VMware's Photon Containers Promise "Just Enough" Virtualization

VMware introduced two new concepts for the cloud-native applications:  VMware vSphere Integrated Containers and VMware Photon Platform. The technologies enable containers in production on-premises and on VMware's public cloud, VMware vCloud Air. "Today, VMware is announcing foundational infrastructure that will enable customers to deploy cloud-native applications in production with confidence," said Ray O'Farrell, chief technology officer and...

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Federal Aviation Administration to Migrate to Hybrid Cloud on AWS and Azure

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded a contract valued at $108 million to CSC to consolidate data centers and migrate FAA data and systems to a hybrid cloud environment. The CSC team includes Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, as well as other strategic business partners. Under the contract, the team will use the CSC Agility Platform cloud management tool to orchestrate efficient cloud deployment while leveraging alliance...

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Avi Enhances its Software Load-balancer with Security Features

Avi Networks, which offers a software-defined application delivery controller (ADC), introduced a new Continuous Security Insights (CSI) Module that help enterprises evaluate their security posture and quickly mitigate application threats and attacks – in real-time. Avi said its CSI module is able to collect and analyze hundreds of telemetry data points at its strategic point-of-entry into the network.  This intelligence enables the ADC to...

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ZTE's Revenue of Profits Rise in First Half of 2015

ZTE reported operating revenue of RMB 45.9 billion for the first six months of 2015, up 22% over the first half of 2014, primarily reflecting growth in operating revenue for 3G system equipment in the domestic market, FDD-LTE system equipment in the domestic and international markets, TD-LTE system equipment in the international market, wireline switch and access systems in the domestic market and optical communication systems in the domestic market. Operating...

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Cisco to Optimize for iOS Enterprise Users

Apple and Cisco announced a partnership to optimize Cisco networks for iOS devices and apps, integrating iPhone with Cisco enterprise environments and providing unique collaboration on iPhone and iPad.  Specifically, Cisco will deliver experiences specially optimized for iOS across mobile, cloud, and premises-based collaboration tools such as Cisco Spark, Cisco Telepresence and Cisco WebEx in order to deliver seamless team collaboration and...

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ZTE Signs Partnership Deal with Telefonica

ZTE announced a global partnership with Telefonica. ZTE supplies a range of solutions to Telefonica, including gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology, optical mesh network / large-capacity transmission solutions, Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE), microwave transmission, etc.. http://www.zte.com...

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T-Mobile US Stops Unlimited LTE Tethering

T-Mobile is taking action to stop users who signed up for an unlimited 4G LTE plan for their smartphones and then use it heavily with tethering.  Although T-Mobile says it supports a limited amount of data usage for tethering use, the company says some users have abused the plan by consuming up to 2 TB of data per month. In online posting, John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, describes these users as "hackers" intent on stealing data from T-Mobil...

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NETGEAR Unveils 28-port 10-Gigabit Switch

NETGEAR unveiled its ProSAFE 28-port 10-Gigabit Smart Managed Switch - the industry's first 28-port (24 copper, 4 SFP+) 10-Gigabit Smart Managed Switch purposely designed for small to mid-sized organizations (SMBs) with 10GBASE-T connectivity and Advanced L2+/Layer 3 Lite features. Key Features: Advanced VLAN features such as Protocol-based VLAN, MAC-based VLAN and 802.1x Guest VLAN Advanced QoS (Quality of Service) with L2/L3/L4 awareness and...

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OpenStack is Changing the Face of Service Delivery

OpenStack is fundamentally changing the face of service delivery, say Lew Tucker, Vice President and CTO of Cloud Computing for Cisco.  Network providers, media companies, application developers and SaaS providers are all moving towards an open-source, cloud-model based on OpenStack. This short video also hits on Cisco's role in OpenStack and how Comcast is moving ahead with its OpenStack designs. https://youtu.be/v6yzWkAC2l8...

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Hortonworks to Acquire Onyara for Apache NiFi Expertise

Hortonworks agreed to acquire Onyara, Inc., the creator of and key contributor to Apache NiFi, a top-level open source project. Financial terms were not disclosed. Hortonworks,  which offers enterprise Apache Hadoop solutions, said the deal will help its customers to automate and secure data flows and to collect, conduct and curate real-time business insights and actions derived from data in motion. As a result of the acquisition, Hortonworks...

