original ruling by the state auditor was that (the foundation) was seen as an arm of the school board," Holloway said.
That meant that the old foundation had to cease operations. The money left in trust was transferred to the district to be held until a new foundation was created in compliance with state guidelines.
The board was asked to pass the resolution this past week because the Legislature is to reconvene April 20.
"Business will be conducted from one day to three days," said board attorney Percy Watson, who is a long-time member of the state House of Representatives as well.
"There is a window for this to go through."
Holloway said the foundation money is expected to be awarded to HPSD teachers in the form of mini-grants to enhance classroom education.
"The way that it's worded (in the document creating the foundation) is that all proceeds will be used for education," Holloway said.
SOURCE:
The Board of Trustees for the Hattiesburg Public School District has asked for legislative permission to transfer money from the district's general fund into a recently created foundation.
The American Red Cross
The twist: The $174,457 to be transferred had accrued in an earlier foundation incarnation that was dissolved at the request of the state auditor.
Trustees voted to send along a request to Rep. Toby Barker, R-Hattiesburg, to introduce a local and private bill to "allow the district to relinquish that money back to the new foundation," said Eddie Holloway, president of the reconstituted nonprofit entity, the Hattiesburg Public School District Foundation.
The original foundation, Hattiesburg Public Schools Foundation, was created in 2006 to manage a multi-million dollar grant from Cisco Systems Inc.
Cisco grant money, which became available in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, primarily was used to upgrade technology in the district's classrooms.
That included the purchase of Activboards, a whiteboard that functions as a touch screen and Internet portal.
But in 2008, the state auditor's office ruled that the foundation had been flawed in its structural inception.
"The original ruling by the state auditor was that (the foundation) was seen as an arm of the school board," Holloway said.
That meant that the old foundation had to cease operations. The money left in trust was transferred to the district to be held until a new foundation was created in compliance with state guidelines.
The board was asked to pass the resolution this past week because the Legislature is to reconvene April 20.
"Business will be conducted from one day to three days," said board attorney Percy Watson, who is a long-time member of the state House of Representatives as well.
"There is a window for this to go through."
Holloway said the foundation money is expected to be awarded to HPSD teachers in the form of mini-grants to enhance classroom education.
"The way that it's worded (in the document creating the foundation) is that all proceeds will be used for education," Holloway said.
SOURCE:
Starent to settle lawsuit over Cisco deal
Starent to settle lawsuit over Cisco deal
Starent Networks Corp. (Nasdaq: STAR), a maker of equipment for wireless networks, Friday said it had agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit over its pending acquisition by Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO).
Tewksbury-based Starent has agreed to pay the plaintiff's legal costs and provided some clarifications to the financial analysis that underpinned the board's decision to accept Cisco's offer of $2.9 billion in cash. That deal was announced Oct. 13.
The lawsuit, which sought class action status on behalf of Starent shareholders, was filed Oct. 20 in Delaware's Chancery Court by a union pension fund. It alleged that Starent's board failed in their duty by accepting an offer price that was too low.
Starent made a regulatory filing on Nov. 9 with a detailed chronology of the deal and an analysis of the board's reasoning.
With the settlement, it provided some supplemental explanations of the financial analysis.
Two other suits seeking class action status have been filed against the company over the terms of the Cisco deal.
Cisco employs some 4,000 people at its campus in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
SOURCE:
Starent Networks Corp. (Nasdaq: STAR), a maker of equipment for wireless networks, Friday said it had agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit over its pending acquisition by Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO).
Tewksbury-based Starent has agreed to pay the plaintiff's legal costs and provided some clarifications to the financial analysis that underpinned the board's decision to accept Cisco's offer of $2.9 billion in cash. That deal was announced Oct. 13.
The lawsuit, which sought class action status on behalf of Starent shareholders, was filed Oct. 20 in Delaware's Chancery Court by a union pension fund. It alleged that Starent's board failed in their duty by accepting an offer price that was too low.
Starent made a regulatory filing on Nov. 9 with a detailed chronology of the deal and an analysis of the board's reasoning.
With the settlement, it provided some supplemental explanations of the financial analysis.
Two other suits seeking class action status have been filed against the company over the terms of the Cisco deal.
Cisco employs some 4,000 people at its campus in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
SOURCE:
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Cisco SIO iPhone application to hit the App Store soon
Cisco SIO iPhone application to hit the App Store soon
iPhone owners can now access global security information from anywhere by means of the latest Cisco SIO To Go app. The app also allows users to personalize alerts and show only those security threats which could impact their network.
The new Cisco SIO To Go iPhone application presents IT staff with efficient means to obtain alerts and reply to threats that can affect their operations. The app is driven by Cisco Security IntelliShield Alert Manager
Service and delivers early warning intelligence, threat vulnerability and proven Cisco mitigation solutions to users’ iPhones as they arise. The Cisco application also provides unique IP and URL address, e-mail and Web reputation look-up powered by the Cisco IronPort SenderBase Security Network and the Cisco SIO.
“Enabling borderless networks is critical for today’s business success. A key component of enabling individuals to connect to their business networks from anywhere is working to ensure that the network is protected regardless of the device used. Our new Cisco SIO To Go iPhone application is another important step in making this vision a reality. It improves the means by which IT departments are alerted to threats, and it provides added confidence and device flexibility as Cisco customers are shielded from these breaches”, remarked Marie Hattar, vice president, Network Systems Solutions Marketing, Cisco,
Cisco SIO is inclusive of Cisco SensorBase, Cisco Threat Operations Center and Dynamic Updates. The SensorBase, a threat-monitoring network captures global threat telemetry data from an extensive footprint of Cisco devices and services. The alerts delivered include Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) alerts, Cisco Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) Signatures, Cisco Applied Mitigation Bulletins, Cisco Threat Outbreak Alerts and others.
The Cisco SIO iPhone application will be made available for free at the Apple iTunes Store shortly.
Would this be a helpful application..
SOURCE:
iPhone owners can now access global security information from anywhere by means of the latest Cisco SIO To Go app. The app also allows users to personalize alerts and show only those security threats which could impact their network.
The new Cisco SIO To Go iPhone application presents IT staff with efficient means to obtain alerts and reply to threats that can affect their operations. The app is driven by Cisco Security IntelliShield Alert Manager
Service and delivers early warning intelligence, threat vulnerability and proven Cisco mitigation solutions to users’ iPhones as they arise. The Cisco application also provides unique IP and URL address, e-mail and Web reputation look-up powered by the Cisco IronPort SenderBase Security Network and the Cisco SIO.
“Enabling borderless networks is critical for today’s business success. A key component of enabling individuals to connect to their business networks from anywhere is working to ensure that the network is protected regardless of the device used. Our new Cisco SIO To Go iPhone application is another important step in making this vision a reality. It improves the means by which IT departments are alerted to threats, and it provides added confidence and device flexibility as Cisco customers are shielded from these breaches”, remarked Marie Hattar, vice president, Network Systems Solutions Marketing, Cisco,
Cisco SIO is inclusive of Cisco SensorBase, Cisco Threat Operations Center and Dynamic Updates. The SensorBase, a threat-monitoring network captures global threat telemetry data from an extensive footprint of Cisco devices and services. The alerts delivered include Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) alerts, Cisco Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) Signatures, Cisco Applied Mitigation Bulletins, Cisco Threat Outbreak Alerts and others.
The Cisco SIO iPhone application will be made available for free at the Apple iTunes Store shortly.
Would this be a helpful application..
