tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50578333817321389082024-03-12T19:35:49.308-07:00Standards, Technologies & Discussion about ICTICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-10553029263104440832010-03-03T19:32:00.000-08:002010-03-03T19:43:55.433-08:001, 2, 3 or More - How Many Cisco Switches in Your Lab?When building a lab to use to practice for CCNA or CCNP, you need Cisco switches. Part of the decision must be how many switches you can afford. And of course you'll want to know whether adding that extra switch really helps you study and practice, or not - and that's hard to know until you understand the switching topics in a particular exam. Today (and the next several posts), I'll discuss the topology issues comparing the 1, 2, and 3 switch options, first for CCNA and then for CCNP.<br /> <br />The choice of how many switches, and which models, tends to give people a little more trouble than the similar decision about routers. Why? First, so unless you're relying on a Simulator, you'll need real switches. And there are plenty of features that require a 2nd switch for any meaningful practice - STP and VTP come to mind immediately - but then it's hard to know how much you need 2 or even 3 switches until you're pretty far into studying for CCNA. So let's start with a CCNA breakdown for a 1 switch and 2 switch topology, looking at features that can be practiced reasonably well in each case.<br /><br />For both topologies, I would expect you to have at least 2 (preferably 3) other devices to drive traffic for testing. For CCNA, you need routers as well. So I'll count on your having two routers, and a PC from which to configure things. <br />If you look at all the CCNA switching topics, a lot of them can be done in a lab with a single switch. For example, for CCNA:<br /><br />• basic administration and CLI practice (passwords, hostnames, banners)<br />• VLANs<br />• Interfaces (speed, duplex, auto-n)<br />• IP access to switch<br />• 802.1Q trunking with a router<br />• Voice VLAN<br />• STP portfast<br /><br />But as with routers, there are several CCNA features that just can't be practiced meaningfully without at least two switches. Then, when you get to CCNP SWITCH and TSHOOT, there are several more. For instance, for CCNA:<br /><br />• VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP)<br />• Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)<br />• Switch-switch 802.1Q trunking<br />• Etherchannel<br /><br />For CCNP, I can appreciate the fact that you may be forced to use a single switch for your lab, just due to cost. 1/3 of the core page count of the book focuses on topics like STP (and its many variations), VTP, trunking, Etherchannel, all of which need at least two switches. The bigger question for CCNP (in my opinion) is whether you spring for a 3rd or 4th switch, and whether you make any of those layer 3 switches. I'll get into the layer 3 tradeoffs in the CCNP lab series (next up in the list), but this 3-4 post series will look hard at the layer 2 features related to the question of adding a 3rd switch to a CCNP lab.<br /><br />• Uses the same triangle design in most campus switch designs<br />• Allows configuration and meaningful testing of all CCNP STP features<br />• Much more interesting STP topologies for more meaningful practice<br />• More meaningful VTP experiments (eg, one each server, client, transparent)ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-49885019510778626822010-02-22T03:35:00.000-08:002010-02-22T03:40:21.006-08:00The Kneber botnet revealedInfiltration of Kneber reveals interesting data, but what is the threat?<br />Security vendor Net Witness recently tapped into the logs of a command-and-control server for a botnet it calls Kneber, which has infected at least 75,000 computers at 2,500 companies and government agencies worldwide. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about the botnet. <br /><br /><strong>What exactly is the Kneber botnet?</strong><br /><br />It's a botnet discovered Jan. 26, 2010, by Net Witness that compromised 74,000 computers via the ZeuS Trojan and gathered logon and password information from them. Net Witness announced its discovery Thursday.<br /><br /><strong>Where did it get its name?</strong><br /><br />The name comes from the registrant for the original domain used to pull together various components of the botnet -- hilarykneber@yahoo.com.<br /><br /><strong>How old is it?</strong><br /><br />The first activity from it was March 25, 2009.<br /><br /><strong>Is it out of business now?</strong><br /><br />No. After a command-and-control server for it was traced to Germany, its URL was changed, and it's running just as it was before it was discovered. The data gleaned from the server has been turned over to law enforcement agencies and major companies with employees whose computers were bots have been notified. <br /><br /><strong>What damage can it do?</strong><br /><br />Individuals whose personal data was mined might suffer financial loss if criminals use the data to transfer funds out of their accounts. <br /><br /><strong>What exactly is the ZeuS Trojan?</strong><br /><br />ZeuS, also called Zbot, is a very effective cyber crime tool that is routinely updated, made more sophisticated and more stealthy. It can present a different profile in each computer it infects, making it difficult to catch using signatures. <br /><br /><strong>What do cyber criminals use it for?</strong><br /><br />It's often used to gather user logons and passwords, and injects its own fields into Web pages seeking more detailed information about the user's identity. But it can also steal whatever data is on a computer, can enable remote control of compromised machines and can download other malware. It also periodically uploads what it gathers to command-and-control Web servers. <br /><br /><strong>How dangerous is it?</strong><br /><br />It is ranked as the most dangerous type of botnet in operation by the security firm Damballa, and 1,313 ZeuS command-and-control servers have been identified by Zeus Tracker. A ZeuS botnet was once used to steal records of people looking for jobs through Monster.com. <br /><br /><strong>Why has it been around for so long?