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Archive for the 'Las Vegas 2008' Category

Jun 12th, 2008 | Geoff Horne

InteropNet Statistics: Sometimes we do keep track

Geoff Horne

We had a big push this year to actually keep track of some of our more common statistics and events that occur in the network. Fortunately for us ScienceLogic, our Network Monitoring and Helpdesk provider, not only tracked everything that went on, but dug out some of the more interesting values. Louis DiMeglio has posted them on the Sciencelogic Blog

There is some more information on the help desk due out in a few days, but one of the most interesting thinges we found is that by offering DHCP on the show floor our end user configuration tickets dropped to essentially zero.

You can read Lou’s post here

May 1st, 2008 | David Berlind

Interop: IronPort’s S-Series Blocks Suspicious Content At The Web Page Component Level

David Berlind

Here at Interop 2008 in Las Vegas, IronPort (a division of Cisco (NSDQ: CSCO)) is showing off its latest security solutions — the S650 and the S350 Web Security Appliances. The S-Series was a finalist in this year’s Best of Interop competition. In the new security appliance, the company leverages its SenderBase anti-spam reputation management technology to determine what parts of a Web page (if any) to let through to users’ browsers. In the video below, IronPort product manager Samantha Madrid tells me more about the S-Series.

These days, it’s not uncommon for the Web pages we visit to pull their content from multiple Web servers from across the Web in order to finish rendering themselves. The problem is that we never know when some Web page we visit might attempt to deliver a malicious payload to our PCs. We might be visiting a reputable site. But, if that site is pulling content from third parties, it’s harder for that site to guarantee that all the components on a Web page are safe.

Through a variety of technologies, most modern browsers do a pretty good job of preventing sudden infection by way of malicious components. But, in some cases, there are systems out there in enterprises that aren’t running the latest browsers. In other cases, users may be misled into downloading malicious software (the equivalent of manually overriding a browser’s safeguards).

About five years ago, IronPort started SenderBase as an anti-spam technology. As Madrid explained to me in the video, pretty much all spam comes with a Web address embedded into it. Once you have some idea of which Web addresses are associated with spam (an association that SenderBase keeps track of), you can make certain assumptions about any traffic that’s associated with those Web addresses (or the IP addresses they resolve to). Originally, those “associations” were used to help filter e-mail (one type of traffic) suspected of being spam from business networks. In this newer S-Series, IronPort looks for Web page components whose source resolves to the same suspicious domains found in the SenderBase database. If there’s a match, it allows the Web page to finish loading, but without those “matching” components.

The S-Series does way more than just this (in the area of Web security) and you should listen to Madrid as she rattles off all the S-Series’ other features.

Apr 30th, 2008 | David Berlind

Interop: Palo Alto Networks’ Firewall Identifies App Traffic On Content, Not Ports

David Berlind

You’ve programmed your firewall to block the ports that some unwanted app is using and that app turns up on your net again. Net-enabled applications don’t tie themselves down to one port the way the Web (HTTP, port 80) and other apps do. After some firewall shuts their ports down, they find another port. Using traffic profiles instead of ports to identify more than 600 applications, not only did Palo Alto Networks’ series win InformationWeek’s Best of Interop in the security category, it took the grand prize as well. In the video below, Palo Alto’s Lee Klarich walks me through some of the firewall’s innovations.

One of the more interesting attributes of the PA-4000 series of firewalls is how, in addition to profiling unencrypted traffic, it can also inspect and apply policies to SSL-enabled traffic.

Lee Klarich, Palo Alto NetworksTake Gmail, for example. When a PC client attempts to make a connection to Gmail over https (which is the way you should access Gmail when going over a WLAN) from behind a PA-4000 firewall, the PA-4000 firewall spoofs the Gmail service, intercepts the traffic, decrypts it, inspects it, builds its own encrypted connection to Gmail, and passes the traffic on (to Gmail).