SOURCE:
Friday, April 23, 2010
Cisco unveils free iPhone security app targeted for trojans, worms, or other threats
Cisco unveils free iPhone security app targeted for trojans, worms, or other threats
San Diego, California (CaymanMama.com) — Computer viruses are growing smarter and smarter, making it necessary for technology to stay abreast of the latest trojans, worms, or other threats prowling the Internet.
In tackling those needs, Cisco Systems announced the release of a free iPhone application that employs Cisco Security Intelligence Operations (SIO) blogs, podcasts, alerts and the most up to date computer safety information, sending directly to iPhones and iPod Touch devices.
“In a world where your customers or employees are not always connected to a network we wanted to put Cisco security in the palm of your hand,” said Michael Weir, manager of integrated marketing for security.
“The app is made for IT security folks, but it is also for people that like to geek-out on security.”
Users who access the SIO To Go app can find information on the newest threats identified via an ongoing analysis of email and Internet traffic across the glob.
SOURCE:
San Diego, California (CaymanMama.com) — Computer viruses are growing smarter and smarter, making it necessary for technology to stay abreast of the latest trojans, worms, or other threats prowling the Internet.
In tackling those needs, Cisco Systems announced the release of a free iPhone application that employs Cisco Security Intelligence Operations (SIO) blogs, podcasts, alerts and the most up to date computer safety information, sending directly to iPhones and iPod Touch devices.
“In a world where your customers or employees are not always connected to a network we wanted to put Cisco security in the palm of your hand,” said Michael Weir, manager of integrated marketing for security.
“The app is made for IT security folks, but it is also for people that like to geek-out on security.”
Users who access the SIO To Go app can find information on the newest threats identified via an ongoing analysis of email and Internet traffic across the glob.
SOURCE:
Monday, April 19, 2010
Greenfield taps Cisco for fiber-optic service
Greenfield taps Cisco for fiber-optic service
MANILA - Campos-led Greenfield Development Corp. is set to incorporate fiber-optic technology into its upcoming real estate projects with the help of multinational networking solutions firm Cisco Systems Inc.
The fiber-optic technology would provide high-speed Internet access to residential and commercial units within the 10.5-hectare Greenfield District in Mandaluyong City. Company Chairman and President Jeffrey Campos said the new service caters mainly to families of overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
"The OFWs understand more the need for communication. It's going to be the OFWs abroad and their families here who can afford it and understand the technology better," he said.
Greenfield tapped Cisco to integrate the technology into the company's projects for an undisclosed amount. Campos did not specify any timeframe for the said venture, but said that it would be initially tested on the Twin Oaks Place, a project set to be built within the Greenfield district.
"We're doing it with open minds. We're starting with the Greenfield District, but we intend to provide it where we can provide it, at a time when the telcos in the area are ready. It's in our long-term plans," he said.
Initially a landholding company, Greenfield eventually entered into various joint ventures with the likes of Ayala Corp. and Century Properties. Moving forward, Campos said the company is set to launch its own residential and commercial projects.
"Residential and commercial is our baby. We started with commercial years ago, so we know that business. We also know the residential business very well," he said.
In August, high-end serviced apartment Ascott Makati tapped the services of Globe Telecom Inc. to provide wireless Internet service in all of its areas.
The company earlier said that each of its 306 units now have access to password-protected Internet, making it the first in the Philippines to provide full wireless Internet coverage.
SOURCE:
MANILA - Campos-led Greenfield Development Corp. is set to incorporate fiber-optic technology into its upcoming real estate projects with the help of multinational networking solutions firm Cisco Systems Inc.
The fiber-optic technology would provide high-speed Internet access to residential and commercial units within the 10.5-hectare Greenfield District in Mandaluyong City. Company Chairman and President Jeffrey Campos said the new service caters mainly to families of overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
"The OFWs understand more the need for communication. It's going to be the OFWs abroad and their families here who can afford it and understand the technology better," he said.
Greenfield tapped Cisco to integrate the technology into the company's projects for an undisclosed amount. Campos did not specify any timeframe for the said venture, but said that it would be initially tested on the Twin Oaks Place, a project set to be built within the Greenfield district.
"We're doing it with open minds. We're starting with the Greenfield District, but we intend to provide it where we can provide it, at a time when the telcos in the area are ready. It's in our long-term plans," he said.
Initially a landholding company, Greenfield eventually entered into various joint ventures with the likes of Ayala Corp. and Century Properties. Moving forward, Campos said the company is set to launch its own residential and commercial projects.
"Residential and commercial is our baby. We started with commercial years ago, so we know that business. We also know the residential business very well," he said.
In August, high-end serviced apartment Ascott Makati tapped the services of Globe Telecom Inc. to provide wireless Internet service in all of its areas.
The company earlier said that each of its 306 units now have access to password-protected Internet, making it the first in the Philippines to provide full wireless Internet coverage.
SOURCE:
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Cisco and logitech join forces in videoconferencing services
Videoconferencing: Cisco, Logitech Target the Mainstream
Logitech's acquisition of LifeSize and Cisco's bid for Tandberg are aimed at grabbing market share and expanding sales to more businesses—and even consumers
Videoconferencing may finally be headed for the mainstream. The technology that lets people around the globe hold face-to-face meetings electronically has been around for decades. Yet many videoconferencing products have for too long been glitchy, overpriced, and hard to use.
Yet seemingly overnight, companies including Cisco Systems (CSCO), Logitech International (LOGI), and several lesser-known startups are engaged in a flurry of dealmaking aimed at grabbing more of the market and bringing the technology into more businesses and homes. Cisco on Nov. 16 upped to $3.4 billion its bid for market leader Tandberg (TAA.DE), hoping to win over investors who said the Oslo, Norway-based company is worth more than the initial $3 billion offer. Cisco may also introduce a videoconferencing product for consumers at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, BusinessWeek has learned. And in its largest-ever acquisition, PC accessories giant Logitech said on Nov. 10 it will pay $405 million for LifeSize Communications, a maker of high-end high-definition videoconferencing gear. Shares of Polycom (PLCM), the last remaining videoconferencing pure play, have risen 12.5% since Oct. 28, on hopes it may be the next to be bought.
The deals underscore a growing sense that videoconferencing is finally ready to go from an exotic luxury to an everyday part of business life. Thanks to increased broadband capacity, corporate networks can now better handle bandwidth-hogging videoconferencing sessions. Scores of consumers and businesspeople have sampled low-end options such as those offered by Internet-calling provider Skype, and millions of people now carry powerful laptops and smartphones with the processing power needed to join conferences from anywhere. Cisco has helped increase visibility for videoconferencing by heavily promoting its TelePresence technology, recently in a self-mocking product placement on NBC's 30 Rock.
Everyday Business Use
TelePresence can set a company back as much as $250,000 for a single conference room, but the range of prices is getting ever lower. Cisco CEO John Chambers is buying Tandberg in part because Tandberg is the leader in the larger market for less expensive room systems. On Nov. 9, Cisco announced Intranet software that would make videoconferencing a standard component on corporate Web sites. "We want this to be the place people start their day, and where they spend most of their day," says Cisco Senior Vice-President Tony Bates. "We're in it to win it."
So, it seems, is Logitech. Better known for its computer mice, Webcams, and other PC accessories, Logitech this month snapped up LifeSize, which sells videoconferencing products that range from $2,500 on the low end to tens of thousands of dollars for deluxe models. Logitech plans to use its manufacturing expertise to get better prices on components and make operations run more efficiently at the enlarged company, driving down prices on LifeSize's gear.
Lesser-known players are also trying to make videoconferencing waves. Hackensack (N.J.)-based Vidyo has a software-only offering that some analysts say may put pressure on industry pricing.
