Infinera and Arista Validate Performance of Low-Latency, High Bandwidth DCI

An independent test report has found the Infinera-Arista joint data center interconnect (DCI) solution capable of operating at 100 GbE line-rate throughput with zero loss for any mix of traffic.

The Lippis Report, which provides independent testing of datacenter and enterprise networking solutions, issued the performance test report on the end-to-end DCI solution using Infinera’s Cloud Xpress optical DCI transport platform and Arista’s 7280 programmable switching platform.


Additional highlights of the Lippis test results include:

• End-to-end latency under 20 microseconds (μs) between servers in different datacenters
• Up to 500 gigabit per second (Gb/s) dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM)
• bandwidth on one fiber pair with a single two rack unit (RU) Cloud Xpress
• Ability to extend over 150 kilometers (km) without any external amplification
• Low power consumption – less than one watt per Gb/s for the Cloud Xpress
• Ease of installation and operation, optimized for datacenter environments

“The Infinera-Arista end-to-end DCI solution is especially attractive for latency-sensitive applications, and can also be a great fit for a range of DCI use cases, such as business continuity, workload migration, data replication and big data analytics,” said Nick Lippis, principal and publisher of The Lippis Report. “The Infinera Cloud Xpress offers a small form factor and ease of use not previously available for DCI. I believe it will find a welcome reception in large enterprises who need to interconnect their datacenters with high bandwidth, low latency and low power.”

“We are thrilled to showcase this joint DCI solution with Arista and pleased to have the Lippis Report independently confirm the solution’s end-to-end performance under real-world conditions,” said Stu Elby, senior vice president, Cloud Network Strategy and Technology at Infinera. “For almost a year the Cloud Xpress has been proven in demanding customer environments, including hyperscale Internet content providers, Internet Exchange service providers and select enterprises. We are confident that Cloud Xpress is a great fit for a wider range of enterprise customers, from financial services to media and entertainment, and healthcare.”

http://www.infinera.com
http://www.arista.com

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Qualcomm Posts Quarterly Revenue of $5.5B

Qualcomm reported revenue of $5.5 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter, down 18% from the same period last year. Net income was $1.1B, down 44% from a year earlier.

MSM shipments for quarter were 203 million, down 14% from 236 million in Q4 2014.

“Our fiscal fourth quarter revenues and EPS were at the high end of our expectations, with stronger-than expected MSM chipset shipments offsetting slower than expected progress concluding new license agreements in China. We executed a major increase in our capital return program in fiscal 2015, returning a record $14 billion of capital to stockholders,” said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. “We are encouraged by customer reaction to our flagship Snapdragon 820, are on track to deliver on our fiscal 2016 cost reduction targets and expect to exit fiscal 2016 on an improving financial trajectory.”

http://www.qualcomm.com

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Ethernet Alliance Sees Promising Interoperability Results for 25G

A multi-vendor feasibility event testing pre-standard 25 Gbps Ethernet equipment and cabling has found an 86% interoperability success rate.

The recent 25 Gbps technical feasibility event held at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) produced promising results, according to The Ethernet Alliance, with a high percentage of tests exceeding expected requirements of the proposed IEEE 25 Gbps standard. Data captured during the testing was also provided to the IEEE P802.3by 25 Gbps Ethernet Task Force to aid in its refinement of IEEE’s proposed 25 Gigabit Ethernet (25GbE) specification.

“Work on the IEEE P802.3by 25 Gb/s standard is progressing quickly, but having this data available has been highly beneficial to the development of the 25 Gigabit Ethernet standard,” said Mark Nowell, chairman, IEEE P802.3by 25Gb/s Ethernet Task Force; and senior director of engineering, Cisco Systems. “The positive results generated at the Ethernet Alliance 25Gb/s feasibility event were very encouraging. I would like to thank the Ethernet Alliance for making this event a reality and bringing this data forward.”

“Interoperability doesn’t just happen. Ensuring the multi-vendor interoperability everyone is seeking requires investment from the Ethernet Alliance, technology developers, and the industry as a whole. We enable product testing against specifications and between multiple vendors. During our recent 40G/100G plugfest, we were testing equipment developed throughout the last five years, however, 25GbE is still at a nascent stage of the standardization process,” said Scott Kipp, president, Ethernet Alliance; and principal technologist, Brocade. “The array of pre-standard equipment and cables tested during our technical feasibility event showed an unanticipated level of maturity. It’s a strong expression of the Ethernet ecosystem’s continued commitment to interoperability and a sign of the industry’s desire to capitalize on the benefits that 25Gb/s signaling offers.”

