Cloud and data center networking
Data center networks are responsible for traffic routing, switching, resource hosting and more. While on-premises data center networking remains essential, enterprises are also turning to cloud networking, which enables them to host services in cloud environments. Discover various strategies for data center network architecture, hybrid cloud and cloud networking services.
Top Stories
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Tip
07 May 2025
Explore edge computing services in the cloud
Discover the powerful advantages of edge computing over cloud computing, delivering faster performance and significantly lowering data transfer costs. Dive into the essential services provided by leading industry players. Continue Reading
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News
29 Apr 2025
HPE Aruba deepens network security and OpsRamp visibility
A new 'digital circuit breaker' capability for HPE Private Clouds, increased visibility of third-party hardware with OpsRamp and new SASE capabilities arrive for HPE Aruba. Continue Reading
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Definition
25 Oct 2023
data plane
The data plane -- sometimes known as the user plane, forwarding plane, carrier plane or bearer plane -- is the part of a network that carries user traffic. Continue Reading
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Definition
17 Oct 2023
Chromecast
Chromecast is a streaming media adapter from Google that allows users to play online content such as videos and music on a digital television. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Oct 2023
Building data center networks for GenAI fabric enablement
Network scalability, throughput and orchestration are some of the key elements that enterprises need to consider as they build out generative AI data centers. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Sep 2023
Network considerations for cloud migration to data center
Performance, security concerns and high costs are factors that prompt organizations to migrate workloads from cloud to data centers. Here's what to consider. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
06 Sep 2023
Empower intelligence at the edge with AI deployment
AI deployment at the edge has the potential to unleash powerful real-time analysis and processing. Use cases include industrial automation, remote monitoring and healthcare. Continue Reading
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News
22 Aug 2023
VMware remakes NSX for companies using multiple clouds
VMware designed NSX+ to simplify multi-cloud networking for customers. The update will eventually replace NSX and the more advanced NSX-T within VMware Cloud. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Aug 2023
An introduction to quantum networks and how they work
Quantum networks hold potential for faster and more secure communication. But true quantum networks are still experimental and require more engineering and scientific research. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2023
A list of AWS networking services cloud users should know
AWS has cloud networking services for load balancing, traffic routing, content delivery and more. Learn which services and features work best with this overview. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 Aug 2023
Top 5 benefits of SASE to enhance network security
A cloud-based distributed architecture, centralized management and endpoint-specific security policies are just some of the benefits of Secure Access Service Edge. Continue Reading
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Definition
24 Jul 2023
digital signal processing (DSP)
Digital signal processing (DSP) refers to various techniques for improving the accuracy and reliability of digital communications. Continue Reading
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Definition
19 Jul 2023
cloud telephony (cloud calling)
Cloud telephony (cloud calling) is a type of unified communications as a service (UCaaS) that offers voice communication services through a third-party host. Continue Reading
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News
14 Jul 2023
IOTech Edge Connect frees data from factory floor devices
IOTech designed Edge Connect to collect data from operational technology and send it to IT systems that monitor and control devices in manufacturing and other industries. Continue Reading
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Opinion
05 Jul 2023
Cisco's vision for Networking Cloud becomes clear
Cisco is focused on simplifying, securing and delivering better experiences across networking, security, collaboration and apps in alignment with its vision to connect anything. Continue Reading
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News
30 Jun 2023
Prosimo offers free multi-cloud connectivity
The new MCN Foundation can find and connect to public clouds and provide visibility. The company's full-stack product powers the limited free version. Continue Reading
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Quiz
28 Jun 2023
10 edge computing quiz questions
Edge computing isn't new, but it has grown in popularity due to 5G and the influx of IoT devices. This quiz covers edge computing basics, such as pros, cons and differentiators. Continue Reading
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Definition
21 Jun 2023
logical network
A logical network is a software-defined network topology or routing that is often different than the physical network. Continue Reading
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Video
12 Jun 2023
Install Calico for Kubernetes in this video walkthrough
In this video tutorial and demo, a DevOps engineer explains how to manage network traffic in Kubernetes clusters with Calico, a Container Network Interface plugin. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jun 2023
New Cisco tools aim to enable green networks, data centers
At Cisco Live 2023, Cisco unveiled new products and updates to its portfolio to help organizations create sustainable data center networks as they modernize their infrastructures. Continue Reading