SOURCE:
Logitech's acquisition of LifeSize and Cisco's bid for Tandberg are aimed at grabbing market share and expanding sales to more businesses—and even consumers
Videoconferencing may finally be headed for the mainstream. The technology that lets people around the globe hold face-to-face meetings electronically has been around for decades. Yet many videoconferencing products have for too long been glitchy, overpriced, and hard to use.
Yet seemingly overnight, companies including Cisco Systems (CSCO), Logitech International (LOGI), and several lesser-known startups are engaged in a flurry of dealmaking aimed at grabbing more of the market and bringing the technology into more businesses and homes. Cisco on Nov. 16 upped to $3.4 billion its bid for market leader Tandberg (TAA.DE), hoping to win over investors who said the Oslo, Norway-based company is worth more than the initial $3 billion offer. Cisco may also introduce a videoconferencing product for consumers at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, BusinessWeek has learned. And in its largest-ever acquisition, PC accessories giant Logitech said on Nov. 10 it will pay $405 million for LifeSize Communications, a maker of high-end high-definition videoconferencing gear. Shares of Polycom (PLCM), the last remaining videoconferencing pure play, have risen 12.5% since Oct. 28, on hopes it may be the next to be bought.
The deals underscore a growing sense that videoconferencing is finally ready to go from an exotic luxury to an everyday part of business life. Thanks to increased broadband capacity, corporate networks can now better handle bandwidth-hogging videoconferencing sessions. Scores of consumers and businesspeople have sampled low-end options such as those offered by Internet-calling provider Skype, and millions of people now carry powerful laptops and smartphones with the processing power needed to join conferences from anywhere. Cisco has helped increase visibility for videoconferencing by heavily promoting its TelePresence technology, recently in a self-mocking product placement on NBC's 30 Rock.
Everyday Business Use
TelePresence can set a company back as much as $250,000 for a single conference room, but the range of prices is getting ever lower. Cisco CEO John Chambers is buying Tandberg in part because Tandberg is the leader in the larger market for less expensive room systems. On Nov. 9, Cisco announced Intranet software that would make videoconferencing a standard component on corporate Web sites. "We want this to be the place people start their day, and where they spend most of their day," says Cisco Senior Vice-President Tony Bates. "We're in it to win it."
So, it seems, is Logitech. Better known for its computer mice, Webcams, and other PC accessories, Logitech this month snapped up LifeSize, which sells videoconferencing products that range from $2,500 on the low end to tens of thousands of dollars for deluxe models. Logitech plans to use its manufacturing expertise to get better prices on components and make operations run more efficiently at the enlarged company, driving down prices on LifeSize's gear.
Lesser-known players are also trying to make videoconferencing waves. Hackensack (N.J.)-based Vidyo has a software-only offering that some analysts say may put pressure on industry pricing.
SOURCE:
Thursday, April 8, 2010
New Contract signed by Cisco with New Ingram to expand global opputunites
New Ingram Micro contract with Cisco expands global opportunities
Distributor Ingram Micro Inc. has signed a global contract with Cisco Systems Inc. that standardizes terms and conditions across all regions. As Cisco's largest global distributor, Ingram Micro will now be able to offer its resellers international access to Cisco products and related services with consistent terms, processes and support.
"Ingram Micro is committed to helping our vendors and customers grow their businesses, whether it be selling solutions across the street or across the globe," said Ken Bast, vice president, vendor management, Ingram Micro Inc. "Ingram Micro's new global contract with Cisco allows our resale partners to take full advantage of business opportunities on a worldwide scale. Now, our customers will be able to expand into new markets, as well as support their existing global clients with quicker product availability, which will ultimately shorten their sell cycle and positively impact their balance sheets."
Through these new terms, Ingram Micro's reseller partners can take advantage of Ingram Micro's worldwide footprint and gain entry into countries in which they currently do not have a presence. The contract applies to the more than 150 countries in which Ingram Micro supports Cisco sales. In addition, customers receive dedicated worldwide Cisco support through the Ingram Micro Global Order Desk, which will help customers fulfill orders all over the world. The Global Order Desk ensures that all parties comply with all legal, tax and trade requirements that are typical in cross-border deployments.
"Cisco is on the forefront of evolving traditional business models and programs to support globalization, and of operating as 'one Cisco,'" said Dave O'Callaghan, vice president distribution for Cisco. "This new global contract is another example of how our solid partnership with Ingram Micro can benefit not only our two companies, but also any solution provider looking to expand its global footprint."
Most people buy from ebay there are still available items there for a great value and price..XOXO
SOURCE:
Distributor Ingram Micro Inc. has signed a global contract with Cisco Systems Inc. that standardizes terms and conditions across all regions. As Cisco's largest global distributor, Ingram Micro will now be able to offer its resellers international access to Cisco products and related services with consistent terms, processes and support.
"Ingram Micro is committed to helping our vendors and customers grow their businesses, whether it be selling solutions across the street or across the globe," said Ken Bast, vice president, vendor management, Ingram Micro Inc. "Ingram Micro's new global contract with Cisco allows our resale partners to take full advantage of business opportunities on a worldwide scale. Now, our customers will be able to expand into new markets, as well as support their existing global clients with quicker product availability, which will ultimately shorten their sell cycle and positively impact their balance sheets."
Through these new terms, Ingram Micro's reseller partners can take advantage of Ingram Micro's worldwide footprint and gain entry into countries in which they currently do not have a presence. The contract applies to the more than 150 countries in which Ingram Micro supports Cisco sales. In addition, customers receive dedicated worldwide Cisco support through the Ingram Micro Global Order Desk, which will help customers fulfill orders all over the world. The Global Order Desk ensures that all parties comply with all legal, tax and trade requirements that are typical in cross-border deployments.
"Cisco is on the forefront of evolving traditional business models and programs to support globalization, and of operating as 'one Cisco,'" said Dave O'Callaghan, vice president distribution for Cisco. "This new global contract is another example of how our solid partnership with Ingram Micro can benefit not only our two companies, but also any solution provider looking to expand its global footprint."
Most people buy from ebay there are still available items there for a great value and price..XOXO
SOURCE:
Friday, October 2, 2009
Cisco: ‘In Norway We Trust’
Cisco: In Norway We Trust
The push to Buy American could start to mean something quite different than a patriotic call to purchase homemade cars and appliances in the coming years.
Sensing a more stabilized economy, the largest technology companies have started to put their massive cash war chests into action, acquiring companies once again. Oracle led the way with its purchase of Sun Microsystems. EMC gobbled up Data Domain. VMware bought the open-source software maker SpringSource. And this week, Cisco made a $3.0 billion offer for Tandberg, a video-conferencing specialist.
It’s Cisco’s acquisition that jumps out because of its European flair. Tandberg is based in Oslo, Norway and provided Cisco with a unique opportunity to use some of its $35 billion in cash.
The vast majority - about $29 billion - of Cisco’s cash sits overseas. Cisco would have faced huge tax penalties to bring that money stateside if it wanted to buy another video-conferencing player like Polycom or LifeSize.
Ned Hooper, a senior vice president at Cisco, said the expected by noting that Cisco’s judges acquisitions first based on their strategic and cultural alignment. Of course, the international angle with Tandberg didn’t hurt either.
We do have a great deal of cash overseas and were able to use the international cash to pay for this transaction,Mr. Hooper said.
Cisco’s foreign cash situation is the most dramatic of the major American technology players, although all of the companies face similar problems.
John Chambers, Cisco’s chief executive, has grumbled about the government nixing a tax repatriation break.
With a major era of consolidation in the technology industry looming, these tax and cash issues seem destined to crop up again, especially as American companies are passed over and left to fend against even larger opponents.
