News

News

• January 08, 2015 08 Jan'15

  New, branded open network hardware model emerges

  Hyperscale data center operators have radically altered their infrastructure with open network hardware that runs a range of operating systems. As this strategy trickles down into the enterprise, vendors are unveiling branded-but-open technology.

• January 07, 2015 07 Jan'15

  Few ISPs offer high broadband speeds; Google's Title II cost benefit

  In telecom news, a report found little competition among ISPs at higher broadband speeds, and Google discusses potential cost benefits with Title II reclassification.

• November 26, 2014 26 Nov'14

  User activity monitoring is just as critical as asset monitoring

  User Activity Monitoring is as important as asset monitoring for enterprise network security, finds research from Enterprise Management Associates.

• November 18, 2014 18 Nov'14

  A VPLS Network procurement walkthrough

  Organisations should never be forced into a features and benefits conversation with their prospective service providers. The majority of network designs produced by our BT Business partnership ...

• October 28, 2014 28 Oct'14

  VSS Monitoring offers midrange network packet broker

  VSS Monitoring offers a low-price network packet broker to network monitoring operations in mainstream, midrange enterprises.

• Sponsored News

  • It’s Time to Modernize Your SOC

    Sponsored by Microsoft - With the shift to remote work caused by COVID-19, Security Operations Centers (SOCs) are under more pressure than ever, particularly with many SOC workers also working from home. Today’s reality is that SOCs have to embrace a new way of working in order to keep their analysts and admins effective and to ensure that morale doesn’t collapse under the weight of too much work and pressure. See More

  • 6 Factors to Consider in Building Resilience Now

    Sponsored by Microsoft - COVID-19 has been, and continues to be, a stark reminder of the importance of business resilience. Organizations of all types and sizes have had to adjust to rapidly changing and unpredictable circumstances: A shift to remote work, supply chain disruptions, new digitally driven business models and an environment where uncertainty is the rule, not the exception. See More

  • Why Zero Trust, Why Now

    Sponsored by Microsoft - The concept of a Zero Trust cybersecurity architecture has been around for more than a decade, but adoption didn’t really begin to take hold until the past couple of years. As with many technology innovations, it hasn’t always been clear just what Zero Trust is all about and, more important, how to implement it easily and cost effectively. See More

  • 5 Best Practices To Secure Remote Workers

    Sponsored by Microsoft - The impact of COVID-19 has changed the dynamics and landscape of remote work for at least the foreseeable future and, probably, forever. All of a sudden, organizations across all industries had to scale remote workers at unprecedented intensity and speed. See More

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• October 15, 2014 15 Oct'14

  NEC slashes OpenFlow prices with a $3,000 SDN starter pack

  NEC is hoping to push OpenFlow technology to a wider audience with a low-cost SDN starter pack.

• October 14, 2014 14 Oct'14

  New HP network virtualization overlay is based on Nuage software

  Distributed Cloud Networking is HP network virtualization software that borrows network overlay technology from ALU's Nuage Networks subsidiary.

• October 09, 2014 09 Oct'14

  Pica8 switch software now with ONIE, available for free download

  Pica8 switch software PicOS now supports ONIE bootloader. Pica8 also offers a limited test version for free download onto white-box switches.

• October 06, 2014 06 Oct'14

  BT IP Clear Playbook for UK IT Management

  US readers will no doubt tune out but wait. Although BT IP Clear is a UK based service, the technology refers (as a rule, there are exceptions) to unmanaged connectivity from BT. The US market is ...

• September 18, 2014 18 Sep'14

  Five commercial SDN controllers to know about

  Like open source controllers, commercial SDN controllers have begun to come to market as part of various vendors' SDN platforms. We rounded up five commercial SDN controllers to know about.

• September 16, 2014 16 Sep'14

  ONF launches vendor-neutral SDN certification program

  With its SDN certification program, the ONF aims to set a standard for engineers to have a broad, foundational understanding of SDN technology and concepts.

• August 25, 2014 25 Aug'14

  VMware NSX locks network security down with micro-segmentation

  At VMworld 2014, VMware highlighted the network security benefits of NSX, with micro-segmentation that makes every VM an island.

