New Technology Reviews!.: Infrastructure

Huawei may win U.S. Cellular contract, also considered for building nation wide public safety network

<div><img alt="huawei Huawei may win U.S. Cellular contract, also considered for building nation wide public safety network" height="268" src="http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/4885/huawei.jpg" title="Huawei may win U.S. Cellular contract, also considered for building nation wide public safety network" width="396" /></div> Chinese infrastructure firm Huawei has been getting a lot of heat from lawmakers in the US because of some paranoid delusions that there’s a plot by the Chinese military to spy on the communications of the American people. Back in 2008 Huawei lost a huge contract to Sprint for those reasons. It’s 2011 now and Huawei isn’t giving up. They’re a finalist for a contract to build a new 4G LTE network for U.S. Cellular, the 6th largest operator in America that boasts over 6 million customers. That’s made Republican Senators Jon Kyl, Saxby Chambliss, Richard Burr, James Inhofe and Tom Coburn, and Republican Representative Darrell Issa a bit jumpy, so they decided to send Barack Obama a letter asking for a “permanent legislative solution” to ban Huawei from ever selling their gear on American shores. What’s Huawei to do? They’ve offered, on numerous occasions, governments to send officials to their factories to exam their equipment and even comb through their source code. They say that the “falsehoods” they’ve been accused of “have had significant and negative impact on our business activity.” We believe them. In other, more positive news, Huawei is actively working with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology to test a 4G LTE network for use in public-safety networks. It’s the first such network that will be deployed on a nation wide scale, so all emergency services (think police, ambulance, fire department) can have access to a high speed network, free of congestion caused by teenagers streaming HD YouTube videos to their phones. For a country that’s hell bent on promoting democracy and capitalistic values all over the world, we’re a little disappointed that this 21st century version of McCarthyism even exists. Sure, Grandpa is allowed to spit nasty comments about people from other countries because he’s damn near lost his mind, but people in power … what’s their beef?

Huawei may win U.S. Cellular contract, also considered for building nation wide public safety network

Chinese infrastructure firm Huawei has been getting a lot of heat from lawmakers in the US because of some paranoid delusions that there’s a...

Sprint may buy $200 million Clearwire debt

<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="clear sprint Sprint may buy $200 million Clearwire debt" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-185647" height="104" src="http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8655/clearsprint0435093.png" title="Sprint may buy $200 million Clearwire debt" width="250" /></div>Hot off the news that Clearwire is losing a chairman, we’re hearing that Sprint may pour in another $200 million to assume the WiMax company’s debt. 
According to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/12/31/sprint-nextel-may-purchase-more-clearwire-debt-clearwire-chairman-departs-marketnewsvideo.html">Forbes</a>, the move will allow Sprint to maintain its 50% stake in the company. If you don’t know, Clearwire provides the WiMax infrastructure that powers the Sprint 4G network for devices like the EVO and the Epic. 
I guess this is a much-needed infusion of cash for Clearwire but the future isn’t looking that bright. The company had to lay off 15% of its staff recently and it has even considered selling spectrum to raise some more cash. 
Clearwire is still pretty adamant about sticking with WiMax but it is staying flexible in order to switch to Long-Term Evolution if it needs to. The company has previously said that the similarities in the technology would enable it to switch to LTE with a software upgrade of sorts and it has piloted some LTE programs which hit 90 Mbps download speeds. 
Sprint has also insisted that WiMax is its 4G strategy, period. It will likely unveil the HTC Shift handset next week at CES to further boost its next-generation mobile data portfolio. 
As for the competitors, Verizon and AT&T will rely on LTE for its next-generation mobile data network. Verizon just launched its service in December and AT&T is expected to roll out its network in the middle of 2011. 
T-Mobile is relying on its HSPA+ network for its 4G strategy and this already delivers about 21 Mbps download speeds to users in over 100 markets. The nation’s fourth-largest U.S. carrier is expected to announce its plans for HSPA+42 at CES and this could potentially double the download speeds of its mobile data network. 
While the technologies may differ, it’s clear that 2011 will be the year of 4G and that’s a great thing for consumers. 
[Via <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/12/31/sprint-nextel-may-purchase-more-clearwire-debt-clearwire-chairman-departs-marketnewsvideo.html">Forbes</a>]

Sprint may buy $200 million Clearwire debt

Hot off the news that Clearwire is losing a chairman, we’re hearing that Sprint may pour in another $200 million to assume the WiMax company...

Planning For the Future of Your IT Infrastructure - Notes From Interop Conference

Managing Data Centers A typical data center or room full of servers should be built correctly and build to last for at least 7 to 10 years in order to be truly effective. These servers should have the capability of accommodating a minimum of ten GB (gigabits) of data. Still, with the growing demand on bandwidth, planning technology should prepare for a need of 100 GB to run efficiently. Another common concern is the need for cooling and power in the server room. For example, the IT staff at Google spends more on electricity for cooling their rooms every year than the cost of the servers within the data centers. Think about it. Virtualization is another popular discussion topic. This term refers to hiding the characteristics of computing resources through encapsulation. This includes the process of making an individual physical resources appear to work like multiple logical resources. It can also include making many physical resources like storage devices or severs appear as a single resource. It's important to understand how virualization can help: although it can reduce the physical amount of servers, it doesn't mean that admin time to support them is also reduced. The costs of administration can truly hinder the entire process and the overall attempt to find a cost-saving strategy. Services & Infrastructure As with Data Center management, Infrastructure and Services' virtualization has benefits which deserve a look. However, the experts will highlight the reality that it can also generate far more work, especially in large environments. The solutions from appliances are returning as they create reliable, simple services which require little overhead, making them suited for an environment in which administrative support fetches a premium. A key point on this topic is that Asset Management Network Administrators must be aware while maintaining good records of each piece of equipment - not just the servers and workstations. It's important to control this information for security and administrative purposes as well as lifecycle management and optimization. Security Many companies showed an interest in data security and compliance issues. The recommended advice seems to be 'Defense in Depth.' Perimeter defense systems which use Web Gateways and Unified Threat Management are available from a variety of companies and were discussed by several speakers. These systems monitored and blocked Web usage while defending against complex attacks using methods of prevention and detection. Network Access Control, or NAC, was a big hit at the conference. NAC disallows unauthorized access, either through wireless access points or the Ethernet. No security plan is complete without encryption. If a system is ever hacked and the info isn't encrypted, the industry will show no tolerance for having practiced this unsafe strategy. Collaboration and VoIP While most everyone will agree that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Collaboration technology are significant advantages to end users, the vendors and speakers both agree that there's no real 'one solution.' The client's needs need to match the features of the solution, no matter if it's an IP PBX system, hosted solution, or a combination of the two. Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWF) was also demonstrated. Even though many office locations are wi-fi connected, there are some complexities and solution to make VoIP work on the these networks as well. Mobility and Wireless Many speakers and vendors discussed the access methods to gain corporate data from a mobile phone. Security methods including encryption, SSL, and others ensure that the data which flows between the wireless system and the headquarters is secure while in transit. In fact, nearly all companies are headed toward a more mobile workforce. This is not just the executive staff any longer, as there are more people telecommuters, field personnel and sales representatives who need to access information while away from the headquarters building in order to do their jobs well. The final point on Mobility and Wireless revolved around wireless access point placement architecture, particularly for campus locations. With the need for bandwidth and technological advances, there will be radical changes in the ways these networks are set up.

Planning For the Future of Your IT Infrastructure - Notes From Interop Conference

Managing Data Centers A typical data center or room full of servers should be built correctly and build to last for at least 7 to 10 years i...