NETWORKING

Just as you thought software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN) technology was maturing, it’s evolving yet again. The latest evolution comes as enterprises tackle new security challenges associated with Internet of Things (IoT) devices – introducing the requirement for a Zero Trust security framework at the WAN edge. As the cloud-first infrastructure that sits at the intersection of networking and security, SD-WAN has demonstrated that it can be the go-to platform for connecting users securely and directly to applications…

Securing University Research I recently had the honor of working with a global panel of leaders from across the higher education landscape contributing to the 2021 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report | Information Security Edition.  In this report, the Horizon panelists began with a blank slate and were tasked with identifying the technologies and practices they believed would have a significant impact on the future of higher education information security.  Research security was one of the practices highlighted –…

Cisco began to invest in the sports and entertainment industry beginning in 2008 with the creation of a single converged network that would support the future of connectivity in a venue. We’ve come a long way since then, and that technology and numerous others have been relied upon by hundreds of venues in countries around the world. One of the most prominent is Sofi Stadium and Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. A connected, visually dynamic…

We have created a new blog series that will focus on the people behind Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Cisco. Each blog in this series will highlight a different Cisco employee who works closely with CSR initiatives across the company. Vijay holding Cisco’s 2019 Golden Peacock Global Award for Sustainability. Cisco is working not only for a more inclusive future but a more environmentally sustainable one as well. Environmental issues like climate change, pollution, and waste…

Network agility is defined as the speed at which a network can adapt to change while maintaining its operational properties. Software Defined Networking (SDN) is the foundation for network agility and includes LAN, WAN, and Cloud. The following blog posts and paper discuss Cisco’s implementation of SDN as SD-Access, SD-WAN, and Cloud Native SD-WAN, as well as their advantages and the standardization efforts required for interoperability. Bringing Cloud Native SD-WAN to the SD-WAN Standardization Process…

There are moments that change the course of our personal lives. These moments are inflection points—a graduation, a new partnership, the birth of a baby—events that define a clear “before” and “after.” Similar moments exist at the macro level, and these events change the course of our collective path. There are also milestone moments that stress the very core of our lives—natural disasters, pandemics, wars, or resource scarcities—that force us to reimagine a new way…

Network Operations in Enterprises and Service Providers need better visibility into traffic flows for a variety of reasons, including ease of troubleshooting, security, and compliance. Historically, this level of visibility requires leveraging network Test Access Points (TAP) and SPAN (port mirroring) to feed traffic to monitoring and inspection tools. But this approach has drawbacks, including the need for a dedicated port on the monitoring device for every TAP or SPAN destination, making the configuration very…

Just because Linux appeals to the nerdiest of nerds doesn’t mean that it can’t be extremely helpful for those who don’t want to spend a lot of time delving into the technical details of how to use various commands. In fact, Linux provides a series of tools that can help anyone master the command line or just get the task at hand done more quickly and efficiently. This post covers 10 of the best options….

AT&T, Hughes, and Verizon were selected as the top three SD-WAN providers for the third year in a row in the latest Vertical Systems Group rankings for year-end 2020. Comcast jumped to fourth place. Despite the pandemic, expansion of carrier-managed SD-WAN services in the U.S. increased 39% in 2020. Demand was resilient across bandwidth-intensive markets, but vulnerable for verticals like retail and travel. Vertical Systems Group is an independent market research firm focused on network…

In the year since Cisco revamped its DevNet certification portfolio to focus more on network programing, automation and application development, the need for those software-based skillsets has never been more important. The requirement for software skills in the networking environment is being driven by a number of factors including the tremendous increase in the use of automation, the need to have an intelligent pipeline to remote users, and the growing necessity to efficiently network and…