Vendors taking part in the testing included Amphenol, Arista Networks, Cisco, Dell, FCI, Hitachi, Intel, Ixia, Luxshare-ICT, Marvell Technology Group, Mellanox Technologies, Molex, QLogic, Spirent, TE Connectivity, and Xilinx.

http://www.ethernetalliance.org
http://www.iol.unh.edu

Arista Debuts Data Center Switches for 25/50/100GbE

Monday, September 14, 2015  25G, Arista, Data Centers, Switching  No comments

Arista Networks introduced its new line-up of data center switches for 25/50/100GbE switching. The new family of Arista 7060X, 7260X and 7320X fixed-leaf and modular-spline form factor switches offers a range of options at 1GbE to 100GbE along with Arista EOS (extensible operating system) features such as Smart System Upgrade with hitless software upgrades, hitless speed change and network rollback.  Highlights: 7060CX-32S - offers multi-speed...

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Broadcom Debuts Cloud-optimized 25/50G Ethernet Controllers

Monday, July 27, 2015  #SDN, 25G, 50G, Broadcom, Data Centers, Silicon, Switching  No comments

Broadcom has begun sampling its new NetXtreme C-Series 10G/25G/40G/50G Ethernet controller product family designed for supporting greater virtual machine density in cloud data centers. The BCM57300 NetXtreme C-Series Ethernet controllers offer bidirectional 50G throughput with 30 Mpps performance and integrated flow processing capabilities from the server to the top-of-rack switch They complete Broadcom's end-to-end 25/50G data center solution,...

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Video: Hyperscale Data Centers Drive Ethernet Innovation

Sunday, May 17, 2015  25G, Ethernet, Video  No comments

Hyperscale data centers, such as those operated by Amazon and Google and Microsoft, are driving innovation in Ethernet, says Ahmet Houssein, Sr. VP and GM of QLogic's Ethernet Business Unit.  This short video highlights the need for 25G in these enormous, cloud facilities. A new 2550100 Alliance has been formed by a group of server, storage, networking and software companies to focus on solutions based on new 25Gb, 50Gb and 100Gb Ethernet technology....

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Ixia Offers 25 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) Validation

Sunday, March 22, 2015  25G, Ixia, Testing  3 comments

Ixia is introducing a 25 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) validation solution that builds on its native QSFP28 XcellonTM-Multis 100 GbE load modules to now provide 25GbE speed. "25GbE is a good example of the networking industry responding to a growing need in an agile manner. With the unprecedented explosion of bandwidth requirements in the data center, new technologies like 25GbE must be deployed very quickly. Ixia is at the forefront of making this happen,”...

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Crehan: Multiple Technologies Drive Stronger Server Networking Upgrade Cycle

Tuesday, January 27, 2015  25G, Crehan, Data Centers, Research, Servers  No comments

The availability of multiple new data-center Ethernet speeds will lead to a much stronger server networking upgrade cycle than seen over the past decade, according to a new Server-Class Adapter & LAN-on-Motherboard (LOM) Long-Range Forecast Report from Crehan Research. The firm expects that the impending arrival of 25 gigabit Ethernet (GbE), 50GbE and 100GbE products, in combination with existing 10GbE and 40GbE products, will result in more...

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AWS to Open Data Center in Korea

Amazon announced plans to open an AWS region in Korea in early 2016. This will be the fifth AWS region in the Asia Pacific area, bringing the global total to 12 (this does not include the regions that we are planning to open in India and Ohio, also in 2016).

In addition to serving Korean customers, the new facility will allow organizations outside of Korea to reach end users in the area with very low latency.

https://aws.amazon.com

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NTT Innovation Institute Appoints Nina Simosko as CEO

NTT Innovation Institute Inc. (NTT i3), the Silicon Valley-based innovation center for NTT Group, has appointed Nina Simosko as its new president and chief executive officer. She previously held the position of Chief Product Officer at NTT i3. Previous to NTT i3, Nina was responsible for leading the creation and execution of Nike Technology strategy, planning and operations world-wide. Prior to that, she was Senior Vice President of SAP's Global Premier Customer Network (PCN).

