Mitch Wagner of Light Reading's "Carrier SDN/SDN Archictectures" news analysis blog reports that Cisco's quarterly earnings have once again suffered from weakness in its Carrier segment.
"Weak carrier business continues to drag down Cisco's revenue, but that sector is improving, and future growth will be driven by the cloud, the Internet of Everything, and other new technologies and markets," the company revealed in its fiscal third-quarter earnings call on May 28, as reported by Wagner.
The service provider market is an area where the company is having problems "both macro and Cisco specific," Cisco's CEO John Chambers said during the call. "Service provider orders were down 5%, showing improvement from the 12% decline in Q2 and 13% decline in Q1. Weakness in emerging markets also hurt the service provider market. Also, service provider video revenue declined 26%, and orders declined 11%."
"We are seeing some signs of stabilization in the SP business but believe it will take multiple quarters to return to growth," Chambers added.
Full blog: Cisco Earnings Suffer From Carrier Weakness (lightreading.com)
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Monday, May 12, 2014
Could AT&T's new fiber-optic phone network stymie first responders?
As aptly characterized by Gizmodo, "AT&T's plan to roll out next-gen fiber-optic cables nationwide as a replacement for its traditional copper-based telephone networks is great in most respects -- save for the fact that it won't support the government's special telephone service for national emergencies."
AT&T's new fiber network reportedly won't support a priority line, called Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS), which is used during disasters or terrorist attacks when phone lines are usually clogged. "Essentially, the new AT&T network would force government to use the same -- potentially inundated -- phone networks as everyone else to communicate, potentially delaying first responders," adds Gizmodo.
Related story:
As originally reported by Brian Fung at the Washington Post's "The Switch" blog, "The Department of Homeland Security says an AT&T plan to test new network technology would degrade a special telephone service reserved for national emergencies and presidential communications. If implemented, the plan would hamper the ability of first responders and public officials to respond to a crisis of the magnitude of Hurricane Sandy or even 9/11, according to DHS."
GETS has proven its value in the past; the system served 10,000 phone calls during 9/11 and, in conjunction its wireless counterpart WPS, 45,000 calls during Hurricane Katrina.
The tech blog Engadget sums up, "AT&T's at least willing to work with the DHS to configure its fiber-optic network to recognize priority calls. That could take some time, though, and there's no word on whether Ma Bell's putting its plans to test the new technology on hold until then."
AT&T's new fiber network reportedly won't support a priority line, called Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS), which is used during disasters or terrorist attacks when phone lines are usually clogged. "Essentially, the new AT&T network would force government to use the same -- potentially inundated -- phone networks as everyone else to communicate, potentially delaying first responders," adds Gizmodo.
Related story:
As originally reported by Brian Fung at the Washington Post's "The Switch" blog, "The Department of Homeland Security says an AT&T plan to test new network technology would degrade a special telephone service reserved for national emergencies and presidential communications. If implemented, the plan would hamper the ability of first responders and public officials to respond to a crisis of the magnitude of Hurricane Sandy or even 9/11, according to DHS."
GETS has proven its value in the past; the system served 10,000 phone calls during 9/11 and, in conjunction its wireless counterpart WPS, 45,000 calls during Hurricane Katrina.
The tech blog Engadget sums up, "AT&T's at least willing to work with the DHS to configure its fiber-optic network to recognize priority calls. That could take some time, though, and there's no word on whether Ma Bell's putting its plans to test the new technology on hold until then."
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Philippines' city councilor: No more 'messy' cabling
In the Philippines' Davao City, councilor Leonardo Avila III is reportedly drafting an ordinance that will address the municipality's "messy" electric and communication cables. Speaking in a recent public forum, Avila said that salient features of a new ordinance will be a provision for underground cabling and requiring buildings to have a service entrance for communication cables.
Avila, who also chairs the city's Committee on Transportation and Communication, noted that current building permit requirements in Davao specify only a service entrance for electric cables. "The service entrance for communication cables will be a new requirement for acquiring a building permit," he added.
The newly mandated service entrance will serve as a point of entry for communication cables, which will be connected to service equipment. Users can then connect to the equipment by connecting to an outlet that is connected to the service equipment. "This will benefit the establishment because they do not have to install a lot of cables but instead they can just connect to the outlet," said Avila.
Related: More Tales of Cabling Spaghetti
The service entrance for communication cables will be required for new buildings; older buildings will be given a grace period of two to three years to adopt the new service entrance.
The new draft ordinance also initially includes provisions for underground cabling, including right-of-way and its importance for future city planning. "The underground cabling [provision] will be mainly for electric distribution and communication companies," Avila stated. He also explained that use of underground cabling will lessen the number of utility poles located throughout the city. When passed into law, the new measure will allow one pole per a specified area.
Avila said his committee is currently preparing a report for the new city ordinance, after having studied similar ordinances, such as those in the Philippines' Tagum City and Cagayan de Oro City. "We expect that the ordinance will be passed this year," he concluded.
Source: SunStar (Phillippines)
Avila, who also chairs the city's Committee on Transportation and Communication, noted that current building permit requirements in Davao specify only a service entrance for electric cables. "The service entrance for communication cables will be a new requirement for acquiring a building permit," he added.
The newly mandated service entrance will serve as a point of entry for communication cables, which will be connected to service equipment. Users can then connect to the equipment by connecting to an outlet that is connected to the service equipment. "This will benefit the establishment because they do not have to install a lot of cables but instead they can just connect to the outlet," said Avila.