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Definition
02 Jun 2023
network performance monitoring (NPM)
Network performance monitoring (NPM) is the process of measuring and monitoring the quality of service of a network. Continue Reading
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News
01 Jun 2023
Google interconnects with rival cloud providers
Video platform provider Pexip said Google's Cross-Cloud Interconnect reduced the cost of connecting Google Cloud with Microsoft Azure by eliminating other products. Continue Reading
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Definition
17 May 2023
wave number
A wave number, or wavenumber, refers to the spatial frequency of a wave over a specific unit distance. Continue Reading
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Definition
16 May 2023
Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)
The Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) network management protocol that provides a secure mechanism for installing, manipulating and deleting the configuration data on a network device such as a firewall, router or switch. Continue Reading
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News
16 May 2023
SONiC NOS faces challenges fitting in with mainstream
Gartner estimates that fewer than 200 enterprises have SONiC in production, out of a potential data center market of 100,000. One startup describes the NOS as 'a mess' to deploy. Continue Reading
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Definition
15 May 2023
SerDes (serializer/deserializer)
A SerDes or serializer/deserializer is an integrated circuit (IC or chip) transceiver that converts parallel data to serial data and vice-versa. Continue Reading
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Definition
15 May 2023
RS-232C
RS-232C is one of the earlier versions of the long-established standard RS-232, which defines a physical interface for relatively low-speed serial data communication between computers and related devices. Continue Reading
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Opinion
09 May 2023
Aruba Atmosphere '23 emphasizes agility matters
HPE Aruba Networking positioned its Atmosphere conference as looking at what comes next, but the subtext was all about agility as the company tightens its integration. Continue Reading
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Definition
09 May 2023
mutual exclusion (mutex)
In computer programming, a mutual exclusion (mutex) is a program object that prevents multiple threads from accessing the same shared resource simultaneously. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
08 May 2023
Improve Kubernetes network performance with Cilium and eBPF
Learn how the Cilium Kubernetes plugin and eBPF framework can improve network efficiency and security, then walk through installing Cilium on a K3s cluster with sample code. Continue Reading
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Definition
08 May 2023
edge data center
An edge data center is a small data center that is located close to the edge of a network. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 May 2023
serial communications interface (SCI)
A serial communications interface (SCI) is a device that enables the serial exchange of data -- that is, one bit at a time -- between a microprocessor and peripherals, such as printers, external drives, scanners and mice. Continue Reading
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Definition
02 May 2023
graceful degradation
Graceful degradation is the ability of a computer, machine, electronic system or network to maintain limited functionality even when a large portion of it has been destroyed or rendered inoperative. Continue Reading
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Definition
28 Apr 2023
Clos network
A Clos network is a type of nonblocking, multistage switching network used today in large-scale data center switching fabrics. Continue Reading
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Definition
17 Apr 2023
TOSCA (Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications)
The Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications (TOSCA) is an open source language used to describe the relationships and dependencies between services and applications that reside on a cloud computing platform. Continue Reading
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Definition
14 Apr 2023
Amazon S3 bucket
An Amazon S3 bucket is a public cloud storage resource available in Amazon Web Services' (AWS) Simple Storage Service (S3), an object storage offering. Continue Reading
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News
12 Apr 2023
Cisco provides extra-secure Webex for U.S. government
Cisco will provide a higher-security cloud-based unified communications platform for U.S. national security and defense personnel to monitor classified data, starting in 2024. Continue Reading
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Definition
10 Apr 2023
transport layer
The transport layer is Layer 4 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) communications model. It is responsible for ensuring that the data packets arrive accurately and reliably between sender and receiver. Continue Reading
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Definition
10 Apr 2023
session layer
The session layer is Layer 5 of the OSI communications model. It is the long-lived logical connection that persists between endpoints over time. Continue Reading
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News
03 Apr 2023
Istio service mesh doyen departs Google, touts Ambient Mesh
After 16 years at Google, Istio's co-founder takes over as CTO at Solo.io and goes all in on a project he believes will determine the future of cloud-native networking. Continue Reading
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Definition
03 Apr 2023
ACK (acknowledgement)
In some digital communication protocols, ACK -- short for 'acknowledgement' -- refers to a signal that a device sends to indicate that data has been received successfully. Continue Reading