</strong><br /><br />The bot-creator is constantly upgraded to be less detectable and more flexible. It is encrypted and it adopts root kit characteristics to hide in infected machines. It is sold for about $4,000 per copy, so there are many cyber gangs using it to create botnets that they use for their individual illicit activity. <br /><br /><strong>Is there any hope of stopping it?</strong><br /><br />Competition may help. A Trojan called Spy Eye does much the same thing as ZeuS and comes with a Zeus uninstaller, so if it hits on a machine already enlisted in a ZeuS bot, it can kick out Zeus and claim machine for itself. Of course, the computer is still a bot, just with a different commander.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-7150890258434888302010-02-02T16:59:00.000-08:002010-02-02T16:59:00.230-08:0010 fool-proof predictions for the Internet in 2020<span style="font-weight:bold;">1. More people will use the Internet.</span><br /><br />Today's Internet has 1.7 billion users, according to Internet World Stats. This compares with a world population of 6.7 billion people. There's no doubt more people will have Internet access by 2020. Indeed, the National Science Foundation predicts that the Internet will have nearly 5 billion users by then. So scaling continues to be an issue for any future Internet architecture.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. The Internet will be more geographically dispersed.</span><br /><br />Most of the Internet's growth over the next 10 years will come from developing countries. The regions with the lowest penetration rates are Africa (6.8%), Asia (19.4%) and the Middle East (28.3%), according to Internet World Stats. In contrast, North America has a penetration rate of 74.2%. This trend means the Internet in 2020 will not only reach more remote locations around the globe but also will support more languages and non-ASCII scripts. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. The Internet will be a network of things, not computers.</span><br /><br />As more critical infrastructure gets hooked up to the Internet, the Internet is expected to become a network of devices rather than a network of computers. Today, the Internet has around 575 million host computers, according to the CIA World Factbook 2009. But the NSF is expecting billions of sensors on buildings and bridges to be connected to the Internet for such uses as electricity and security monitoring. By 2020, it's expected that the number of Internet-connected sensors will be orders of magnitude larger than the number of users. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. The Internet will carry exabytes — perhaps zettabytes — of content.</span><br /><br />Researchers have coined the term "exaflood" to refer to the rapidly increasing amount of data — particularly high-def images and video – that is being transferred over the Internet. Cisco estimates that global Internet traffic will grow to 44 exabytes per month by 2012 — more than double what it is today. Increasingly, content providers such as Google are creating this content rather than Tier 1 ISPs. This shift is driving interest in re-architecting the Internet to be a content-centric network, rather than a transport network. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. The Internet will be wireless.</span><br /><br />The number of mobile broadband subscribers is exploding, hitting 257 million in the second quarter of 2009, according to Informa. This represents an 85% increase year-over year for 3G, WiMAX and other higher speed data networking technologies. Currently, Asia has the most wireless broadband subscribers, but the growth is strongest in Latin America. By 2014, Informa predicts that 2.5 billion people worldwide will subscribe to mobile broadband. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6. More services will be in the cloud.</span><br /><br />Experts agree that more computing services will be available in the cloud. A recent study from Telecom Trends International estimates that cloud computing will generate more than $45.5 billion in revenue by 2015. That's why the National Science Foundation is encouraging researchers to come up with better ways to map users and applications to a cloud computing infrastructure. They're also encouraging researchers to think about latency and other performance metrics for cloud-based services. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">7. The Internet will be greener.</span><br /><br />Internet operations consume too much energy today, and experts agree that a future Internet architecture needs to be more energy efficient. The amount of energy consumed by the Internet doubled between 2000 and 2006, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. But the Internet's so-called Energy Intensity is growing at a slower rate than data traffic volumes as networking technologies become more energy efficient. The trend towards greening the Internet will accelerate as energy prices rise, according to experts pushing energy-aware Internet routing. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">8. Network management will be more automated.</span><br /><br />Besides weak security, the biggest weakness in today's Internet is the lack of built-in network management techniques. That's why the National Science Foundation is seeking ambitious research into new network management tools. Among the ideas under consideration are automated ways to reboot systems, self-diagnosing protocols, finer grained data collection and better event tracking. All of these tools will provide better information about the health and status of networks. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">9. The Internet won't rely on always-on connectivity.