Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Cisco Tetration Targets Pervasive Visibility with Forensics

Cisco unveiled its new Tetration Analytics solution for deep, real-time visibility into packet flows across a data center -- every packet, every flow, every speed.

Cisco Tetration Analytics gathers telemetry data from the ASICs on-board Cisco Nexus 9000 switches and/or from low-overhead software sensors in servers. It then applies machine learning techniques using analytics software running on Cisco UCS C220 servers to addresses critical data center operations such as policy compliance, application forensics, and whitelist security. REST APIs are used to drive a WebGUI.

Cisco Tetration Analytics can continuously monitor application flows in real-time, sending out instant alerts when flows deviate from established behavior. The solution also tracks and analyses historical flows, providing forensic analysis of what happened on the network at certain points in time. Cisco claims 10s of billions of events are searchable in seconds. The big picture is to deliver a "single pane of glass" for all data center activity.

Cisco said continuous monitoring and analysis are key to simplifying operational reliability, ensuring zero-trust operations in automated data centers. The Tetration Analytics could be used in conjunction with Cisco's Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) architecture to automate policy enforcement through a Cisco APIC. It could also be used in brownfield data centers with the software sensors in the servers.

“Gaining much deeper visibility into the data center and automating actionable analysis across a company’s infrastructure marks a critical technology advancement in building secure digital business models like cloud, mobile and IoT,” said David Goeckeler, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Networking and Security Business Group. “We believe the insights we gain from  applications and the data center overall will enhance existing software solutions and drive the future development of new advanced software that will improve business operations, efficiency and customer experiences.”

Cisco has implemented Tetration in its own network, collecting billions of data points over a short period of time. The company said it has been able to reduce operational expenses by 70% while also gaining the ability to untangle application dependencies on hardware infrastructure.

http://www.cisco.com


NEC Carries Record 34.9 Tbps over 6,300km of Fiber

NEC has demonstrated a transmission capacity of 34.9 terabits per second (Tbps on a single optical fiber over a distance greater than 6,300 km.

The results, which were presented earlier this year at OFC 2016 in California, broke previous the spectral efficiency record for transoceanic transmission of 7.1 bit/s/Hz, achieving 8.3 bit/s/Hz using the C-band spectrum. This is a 16.9% improvement on the previous record.

NEC said this level of capacity comes very close to the Shannon limit, which is the fundamental spectral efficiency limit of optical communications. In fact, the demonstration came within 0.5 decibels (dB) of the theoretical maximum value.

"We are proud to have come so close to Shannon's cornerstone of communication theory," said Toru Kawauchi, General Manager of the Submarine Network Division at NEC Corporation. "NEC's research and development teams will continue to explore the limits of even greater subsea capacity, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness."

http://www.nec.com/en/press/201606/global_20160613_02.html

Technical University of Denmark Hits 43 Tbps Optical Transmission

Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have achieved an optical transmission speed of 43 terabits per second ( 43 Tbps) using a single laser and a single fiber.

The demonstration used a new type of optical fiber (developed by NTT) that contains seven cores (glass threads) instead of the single core used in standard fiber.

DTU noted that its researchers have previously helped achieve the highest combined data transmission speed in the world—an incredible 1 petabit per second—although this involved using hundreds of lasers.

http://www.dtu.dk/english/News/Nyhed?id=bed76c33-c9da-4214-91f3-c9ed3f8a0e24


Cavium to Acquire QLogic for Server/Storage Adapters

Cavium agreed to acquire all of the outstanding QLogic common stock for approximately $1.36 billion in equity value ($15.50 per share, comprised of $11.00 per share in cash and 0.098 of a share of Cavium common stock for each share of QLogic common stock).

QLogic, which is  based in Aliso Viejo, California, supplies Fibre Channel Adapters, converged network adapter for the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) market, Ethernet adapters, iSCSI adapters, and ASICs.  The company has design wins for next generation Ethernet (10/25/50/100Gb) and Fibre Channel (16/32Gb) platforms.

QLogic, which is listed under the NASDAQ symbol QLGC, was created in 1992 after being spun off by Emulex. QLogic has 782 employees.