So long as the encryption is over SSL, Klarich says the PA-4000 series can proxy the traffic. But if it’s an application that uses some sort of proprietary encryption method, there’s little that Palo Alto can do to apply its magic there.

Once a PA-4000 series firewall can identify applications by their traffic, the next step (as with other conventional firewalls) is to apply security policies to that traffic. According to Klarich, the PA-4000 supports Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s Active Directory in such a way that firewall policies are easy to apply to AD groups or to individuals by name (as opposed to IP address) since AD keeps track of IP addresses by user. Of course, the PA-4000 series also can apply policies by IP address if you want to do it that way (or the system isn’t registered with Active Directory, as is the case with the many Macs that are now getting more traction in the enterprise).

The PA-4000 doesn’t support LDAP. At least not yet. Right now, it comes in two versions, the 4020 and the 4050. The 4020 is designed to handle a load of about 2 Gbps and costs about $35,000. The 4050 can handle 10 Gbps and costs $60,000.

Apr 30th, 2008 | David Berlind

Interop: Rat’s Nests Of Cables No Match For Panduit’s Intelligent Patch Panels

David Berlind

I’m sure competing solutions exist (or maybe not — you tell me). But this year’s Interop marks the first time I’ve ever seen an intelligent patch panel: one that drives the visibility into your network another layer deeper than the visibility that might normally end with your routers and switches. The offering — a Best of Interop finalist — comes from Panduit, and about the only thing I can imagine coming next might be intelligent RJ45 jacks. Actually, after I finished my video interview with Panduit’s Mike Pula (below) and sarcastically mentioned that idea, he didn’t laugh and said the idea actually solves a problem.

Where Panduit’s PanView iQ really shines is in helping data center (or wiring closet) managers know for sure where the two endpoints of any given Cat 5/6 run are. Sure, when we set up our data centers, we have the best intentions in terms of diligently labeling all of our cables and ports so there’s no mistake about where our cable runs begin and end. But despite our best intentions, we end up throwing a few ad hoc cables in, then a few more, and then the next thing you know, you have to walk a cable run to figure where the two endpoints of certain cables are. Even worse, you end up with a rat’s nest of wiring (although I see way fewer of these today than in years gone by).

PanduitAs long as both ends of the cable are patched into separate PanView iQ intelligent patch panels, not only can you easily trace the connection by pushing buttons on one that cause LEDs on the other to illuminate (as shown in the video), through PanView’s intelligence module, you also can pull the “paths” up into PanView’s management console.

Using the PanView software, you also can automatically or manually associate IP segments with specific cable runs. Each of Panduit’s intelligent patch panels has one intelligent port that’s capable of parsing MIBs from upstream device. From those MIBs, it extracts IP and MAC addresses, which then facilitates an automatic mapping of the logical and physical layers of your network. But, if you’d rather go into the management console and manually enter IP segment addresses to go with certain patch panels, you can do that, too.

Referring to the idea of intelligent RJ45 jacks, the reason that Pula actually thinks that could be a good idea is that not every RJ45 jack is going to be plugged into an intelligent patch panel. Let’s say it’s just dangling somewhere. Or, maybe it’s plugged into a nonintelligent device. An intelligent RJ45 jack could provide some visibility into the situation that can’t otherwise be had with nonintelligent RJ45 jacks. Hmmmm.

Finally, I’m guessing that there are other intelligent patch panels in the industry, some of which I’m sure are hiding in one of the many booths here at the show. Hula acknowledged that they might work together as well as when you have a single vendor’s intelligent patch panel at both ends of a cable.

OK, so, standards anyone?

Apr 29th, 2008 | David Berlind

It Could Be 15 Years Before We Know What’s Really Green

David Berlind

It’s the eve before Interop here in Las Vegas and we’ve just wrapped up Energy Camp where, as can be seen from the user-decided agenda, the conversation went deep and wide on a variety of subjects related to the reduction of information technology’s carbon footprint. Two key takeaways for me were (1) many so-called “green” remedies have a dark enough side to them that they may not be as green as we think they are, and (2) it may take another 15 or 20 years before we have it all sorted out. It’s not as bad as it sounds, but …

… there’s a lot of work to be done, much of it in the area of more thoroughly and honestly measuring how green something is, end-to-end.