</span><br /><br />With more users in remote locations and more users depending on wireless communications, the Internet's underlying architecture can no longer presume that users have always-on connections. Instead, researchers are looking into communications techniques that can tolerate delays or can forward communications from one user to another in an opportunistic fashion, particularly for mobile applications. There's even research going on related to an inter-planetary Internet protocol, which would bring a whole new meaning to the idea of delay-tolerant networking. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">10. The Internet will attract more hackers.</span><br /><br />In 2020, more hackers will be attacking the Internet because more critical infrastructure like the electric grid will be online. The Internet is already under siege, as criminals launch a rising number of Web-based attacks against end users visiting reputable sites. Symantec detected 1.6 million new malicious code threats in 2008 – more than double the 600,000 detected the previous year. Experts say these attacks will only get more targeted, more sophisticated and more widespread in the future. <br />More than anything else, computer scientists who are working on redesigning the Internet are trying to improve its security. Experts agree that security cannot be an add-on in a redesign of the Internet. Instead, the new Internet must be built from the ground up to be a secure communications platform. Specifically, researchers are exploring new ways to ensure that the Internet of 2020 has confidentiality, integrity, privacy and strong authentication.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-75349402404388617542009-12-30T02:26:00.000-08:002009-12-30T02:49:50.149-08:00World is in your home now<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmg2O7o83acL09IoXSRNWizuHgPvZzph34vl9M7IJ-J8llMIns-vZSX4QuKaVMBjKB-go7JodKRrk0A59BEe6B3RS8dj8jcvnzEwBidWtFUMgYMTCwCw7yvFAT5VRBmBACYPLFGidsDfVm/s1600-h/base+-+TV.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 173px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmg2O7o83acL09IoXSRNWizuHgPvZzph34vl9M7IJ-J8llMIns-vZSX4QuKaVMBjKB-go7JodKRrk0A59BEe6B3RS8dj8jcvnzEwBidWtFUMgYMTCwCw7yvFAT5VRBmBACYPLFGidsDfVm/s320/base+-+TV.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420978263584167842" /></a><br /><br />Turn your living room TV into a video phone with an optional webcam.Create a video conference with the office.Record holidays without setting up the tripod and camcorder.<br /><br />The Home Theater PC-the center of your new home theater network.Blu-Ray drive for playing and burning your movies and recorded television.Standard DVD dual layer burner plays and records your media.Touch screen LCD.Completely integrates with your existing home theater hardware(including DVD players and recorders,Stereo head units,speaker system,etc.)<br /><br />Connects your Standard or HD TV to your PC network, allowing you to stream multimedia content from your Home Theater PC to any TV in the house.Stream pictures, music,even videos.Works with wired eithernet or wireless G.<br /><br />Built in mouse and remote control give you ultimate control of your Home Theater PC-from your couch.One button access allows you to switch between writing e-mails and watching TV instantly.<br /><br />Your optional Universal Remote is totally programmable.Plug your remote into your PC to program each device in your home theater.Program combinations-Turn on your TV and Stereo system with one button.Built in LCD screen lets you see exactly what options, menus and devices you are selecting.Program your TV,VCR,DVD player,Cable or Satellite box,everything but the kitchen sink.<br /><br />DVD Jukebox allows you to load up to 200 movies at once,all of which instantly accessible on your Home Theater PC.Totally expandable.Add additional jukebox's as needed-capable of storing and accessing over 1000 DVD's at the touch of a button.Burns your recorded TV shows.<br /><br />Holding up to 1,000 GB of data,this network accessible hard drive expands your storage capacity and simplifies file sharing.Built in USB port allows you to connect a printer-which every PC in the house can print to.Gigabit eithernet ensures blazing fast access to your data.Forget your work disk at home? Not a problem.Access this drive from ANY PC with an internet connection.<br /><br />Wifi routers allow your PC's to connect to each other and the internet, safely and securely.Walk from one room to another with your laptop PC while surfing the internet.<br /><br />Multimedia drive allows you to download your multimedia from your flash memory disks from your digital cameras, camcorders, and cell phones.Additional ports allow you to directly connect a camcorder or camera to download media.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-33482079950166708412009-12-30T01:07:00.000-08:002009-12-30T01:12:18.684-08:00Computer Spyware Protection<span style="font-weight:bold;">What is Spyware/Adware</span><br /><br />Spyware is software that has been created to track and report what you do on the computer! Some of the "worst" spyware will actually search your hard drive for personal information, credit card numbers, bank accounts, passwords, and other confidential information.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Why Do I Need to Remove Spyware/Adware</span><br /><br />Spyware and or, malware has been specifically designed to be difficult to remove. Once you have spyware or adware on your computer, many virus removal programs and few firewalls will not be able to "touch" or "remove" it. Spyware has become the number one threat to all internet users world wide. It is possible that 9 out of every 10 computers are infected. Spyware can destroy your pc and the functions you are tyring to accomplish on the internet.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-46976915681473620612009-12-30T01:01:00.000-08:002009-12-30T01:04:22.372-08:00Home Wireless Networks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18-yBIOvL5360wWAdaHpLxr1w21OsyNRfl-mhJ2DheOXiPoy0BP-YR3qII4rjqbZccUm2kX8FwfbHD38zdU55xBnbVDPJnMkQ8BMuVAKZnJkXONq3C_vueMx87NAmTjr7J8wmw576m9V8/s1600-h/wireless-network-setup.