Avatar

In a hyper-connected world, every consumer is continuously making a trade-off between the value of information and/or services they are receiving and the impact on privacy.  I believe this comparison amounts to a “Return on Exposure” — a value exchange in which the consumer must determine if the value they’re receiving is worth what they are giving up in privacy.

Continue reading “The Monetization of Me: Calculating the Return on Exposure”



Avatar

I see and hear a variety of acronyms being used on a daily basis. I recently heard one tossed around with good humor that makes a point: TMA or Too Many Acronyms. Every once in a while, when I think I’ve embedded the definition and use of an acronym into my long-term memory (anything beyond an extended weekend), it seems as if either a new acronym was spawned, or it has been overloaded with a different meaning. My goal in this blog post is offer both a refresher on some topical acronyms that appear to be quite commonly circulated in security technology circles and media outlets. It is challenging to be a subject matter expert in every aspect of cyber security. Whether you are reading an article, joining a conversation or preparing for a presentation or certification in the realm of cyber security, you may not be completely perplexed by these acronyms when you come across them and become more familiar with them. For situational purposes, I organized the acronyms into categories where I have seen them used frequently and included related links for each of them.

Network Infrastructure

AAAAuthentication, Authorization, and Accounting. This is a set of actions that enable you to control over who is allowed access to the network, what services they are allowed to use once they have access, and track the services and network resources being accessed.

ACL/tACL/iACL/VACL/PACLAccess Control List. ACLs are used to filter traffic based upon a set of rules that you define. For ACLs listed with a prefix (for example, t=transit, i=infrastructure, V=VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network), P=Port)), these ACLs have special purposes to address a particular need within the network.

FW/NGFW/FWSM/ASASM: Firewall/Next Generation Firewall/Firewall Service Module/Adaptive Security Appliance Services Module. These products provide a set of security features designed to govern the communications via the network. Cisco provides firewall features as a dedicated appliance or hardware module that can be added to a network device such as a router.

IPS: Intrusion Prevention System. Typically, this is a network appliance that is used to examine network traffic for the purposes of protecting against targeted attacks, malware, and application and operating system vulnerabilities. In order to ensure the effectiveness of a Cisco IPS device, it  should be maintained using Cisco’s IPS subscription service.

DNSSECDomain Name System (DNS) Security Extensions. That’s right, we have an acronym within an acronym. These are the specifications for security characteristics that make it possible to verify the authenticity of information stored in DNS. This validation makes it possible to provide assurances to resolvers that when they request a particular piece of information from the DNS, that they receive the correct information published by the authoritative source. Continue reading “TMA? Get Some Relief from Acronym Overload”



Authors

Avatar

Live Webinar on 802.11ac in Healthcare July 16, 10am | Register Now

3600_module

With any new wireless technology, much of what is initially written in the first year is usually focused around the bits and bytes and the speeds and feeds of the technology. This is true for 802.11ac where any Google search will yield a plethora of articles on the potential of Gigabit wireless or that it runs on the 5GHz band and could have up to 8 spatial streams. However, the conversations must start moving towards discussing how the technology can be used in practical situations. In the case of our 802.11ac Module for the 3600, we feel very strongly that it is necessary to not only talk about the speeds and feeds of  802.11ac, but also show how a customer plans to use 802.11ac.

That’s why at our popular presentation at Cisco Live! Orlando, we first discussed the 802.11ac Standard, Cisco’s 802.11ac solution and how it can be used in various networks, and then invited representatives from Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX to discuss their experience to date with 802.11ac. Continue reading “802.11ac in the Healthcare Industry”



Authors

Bill Rubino

Product Marketing Manager

Enterprise Networking and Cloud Marketing

Avatar

Cisco Live! has come to a close and I want my first Cisco Guest Blog post to be about my amazing week in Orlando.  I am a Wireless Engineer based in St. Petersburg, Florida and I try to make it to Cisco Live! as often as possible (which has been every other year recently).

The Keynotes were great this year.  I loved the Opening presentation by Cisco CEO John Chambers on the Internet of Everything but I think my favorite was the presentation by Dave Evans @DaveTheFuturist on the future of the IoE and how our world will keep connecting.  The Closing Keynote with Sir Richard Branson was great.  Check out the video of it and the other keynotes on Cisco Live 365! as well.

I also attended a Cisco ISE TECSEC-3671 Tech section on Sunday and it was filled with excellent information.  If you are interested in ISE (Cisco Identity Service Engine) take a look at this two hour version of the class. You’ll need to register on the Cisco Live 365!, which is free. at Cisco Live 365! If you don’t know about ISE this PDF gives an excellent overview. In the course of the conference I had the chance to take some amazing sessions and the presenters are always leaders in their field so the Q&A is almost as good as the session.

session

Continue reading “Learning, Friends and Social Networking at #CLUS”



Authors

William Maguire

Wireless Network Engineer

Avatar

It’s hard to refute that modern-day learning has evolved from a traditional four wall setting. Just as consumers want to be able to access content from their preferred device and location, such as on a tablet while traveling via a train or mobile device while out to dinner with a prospective client, learning is now taking place in a manner – and location – most preferred by the teacher and student. These new teaching and learning methods are driven by transformative technologies and taking place outside of the lecture-style classroom setting we were accustomed to growing up.

