Citrix and Palo Alto Networks Team on Multi-tenant Network Security

Palo Alto Networks' VM-Series next-gen virtualized firewall and threat prevention offering is now available on the Citrix NetScaler SDX service delivery networking platform.

The Citrix NetScaler SDX ADC cloud service platform is a multi-tenant appliance providing application availability, application acceleration and application security needed in the mobile and cloud world.

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series runs the same PAN-OSTM software as Palo Alto Networks physical enterprise security platforms, bringing next-generation firewall and threat prevention capabilities to virtual data centers. The application-specific protections provided by NetScaler AppFirewall™ complement the next-generation firewall protections provided by the Palo Alto Networks VM-Series.

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The VM-Series integrated with NetScaler SDX serves as a multi-tenant platform capable of delivering dedicated advanced delivery controller (ADC) and next-generation firewall instances tailored to the specific needs of individual, "tenant" applications.

The companies also highlighted the use of Netscaler-enabled firewalls for delivering Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop®virtual application and desktop virtualization solutions.

http://www.citrix.com/news/announcements/feb-2014/citrix-and-palo-alto-networks-team-to-deliver-consolidated--mult.html

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Cisco: Mobile Data Traffic Growth Forecast at 61% CAGR

From 2013 to 2018, global mobile traffic growth will outpace global fixed traffic growth by a factor of three, according to Cisco's newly released Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Forecast, 2013-2018, reaching a worldwide load of 15.9 exabytes per month or 190 exabytes annually in 2018.

The study combines independent analyst forecasts, real-world mobile data usage, and Cisco’s own estimates for mobile application adoption, minutes of use, and transmission speeds.

Some highlights:

Growth Factors

• By 2018, there will be 4.9 billion mobile users, up from 4.1 billion in 2013.
• By 2018, there will be more than 10 billion mobile-ready devices/connections—including eight billion personal mobile devices and two billion M2M connections, up from seven billion total mobile-ready devices and M2M connections in 2013.
• Average global mobile network speeds will nearly double from 1.4 Mbps in 2013 to 2.5 Mbps by 2018.
• By 2018, mobile video will represent 69 percent of global mobile data traffic, up from 53 percent in 2013.

Global Shift to Smarter Devices

• Globally, 54 percent of mobile connections will be “smart” connections by 2018, up from 21 percent in 2013. Smart devices and connections have advanced computing/multi-media capabilities and a minimum of 3G connectivity.
• Smartphones, laptops, and tablets will drive about 94 percent of global mobile data traffic by 2018. M2M traffic will represent five percent of 2018 global mobile data traffic while basic handsets will account for 1 percent of global mobile data traffic by 2018. Other portables will account for 0.1 percent.
• Mobile cloud traffic will grow 12-fold from 2013 to 2018, a 64 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Impact of Machine-to-Machine Connections (and Wearable Devices)

• In 2013, M2M connections represented nearly five percent of mobile-connected devices in use and generated more than one percent of total mobile data traffic
• By 2018, M2M connections will represent nearly 20 percent of mobile-connected devices in use and generate almost six percent of total mobile data traffic.
• In 2013, there were 21.7 million global wearable devices. By 2018, there will be 176.9 million global wearable devices or a 52 percent CAGR.

4G Mobile Adoption and Traffic Growth

• By 2018, 4G connections will support 15 percent of all connections, up from 2.9 percent in 2013.
• By 2018, 4G connections will support 51 percent, or 8 exabytes per month, of total mobile data traffic, up from 30 percent, or 448 petabytes per month, in 2013.
• 4G traffic will grow 18-fold from 2013 to 2018, a 78 percent CAGR.

Wi-Fi Offload Traffic Surpasses Cellular Traffic

• More mobile data traffic will be offloaded onto Wi-Fi from mobile-connected devices (17.3 exabytes per month) than will remain on mobile networks by 2018 (15.9 exabytes per month).
• By 2018, 52 percent of global mobile traffic will be offloaded onto Wi-Fi/small cell networks, up from 45 percent in 2013.