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SSL Ships "Sky Muster" Satellite for Australia's Broadband Network

Space Systems/Loral (SSL) shipped "Sky Muster", a high performance, Ka-band satellite designed and built for Australia's new nbn broadband network. Originally called NBN Co 1A, the satellite now awaiting launch, was renamed "Sky Muster" by the six-year-old winner of a country-wide contest. The young girl, who depends on satellite internet for her education, selected the name for its reference to the gathering of cattle, which captures how the...

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Thoma Bravo to Acquire Majority Stake in DigiCert

Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity investment firm, agreed to acquire a majority interest in DigiCert from TA Associates, another private equity firm currently holding the majority share. Financial terms were not disclosed. DigiCert is a global SSL Certificate Authority (CA) and the leading provider of trusted certificate management solutions.  The company provides its digital certificates to over 115,000 customers in more than 180 countries,...

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NVIDIA's GRID 2.0 Virtual Desktop Doubles Density to 128 Users per Server

NVIDIA introduced its GRID 2.0 virtual desktop solution featuring greater density and performance along with support from major server vendors, including Cisco, Dell, HP and Lenovo. NVIDIA has worked closely with Citrix and VMware to bring a rich graphics experience to end-users on the industry's leading virtualization platforms. Highlights include: Doubled user density: NVIDIA GRID 2.0 doubles user density over the previous version, introduced...

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AirVM Raises $8.0 for Cloud Enablement for VMware

AirVM, a start-up based in Ottawa, announced  $8.0 million in Series A funding for its cloud-enablement software. AirVM's AirSembly software is a cloud management platform purpose-built for VMware to make it easier for service providers to sell, provision, manage, and bill for cloud services. The funding was led by RHO Canada Ventures, joined by Build Ventures, and current investor Wesley Clover. “AirVM has grown tremendously in 2015, and...

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Cisco: 44% of Organizations Planning Private Clouds

The cloud is moving into a second wave of adoption, according to a new study released by Cisco, as companies begin looking to cloud as a platform to fuel innovation, growth and disruption. The Cisco-sponsored InfoBrief "Don't Get Left Behind: The Business Benefits of Achieving Greater Cloud Adoption" was developed by International Data Corporation (IDC) and is based on primary market research conducted with executives responsible for IT decisions...

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InfiniBand Trade Association Tests RDMA over Converged Ethernet

The InfiniBand Trade Association (IBTA) has conducted the first Plugfest for RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) solutions. ifteen member companies participated, bringing their RoCE adapters, cables and switches for testing to the event. A new RoCE Interoperability List has been posted on the IBTA website. “The inclusion of RoCE interoperability testing as part of IBTA’s rigorous Plugfest events is a boon to the industry as we see RoCE gaining...

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Autodesk to Acquire SeeControl for IoT

Autodesk agreed to acquire SeeControl, a San Francisco-based developer of an enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) cloud service platform. The SeeControl service helps manufacturers and systems integrators connect, analyze, control, and manage remote products, things, and assets and create new service revenue opportunities. Financial terms were not disclosed. “A new future of making things is emerging, where any built object, product or environment...

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Dell'Oro: Shipments Begin for Multi-Gigabit Ethernet Switches

Multi-Gigabit Ethernet Switches began shipping in 2Q15, a significant milestone for stepping up the speed of LAN connections at the enterprise edge, according to a new report by Dell'Oro Group, which is now tracking this market. The top ten vendors tracked in the Enterprise Edge Report include: Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, Avaya, Brocade, Cisco Systems, Dell, Extreme Networks, Hewlett-Packard (including Aruba Networks), Huawei Technologies, Juniper...

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Facebook Serves 1 Billion Users on Monday

Facebook passed a significant milestone on Monday when one billion people connected to the service is a single day. Mark Zuckerberg notes that this means one in seven people on the planet connected to Facebook on Monday. https://www.facebook.com/zuck?fref...

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ECI Supplies SDN App to Swedish Govt Agency

Trafikverket, the Swedish Transport Agenby, has selected ECI's LightAPPS SDN applications to automate and optimize its network operations. The deployment includes two SDN apps: LightINSIGHT and LightTIME. LightINSIGHT offers in-depth insights into network resources and their utilization. The APP provides a 360 degree view of the network inventory, utilization trends, network health, as well as the status of new service penetration. LightINSIGHT's...

