Google announces Android 5G slicing for enterprises

Google Cloud announced a 5G network slicing capability for Android that enables virtual mobile networks to be created dynamically with varying properties utilizing shared underlying physical resources. 

Google said 5G slicing will let CSPs earn a return on their investments in 5G, by offering a secure and dynamic network platform to enterprises. For enterprises 5G network slicing can boost application performance through a dedicated network channel that’s optimized for higher bandwidth, lower latency, higher reliability, and increased security and isolation. 

The new capability in Android enables 5G enterprise network slicing routes application traffic on managed devices on CSPs’ 5G networks. For devices provisioned with a work profile, data from work apps will be routed over an enterprise network slice. CSPs looking for more in-depth information on Android’s 5G network slicing implementation can visit the Android SAC site. 

Google also notes that its support of 5G network slicing capabilities for enterprises was validated in partnership with both Ericsson and Nokia through a successful integration of 5G radio access networks (RAN) and 5G core network solutions with test units of the recently released Pixel 6 smartphone running the Android 12 operating system. Additionally, Far EasTone (FET), Android, and Ericsson collaborated on an end-to-end demonstration of 5G Network Slicing with 5G URSP. This demonstration showcased URSP capability on the Google Pixel 6 to direct work apps traffic over the enterprise slice.

https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/telecommunications/5g-network-slicing-with-google-android-enterprise-and-cloud

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Juniper advances AI and data driven networking

In its virtual Global Analyst, Influencer & Media Summit Day event on Tuesday, Juniper Networks emphasized the role of artificial intelligence for delivering holistic visibility and insights across its entire Junos portfolio. The idea is to leverage data to deliver Experience-First Networking.

Juniper CEO Rami Rahim:

“The last two decades of networking, as I reflect on it, have been about speeds and feeds, performance, scale, throughput, and don't get me wrong these are all really important. But they also become table stakes. The future of IT, the future of networking is about experience, and more specifically something at Juniper that we call Experience-First Networking.”

 “Our Experience-First Networking is our True North. It's our calling at Juniper. How do we achieve it? Well, it starts with harnessing that most precious resource in the world. By now it should be obvious: data. If we leverage data correctly, we can achieve some very powerful flywheel effects across all of our solutions. That's exactly what we have set up to achieve.”

As a cornerstone of its experience-first networking vision, the company is offering Juniper Support Insights, an AI-driven stack to simplify connecting Junos-based customer platforms (ACX Series, EX Series, MX Series, PTX Series, QFX Series and SRX Series) to the Juniper cloud. Data can then be quickly collected, correlated with Juniper-specific knowledge (known defects, contract status, End of Life/End of Support (EOL/EOS), product knowledge bases, security vulnerabilities) and then curated into actionable insights. 

Juniper Support Insights includes access to a secure portal used to manage device onboarding and discovery, as well as a view into operational dashboards and reports. The dashboard provides a summary of holistic operational health metrics and insights for the entire network. Standard reports include detailed analysis into areas such as hardware and software inventory (chassis level all the way to transceivers and all serialized components, logical/physical interfaces, OS versions), exposure covering EOL/EOS and much more. Enhanced custom reports are also available via the Juniper Advanced Care services team.

“The use of data and automation are redefining how customer experience is delivered. Juniper Support Insights represents a major step forward in how we’re transforming services with a focus on personalized, proactive and predictive experience leveraging AI and cloud,” said Derrell James, EVP of Juniper Global Services. “With a new level of end-to-end visibility and actionable intelligence, Juniper is making it easier for service providers, enterprises and partners to optimize the operation of their networks.”

https://blogs.juniper.net/en-us/driven-by-experience/juniper-support-insights-transforming-network-operations-with-ai-driven-support

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Arista expands its OS stack with Network Data Lake

Arista Networks has expanded its EOS software foundation with the introduction of the EOS Network Data Lake (NetDL) and an AI/ML-driven Autonomous Virtual Assist (Arista AVA).

The big idea is to use the EOS stack  to provide a high-fidelity data lake capability to enable applications to interact, analyze, and enrich network data. Arista says its new NetDL provides a single source of network data ‘truth’ and a common sensor/collector architecture that enables forensics and analytics for threat hunting, network packet brokers, network detection and response, network performance monitoring, and application performance monitoring. EOS NetDL builds upon the established second-generation of the Arista EOS NetDB core publish-subscribe state model with datastores and analytics for network data sources such as alerts, flows, full packet capture, control plane traffic, and device state streaming. In addition to network-centric state from Arista devices, EOS NetDL also enriches network data with third-party and external data integrations, enabling a wide range of applications to process, analyze, and derive operational insights and predictions from this data set.

