Gigamon Extends Visibility Coverage for Small Enterprises and Remote Sites

Gigamon is extending the visibility coverage of its GigaSECURE Security Delivery Platform from large data centers to small enterprises and remote sites in distributed enterprises with the introduction of its GigaVUE-HC1 appliance.

GigaVUE-HC1 is a modular one rack unit visibility appliance with twelve 10 gigabit (Gb) interfaces, four 1Gb interfaces, two modular slots for expansion and GigaSMART hardware processing built into the base system. It uses the same GigaVUE-OS operating system that powers the Gigamon portfolio, supporting capabilities such as Flow Mapping, inline bypass and multiple GigaSMART traffic intelligence applications.

The new GigaVUE-HC1 appliance provides a centralized way to administer and manage all tools, whether inline or out-of-band, making it well suited for remote sites with independent tools, such as call centers.  Gigamon said its enterprises and service providers can also use the GigaVUE-HC1 to selectively backhaul traffic flows and metadata of interest to centralized tools, enabling both consolidation

“Distributed and small enterprises are an often overlooked, yet an important market segment with specific visibility needs. GigaVUE-HC1 expands the scope of our successful GigaSECURE platform, enabling organizations to see more and increase the scope of security coverage,” said Ananda Rajagopal vice president of products, at Gigamon. “GigaVUE-HC1 delivers a rich combination of metadata and traffic intelligence with the flexibility to deploy both inline and out-of-band security tools, thereby reducing the time to deploy and maintain security tools at smaller sites.”

http://www.gigamon.com

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Liberty Global to Acquire Multimedia Polska

Liberty Global agreed to acquire the cable business of Multimedia Polska, the third-largest cable operator in Poland, in an all cash transaction valued at PLN 3.0 billion (approximately $760 million).

The PLN 3.0 billion purchase price equates to a multiple of 6.2x Multimedia’s 2015 full-year Adjusted EBITDA2 when adjusted for PLN 124 million (approximately $30 million1) of projected annual run-rate synergies3 derived from revenue and cost-related items.

Liberty Global already operates in Poland under its subsidiary UPC Poland. As of June 30, 2016, UPC Poland passed 3.1 million homes, or around 20% of total households in Poland, serving 1.4 million unique customers who subscribed to 2.9 million cable subscription services.

At the end of the second quarter of 2016, Multimedia passed 1.6 million homes mainly through its hybrid fiber-coaxial cable network, serving 832,000 unique customers who subscribed to 1.4 million subscription services consisting of 643,000 video, 491,000 broadband and 241,000 telephony RGUs. In addition, Multimedia had 54,000 mobile subscribers at June 30, 2016.

Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, commented, “This acquisition will significantly increase our scale in Poland, where we are already the largest cable operator. It will also enhance our ability to invest in cutting-edge products and services for Polish consumers and businesses that will help drive organic growth across our enlarged footprint of over four million premises. Upon closing of the transaction, we will begin upgrading the Multimedia network, after which Multimedia’s customers will be able to enjoy superfast broadband speeds and our next-generation video service Horizon TV.”

http://www.libertyglobal.com

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Facebook Plans 4th Expansion of Iowa Data Center

Facebook announced the fourth major expansion of its hyper-scale data center campus in Altoona, Iowa.

Specifically, Facebook will add cold storage capabilities to the complex.  The expansion will add more than 100,000 square feet to building 3.

Cold storage of Facebook photos and other archival media is currently done at Facebook data centers in Prineville, Oregon and Forest City, North Carolina.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/altoona-data-center/facebook-announces-fourth-expansion-to-altoona-data-center/1141866325903952

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Cost Savings is the Big Driver for OpenStack

A survey of the OpenStack user base has found that cost savings is primary motivation for deploying the technology.

The survey was conducted by the OpenStack Foundation.  Some key findings:

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• Seventy-two percent of OpenStack users cite cost savings as their No. 1 business driver.
• The Net Promoter Score (NPS) for OpenStack deployments—an indicator of user satisfaction—continues to tick up, eight points higher than a year ago.
• Containers continues to lead the list of emerging technologies, as it has for three consecutive survey cycles. In the same question, interest in NFV and bare metal is significantly higher than a year ago.
• Kubernetes shows growth as a container orchestration tool.
• Seventy-one percent of deployments catalogued are in “production” versus in testing or proof of concept. This is a 20 percent increase year over year.
• OpenStack is adopted by companies of every size. Nearly one-quarter of users are organizations smaller than 100 people.

http://www.openstack.com

OpenStack Hits its 14th Release - Newton

Thursday, October 06, 2016  #Cloud, Open, OpenStack, Standards  No Comments

The OpenStack community released Newton, the 14th version of the most widely deployed open source software for building clouds. Newton brings user experience improvements for container cluster management and networking. New features in the Ironic bare metal provisioning service, Magnum container orchestration cluster manager, and Kuryr container networking project more seamlessly integrate containers, virtual and physical infrastructure under one...

