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| May 9, 2013
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Tech Disrupters

Tech DisruptersThe BusinesInsider notes that analysts at investment bank Citi (C) have issued a new research report, that takes a look at 10 disrupting technologies, According to BusinessInsider, these technologies will change the way we do business. The firm which took $300 billion dollars taxpayer-funded bail-out looked into practically every sector you can think of: energy, entertainment, IT, manufacturing, and transportation among them to identify disrupters.

Software-Defined Networks

One of the information technologies that Citi called a disrupter is Software Defined Networks (SDN). SDN’s simplify IT networks by separating the Control Plane (the intelligence) from the Data Plane (the packet forwarding engine). “Instead of having intelligence distributed across the network in separate boxes, SDN centralizes the Control plane in an overriding software layer which disseminates instructions to each router or switch.”

Citi claims that SDN is too cheap to resist. They cite data from IDC that says Software Defined Networking is expected to grow from just under $360 million in 2013 to $3.7 billion in 2016. Revenues are likely to be split between startups, traditional network vendors like Cisco (CSCO), and big IT vendors like IBM (IBM), HP (HPQ), and Dell.

Software-as-a-Service

The prognosticators at Citi also identified SaaS as another disruptive opportunity. The article explains that Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is Internet-based software delivery. Basically, customers can use software that they’d otherwise have to buy via downloads or at a store. Examples include Google (GOOG) Apps, Microsoft (MSFT) 365, and Amazon (AMZN) web services.

In 2012, the SaaS market grew 26% to become an $18 billion market according to market research firm IDC. According to Citi’s survey, SaaS has already captured 8% of their software wallets so far and firms expect to increase spending to 70% of their budget over time — a 9-fold increase.

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The Citi prognosticators are so smart, they are at least a year behind the Bach Seat. I have covered cloud since 2011. I think we all know that cloud computing and software-defined networking are information technology disrupters. Thanks, guys.

 

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| May 7, 2013
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Which SkyDrive is Right For You?

Updated February 19, 2014 – To add to the SkyDrive confusion, Microsoft has been forced to re-brand its storage service from SkyDrive to OneDrive following a trademark dispute with a British pay-TV provider BSkyB.

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Which SkyDrive is Right For You?Jonathan Hassell who runs 82 Ventures, a consulting firm based out of Charlotte, NC tries to clear up confusion about exactly which Skydrive is right for you. He explains for CIO.com that the Microsoft (MSFT) branding machine confuses perfectly good and functional software with names that are impossible to parse. In the article, he tries to define exactly what each service is and what its limitations are.

SkyDrive Pro

SkyDrive logoSkyDrive Pro – is a business storage space for individual users. The author says SkyDrive Pro is a feature and capability that comes from a SharePoint Server 2013 Enterprise license—a license that you can buy either to run on servers in your own data center premises or access through a subscription to Office 365 on a monthly or annual basis.

SkyDrive Pro is available in the data center or the cloud and functions the same either you run it. The article stresses the key part to remember is that it is a function of SharePoint and nothing else. It has absolutely no relationship to the free service of a very similar name that’s discussed below. The blog presents several key points to remember when thinking about SkyDrive Pro:

  • Microsoft logoSkyDrive Pro is essentially a replacement for the old My Site feature that was available within SharePoint 2010 and 2013. It’s a place for users to store files they might want to share with others in the future. For instance, you might be working on a budget spreadsheet that needs constant updating, so you could save a copy to your SkyDrive Pro location and invite other users to read, view, and update that copy on their own.
  • With SkyDrive Pro on Office 365, each user gets 7 GB of space that is not counted against the overall SharePoint storage quota that is part of the plan you pay for. For SharePoint Server 2013 on-premises installations, administrators can configure the SkyDrive Pro space quota on an individual basis. While you can buy add-on space to pool more available gigabytes for your overall SharePoint sites and workspaces on Office 365, you can’t buy more storage to extend SkyDrive Pro spaces.
  • There is a SkyDrive Pro client application, but at this point, it’s available only as part of the Office 2013 suite. If you don’t have an Office 2013 license, you’re forced to use SkyDrive Pro through the browser just like most of your interactions with other parts of the SharePoint product.
  • The SkyDrive Pro client application behaves like the old SharePoint Workspace client application. It synchronizes the online content with an offline cache so you can still access files, documents, and other objects from the site just like you were online, even if you are stuck without a connection somewhere.
  • SkyDrive Pro works only for Windows and Web browsers. There are no native client applications for other operating systems.

The CIO.com article states that SkyDrive Pro is definitely not a free-for-all when it comes to data storage. Microsoft has imposed the following limitations:

  • Software for rentIn your SkyDrive Pro library, you can synchronize up to 20,000 items, including folders and files;
  • No single file can be greater than 250 MB in size;
  • You can download files up to 2 GB from your library.