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Definition
23 Mar 2023
ONOS (Open Network Operating System)
Open Network Operating System (ONOS) is an OS designed to help network service providers build carrier-grade software-defined networks architected for high scalability, availability and performance. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Mar 2023
White box networking use cases and how to get started
Rising cloud costs have prompted organizations to consider white box switches to lower costs and simplify network management. Here's what to know about white box networking. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
09 Mar 2023
Step-by-step guide: Get started with Weave for Kubernetes
Looking to streamline network management for Kubernetes clusters? Learn when and how to use CNI plugins, then walk through the steps of a Weave installation for Kubernetes. Continue Reading
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News
08 Mar 2023
Cisco, HPE plug holes in cloud security portfolios
Hewlett Packard Enterprise also unveiled plans to acquire Athonet, an Italian company that provides cellular technology for private 4G and 5G networks. Continue Reading
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Definition
08 Mar 2023
virtual private cloud (VPC)
A virtual private cloud (VPC) is the logical division of a service provider's public cloud multi-tenant architecture to support private cloud computing. Continue Reading
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Definition
07 Mar 2023
virtual server
A virtual server, also known as a virtual machine (VM), is a partitioned space inside a real server and is transparent to users, replicating the functionality of a dedicated physical server. Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Feb 2023
Unify NetOps and DevOps to improve load-balancing strategy
Research showed that many enterprises struggle with their load-balancing strategies. Unifying NetOps and DevOps teams might help simplify some of this complexity. Continue Reading
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Definition
27 Feb 2023
megahertz (MHz)
Megahertz (MHz) is a unit multiplier that represents one million hertz (106 Hz). Hertz is the standard unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI). Continue Reading
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Definition
27 Feb 2023
gigabit (Gb)
In data communications, a gigabit (Gb) is 1 billion bits, or 1,000,000,000 (that is, 10^9) bits. It's commonly used for measuring the amount of data that is transferred in a second between two telecommunication points. Continue Reading
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Definition
24 Feb 2023
SMB 3.0 (Server Message Block 3.0)
SMB 3 (Server Message Block 3.0) is a protocol that provides a way for a computer's client applications to read and write to files from a server in a computer network. Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Feb 2023
10 important components of SDN controllers
SDN controller features include modularity, APIs, clustering and GUIs. Read more in this chapter excerpt from 'SDN-Supported Edge-Cloud Interplay for Next Generation Internet of Things.' Continue Reading
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News
21 Feb 2023
Technology trends behind Cisco, Arista earnings
Cisco and Arista's latest earnings reports show that companies are upgrading campus networks and distributing more applications across cloud and edge environments. Continue Reading
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News
14 Feb 2023
Extreme Networks extends network fabric to the edge
Extreme Networks extends its SD-WAN network fabric to the edge to unify wired, wireless and WAN networking for simpler network control and more application performance monitoring. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Jan 2023
The features of multi-cloud networking architecture
Enterprises are looking for multi-cloud networking features that include programmability, security integration and end-to-end visibility in a consumption-based model. Continue Reading
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Definition
20 Jan 2023
anonymous FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
Anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a method for allowing users to access public files from a remote server or archive site without requiring them to identify themselves to the server or site. Continue Reading
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Definition
20 Jan 2023
caching
Caching -- pronounced "cashing" -- is the process of storing data in a cache, which is a temporary storage area that facilitates faster access to data with the goal of improving application and system performance. Continue Reading
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Definition
18 Jan 2023
green networking
Green networking is the practice of selecting energy-efficient networking technologies and products and minimizing resource use whenever possible. Continue Reading
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Opinion
06 Jan 2023
Five networking trends teams should focus on in 2023
Distributed IT and hybrid work create network complexity, which is driving adoption of AIOps, network and security convergence, multi-cloud, private 5G and digital twins in 2023. Continue Reading
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News
03 Jan 2023
Multi-cloud networking trends to watch in 2023
As multi-cloud networking becomes an industry standard, enterprises increasingly seek tools to wrangle data, services and security in a sprawling network that can span countries. Continue Reading
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News
20 Dec 2022
Arista's new switches support 800GbE for hyperscalers
Arista's new switches provide more options for enterprises and higher speeds for bandwidth-hungry hyperscalers. The latest hardware is generally available. Continue Reading
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Answer
20 Dec 2022
NOC vs. data center: What's the difference?