On a more lighthearted note, the acquisition of Tandberg reminded me of a post made back in March about Cisco’s TelePresence video-conferencing systems.
A Sean Tyrrell commented on the post back then saying, If Cisco’s Telepresence is soooo good, why do they have to always give it away? In every global account I am involved in, Cisco gives these things away. The fact is they are expensive to operate, limited in that you can only see a few sites at a time, they ought to call it Tele-Absence.
Mr. Tyrrell, you see, works at Tandberg where he is a global account director, and he’s taken a sweeter tone on Cisco since the deal was announced.
In an e-mail, Mr. Tyrrell said, This is a win-win for both companies, but more importantly, it is a win for our customers and the overall market. I think it is a defining moment in the industry and that video collaboration will reach the masses much faster than it would have had Tandberg and Cisco fought it out alone.
Best of all, Cisco might be able to charge money for its products now.
SOURCE:
The push to Buy American could start to mean something quite different than a patriotic call to purchase homemade cars and appliances in the coming years.
Sensing a more stabilized economy, the largest technology companies have started to put their massive cash war chests into action, acquiring companies once again. Oracle led the way with its purchase of Sun Microsystems. EMC gobbled up Data Domain. VMware bought the open-source software maker SpringSource. And this week, Cisco made a $3.0 billion offer for Tandberg, a video-conferencing specialist.
It’s Cisco’s acquisition that jumps out because of its European flair. Tandberg is based in Oslo, Norway and provided Cisco with a unique opportunity to use some of its $35 billion in cash.
The vast majority - about $29 billion - of Cisco’s cash sits overseas. Cisco would have faced huge tax penalties to bring that money stateside if it wanted to buy another video-conferencing player like Polycom or LifeSize.
Ned Hooper, a senior vice president at Cisco, said the expected by noting that Cisco’s judges acquisitions first based on their strategic and cultural alignment. Of course, the international angle with Tandberg didn’t hurt either.
We do have a great deal of cash overseas and were able to use the international cash to pay for this transaction,Mr. Hooper said.
Cisco’s foreign cash situation is the most dramatic of the major American technology players, although all of the companies face similar problems.
John Chambers, Cisco’s chief executive, has grumbled about the government nixing a tax repatriation break.
With a major era of consolidation in the technology industry looming, these tax and cash issues seem destined to crop up again, especially as American companies are passed over and left to fend against even larger opponents.
On a more lighthearted note, the acquisition of Tandberg reminded me of a post made back in March about Cisco’s TelePresence video-conferencing systems.
A Sean Tyrrell commented on the post back then saying, If Cisco’s Telepresence is soooo good, why do they have to always give it away? In every global account I am involved in, Cisco gives these things away. The fact is they are expensive to operate, limited in that you can only see a few sites at a time, they ought to call it Tele-Absence.
Mr. Tyrrell, you see, works at Tandberg where he is a global account director, and he’s taken a sweeter tone on Cisco since the deal was announced.
In an e-mail, Mr. Tyrrell said, This is a win-win for both companies, but more importantly, it is a win for our customers and the overall market. I think it is a defining moment in the industry and that video collaboration will reach the masses much faster than it would have had Tandberg and Cisco fought it out alone.
Best of all, Cisco might be able to charge money for its products now.
SOURCE:
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Cisco to establish IT training center in Dalian
Cisco has singed a three-party memorandum of understanding with the Dalian High-Tech Zone Administrative Committee and VanceInfo Technologies Inc. on the development of a Cisco Networking Training Center in Dalian, China. The center will cultivate high-end networking talent to meet growing global demand for skilled IT professionals, while increasing local employment opportunities.
The city of Dalian is becoming more connected as its information industry is developing, and there is a growing demand for networking talent for governmental organizations and different industries throughout the city. "We hope to leverage the Networking Training Center's advanced training resources to develop more talent suited to society's practical needs. This will lower IT training costs for employers, create more employment opportunities in Dalian and accelerate development in both industry and the wider local economy." said Luan Qingwei, director of the Administrative Committee of Dalian High-Tech Zone.
"This initiative represents another step that Cisco has taken towards contributing to innovation and sustainable development in China," said Jim Sherriff, chairman and CEO of Cisco China. "We will continue to share globally-tested best practices with Chinese companies, further strengthening our cooperation with local government, and fostering social and economic progress by developing more talent in networking technologies."
"VanceInfo has comprehensive IT service expertise and strong training operation capabilities," said Liu Junbo, executive VP of VanceInfo. "In addition to the technical, knowledge-based curriculum, the center also provides other professional development courses and hands-on operational lab training. As one of the most advanced training platforms in China, and we believe it will create more networking talent for Dalian, and help to close the gap between the existing talent pool and China's future needs."
The Dalian High-Tech Zone, Cisco and VanceInfo will each apply their unique resources to develop the most advanced networking professional training program in China. Drawing on its rich networking and IT training experience, Cisco will offer globally tested best practices and its learning curriculum, as well as advanced Cisco lab equipment. As Cisco's training partner, VanceInfo will take the responsibility for managing and operating the training center.
Cisco has worked with the Dalian High-Tech Zone in the past, establishing the Cisco Dalian Service Practice Center (DLSP) in the Dalian Software Park of High-Tech Zone. DLSP provides comprehensive and timely services for customers throughout Northeast Asia while also promoting local economic growth in Dalian. Renewed cooperation with the Dalian High-Tech Zone to develop more highly trained networking professionals will help the city provide employment opportunities, meet local demand, and promote growth in the city's information industry.
SOURCE:
The city of Dalian is becoming more connected as its information industry is developing, and there is a growing demand for networking talent for governmental organizations and different industries throughout the city. "We hope to leverage the Networking Training Center's advanced training resources to develop more talent suited to society's practical needs. This will lower IT training costs for employers, create more employment opportunities in Dalian and accelerate development in both industry and the wider local economy." said Luan Qingwei, director of the Administrative Committee of Dalian High-Tech Zone.
"This initiative represents another step that Cisco has taken towards contributing to innovation and sustainable development in China," said Jim Sherriff, chairman and CEO of Cisco China. "We will continue to share globally-tested best practices with Chinese companies, further strengthening our cooperation with local government, and fostering social and economic progress by developing more talent in networking technologies."
"VanceInfo has comprehensive IT service expertise and strong training operation capabilities," said Liu Junbo, executive VP of VanceInfo. "In addition to the technical, knowledge-based curriculum, the center also provides other professional development courses and hands-on operational lab training. As one of the most advanced training platforms in China, and we believe it will create more networking talent for Dalian, and help to close the gap between the existing talent pool and China's future needs."
The Dalian High-Tech Zone, Cisco and VanceInfo will each apply their unique resources to develop the most advanced networking professional training program in China. Drawing on its rich networking and IT training experience, Cisco will offer globally tested best practices and its learning curriculum, as well as advanced Cisco lab equipment. As Cisco's training partner, VanceInfo will take the responsibility for managing and operating the training center.
Cisco has worked with the Dalian High-Tech Zone in the past, establishing the Cisco Dalian Service Practice Center (DLSP) in the Dalian Software Park of High-Tech Zone. DLSP provides comprehensive and timely services for customers throughout Northeast Asia while also promoting local economic growth in Dalian. Renewed cooperation with the Dalian High-Tech Zone to develop more highly trained networking professionals will help the city provide employment opportunities, meet local demand, and promote growth in the city's information industry.
SOURCE:
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Defying Experts, Rogue Computer Code Still Lurks
Like a ghost ship, a rogue software program that glided onto the Internet last November has confounded the efforts of top security experts to eradicate the program and trace its origins and purpose, exposing serious weaknesses in the world’s digital infrastructure.
