Cisco acquires Pure Networks

SAN JOSE, Calif. - July 23, 2008 - Cisco today announced its intent to purchase privately held Pure Networks, a Seattle-based leader in home networking-management software and tools. Pure Networks' home networking-management solution allows users to easily set up and manage a home network and connect a range of devices, applications and services within a home.

Cisco believes the industry is amid a transition from Home Networking 1.0, in which home networks are largely designed to share a broadband connection that links PCs and peripherals, to Home Networking 2.0, in which the multimedia-enabled home will be comprised of a multitude of disparate network devices, applications and services that are connected to one another. The acquisition of Pure Networks provides Cisco with a fully integrated home networking-management solution that will also serve as the foundation for the development of new applications, tools and capabilities for consumers to use in an increasingly "connected life" at home, at work and on the go.

Pure Networks currently partners with Cisco to provide the software infrastructure and tools used to create the Linksys Easy Link Advisor (LELA) which allows a consumer to more easily set up, organize, manage, secure and use a home network. The acquisition strengthens Cisco's vision of the network as the cornerstone of the "connected life" by enabling further development of the existing LELA platform which will serve as the base for new multimedia-enabled applications, tools and capabilities. Pure Networks' products and solutions can also provide the foundation for service providers to manage home networks on behalf of consumers.

"With the rapid proliferation of networking technology and new consumer electronics devices, the ability to quickly and easily connect to a range of devices, content and services throughout the home is becoming paramount to achieving a satisfying consumer experience," said Ned Hooper, senior vice president for Cisco's Corporate Development and Consumer Group. "Pure Networks' network-management innovations will provide Cisco and Linksys with a key underpinning to take home networking to the next level of ease of use."

The Pure Networks acquisition follows Cisco's "build, buy, and partner" innovation strategy focused on capturing market transitions to expand existing product categories and enter new markets. By attaining Pure Networks' valuable network-management technology and intellectual property along with a dedicated research and development team, Cisco will be able to further advance its consumer strategy.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $120 million in exchange for all shares of Pure Networks. The acquisition of Pure Networks is subject to various standard closing conditions and is expected to be complete in Cisco's first quarter of fiscal year 2009. Upon the close of the acquisition, Pure Networks' employees will remain in Seattle and be integrated into Linksys, led by Mike Pocock, Linksys senior vice president and general manager.

Belden acquired Trapeze Networks

St. Louis - Belden – June 6, 2008 – (NYSE:BDC) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Trapeze Networks, a leading provider of wireless local area networking (WLAN) equipment and management software, for $133 million in cash. The acquisition builds on Belden's market-leading position as a complete signal transmission solutions provider by adding a recognized leader in the wireless LAN market.

Wireless extends the reach of Belden's physical-layer cable and connectivity products and enables the company to address the growing mobility needs of customers. "Belden's strategic vision is to provide the best signal transmission solutions to our customers regardless of technology," said John Stroup, President and Chief Executive Officer of Belden. "We believe the acquisition of Trapeze Networks uniquely positions Belden to offer our enterprise customers tailored connectivity solutions that benefit from blending the strengths of copper, fiber and wireless technologies. Trapeze Networks Smart Mobile wireless LAN solutions deliver superior performance, security, reliability and management capabilities, making this a highly attractive wireless investment for Belden's future. The acquisition will make Belden the world's largest unified wired and wireless solutions provider and will provide expanded market access for Trapeze Networks' Smart Mobile solutions.

"We believe we are at an inflection point in enterprise wireless LAN expansion, a market that is already growing nearly 25 percent per year, and that wireless connectivity is no longer considered a luxury but is a customer expectation," added Mr. Stroup.

Trapeze Networks, a privately held company based in Pleasanton, California, with 2007 revenues of $56 million, sells its products into healthcare, education, manufacturing, retail, government and other enterprise verticals through OEMs and distribution channels. The Trapeze product portfolio is an end-to-end WLAN system built on a highly scalable and secure wireless operating system running on Trapeze Networks access points and controllers and features the industry's most robust management software capabilities. More than 4,000 organizations around the world have deployed Trapeze wireless platforms.

Jim Vogt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Trapeze, said, "During the past six years, enterprise customers around the world have invested in Trapeze Networks Smart Mobile because they can depend on it for constant connectivity and reliable mobility. The superior performance and cost benefits of our highly acclaimed wireless LAN products have fueled our global growth through distribution and through our OEM relationships with 3Com, Enterasys, Nortel and other large networking companies. Our customers can now be assured of continued product innovation and new capabilities from the combined resources of Belden and Trapeze."

Impact on Belden's Outlook

Because Trapeze Networks sells software as well as hardware and services, the company is required under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States to defer and amortize certain revenues over the lives of contracts until it can establish vendor-specific objective evidence of the fair market value of each separate deliverable. The majority of Trapeze Networks' revenue is deferred and is typically amortized over periods of a year or more. This accounting treatment makes the acquisition more dilutive to Belden's expected earnings in 2008 and 2009 than would otherwise be the case.

John Stroup said, "The acquisition of Trapeze Networks furthers our strategy, and we expect that it will provide a return on invested capital for Belden consistent with or better than that of our successful 2007 acquisitions. We expect that the total dilutive impact of revenue deferral and amortization for 6 months in 2008 to be $0.15 to $0.20 and in 2009 $0.25 to $0.30. Despite this impact, we expect the transaction to be neutral in operating cash flow in 2008 and a positive contributor to operating cash flow in 2009 and beyond.

"The expected dilution from the Trapeze acquisition, including the impact of revenue deferral and the recurring amortization of intangible assets resulting from the purchase, but excluding short-term, nonrecurring amortization, will be in the range of $0.27 to $0.32 in 2008 and $0.25 to $0.30 in 2009," said Mr. Stroup. "We expect that the acquisition will be accretive on a GAAP basis in 2010 and beyond.

"Our outlook for 2008 remains unchanged except for the expected effects of the planned acquisition. Because of the mid-year timing of the closing of this transaction and the deferral of Trapeze Networks' revenue, our expectations for consolidated revenue remain in the range of $2.2 to $2.3 billion. We expect our operating margin to be in the range of 11 to 12 percent, and we are adjusting our expectation for 2008 earnings per diluted share to the range of $3.15 to $3.35."