Global Mobile Application Analysis: Video Remains on Top

• Mobile video traffic will increase 14-fold from 2013 to 2018 and will have the highest growth rate of any mobile application category.
• By 2018, mobile video will be 69 percent of global mobile traffic, up from 53 percent in 2013.
• By 2018, web and other data applications will be 17 percent of global mobile traffic, down from 28 percent in 2013.
• By 2018, streaming audio will be 11 percent of global mobile traffic, down from 14 percent in 2013.
• By 2018, file sharing will be three percent of global mobile traffic, down from four percent in 2013.

Regional Growth Projections

• The Middle East and Africa will have a 70 percent CAGR and 14-fold growth;
• Central and Eastern Europe will have a 68 percent CAGR and 13-fold growth;
• Asia-Pacific will have a 67 percent CAGR and 13-fold growth;
• Latin America will have a 66 percent CAGR and 13-fold growth;
• North America will have a 50 percent CAGR and eight-fold growth; and
• Western Europe will have a 50 percent CAGR and seven-fold growth.

 http://newsroom.cisco.com/release/1340551

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NSN and Sprint Hit 2.6 Gbps with TD-LTE

Sprint demonstrated 2.6 Gbps TD-LTE throughput over a single sector using NSN's commercially available Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station. The previous record was 1.6 Gbps.

The tests, which were conducted at NSN’s Mountain View facility in California, aggregated 120 MHz of Sprint’s TDD spectrum to achieve an unprecedented speed of 2.6 Gbps.

NSN said its plans include a high-capacity Flexi Multiradio System Module for TD-LTE that can deliver up to 5 Gbps of peak throughput from a single site. The company said this enhanced Flexi Multiradio System Module is the industry’s highest capacity TD-LTE baseband, enabling operators to roll out TD-LTE networks with fewer base stations and fewer sites, saving up to 50 percent in capital expenses and operational costs. The module features integrated transport technology, removing the need for additional hardware for connecting to transport networks. IPsec security is also built in, providing a secure tunnel between the base station and core network to protect traffic from eavesdropping, unauthorized access or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

"Sprint is excited to partner with NSN to enable Sprint Spark and lead the way globally in enabling future mobile broadband innovation,” said Stephen Bye, chief technology officer at Sprint. “Combining our unique spectrum assets with TD-LTE-Advanced features and NSN’s next generation TD-LTE base station has allowed us to achieve the world’s first 2.6 Gbps throughput over TD-LTE.”

"With demand for high-speed mobile broadband services growing rapidly around the world, NSN and Sprint are showing how operators can unlock the highest capacity from their TDD spectrum,” said Zhang Qi, vice president for TD-LTE at NSN. “At Mobile World Congress, we will demonstrate how the record speed was achieved, proving that TD-LTE technology and the ecosystem are ready for global roll out by any operator with TDD spectrum. With our help, the operators can meet and exceed the expectations of mobile broadband customers.”

http://www.sprint.com
http://www.nsn.com

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NSN Extends LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation to 3 Carriers

Nokia Solutions and Networks is enhancing its Carrier Aggregation software to be able to support 3 carriers. This should allow for individual users’ downlink data rates of up to 450 Mbps for operators having a total bandwidth of up to 60 MHz in up to 3 bands.

NSN is also implementing dynamic, load-balancing enhanced Inter Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC) to enable highly efficient, capacity-focused LTE small cell deployments. eICIC solution manages interference while balancing the subscriber load across the small cell and macro layers. NSN said its solution works with upcoming LTE-Advanced devices as well as with the LTE devices available today.

Both enhancements are software upgrades to NSN’s Flexi Multiradio 10 and Flexi Zone Micro/Pico base stations. NSN will present these innovations at Mobile World Congress 2014.