“Arista is entering the third generation of its flagship software stack. Developing a network-based data lake foundation from the ground up on our existing network state database makes Arista EOS NetDL a differentiated network and data-centric operating system. This compelling multi-tenant and multi-modal data stack is future-proof and engineered to enable customer innovation,” stated Ken Duda, Founder and CTO at Arista Networks.

Arista is collaborating with third parties to enable network data driven applications. Key integration examples with NetDL ecosystem alliance partners include: enhanced network segmentation and cloud security integration, Quality of Experience (QoE) with collaboration applications, validated designs and templated deployments, full inventory integration that verifies production devices are accurately tracked, and live chatops/bot integration enabling real-time data consumption and interaction.

https://www.arista.com/en/company/news/press-release/13399-pr-20211102

Blog from Jayshree Ulaal on Data Driven Networking - https://blogs.arista.com/blog/data-driven-networking 

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BT to offer OneWeb's LEO satellite service

BT Group will offer OneWeb's Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity services to its customers.

The landmark Distribution Partner Agreement supports the UK Government’s National Space Strategy and spans BT’s global footprint.

BT, which is currently testing how LEO satellite technology integrates with its existing terrestrial capabilities, expects to commence the first live trials with customers from early next year. The partnership will span a growing range of connectivity solutions around the world as well as specific opportunities for the UK market.

Philip Jansen, Chief Executive of BT Group, said: “Space is an emerging and enormous digital opportunity, and this is an important step towards harnessing its potential for BT’s customers across the globe. We will put OneWeb’s technology through its paces in our UK labs with the goal of delivering live trials in early 2022. Delivered securely and at scale, satellite solutions will be an important part of our plans to expand connectivity throughout the UK and globally, and to further diversify the range of services we can offer our customers.”

OneWeb’s Chief Executive Officer Neil Masterson said: “BT has taken the lead in the recognition of LEO satellite’s advantage.  We are delighted as this agreement with BT Group represents an important strategic partnership for OneWeb as we continue to make progress towards our operational launch. We are excited to be playing such a key role in improving the resilience of the overall telecom infrastructure in the UK. OneWeb’s connectivity platform will help bridge the last digital divides across the country and enhance the nation’s digital infrastructure.”

http://www.oneweb.world

Hughes and OneWeb alliance targets enterprise services

Sunday, September 12, 2021  Hughes, OneWeb, Satellite  

Hughes Network Systems and OneWeb have signed a distribution agreement in the U.S. focused on enterprise services. In India, the parties have entered into an MOU for a strategic agreement to distribute services to large enterprises, small and medium businesses, government, telcos and ISPs, including in the rural and remote parts of the country. Hughes and OneWeb also stated that thy intend to work together to broaden distribution globally,...

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AT&T inks deal with OneWeb for coverage in remote locations

Wednesday, September 08, 2021  AT&T, OneWeb  

AT&T signed a strategic agreement with OneWeb to provide LEO satellite coverage for AT&T business customers into remote and challenging geographic locations. The new connectivity will complement existing AT&T access technologies.The AT&T service will be supported by OneWeb’s network of satellites. OneWeb has launched 288 satellites and expects to attain global coverage with a total fleet of 648 satellites by the end of 2022. AT&T...

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OneWeb tests Kymeta's LEO satellite terminal

Tuesday, September 07, 2021  Kymeta, OneWeb  

OneWeb completed pilot testing of Kymeta's u8 based LEO terminal with OneWeb’s LEO satellite constellation.Kymeta and OneWeb performed a series of LEO satellite acquisition, tracking and throughput measurements in Toulouse, France. Kymeta plans to leverage these results in the definition of future-proof solutions that are fully integrated and compatible with the rapidly expanding OneWeb system.The demonstrations in Toulouse showed full-duplex communications...

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Microsoft Azure extends its hybrid and multicloud strategy

At this week's Microsoft Ignite virtual conference, several new Azure capabilities are being introduced to extend hybrid and multicloud applications. 