Cisco accused of building a Great Chinese Firewall

In a 2002 Cisco (China) PowerPoint presentation entitled “An Overview of [China's] Public Security Industry”, a Cisco (China) official in the Government Business Department listed the “Golden Shield Project” – the host project of China’s Great Firewall – as one of Cisco's major target customers. In this document, which apparently lays out the marketing strategy for Cisco (China) to sell products to the Chinese security police, one of the main objectives of the Golden Shield was to “combat the ‘Falun Gong’ evil cult” – parroting the rhetoric of the Chinese authorities used to persecute Falun Gong.

In the presentation page headed "Cisco Opportunities [in the Golden Shield Project]," Cisco offers much more than just routers; it offers planning, construction, technical training, and operations maintenance for the Golden Shield. Global Internet Freedom Consortium research shows that the infrastructure of China’s Great Firewall coincides with the layouts in Cisco (China)’s PowerPoint document.

One of Golden Shield's stated goals in the Cisco presentation was to "combat 'Falun Gong' evil religion and other hostiles," -- a statement that was attributed to Runsen Li, the Chinese government information technology chief in charge of developing the project.

Shiyu Zhou, deputy director of the Global Internet Freedom Consortium said Cisco could be offering, "censorship training" to Chinese authorities. A 2002 internal company document lists China's "Golden Shield" censorship project as one of Cisco's "major target customers," Zhou told the Senate human rights subcommittee.

Mark Chandler, Cisco's senior vice president of legal services, said during the Tuesday Senate hearing that he was "appalled" and "disappointed" when he saw that quote in the presentation.

"Cisco is the largest producer of networking equipment and sells the same products worldwide. It does not customize the equipment to help repressive governments censor the Internet", General counsel Mark Chandler said at a Senate hearing Tuesday. "The company's routers and switches have basic security features that protect networks from viruses and service interruptions", he said.

That part of the document was a quote from an official Chinese government statement condemning "hostile elements," Chandler said. The presentation was done by a Chinese engineer working for Cisco.

"We regret that the engineer included that in the presentation, even by way of explaining the Chinese government's goals," Chandler said. "We disavow the implication that this reflects in any way Cisco's views or objectives."

"It is very regrettable that one of our engineers quoted directly from Mr. Runsen Li, the Chinese government's head of IT for the Golden Shield project in this internal presentation," said Terry Alberstein, a senior director of corporate communications at Cisco. "They do not represent Cisco's views, principles or its sales and marketing strategy or approach. They were merely inserted in that presentation to capture the goals of the Chinese government in that specific project, which was one of many discussed in that 2002 presentation."

About Global Internet Freedom Consortium:

Global Internet Freedom Consortium is the largest and longest anti-censorship operation in the world.
The Consortium has run the world’s largest anti-censorship operation since 2000. Our five existing tools – UltraSurf, DynaWeb FreeGate, Garden, GPass, and FirePhoenix — currently accommodate an estimated 95% of the total anti-censorship traffic in closed societies around the world, and are used DAILY by millions of users. As of January 2008, the Top Five censoring countries with the most average daily hits to our anti-censorship systems are (hits per day):
(a) China: 194.4 million
(b) Iran: 74.8 million
(c) Saudi Arabia: 8.4 million
(d) UAE: 8 million
(e) Syria: 2.8 million
They say that "The Great Firewall will be taken down as the Berlin Wall."

About Cisco:

Cisco is a multinational corporation with more than 63,000 employees and annual revenue of US$35 billion as of 2007. Headquartered in San Jose, California, it designs and sells networking and communications technology and services under five brands, namely Cisco, Linksys, WebEx, IronPort, and Scientific Atlanta.

Reports on Chinese Firewall:
The internal Cisco PDF
Battle for Freedom in Chinese Cyberspace
New Technologies Battle and Defeat Internet Censorship, 2007-11-21
Wikipedia

Romtelecom's Future Broadband Infrastructure over Cisco IP Next-Generation Network

Cisco announced that Romtelecom has implemented a new Cisco Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN), based on the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System. This implementation is part of Romtelecom's strategy to expand broadband services in Romania and to enhance its service capability with technology that offers the highest levels of quality and diversity. By creating this converged multiservice network using Cisco technology, Romtelecom is better equipped to reduce the total cost of ownership, improve the management of customer access and use of services, and support all existing and new wireline and wireless services.

"This is a turning point in the evolution of telecommunications in the region," said Yorgos Ioannidis, chief executive officer of Romtelecom. "Faced with today's complex market challenges, Romtelecom needs to focus on three fundamental objectives: more services, better efficiencies and greater control. To achieve these objectives we need to build a longer-lasting and more economical infrastructure that will support existing services and can evolve to provide a wide range of new, more personalized services over time."

"At Romtelecom, we are seeking to transform the current backbone infrastructure into a next-generation network. With these new technologies we can continue to grow our customer base for new Internet-based services, such as the ClickNet broadband service," Ioannidis added.

The Cisco IP NGN architecture helps service providers transform their businesses, meet the needs of existing and new customer segments efficiently and economically, and deliver managed services and new applications, such as video, to sustain profitability.

With the Cisco IP NGN implementation, completed with support from Cisco's Advanced Services department, Romtelecom is proactively preparing for an increase in broadband demand and business users' requirements for new, highly secure services, such as high-availability virtual private networks (VPNs). Romtelecom is a leader in the growth of VPN products, not only in Romania but also in southeast Europe. Supported by the enhanced features of the Cisco CRS-1, Romtelecom has the tools to offer a higher availability of service to its business customers. With the implementation of the countrywide Cisco IP NGN, Romtelecom's intelligent network can provide differentiated, personalized and valuable new services that satisfy current customers and attract new ones.

"The intelligent Cisco IP NGN is the solution that Romtelecom requires to meet the needs of all customer segments efficiently and economically and to deliver applications to sustain profitability. The solution that Romtelecom deployed includes an innovative, carrier-class technology based on the CRS-1 platform, and it fosters the introduction of new service models, including video and managed services," said Kaan Terzioglu, vice president of Central and Eastern Europe for Cisco.