"Nina's long-standing tenure in the enterprise software and services industry, combined with her unique approach to commercializing progressive and ground-breaking technology solutions has made her an invaluable asset to our organization," stated Hiroo Unoura, President, and CEO of NTT Group. "Our industry is rapidly evolving and the way in which our customers engage and experience technology is changing significantly. We're certain Nina will make immediate strides, meeting the challenges of a fast-paced and competitive market, to expand the reputation of NTT i3 as a premiere Silicon Valley-based innovation center."

http://www.ntti3.com

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Lenovo to Sell Hyperconverged Appliance Powered by Nutanix Software

Lenovo will market and sell a new family of hyperconverged appliances powered by Nutanix software.

The two companies will introduce a new family of hyperconverged appliances built on Lenovo’s enterprise systems and powered by the award-winning Nutanix software. The joint solution, featuring several of the latest Intel technologies, will run nearly all workloads, including enterprise applications, databases, virtualized desktops, and big data analytics, with improved efficiency and scalability.

“Lenovo can bring a new perspective to the global enterprise space. We do not have to protect old ways of thinking or entrenched ideas. Instead, we can build our business on innovation, and partner freely with the most innovative, leading companies in this space to create new solutions,” said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO, Lenovo. “Nutanix’s well recognized technology leadership, paired with our global reach, will enable both companies to thrive by helping customers dramatically reduce complexity in datacenters of all sizes.”

http://www.lenovo.com
http://www.nutanix.com

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XCellAir: MSOs Should Pursue "Wi-Fi First" Strategy Outside the Home

Multi-system operators (MSOs) investing in carrier “Wi-Fi first” deployment strategies outside the home will enable them to compete with mobile network operators (MNOs) for customers — while also saving on mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) partnership arrangements, according to a new study commissioned by XCellAir, a start-up specializing in Wi-Fi Quality of Experience (QoE).

XCellAir’s research shows that bringing the Wi-Fi quality of experience closer to that of cellular networks not only allows MSOs to capture new and retain existing customers “beyond the doorstep,” but will also yield a $4.5bn opportunity across the US market.

This opportunity is comprised of $675m in revenue from additional services — better access to video services means better convergence of voice, mobile, broadband and video content, driving uptake of quad-play services and reducing churn. MSOs could also save $3.8bn in MVNO wholesale charges by moving more traffic onto MSO-owned and controlled Wi-Fi networks.

“MSOs would like ‘cable cutting’ to be a fad that will fade as people get older and value convenience more, but this complacency is a huge risk to their business model,” said Narayan Menon, Founder and CTO, XCellAir. “By creating a Wi-Fi first service that goes beyond the home and matches cellular networks for quality of experience, MSOs have the opportunity to create a service that will underpin retention of their quad-play customers and will attract more.

The analysis by Real Wireless and XCellAir is based on a study of 250 live Wi-Fi access points around its offices in Montreal, Canada, modelling common urban scenarios in which public Wi-Fi is in everyday use. The study revealed the underuse and inefficiencies of standard Wi-Fi technology, and where MSOs would otherwise need to focus efforts to create a carrier-grade network. The savings and opportunities available are based on MSOs with a 5% market share across the USA, over five years.

http://xcellair.com/

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Singapore's National Supercompter Centre and A*STAR Deploy Infinera Cloud Xpress

Singapore's National Supercomputer Centre (NSCC) and its Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have deployed the Infinera Cloud Xpress to connect the two data centers in the bustling research campuses in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, Singapore. NSCC/A*STAR is the first publically announced customer using the new 100 Gigabit Ethernet version of the Cloud Xpress platform.

The Cloud Xpress leverages Infinera’s unique photonic integrated circuit technology to support up to one terabit per second (Tbps) of input and output capacity in just two rack units. The Infinera Cloud Xpress delivers a full 500 Gbps super-channel of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) line-side capacity on a single fiber without requiring external multiplexers or amplifiers. With the 100 GbE platform, the Cloud Xpress family includes three solutions, optimized for 10 GbE, 40 GbE and 100 GbE interfaces.

