University of Bradford Workshop: The Need to Monitor Speed

Greetings from Bradford.

Tomorrow I’ll be presenting at a workshop hosted jointly by the University of Bradford and Net Optics partner, MarQuest Ltd., This is a one-day event that focuses on high-speed networking for security and performance. Workshops will cover such issues as minimizing analysis tool costs, performance-related security in high-speed networks, and developing an effective monitoring infrastructure.

The event features Professor Demetres Kouvatsos Head of the Networks and Performance Engineering Research Group (NetPEn), Informatics Research Institute (IRI), University of Bradford. Chris Bloom, WildPackets Principal Software Engineer/ Developer Evangelist, Chris Devereux, Motorola Senior Technical Architect and myself.

The topics covered will concentrate on the challenges of monitoring and analyzing data from networks which transport gigabit data streams. This will include the following areas:-

  • Developing an effective monitoring infrastructure.
  • Minimizing analysis tool costs.
  • Techniques for network forensics.
  • Performance Related Security in High Speed Networks.
  • Monitoring security in high speed wireless infrastructure.

I have developed a new presentation trying to keep it “vendor free” while presenting my thoughts on developing the right infrastructure for effective monitoring. One of the thoughts that I will be presenting is related  to the different tradeoff between the different functions derived by business decisions:

  • Performance vs. Accuracy
  • Security vs. Connectivity (my favorite)
  • False Positive vs. False Negative
  • Price vs. Features.
  • Ease of use vs. Availability and features

I’ll post the slides after tomorrow.

Reminder: T1, T3

A European friend is now performing is first  implementation in the US and as such is starting to “discover” the differences between T1 and E1. Being such a nice person (what are friends for), here’s a short reminder:

T1

  • A T1 line is a pure digital line.
  • The T1 line can handle 24 simultaneous voice calls.
  • A T1 line can handle a high speed Internet connection speed of 1.544 Mbps.
  • Or, as an integrated service it can handle a combination of fewer voice calls with some bandwidth given to Internet connections.
T3
  • A T3 line is also a pure digital line. It is the equivalent of 28 T1 lines or 672 POTS lines.
  • A T3 line can handle 672 simultaneous voice calls or provide a high speed Internet connection of 44.736 Mbps.

See also the network dictionary for a comparison between T1 and E1. Other useful information here.

Best Practices For 10G Migration

Tomorrow (well, technically today) we will be hosting the first event in a serias of technology seminars in our offices in Santa Clara. Tomorrow’s topic is 10G migration. We are expecting a large number of attendees and looking forward for a great, interactive discussion.

Hope to see you there!

8:30-9:00 – Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00-9:15 – Greeting and Welcome
9:15-10:15 –Best Practices for 10G Migration: Sharon Bessor – VP of Technology
10:15-10:30 – Coffee Break
10:30-11:15 – Guest Speaker: Sean Power – Co-author of Complete Web Monitoring
11:15-12:00 – Use Cases & Demonstration: Dennis Carpio – Director of Product Innovation 
12:00-1:00 – Catered Lunch
1:00-2:45 – Group/Panel Discussion
2:45-3:00 – Break and Net Optics Manufacturing Tour
3:00-3:30 – Final Thoughts & Wrap-up
Thoughts The Enterprise LAN Magic Quadrant

Last week (6.10) I read Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise LAN (Global) that was written by Mark Fabbi and Tim Zimmerman. As always, Gartner provides interesting insights that reflect what the large customers are doing. Since Net Optics is operating in an adjacent market, I have the luxury of providing my thoughts without the associated risk.

  • Market size: I’ll take Gartner word for it, but I am very interested to learn how they measure the market and came with the revenue number for 2009. In my opinion the number that is quoted in the MQ is lower than it should be.
  • I totally agree with the observation regarding the increase in demand for 10G, though in my opinion it is now being used for more than interconnections between switches.
  • I wish that there were more emphasis in vendor evaluations on 40G and 100G Ethernet vision.
  • Low latency, Top-of-Rack (TOR) and emerging new Ethernet standards are now a fact of life. The data center IS changing. Blame it on Virtualization, cloud or cost of electricity and air conditioning, it does not matter…

In addition, Gartner made some interesting comments regarding the changes in the landscape as a result of economic conditions (changes in the buy patterns and habits of large organizations ) as well as the M&A activity (HP acquired 3Com and Avaya acquired all of Nortel’s enterprise networking business, including its LAN switching portfolio) or lack of  (Brocade).

If you are working for a large organization or plan to refresh your enterprise LAN or build a new data center, you should read this paper.

New White Paper: Gaining Total Visibility for Lawful Interception

The term “lawful interception” (LI) describes the process by which law enforcement agencies conduct electronic surveillance of circuit and packet-mode communications as authorized by judicial or administrative order.

Each country has its own criteria for defining criminal or terrorist activities; the purpose of LI is to gather evidence to detect and prevent such activities. In the United States, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) sets forth how service providers must support lawful interception. Abroad, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) drives adoption of standards for telecommunications, broadband, and related technologies in Europe and other countries.

Read this whitepaper here. Other resources are available here.