Cavium said QLogic's portfolio of advanced connectivity and storage solutions is highly complementary to its portfolio of networking, compute, and security solutions. The combination enables Cavium to offer a complete end-to-end offering to customers in Enterprise, Cloud, Data Center, Storage, Telco and Networking markets.

“Today’s acquisition of QLogic is highly complementary and strategic to Cavium and it creates a diversified pure-play infrastructure semiconductor leader,” stated Syed Ali, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cavium.  “QLogic’s industry leading products extend our market position in data center, cloud and storage markets, and further diversifies our revenue and customer base. In addition to the compelling strategic benefits, the manufacturing, sales and operating synergies will create significant value for our shareholders.”

“QLogic with Cavium is a winning combination for customers and employees and is financially compelling for QLogic shareholders,” said Christine King, Executive Chairman of QLogic. “The scale of operations of a nearly $1 billion revenue business will allow the combined company to deliver better solutions for customers and create more career opportunities for employees. Shareholders will benefit from both the immediate premium, as well as the opportunity to participate in the long-term value creation from the combined company’s strong growth prospects.”

http://www.Cavium.com

Linksys Returns to Selling Cable Modems

Linksys has returned to the business of selling cable modems.

Specifically, Linksys is announcing 3 new cable modems and will be shipping two of them:

  • 8X4 Cable Modem – CM3008 --  Broadband plans under 100 Mpbs - $59.99
  • 16X4 Cable Modem – CM3016 – Broadband plans up to 250 Mbps – Available soon.
  • 24X8 Cable Modem – CM3024 – Broadband plans over 250 Mpbs - $129.99

The CM3008 8X4 and the CM3024 24X8 are DOCSIS 3.0 certified, include Intel Puma chipsets and are compatible with major cable service providers including Charter, Comcast Xfinity, Cox and Time Warner Cable.

“Consumers can save up to $120 a year if they purchase their own cable modem instead of paying monthly rental fees,” said Brian Nickell, cable modem product manager at Linksys.

http://www.linksys.com


  • In 2013, Belkin acquired Linksys from Cisco. Financial terms were not disclosed.
  • In 2003, Cisco acquired Linksys for approximately $500 million in Cisco stock
  • Linksys was founded in 1988 in Taiwan and later moved its HQ to California.

NEC Completes Wireless Transport SDN

NEC completed a Wireless Transport SDN Proof of Concept (PoC) with the Open Networking Foundation’s (ONF) Open Transport Working Group.

The PoC, which was hosted by the Telefonica laboratory in Germany in April 2016, involved 12 companies, including NEC, and used a standard OpenDaylight controller.

The actual PoC consisted of five use cases used for the purpose of demonstrating dynamic network view, configuration, discrepancy monitoring and detection, and event handling:

  • Detection and configuration of new microwave devices
  • Detection of aberrances
  • Detection and visualization of the configured microwave network
  • Detection and visualization of the currently effective network
  • Receiving, displaying and storing of alarm information

NEC said it provided its iPASOLINK VR ultra-compact microwave communications systems equipped with a NETCONF interface. The iPASOLINK VR completed all the test cases for configuration and management of wireless network elements in an open environment with an OpenDayLight-based controller.

http://www.nec.com/en/press/201606/global_20160613_01.html


Patricia Robb: Transforming the World with 5G

5G will fundamentally transform the way we live. Access to connectivity will become a basic need for all people.

CANARIE and Starlight Test 300G at 8QAM with Ciena

CANARIE, a vital component of Canada’s digital infrastructure supporting research, education and innovation, and the StarLight International/National Communications Exchange Facility Consortium completed an optical transport trial that carried 300 Gbps capacity using the latest coherent optical modulation available via Ciena’s WaveLogic 3 Extreme chipset.

Specifically, the trial carried 150 Gbps per wavelength with 8QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) on a live research network that connects Ciena’s labs in Ottawa with StarLight’s Chicago-based R&E communication services exchange facility -- a distance of more than 1,440 km.

Ciena said 8QAM modulation means more flexibility for the network operator, providing higher capacity than QPSK, and greater optical reach than 16QAM. All three programmable modulations will be generally available on Ciena’s any-haul Data Center Interconnect (DCI) Waveserver this summer.

Twelve provincial and territorial network partners, together with CANARIE, collectively form Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN).

http://www.ciena.com