10 ways the Internet will die

The Internet is a worldwide series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP).

How might the Internet as we know it die? Here are 10 possibilities that were published on gigaom.

1. Someone subverts the Domain Name Service
2. Zombie networks attack
3. Massive physical infrastructure failure
4. Death by a thousand fragments
5. A really good virus breaks the routers
6. Updates break how updates work
7. The Net stops being neutral
8. The lawyers get involved
9. Walled gardens
10. Humans take themselves out

Chinese hackers attacked Belgium

Belgium joined the growing ranks of countries voicing concerns about cyber attacks originating from China. Belgium is believed to have been targeted because the headquarters of the European Union and NATO are located here and because of Belgium's track record in Africa. In recent days, the Chinese have shown growing interest for this continent.

Justice minister Jo Vandeurzen claimed that the Federal Government had been targeted by Chinese hackers, backing up a separate statement by Belgium's foreign affairs minister, Karel De Grucht that his ministry had been hit by espionage in recent weeks.

In both cases, the Belgians appear certain that the culprits were Chinese and that the Beijing authorities must know something about events, although no evidence has been offered to back up these allegations. The precise nature of the attacks has not been explained either.

If the accusation is justified, it is starting to look as if Chinese-originated cyber-attacks have spread well beyond the obvious Western targets.

The Chinese have been implicated in acts of cyber-espionage in the last couple of years, including various alleged assaults on US military systems in 2006 and 2007. As recently as last September, a "leaked" report blamed the Chinese for a similar attack on the Pentagon.

The US reports have come in the form of briefings from unnamed individuals or leaks, suggesting that the US was sending a coded warning to the Chinese that such events risked damaging relations between the countries. The US suspects China of using espionage to make gains in the software, integrated circuit, computing, electronics, telecommunications and information security sectors in an effort to shift the People's Liberation Army (PLA) "into an information-based, network-enabled force."

The UK, by contrast, has been more pointed. In late 2007 it openly sent letters to large UK companies warning them of the threat from Chinese-backed cyber-warfare.

"There simply isn't enough evidence to say whether these attacks were sponsored by the Chinese Government or not," said Graham Cluley of Sophos on the Belgian attacks.

"Governments need to think carefully before accusing another of spying via the Internet - unless they have strong proof. There is no doubt however of the importance of securing critical computers inside government from hackers whether motivated by politics, espionage or money," he added.

China has denied responsibility for any attacks coming from the country, but security experts have stated that the country -- and at least two dozen, and as many as a hundred, other nations -- routinely probe, and even attack, each other networks. Germany's government has acknowledged, for example, that the nation's intelligence agency has engaged in cyber espionage to gain information from computers in Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In April, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) decided to establish a Cyber Defense Management Authority (CDMA) to coordinate its member countries responses to hostile online attacks.
You can read a US military report on China here

Source TechWorld

FBI fears Chinese have back doors into US government networks

FBI is investigating security leaks that could help Chinese government or Chinese hackers (or both) to benefit of undetectable back-doors into highly secure government and military computer networks for months, perhaps years. The cause: a high-number of counterfeit Cisco routers and switches installed in nearly all government networks that experienced upgrades and/or new units within the past 18 months.

US government has been attempting to avoid security issues by using only higher-end Cisco partners/suppliers for the gear. Cisco have 80% of the market share on networking solutions and 1 of 10 Cisco products are fake. These products are sold on the black market ans can end-up in sensitive networks. However, the highly-competitive lowest-bid environment of government procurement has inspired several vendors to look for cheap alternatives for hardware... resulting in a catastrophic meltdown of security.

There is an unclassified FBI presentation that has been released discusses the fear that China is intentionally having counterfeit Cisco hardware sold in the United States. In the presentation, the FBI discusses four cases that they had investigated where this hardware has been discovered even in classified networks.

The more serious statements made in this presentation are on slide 30, where they claim about 10% of the information technology hardware that is sold globally is counterfeit and it is being sold through legitimate channels (KPMG is the cited source) for the past couple of years. In the case of Cisco, this counterfeit hardware is sold through their Cisco Gold and Silver Partners program. Other vendor vetting processes are just as flawed allowing this hardware to enter into your IT infrastructure.

This photo from the FBI presentation shows the differences between a original Cisco Router and a fake one:


FBI is concerned about critical infrastructure damage and the potential of access to secure government systems. Many online IT circles have been speculating that the counterfeit hardware will provide backdoor capabilities and access into compromised networks for the originators of the equipment. In fact, some areas of speculation regarding the counterfeit Cisco equipment has focused on the possibility that the hardware is being manufactured expressly to deploy exploitable systems far and wide into the wild. The rationale being that the likely "wholesale" price of the counterfeit routers and switches are so low and profit margins likely very thin, that the only real advantage may be gained from downstream system exploits in the future.

US Government should buy only from mainland assembly plants (in the US, preferably monitored) and cutting out any suspicious links in the chain.

Another issue of security that Richard Marcinko was complaining about back in the 90's that nobody took seriously. He has said that the chinese have been getting their hands on our top secret electronic hardware for years. He even says that we've been secretly giving the equipment to them in exchange for political leverage and a lot of other things. He says that china has an extensive spying scheme and network in the US. and that it's very compartmentalized.

System boards are made in China. The BIOS chip on these boards are made there so is easy to have the OS open up a network connection when triggered, thinking it is supposed to because the BIOS claims it has this port open for this card.

This is not the first time when a government authority finds major backdoors.

The German Counter Intelligence found years ago that Internet hackers started to point out several build-in software backdoors for the NSA and other agencies in their Bundeswehr Windows systems and could affect the German economy. (Articles on Wired.com, DebianHelp)

They developed their own proprietary Operating Systems, based mainly on LINUX software rules, and forced all sensitive German government and army offices to change to those OS's, and got rid of all Microsoft infected software.