Network operations centers and data centers are two facilities organizations use to store IT devices and manage operations. But they differ significantly in terms of purpose and operations. Continue Reading
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News
09 Dec 2022
Juniper's CN2 supports Kubernetes networking on AWS
Juniper simplifies Kubernetes networking on Amazon's Elastic Kubernetes Service by adding virtual networks and multi-dimensional segmentation in the hybrid cloud. Continue Reading
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News
06 Dec 2022
Cisco teases new capabilities with SD-WAN update
Cisco SD-WAN 17.10 enhancements give enterprises the option of using security service edge providers Cloudflare and Netskope in secure access service edge deployments. Continue Reading
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Definition
30 Nov 2022
routing table
A routing table is a set of rules, often viewed in table format, that's used to determine where data packets traveling over an Internet Protocol (IP) network will be directed. Continue Reading
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Tip
22 Nov 2022
Explore network plugins for Kubernetes: CNI explained
With Container Network Interface plugins, IT teams can create and deploy network options for diverse Kubernetes environments. Learn how CNI works and compare top network plugins. Continue Reading
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Opinion
15 Nov 2022
The multi-cloud networking mandate
With most organizations using more than two public clouds, new multi-cloud networking strategies are essential to enable cross-cloud traffic and visibility across multiple clouds. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Oct 2022
Cloud, security and automation alter networking roles
Networking pros are no longer in their own bubbles, even if they prefer it that way. The growth of cloud, security and automation is expanding traditional networking roles. Continue Reading
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Opinion
09 Sep 2022
VMware goes deep into multi-cloud universe
With its rebranded Explore conference, VMware made it clear its focus is on supporting customers' multi-cloud and edge computing environments as data is processed in new places. Continue Reading
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News
31 Aug 2022
VMware CEO reveals big changes amid multi-cloud shift
VMware plans to change products, strategic direction and marketing to keep up with customers rushing to deploy multi-cloud architectures. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Aug 2022
New data center demands reshape enterprise app delivery
Discover how modern application delivery controllers and web application firewalls can improve network provisioning processes and help secure distributed workloads. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Aug 2022
3 common CQRS pattern problems, and how teams can avoid them
While CQRS can provide a lot of value when it comes to structuring an event-driven architecture, improper practices can cause this pattern to be more of a burden than a blessing. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Aug 2022
VXLAN vs. VLAN: What's the difference?
VLANs offer security and traffic management benefits but have limitations in routing and scale. VXLANs address those challenges by creating a Layer 3 network overlay. Continue Reading
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Tip
16 Aug 2022
Understanding the FTP PORT command
FTP uses control and data channels, each using a separate TCP port. Port 21 is for the control channel, and port 20 is for the data channel. Learn how these two channels are used. Continue Reading
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News
05 Aug 2022
Cisco executive Todd Nightingale to take Fastly CEO job
Executive Todd Nightingale will step away from Cisco after a decade. Cisco plans to combine the enterprise networking and cloud division he led with another department. Continue Reading
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News
04 Aug 2022
Arista acquires Pluribus Networks for cloud fabric product
Arista plans to fold Pluribus technology into a new product that lets telcos run a software-defined network across switches, routers, computer servers and accelerator DPUs. Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Jul 2022
How vendors support sustainable networking initiatives
Organizations are focusing on sustainability in all business divisions, including network operations. These tools could help organizations make their enterprise networks green. Continue Reading
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Feature
22 Jul 2022
8 tips to optimize network bandwidth and performance
Despite bandwidth calculations and capacity planning, networks often fail to consume bandwidth efficiently. Here are some tips to optimize bandwidth usage in enterprise networks. Continue Reading
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News
24 Jun 2022
Linux Foundation to standardize, simplify the DPU ecosystem
The Linux Foundation's plans to standardize APIs and the software stack running on DPUs will help network operators manage network traffic more efficiently. Continue Reading
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Opinion
23 Jun 2022
Cisco Live highlights network observability, the metaverse
The conference was teeming with topics, including network security, infrastructure transformation, cloud-based network management and open source tools. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 May 2022
20 systemctl commands for system and service management
System and service management are vital to ensure customer satisfaction and service delivery. These systemctl commands can help ease those management tasks for admins. Continue Reading
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News
19 May 2022
Cisco revenue depressed by China lockdowns, supply woes
COVID-related lockdowns around China prevented Cisco from getting critical components, leading to a projected decline in revenue. Continue Reading
