NETWORKING

The rumors were true, only the price was off. AMD formally announced this week it intends to acquire FPGA maker Xilinx for $35 billion, not $30 billion as originally rumored. Xilinx is the biggest maker of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chips, a class of chips that can be reconfigured for a variety of specialized tasks by the end user. They are especially popular in vertical markets like automotive and cellular base stations, where a chip…

The sheer number of connectivity options available for IoT networks will create chaos in the coming year, according to a newly released set of predictions from Forrester Research. As there’s no single connectivity option that meets every use case for IoT, businesses should expect to navigate a landscape that includes proprietary low-power options like Zigbee, unlicensed standards like Bluetooth, both public and private varieties of 5G, Wi-Fi, and even satellite in order to make deployments…

Midnight Commander – the “mc” command – provides an easy way to browse directories and to view, move, delete, compare, change and edit files. Similar in some ways to ranger, mc makes it easy to move around directories and offers side-by-side file/directory listings that work independently of each other. In addition, it provides a very wide range of actions that you can take through simple menu choices. To start Midnight Commander, simply type “mc” in a…

Secure access service edge (SASE) architecture rolls networking and security into a cloud service, making it easier for enterprises to provide simple, secure access to corporate resources, but it’s still in its infancy. Vendors and service providers sell offerings that they call SASE, but what they actually provide and how they provide it varies widely. SASE—pronounced “sassy”- is a term coined last year by Gartner, and it combines software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) with access control and…

Simplifying security options for enterprise customers is a daunting task, and it can be even harder in the current pandemic-driven workforce environment. But Cisco is taking steps to both streamline and bolster its security menu, according to news out of its virtual Partner Summit conference.  For starters, Cisco is eliminating 50 product names and simplifying its offerings within the renamed Cisco Secure portfolio. Cisco is also reinforcing its key platforms, including its SecureX and zero trust…

(Editor’s note, Oct. 29, 2020: With the FBI and US Department of Homeland Security recently warning of credible cyberthreats to healthcare facilities including ransomware, it’s a good time to review the steps outlined in this article that enterprises can take to guard against such attacks.) Ransomware attacks are becoming more rampant now that criminals have learned they are an effective way to make money in a short amount of time. Attackers do not even need…

(Editor’s note: An August 2020 Enterprise Management Associates survey of 252 North American and European IT professionals found that most had accelerated their adoption of Zero Trust networking framework. This article by EMA Vice President of Research Networking Shamus McGillicuddy further details the results of the “Enterprise Zero Trust Networking Strategies: Secure Remote Access and Network Segmentation” report.) The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted 60% of enterprises to accelerate their Zero Trust networking strategies. Just 15%…

There are quite a few changes you can make to user accounts on Linux systems: setting them up, deleting or disabling them, adding or removing users from secondary groups, changing usernames or UIDs, moving home directories, changing users’ shells, altering account expiration timing, and so on. One command that can make nearly all of these changes easier is usermod. The only real constraints are 1) that the accounts you intend to change must already exist…

Cisco has upgraded some of its core software packages to help customers manage, control and automate functions in hybrid and multicloud data-center environments. With the needs of the pandemic-driven, highly distributed workforce as a backdrop, Cisco is looking to provide visibility and insights into what’s happening across customers’ cloud infrastructure. At the same time it’s busting the siloed IT operations many customers have that hold back agile digital-application development, said Prashanth Shenoy, Cisco vice president…