“Working with our partner Dimension Data, we are pleased to provide NSCC and A*STAR with a datacenter interconnect solution that meets their bandwidth demands in space and power-limited datacenter locations,” said Stu Elby, senior vice president of cloud network strategy and technology at Infinera. “Cloud Xpress is a purpose built datacenter platform that addresses the needs of Singaporean scientists, especially in the very fast growing area of genomics and bioinformatics.”

http://www.infinera.com

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FireEye Reports Revenue of $166 Million, Lower Billings

FireEye reported Q3 revenue of $165.6 million, an increase of 45 percent from the third quarter of 2014. Billings were $210.6 million, an increase of 28 percent from the third quarter of 2014. GAAP net loss per share was $0.88, compared to a GAAP net loss per share of $0.83 in the third quarter of 2014.

“We delivered a solid quarter of overall growth, with revenue up 45 percent and non-GAAP operating margins and earnings per share well ahead of our outlook,” said David DeWalt, FireEye chief executive officer and chairman of the board.

“While we outperformed on many financial metrics, our billings performance did not meet the expectations we set in late July. The strength evident in our sales to new logo customers, our North American enterprise business and the Asia-Pacific region was partially offset by weakness in Europe.  We believe this was due to a combination of macroeconomic factors, as well as the growing pains of a new organization. Additionally, the third quarter of 2014 included a large, five-year transaction that extended the average contract length to 34 months. This created a difficult year-over-year comparison and impacted our year-over-year billings growth rate as the average contract length declined to approximately 30 months in the third quarter of 2015,” added Berry.

http://www.fireeye.com

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Juniper Pursues Hardware/Software Disaggregation

Juniper Networks is advancing its commitment to open networking through disaggregation of Junos software.  This will enable deployment of third-party network services or applications directly on Juniper hardware platforms as well as have the option to program directly to Juniper systems using the supported Open Compute Project (OCP) defined software model.

At its inaugural NXTWORK 2015 Summit in Santa Clara, California, the company is also unveiling its QFX5200 series of access switches.  These will be the first platform to run the disaggregated Junos as well as the emerging 25 and 50 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) standard. The switches are based on Broadcom's Tomahawk silicon.

Juniper said the significance of the announcement is that customers gain flexibility in purchasing hardware separately from software with a pay-for-what-you-need software-licensing model.

“Our customers are consistently challenged to accelerate the pace of network infrastructure deployments to match the speed of business requirements. As a result, the purpose of the network has fundamentally changed; it’s all about choice to enable people to connect with speed, agility and reliability. Our new software infrastructure for Junos and the QFX5200 series, along with our technology integration in leading converged stacks, illustrate how Juniper’s data center solutions deliver the automation, programmability and openness required to solve our customers’ most pressing network challenges and eradicate lock-in,” stated Jonathan Davidson, executive vice president and general manager, Juniper Development and Innovation, Juniper Networks.

Some highlights:

Disaggregated Junos Software 

• Develop and install third-party applications directly on supported Juniper switching systems with the disaggregated Junos software as well as run the disaggregated Junos software on Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) compliant third-party switches.
• Using an open platform approach, Juniper provides open access to Linux so customers can freely orchestrate third-party applications using Openstack, Apache, Netconf or other tools. This new level of network services modularity enables easy integration with customer applications, SDN controllers and orchestration tools.
• Support for MPLS, BGP, EVPN-VXLAN and a robust L2/L3 feature set.
• A new pricing model for the QFX5200 will allow customers to purchase Junos and the QFX5200 hardware platform together or separately.

QFX5200 Switches 

• Next-generation QFX5200 access switches with multi-speed capability from 10G to 100GbE enable customers to migrate to higher port speeds and support 25G/50GbE without costly upgrades. With 25GbE, customers get 2.5 times the performance over existing cabling infrastructure.
• QFX5200 switches support the disaggregated version of Junos, combining high-performance switching with the flexibility, power and functionality of a quad-core server CPU.
• Managed through Junos Space Network Director, customers can control the entire enterprise network through a single pane of glass. Additionally, with support of VMware vRealize 

http://www.juniper.net
http://www.juniper.net

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Juniper Expands its NFV Toolkit with Cloud CPE

Juniper Networks announced an expansion of its Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) portfolio with the launch of Cloud CPE, a fully automated, end-to-end network functions virtualization solution.