• Azure Arc on VMware vSphere and Azure Stack HCI:  VMware vSphere and Azure Stack HCI systems can secure and govern existing virtual machines (VMs) and Kubernetes with Azure Arc. In addition, Azure is previewing of lifecycle management of VMs on VMware vSphere and Azure Stack HCI deployments on-premises from the Azure Porta, enabling customers to do lifecycle management of VMs from the Azure Portal.
• Azure Arc-enabled Machine Learning capabilities update: Customers can train their machine learning models anywhere using Azure Machine Learning enabled by Azure Arc.  New capabilities will include the ability to do inferencing to enable predictions using ML models.
• Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance update: Customers can run Azure Arc-enabled databases in connected and disconnected modes.
• Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Stack HCI:  a modern cloud-based desktop and app virtualization solution on-premises for latency or regulatory use cases
• Microsoft Defender for multicloud scenarios: Microsoft Defender for Cloud now extends Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) and Workload Protection capabilities to Amazon Web Services (AWS) 
• Azure Migration and Modernization Program (AMMP) to support Azure Arc scenarios: the program now includes Azure Arc as a supported scenario.

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/your-hybrid-multicloud-and-edge-strategy-just-got-better-with-azure/

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DZS reports record orders, supply constraints, rising prices

DZS reported Q3 2021 revenue of $88.4 million, representing a sequential 6.9% increase, and a 5.9% decline compared with record revenue of $93.9 million reported in the third quarter of 2020. Adjusted Gross Margin was 36.8% and adjusted EBITDA was $5.1 million. 

DZS said order growth continued at an elevated pace, increasing 47% year-over-year to $124.5 million. Year-to-date orders reached $369.5 million. Some other highlights:

• Revenue from the Americas region increased 3% sequentially and 62% year-over-year to $27.3 million for the third quarter of 2021. 
• Revenue from the EMEA region increased 22% sequentially and 2% year-over-year to $20.4 million for the third quarter of 2021.
• Revenue from Asia represented 46% of total revenue in the third quarter of 2021, increasing 3% sequentially to $40.7 million, declining 28.6% year-over-year from an exceptionally strong third quarter of 2020.
• Broadband Connectivity revenue of $64.8 million in the third quarter of 2021 (73% of total revenue) increased 3.2% from $62.8 million in the second quarter of 2021 and 2.0% compared with $63.5 million in the third quarter of 2020.
• Mobile Transport revenue was $23.6 million in the third quarter of 2021 (27% of total revenue), an increase of 18.6% from $19.9 million in the second quarter of 2021 and a decrease from $30.5 million in the third quarter of 2020. The sequential increase was the result of increased sales in the Asia region associated with service provider 5G and O-RAN initiatives, while the year-over-year decline reflects a timing factor of volume deployments with several marquee customers.
• DZS also noted that as a result of 18 months of supply chain disruptions and increased prices from many of the industry’s leading semiconductor and component suppliers, it has begun to implement price increases. 
• DZS recently announced an expanded contract manufacturing partnership with Jabil, and extended its strategic partnership with Broadcom.

https://investor.dzsi.com/investor-relations/default.aspx

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Juniper adds Wi-Fi 6E APs powered by its Mist AI

Juniper Networks introduced two new 6 GHz access points that leverage its Mist AI to maximize Wi-Fi performance and capacity while simplifying IT operations. In addition, Juniper is introducing a new IoT Assurance service that streamlines and scales the onboarding and securing of IoT devices without Network Access Control (NAC). These enhancements to the Juniper wireless access portfolio further the company’s experience-first networking mission so that IT administrators can deliver the best network experiences to their end users.

“While it is relatively easy to support new standards like Wi-Fi 6E in hardware and to onboard a small number of IoT devices using pre-shared keys, Juniper has again put customers first by applying the proven benefits of Mist AI and the modern microservices cloud to these environments to deliver unparalleled performance, agility, ease and scale,” said Jeff Aaron, VP Enterprise Marketing. “From Day Zero installation through ongoing monitoring, management and troubleshooting of the network, Juniper continues to stand out for an experience-first approach to networking that delivers the best experiences for operators and end users from the client to the cloud.”

The two new tri-band access points (APs), managed via the same Mist cloud and AI engine as the rest of the Juniper Mist portfolio, include:

• AP 45 – 2.4 GHz/5 GHz/6 GHz quad-radio, 4x4:4SS, vBLE array
• AP 34 – 2.4 GHz/5 GHz/6 GHz quad-radio, 2x2:2SS, omni BLE

The new access points complement the existing 2.4- and 5-GHz APs currently in the Juniper Mist portfolio, which support both 802.11ac and 802.11ax protocols. All APs incorporate either Juniper’s patented virtualized Bluetooth LE or omnidirectional BLE antenna in addition to Wi-Fi to provide a wide range of location-based services in a scalable and cost effective manner.

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