The program, known as Conficker, uses flaws in Windows software to co-opt machines and link them into a virtual computer that can be commanded remotely by its authors. With more than five million of these zombies now under its control — government, business and home computers in more than 200 countries — this shadowy computer has power that dwarfs that of the world’s largest data centers.
Alarmed by the program’s quick spread after its debut in November, computer security experts from industry, academia and government joined forces in a highly unusual collaboration. They decoded the program and developed antivirus software that erased it from millions of the computers. But Conficker’s persistence and sophistication has squelched the belief of many experts that such global computer infections are a thing of the past.
“It’s using the best current practices and state of the art to communicate and to protect itself,” Rodney Joffe, director of the Conficker Working Group, said of the malicious program. “We have not found the trick to take control back from the malware in any way.”
Researchers speculate that the computer could be employed to generate vast amounts of spam; it could steal information like passwords and logins by capturing keystrokes on infected computers; it could deliver fake antivirus warnings to trick naïve users into believing their computers are infected and persuading them to pay by credit card to have the infection removed.
There is also a different possibility that concerns the researchers: That the program was not designed by a criminal gang, but instead by an intelligence agency or the military of some country to monitor or disable an enemy’s computers. Networks of infected computers, or botnets, were used widely as weapons in conflicts in Estonia in 2007 and in Georgia last year, and in more recent attacks against South Korean and United States government agencies. Recent attacks that temporarily crippled Twitter and Facebook were believed to have had political overtones.
Yet for the most part Conficker has done little more than to extend its reach to more and more computers. Though there had been speculation that the computer might be activated to do something malicious on April 1, the date passed without incident, and some security experts wonder if the program has been abandoned.
The experts have only tiny clues about the location of the program’s authors. The first version included software that stopped the program if it infected a machine with a Ukrainian language keyboard. There may have been two initial infections — in Buenos Aires and in Kiev.
Wherever the authors are, the experts say, they are clearly professionals using the most advanced technology available. The program is protected by internal defense mechanisms that make it hard to erase, and even kills or hides from programs designed to look for botnets.
A member of the security team said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had suspects, but was moving slowly because it needed to build a relationship with “noncorrupt” law enforcement agencies in the countries where the suspects are located.
An F.B.I. spokesman in Washington declined to comment, saying that the Conficker investigation was an open case.
The first infections, last Nov. 20, set off an intense battle between the hidden authors and the volunteer group that formed to counter them. The group, which first called itself the “Conficker Cabal,” changed its name when Microsoft, Symantec and several other companies objected to the unprofessional connotation.
Eventually, university researchers and law enforcement officials joined forces with computer experts at more than two dozen Internet, software and computer security firms.
The group won some battles, but lost others. The Conficker authors kept distributing new, more intricate versions of the program, at one point using code that had been devised in academia only months before. At another point, a single technical slip by the working group allowed the program’s authors to convert a huge number of the infected machines to an advanced peer-to-peer communications scheme that the industry group has not been able to defeat. Where before all the infected computers would have to phone home to a single source for instructions, the authors could now use any infected computer to instruct all the others.
In early April, Patrick Peterson, a research fellow at Cisco Systems in San Jose, Calif., gained some intelligence about the authors’ interests. He studies nasty computer programs by keeping a set of quarantined computers that capture and observe them — his “digital zoo.”
He discovered that the Conficker authors had begun distributing software that tricks Internet users into buying fake antivirus software with their credit cards. “We turned off the lights in the zoo one day and came back the next day,” Mr. Peterson said, noting that in the “cage” reserved for Conficker, the infection had been joined by a program distributing an antivirus software scam.
It was the most recent sign of life from the program, and its silence has set off a debate among computer security experts. Some researchers think Conficker is an empty shell, or that the authors of the program were scared away in the spring. Others argue that they are simply biding their time.
If the misbegotten computer were reactivated, it would not have the problem-solving ability of supercomputers used to design nuclear weapons or simulate climate change. But because it has commandeered so many machines, it could draw on an amount of computing power greater than that from any single computing facility run by governments or Google. It is a dark reflection of the “cloud computing” sweeping the commercial Internet, in which data is stored on the Internet rather than on a personal computer.
The industry group continues to try to find ways to kill Conficker, meeting as recently as Tuesday. Mr. Joffe said he, for one, was not prepared to declare victory. But he said that the group’s work proved that government and private industry could cooperate to counter cyberthreats.
“Even if we lose against Conficker,” he said, “there are things we’ve learned that will benefit us in the future.”
SOURCE:
The program, known as Conficker, uses flaws in Windows software to co-opt machines and link them into a virtual computer that can be commanded remotely by its authors. With more than five million of these zombies now under its control — government, business and home computers in more than 200 countries — this shadowy computer has power that dwarfs that of the world’s largest data centers.
Alarmed by the program’s quick spread after its debut in November, computer security experts from industry, academia and government joined forces in a highly unusual collaboration. They decoded the program and developed antivirus software that erased it from millions of the computers. But Conficker’s persistence and sophistication has squelched the belief of many experts that such global computer infections are a thing of the past.
“It’s using the best current practices and state of the art to communicate and to protect itself,” Rodney Joffe, director of the Conficker Working Group, said of the malicious program. “We have not found the trick to take control back from the malware in any way.”
Researchers speculate that the computer could be employed to generate vast amounts of spam; it could steal information like passwords and logins by capturing keystrokes on infected computers; it could deliver fake antivirus warnings to trick naïve users into believing their computers are infected and persuading them to pay by credit card to have the infection removed.
There is also a different possibility that concerns the researchers: That the program was not designed by a criminal gang, but instead by an intelligence agency or the military of some country to monitor or disable an enemy’s computers. Networks of infected computers, or botnets, were used widely as weapons in conflicts in Estonia in 2007 and in Georgia last year, and in more recent attacks against South Korean and United States government agencies. Recent attacks that temporarily crippled Twitter and Facebook were believed to have had political overtones.
Yet for the most part Conficker has done little more than to extend its reach to more and more computers. Though there had been speculation that the computer might be activated to do something malicious on April 1, the date passed without incident, and some security experts wonder if the program has been abandoned.
The experts have only tiny clues about the location of the program’s authors. The first version included software that stopped the program if it infected a machine with a Ukrainian language keyboard. There may have been two initial infections — in Buenos Aires and in Kiev.
Wherever the authors are, the experts say, they are clearly professionals using the most advanced technology available. The program is protected by internal defense mechanisms that make it hard to erase, and even kills or hides from programs designed to look for botnets.
A member of the security team said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had suspects, but was moving slowly because it needed to build a relationship with “noncorrupt” law enforcement agencies in the countries where the suspects are located.
An F.B.I. spokesman in Washington declined to comment, saying that the Conficker investigation was an open case.
The first infections, last Nov. 20, set off an intense battle between the hidden authors and the volunteer group that formed to counter them. The group, which first called itself the “Conficker Cabal,” changed its name when Microsoft, Symantec and several other companies objected to the unprofessional connotation.
Eventually, university researchers and law enforcement officials joined forces with computer experts at more than two dozen Internet, software and computer security firms.
The group won some battles, but lost others. The Conficker authors kept distributing new, more intricate versions of the program, at one point using code that had been devised in academia only months before. At another point, a single technical slip by the working group allowed the program’s authors to convert a huge number of the infected machines to an advanced peer-to-peer communications scheme that the industry group has not been able to defeat. Where before all the infected computers would have to phone home to a single source for instructions, the authors could now use any infected computer to instruct all the others.