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Australia's nbn Hits 8 Gbps in Testing Nokia's XG-FAST

In lab testing, Australia's nbn recorded throughput speeds of 8 Gbps using Nokia's XG-FAST solution. Specifically, the XG-FAST trial conducted in nbn's North Sydney-based lab facilities generated peak aggregate data throughput speeds of more than 8 Gbps over a 30-meter twisted-pair copper cable typically deployed in field. A 5Gbps peak aggregate speed was achieved over 70 meters of twisted-pair copper cable.

XG-FAST is a Nokia Bell Labs-developed extension of Nokia's commercially available G.fast.  Nokia said the technology can deliver fiber-like speeds of more than 10 Gbps over short distances using existing copper infrastructure.

Dennis Steiger, CTO at nbn said: "Although XG-FAST is still in its very early stages of development, the lab trials we have conducted demonstrate the huge potential that the technology offers. XG-FAST gives us the ability to deliver multi-gigabit speeds over copper lines - virtually on a par with what is currently available on Fiber-to-the-Premises - but at a lower cost and time to deploy. We are really thrilled to be the third operator in the global market to run lab trials of XG-FAST, following in the footsteps of BT last year and Deutsche Telekom in February. This shows that nbn is committed to delivering Australians the best possible broadband experience on the nbn(TM) network."

http://www.nokia.com

Deutsche Telekom Tests XG-FAST over Copper with Nokia

Monday, February 01, 2016  Deutsche Telekom, G.Fast, Nokia  No Comments

Deutsche Telekom hit throughput speed of more than 10 Gbps in a trial or Nokia's XG-FAST technology that was conducted at Deutsche Telekom's cable laboratory in Darmstadt, Germany. The trial used two bonded pairs of Category 6 cable at 50 meters in length. Similar tests using standard drop cable illustrated the feasibility of XG-FAST for fiber-to-the-front door applications, achieving aggregate rates that exceed 8Gbps over 50m.  All trials were performed using prototype equipment from Bell Labs under laboratory conditions.

XG-FAST is a Bell Labs-developed extension of Nokia's commercially available G.fast technology. The lab trial was conducted end of 2015 by Nokia's subsidiary Alcatel-Lucent.

Deutsche Telekom's network - which uses VDSL2 Vectoring as well as fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technology - currently offers customers access speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

Nokia said  XG-FAST is in the early stages of lab testing, but has exceeded expectations in trials with several customers so far.

XG-FAST is also capable of delivering 1Gbps symmetrical services at distances of 70m enabling operators to deliver fiber-like speeds inside buildings using existing telephone lines, eliminating the need to install new cabling. This allows for faster installation times and less hassle for the end-user.

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Intel Posts Q3 Revenue of $15.8 Billion

Intel reported third-quarter GAAP revenue of $15.8 billion, operating income of $4.5 billion, net income of $3.4 billion and EPS of 69 cents.

“It was an outstanding quarter, and we set a number of new records across the business,” said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. “In addition to strong financials, we delivered exciting new technologies while continuing to align our people and products to our strategy. We’re executing well, and these results show Intel’s continuing transformation to a company that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected devices."

Q3 Highlights

• Client Computing Group revenue of $8.9 billion, up 21 percent sequentially and up 5 percent yearover-year
• Data Center Group revenue of $4.5 billion, up 13 percent sequentially and up 10 percent year-over-year
• Internet of Things Group revenue of $689 million, up 20 percent sequentially and up 19 percent year-over-year
• Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group revenue of $649 million, up 17 percent sequentially and down 1 percent year-over-year
• • Intel Security Group revenue of $537 million, flat sequentially and up 6 percent year-over-year
• Programmable Solutions Group revenue of $425 million, down 9 percent sequentially

http://www.intel.com

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Cisco Delivers IP/Optical for Iraqi National Backbone

Cisco is providing optical transport systems for rebuilding the Iraqi National Backbone, a multi-layer IP and optical network that spans the long terrestrial route from Iraq to Turkey.

The Iraqi National Backbone is a joint venture between Symphony and EarthLink JLT, reaching most major Iraqi cities. Commercial launch is expected in March 2017.

Cisco said it is supplying a mix networking technologies for the projecy, including the Cisco NCS 5500 and ASR 9000 router platforms and the NCS 2000 for DWDM. The entire solution is based on industry standard protocols, including WSON in the optical layer. Cisco Software Defined Networking (SDN) coordinates restoration events between the optical and IP portions of the network. A common management solution with Cisco Evolved Programmable Network (EPN) Manager is also critical for the multi-layer network views into each event. The IOS XR operating system powering the Iraqi Backbone network will be capable of supporting advanced operational capabilities such as segment routing, real-time model driven telemetry and standards-based programmability using NETCONF and YANG.

