Data Center SDN: Comparing VMware NSX, Cisco ACI, and Open SDN Options

The data center network layer is the engine that manages some of the most important business data points you have. Applications, users, specific services, and even entire business segments are all tied to network capabilities and delivery architectures. And with all the growth around cloud, virtualization, and the digital workspace, the network layer has become even more imporant.

Most of all, we’re seeing more intelligence and integration taking place at the network layer. The biggest evolution in networking includes integration with other services, the integration of cloud, and network virtualization. Let’s pause there and take a brief look at that last concept.

SDN is Coming. Is Your Workforce Ready?

SDN is moving into the data center at a rapid clip, but while deploying a new technology is one thing, getting people to use it properly is quite another.

According to market analyst IHS Inc., SDN revenues grew more than 80 percent in 2015 compared to the year earlier, topping $1.4 billion. The bulk of that came in the form of new Ethernet switches and controllers, although newer use cases like SD-WAN are on the rise as well and will likely contribute substantially to the overall market by the end of the decade.

This means that, ready or not, the enterprise network is quickly becoming virtualized, severing the last link between data architectures and underlying hardware. This will do wonders for network flexibility and scalability, but it also produces a radically new environment for network managers, few of whom have gotten the appropriate levels of training, if anecdotal evidence is any indication.

DATA CENTERS: MAKING THE BUSINESS AND CONSUMER WORLDS GO ’ROUND

Today, a connection to the Internet is absolutely critical. Many activities require network support, from checking social media and sending emails to video conferencing with colleagues and accessing an employer’s online tools. Each time you take part in processes like these, you’re using a data center to do so.

Asia Pacific drives leather goods market due to increases per capita, female employment: report

The leather goods market is expected to reach revenues of $94.7 billion by 2020, according to a new report by Allied Market Research.

Leather luggage and goods are also being propelled by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5 percent during the five-year period between 2015 and 2020. The “World Leather Luggage and Goods Market Opportunities and Forecasts 2014-2020” report attributes this growth to factors such as an increase of per capita income, a higher tourism rate and evolving fashion trends.

Allied Market Research’s report examines the leather luggage and goods market in regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and LAMEA (Latin America, Middle East and Africa). Key brands analyzed in the report include Coach, Prada, Samsonite, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Kering, Delsey, Christian Dior, Tumi and VIP Industries.

Data Traffic Control Issues Help Drive Exploding SDN Market

The worldwide software-defined networking (SDN) market is expected to reach $132.9 billion by 2022, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47% from 2016 to 2022, according to a new report published by Allied Market Research titled "World Software Defined Networking Market.”

The growing need for efficient management of data traffic and centralized control of networks has encouraged communication service providers to adopt SDN, the report says. Implementation of SDN has increased significantly across industries because of growing network complexity, the demand for cost and time efficiency and the need for flexibility in network infrastructure.

Shoptech’s tracker tools fuel growth in CT, abroad

As the operations manager for Berlin precision tool and fixtures manufacturer Sirois Tool, Andre Nadeau is concerned with efficiencies.

"In manufacturing, it's important to have a snapshot of your jobs," Nadeau said. "It helps us understand how far along a job is, how much time we've spent and our costs."

For many 21st-century manufacturers, that snapshot is increasingly being created by Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, which tracks business resources — cash, materials and production capacity — and the status of business commitments, purchase orders and payroll. That in turn, has fueled an ERP industry that's projected to expand by more than 7 percent annually and grow to $41 billion by 2020, according to Allied Market Research, a global research firm.

Managed IT security services firms resell cloud-based offerings

Managed service providers are reselling security as a service offerings from third-party providers to expand their service portfolios in the IT security arena.

Bret Laughlin leaves little doubt that partnering with third parties has enabled BrainTrace, the managed IT security services firm he founded, to offer what he considers to be the best enterprise-level security technologies to non-enterprise companies. One of those technologies is cloud-based active breach detection from Eastwind Networks, which BrainTrace signed on with a few months ago.

While Laughlin considered acquiring technology, when he found Eastwind, "it was a perfect fit." He particularly liked that it has "very fast search capabilities and keeps lengthy logs, and we believed with its combination of machine learning and human resources using that type of data … we could provide best overall service to our clients."

Global Commercial Telematics Market is Expected to Reach Around $ 49.12 Billion, by 2020

According to a new report by Allied Market Research entitled, “Global Commercial Telematics Market”, the global commercial telematics market is expected to reach $49.12 billion by 2020, at an estimated CAGR of 18.4 % during the forecast period (2014-2020).

Telematics are information and telecommunication products that combine computers and telecommunication services for transferring large amounts of data in vehicles in real-time. Commercial telematics market includes the telematics used by light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles. All major automotive manufacturers across the globe are now concentrating on developing and implementing the Telematics concept into their vehicles. Vehicles manufactured today offer unique connectivity solutions for better monitoring and tracking.

Preparing for the future with software-defined networking

Bringing agility and scalability to telecommunications, software-defined networking is the radical transformation that will enable today’s explosive data growth to continue.

With video conferencing, dynamic cloud workloads and unified communications, network traffic is growing at an astonishing rate. Data traffic on the AT&T wireless network grew more than 150,000 per cent between 2007 and 2015 and this is only the beginning.

We expect new applications, like the Internet of Things, 4K video, virtual reality and augmented reality, to push bandwidth demand even higher in coming years.

This explosion of data is already outpacing the capacity of the traditional telecommunications network. For more than a century, telecoms networks have been based on specialized, single-purpose equipment, including routers, switches and other custom-built network devices.

To add capacity, we had to add more equipment. This worked well when the majority of data was voice traffic, which increased gradually and predictably. Today, however, we simply cannot build the physical infrastructure quickly enough. We need a new way to build and manage our data networks.

Read More@ http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/600852/preparing-future-software-defined-networking/

Tech terms explained: What is….NFC? Forget cash, the contactless future is here

NFC is the convenient way to pay for goods using your smartphone instead of cash or cards. Here’s everything you need to know about this new technology.

In the ever-changing world of high-tech gadgets and gizmos, a whole load of jargon is thrown our way that many of us don’t necessarily understand.

The Future Of Situational Awareness

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has kicked off its Squad X Core Technologies program in a bid to try and improve soldiers and Marines situational awareness in treacherous and degraded environments.  Major Christopher Orlowski, DARPA program manager for Squad X, says the program aims to augment troops physical senses via acoustic and visual senses.

DARPA has therefore awarded phase-one contracts to nine defense companies: Helios Remote Sensor Systems, Kitware, Leidos, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Scientific Systems Company Inc., Six3 Systems, Inc., SoarTech and SRI International, according to Hackread.

Each of the nine companies are meant to work in one of the four research areas which include precision engagement, non-kinetic engagement, squad sensing and squad autonomy.

In precision engagement, DARPA is looking for guided munitions capabilities that could be fired from current weapons platforms, Orlowski explained. In non-kinetic engagement, the agency is looking for technology that is able to ‘disrupt enemy command and control, communications and use of unmanned assets at a squad-relevant operational pace’. Squad sensing wise means technology that can sense and detect potential threats 1 km away. Squad sensing was focused on primarily identifying humans and unmanned systems within the environment and then determining whether or not those were threats.

Read More@ http://i-hls.com/2016/05/the-future-of-situational-awareness/