If you’re running Office 2013 you can remove the hooks within Windows Explorer that expose the space. Just issue the following command at the elevated administrative command prompt:

regsvr32 /u %programfiles%MicrosoftOfficeGROOVEEX.DLL

SkyDrive

SkyDrive, referred to by Mr. Hassell as SkyDrive Free to prevent confusion, is a consumer service provided by Microsoft that works a lot like Dropbox. It provides up to 7 GB of free cloud storage where users can upload files that are then accessible from either a Web browser or any Internet-connected device where the right client-side extensions are installed. The article notes that consumers can part with some money for even more space above what’s allowed on the free tier.

These client extensions are available for the Windows desktop, through the Windows Store (for Windows 8 and Windows RT devices), for the Windows Phone, and on Apple (AAPL) iOS, Google (GOOG) Android, and Mac OS devices.

Cloud storageTo make things even more confusing, according to the author, users who subscribe to Office 365 Home Premium plans get an extra 20 GB of SkyDrive free storage space. Office 365 Home Premium, despite being an Office 365 product/service, has nothing to do with SkyDrive Pro. This extra SkyDrive Free space is not granted to any other Office 365 subscription plan—and there’s currently no way to increase the SkyDrive Pro space on Office 365 beyond the 7 GB quota. The blog offers a few takeaways when thinking about SkyDrive Free:

  • There’s no corporate control over what’s stored on SkyDrive Free. Other than preventing the client extensions from being installed on corporate-owned devices and blocking access to skydrive.com from your Internet connection, there’s no other way IT can control what a user stores on SkyDrive Free.
  • In Office 2013, SkyDrive Free is the default location where users are prompted to save documents and other objects. SkyDrive Pro spaces are not the default.
  • SkyDrive Free has absolutely nothing to do with SharePoint, won’t work with either SharePoint Workspace 2010 or SkyDrive Pro client applications, and can be used by shops that have no link to SharePoint whatsoever, even all-Mac shops with no Windows machines at all.
  • Finally, SkyDrive Free does not support advanced functionality such as document versioning, file alerts, quick preview, and deeper Office client integration. That’s all exclusively reserved for SkyDrive Pro spaces.

SaaSMr. Hassell concludes that the idea behind both SkyDrive services is the same—a place to store documents, files, and other things so they’re available from multiple places. But SkyDrive Pro is clearly oriented at businesses and provides enterprise features that are useful for collaboration, while SkyDrive Free is a consumer service available to anyone, for free, across different platforms.

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
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| May 2, 2013
Comments Off on Ellen Spoofs Password Infomercial

Ellen Spoofs Password Infomercial

Ellen Spoofs Password InfomercialGraham Cluley at Sophos’s Naked Security Blog recently blogged about a crazy password infomercial and day-time TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres’ reaction to the late-night advert. The infomercial that caught the talk show host’s attention proves that you can always rely on late-night TV to try to sell you anything.

Ellen DeGeneresEllen DeGeneres recently focused some attention on a product that claimed to solve a computer security problem experienced by many inner-webs users – how to remember your passwords. Here’s the link to the video below about the “Internet Password Minder”:

As one of the customers featured in the infomercial breathlessly explains:

"I don't have to worry anymore about security or identity theft... I now have all my passwords in one place. It's great"

Apparently, this is not a put-up by the “Ellen” show. As Ellen amusingly asks, wouldn’t it be cheaper to save money and write all your passwords on a $5 bill? You could even keep the (patent-pending – don’t steal the idea!) $5 bill password minder in your wallet if you liked – much more convenient than the book-sized Internet Password Minder!

hard-to-crack passwordSophos offers a video explaining how to generate a tough, hard-to-crack password that is still easy to remember. If you can’t remember your passwords and have difficulty juggling different passwords for different websites, then Sophos recommends password management software like KeePass, 1Password or LastPass. I have covered the password issue many many many times before.

Mr. Cluley pointed comment on Ellen’s website from someone who claims to be the woman in the infomercial who no longer worries about identity theft.

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I don’t watch The Ellen Show (I work during the day), but I know my mom does so a hat-tip to Ellen for raising awareness of password security issues with her large TV audience in an amusing way.

Those of us charged with keeping our clients and parents safe from the cyber-malcontents on the Intertubes, need all the help we can get, even if is from as unlikely a source as Ellen DeGeneres. Maybe now mom will stop asking me to change all of the passwords to something easier.

Do you think that Ellen’s spoof of the password infomercial helps the cyber-security cause?

 

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| April 30, 2013
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400 Gbps Ethernet Coming

400 Gbps Ethernet ComingThe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), launched an IEEE 802.3 “Standard for Ethernet” study group to explore the development of a 400 Gbps Ethernet standard. The new standard will look to efficiently support an ever-increasing, exponential network bandwidth growth. Ethernet which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year is defined by the IEEE 802.3 standard. Ethernet is a pervasive standard, driven by the ever-growing needs of the local area, access, and metropolitan area networks around the world.