“As the development of LTE and TD-LTE smartphones progresses towards higher aggregated bandwidth, operators continue to evolve their LTE network capacity adding further frequency allocations. With our software-based evolution of LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation, we combine the advantages of both these trends,” said Tero Peltola, vice president of FDD LTE at NSN.

“The small cell deployment focus is definitely moving beyond simply filling coverage gaps to improving subscriber experience with added capacity. Even though it is possible to deploy LTE small cells without interference management, NSN’s dynamic, load-balancing eICIC solution boosts capacity by up to 30 percent with coordinated macro and small cell interference management techniques,” continued Peltola. “For effective capacity growth with HetNets, resource management must be optimized for all users, regardless of their LTE device’s capabilities or whether they are connected on the small cell or macro layer. With our solution, operators can ensure every user enjoys a performance boost following the small cell deployments.”

http://www.nsn.com

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NSN: Big Gains from Coordinated Multi-cell Scheduling

Using coordinated multi-cell scheduling to reduce interference between adjacent base stations can deliver up to 30 percent faster downlink speeds at the cell edge, according to Nokia Solutions and Networks.

Coordinated scheduling is implemented as software within the base stations, avoiding the need for any additional hardware.

NSN is introducing a software upgrade that adds coordinated scheduling to its Smart Scheduler for Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Stations.

"Mobile broadband users will experience superior performance everywhere, not just when they’re at the center of a cell,” said Zhang Qi, vice president for TD-LTE at NSN. “Furthermore, NSN’s solution eliminates the need for any additional hardware. Our coordinated scheduling is a simple software upgrade in the base station because we want to keep the LTE network architecture lean and reduce unnecessary complexity.”

http://www.nsn.com

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Cisco and Samsung Sign Patent Cross-License

Cisco and Samsung Electronics Co. signed a patent cross-license agreement covering a broad range of products and technologies.

The mutually beneficial agreement covers the two companies' existing patents as well as those filed over the next 10 years.

"Innovation is stifled all too often in today's overly-litigious environment," said Dan Lang, Cisco's Vice President of Intellectual Property.  "By cross-licensing our patent portfolios, Cisco and Samsung are taking important steps to reverse the trend and advance innovation and freedom of operation."

http://www.cisco.com
http://www.samsung.com

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Syringa Upgrades to 100G with ADVA's FSP 3000

Syringa Networks, which serves areas within Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Utah, has deployed ADVA Optical Networking's FSP 3000 to scale the capacity of its network.  The ADVA FSP 3000 is pre-configured for 100G.  ADVA has been a long-term supplier to Syringa.

http://www.advaoptical.com/en/newsroom/press-releases-english/20140205.aspx

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Dell'Oro: Service Provider Edge Router Market Forecast

The demand for routers in mobile backhaul networks is expected to propel the worldwide Service Provider Router market to almost $9 billion by 2018, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group.

“As LTE networks are being deployed in China and across Europe, router demand in mobile backhaul networks is taking off, with service providers expanding capacity to handle data traffic generated by LTE users,” said Alam Tamboli, Business Analyst at Dell’Oro Group.  “In North America, we witnessed a rapid deployment cycle, whereas in the case of Europe, we expect the cycle to be longer due to differences in the competitive landscape and a larger population size,” added Tamboli.

http://www.delloro.com

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Sierra Wireless Launches LTE modules based on Intel

Sierra Wireless introduced two new AirPrime embedded LTE modules based on Intel chipsets and designed for integration into notebook computers and tablets. The AirPrime EM7340 supporting LTE in Japan and the AirPrime EM7345 supporting LTE networks in the rest of the world.

“Intel’s LTE platform is a very good fit for the requirements of the PC OEM by offering the largest number of bands supported in the new M.2 form factor,” said Horst Pratsch, head of the Product Line Modems & Modules at Intel Mobile Communication. “Collaborating with Sierra Wireless to provide connectivity to our joint customers was a logical next step for us and we are excited to see these products launch.”