The solution builds on Juniper's Contrail Networking to scale across all models – whether on-premises or in the cloud.  Juniper said its goal is to make service delivery from an end user’s perspective as easy as downloading a new app from iTunes.

Juniper's Cloud CPE uses the Contrail Service Orchestration platform to deliver and manage virtualized network services, such as virtual security. Contrail is designed to operate in multi-vendor network environments and can orchestrate the entire service lifecycle – from service design to activation – to radically improve the user experience and enable new service revenue.

Juniper's NFX250 is the first in a series of network services platforms that can operate as secure, on-premises devices running multiple virtual network functions, from Juniper and third-parties, simultaneously. The NFX250, is capable of running myriad virtual functions on a single software-driven device, thereby significantly reducing cost. The 1RU NFX250 unit, which will be available during the first half of 2016, runs both Juniper and third-party virtual network functions.

“As more and more of our service provider customers look to realize real business value from SDN and NFV, the need to have flexible solutions that effectively scale is critical. With the innovations we’re announcing today, service providers will be able to harness the power of scale-out services to improve their service delivery economics. For us at Juniper, it’s all about infusing automation into our customers’ networks to reduce time to market and speed time to revenue,” stated Jonathan Davidson, executive vice president and general manager, Juniper Development and Innovation.

http://www.juniper.net

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Telefonica Picks Gigamon for Network Visibility

Telefonica Argentina has selected Gigamon’s visibility solutions to help optimize its subscriber service offerings. The solution is being used to gain insight into the way subscribers consume content, enabling Telefonica to adjust service offerings accordingly.

Specifically, Telefonica Argentina is utilizing a number of Gigamon solutions and technologies including several GigaSMART applications for traffic intelligence: Adaptive Packet Filtering, Application Session Filtering and Header Stripping as well as Gigamon’s patented Flow Mapping.

Gigamon said that by combining its Aggregation Solution, GigaVUE-TA1, and the GigaVUE-HD8 Fabric Node with the GigaSMART applications implemented as part of a Visibility Fabric architecture, Telefonica Argentina gained visibility into more than 32 x 10Gbps IP/MPLS links. The GigaSMART feature set significantly reduced the traffic that needed to be processed by the tools, resulting in a 10:1 cost savings ratio for Telefonica. With Gigamon’s solution in place, Telefonica Argentina can streamline the introduction of new technologies such as VoLTE, IMS and CDN to its network and reduce operational and performance impact.

Telefonica Argentina is also working with Gigamon to increase its network performance and optimization capabilities.

“Gigamon’s solutions are well suited for our customer experience management needs. Gigamon has also helped us gain greater visibility across our entire network and identify and address issues as soon as they arise. In fact, during the deployment process, Gigamon helped us to troubleshoot a DNS Cache Server Farm performance issue, resolve it remotely avoiding a possible service outage. It really helped us to streamline the performance of the DNS system,” said Alberto Bernal, Telecom Network Planning Engineer, Telefonica Argentina.

https://www.gigamon.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/telefonica-selects-gigamon-gain-network-visibility-and-optimize

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Quantenna Enables 10G Wave 3 Wi-Fi Access Points

Quantenna Communications announced the availability of the first 10G Wave 3 Wi-Fi product family for home wireless access points and residential gateways with unprecedented Wi-Fi performance, reliability and capacity for high-density environments.

Quantenna’s True 8x8 QSR10G Wi-Fi platform with multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) technology is the first to implement 10G Wave 3 to support speeds up to 10Gbps. This milestone speed benchmark for Wi-Fi is attained by combining the industry’s first True 8x8 MIMO configuration for 5GHz networks with a 4x4 MIMO configuration on 2.4GHz networks for a combined 12-stream configuration.

“In Wi-Fi access points more antennas are always better, but 10G Wave 3 is not just about 8x8 MU-MIMO and faster speeds. It’s about making better use of network and airtime efficiency to support the growing number of connected devices, services and applications,” said Dr. Sam Heidari, Quantenna CEO. “After pioneering the Wi-Fi industry with 4x4 MIMO, we’ve gained a deep understanding of real-world channel behavior in crowded environments. These insights have led to the creation of 10G Wave 3 and the world’s first 8x8 MIMO, which are poised to revolutionize the Wi-Fi experience.”