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18-yBIOvL5360wWAdaHpLxr1w21OsyNRfl-mhJ2DheOXiPoy0BP-YR3qII4rjqbZccUm2kX8FwfbHD38zdU55xBnbVDPJnMkQ8BMuVAKZnJkXONq3C_vueMx87NAmTjr7J8wmw576m9V8/s320/wireless-network-setup.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420952434196656418" /></a><br />That One Computer Guy can set up your secure, home wireless network. A sample network is shown here:ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-26852655530424127092009-12-14T00:46:00.000-08:002009-12-14T00:55:43.830-08:00Cloud ComputingCloud computing is Internet-("cloud-") based development and use of computer technology ("computing").In concept, it is a paradigm shift whereby details are abstracted from the users who no longer need knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.It typically involves the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources as a service over the Internet.<br /><br />The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams and is an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it conceals.Typical cloud computing providers deliver common business applications online which are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.<br /><br />These applications are broadly divided into the following categories: Software as a Service (SaaS), Utility Computing, Web Services, Platform as a Service (PaaS), Managed Service Providers (MSP), Service Commerce, and Internet Integration. The name cloud computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that is often used to represent the Internet in flow charts and diagrams."<br /><br />Cloud computing users can avoid capital expenditure (CapEx) on hardware, software, and services when they pay a provider only for what they use. Consumption is usually billed on a utility (resources consumed, like electricity) or subscription (time-based, like a newspaper) basis with little or no upfront cost. Other benefits of this time sharing-style approach are low barriers to entry, shared infrastructure and costs, low management overhead, and immediate access to a broad range of applications. In general, users can terminate the contract at any time (thereby avoiding return on investment risk and uncertainty), and the services are often covered by service level agreements (SLAs) with financial penalties.<br /><br />According to Nicholas Carr, the strategic importance of information technology is diminishing as it becomes standardized and less expensive. He argues that the cloud computing paradigm shift is similar to the displacement of electricity generators by electricity grids early in the 20th century.<br /><br />Although companies might be able to save on upfront capital expenditures, they might not save much and might actually pay more for operating expenses. In situations where the capital expense would be relatively small, or where the organization has more flexibility in their capital budget than their operating budget, the cloud model might not make great fiscal sense. Other factors impacting the scale of any potential cost savings include the efficiency of a company’s data center as compared to the cloud vendor’s, the company's existing operating costs, the level of adoption of cloud computing, and the type of functionality being hosted in the cloud.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Types by visibility</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Public cloud</span><br /><br />Public cloud or external cloud describes cloud computing in the traditional mainstream sense, whereby resources are dynamically provisioned on a fine-grained, self-service basis over the Internet, via web applications/web services, from an off-site third-party provider who shares resources and bills on a fine-grained utility computing basis.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Hybrid cloud</span><br /><br />A hybrid cloud environment consisting of multiple internal and/or external providers "will be typical for most enterprises".A hybrid cloud can describe configuration combining a local device, such as a Plug computer with cloud services. It can also describe configurations combining virtual and physical, colocated assets—for example, a mostly virtualized environment that requires physical servers, routers, or other hardware such as a network appliance acting as a firewall or spam filter.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Private cloud</span><br /><br />Private cloud and internal cloud are neologisms that some vendors have recently used to describe offerings that emulate cloud computing on private networks. These (typically virtualisation automation) products claim to "deliver some benefits of cloud computing without the pitfalls", capitalising on data security, corporate governance, and reliability concerns. They have been criticized on the basis that users "still have to buy, build, and manage them" and as such do not benefit from lower up-front capital costs and less hands-on management, essentially "[lacking] the economic model that makes cloud computing such an intriguing concept".<br /><br />While an analyst predicted in 2008 that private cloud networks would be the future of corporate IT,there is some uncertainty whether they are a reality even within the same firm.Analysts also claim that within five years a "huge percentage" of small and medium enterprises will get most of their computing resources from external cloud computing providers as they "will not have economies of scale to make it worth staying in the IT business" or be able to afford private clouds.Analysts have reported on Platform's view that private clouds are a stepping stone to external clouds, particularly for the financial services, and that future datacenters will look like internal clouds.<br /><br />The term has also been used in the logical rather than physical sense, for example in reference to platform as a service offerings,though such offerings including Microsoft's Azure Services Platform are not available for on-premises deployment.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Types by services</span><br /><br />Services provided by cloud computing can be split into three major categories.