Samples of the AirPrime EM7340 and EM7345 are available now for testing and certification purposes. Commercial shipments are expected to begin within this quarter.

http://www.sierrawireless.com

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Saudi Telecom Renews Managed Services Deal with NSN

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has renewed its managed services contract with Nokia Solutions and Networks to further improve operational efficiency, network performance and the quality of services.

Through the renewed contract, NSN continues to provide its comprehensive managed services including network planning and optimization, network and service operations as well as care services including hardware and software services for STC’s Al Jawal Network. The contract covers GSM, 3G and LTE network of STC within NSN’s footprint.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.nsn.com

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OpenDayLight: Open Collaboration on SDN

http://youtu.be/8vaPF07o228

Neela Jacques, Executive Director of OpenDaylight, discusses collaboration with the Open Networking Foundation, ETSI and others in developing solutions for software defined networks.

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OpenDaylight Project Delivers Hydrogen Sourcecode for SDN

The OpenDaylight Project officially released its "Hydrogen" software for enabling software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV).  The Hydrogen release contains over a million lines of code, with contributions from 154 people.

Three versions of Hydrogen are available:

Base Edition

• Controller: A modular, extensible, scalable and multi-protocol SDN controller based on OSGi.
• OpenFlow Plugin: Integration of OpenFlow protocol library in controller Service Abstraction Layer (SAL).
• OpenFlow Protocol Library: OpenFlow 1.3 protocol library implementation.
• OVSDB: Open vSwitch Database configuration and management protocol support, e.g. for Open vSwitch and other OVSDB servers.
• YANG Tools: Java-based NETCONF and YANG tooling for OpenDaylight projects.

Virtualization Edition (includes Base Edition)

• Affinity Metadata Service: APIs to express workload relationships and service levels.
• Defense4All: DDoS detection and mitigation framework.
• Open DOVE: Multi-tenant network virtualization based on overlays, including control plane and Open vSwitch-based data plane.
• Virtual Tenant Network: Multi-tenant network virtualization application using OpenFlow.

Service Provider Edition (includes Base Edition)

• Affinity Metadata Service: APIs to express workload relationships and service levels.
• BGP-LS/PCEP: Support for traffic engineering with BGP-LS (BGP protocol library and topology model) and PCEP (path programming model).
• Defense4All: DDoS detection and mitigation framework.
• LISP Flow Mapping: Locator/identifier Separation Protocol plugin, LISP mapping service (can be used to implement virtual networks).
• SNMP4SDN: SNMP protocol support and APIs to manage commodity Ethernet switches.

“We are seeing new OpenDaylight implementations and solutions coming to the forefront every day,” said Neela Jacques, executive director, OpenDaylight. “All signs point to 2014 being a key year for the project as we continue to grow the community, build the architecture and engage with organizations and end users who want to accelerate the path to SDN and NFV.”

“OpenDaylight formed with the goal of tackling one of IT’s toughest challenges: simplifying network management,” said David Meyer, Technical Steering Committee chair, OpenDaylight. “This first release is a great step forward and the community is already looking to build on its work to address a variety of additional capabilities and features in subsequent releases that are being discussed at the first OpenDaylight Summit this week.”

http://www.opendaylight.org/

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NEC Contributes Network Virtualization to OpenDaylight Hydrogen

NEC has contributed its Virtual Tenant Network (VTN) source code to the OpenDaylight Project's “Hydrogen” release, which was revealed at the first annual OpenDaylight Summit in Santa Clara.

The VTN, introduced by NEC at the July 2013 HackFest, consists of a set of technology components that provide a multi-tenant virtual network through the OpenDaylight controller.

The VTN provides an abstraction that enables the complete separation of the network’s logical plane from its physical plane. Applications can program the network using Northbound APIs. Once the network has been defined using VTN, it will automatically be mapped to the physical network through the controller.

