Pica8 Enables Label BGP on White Box Switches

Pica8 announced support for Labeled BGP on bare-metal, white box switches -- a new network overlay solution with applications for service providers and cloud data center operators.

Pica8 said the approach will appeal to many large enterprises who are pursuing a VXLAN / VMware model for multi-tenant services, workload mobility and overlay networking within their data centers.

The new capability, which is part of Pica8’s latest SDN release (PicOS 2.6), is similar to MPLS in that it uses labels to establish service tunnels across the network. Label BGP adds the
dynamic programmability of SDN. BGP is a signaling mechanism carriers can use to create MPLS paths; but today this function is only available in expensive edge routers from the likes of Cisco and Juniper. This capability in Pica8’s OS, coupled with white box economics, gives carriers a far more cost-effective alternative to deploying this technology.

“We are seeing a real debate in the “how” of offering end-to-end services inside and between data centers,” said Olivier Vautrin, head of product management at Pica8. “The need is real if you want to deploy hybrid cloud services and to accomplish that, you need a flexible and proven encapsulation technology. We believe MPLS and Labeled BGP offers that opportunity and the experience in the market is there. Once MPLS is used in the data center, complex stitching technologies between data center and WAN encapsulations are not needed anymore. This is disrupting traditional data center edge devices by adding this functionality into our hardware-agnostic white box switching OS.”

http://www.pica8.com/company/press-releases/pica8-disrupts-data-center-economics-by-offering-service-providers-overlay-choice.php

Read More

Google Project Fi Aims for Seamless Connections Between Networks

Google announced Project Fi -- its effort to define "the future of communications" by building a virtual mobile network service leveraging Wi-Fi the cellular infrastructure of carrier partners. For its U.S. launch, Google has confirmed T-Mobile and Sprint as partners.

Key points:

• No contracts.
• User phone numbers live in the cloud, enabling talk and text with your number on just about any phone, tablet or laptop. 
• Talk, text, Wi-Fi tethering and international coverage in 120+ countries for $20 a month 
• 1GB of mobile data is $10/month, 2GB is $20/month, 3GB is $30/month, and so on. 
• Credits are applied for unused data each month
• The Nexus 6 will the first smartphone to support the Project Fi SIM card
• Interested customers can request an invite to test the service.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/project-fi.html

Read More

Equinix Commits to 100% Clean and Renewal Data Center Energy

Equinix committed to a long-term goal to use 100% clean and renewable energy to power its global platform, which now includes data centers in over 33 markets on five continents. Equinix aims to deliver carbon-neutral data center and interconnection services.

In 2014, Equinix consumed over 2,200 gigawatt hours of energy across its global data center platform.

In a blog posting, David Rinard is Senior Director of Global Sustainability & Procurement at Equinix, describes the company's newly adopted set of Renewable Energy Principles.

https://blog.equinix.com/2015/04/living-by-our-principles-and-a-commitment-to-100-renewable-energy-use/

Read More

Procera to be Acquired by Private Equity Firm for $240 Million

Procera Networks has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by private funds managed by Francisco Partners Management, a technology-focused private equity firm, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $240 million. Under the deal, Francisco Partners will acquire all outstanding shares of Procera’s common stock for $11.50 per share in cash, representing a premium of approximately 21% over the closing price of Procera’s common stock on April 21, 2015, and a premium of approximately 32% over the unaffected closing price on January 22, 2015, the last day prior to an article reporting the potential sale of the company.

“As part of Francisco Partners’ portfolio of companies, Procera will have the resources and financial expertise needed to attain the next level of growth and to strengthen our competitive market position,” said James Brear, President and CEO of Procera. “I believe this transaction delivers compelling value to our stockholders, and we remain firmly committed to establishing Procera as the leader in improving the customer broadband experience for carriers and operators.”

Procera also announced preliminary results for Q1 2015, saying revenue is expected to be in the range of $19.5 million to $20.5 million. The ratio of bookings to revenue for the first quarter was below one. The company expects the gross margin percentage to be approximately 60% and to incur a net operating loss on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis for the first quarter of 2015. The company is not revising its previously announced guidance for the full year.

http://www.proceranetworks.com/press-releases/procera-networks-to-be-acquired-by-francisco-partners

Read More

F5 Names Manny Rivelo as New CEO

F5 Networks appointed Manny Rivelo as its new President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of F5’s Board of Directors effective July 1, 2015. He succeeds longtime CEO, John McAdam, who will become Chairman of the Board of Directors upon his retirement on July 1st. Al Higginson, who has been on the F5 Board of Directors since 1996, and has served as Board Chairman since 2004, will remain on F5’s Board as Lead Independent Director.

Previously, Rivelo served as F5’s Executive Vice President of Strategic Solutions. Before joining F5 in October 2011, Rivelo was Senior Vice President of Engineering Systems and Operations for Cisco Systems.  He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology.