These facts reminds me the scandal of the American embassy in Moscow in 1987, when the US diplomats refused to move to the new embassy because of rumors that the embassy was filled with soviet surveillance equipment during its construction. I've heard that Clinton received the full schemes of the surveillance system after the fall of URSS. (Another article on NYTimes)

Source AboveTopSecret, News.com
The FBI Presentation

Aruba's 10000th 802.11n AP

Aruba Networks announced that its shipments of 802.11n enabled access points have passed a milestone 10,000 units. Aruba announced its dual-radio AP-124 and AP-125 802.11n Access Point family in November 2007, and volume shipments commenced in February 2008. The company's AP-124ABG and AP-125ABG field-upgradable access points were announced last month. Based on 2nd generation RF chips, the access points can be powered from a single 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet source and feature 3x3 MIMO operation and ultra-compact packaging.

"The second half of 2007 saw the first shipments of coordinated enterprise-class '802.11n Draft 2.0 Wi-Fi Certified' access points," said Gartner Senior Research Analyst Christian Canales, author of Gartner Dataquest's 2008 Market Share: Enterprise Wireless LAN Equipment, Worldwide, 4Q07 and 2007 report. "Worldwide revenue from sales of WLAN enterprise equipment increased more than 10% from 2006 to 2007, and coordinated access points accounted for 48% of the overall enterprise access point shipments in the last quarter of 2007, versus just 39% in the last quarter of 2006."

The California State University system, recipient of the 10,000th 802.11n access point, selected Aruba's wireless networks for use across its 23 campuses in September 2007. With nearly 450,000 students and 46,000 faculty and staff members, the California State University system is the largest in the country. Aruba was selected after it passed a stringent functional test, and demonstrated the lowest total cost of ownership for the specific criteria used in the evaluation.

Aruba's implementation of 802.11n offers substantive ease-of-use, performance, and interoperability advantages over competing solutions. Aruba's Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) technology automates wireless LAN set-up and maintenance, and adapts the network in real-time to accommodate user behavior, interference, and nearby networks. ARM features include:

• Airtime fairness to ensure that slower 802.11b/g clients have minimal impact on high speed 802.11n clients in lecture halls, trading floors, convention centers, and logistics facilities with densely deployed clients
• Co-channel interference management for the highest possible throughput in the presence of nearby access points and RF transmitters;
• Intelligent client steering to provide high speed clients with access to the greatest available bandwidth by associating them with the best band, channel and access point.

Interoperability tests published in March validated the efficacy of ARM - laptops containing wireless radio chip sets from Atheros, Broadcom, and Intel delivered the highest throughput with Aruba's 802.11n solution compared with three competing wireless LANs.

"Ease of use, high performance, and interoperability are the hallmarks of Aruba's 802.11n solution, and the fast uptake of our 802.11n access points reflects the importance of these features to customers," said Keerti Melkote, Aruba's co-founder and head of products and partnerships. "Not content to sit on our laurels, we continue to drive innovation into the 802.11n market. A case in point is our new line of economical 802.11a/b/g access points that can be upgraded via software download to 802.11n Draft2.0."

Source Aruba Networks

Wi-Fi spectrum

Look at the spectrum of the Wi-Fi at 2.4 GHz on a Tektronix Spectrum Analyzer. Watch closely the bursts. The analyzer uses a Yagi probe antenna.
Short movie taken at Romcontrola 2008.

Wireless data prices fall, usage booms

Mobile data traffic ramped up between four- and eightfold in 2007 thanks to the knockout combination of dramatically decreasing prices and faster network downlink speeds, according to a report from Heavy Reading.

The surge in data traffic is extremely good news for operators, but the challenge they now face is how to withstand the reductions in data prices without destroying their business models and becoming mere bit-pipe providers.

In 2007, an eightfold increase in data traffic compared with 2006 levels was common for mobile operators that introduced competitive flat-rate data plans and weren't carrying much data traffic prior to the deployment of HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) technology, according to the report, "Flat IP Architectures in Mobile Networks: From 3G to LTE."

For operators with a lot of pre-HSPA 3G data traffic and without competitive flat-rate data plans, three- and fourfold increases in data traffic in 2007 were common.

Gabriel Brown, Heavy Reading senior analyst and the report's author, says it' is "no wonder that data usage is growing because performance is getting better and prices are coming down. 2007 was the breakthrough year. You're getting 1 Mbit/s to 2 Mbit/s downlink routinely, and prices have come down massively."

According to Brown's report, data traffic volumes at Telefónica O2 Europe plc doubled every quarter in 2007 after it launched a one Euro ($1.59) per day flat-rate service using USB modems in Spain. And T-Mobile International AG recorded a 57 percent increase in 3G data volumes in the third quarter last year compared with the previous three-month period.

Brown stresses that the increase in mobile data usage is primarily due to lower tariffs -- prices declined more than 300 percent in 2007, according to the report.

Now operators have to decide how low they can take their prices, and how they deal with the impact of the data surge on their business plans and strategies. "Mobile operators are essentially becoming ISPs," says Brown. "They are going down the bit-pipe road. They don't want to do that, particularly, but what should they do?"

In Europe, the price competition is most aggressive in markets where 3 Group is present, such as Austria, Italy, Sweden, and the U.K. 3 shook up the U.K. market in August last year with a £10 ($20) per month offer for a USB mobile broadband service.

The operator is reportedly ready to cut that offer by 50 percent to £5 ($10) per month.

Original article

Aerohive launches new 802.11n AP's

Aerohive Networks announced a portfolio of 802.11n HiveAPs. This includes the attractively designed dual-radio HiveAP 320 for indoor use, the metal-chassis dual-radio HiveAP 340 for indoor-industrial use, and the waterproof three-radio HiveAP 380 for outdoor use. Each product has two Gigabit Ethernet ports that provide power-over-Ethernet (PoE) using Aerohive's patent-pending Smart PoE technology. Aerohive's cooperative control architecture eliminates the need for costly centralized network controllers, enabling Aerohive to provide a resilient 802.11n solution for the cost of most vendors' 802.11g solutions. More information about the new products and the company's cooperative control wireless LAN architecture is available at www.aerohive.com.