• August 25, 2014 25 Aug'14

  F5 BIG-IQ meets VMware NSX for L4-7 orchestration

  Cloud architects can now automate the instantiation of F5 network services on VMware NSX networks through new F5 BIG-IP integration with NSX.

• August 01, 2014 01 Aug'14

  Transit companies seek to upgrade communications capabilities

  Amtrak's announcement to upgrade its on-board Wi-Fi emphasizes the pressure on the transportation industry to provide faster service at a low cost.

• July 31, 2014 31 Jul'14

  Cisco ACI is now shipping, with $250K starter kits

  Cisco ACI is now shipping, with starter kits available at $250,000. Network engineers will now measure ACI against VMware NSX and other overlays.

• July 29, 2014 29 Jul'14

  Five must-know open source SDN controllers

  Open source SDN controllers enable the testing of applications and the promotion of network virtualization and NFV. Check out five open source SDN controllers to know about.

• July 21, 2014 21 Jul'14

  SDN and DevOps to shrink network teams, weaken their control, IDC says

  With SDN and DevOps, IT teams will shift control of the network to collaborative teams of virtualization, server, application and network pros. This will shrink network teams and force network pros to reposition themselves.

• July 17, 2014 17 Jul'14

  How Apple iOS MAC address spoofing affects location-based services

  Apple iOS 8 will add a MAC address spoofing feature to iPhones and iPads for wireless privacy. It could interfere with Wi-Fi location-based services used by many consumer-facing businesses.

• July 15, 2014 15 Jul'14

  Arista switch pioneers 100 GbE uplinks in top-of-rack

  Arista announced top-of-rack 7280E with 100 GbE uplinks. It also released an optic that allows a migration from 10 to 40 GbE without a fiber upgrade.

• June 19, 2014 19 Jun'14

  Network Innovation Award: ThousandEyes multiplies view

  ThousandEyes is this month's SearchNetworking Network Innovation Award winner for its network performance platform.

• May 29, 2014 29 May'14

  SDN blogs: Ansible for network automation; SDN, IPv6 hype?

  Bloggers look at network automation with Ansible; SDN, IPv6 hype; and the differences between SDN, automation and orchestration.

• May 20, 2014 20 May'14

  Do OpenDaylight and OpenStack compete or complement?

  OpenDaylight and OpenStack combine to enable IT as a service, but first the communities must wade through the overlapping features.

• April 23, 2014 23 Apr'14

  Choices in SDN wireless technology emerge

  New SDN wireless technology uses intelligent controllers in the cloud to granularly direct traffic and policy among access points on premises.

• April 16, 2014 16 Apr'14

  VMware, Microsoft end encapsulation protocol turf war with GENEVE

  Microsoft, VMware, Intel and Red Hat have submitted the GENEVE encapsulation protocol to the IETF for network overlay standardization.

• April 02, 2014 02 Apr'14

  Cisco OpFlex: A southbound SDN protocol for network policy control

  Cisco proposed OpFlex as an alternative, southbound SDN control protocol that relies on distributed network intelligence.

• March 31, 2014 31 Mar'14

  OpenFlow as a network control protocol goes deeper than data center

  OpenFlow can be transformed into a network control protocol that pushes past Layer 2 to transform the WAN and optical transport layer of the network.

• March 04, 2014 04 Mar'14

  Boost your network productivity for free with 'lost things'

  Like Tinker Bell, network engineers can work magic by sprinkling fairy dust on formerly dormant equipment. And it doesn't cost a cent.

• February 28, 2014 28 Feb'14

  Open Networking Summit 2014: Let's talk scalability and SDN use cases

  Plexxi's Michael Bushong says the Open Networking Summit 2014 should move beyond the SDN buzz and into the technical nitty-gritty.

• February 25, 2014 25 Feb'14

  RSA security conference still relevant in today's landscape?

  The RSA conference convenes in San Francisco this week. But, asks Michele Chubirka, is the meeting really focusing on the critical issues?