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)</span><br /><br />Infrastructure-as-a-Service like Amazon Web Services provides virtual servers with unique IP addresses and blocks of storage on demand. Customers benefit from an API from which they can control their servers. Because customers can pay for exactly the amount of service they use, like for electricity or water, this service is also called utility computing.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)</span><br /><br />Platform-as-a-Service is a set of software and development tools hosted on the provider's servers. Developers can create applications using the provider's APIs. Google Apps is one of the most famous Platform-as-a-Service providers. Developers should take notice that there aren't any interoperability standards (yet), so some providers may not allow you to take your application and put it on another platform.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)</span><br /><br />Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the broadest market. In this case the provider allows the customer only to use its applications. The software interacts with the user through a user interface. These applications can be anything from web based email, to applications like Twitter or Last FM.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-41645537430957712182009-12-04T22:18:00.000-08:002009-12-04T22:20:12.734-08:00E-mail SecurityDid you know that when you send your email messages, they do not go directly to recipient mailboxes? Did you know that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) stores copies of all your email messages on its mail servers before it tries to deliver them? Do you know that someday all the information kept on the servers can be easily used against you? Email Security is a system-tray local SMTP server program for Windows that lets you send email messages directly from your PC to recipient mailboxes ensuring your email security and privacy by means of bypassing your ISP's mail servers where your relevant information can be stored and viewed. <br /><br />Did you also know that when you send an email message to a list of email addresses, the respondents can see each other in the email message header? You think it is secure? While sending, Email Security always breaks email messages addressed to a group of people to individual messages to ensure your security and security of your respondents. Also, Email Security does not leave any traces on your PC because it just gets your email messages from your email client and puts them in the recipient mailboxes at the same time without making any temporary files on your PC. Email Security supports all email programs like Outlook Express, Outlook, Eudora, etc. The email program you already use for sending and receiving messages can be connected to Email Security in a very easy way - just by using the word localhost instead of your current SMTP host. Having done so, you can send messages in a usual manner. Install Email Security on your PC before it is too late!ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-16199631735611072022009-11-26T22:34:00.000-08:002009-11-26T22:38:00.467-08:00The World's First Programmable Quantum ComputerWith only a few intense lasers, electrodes and some ultracold ions, researchers at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, have been able to build the first programmable quantum computer.<br /><br />What makes this experiment different is that this new system is able to perform more than 150 random processing routines. <br /><br />For Quantum computers to become more useful, these machines should be able to be progammed just like a normal computer can be programmed. This will of course mean that the system will be able to run many different programs. Up until now, earlier versions of quantum computers have been very restricted with regards to the amount of specific tasks they could perform.<br /><br />The new study is "a powerful demonstration of the technological advances towards producing a real-world quantum computer," says quantum physicist Winfried Hensinger of the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. The researchers, led by David Hanneke of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo. built the computer based on two cooled beryllium ions with a temperature of just above zero.<br /><br />The ions formed the quantum bits, or qubits, analogous to the bits in normal computers represented by 0s and 1s, and were trapped by a magnetic field on a gold-plated aluminum chip. To perform the processing operations, short laser bursts were used to manipulate the beryllium ions. Magnesium ions kept the beryllium ions stationary, and from getting hot. It is believed that this system may be applied to larger-scale systems.<br /><br />The system built was mostly experimental, but what is important is the fact that the principal may be applied on a larger scale, and therefor become practical.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-71703347549371973432009-11-22T22:19:00.000-08:002009-11-22T22:21:42.729-08:00HP SkyRoom Brings 21st Century Innovation To VideoConferencingSeptember 22, 2009 saw the introduction of HP SkyRoom - high definition videoconferencing software that offers affordable, live real time face-to-face meeting with no subscription fees.<br /><br />The technology was developed in HP Labs, and some elements were used by Nasa's rovers on Mars to transfer high-resolution images back to our planet. <br /><br />The software is reported to be the only videoconferencing tool that offers real-time communication for up to 4 people on a standard business network. The software is priced at $149.<br /><br />Until now, videoconferencing has been somewhat limited and expensive, and also limited users in the areas of video sharing, rich media content and design manipulation.<br /><br />HP SkyRoom will be included on select HP business desktop and mobile workstations, and also on a free trial basis for many HP premium business notebooks and PCs. The software can be used on Dell, Sun or Lenovo PCs that meet the minimum technology requirements.