NEC said the benefits of the VTN include:

• More efficient management of the network resources
• Reduced time to configure network services
• Minimized network configuration errors

“The VTN is a core technology of NEC’s ProgrammbleFlow® Network Fabric, and has been deployed globally by carrier and enterprise customers for their production networks,” said Don Clark, director of business development for NEC Corporation of America. “The VTN network design enables deployment of logical networks on top of any underlying physical network topology, reducing complexity of traditional network design and increasing service agility. We’re pleased to be part of the Hydrogen release.”

http://www.necam.com/sdn

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IBM Debuts OpenDayLight Unified Network Controller

IBM introduced a new unified network controller based on OpenDaylight technology.

The new IBM Software Defined Network for Virtual Environments (SDN VE), which is built using open source components and interfaces, can automate and speed up the process of setting up such networks. It also includes support for OpenStack, which enables organizations to integrate their SDNs into private and public clouds. The SDN VE consists of the unified controller, virtual switches for creating overlays, gateways to non-SDN environments and open interfaces for application integration.

IBM said its unified controller was designed for both VMware and Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) virtualization environments. It also supports the Open Networking Foundation’s OpenFlow standard. The goal is to enable network administrators to achieve greater enterprise performance, scalability and security, and address ever-changing business needs by speeding up network provisioning from days to hours.

“Our goal is to take advantage of the openness of the OpenDaylight platform and deliver that advantage to clients by collaborating with other developers to establish an ecosystem of interoperable network applications and services,” said Dr. Inder Gopal, IBM vice president of System Networking Development. “The cooperation needed to realize the benefits of SDN is only possible within an open framework, and IBM is pleased to provide a holistic solution for new and existing networks.”

With the OpenDaylight Project, IBM is working closely with its partners, such as A10 Networks, ADVA Optical Networking, Brocade, Citrix, F5, Juniper Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Plexxi, Radware, SilverPeak, vArmour, VSS Monitoring and others to enable scalable networking applications that include load balancing, firewall, intrusion detection, routing and other services.

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/43082.wss

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Ericsson Launches OpenDaylight Lab

Ericsson announced an OpenDaylight Lab aimed at helping SDN developers to integrate, test and verify their applications in an OpenDaylight ecosystem. The lab at Ericsson's campus in San Jose, California, will accelerate the availability of SDN applications from developers.

The lab will provide an OpenDaylight network environment open to all SDN developers based on an agreed schedule.

"Network programmability and interoperability are two key goals of the OpenDaylight Project," said Neela Jacques, Executive Director, OpenDaylight. "It is great to see Ericsson devoting significant resources to support the integration and testing of SDN and NFV innovations and applications coming out of the community."

Ericsson is a founding Platinum sponsor of the OpenDaylight Project, and is collaborating with other project members to develop the OpenDaylight SDN and NFV platform including the first open source software release named Hydrogen. Ericsson will run the new lab in collaboration with the OpenDaylight Project.

http://www.opendaylight.org
http://www.ericsson.com

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Google and Cisco Sign Patent Cross-Licensing Deal

Cisco and Google announced a long-term patent cross-licensing agreement covering a broad range of products and technologies.

"Our agreement with Cisco will reduce the potential for litigation, letting us focus instead on building great new products," said Allen Lo, Google's Deputy General Counsel for Patents. "We're pleased to enter into this cross-license, and we welcome discussions with any company interested in a similar arrangement."

"In today's overly-litigious environment, cross-licensing is an effective way for technology companies to work together and help prevent unnecessary patent lawsuits," said Dan Lang, Cisco's Vice President of Intellectual Property. "This agreement is an important step in promoting innovation and assuring freedom of operation."