Separately, F5 Networks announced revenue of $472.1 million, up 2 percent from $462.8 million in the prior quarter and 12 percent from $420.0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014. GAAP net income was $85.7 million ($1.18 per diluted share), compared to $89.1 million ($1.21 per diluted share) in the prior quarter and $69.6 million ($0.91 per diluted share) in the second quarter a year ago.

 “Revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 reflected solid sequential and year-over-year growth in sales to U.S. service providers and enterprise customers,” said John McAdam, F5 President and Chief Executive Officer. “The region’s strong performance was underpinned by a rebound in both the number and total dollar amount of deals greater than $1 million. In contrast, sales growth in EMEA and APAC came in below our expectations. Our solid earnings results reflect continued strength in our operating margins and were also supported by a lower than anticipated effective tax rate for the quarter. Earnings growth and a 23 percent year-over-year increase in deferred revenue contributed to exceptionally strong cash flow from operations during the quarter.

http://www.f5.com

Read More

ARRIS to Acquire Pace for $2.1 Billion

ARRIS Group agree to acquire Pace plc., a supplier of networking equipment for cable operators, for US$2.1 billion (£1.4 billion) is stock and cash.

Under the agreed upon terms, Pace shareholders will receive £1.325 of cash and a fixed exchange ratio of 0.1455 New ARRIS shares for each Pace share, reflecting aggregate consideration as of April 21, 2015 of £4.265 per share, representing a 28% premium to the Pace closing share price as of April 21, 2015.

The transaction will result in the formation of New ARRIS, which will be incorporated in the U.K., and its operational and worldwide headquarters will be in Suwanee, GA USA. New ARRIS is expected to be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker ARRS. In connection with the formation of New ARRIS each current share of ARRIS will be exchanged for one share in New ARRIS.

"This transaction is another example of ARRIS's ongoing strategy of investing in the right opportunities to position our company for growth. Adding Pace's talent, products and diverse customer base will provide ARRIS with a large scale entry into the satellite segment, broaden our portfolio and expand our global presence. We expect this merger will enable ARRIS to increase its speed of innovation. We believe this is a tremendous opportunity for ARRIS and our customers, employees, shareholders and partners around the world as we collaborate to invent the future," said Bob Stanzione. "We look forward to working with the talented and accomplished team at Pace."

"Pace plc is a great company with a strong track record of pioneering innovation and excellent customer service. Through a combination of organic development and acquisitions, Pace has grown to be a leading technology solutions provider to the PayTV and Broadband industries serving cable, satellite and telco customers across the globe. Over the last three years, Mike Pulli and the wider Pace team have successfully executed against our strategic plan to develop Pace into a more distinctive, profitable and cash generative company, creating significant value for shareholders.

http://www.pace.com/global/#
http://www.arris.com/

Read More

IBM Opens 2nd Softlayer Data Center in the Netherlands

IBM SoftLayer has opened a second cloud data center in the Netherlands, located in Almere, just outside of Amsterdam. The new data center is securely connected by private network to all SoftLayer data centers around the world.

The new facility helps meet the rapid growth of IBM Cloud by doubling its SoftLayer capacity in the region, and provides even more options in the country and region for redundant data storage and geographically isolated services, ideal for creating secure and comprehensive backup and recovery strategies.

“This new facility demonstrates the demand and success IBM Cloud is having at delivering high-value services right to the doorstep of our clients,” said James Comfort, IBM General Manager of Cloud Services. “We’re reaching customers in a way that takes all the guess work out of moving to the cloud. They can build and scale applications, run the toughest big data workloads, have the level of security they need, all in country and connected to a truly global platform.”

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/46699.wss

Read More

Ixia Demos Native 100GbE Interface Security Test

Ixia demonstrated its "PerfectStorm" 100GbE - an application and security testing platform that supports 100GbE native interfaces.

A demo at this week's 2015 RSA Conference uses the new hardware for Juniper Networks' SRX5800 Services Gateway to demonstrate carrier-grade, next-generation firewall technology scaling to Two Terabits per second (2 Tbps) of workloads.

Ixia said its PerfectStorm scales to nearly a terabit of application traffic in a single system and generates stateful applications and malicious traffic that simulate millions of real-world end-users to validate next generation infrastructure devices.

“The threat landscape continues to evolve and service providers and data center operators need to secure their 100GbE core networks,” said Denise Shiffman, corporate vice president of product management, Juniper Networks.

“Companies are forced to not only meet greater and unpredictable demands for bandwidth on their network but also ensure they have efficient, fast and scalable protection in place. Ixia and its PerfectStorm solution are instrumental in enabling us to validate and test our new hardware for the SRX5800 Services Gateway at massive scale.”



http://www.ixiacom.com/

Read More