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News
13 May 2022
Intel's data center strategy rests on accelerator chips
Intel will release three generations of 200 GB, 400 GB and 800 GB infrastructure processing units over the next four years. The first two generations will include ASICs and FPGAs. Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2022
Cisco warns of hardware failure in DIMM memory components
A manufacturing defect affecting some DIMMs made in late 2020 could cause persistent memory errors and server failure. Cisco recommends customers replace impacted DIMMs. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 May 2022
Networks are the intersection in a multi-cloud strategy
Enterprises interested in multi-cloud adoption should evaluate application requirements, cloud provider features and their legacy network architecture. Continue Reading
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News
06 Apr 2022
AMD heats up DPU competition with Pensando acquisition
AMD's $1.9 billion acquisition of Pensando would hand the chipmaker a DPU that leans toward providing distributed network services within large enterprises' private clouds. Continue Reading
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News
16 Mar 2022
Pluribus taps the DPU for a distributed network fabric
Pluribus Networks' United Cloud Fabric shifts distributed network functions from a switch CPU to a DPU on the server. The technology unifies network management across switches and servers, the company said. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Mar 2022
Strategies, benefits of data center network automation
Data center networks aren't new, but ways of managing them are -- such as with data center network automation. Strategies include cloud automation, DevOps automation and more. Continue Reading
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News
09 Dec 2021
Nasdaq CIO prepares to shift financial markets to the cloud
CIO Brad Peterson said Nasdaq's experience with AWS during the past dozen years has shown that the cloud is ready to run the millisecond transactions of the global markets. Continue Reading
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News
01 Dec 2021
AWS to take on Microsoft Azure in private 5G
The AWS Private 5G managed service will compete with Microsoft Azure's private multi-access edge computing system. Unlike Microsoft, the AWS product focuses on an unlicensed spectrum. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Nov 2021
3 lessons from the 2021 Facebook outage for network pros
Even in hyperscalers like Facebook, one errant finger can take down a network. The takeaway, experts said, is to expect and plan for the worst and put those plans to the test. Continue Reading
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News
19 Nov 2021
Supply chain issues mean backlog, price increases for Cisco
Cisco product orders were up 33% in its most recent fiscal quarter. Supply chain issues, rising prices and historic backlog could threaten that growth's longevity. Continue Reading
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News
05 Oct 2021
VMware Edge brings consistency with cloud, data center
VMware's latest edge product portfolio is consistent with the infrastructure the company provides for the cloud and the enterprise data center. Continue Reading
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Answer
27 Sep 2021
Best practices and tools for public cloud monitoring
Public cloud adoption has ramped up in recent years. In these busy environments, certain cloud network monitoring tools can provide IT groups with crucial visibility. Continue Reading
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News
09 Sep 2021
Exium offers 5G network security to IBM EAM
Exium is IBM's latest partner in 5G network security. Enterprises have the option of using Exium's network as a service with the IBM Edge Application Manager. Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2021
Cisco readies portfolio for hybrid cloud, modern data centers
Cisco tackles hybrid cloud complexity with the introduction of the UCS X-Series unified computing system, ThousandEyes integrations and Intersight advancements. Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Jun 2021
Experts say Open RAN deployment is on the rise
Networking experts examined Open RAN revenue surges as the industry shifts toward the open model. Meanwhile, enterprises should consider the long-term benefits of switching vendors. Continue Reading
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Definition
27 May 2021
propagation delay
Propagation delay is the amount of time required for a signal to be received after it has been sent; it is caused by the time it takes for the signal to travel through a medium. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 May 2021
The migration to enterprise network as a service
Enterprise network as a service is becoming a popular consumption model for networking functions. But, as with any emerging technology, it's important to weigh the options carefully. Continue Reading
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Definition
24 May 2021
bandwidth (network bandwidth)
Network bandwidth is a measurement indicating the maximum capacity of a wired or wireless communications link to transmit data over a network connection in a given amount of time. Continue Reading
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Feature
21 May 2021
Cloud-based network management leads 2021 network investments
A recent ESG survey shows that many enterprises speeding their digital transformation plans are also increasing 2021 network investment, emphasizing cloud-based network management. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Apr 2021
How cloud-native networking will transform infrastructure
Cloud-native networking aims to prioritize business needs and enable networks to become more efficient. Learn more about the potential benefits and challenges in this expert Q&A. Continue Reading