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Vertical Systems: Ethernet Port Growth Unprecedented in U.S.

AT&T, Level 3, Verizon, CenturyLink, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, XO and Cox (rank order) are top of the class in Vertical Systems Group's U.S. Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD results for mid-2015. Port shares were calculated using the base of enterprise installations of Ethernet services, plus input from surveys of Ethernet providers. The LEADERBOARD threshold is four percent (4%) or more of billable port installations. "U.S. Ethernet port growth...

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NTT Comm Launches Direct Connect to Azure and AWS

NTT Communications launched a Multi-Cloud Connect feature for its Arcstar Universal One services, enabling enterprises to access third party public cloud services through its high-performance MPLS network for enhanced security and improved connectivity. Multi-Cloud Connect will initially offer direct access to Microsoft Azure and AWS cloud platforms in Tokyo on August 26th, 2015, followed by London later this year.  The service is provided...

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Ciena Boosts its 5430 Packet-Optical Platform to 15 Tbps

Ciena announced several new hardware and software capabilities for its 5430 Packet-Optical Platform designed to improve service velocity for high-bandwidth, on-demand applications and to enhance service economics, Ciena's newly upgraded 5430 provides up to 15 Terabits (Tbps) of capacity to service provider, submarine and cable networks. The upgrades, which are powered by Ciena’s next-generation family of silicon chips, provide up to five times...

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IBM Brigs Blue Box OpenStack to Global Data Centers

Blue Box, an IBM company that delivers OpenStack-based, Private Cloud as a Service (PCaaS), is now available in any of IBM’s globally integrated cloud data centers running SoftLayer infrastructure. The announcement comes less than 90 days after IBM's acquisition of Blue Box. “Implementing Cloudsoft AMP on Blue Box Cloud across IBM Cloud data centers will allow us to meet the increased demand from customers for hybrid cloud solutions built on OpenStack,"...

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Nutanix Intros FlexPrice Program

Nutanix introduced FlexPrice, a new purchasing program that addresses the business and financial challenges faced by many service providers, including high upfront investment costs to build and expand services, datacenter inefficiency resulting from IT overprovisioning, and lengthy procurement cycles that degrade the speed of service delivery. With FlexPrice, service providers can now procure Nutanix-qualified hardware and enable Nutanix web-scale...

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ZeroStack Targets All-in-One Scale-Out Private Cloud

ZeroStack, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, emerged from stealth and introduced a private cloud solution that combines on-premises deployment and a SaaS platform -- allowing customers to consume a self-service cloud without significant in-house expertise or time. The company said its design offers a complete, scale-out private cloud that converges compute, storage, networking and management software with self-healing capabilities....

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GigOptix Raises $15 Million for Potential Acquisitions

GigOptix closed on its previously announced public offering of 9,218,000 newly issued shares of common stock at a price to the public of $1.70 per share. The net proceeds to the company from the offering were approximately $14.73 million after underwriting discounts and commissions. In addition, certain officers and directors as selling stockholders sold 282,000 shares of previously issued shares of common stock in the underwritten public offering...

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GSMA: Mobile Broadband Growth is Key for the Americas

Mobile data traffic is predicted to rise more than sixfold in North America and tenfold in Latin America between 2014 and 2019, according to figures cited by the GSMA. As of September 2014, there were 216 million individuals using mobile devices to access the internet in Latin America, an overall penetration rate of approximately 35 per cent. By 2020, the GSMA forecasts that penetration will come close to 50 per cent of the population, which means...

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Skyport Ships SkySecure with Secure Hosting for VMware vCenter

Skyport Systems announced the general availability of SkySecure -- a cloud-managed, on-premises, secure server. When VMware vCenter is hosted on a SkySecure Server, an application-specific firewall for VMware vCenter secures the computing foundation and all communications channels. Essentially,, the SkySecure Server creates a customized firewall protecting VMware vCenter. This application-specific firewall implementation hardens each protocol and...

