World IPv6 Launch Day Is Here: Time for an IPv6 Deployment Strategy [Portfolio]

Last year, it was a dress rehearsal. Now it’s showtime for enterprises on World IPv6 Launch day. On June 6, 2011, many companies turned IPv6 on for 24 hours to monitor its impact on the Internet. Today, many World IPv6 Day participants (including Google, Akamai Technologies and AT&T) plan to turn IPv6 support on and leave it on. [Full Story on Network Computing]

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.

Segments of Cisco Catalyst 6500 Line Nearing End of Life: What Now? [Portfolio]

It’s time: Cisco Systems has issued end-of-life announcements for segments of its Catalyst 6503, 6506 and 6509 platforms. Customers will have until November to receive hardware support; that same month, the vendor will stop selling its Catalyst 6513. Hardware support for the 6513 will cease in August 2017. [Full Story on Network Computing]

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.

Software-Defined Networking Market to Soar to $2B….But Not Yet [Portfolio]

Over at Network Computing, I write about the potential market for software-defined networking:

Software-defined networking (SDN) is poised for rapid growth and has the potential to solve specific business problems for enterprise networks–but it’s still early days for the technology, analysts caution.

IDC predicts software-defined networking will grow from a $200 million market in 2013 to $2 billion by 2016. The primary driver for the growth is highly virtualized network environments, and customers who need programmable networks, says Lee Doyle, group vice president, networking and security at IDC. “Customers have always wanted to tune the network, but network management tools have been poor or non-existent.” [Read the full article…]

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.

Resource Management Tools Dominate at Best of Interop Awards [Portfolio]

This year’s winners of InformationWeek Reports’ Best of Interop Awards highlight the need for resource management tools, particularly for virtualized environments.

NEC Corporation of America’s ProgrammableFlow Controller, the PF6800, was awarded Best of Interop Overall. V3 Systems garnered Best Startup for its V3 Optimized Desktop Allocation product, which improves availability of virtualized desktop infrastructures (see “Innovative Tools Help NEC, V3 Take Top Honors at Best of Interop”). NEC’s PF6800 also won the Management, Monitoring and Testing category. [Full story]

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.

Innovative Tools Help NEC, V3 Take Top Honors at Best of Interop [Portfolio]

Innovation ruled the day when it came time to crown the Best of Interop Overall and Best Startup for InformationWeek Reports’ Best of Interop Awards.

The Best of Interop Overall award went to NEC Corporation of America’s NEC ProgrammableFlow Controller, PF6800, which also claimed the Management, Monitoring and Testing honors. According to head judge Steven Hill, the PF6800 is particularly relevant in light of the growing interest in software-defined networks (SDNs). [Full story]

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.

Kemp Balances Great Functionality, Affordability [Portfolio]

Kemp Technologies is unveiling the successor to its flagship LoadMaster 5500, the newest addition to its family of load balancers and application delivery controllers. The LoadMaster 5300 appliance delivers faster processing, throughput and double the concurrent connections while continuing the Yaphank, N.Y.-based company’s focus on combining performance and price for small and medium-sized enterprises. Read more…

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.

Confusion Reigns On Cloud Storage, Backup [Portfolio]

Enterprises once relied on a variety of physical storage devices, both on-site and off, to manage backups–everything from tapes, disks and DVDs to USB drives. Now the cloud is replacing these storage options, providing additional functionality that enables users to not only back up data but also share and collaborate. However, while there are of plenty of cloud storage options available to businesses, there is a lot to consider before selecting a provider. Read more at Network Computing.

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.