Key Wave 3 Features and Benefits

• Integrated AP chipset for dual-band (5GHz and 2.4GHz), dual concurrent operation and management
• 160MHz channel support for 5GHz networks. When combined with 8x8 MIMO configuration, this offers 4x the capacity of 80MHz 4x4 MIMO networks
• Unique adaptive MIMO configuration
• Up to 1024 QAM modulation for 2.4GHz and 5GHz transmissions
• Supports rich set of interfaces to external hosts such as PCIe Gen3/Gen2, RXAUI, RGMII, and others

http://www.quantenna.com

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Sckipio Lands Intel Investment for G.fast Silicon

Sckipio Technologies, a pioneering developer of G.fast modem technology, announced an equity investment from Intel Capital.  The investment adds to Sckipio’s third round of funding. Previously, Sckipio raised $27 million from venture capital firms Amiti Ventures, Aviv Ventures, Genesis Partners, Gemini Israel Ventures and Pitango Venture Capital.

Sckipio noted a number of achievements over the past year, including the first 16-port Distribution Point Unit, the first to run UHDTV content across G.fast, the first to demonstrate SDN running over G.fast (in partnership with AT&T), and the first to deliver over 1Gbps at 300 meters.

“Sckipio and Intel have been working closely together since the beginning of the G.fast market and jointly announced the first G.fast residential gateway reference design in the fall of 2014,” noted Dan Artusi, Intel vice president and general manager of its Connected Home Division. “This strategic investment is another milestone for the Intel Connected Home Division and Sckipio to deliver fiber-like speeds to the people on existing copper infrastructure.”

“Sckipio continued to deliver many industry firsts,” said David Baum, co-founder and CEO of Sckipio Technologies. “With the investment from Intel Capital, Sckipio will increase technology investments to accelerate our innovations in the broadband access market.“
 
http://www.sckipio.com/intel-capital-invests-in-sckipio/

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A Major Update is Released for Open Source Wireshark Packet Analyzer

Riverbed Technology announced a major release of Wireshark, a free and open-source packet analyzer used for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and communications protocol development. Riverbed is the primary sponsor of Wireshark, which is free and distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

Wireshark 2.0 offers an updated UI and now uses a new application framework to deliver a significantly better user experience on all platforms, particularly Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. The new release offers many new features, including configurable conversation types, VoIP player improvements, a new wireless toolbar, SSL dissector improvements, more languages, etc.

http://www.wireshark.org
http://www.riverbed.com

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IEEE Approves 802.22b-2015 Wireless Broadband - "Wi-FAR"

IEEE announced the approval of 802.22b-2015, a new standard designed to support point-to-multipoint wireless broadband operation in the VHF and UHF TV bands in the frequency range between 54 MHz and 862 MHz.

802.22b point-to-multipoint wireless broadband, which is sometimes referred to as "Wi-FAR", is targeted at traditionally underserved rural areas, where most empty TV channels can be found and where Internet access services are often scarce. It takes advantage of favorable propagation characteristics in the VHF and low UHF TV bands, to provide broadband wireless access under both line-of-sight (LoS) and non-line-of-sight (NLoS) conditions over large areas (10 to 30 kilometers). This occurs while operating on a strict non-interference basis in "TV white space" (TVWS)—spectrum that is assigned to, but unused by, incumbent licensed services.

“IEEE 802.22b-2015 is designed to double the throughput of devices based on the original IEEE 802.22 standard. The new amendment is intended also to serve more users per base station and enable relay capability for machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) use cases,” said Chang-woo Pyo, chair of the task force that created IEEE 802.22b.

http://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/802.22.1.html

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East Japan Railway Deploys SDN with NEC

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) has deployed a "Common Station Network" based on SDN across all 36 of its stations in the Yamanote Line area.  The software-defined network makes it possible to carry out integrated network management across all stations, enabling JR East to establish and provide new services easier.