“Creative thinking by the leaders of Symphony and EarthLink will soon be changing the lives of the people of Iraq,” said Mike Weston, vice president, Middle East, Cisco. “The extended reach of the network and its advanced capabilities unleashes the transformational power of connectivity and sets a solid foundation for achieving Iraq’s development goals. With this project, Cisco further establishes its leadership with IP and optical networks that require multi-layer restoration and automation, and industry leading performance in long haul applications.”

https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=press-release&articleId=1798147

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Rancher Labs Launches Partner Program for its Container Management

Rancher Labs, a start-up specializing in container management software, is launching a partner program designed to expand the company’s global reach. The program will support consultancies and systems integrators, as well as resellers and service providers worldwide, with initial partners from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

“Community interest in Rancher’s open and easy-to-use container management platform has shattered expectations, with over a million downloads and over ten million Rancher nodes launched since this year alone,” said Shannon Williams, co-founder and vice president of sales and marketing at Rancher Labs. “To help us meet demand within the enterprise, we’re partnering with leading DevOps consultancies, system integrators and service providers around the world. We’re excited and humbled by the strong interest we’ve seen from the partner community, and we’re looking forward to working with our partners to help make containers a reality for our joint customers.”

http://rancher.com/

Rancher Ships its Container Management Platform

Tuesday, March 29, 2016  #Containers, Docker, Rancher, Start-Ups  No Comments

Rancher Labs, a start-up based in Cupertino, California, released its open-source container management software.

The Rancher software is designed to simplify the deployment and management of containers in production enterprise applications. The software lets users select from multiple container orchestration frameworks such as Kubernetes and Docker Swarm, while maintaining a single management experience.  Rancher implements a cloud-agnostic infrastructure services layer that works across any public or private cloud, or traditional data center. The platform works across cloud and data center boundaries, and its load balancing and persistent storage services function uniformly on any computing resources.

Rancher said its solution allows organizations to gain visibility, manage policies and exert control of containers and infrastructure spread across different teams within an organization.  It also enables IT to improve deployment reliability, orchestrate software upgrades, and improve the utilization of infrastructure resources.

“Since announcing our beta product less than a year ago, Rancher Labs has experienced incredible demand, as well as received encouraging and helpful feedback and community support for this open platform which has enabled us to make meaningful enhancements to Rancher,” said Sheng Liang, CEO, Rancher Labs. “Now, with well over a million downloads, Rancher has quickly become the platform of choice for teams serious about running containers in production.”

http://rancher.com/

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Telia Carrier Brings 100G to 365 Data Centers Pittsburgh

Telia Carrier is now offering 100G IP connectivity to customers in 365 Data Center's Pittsburgh edge facility.

365 Data Centers' Pittsburgh customers will now have access to Telia Carrier's IP Transit, Ethernet, IoT and mobile data services.

Telia Carrier already provides 100Gbps services in seven other 365 Data Centers including Detroit, MI.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Tampa, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; St Louis, Mo.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Indianapolis, Ind.

http://www.teliacarrier.com

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Broadcom Intros OLT Silicon for XGS-PON and NGPON-2

Broadcom introduced PON OLT devices with support for the recently ratified ITU G.9807.1 XGS-PON and G.989 NGPON-2 protocols, speeding time to market for symmetric 10Gbps broadband services.

Broadcom's multi-mode BCM68620 system-on-a-chip (SoC) integrates support for both existing and next-generation fiber technologies under a common application programming interface (API), to enable a unified system software design that can be applied to all PON protocols supported by a system manufacturer. The new support for XGS-PON and NGPON2 fall under this same API umbrella, offering excellent software re-use to existing BCM68620 customers as they easily expand their PON portfolio with line cards dedicated to these new protocols.

Sampling is underway.

“Broadcom heard operators’ need for support of the new XGS-PON and NGPON2 standards in commercial silicon, and OEM requirements for simplified development, and we responded,” said Greg Fischer, senior vice president and general manager, Broadband Carrier Access, Broadcom. “Built on our proven PON OLT technologies, the updated BCM68620 family offers the industry’s only silicon platform with support for all the PON protocols ratified and shipping in volume by operators worldwide.”

http://www.broadcom.com

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Bharti Airtel Picks Nokia to expand 4G in 9 Circles

Bharti Airtel has signed a new agreement with Nokia to expand its 4G technology in three new circles in addition to six circles it already serves,  The rollout supports new services that started in September. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Specifically, Nokia will deploy its 4G FDD-LTE & TD-LTE technology across nine of Bharti Airtel's circles in India including the regions of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rest of Bengal, Odisha, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Kerala and UP East, serving major cities such as Lucknow, Ahmendabad, Patna and Siliguri. Nokia will also expand the operator's 3G network in eight of the territories as part of this rollout and modernization of legacy 2G BTS.

http://www.nokia.com

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