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Nexenta Extends Its Software-Defined Storage Platform

Nexenta announced a number of enhancements for it Open Source-driven Software-Defined Storage (OpenSDS) for VMware environments and the Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC). NexentaStor 5.0 connects NexentaFusion and VMware vCenter Server to deliver simplified deployment, configuration and on-going management of Software-Defined Storage infrastructures.  Features of NexentaStor include: Unified File (NFS and SMB) and Block (FC and iSCSI)...

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Scality Raises $45 Million for Software-Based Storage

Scality, a start-up based in San Francisco, completed a $45 million Series D funding round for its software-based storage solution. Scality’s RING platform runs on standard x86 servers powered by Linux, such as the ones of HP, Dell, Cisco, SuperMicro, or Seagate. It uses an object storage architecture to create an unlimited storage pool for file, object and OpenStack applications. The latest funding round includes new entrant and strategic partner...

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Symantec Secures More Than 1 Billion IoT Devices

Symantec said it is now securing more than one billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices, including everything from televisions and cars to smart meters and critical infrastructure. Symantec's IoT security portfolio includes: Device Security with Symantec’s Embedded Critical Systems Protection: Symantec’s newest offering protects IoT devices by locking down the software embedded in the device to protect against zero-day attacks and prevent compromise....

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ONUG to Host NSF-Supported Workshop on SDN

The Open Networking User Group (ONUG) will host a National Science Foundation-supported workshop on “SDN in Large Enterprise Networks” in conjunction with the upcoming ONUG Fall 2015. The workshop will take place November 3-4 at New York University’s Kimmel Center. “The goal of ONUG has always been to advance SDN and open cloud infrastructure by facilitating a higher level of engagement between IT business leaders, standards organizations, and members...

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Windstream Carrier Deploys in Zayo’s NY Data Centers

Windstream will deploy its core network infrastructure within Zayo’s colocation facilities in the New York metro market. The deployment was driven by Windstream’s 100G long haul express network expansion that upgraded and modernized its Northeast regional and metro DWDM network. Specifically, Zayo will deploy colocation infrastructure for Windstream at zColo facilities located at 60 Hudson Street in New York City, and 165 Halsey Street in Newark....

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IEEE Forms NG-EON and Ethernet-over-Backplanes Study Groups

IEEE announced the formation of two new study groups: IEEE 802.3™ Next Generation Ethernet Passive Optical Network (NG-EPON) study group and IEEE 802.3 2.5 Gb/s and 5 Gb/s Ethernet over Backplane and Copper Cable study group. “The telecommunications industry is faced with three main components that drive increasing access network speeds: number of subscribers, number of connected devices (and applications) per subscriber, and bit rate required by...

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Mellanox Supplies End-to-End EDR 100Gb/s InfiniBand to KTH Royal Institute

Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology has selected Mellanox Technologies to supply its end-to-end, EDR 100Gb/s InfiniBand solutions for use in their PDC Center for High Performance Computing (PDC Center), whose scientific research work includes advanced modeling for climate changes, brain functions and protein-drug interactions. The PDC Center is the latest deployment of Mellanox EDR InfiniBand technology to validate the expanding global adoption...

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Compass Networks Joins the Consortium of On-Board Optics

Compass Networks, which offers a high-performance routing platform based on its icPhotonics chipsets, has joined the Consortium of On-Board Optics (COBO), which is developing interoperable specifications to lower power consumption and increase bandwidth for optics within enterprises and data centers. “We are pleased to have chip companies that provide solutions for 100G and 400G join the consortium,” said Brad Booth, chair of COBO. “CMOS semiconductors...

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Intel Leads Another $100 Million Investment Round in Mirantis

Intel led a $100 million funding round and spending in Mirantis, which specializes in OpenStack solutions.  The funding round included new investor Goldman Sachs and existing investors August Capital, Insight Venture Partners, Ericsson, Sapphire Ventures (formerly SAP Ventures) and WestSummit Capital. The funding round builds on the $100 million in Series B funding that Mirantis raised in 2014.  Last year, Mirantis also announced the largest...

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Latest Windows Server Preview Adds Container Capabilities

Microsoft released  a new preview of Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 includes the first public preview of Windows Server Containers, new Nano Server functionality, and software-defined data center enhancements. Microsoft says Windows Server Containers create a highly agile Windows Server environment, enabling developers to work with the languages of their choice – whether.NET, ASP.NET, and PowerShell or Python, Ruby on Rails, Java,...

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