Cooperative Control Unlocks the Power of 802.11n

Aerohive's controller-less wireless LAN architecture is ideal for 802.11n networks, because it eliminates the need to deploy the expensive, high-capacity controllers that are required to handle the increased throughput of 802.11n. Removing controllers from the network also eliminates the bandwidth bottlenecks, latency, and jitter that result from backhauling traffic through a controller. Resiliency is also increased when the single points of failure found in controller-based architectures are eliminated. The result is a scalable wireless LAN that can support high-performance, mission-critical applications.

"The wireless LAN in our Emergency Room environment runs mission-critical applications," said John Gaede, director, information systems, El Centro Regional Medical Center. "We evaluated three other leading WLAN vendors and chose Aerohive for our .11n deployment because of the Aerohive architecture's benefits of scale, resiliency, and ease-of-use. Of all the systems we evaluated, Aerohive also had the best performance, the least packet loss, and the best coverage. Cooperative control is the wireless LAN architecture of the future."

"The problems generally associated with centralized network controllers - cost, capacity, performance, and availability - are exacerbated in an 802.11n environment," said David Flynn, chief executive officer, Aerohive. "By contrast, the benefits of our unique, controller-less architecture become even more apparent in 802.11n deployments. Every organization interested in 802.11n needs to reconsider their WLAN architecture, and when they do, they will see the compelling advantages of Aerohive's cooperative control architecture."

Cooperative Control, Smart PoE Technology Accelerates Migration to 802.11n
The Aerohive cooperative control architecture makes it easy for enterprises to upgrade their wireless access points to 802.11n on an as-needed basis. Aerohive 802.11n HiveAPs may be seamlessly deployed along with 802.11a/b/g HiveAPs. Aerohive also enables easy migration to 802.11n from autonomous or "fat" access points. If 802.11n HiveAPs are deployed on the same subnet or VLAN as an enterprise's fat access points, network users can even roam between the HiveAPs and their old fat access points, which is often not possible with controller-based 802.11n deployments.

The new HiveAPs also facilitate the transition to 802.11n by providing flexible support for legacy network switches. Aerohive's Smart PoE technology automatically detects the level of Power over Ethernet (PoE) being delivered by the connected switches. Most legacy switches can provide a HiveAP with full power via a single 802.3af PoE connection. If required, HiveAP services can be automatically reduced to fit within the delivered power envelope.

When the HiveAP's dual gigabit Ethernet ports are connected to two PoE ports, the HiveAP is always fully powered. If the HiveAP is connected to two separate switches, it can optionally support dual homing for increased resiliency. If the HiveAP is connected to two ports on the same switch, the HiveAP provides Ethernet link aggregation for increased bandwidth if the switch supports link aggregation. A single PoE+ or 802.3at connection will also fully power a HiveAP. When two PoE+ connections are available, the HiveAP will also support redundant power and data resiliency.

Resilient 802.11n for the Price of Other Vendors' 802.11g

Aerohive's resilient 802.11n wireless LAN solutions cost approximately the same as competitors' 802.11a/b/g resilient solutions. The Aerohive cooperative control architecture, with its inherent resiliency, eliminates the need for costly network controllers and backup controllers. In addition, critical features, such as wireless mesh capability, security, and QoS, which are commonly separately licensed, are included in HiveAPs at no additional charge. Aerohive's 802.11n HiveAPs are priced approximately the same as competitors' 802.11n access points. As a result, solutions that require network controllers will nearly always be more expensive, often 200%-300% more expensive, than an Aerohive controller-less solution.

Pricing and Availability

The HiveAP 320 indoor access point has a U.S. list price of $1299 and will be available in July. The HiveAP 340 indoor-industrial access point has a U.S. list price of $1499 and will also be available in July. The HiveAP 380 outdoor access point has a U.S. list price of $2999 and will be available in the fourth quarter of 2008.

New Wi-Fi APs from Aruba

Aruba Networks announced a new line of 802.11a/b/g access points that can be upgraded over-the-network to enable 802.11n dual-radio operation. The new access points allow enterprises, schools, universities, hospitals, and other institutions to prepare today for a future migration to 802.11n without incurring the cost of an immediate upgrade.

The new AP-124ABG and AP-125ABG Access Points can be used for wireless access, intrusion-detection monitoring, secure enterprise mesh or remote access point applications. The mode of operation is determined by network-downloadable software, which eliminates the expense of physically accessing the devices to re-purpose or update them. Full 802.11n performance is delivered using existing 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet (PoE), precluding the need for an expensive PoE upgrade.

"The exact timing of the migration to 802.11n varies by user based on their application requirements, the availability of 802.11n clients, and budget," said Michael King, Research Director at Gartner, Inc. "Since WLAN infrastructure purchases must address both current and future requirements, enabling a flexible approach to 802.11n roll out will meet the needs of a wide range of organizations including those that haven't yet nailed down the timeline for implementing 802.11n."

Aruba's new dual-radio AP-124ABG and AP-25ABG Access Point family is based on the newest generation RF chips and high-performance MIPS CPUs with hardware-accelerated cryptographic processing. Featuring 3x3 Multiple-In Multiple-Out (MIMO) operation, the access points include automatic Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) management that supports 802.3af, 802.3at, and PoE +. The access points will operate in 3x3 MIMO mode using a single 802.3af PoE injector over a single Ethernet cable. A local 5VDC power source is provided for non-PoE applications.

Unique to this family of products, a Trusted Protection Module (TPM) manages security credentials to protect access points installed in unsecured areas. The TPM specification was defined by the TPM subgroup of the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) for the secure generation and storage of cryptographic keys, and is widely implemented on devices for which high security is essential.

The new access points will be managed by Aruba's vendor-neutral AirWave Wireless Management Suite. AirWave is a leading tool for centrally managing large, multi-vendor wireless LAN, mesh, and WiMAX networks. One of the key benefits of the tool is its ability to simplify technology migrations by integrating both legacy and new infrastructure under a single management console.

"The new access points address two primary customer concerns: how to prepare for 802.11n when the budget to make a full conversion is not available, and how to support 802.11n without replacing existing infrastructure such as 802.3af PoE," said David Munro, Aruba's head of controller platforms. "We believe we have accomplished both objectives with the AP-124ABG and AP-125ABG, and anticipate that the products will be especially attractive to customers such as school districts that are going through a wireless LAN refresh cycle now with an eye on their networking needs one or two years down the line. The new access points should meet today's budget constraints, while paving the way for a future upgrade without a forklift replacement."