In early April, Patrick Peterson, a research fellow at Cisco Systems in San Jose, Calif., gained some intelligence about the authors’ interests. He studies nasty computer programs by keeping a set of quarantined computers that capture and observe them — his “digital zoo.”
He discovered that the Conficker authors had begun distributing software that tricks Internet users into buying fake antivirus software with their credit cards. “We turned off the lights in the zoo one day and came back the next day,” Mr. Peterson said, noting that in the “cage” reserved for Conficker, the infection had been joined by a program distributing an antivirus software scam.
It was the most recent sign of life from the program, and its silence has set off a debate among computer security experts. Some researchers think Conficker is an empty shell, or that the authors of the program were scared away in the spring. Others argue that they are simply biding their time.
If the misbegotten computer were reactivated, it would not have the problem-solving ability of supercomputers used to design nuclear weapons or simulate climate change. But because it has commandeered so many machines, it could draw on an amount of computing power greater than that from any single computing facility run by governments or Google. It is a dark reflection of the “cloud computing” sweeping the commercial Internet, in which data is stored on the Internet rather than on a personal computer.
The industry group continues to try to find ways to kill Conficker, meeting as recently as Tuesday. Mr. Joffe said he, for one, was not prepared to declare victory. But he said that the group’s work proved that government and private industry could cooperate to counter cyberthreats.
“Even if we lose against Conficker,” he said, “there are things we’ve learned that will benefit us in the future.”
SOURCE:
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Virtual network switches add scalability to server virtualization
With virtual switches, Cisco Systems and now Arista Networks are trying to clear the networking bottlenecks that occur when enterprises do large-scale server virtualization.
Cisco's Nexus 1000v aims to give the networking team control over virtual infrastructure management. Meanwhile, Arista's vEOS product, announced today, integrates with VMware's existing technology and promises to be more appealing to system administrators who want to bypass network administrators when managing virtual environments.
One of the key networking challenges with server virtualization is the management of virtualized network and security profiles, as well as virtual machine configurations, as they migrate across physical hosts. Performing that task in a scalable way is tough and often prevents enterprises from taking their server virtualization efforts beyond server consolidation and into dynamic resource allocation. This is very much a networking problem, and companies like Cisco Systems and now Arista Networks are trying to solve it.
Technologies like VMware's vMotion and vSphere make it easy for virtual machines to migrate from one physical host to another as needed and for applications to scale up and down by combining the resources of multiple physical hosts. However, a networking bottleneck occurs when enterprises try to create such a dynamic virtual infrastructure. Network and system administrators struggle to make sure that the virtual network and security settings and profiles migrate with the virtual machines as they traverse across physical hosts. VMware and other hypervisor vendors offer some form of virtual switching technology that allows server administrators to manage the virtual network and security settings within the physical hosts, but typically these virtual switching products don't scale up to the level that some enterprises need.
More on networking for server virtualization
Talking cloud computing networks and 10 Gigabit Ethernet with Arista
Managing virtual network relationships
Server virtualization and the impact on network configuration
"If vMotion moves a workload from one machine to another to balance out load or to recover from failure, that's great," said Joe Skorupa, research vice president with Gartner. "But if you have to manually go back and reconfigure the switches, that's not so good."
These networking bottlenecks often limit the extent of server virtualization that can occur within an enterprise.
"Having spoken with customers about this problem going on three years now, this has been one of the key points with trying to get past the 15% to 20% [ceiling] of your servers being virtualized," said Rob Whiteley, vice president and research director at Forrester Research. "At a small scale, you don't bump into networking problems. But typically, around 15% to 20% of your production servers going virtual, you're going to start having issues."
This problem of scale motivated Cisco to release the Nexus 1000v earlier this year. This virtual switch actually replaces VMware's vSwitch technology and manages the virtual network and security connections that take place within virtualized servers. It also gives network administrators a familiar interface for managing those connections, which are quite often handled by server administrators without the network administrators' knowledge.
Now, startup switch vendor Arista Networks has introduced its new virtual Extensible Operating System (vEOS). In some ways similar to the Nexus 1000v concept, Arista's vEOS is actually a software image of the EOS operating system that runs on all of Arista's physical switches. It functions as a virtual appliance, running inside the physical server that is hosting virtual servers. It doesn't replace VMware's vSwitch technology. Instead, the vEOS works with it, making vSwitch more scalable and familiar to network administrators, who find many of VMware's products too foreign.
"Clearly, the virtual switch that comes with VMware infrastructure is good, but it won't scale to the data center networking that people need," Whiteley said. "I think what Arista has done is very elegant from a software engineering perspective. They're not beating their chests on their ASICs and their hardware. They're appropriately spending a little more time on the concept of a truly stateful operating system."
Systems vs. networking: Battling for virtual network management control
The difference in approach between Arista and Cisco is also indicative of a quiet struggle that has been going between system administrators and network administrators for control of switching and management in virtualized data centers.
"Cisco wants to extend [its] control all the way up into servers and take control of them," Skorupa said. "Arista is certainly aligning [itself] with VMware."
Arista's vEOS may be based on the operating system that runs on its physical switches, but Skorupa believes the vEOS will go largely unused by network administrators. Instead, system administrators will have more of a use for it, he said. Systems guys have been managing switching within virtual hosts for a few years now, much to the chagrin of network administrators. The vEOS will allow them to continue on that path.
"It's the battle we've seen brewing and going on quietly in the background for the past year or so, which is: Who is in control?" Skorupa said. "Is the network guy in control when he puts the Cisco virtual switch into the VMware server? Or is the server guy in control when he uses the VMware embedded switch and then integrates with whichever networking vendor [such as Arista] he chooses?
Server administrators usually support virtual switching products that enable them to manage the process without relying on the networking team, Skorupa said.
"It creates political problems for the network guys," he said, "because they lose their influence and control."
Doug Gourlay, Arista's vice president of marketing, emphasized that the vEOS is aimed squarely at network administrators.
"The server guy can access vSphere with his familiar Web interface," Gourlay said. "The network administrator gains CLI and SMNP."
A new breed of administrator for the virtualized environment?
The so-called war between server and network factions in virtualized data centers may ultimately give way to a new hybrid data center role, a concept Whiteley describes as the virtualization administrator. These admins will be mostly server-oriented but will have strong storage and networking skills as well.
"The $5,000 price point [of Arista's vEOS] is the perfect price point to attack these virtualization administrators because they're going to be able to quickly solve the problems they have, which is scaling the network," Whiteley said. "At the same time, I don't think it completely alienates the networking team because it puts a decent working product in there that they will be able to use. Now, there will still be politics at play here because if the server team keeps procuring its own network infrastructure, even in a virtual form fact , let's hope they're looping in the network team. I don't think that's Arista's problem to solve. That's an internal challenge that companies have to work through."
Arista's vEOS comes free of charge with the purchase of an Arista 7000 switch. A scaled-back version of vEOS that addresses only visibility and troubleshooting is available free to anyone for a limited time. The full network configuration version is priced at $5,000.
SOURCE:
Cisco's Nexus 1000v aims to give the networking team control over virtual infrastructure management. Meanwhile, Arista's vEOS product, announced today, integrates with VMware's existing technology and promises to be more appealing to system administrators who want to bypass network administrators when managing virtual environments.
One of the key networking challenges with server virtualization is the management of virtualized network and security profiles, as well as virtual machine configurations, as they migrate across physical hosts. Performing that task in a scalable way is tough and often prevents enterprises from taking their server virtualization efforts beyond server consolidation and into dynamic resource allocation. This is very much a networking problem, and companies like Cisco Systems and now Arista Networks are trying to solve it.