For example, I recently created a page on the Energy Camp wiki about the idea of recycling those energy-saving light bulbs that any of us can pick up at the local hardware store. The problem is that when those bulbs are spent, most of us do with them what we do with regular incandescent bulbs: We toss them out. Earlier today at Energy Camp, when I asked from the main stage how many people recycle those bulbs — officially known as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) — only one hand went up. Just moments before asking that question, most people in the room raised their hand when I asked how many people use the bulbs.

Yes. CFLs save a significant amount of energy over their incandescent cousins. But that’s only part of the story. So long as the majority of them (and the mercury contained within) are ending up in a landfill somewhere, are they really green? This is what I mean by end-to-end. CFLs are a supposedly green solution. But end-to-end, from production through usage to disposal, are they really green?

Here at Energy Camp, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) senior standards program manager SW Worth led a discussion on green storage. A huge range of issues were covered in the discussion, including the impact that compression can have on helping to manage the utilization of storage. Utilization of anything is a major-league green issue. The less of anything you waste, the more green you supposedly are.

But, whereas compression makes sense with tape drives and enterprise-class drives that might have compression silicon on board, what about PCs, where a lot of the work to compress/decompress becomes the responsibility of the microprocessor that must bypass any energy efficiencies to retrieve or store some data in real time? The technology is theoretically green. But realistically, when implemented, is the net result green?

Recycling systems by sending them to developing nations came up at Energy Camp today. From a green point of view (I’m ignoring the benefit of an old, tired PC to someone in a developing nation), the idea essentially keeps PCs from ending up in landfills. It sounds good at first. But, after such a PC is boxed up, sent on a plane, and shipped to its final destination, what of the Earth’s resources expired in the process?

These are simple end-to-end remedies where the downsides are easy to visualize. In the end, they may prove to be green. But have they been proven green yet? In some cases, perhaps. Others not. Where things get really tricky is where the end-to-end system has many more nooks and crannies, any of which are capable of trapping the color green.

Pick your green solution of the day. There’s more to it than meets the eye. Like the human genome project, pretty much anything that promises to be green will be fully decoded and we’ll know for certain exactly how green it is. But not only is that going to take a lot of time, it’s going to take some seriously dedicated people.

Apr 29th, 2008 | David Berlind

Interop: Alcatel-Lucent Claims APIs And Scalability Are Comm Server’s Key Differentiators

David Berlind

Here at Interop in Las Vegas, a handful of exhibitors who also are Best of Interop finalists are waiting to find out if InformationWeek’s editors have singled them out as winners or not. One of them is Alcatel (NYSE: ALU)-Lucent, who is here showing off its XML API-enabled Omnitouch Advanced Communications Server (ACS). Via those APIs, director of product management Peter Anderholm (pictured below left) claims that enterprises can, for collaborative purposes, easily integrate point-and-click voice conferencing into any application. I caught Peter on the show floor for a video interview.

Two of the ACS’s other market advantages, according to Anderholm, are its scalability and its flexibility in terms of voice infrastructures supported.

PeterAnderholmIn terms of its flexibility, Anderholm says that ACS is relatively agnostic when it comes to existing voice infrastructures. Whatever voice platform your enterprise has in place, ACS should be able to work with it. In other words, making use of ACS doesn’t mean you have to rip out your existing voice infrastructure and replace it (particularly with something from Alcatel-Lucent).

The flexibilty factor ties very much into the scalability issue (from a market perspective). Anderholm says ACS’ ability to scale makes it a carrier-grade solution which means, for those carriers looking to deliver an integration capability (integration into a customer’s applications, that is), ACS is a good solution because, just like with enterprises where ACS’ platform-agnosticism matters, the same goes for carriers.