The new access points will be shipping early this summer, and will be introduced at Interop Las Vegas, April 29, May 1, booth 1262, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

New WIPS from Aruba

Aruba Networks, a global leader in user-centric networks and secure mobility solutions, today announced a new version of its RFprotect Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) software that allows users to define their own attack-detection signatures and defend against previously unknown, undisclosed, or unpatched vulnerabilities (zero-day attacks). These user-defined signatures can be implemented almost immediately, enhancing security and giving users more control over their threat vulnerability. All other wireless intrusion prevention systems require the supplying vendor to provide updates, leaving customers vulnerable in the meantime when a new attack is developed.

In addition, Aruba customers will be able to make their user-defined signatures available to others by contributing them to the Wireless Vulnerabilities and Exploits (WVE) database at www.wve.org, a community vulnerabilities database. Aruba has long been an active participant in the WVE Project.

"Security is an unending, iterative process in which the best defense is built by rapidly integrating updates about real or potential attacks as quickly as possible," said Rajeev Shah, Aruba's wireless IDS product manager. "User-defined threat definitions are used successfully in other segments of the security market, and we're pleased to be the first to make it available for WIPS."

The new software represents the full integration of the RFprotect software that Aruba acquired from Network Chemistry in 2007. RFprotect software automatically detects network vulnerabilities and contains unauthorized clients and adhocs even as they roam. With its customizable security policies, RFprotect software delivers organization-specific security policy enforcement, reduces false positives, and generates reports to meet compliance requirements.

Originally acquired from Network Chemistry in 2007, RFprotect software automatically detects network vulnerabilities and contains unauthorized clients and adhocs even as they roam. Featuring customizable security policies, RFprotect software delivers organization-specific security policy enforcement, reduces false positives, and generates reports to meet compliance requirements. The new RFprotect software has been integrated into Aruba's secure mobility solutions to enhance Layer 1-2 security capabilities.

"It is important that interval between the detection of a security threat and its mitigation be as short as possible because of the vulnerability created by the gap," said Paul DeBeasi, senior analyst at Burton Group. "Collaboratively developing, testing, and disseminating security features, including user-defined signatures, can minimize the vulnerability more rapidly than relying on a single vendor for periodic updates. This method has been used effectively in areas such as virus detection, and is an innovative way to enhance WIPS security."

The new RFprotect software will be shipping early this summer, and will be introduced at Interop Las Vegas, April 29 May 1, booth 1262, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

AT&T Completed Acquisition of Edge Wireless

San Antonio, Texas, April 18, 2008

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced that the company has completed, through a subsidiary, the acquisition of Edge Wireless. Edge is a provider of wireless communications services in Oregon, northern California, Idaho and Wyoming.

The addition of Edge's wireless network will allow AT&T to deliver broader wireless coverage to customers in the Northwest, including Edge's existing subscribers. Edge customers will also gain access to AT&T's portfolio of products and services, as well as to the nation's largest voice and data network, which covers more than 290 million people.

The two companies have a long-standing relationship as roaming partners, and AT&T expects a smooth customer transition. AT&T will immediately begin to implement a carefully planned process to integrate the AT&T and Edge Wireless networks, combine product portfolios and merge customer care initiatives.

The acquisition of Edge Wireless follows review and approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

Source

Cisco is urging its partners to partner

At the Cisco Partner Summit in Honolulu, the company announced the launch of the Cisco Partner Exchange, a virtual networking program that will enable resellers to find each other by technical expertise or by offering, among other factors, to collaborate on customer projects.

While collaboration in the channel is growing, and many partners say it is a necessary development, others remain wary.

"Competitive overlap discourages partners from cooperating," said Robert Keblusek, senior vice president of business development at Cisco partner Sentinel Technologies Inc. in Downers Grove, Ill. "What they're promoting is good, but it's whether they can change some of that attitude over the next couple of years. Just because Cisco says 'go partner' doesn't mean all of a sudden they'll let their guard down."

At the summit, Cisco channel chief Keith Goodwin plugged channel collaboration as a way to drive sales and contribute to the 12% to 17% growth CEO John Chambers has called for.

Noting that it's not always easy for partners to work together when they are competitors, Cisco execs said channel collaboration will, however, result in more customers with bigger deals and deeper relationships. The idea is that not every reseller has competency in all of Cisco's practice areas, and resellers can therefore help each other to fill in the gaps.

In support of the partner exchange, Cisco executives cited statistics from a self-commissioned study of 1,300 customers and 500 channel partners in 12 countries that shows the benefits of partner collaboration.

According to the study, collaboration among Cisco partners makes up 31% of channel revenue and is growing by 15% annually. Channel collaboration enables 78% of responding resellers to win larger projects, 75% to acquire new customers and 74% to increase their revenue, the study showed. In addition, 78% of the respondents reported achieving greater technical differentiation, and 66% reported improved industry-specific expertise as a result of partnering.

Collaboration is not new to partners, but as Cisco's offerings diversify it seems to be occurring more commonly even among larger partners that have many core competencies.

"We have competency in every Cisco area, and we have dedicated resources to the core technologies as well as emerging technologies, so there are few areas that we need to partner in," Keblusek said. But, for example, Sentinel would collaborate in international telepresence services, building partnerships with companies that play in the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe. For smaller companies, services like unified communications that span across technologies often require partnerships, he added.

The problem that partners face when it comes to channel collaboration is knowing who to trust with exposure to clients and how to manage these relationships.

"We set ground rules," said Tim Hebert, CEO of Cisco partner Atrion Networking Corp. in Warwick, R.I., adding that the process is about "selecting and interviewing the right partners to work with." Hebert said the company specifically looks at the way potential partners service their clients and if they function with integrity.

Hebert is the chairman of a collaborative community of businesses called 1NService, through which an "intimate group" of companies share best practices and market strategies on an ongoing basis to deliver comprehensive technology solutions. All of the businesses in that group function on similar ethics and can trust each other, Hebert said. The Cisco exchange minimally addresses this kind of trust, he said. Like eBay, Cisco will give low marks to partners that do poor work and higher marks to those who do better, but that doesn't eliminate the need for partners to go in depth and get to know each other before jumping in.