Technologies like VMware's vMotion and vSphere make it easy for virtual machines to migrate from one physical host to another as needed and for applications to scale up and down by combining the resources of multiple physical hosts. However, a networking bottleneck occurs when enterprises try to create such a dynamic virtual infrastructure. Network and system administrators struggle to make sure that the virtual network and security settings and profiles migrate with the virtual machines as they traverse across physical hosts. VMware and other hypervisor vendors offer some form of virtual switching technology that allows server administrators to manage the virtual network and security settings within the physical hosts, but typically these virtual switching products don't scale up to the level that some enterprises need.
More on networking for server virtualization
Talking cloud computing networks and 10 Gigabit Ethernet with Arista
Managing virtual network relationships
Server virtualization and the impact on network configuration
"If vMotion moves a workload from one machine to another to balance out load or to recover from failure, that's great," said Joe Skorupa, research vice president with Gartner. "But if you have to manually go back and reconfigure the switches, that's not so good."
These networking bottlenecks often limit the extent of server virtualization that can occur within an enterprise.
"Having spoken with customers about this problem going on three years now, this has been one of the key points with trying to get past the 15% to 20% [ceiling] of your servers being virtualized," said Rob Whiteley, vice president and research director at Forrester Research. "At a small scale, you don't bump into networking problems. But typically, around 15% to 20% of your production servers going virtual, you're going to start having issues."
This problem of scale motivated Cisco to release the Nexus 1000v earlier this year. This virtual switch actually replaces VMware's vSwitch technology and manages the virtual network and security connections that take place within virtualized servers. It also gives network administrators a familiar interface for managing those connections, which are quite often handled by server administrators without the network administrators' knowledge.
Now, startup switch vendor Arista Networks has introduced its new virtual Extensible Operating System (vEOS). In some ways similar to the Nexus 1000v concept, Arista's vEOS is actually a software image of the EOS operating system that runs on all of Arista's physical switches. It functions as a virtual appliance, running inside the physical server that is hosting virtual servers. It doesn't replace VMware's vSwitch technology. Instead, the vEOS works with it, making vSwitch more scalable and familiar to network administrators, who find many of VMware's products too foreign.
"Clearly, the virtual switch that comes with VMware infrastructure is good, but it won't scale to the data center networking that people need," Whiteley said. "I think what Arista has done is very elegant from a software engineering perspective. They're not beating their chests on their ASICs and their hardware. They're appropriately spending a little more time on the concept of a truly stateful operating system."
Systems vs. networking: Battling for virtual network management control
The difference in approach between Arista and Cisco is also indicative of a quiet struggle that has been going between system administrators and network administrators for control of switching and management in virtualized data centers.
"Cisco wants to extend [its] control all the way up into servers and take control of them," Skorupa said. "Arista is certainly aligning [itself] with VMware."
Arista's vEOS may be based on the operating system that runs on its physical switches, but Skorupa believes the vEOS will go largely unused by network administrators. Instead, system administrators will have more of a use for it, he said. Systems guys have been managing switching within virtual hosts for a few years now, much to the chagrin of network administrators. The vEOS will allow them to continue on that path.
"It's the battle we've seen brewing and going on quietly in the background for the past year or so, which is: Who is in control?" Skorupa said. "Is the network guy in control when he puts the Cisco virtual switch into the VMware server? Or is the server guy in control when he uses the VMware embedded switch and then integrates with whichever networking vendor [such as Arista] he chooses?
Server administrators usually support virtual switching products that enable them to manage the process without relying on the networking team, Skorupa said.
"It creates political problems for the network guys," he said, "because they lose their influence and control."
Doug Gourlay, Arista's vice president of marketing, emphasized that the vEOS is aimed squarely at network administrators.
"The server guy can access vSphere with his familiar Web interface," Gourlay said. "The network administrator gains CLI and SMNP."
A new breed of administrator for the virtualized environment?
The so-called war between server and network factions in virtualized data centers may ultimately give way to a new hybrid data center role, a concept Whiteley describes as the virtualization administrator. These admins will be mostly server-oriented but will have strong storage and networking skills as well.
"The $5,000 price point [of Arista's vEOS] is the perfect price point to attack these virtualization administrators because they're going to be able to quickly solve the problems they have, which is scaling the network," Whiteley said. "At the same time, I don't think it completely alienates the networking team because it puts a decent working product in there that they will be able to use. Now, there will still be politics at play here because if the server team keeps procuring its own network infrastructure, even in a virtual form fact , let's hope they're looping in the network team. I don't think that's Arista's problem to solve. That's an internal challenge that companies have to work through."
Arista's vEOS comes free of charge with the purchase of an Arista 7000 switch. A scaled-back version of vEOS that addresses only visibility and troubleshooting is available free to anyone for a limited time. The full network configuration version is priced at $5,000.
SOURCE:
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Cisco patches up to prevent denial of service attacks
A flaw in the Firewall Services Module could be used for denial of service attacks.
Cisco has released an update that addresses a vulnerability in a series of switches and routers.
The flaw is in the Firewall Services Module (FWSM) for its Catalyst 6500 series switches and 7600 series routers.
An attacker could have caused a denial of service (DoS) attack if they sent "specially crafted ICMP" messages to the Firewall Services Module, Cisco said.
Cisco said it had not yet seen any cases of the flaw being exploited, but had observed data streams that had triggered it by accident.
The US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) encouraged users and administrators to review the advisory and apply the necessary updates and workarounds.
This new flaw follows a separate patch the networking company released on Wednesday for its IOS XR software, used on some of its routers.
This could have led to routing inconsistencies and denial-of-service.
SOURCE:
Cisco has released an update that addresses a vulnerability in a series of switches and routers.
The flaw is in the Firewall Services Module (FWSM) for its Catalyst 6500 series switches and 7600 series routers.
An attacker could have caused a denial of service (DoS) attack if they sent "specially crafted ICMP" messages to the Firewall Services Module, Cisco said.
Cisco said it had not yet seen any cases of the flaw being exploited, but had observed data streams that had triggered it by accident.
The US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) encouraged users and administrators to review the advisory and apply the necessary updates and workarounds.
This new flaw follows a separate patch the networking company released on Wednesday for its IOS XR software, used on some of its routers.
This could have led to routing inconsistencies and denial-of-service.
SOURCE:
Friday, August 14, 2009
Cisco gets set to make buildings intelligent
Bangalore: It was a leap of faith for Cisco Systems Inc. to announce its first business unit outside the US in Bangalore in February when chief executive John Chambers visited the city.
Energy-efficient: Sandeep Vij, vice-president and general manager of Converged Building Systems unit at Cisco Systems, says that with 25-30% energy saving, the return on investment is swift. Hemant Mishra / Mint
Energy-efficient: Sandeep Vij, vice-president and general manager of Converged Building Systems unit at Cisco Systems, says that with 25-30% energy saving, the return on investment is swift. Hemant Mishra / Mint
Now with the converged building systems, or CBS, unit ready to roll out products, Cisco says it has brought its technology closer to the market it intends to serve, which evidently is also the market where maximum urbanization is likely to happen.
In July, Cisco announced its smart connected buildings initiative, which is about integrating information technology (IT) into buildings to optimize energy use.
With 76% of all electricity used going towards running buildings anywhere in the world, multi-billion dollar business opportunities beckon technology providers, particularly the early starters. Both the commercial and residential building spaces are worth $12 billion (Rs58,080 crore) each, says Sandeep Vij, vice-president and general manager of the CBS unit at Cisco Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd. In fact, he sees “smart+connected communities” as the “birth of a new industry”.