Expanded reliance on Ethernet

IEEE logoBeyond traditional networks, Help Net Security reports that new application like industrial and automotive networking are expanding their reliance on Ethernet. To better address the needs of these areas, the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard is constantly evolving and expanding. John D’Ambrosia is the chief Ethernet evangelist, CTO office, Dell, and chair of the new IEEE 802.3 400 Gbps Ethernet Study Group. He says Ethernet must evolve. “Traffic is growing everywhere … and it’s critical that we move now to create a plan for the Ethernet ecosystem to evolve beyond today’s capabilities, in order to accommodate the burgeoning bandwidth tsunami.”

In August 2012, IEEE forecasted that networks will need to support 58% compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) on average. The growth will be griven by simultaneous increases in users, access methodologies, access rates, and services (such as video on demand and social media). IEEE report that networks would need to support capacity requirements of 1 terabit per second (Tbps) in 2015. That number grows to 10 Tbps by 2020 if current trends continue. Alan Weckel, vice president of enterprise and data center market research at Dell’Oro Group said in the article, “Ethernet is an arena of constant innovation, driven by the market demand for support of new ever-increasing bandwidth speeds, as well as new protocols, applications, and media types.”

Standards-based networking

EthernetStandards-based networking has worked so far and will be needed as 400 Gbps Ethernet evolves. Mr. Weckel adds, “Global bandwidth requirements are continuing to grow exponentially … Standards-based solutions are integral to maintaining business growth across the Ethernet ecosystem.”

David Law, chair of the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group and distinguished engineer with HP Networking explains in the article, “An IEEE 802.3 study group is formed when there is interest in developing a request to initiate an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standards-development project.”

IEEE 802.3Dell’s D’Ambrosia told Wireless Design Magazine that a host of new technologies and applications have proliferated in the marketplace since the most recent speed jump to 100 Gb/s Ethernet was ratified in 2010. He reminded NetworkWorld that “The iPhone didn’t exist when we started 100G.” Mr. D’Ambrosia concludes that the impact has been felt throughout the Ethernet ecosystem. Data centers, for example, where Ethernet is the primary interconnect technology, are at the center of the bandwidth storm. Pressure is intensifying from all directions:

  • Outside the data center, driven by increasing numbers of users armed with more devices capable of ever-increasing bandwidth consumption;
  • Within the data center, driven by more and faster storage and server technologies, and
  • Across data centers, driven by new applications, new databases, and new architectures.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| April 25, 2013
Comments Off on Microsoft Ending Windows XP & Office 2003 Support

Microsoft Ending Windows XP & Office 2003 Support

Microsoft Ending Windows XP & Office 2003 SupportTwo of Microsoft’s (MSFT) flagship services are going to no longer have any support as of April 8th, 2014: Windows XP and Office 2003. Microsoft is warning suggesting that companies who have not migrated from Windows XP and Office 2003 start the process soon. MSFT released the OS more than a decade ago (October 2001 to be precise).

Microsoft Windows 7 logoOn their blog, Naked Security, Sophos says that Windows XP still holds a 39% market share on the desktop. What if you are still using XP or Office 2003? Microsoft simply says it means you should “take action.” There will no longer be any security updates or assisted support options, online or otherwise, through Microsoft.

The lack of any security updates means there will be “unchecked security and compliance risks” as well as a lack of support and updates that keep the software compatible with the newest technologies.

Sophos logoSophos speculates that one of the security implications of the bad guys holding onto new Windows XP exploits until MSFT stops patching XP. There’s certainly the potential for a lot of havoc if 39% of the PCs get infected by new internet-propagating worms that target Windows XP systems. Even an increase in Internet Explorer 8 browser exploits that could open the doors wide for all kinds of malware infections.

It can take up to 18 months for the average medium to large business to install new programs, roll out all the updates, and import all customer data. Firms may need to upgrade their PCs and retrain their staff to use newer, more dependable Microsoft products.

MalwareMicrosoft says this move comes after they introduced their Support Lifecycle policy in 2002. All of Microsoft’s products get 10 years of support – 5 Mainstream and 5 Extended – and once those ten years are up, the company encourages all users to move on to more recent products that will often fit the needs of an individual and a company more closely.

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state mandated testingIn my world, we have started to migrate off of XP to Win7, due to state-mandated testing requirements. Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that the Gates Foundation is a backer of large-scale multi-state standardized online testing that forces school districts in 22 states to migrate off of WinXP, a known entity that most people have long gotten their ROI out of the perpetual licenses to a new OS Win7 (Win8 HA) that they are pushing as a subscription?

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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