• February 14, 2014 14 Feb'14

  SDN security issues: How secure is the SDN stack?

  The security and integrity of software-defined networking remains unproven, particularly the controller, which is a single point of failure.

• January 29, 2014 29 Jan'14

  Cisco SDN push: Commercial OpenDaylight controller, ACI progress

  The multifaceted Cisco SDN onslaught trudged forward with the OpenDaylight-based XNC controller, onePK support on the Nexus 7700 and ACI momentum.

• January 23, 2014 23 Jan'14

  Cisco CCNP Security certification revised to be less device-centric

  Cisco's revision of the CCNP Security certification curriculum will teach engineers how to do their jobs rather than master devices.

• January 10, 2014 10 Jan'14

  Thinking about SDN? Here are 42 vendors that offer SDN products

  After determining your organizational needs, it's time to find a vendor whose SDN product works for you. Here are 42 vendors that sell SDN products.

• January 08, 2014 08 Jan'14

  14 questions to ask SDN vendors before investing

  Considering SDN technology? SDN expert Ethan Banks breaks down 14 questions to pose to an SDN vendor before investing in their technology.

• December 18, 2013 18 Dec'13

  15 SDN experts to follow on Twitter

  Whether they were sharing content or chatting with peers, SDN experts had a lot to say on Twitter this year. We picked out 15 to follow.

• December 11, 2013 11 Dec'13

  Between Cisco and VMware SDN, which will network engineers choose?

  In the Cisco vs. VMware SDN battle, Cisco ACI may win out among network engineers, who are more comfortable with the hardware-centric approach.

• December 06, 2013 06 Dec'13

  Ten SDN blogs worth following

  2013 was a big year for SDN, and no other group had more to say about the new technology than SDN bloggers. We rounded up ten SDN blogs worth reading.

• December 05, 2013 05 Dec'13

  How SDN and NFV simplify network service chain provisioning

  SDN and NFV simplify service chain provisioning, making it easier and cheaper to spin up applications in enterprise and service provider networks.

• December 02, 2013 02 Dec'13

  Bare metal switches: Will merchant silicon take over networking?

  New vendors are pushing network architectures that decouple software from hardware and run on bare metal switches with merchant silicon. Have we reached the x86 era in networking?

• November 27, 2013 27 Nov'13

  VMware adds NSX firewall integration with Palo Alto Networks

  VMware NSX integration with Palo Alto Networks applies advanced security policies to network virtualization overlay traffic.

• November 19, 2013 19 Nov'13

  Nexus 9000 vs. Nexus 7000: What's in your future?

  Cisco's new SDN master plan revolves around new hardware -- the Nexus 9000. Are your old Nexus switches obsolete?

• November 18, 2013 18 Nov'13

  Your next job may be 'network programmer': What you'll need to know

  SDN brings flexibility to networking, but this will require engineers to gain new skills in order to fill the emerging role of network programmer.

• November 14, 2013 14 Nov'13

  Competitors on Cisco SDN strategy: Is hardware really the answer?

  Cisco competitors blasted the new Cisco SDN strategy, saying it uses inflexible hardware for software-driven networks and bypasses SDN standards.

• November 13, 2013 13 Nov'13

  Can multiple SSID Wi-Fi configurations contribute to performance woes?

  Multiple SSID network configurations can be trimmed down with dynamic policy controllers in order to boost wireless LAN performance.

• November 07, 2013 07 Nov'13

  Juniper Contrail's open source SDN will change the enterprise network

  Glen Kemp discusses Juniper's open source SDN controller and the impact the OpenContrail project and NFV may have on enterprise customers.

• October 29, 2013 29 Oct'13

  Jennifer Rexford: The road to SDN programming language started at AT&T

  SDN researcher Jennifer Rexford talks about her work with SDN programming languages and Pyretic, a Python-based language for OpenFlow networks.

• September 27, 2013 27 Sep'13

  Five key issues admins face when configuring Cisco routers and switches

  Two Cisco-certified experts detail the five biggest challenges admins face when configuring Cisco routers and switches.