Anderholm also claims that any developer that’s fluent in XML-based Web services should have no trouble integrating voice as well as presence functionality into its applications.

Apr 26th, 2008 | Robert Ballecer, SJ

Behind the Scenes at Interop

When I look at the familiar faces of the “Interop Family” it’s hard to believe that some of these guys and gals have been doing this show since I was in high school. That somebody would volunteer for the show is understandable, it brings a wealth of knowledge and potential for learning alongside some of the best in the industry… but to think that some of these uberGeeks have been coming back year after stress-filled year just shows how much of a good time can be had when you’re working long, hard, and stressful hours while shoulder-to-shoulder at “Geek Summer Camp.”

Here are a few pictures to let you see behind the scenes at Interop…

You can find the full album at TheTechStop.net

Apr 25th, 2008 | David Berlind

Desperately Seeking: Green Tips And Tricks (Big Or Small) That You Think Can Make A Difference

David Berlind

We’re just a few days away from Energy Camp, which we’re holding on the day before Interop in Las Vegas. We’ve got close to 100 people signed up and we’re anticipating quite a few walk-ins. So, we’re on target in terms of the event’s size and intimacy. But even if you don’t plan to be there, I’ve established a way for you to participate virtually by sharing your own energy saving tips and tricks (or just green tips in general). I’m calling it Ways To Save The Earth and it was inspired by some school kids in Massachusetts. Regardless of whether it’s big or small, if you’ve dreamed up a green idea that you think can make a difference …

… then share it with the world by contributing it to the Energy Camp Wiki. It’s really very simple (and a perfect use case for wikis). Just go to the Ways To Save page and follow the directions.

I got the idea from a story I heard on NPR (I can’t find it or I’d link to it). It was about some kids in Massachusetts who lobbied the state Legislature to officially change the margin width for state documents so that less paper is consumed when documents are printed. Apparently, the paper industry is one of the biggest consumers of oil and fresh water (both are consumed in the process of making paper).

The kids came prepared. They showed the math. And that’s what Ways To Save is very much about. It’s about big ideas. But it’s also about the small one that, once you do the math, you discover how a small idea can make a huge difference once a few million people embrace it.

I just established the “program” yesterday and we’ve already got some tips and tricks loaded up. But what I need is your help. Whether it’s a brainstorm of your own or you know of another tip that’s out there on the Web, the goal is to start aggregating all of this information on the Energy Camp wiki.

Your ideas (those of us who care about the Earth all have them) aren’t doing the world a lot of good so long as they’re locked away in your head. So please share them and, perhaps together, we can do our part to make a difference.

Write to me at dberlind@techweb.com if you have questions and I’ll try to answer them as quickly as possible.

Apr 24th, 2008 | Geoff Horne

Minimizing Blue Smoke on the Expo Floor

Geoff Horne

crw_3917.jpgWe have a rule here about trying to keep the valuable “Blue Smoke”
inside our equipment as much as possible. We are often reminded by our
vendors about how expensive it is to replace and the time it takes to
hand pack these devices accordingly. If you work in the networking
industry you know that this is the the stuff that makes everything
function.

Well, this year we forgot to remind everyone of this rule, and it was
only a matter of time before someone tried to plug a 110V device into
a 240V outlet. (Oops)

There were pops and sparks, and now one our devices won’t make it home
from the show. The memorial service will be tomorrow — once we have an
RMA number.

Apr 17th, 2008 | David Berlind

The Unconference For When Oil Costs $120 Per Barrel

David Berlind

James Governor, who will be presiding over Energy Camp on April 28 in what is probably the least green city on the planet (Las Vegas: not counting how green in emerald-like color the MGM is), has hit the nail on the head in terms of characterizing the new unconference. He calls it the unconference for oil at $120+ a barrel. The cost of oil reached a new high today of nearly $115 per barrel: a grim reality which highlights the fact that what’s good for the planet also is good for your bottom line. That’s what we’ll be talking about at Energy Camp.

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