Both Cisco and Google are members of the Coalition for Patent Fairness, a leading advocacy group for patent reform.

http://thenetwork.cisco.com
http://www.google.com

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Mellanox Releases Ethernet Switch API

Mellanox Technologies released its Ethernet Switch Software Development Kit (SDK) Application Programming Interface (API) with full Layer 2 and Layer 3 functionality as an Open Source software platform. The Open SDK API code and documentation can be downloaded for free.

Mellanox describes its release of the API as a continued step in the Open Ethernet initiative and works in conjunction with Open Compute Project (OCP). The Open SDK API enables the Ethernet community to build open source networking applications and protocols faster and can be a base for a standard Ethernet switch interface.

“By opening the SDK API, we provide our customers with an open interface for integration of their applications and the freedom to optimize the Ethernet switch hardware platforms to their needs,” said Gilad Shainer, vice president of marketing at Mellanox Technologies. “We encourage other vendors to join the growing community of the Open Ethernet initiative and to agree on a common, standard API for all switches, and for application developers to write network stacks on top of Ethernet switch ICs.”

http://www.mellanox.com
http://www.mellanox.com/page/products_dyn?product_family=124&mtag=switchx_sdk

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AT&T Names Chief Medical Advisor to Support Health IT Initiative

AT&T has appointed Dr. Eric Topol as its Chief Medical Advisor to oversee the design, development and delivery of AT&T's healthcare IT solutions.

Dr. Topol is a premier cardiologist, geneticist and researcher, and will continue in his position as the Chief Academic Officer at Scripps Health. He is author of the best-selling book The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care and editor-in-chief of Medscape. He is also the founder of Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. Dr. Topol has been involved with the evolution of wireless medicine since its emergence.

"With connected devices, the flow of health and medical information is going through a radical change, which puts patients in an exceptionally powerful and important position. I'm honored to work with AT&T as we seek to develop new solutions that will change the trajectory of digital health and impact patient outcomes," Dr. Topol said.

http://www.att.com

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Verizon Wireless Customers Chewed Through 1.9TB in Stadium at Super Bowl

Verizon Wireless customers generated an unprecedented 1.9 TB of data usage over the company's wireless network during Super Bowl XLVIII.

During the game, Verizon Wireless said it handled more than 800 percent more data connections than during the busiest hour at last year's Super Bowl in New Orleans. In fact, during the halftime show with Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Verizon Wireless customers shattered records, using more data in MetLife stadium during a single hour than at any previous Super Bowl. 

"Our network got the trophy last night and during Super Bowl week, delivering the consistent, reliable performance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and throughout the New York metropolitan area that our customers have come to expect from Verizon Wireless," said Nicola Palmer, chief technology officer of Verizon Wireless.

Prior to the game, the company upgraded its Distributed Antenna System (DAS) inside MetLife Stadium to quadruple 4G LTE data capacity and added additional cell sites outside to enhance customers' game-time experiences.

http://www.verizonwireless.com 

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Procera Networks Introduces Service Plan Assurance

Procera Networks announced "Service Plan Assurance," enabling fixed and mobile operators to provide individual subscribers with real-time and historical score cards detailing application performance and traffic management impact.

This solution demonstrates to subscribers that they are getting the performance and quality of experience that the network operators are promising, making any network management policies enforced in the network transparent to end users. It uses Procera's PacketLogic solutions, which are able to ensure that the correct level of service is being delivered to the customer, as well as measure the impact of network congestion on the customer's end user experience. The operators' customer service team can also see a real-time and historical view of exactly what quality of service that user has been delivered, regardless of their location or the devices that they are operating.


"Service providers want to make a commitment to their subscribers that they will get the value they are expecting from their service plan choices," said James Brear, President and CEO of Procera Networks. "Procera's technology has always designed fairness and transparency into its PacketLogic™ traffic management products so that service providers implementing network management policies can readily understand the impact these algorithms have on their customers. By introducing our Service Plan Assurance solution we believe that our philosophy of fairness can be easily implemented and demonstrated to subscribers."

http://www.proceranetworks.com

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