• September 19, 2013 19 Sep'13

  Brocade's new Vyatta virtual router is 10x faster

  Brocade's Vyatta 5600 virtual router is 10 times faster, setting the stage for telco deployments, NFV and high-performance overlays.

• September 13, 2013 13 Sep'13

  Will SDN pose network security vulnerabilities? It depends

  With a centralized control plane and easy-to-use APIs, does SDN introduce new network security vulnerabilities? New SDN security strategies can help.

• September 10, 2013 10 Sep'13

  802.11ac range issues: Overcoming wireless signal shortcomings

  802.11ac range is shorter than previous Wi-Fi standards. Enterprises can overcome range shortcomings with range extenders, additional access points.

• September 09, 2013 09 Sep'13

  VMware network virtualization will spell trouble for Cisco, eventually

  The VMware network virtualization platform won't end the Cisco-VMware relationship, but it could hurt Cisco in the data center over the long term.

• August 27, 2013 27 Aug'13

  Vendors link hardware switches with VMware NSX network virtualization

  Every major network hardware vendor minus Cisco announced integration of their physical switches with the VMware NSX network virtualization platform.

• August 22, 2013 22 Aug'13

  Agile vs. Waterfall development: Embracing each method appropriately

  The pros and cons of Agile and Waterfall development are telling. Handle development processes thoughtfully to benefit from both.

• August 05, 2013 05 Aug'13

  Using big data for SDN: How analytics will enable programmability

  Using big data for SDN is important for centralized control and programmability, but do the tools exist to mine data and then apply it to the network?

• August 01, 2013 01 Aug'13

  HP Networking Lifetime Warranty 2.0: Free 24/7 phone support

  HP Networking's lifetime warranty gets a boost with free 24/7 phone support for three years on all campus switches and branch routers.

• July 30, 2013 30 Jul'13

  Integrating Open vSwitch management into the OpenDaylight controller

  OpenDaylight will integrate Open vSwitch management protocol, OVSDB, into its controller for the ability to provision and manage virtual switches.

• July 29, 2013 29 Jul'13

  IETF SDN standards emerge: Southbound protocols, NFV, service chains

  The new IETF SDN standards group, I2RS, will work on southbound programming protocols, NFV and network service chains. And that''s just the start.

• July 25, 2013 25 Jul'13

  SDN basics: Five questions answered

  Understanding SDN basics is key. We rounded up five reader questions answered by our experts that provide insight as to how SDN can and should be used.

• July 01, 2013 01 Jul'13

  Five SDN use cases: From video to service orchestration

  After much conversation around SDN theory, a number of SDN use cases are finally starting to emerge. We rounded up five examples of SDN in action.

• June 27, 2013 27 Jun'13

  Networking blogs: CCIE exam advice, integrating the overlay network

  In this week's blog roundup, get CCIE exam study tips, find out how CISOs can keep control of IT, and learn more about integrating overlay networking.

• June 21, 2013 21 Jun'13

  Traffic analytics in the new IT landscape: NetFlow vs. sFlow

  Traffic monitoring and analytics are imperative today for network hardware. But Is NetFlow or sFlow better for you?

• June 21, 2013 21 Jun'13

  InCNTRE's OpenFlow SDN testing lab works toward certified SDN product

  Indiana University's InCNTRE SDN lab is conducting conformance testing that will lead to the first OpenFlow 1.0.1 certified product, expected for release this summer.

• May 15, 2013 15 May'13

  Wi-Fi Alliance certification program offers more enterprise solutions

  The Wi-Fi Alliance certification program continue to expand as more devices, applications and users rely on Wi-Fi for connectivity.

• May 13, 2013 13 May'13

  The changing role of the network admin, as told by networking vendors

  Networking vendors at Interop 2013 discuss the changing role of the network administrator.

• May 06, 2013 06 May'13

  Interop Conference 2013

  Your home for all the news at Interop Conference 2013. Cloud computing, SDN, big data, virtualization, data center networking and more from New York City.