The backbone of this initiative, at least initially, is the mediator technology which came through Cisco’s acquisition of a California company, Richards-Zeta Inc., in May. Mediator provides a centralized Internet protocol (IP)-based management of multiple systems running in a building including heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electricity, water, telephony and data.
The cost of the mediator and peripherals can start from $5,000 and go up to around $1 million. But Vij is quick to add that with 25-30% energy saving, the return on investment is swift.
“Cisco’s timing is right for their smarter, IP-enabled infrastructure across various sectors, given the increasing government funding across the globe,” say analysts Usman Sindhu and Doug Washburn at technology and market research firm Forrester Research.
The duo has been looking at the smart+connected communities concept ever since it was announced.
In June, Cisco signed an agreement with Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Co. Ltd and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd to set up a connected finance city. In February, the Karnataka government came on board to chart a road map for an “intelligent and sustainable” Bangalore.
Under its first phase, Bangalore’s transport and police departments are deploying Cisco’s technology.
“In the next phase, Cisco is keen to work with our state-run rural BPOs (state’s new initiative in business process outsourcing to enhance IT skills of rural people) and we’ve just begun discussing how a new Cisco-proposed model will complement the existing programme,” said Ashok Kumar C. Manoli, Karnataka’s principal secretary for IT. Education and health will come next, he added.
Sindhu and Washburn think Cisco has made a smart move, “especially working with city officials to get their buy-in at the initial stages of technology roll-out”. Besides Bangalore, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Incheon in South Korea and Amsterdam in the Netherlands are the cities where the company is providing flavours of the smarter city infrastructure.
But Cisco is also eyeing many technology companies in India which operate large and multiple campuses. “We have a healthy pipeline of responses,” says Vij, not disclosing which technology firms are keen on managing their energy footprint.
Analysts say Cisco’s strategy lies in the fact that it’s not alone in rolling out this infrastructure. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)is in the forefront with its “smart planet initiative”. In India, IBM has unveiled a digital video surveillance tool for threat and fraud detection and real estate company DLF Ltd is one of its early adopters.
“The solution helps DLF with real-time alerts and post-event analysis for investigative purposes, integrated dashboard for security sensors like cameras, access control readers, etc.,” said Ashish Kumar, general manager, global technology services, IBM India/South Asia.
As these schemes pick up, many vendors will get involved and provide niche capabilities such as security, validation testing and other such services. For instance, say Sindhu and Washburn, Hewlett-Packard Co. has stepped up to provide validation testing for smart meters before they hit the market.
But bandwidth guzzlers as these smart services are, poor network infrastructure could play a spoilsport. According to the latest Global Information Technology Report released in March, India ranks a lowly 54 among 134 countries in IT use, with only 0.3% broadband penetration. Forrester analysts say bandwidth is a bottleneck in other parts of the world as well since smart services require bandwidth-hungry applications such as “unified communications, telepresence and Web 2.0”.
Security is another concern. Sindhu and Washburn say “it is even neglected to some extent”. “For example, smart meters that are being rolled out under Smart Grid are not as secure as they should be. They need to be tested rigorously to bulletproof them from being breached.”
Cisco doesn’t underrate these challenges, says Vij. But for now it’s busy asking, “After voice, data and video, can we now move energy management to the network?”
SOURCE:
Energy-efficient: Sandeep Vij, vice-president and general manager of Converged Building Systems unit at Cisco Systems, says that with 25-30% energy saving, the return on investment is swift. Hemant Mishra / Mint
Energy-efficient: Sandeep Vij, vice-president and general manager of Converged Building Systems unit at Cisco Systems, says that with 25-30% energy saving, the return on investment is swift. Hemant Mishra / Mint
Now with the converged building systems, or CBS, unit ready to roll out products, Cisco says it has brought its technology closer to the market it intends to serve, which evidently is also the market where maximum urbanization is likely to happen.
In July, Cisco announced its smart connected buildings initiative, which is about integrating information technology (IT) into buildings to optimize energy use.
With 76% of all electricity used going towards running buildings anywhere in the world, multi-billion dollar business opportunities beckon technology providers, particularly the early starters. Both the commercial and residential building spaces are worth $12 billion (Rs58,080 crore) each, says Sandeep Vij, vice-president and general manager of the CBS unit at Cisco Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd. In fact, he sees “smart+connected communities” as the “birth of a new industry”.
The backbone of this initiative, at least initially, is the mediator technology which came through Cisco’s acquisition of a California company, Richards-Zeta Inc., in May. Mediator provides a centralized Internet protocol (IP)-based management of multiple systems running in a building including heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electricity, water, telephony and data.
The cost of the mediator and peripherals can start from $5,000 and go up to around $1 million. But Vij is quick to add that with 25-30% energy saving, the return on investment is swift.
“Cisco’s timing is right for their smarter, IP-enabled infrastructure across various sectors, given the increasing government funding across the globe,” say analysts Usman Sindhu and Doug Washburn at technology and market research firm Forrester Research.
The duo has been looking at the smart+connected communities concept ever since it was announced.
In June, Cisco signed an agreement with Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Co. Ltd and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd to set up a connected finance city. In February, the Karnataka government came on board to chart a road map for an “intelligent and sustainable” Bangalore.
Under its first phase, Bangalore’s transport and police departments are deploying Cisco’s technology.
“In the next phase, Cisco is keen to work with our state-run rural BPOs (state’s new initiative in business process outsourcing to enhance IT skills of rural people) and we’ve just begun discussing how a new Cisco-proposed model will complement the existing programme,” said Ashok Kumar C. Manoli, Karnataka’s principal secretary for IT. Education and health will come next, he added.
Sindhu and Washburn think Cisco has made a smart move, “especially working with city officials to get their buy-in at the initial stages of technology roll-out”. Besides Bangalore, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Incheon in South Korea and Amsterdam in the Netherlands are the cities where the company is providing flavours of the smarter city infrastructure.
But Cisco is also eyeing many technology companies in India which operate large and multiple campuses. “We have a healthy pipeline of responses,” says Vij, not disclosing which technology firms are keen on managing their energy footprint.
Analysts say Cisco’s strategy lies in the fact that it’s not alone in rolling out this infrastructure. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)is in the forefront with its “smart planet initiative”. In India, IBM has unveiled a digital video surveillance tool for threat and fraud detection and real estate company DLF Ltd is one of its early adopters.
“The solution helps DLF with real-time alerts and post-event analysis for investigative purposes, integrated dashboard for security sensors like cameras, access control readers, etc.,” said Ashish Kumar, general manager, global technology services, IBM India/South Asia.
As these schemes pick up, many vendors will get involved and provide niche capabilities such as security, validation testing and other such services. For instance, say Sindhu and Washburn, Hewlett-Packard Co. has stepped up to provide validation testing for smart meters before they hit the market.
But bandwidth guzzlers as these smart services are, poor network infrastructure could play a spoilsport. According to the latest Global Information Technology Report released in March, India ranks a lowly 54 among 134 countries in IT use, with only 0.3% broadband penetration. Forrester analysts say bandwidth is a bottleneck in other parts of the world as well since smart services require bandwidth-hungry applications such as “unified communications, telepresence and Web 2.0”.
Security is another concern. Sindhu and Washburn say “it is even neglected to some extent”. “For example, smart meters that are being rolled out under Smart Grid are not as secure as they should be. They need to be tested rigorously to bulletproof them from being breached.”
Cisco doesn’t underrate these challenges, says Vij. But for now it’s busy asking, “After voice, data and video, can we now move energy management to the network?”
SOURCE:
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