NEC installed the SDN-based Common Station Network in March 2014.  The project included:

• Installation of NEC UNIVERGE PF Series switches, which are among the first such products in the world to be compatible with OpenFlow.
• Across all stations, including Tokyo Station, a total of 20 SDN controllers and 174 SDN switches have been installed.
• NEC has created a large-scale, high-capacity network with a high degree of availability by connecting all stations on the Yamanote Line and stations in the same area on the Chuo Line in a ring configuration, using an IP network consisting of fiber optic cables.

In addition to enabling visualization and integrated management of the entire network, the Common Station Network uses software to enable JR East to configure networks or make multiple changes to settings centrally, rather than doing so every time a new service is launched or station improvement works are carried out, as previously.

http://www.nec.com/en/press/201510/global_20151027_01.html

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IBM Acquires Gravitant to Hybrid Cloud Brokerage Tool

IBM has acquired Gravitant, a privately held company that develops cloud-based software to enable organizations to easily plan, buy and manage, or “broker,” software and computing services from multiple suppliers across hybrid clouds. Financial terms were not disclosed.

IBM said the Gravitant software will help customers to purchase compute and software services from different suppliers.

"The reality of enterprise IT is that it is many clouds with many characteristics, whether they be economic, capacity or security,” said Martin Jetter, Senior Vice President, Global Technology Services, IBM. “Gravitant provides an innovative approach to add choice and simplicity to how enterprises can now manage their environments. It will be a key component as we broaden our hybrid cloud services."
IBM plans to integrate the Gravitant capabilities into the IBM Global Technology Services unit. In addition, IBM Cloud plans to integrate the capabilities into Software-as-a-Service offerings, extending the company’s growing hybrid cloud solutions and capabilities.

Gravitant is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has development operations in Pune and Bangalore, India. The company was founded in 2004.

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/47987.wss

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Ixia Posts Revenue of $126 Million, Strong U.S. Sales

Ixia reported Q3 revenue of $125.9 million, compared with $114.0 million reported for the 2014 third quarter and $131.6 million reported for the 2015 second quarter. Net income (GAAP) was $4.0 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $7.3 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the 2014 third quarter.

“We delivered another solid quarter of year-over-year revenue and earnings growth. Our revenue growth was driven by strong market momentum across our product portfolio, particularly in the U.S. where revenue grew 25% year-over-year to reach a new record. In addition to growing our year-over-year bottom line results, we generated approximately $22 million in cash from operations as we continue to strive for operational excellence and financial discipline,” said Bethany Mayer, Ixia's president and chief executive officer.

http://www.ixiacom.com

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Affirmed Networks Intros Virtualized Wi-Fi Gateway

Affirmed Networks introduced an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) and Trusted Wi-Fi Access Gateway (TWAG) solution that enables fixed and mobile operators to offer virtualized Wi-Fi access.

The carrier-grade virtualized Wi-Fi solution delivers the scalability and encryption required to increase the number of IPSEC-encrypted sessions on demand without the need of specialized encryption hardware. The company said it is able to achieve this by leveraging its expertise in virtualizing network elements with a solution on the IPSEC encryption front. Its virtualized Wi-Fi gateway takes advantages of hardware and software advances from Intel, including Intel AES New Instructions (Intel AES-NI) and Intel Multi-Buffer Crypto for IPsec Library.  These advances enable the delivery of a high-performance, fully-virtualized IPsec-enabled ePDG on standard high-volume servers.  In particular, new capabilities associated with the performance gains provide accelerated data encryption and greater levels of security.

"Network security is a critical issue for service providers," said Renu Navale, director, Intel Network Builders. "Robust and scalable encryption capabilities in Intel platforms will help accelerate the development of high-performance virtualized security appliances. Our work with Affirmed Networks is an excellent example of how we collaborate with Intel Network Builders members to deliver optimized solutions for comms networks."  

"Our work with Intel Technologies allows us to ensure that our technical innovation remains at the 'world-class' level that our customers deserve," said Angela Whiteford, Affirmed Networks' Vice President of Marketing and Product Management.  "Mobile operators are investing heavily to gain new customers and to remain profitable and must keep churn to a minimum.  By providing operators with virtualized Wi-Fi capabilities, not only can they begin to offer revenue-driving services, they also significantly improve network coverage, and the overall customer experience as a result.  Wi-Fi also provides a valuable 'offload' option that operators are utilizing to improve overall network utilization."

http://www.affirmednetworks.com

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