Keblusek stressed the importance of forming contractual agreements that outline profit-sharing and noncompete arrangements. "We make sure we have a legal means to protect our investment and vice versa," Keblusek said. For partners who are just learning about collaboration, he said, there might be some anxiety involved with "just jumping on board with nothing in place."

Cisco's exchange network will live on the company's Web-based virtual environment, Cisco Partner Space, that enables virtual meetings, conferences and dialogue among Cisco's more than 8,000 partners.

Cisco certifications reached 1 million

Cisco certifications recently reached 1 million but long-time rumors of the program starting an official job matching service may be actualized this summer.

In an interview conducted by news writer Michael Morisy, Fred Weiller, director of switching product and solutions marketing at Cisco intimated that “they were working on an official Cisco career marketplace to match certified professionals with jobs.”

With all the talk of having to survive a recession in the IT industry (whether or not we’re actually in one is entirely debatable), extra job-support programs may be the perfect answer.

If you look at some of Cisco’s existing sites, however, it seems they’ve already provided quite the gamut of career-excelling resources: Take, for example, Cisco’s career resources page or their Career Connection center which “seeks to link Networking Academy students and graduates with employers who are looking for job-ready IT and Networking candidates.” Cisco’s Digital Divide Best Practices Web page features job search strategies for entry-level students and more.

What might separate these resources from Cisco’s “official” job matching service? Should we expect to see a Dice or Monster-like site from Cisco? And what should people do in the interim (besides visit the previously mentioned sites)?

Is it better to get a certification or to get experience? Should I get educated or certified? Even though certification, education and experience all work toward the same goals — doing one seems to prevent you from performing the other; When future IT pros make their way through a higher education program, the requirements of the learning institution can supersede certification goals — and when current IT pros aspire to earn certifications or degrees, many times their employment obligations sap valuable time and energy away from pursuing further education.

To combine all three facets in your job-seeking path, IT training and certification expert Ed Tittel mentions this: “The best thing you can do for yourself … is to get into a degree plan where you also earn certifications on your way to an AA or BA in an IT discipline of some kind. Many programs include such options or requirements nowadays, and will give you the best of both worlds.”

Now if those certifications you decide to go into are of the Cisco persuasion, you can kill three birds with one stone, as they might help you find the job opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

802.11n for Enterprise

Enterprise equipment developers have done their research and are incorporating additional technologies into 802.11n equipment and by doing so should garner some impressive wireless network performance characteristics:

1. The physical data rate selection algorithm (whew) has the tough job of determining what data transfer rate should be used based on the measured signal strength. 802.11a/g uses 12 steps from 1Mbps to 54Mbps. Whereas 802.11n has a total of 88 incremental data rate steps, which provides a more granular drop off when the signal strength weakens.
2. 802.11a/g uses transmit diversity which is useful and logical as the device transmits from the antenna that displayed the best reception characteristics during the last receive cycle. 802.11n uses spatial multiplexing, a technique that divides the information to be transmitted into independent and separately encoded data signals called streams. Each data stream is then transmitted from an independent antenna. The 802.11n standard allows up to four transmit streams. This is an interesting concept that increases data transmission capacity by multiplexing or reusing the space dimension multiple times.
   
3. In order to be able to transmit multiple data streams, designers had to rework OFDM, which is the digital multi-carrier modulation scheme used by 802.11a/g. MIMO-OFDM used by 802.11n devices is the results. MIMO-OFDM is viewed by many as the most singularly significant development of 802.11n.
4. 802.11a/g networks do not work well in multipath environments as I discussed in an earlier post. Basically having multiple—slightly different in phase or timing due to the environment—copies of the same transmitted RF signal arrive at the receiving antenna, drives the receiver nuts to put it politely. Since the real world is mostly a multipath environment, 802.11n was developed to make use of the slight differences exhibited by the arriving RF signals to distinguish the different data streams being transmitted.
   
5. Channel size is one determinant of how much data can be passed over a wireless link. The 802.11a/g standard uses 20 MHz channels and history has proven that amount of bandwidth to be a limiting factor. In the past few years equipment developers have tried to improve the physical transfer rate of data by using proprietary technology which combined adjacent channels to support greater data rates. The 802.11n standard describes how to use the much wider 40 MHz channels—that are easy to implement, cost effective, and only require moderate increases in digital signal processing. If properly implemented, 40-MHz channels can provide greater than two times the usable channel bandwidth.
6. By design, TCP/IP traffic requires error-free transmission of data and one of the controls used to regulate the processing of traffic is the ACK bit. The ACK bit is sent by the receiver to acknowledge receipt of each frame, which turns out to be significant management overhead just for receipt verification. One way to improve throughput would be to devise a way to acknowledge the receipt but more efficiently. That is exactly what 802.11n does with the Block-ACK. By removing the need for one acknowledgment frame for every data frame, the amount of overhead required for the ACK frames, as well as preamble and framing, is reduced.
7. No stone was unturned when the developers were looking at ways to improve throughput and efficiency. Even the lowly guard interval was tweaked. The guard interval is used to prevent data loss from propagation anomalies as well as interference created if the following transmission starts too soon. Can that interval be reduced? It would help throughput, even if just slightly. 802.11n specifies two guard intervals 400ns and 800ns. If optimal conditions exist the 802.11n device will drop down to the 400ns guard interval to reduce what is considered unnecessary idle time.

The 802.11n equipment developers are not satisfied with just these improvements. Smart antennas, multiple radios, and mesh technology are some heavy duty technologies that are being added to enterprise 802.11n appliances, which will allow 802.11n gear to evermore approach wired network parameters.

Trapeze launches RingMaster-200

Wi-Fi network maker Trapeze Networks has launched a pre-configured appliance that can manage up to 5000 wireless access points or 1000 wireless switches - and won a giant contract for 802.11n Wi-Fi.

The RingMaster-200 is a hardware version of Trapeze's RingMaster network management software, and is pre-tuned to manage wireless LANs. “Today, it’s common for enterprise Wi-Fi networks to include thousands of access points cover hundreds of acres and span multiple sites," said Ahmet Tuncay, Trapeze's marketing vice president.