<br /><br />This technology will have a significant impact on the way companies do business, in that travel costs and even environmental impact will be reduced significantly. 'Finally, video meetings with genuine eye contact and natural human interaction are as easy as starting an instant messaging connection,' said Jim Zafarana, vice president and general manager, Workstations, HP. 'It takes business productivity and collaboration to a completely new level when we can connect people around the world in a day via HP SkyRoom and let them get home to family dinner and bedtime stories – without the wear and tear of travel.'<br /><br />HP SkyRoom enables users to share any kind of application used on their PC or workstation. Some of these include documents, interacive 3-D applications and also office documents. The software is easy to operate, and quick to launch, simply clicking 'contact to connect', which initiates a real-time, live SkyRoom session, and with only one more click, users can instanly share rich media content.<br /><br />The success of HP SkyRoom lies in three years of design and research to compress image and video algorithms. The software gives remote users a glimpse of the presenter's display, and also of each other. It only updates changes in the screen display, not the entire display, which is then encrypted and compressed before being sent to the other participants. This method reduces limiting factors such as bandwith and network traffic, which in itself allows for faster transfer speed of the data.<br /><br />Minimum requirements to run HP SkyRoom includes Intel® Core 2™ Duo 2.33-GHz or equivalent processor with 2 GB RAM, as well as a webcam and Microsoft Windows® XP or Vista®. Networking requirements consist of a broadband connection with at least 400kb/second, and needs to run over a corporate VPN to connect to systems outside the local firewall.<br /><br />HP Z800, Z600, Z400 and xw4600 workstations will feature the software preinstalled at no cost.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-80321901408378380162009-11-22T21:29:00.000-08:002009-11-22T21:30:26.117-08:00Embedded systemsEmbedded computer systems must be fast and efficient. A European consortium has created a new modelling framework that lets designers strike the best balance between static, reconfigurable and analogue hardware and the software that runs on it.<br /><br />A typical desktop PC contains an all-purpose processor and many different software programs that allow it to do a huge range of tasks. It gets things done, not always as efficiently as possible, but well enough for most purposes.<br /><br />Embedded systems are different. These specialised computers can be found everywhere from aircraft to cars to washing machines. They are built to do one job extremely well, and usually that means that a lot of processing work which might be done in software on a normal computer is done by a purpose-made – and efficient – hardware chip.<br /><br />The trick is to get the right balance between software and hardware. “Software is flexible, but it requires fast and expensive processors and can be too slow for very computation-intensive tasks,” says Frank Oppenheimer, of the OFFIS research centre in Oldenburg. “Hardware in embedded systems is efficient but usually static – that is, a piece of hardware can be used in exactly one specific way.”<br /><br />In recent years industrial designers have become interested in dynamically reconfigurable hardware. It comes in programmable modules which can rewire themselves to do different tasks, so combining the processing muscle of hardware with the flexibility of software.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-88652818062249716312009-11-22T21:14:00.000-08:002009-11-22T21:21:08.821-08:00Assistive technologies used for web browsingIndividuals living with a disability use assistive technologies such as the following to enable and assist web browsing:<br /><br />* Screen reader software, which can read out, using synthesized speech, either selected elements of what is being displayed on the monitor (helpful for users with reading or learning difficulties), or which can read out everything that is happening on the computer (used by blind and vision impaired users).<br /><br />* Braille terminals, consisting of a Refreshable Braille display which renders text as Braille characters (usually by means of raising pegs through holes in a flat surface) and either a QWERTY or Braille keyboard.<br /><br />* Screen magnification software, which enlarges what is displayed on the computer monitor, making it easier to read for vision impaired users.<br /><br />* Speech recognition software that can accept spoken commands to the computer, or turn dictation into grammatically correct text - useful for those who have difficulty using a mouse or a keyboard.<br /><br />* Keyboard overlays, which can make typing easier and more accurate for those who have motor control difficulties.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-65496779402486174012009-11-16T00:46:00.000-08:002009-11-16T00:51:32.848-08:00Wireless Technologies<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><i>Terrestrial Microwave</i></span><br /></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Terrestrial microwaves use Earth-based transmitter and receiver. The equipment look similar to satellite dishes. Terrestrial microwaves use low-gigahertz range, which limits all communications to line-of-sight. Path between relay stations spaced approx. 30 miles apart. Microwave antennas are usually placed on top of buildings, towers, hills, and mountain peaks.</span></p> <p><i style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Communications Satellites</i><br /></p><p>The satellites use microwave radio as their telecommunications medium which are not deflected by the Earth's atmosphere. The satellites are stationed in space, typically 22,000 miles above the equator. These Earth-orbiting systems are capable of receiving and relaying voice, data, and TV signals.