• May 02, 2013 02 May'13

  Arista upgrades 7500 for massive leaf-and-spine network architecture

  With its new, high-density 10/40/100 GbE 7500E switch, Arista Networks enables customers to build massive leaf-and-spine networks.

• April 30, 2013 30 Apr'13

  Overheard on Twitter: SDN network provisioning, bandwidth calendaring

  This week, SearchSDN hosted its first tweetup and discussed ONS 2013 topics like network provisioning, bandwidth calendaring and SDN use cases.

• April 26, 2013 26 Apr'13

  VSS Monitoring: Passive and inline monitoring in network packet broker

  Network packet broker specialist VSS Monitoring combines passive and inline packet capture, adds SSL offload device.

• April 24, 2013 24 Apr'13

  Defining a strategy for using virtual switches in your network

  As you plan a strategy to up the number of virtual switches in your network, brush up on distributed and non-distributed virtual switch choices.

• April 23, 2013 23 Apr'13

  Intel DPDK, switch and server ref designs push SDN ecosystem forward

  Intel jumped headfirst into SDN with its DPDK for accelerated Open vSwitch and reference designs for SDN-friendly servers and switches.

• April 03, 2013 03 Apr'13

  Alcatel-Lucent launches an SDN company, Nuage Networks

  Nuage Networks, Alcatel-Lucent's new SDN company, uses overlay technology for dynamic provisioning of virtual networks across data center domains.

• March 15, 2013 15 Mar'13

  Network Innovation Award: Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls

  Palo Alto has won the SearchNetworking Network Innovation Award for next-generation firewalls that work throughout campus and data center networks.

• February 01, 2013 01 Feb'13

  New Cisco ASIC has a programmable data plane

  The new Cisco ASIC, Unified Access Data Plane, is a programmable chip that will accelerate product development across its campus switching products.

• December 13, 2012 13 Dec'12

  Why Nicira abandoned OpenFlow hardware control

  Nicira's founding engineers invented OpenFlow, but they say it won't work for data center-class, hardware forwarding. Martin Casado explains.

• December 07, 2012 07 Dec'12

  Network engineer jobs: Satisfaction comes from challenge, not money

  Network engineer job satisfaction is driven more by intellectual challenge than big money, according to TechTarget's IT Salary Survey 2012.

• November 29, 2012 29 Nov'12

  Got IP address management problems? Think DNS, DHCP, IPAM trifecta

  If your network has gotten too complicated for basic IP address management, it may be time to consider a DNS, DHCP, IPAM tool combination.

• November 27, 2012 27 Nov'12

  Software-defined networking washing is the new cloud washing

  Marketing pros sell every new technology as if it's software-defined networking. But this 'SDN washing' masks true innovation and insults our intelligence.

• August 28, 2012 28 Aug'12

  New VMware networking features at VMworld, but no Nicira info

  VMware debuted a network virtualization package, vCloud Networking and Security, and updated distributed vSwitch at Vmworld, but no Nicira details.

• August 16, 2012 16 Aug'12

  Arista: SDN is about programmable networks not overlays

  Arista EOS already lets engineers build programmable networks and provision network segments, so why bother with software defined network overlays?

• July 24, 2012 24 Jul'12

  VMware acquires network virtualization vendor Nicira for $1.2B

  Server virtualization leader VMware boosts its networking credentials by acquiring network virtualization startup Nicira Networks.

• July 06, 2012 06 Jul'12

  Survey: Firewall rules sprawl makes firewall policy management a mess

  Bloated firewall rules are making security unmanageable and audits a nightmare, according to a survey by firewall management vendor Athena.

• June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12

  Software-defined networking is not OpenFlow, companies proclaim

  Software-defined networking (SDN) and OpenFlow are no longer synonymous. Now vendors are taking individual approaches to SDN using other methods. What does this mean for OpenFlow?

• June 19, 2012 19 Jun'12

  VMware networking CTO on OpenFlow

  In part two of our Q&A with VMware networking CTO Allwyn Sequeira, we ask him about VMware's plans for OpenFlow..