Before this product, Trapeze's largest hardware device managed around 200 access points, while rival Aruba was ahead with its MMC-6000 which can manage 2048 APs. Both companies use software to manage larger installations, which has normally run on general purpose servers. Aruba's recently purchased AirWave management platform uses software to go up to 50,000 APs. Trapeze's appliance will make the process of design and management simpler, says Trapeze, saving hundreds of IT hours.

Ringmaster was central to Trapeze's recent success in winning what it calls "the world’s largest deployment" of the new 802.11n standard, a $15 million, five-year upgrade to the wireless LANs at the University of Minnesota. The upgrade will include $3 million on access points alone, swapping out existing APs from D-Link, Cisco and other vendors for around 9,500 of Trapeze's 802.11n access points. Ringmaster "…allowed us to quickly import our own CAD drawings and immediately begin Wi-Fi planning for 300 buildings, including 1,300-plus floors," according to Steve Cawley, the university’s vice president of IT.

RingMaster has been a big part of Trapeze's WLAN strategy from the beginning, for dealing with Wi-Fi propagation issues, and managing the lifecycle of WLANs. The appliance can make a "virtual" site survey based on architectural drawings, and configure access points for specific locations before they are installed.

The appliance is based on a Linux OS, and has two redundant 250GB hard drives to gather monitoring and performance data. The basic unit costs $19,000 (£9,515) including a licence to support 250 APs, which can be extended in steps of ten to 1000, up to 5000, if users buy software keys.

Trapeze's claims - like most claims in the ever-competitive Wi-Fi world - have already been disputed. Aruba told us that it already has an appliance that manages 5000 APs, called the MM-200. We have been unable to find this product on Aruba's site, however.
See more here

The four generations of wireless LAN networking

1st generation: early consumer Wi-Fi equipment, with minimal amounts of security

2nd generation: first release of enterprise-oriented wireless products. Access points still stand alone, but security was improved.

3rd generation: most current enterprise wireless products. Central controllers help regulate AP connections, much improved security, but deployment issues remain: proper layout and channel spacing needed for maximum benefit.

4th generation: All access points share a channel, with a central controller determining which access points communicate with various devices. Denser implementations become possible without risk of co-channel interference.

Fourth-generation APs, currently developed by Meru and Extricom, use a smart, centralized controller to create a large, virtual wireless cell that spans several APs, making the handoff between cells transparent to endpoint devices such as laptops and, ideally, reducing dropped connections as a user moves around a wireless LAN. As far as the device can tell, an entire office is just one large wireless zone (see sidebar for a look at the other wireless generations).

Extricom's APs have much less intelligence than typical offerings. They act similarly to antenna extensions that are intelligently tuned in to the appropriate device by a central switch to which each AP is directly connected. Meru's devices, on the other hand, have more intelligence in the AP, allowing them to communicate to the network on layer 3.

Each company claims its technology is superior in several ways, but King said they were similarly capable for most tasks.

These fourth generation methods also have the benefit of reducing planning complexity -- no more careful spacing of APs at set intervals, overlapping – but not by too much – connectivity zones to provide maximum range and throughput. Instead, these options can pack APs more closely to ensure stronger cover without the fear of radio interference.

But is it time to jump aboard? Maybe, maybe not. The technology is promising, but it is so new that network architects don't understand all its pitfalls.

See more info on wiki

BelAir Networks's wireless products for military applications

BelAir Networks, the leading provider of broadband wireless mesh networks, is delivering high-performance wireless mesh solutions for mission-critical Defense applications to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston (SSC Charleston). Two new products, the BelAir200D and BelAir100D Wireless Mesh Node for Defense Applications include 802.11n features and support for the 4.4 GHz frequency band.

The 4.4GHz to 5GHz band, with its wider bandwidth, is providing greater flexibility and security for communication systems. A major advantage is that commercially available radio systems based on WLAN and WiMAX technologies can be converted to this military-designated band, enabling a system to be developed and deployed quickly.

“SSC Charleston has extensive experience installing and testing communications systems in ships and at shore and the high performance, reliability and flexibility of the BelAir Networks wireless mesh gear has proven to be a great fit for their wireless requirements,” said Bernard Herscovich, President and CEO, BelAir Networks. “We’ve been honored to serve the needs of many military customers over the past few years and working with SSC Charleston has enabled us to accelerate the availability of the next generation of high-performance wireless mesh solutions for a broad range of Armed Forces applications.”

Building on its success in delivering high-performance wireless mesh solutions for both temporary Defense installations (including emergency, disaster recovery, and special events networks) and permanent networks, such as SSC Charleston’s Wireless Pier Connection Systems (WPCS), the integration of 802.11n features and support for the 4.4 GHz frequency band will further enhance BelAir’s unique fit for Defense applications. BelAir Networks wireless mesh nodes are also broadly deployed in civilian Port security applications providing high-performance networks for video surveillance cameras and chemical detection sensors.

Customized to address the needs of demanding Defense installations at home and abroad, the new BelAir200D and BelAir100D feature support for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology and other performance-enhancing features encompassed in 802.11.n. The products also support BelAir Networks new Military Radio Module (MRM) operating in the 4.4 GHz spectrum designated in the US and NATO countries for military fixed and mobile communications.

See more info here: BelAir

About BelAir Networks

BelAir Networks is the first company to offer scalable, mobile wireless broadband mesh networking solutions with the highest quality for data, voice and video. The company teams with world-class global partners to deploy proven, cost-effective wireless broadband mesh networks. BelAir’s wireless networking solutions are built on the only multi-service architecture for municipal wireless broadband deployments of Wi-Fi, WiMAX and 3G Cellular networks. Built specifically for outdoor-in deployments, BelAir Networks’ patented solution delivers the lowest cost per user and deploys in days, blending into the physical infrastructure of downtown business districts, hotels and resorts, and campuses. Founded in 2001, BelAir Networks is a privately held company.
BelAir Networks is the new worldwide wireless mesh node market leader based on revenue, according to Dell’Oro Group’s recently released Q3 2007 Wireless LAN quarterly report.