</p> <p><i style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Cellular and PCS Systems</i><br /></p><p>Use several radio communications technologies. The systems are divided to different geographic area. Each area has low-power transmitter or radio relay antenna device to relay calls from one area to the next area.</p> <p><i style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Wireless LANs</i><br /></p><p>Wireless local area network use a high-frequency radio technology similar to digital cellular and a low-frequency radio technology. Wireless LANS use spread spectrum technology to enable communication between multiple devices in a limited area. Example of open-standard wireless radio-wave technology is IEEE 802.11b.</p> <p><i style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Bluetooth</i><br /></p><p>A short range wireless technology. Operate at approx. 1Mbps with range from 10 to 100 meters. Bluetooth is an open wireless protocol for data exchange over short distances.</p> <p><i style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">The Wireless Web</i><br /></p><p>The wireless web refers to the use of the World Wide Web through equipments like cellular phones, pagers,PDAs, and other portable communications devices. The wireless web service offers anytime/anywhere connection.</p>ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-48121871215631234912009-11-09T00:44:00.000-08:002009-11-09T00:47:02.512-08:00ICT-The impact on Society<p>The far-reaching changes taking place as a result of ICT developments touch many aspects of our lives.ICT now provides us with the means to process, store, retrieve and communicate a vast amount of information in digital form. This digital information is communicated irrespective of whether it encodes text, data, sound or video. This has hugely enhanced the variety and quantity of information that individuals and organizations can communicate on a virtually instantaneous basis.</p> <p>The following illustrates just some of the changes that the digital revolution is bringing to our lives:</p> <ul><li>An ever-growing number of businesses and families at home are profiting from high-speed computer links (via modems using standard phone lines, TV cables or ADSL, via digital interfaces to ISDN or Ethernet networks, or via mobile GSM or GPRS technologies). This will enable much easier and richer access to new services such as distance learning. With physical distance from the teacher no longer a constraint, individuals and educational institutes alike can 'attend' lectures taking place far away and access information stored elsewhere, thereby broadening the scope and possibilities of education. Distance learning complements the increasing focus on life-long learning for all, as it makes it easier for people to follow education and training courses without having to move or leave their current employment.</li><li>The convergence of satellite, cellular telephony and computer technologies means that we can communicate with people all around the world -while we ourselves are on the move. This is already possible using GSM (within Europe) or dual-mode (for transatlantic journeys) cellular phones, notebook computers for connecting with colleagues based in offices all around the world, or satellite phones for more extreme applications.</li><li>It is increasingly easy for us to live and work where we choose, rather than being forced to commute to particular locations, such as city centres. Those of us who are unable to leave the house, or who live in a geographically isolated region, can now be fully integrated into the labour market. This helps fight de-population of rural areas.</li><li>Teleworking is helping to improve Europeans' quality of life. With more people able to work from home - or from almost any other location that they choose - traffic congestion in overcrowded city centres may be reduced. The range of employment options available to us will also rise, along with the range of choices within each job.</li><li>Most Europeans can access important services without having to travel to a particular location. For example, we can now pay bills, check a bank balance or communicate with our bank manager without having to travel to a bank outlet. This increases the convenience of such services. But ICT is also increasing the quality of important services. Telemedicine, for instance, gives doctors greater resources that include health applications networks linking patients and their local doctor with specialists all over the world, who will have been able to study laboratory results, X-rays and other medical information sent to them electronically. Patients therefore benefit from the advice of the top medical experts, wherever they are located.</li><li>People with special needs, such as people with physical disabilities and the elderly, can now access a multitude of information and entertainment services from around the world. This can help alleviate problems caused by a reduction in mobility. As electronic commerce becomes more common, distributors can now more easily sell products across the world and - if need be - around the clock, in a truly global market that is not constrained by geography or time-zones. Electronic commerce provides smaller companies with a very practical and cheap medium through which to advertise and sell their products, and gives enterprises around the world a larger market to aim at. The consumer is also benefiting. From work or the home, we can 'shop' for a range of goods and services from around the world, giving us greatly expanded choices and lower prices.</li></ul>ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-72178522137387593472009-10-13T03:44:00.000-07:002009-10-13T03:48:07.793-07:00Get a unique insight into the way hackers use the latest exploits<p>All systems engineers and IT managers that have any responsibilty in their companys security systems should keep themselves updated with the latest exploits and techniques used by hackers.</p> <p>We are listing below the sites that I use and keep an eye on to ensure the systems that are important to my network and customers are not affected.