Continue reading “Technology + Education: Better Together”



Authors

Greg Mathison

M.S., Ph.D., Manager

Cisco Education Solutions

Avatar
Cisco ONS 15454 M6 DWDM Platform
Cisco ONS 15454 M6 DWDM Platform

It’s been a busy year (and by year, we mean fiscal year, which ends in a few weeks) for Cisco’s optical solutions team. We’ve had a number of customer announcements for our 100G nLight DWDM technology and most recently scooped up an award for our CPAK-based 100G transponder card. Service providers across the globe have responded positively to Cisco’s ability to extend 100G services across network that were engineered for 10G wavelengths, and with CPAK we’re reducing the space and power and increasing the density of 100G services in routers (CRS-X), data center switches (Nexus 7000), and optical transport equipment (ONS15454 MSTP).

The news for today centers on our latest customer announcement for our DWDM solution, Vectra S.A., one of the largest cable operators in Poland has deployed Cisco for their new national fiber optic backbone. The network is a nationwide ring, connecting nearly thirty
 cities around Poland, including Warsaw, Katowice, Wroclaw, Poznan, Radom, Bydgoszcz, Torun, and Gdynia. Continue reading “Polish Cable Operator Vectra Readies their Network for 100G”



Avatar

Info in the ‘cloud’ can help when stranded …or planning ahead  

Many of us dream about getting away from it all while on vacation. But those days may be long gone as more of us pack our smartphone when we hit the road. Add a tablet or two to your carry on and you’d rather lose your underwear than this bag.

So despite any desire to unplug, stay connected for all the cool travel apps that may make the difference between seeing George Clooney’s villa on Lake Como from a travel brochure or in person by finding it say on Trip Advisor’s mobile app.

george clooney - close
Actor George Clooney’s Villa on Lake Como

Smartphone apps are great for having information (literally) at your fingertips. Apps like Kayak and Hotel Tonight often have hotel rates cheaper than you’d find on web sites – certainly on a hotel’s web site — and this you have to love:  They display the rates for international hotels in U.S dollars.


Best Western Venice
Best Western Venice on KayakBest Western Venice on Kayak

Of course you need to be on the Internet to access many apps, but some like Trip Advisor’s offline city guides you can download while on Wi-Fi and use later when you’re not online.

One of the best things to come along for the international traveler is an app called Viber that uses VoIP technology so you escape high roaming charges. You get FREE text messaging and phone calls …but anyone you communicate with must also have Viber.

When you are connected to the Internet, travel apps work so well because they reside in the cloud where content is updated dynamically in real time, giving you access to the latest information. My Facebook friend and Cisco colleague Guido Jouret used this to his advantage when his long flight to SFO was diverted recently after a European vacation.

Once on the ground, try some of these:

Peek isn’t an app yet but a very new web-based travel guide with great ideas for activities in various cities, and even includes live chat with a travel expert.

AroundMe tells you all the points of interest located near you. It detects your current location, and lets you select from categories like bars, cafés, hospitals, and hotels to find what you like.

Mtrip guide/trip planner generates auto itineraries of places to go according to types of places you enjoy.

Orient gives you a compass view of certain locations nearby. If you’re doing a walking tour of a city, Orient shows you the directions and distance to of your destinations.

World Lens is for both iphones and android phones and lets you point your smartphone’s video camera at a word on a sign and watch as it’s translated from one language to another.

Expensify keeps track of your purchases and transactions by syncing with your credit cards and bank accounts. It also acts as a receipt scanner by using your phone’s camera. After your trip, you’re sent a PDF report of all your spending.

For news on my friend Guido’s trip home from Europe, I turned to my smartphone’s Facebook app …and there he was, almost home.

Please send me your comments and how you use the Internet during your summer travels so I can use them on my next vacation.

Mary



Avatar

Both Cisco and Microsoft are committed to helping partners be the trusted advisors to customers embracing virtualization and cloud computing. Today at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference, we made a series of announcements with Microsoft to not only accelerate the deployment of private cloud infrastructure worldwide, but also invest in our mutual channel partners to bring these data center solutions to customers.

Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) is a foundational element of our Unified Data Center architecture, and has continued to gain growth and acceptance in the industry. We’re now recognized as No. 2 in x86 blade servers by researcher IDC and leading this segment of the server market in some parts of the world. Cisco partners, especially, have helped broaden our reach and increase our influencer recognition.

Our most important task now is to provide joint Cisco and Microsoft channel partners with the air cover needed to help customers simplify their IT operations, create more effective cloud deployments and realize the significant cost savings and efficiency benefits of optimized data centers.  Continue reading “Empowering Cisco and Microsoft Partners in the Data Center”



Avatar

In my last two blogs I discussed the challenges Enterprises are facing for their WAN, the differences between Enterprise needs in their LAN and WAN, and how the traditional ONF model for SDN isn’t practical for the Enterprise WAN.  Let’s now look at how the new Cisco ONE Enterprise Architecture can address this.

Cisco ONE Enterprise Network Architecture

The new Cisco ONE Enterprise Networks Architecture based on Cisco Open Network Environment (ONE) was introduced at InterOp Las Vegas during Rob Soderbery’s keynote, with a deeper dive in a blog by Inbar Lasser-Raab  (shown in Figure 2). Briefly, the 3 layers are similar to SDN Architecture but are also vastly different in the following ways:

ONE Enterprise Networks Architecture GameChanger Continue reading “Cisco ONE Enterprise Networks Architecture: Programmability for WAN Networks”



Authors

Satish Katpally

Senior Marketing Manager

Application Centric Infrastructure, SDN, ONE Software Suites