• June 14, 2012 14 Jun'12

  Cisco SDN response: Programmable networks, not OpenFlow

  With Cisco ONE, Cisco moves beyond software-defined networking, introducing APIs and virtual network overlays that enable programmable networks.

• June 13, 2012 13 Jun'12

  IPv6 timeline: The road to a new protocol

  IPv6 migration and development has been ongoing for more than 15 years. This IPv6 timeline notes some of the key milestones on the road to establishing a new IP address protocol.

• April 20, 2012 20 Apr'12

  Cisco software-defined networking: OpenFlow alone 'will not cut it'

  OpenFlow will play a tiny role in the Cisco software-defined networking strategy, which will focus on making existing Cisco networks programmable. OpenFlow supporters are wary.

• April 18, 2012 18 Apr'12

  Arista FPGA switch could revolutionize Layer 4-7 network services

  With its embedded field-programmable gate array, Arista's new switch may resonate beyond the latency-phobic government and financial sectors and transform Layer 4-7 services.

• March 21, 2012 21 Mar'12

  The ultimate network monitoring software? A Splunk primer

  With machine data search capability plus monitoring and management tools, Splunk is the ultimate network monitoring software.

• March 20, 2012 20 Mar'12

  Network Innovation Award: Cisco Prime for service-centric management

  Cisco Prime is the winner of the SearchNetworking.com Network Innovation Award for management. Cisco Prime integrates network, endpoint and application-level information.

• February 22, 2012 22 Feb'12

  VoIP over WAN: Basic network considerations

  With proper configuration and good system management, VoIP over WAN delivers good voice quality.

• February 21, 2012 21 Feb'12

  Nicira network virtualization architecture: The VMware of networking?

  In this Q&A, Nicira Networks' Martin Casado and Alan S. Cohen explain why their network virtualization architecture may be the VMware of networking.

• February 08, 2012 08 Feb'12

  WAN optimization Magic Quadrant: Bandwidth management is an old hat

  WAN optimization has evolved beyond bandwidth management, according to Gartner's new Magic Quadrant: Enterprises need cloud and mobile optimization.

• February 07, 2012 07 Feb'12

  Cisco Live London: Cisco debuts 4x4 MIMO wireless LAN access point

  At Cisco Live London, Cisco introduced a three-stream 4x4 MIMO wireless LAN access point, the faster and longer-range Aironet 3600.

• December 21, 2011 21 Dec'11

  Zappos cloud security strategy: Distributed management

  Zappos might be owned by cloud king Amazon, but the organization is still grappling with creating a measured cloud security strategy. The answer? Distributed management.

• November 17, 2011 17 Nov'11

  OpenFlow applications work where network management tools fail

  OpenFlow applications beat network management tools, offering a holistic view of the network's configuration and granular control even in a dynamic virtualized environment.

• October 21, 2011 21 Oct'11

  Ipanema Technologies revs up cheap WAN optimization trend with nano|engine line

  Ipanema Technologies pioneers a nano|engine line that promises cheap WAN optimization solutions for small branch offices at a price 10 to20 times less than average boxes.

• October 12, 2011 12 Oct'11

  Hotspot 2.0 primer: Another step toward Wi-Fi/cellular integration

  Hotspot 2.0 and the IEEE 802.11u protocol could allow mobile device users to securely roam between Wi-Fi and cellular networks without stopping to authenticate.

• October 03, 2011 03 Oct'11

  Junosphere Lab: Juniper's cloud-based lab for enterprise customers

  Juniper Networks today introduced a new version of its cloud-based network engineering lab, Junosphere. The new version, Junosphere Lab, gives enterprises and services providers cloud-based access ...

• September 12, 2011 12 Sep'11

  Unified network management planning: Integrating wired and wireless

  To deploy unified network management, enterprises must look at the current network infrastructure, how users connect to the network and possibly embracing platforms like the cloud.

• July 08, 2011 08 Jul'11

  4G wireless WAN services with SLAs: Too good to be true?

  Despite the hype, 4G is as much of a best-effort consumer service as 3G is for branches. But Sprint is trying to make 4G business-ready with its new wireless WAN services.