</p> <p><strong>astalavista.net</strong><br />Currently down, but coming back soon - Was always great for discussions and info on the latest exploits.</p> <p><strong>milw0rm.com</strong><br />A searchable library of exploits in just about anything searchable by OS - check it out to ensure your business systems aren’t affected.</p> <p><strong>digitalmunition.com<br /></strong>Another site that lists security advisories - see how insecure Apple OSX is here…..</p> <p><strong>xssed.com<br /></strong>A cross site scripting resource database with lists of vulnerable websites, also has information on defending against XSS attacks.</p> <p><strong>secumania.org<br /></strong>Basically a security news site that also has lists of the latest exploits and vulnerabilities.</p> <p>It’s always a good idea to try to get into the heads of the people who are trying to attack corporate networks. Keeping an eye on these sites gives you an insight into the minds and motivations of these people.</p>ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-43054778430431412022009-10-07T04:15:00.000-07:002009-10-07T04:33:00.919-07:00Service-Driven Networks for Next Generation Technology<h3 class="post-title"> <a href="http://rakadima.blogspot.com/2009/02/service-driven-networks-for-next.html"><br /></a> </h3> <p><a style="" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkgiexDlkY3kZDIYhFA8wQBWByJc36NRNlaIOVAgtbFnPcR5yYgrQSiiwCh1Prs69L8QZn1rApIvrOcirZviWNFKak5YQw23ZvjjiNezHZAY9CKAB1npuA-bqEq0-oJ8ntTYSn5xYZQRF/s1600-h/atat.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkgiexDlkY3kZDIYhFA8wQBWByJc36NRNlaIOVAgtbFnPcR5yYgrQSiiwCh1Prs69L8QZn1rApIvrOcirZviWNFKak5YQw23ZvjjiNezHZAY9CKAB1npuA-bqEq0-oJ8ntTYSn5xYZQRF/s320/atat.gif" alt="AT&T Synaptic Hosting Conceptual Network " id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305060274042700674" border="0" /></a>AT&T's Synaptic Hosting is the operator's next-generation utility-computing service with managed networking, security, and storage for business. The new service combines technology acquired from applications service provider USinternetworking with five "super IDCs," or internet data centers (IDCs), across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Customers receive managed servers, LAN, security, storage, designated account support, and enterprise-class service level agreements.<br /><br />One the of first announced customers for the AT&T Synaptic Hosting Service is the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), which has powered the teamusa.org Website with AT&T Synaptic Hosting. Given the buildup of Website activity leading up to and during the Beijing Olympic games and the subsequent fall-off in activity in the months following the games' conclusion, the flexibility enabled by the utility computing model was ideal for the USOC.<br /><br />Network operators around the world face tremendous challenges and opportunities as they transform themselves from traditional telcos of the 20th century to the next-generation communications providers of the 21st century. As network services and network traffic migrate from TDM, voice-to-packets, and IP, network operators have no choice but to transform themselves or decline and, ultimately, fail in this new and highly competitive environment. As network operators, the network must play a primary role in this telecom industry transition. Clearly, this explains the unveiling of various network operator NGN initiatives around the world over the past couple of years. At the network level, key requirements for operators to realize this<br /><br />vision of the future include:<br />• End-to-end connection and resource management<br />• Ubiquitous connectivity between networks<br />• IP-aware transport<br />• Increased service awareness in access and metro<br />• Service-aware data, control, and management planes<br />• High availability<br />• Network flexibility<br />• On-demand connection abilities<br /><br />Despite much talk about NGNs, the industry is still in the early stages of this transformation. We will see a great deal of change over the next decade and beyond. The winning network operators will be those able to successfully embrace today's data/IP growth applications, adapt quickly to deliver the as-yet unknown applications that will drive revenue growth in the future, and build the bridge between legacy TDM and packets, as long as TDM continues to exist in the network.</p>ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-58982681780801087992009-10-04T21:48:00.001-07:002009-10-04T21:48:54.845-07:00WPA Security Encryption can be PenetratedEncryption WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) should be tough right? However, Japanese scientists had only takes 60 seconds to penetrate the WPA encryption used in wireless router. Note this time brought down the previous record for 15 minutes. Toshihiro Ohigashi from Hiroshima University and Masakatu Morii of Kobe University will reveal how they do over at a conference in Hiroshima 25 September next. This inroad is not given full control of Wi-Fi connection, but allows the reading and spoofing packets.<br /><br />But the ease of penetrate WPA encryption TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) to make that anyone who cares about security should start thinking to move to WPA2 with AES encryption (Advanced Encryption Standard) which is more secure. The attack was carried out on a PC and Wi-Fi Access Point that were located far enough away so that the two devices see each other indirectly. Computer attacks carried out between them by acting as a relay using the correct checksum to trick the network. The good news, until now WPA2 with AES encryption newer remain safe from attacks by hackers.ICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5057833381732138908.post-65865060758956063602009-10-04T21:47:00.001-07:002009-10-04T21:47:57.277-07:00Welcome to the blog of ICT ConsortiumHere the place to discuss about new technologies, standards, technical issues of ICTICT Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15365399463595335851noreply@blogger.com