Related: More Tales of Cabling Spaghetti
The service entrance for communication cables will be required for new buildings; older buildings will be given a grace period of two to three years to adopt the new service entrance.
The new draft ordinance also initially includes provisions for underground cabling, including right-of-way and its importance for future city planning. "The underground cabling [provision] will be mainly for electric distribution and communication companies," Avila stated. He also explained that use of underground cabling will lessen the number of utility poles located throughout the city. When passed into law, the new measure will allow one pole per a specified area.
Avila said his committee is currently preparing a report for the new city ordinance, after having studied similar ordinances, such as those in the Philippines' Tagum City and Cagayan de Oro City. "We expect that the ordinance will be passed this year," he concluded.
Source: SunStar (Phillippines)
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Greenpeace grades greenest mega-data centers
A new report by the environmental watchdog group Greenpeace grades the efforts of the world's Internet technology giants toward greening their data centers. The report presents a "clean energy index" -- based on data from the companies or otherwise publicly available information -- that determines how much clean energy, on average, a company uses to power its data centers.
The report states that Apple, Google and Facebook have all made significant strides in applying renewable energy sources within their data centers to drive their Internet services. Amazon and Twitter's data centers? Not so much. Among the tech giants, Oracle is also singled out for its lack of enthusiasm for clean energy usage within its data centers.
Oregon receives special attention in the report because of the state's concentration of mega-data centers, drawn by the region's relatively low power prices.
See also:
And as noted by The Oregonian's Mike Rogoway, "Amazon.com, which operates a big server farm in [the state's] Morrow County, gets an F grade from Greenpeace for concealing its sources of its electricity and for lobbying, successfully, to relax Oregon’s clean energy laws during the last legislative session. Amazon disputed Greenpeace's analysis, and said it runs environmentally friendly, energy-efficient data centers."
Meanwhile, at the other end of the grading spectrum, Apple was lauded as the most improved company in terms of green energy usage, since Greenpeace's last report in 2012.
Read the new report from Greenpeace: Clicking Clean: How Companies are Creating the Green Internet - April 2014
The report states that Apple, Google and Facebook have all made significant strides in applying renewable energy sources within their data centers to drive their Internet services. Amazon and Twitter's data centers? Not so much. Among the tech giants, Oracle is also singled out for its lack of enthusiasm for clean energy usage within its data centers.
Oregon receives special attention in the report because of the state's concentration of mega-data centers, drawn by the region's relatively low power prices.
See also:
And as noted by The Oregonian's Mike Rogoway, "Amazon.com, which operates a big server farm in [the state's] Morrow County, gets an F grade from Greenpeace for concealing its sources of its electricity and for lobbying, successfully, to relax Oregon’s clean energy laws during the last legislative session. Amazon disputed Greenpeace's analysis, and said it runs environmentally friendly, energy-efficient data centers."
Meanwhile, at the other end of the grading spectrum, Apple was lauded as the most improved company in terms of green energy usage, since Greenpeace's last report in 2012.
Read the new report from Greenpeace: Clicking Clean: How Companies are Creating the Green Internet - April 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Facebook opens up data center PUE, WUE metrics
As reported by Datacenter Dynamics' Yevgenly Sverdlik, "Facebook has open sourced the code for online Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) dashboards it has built for its own data centers, hoping that others will use the code to create their own."
“In the spirit of transparency, we encourage others to share these data as well,” Lyrica McTiernan, sustainability program manager at Facebook, wrote in a blog post. “To make this easier, we’re open sourcing the code for these dashboards so anyone can use it."
“In the spirit of transparency, we encourage others to share these data as well,” Lyrica McTiernan, sustainability program manager at Facebook, wrote in a blog post. “To make this easier, we’re open sourcing the code for these dashboards so anyone can use it."
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Cisco hits hard times
As noted by IDG News Service/Network World, Cisco Systems reported another soft quarter on February 12, saying that its profits have fallen by more than half, and that its revenue has declined by nearly 8 percent.
"For its second fiscal quarter, which ended Jan. 25, Cisco reported revenue of $11.2 billion and net income of $1.4 billion, or $0.27 per share. That profit figure was down 54 percent from $3.1 billion, or $0.59 per share, a year earlier," writes IDG's Stephen Lawson.
Macroeconomic factors were the most prominent cause of the networking vendor's weak first-quarter results and forecast. "Sales were dramatically lower in most of the company's important developing markets, executives told financial analysts. But transitions in some product lines also hit sales," added the IDG report.
Silver lining: For its data centers and security businesses, Cisco said it amassed more revenue and orders than for the year prior. Cisco CEO John Chambers said the company's UCS (Unified Computing System) data center architecture continues to gain market share.
More news: Cisco, Microsoft team on cloud data center
Cisco certifies Proact for European data center supply
Cisco buffs up Catalyst Ethernet switches
Cisco lays off 2% of workforce
"For its second fiscal quarter, which ended Jan. 25, Cisco reported revenue of $11.2 billion and net income of $1.4 billion, or $0.27 per share. That profit figure was down 54 percent from $3.1 billion, or $0.59 per share, a year earlier," writes IDG's Stephen Lawson.
Macroeconomic factors were the most prominent cause of the networking vendor's weak first-quarter results and forecast. "Sales were dramatically lower in most of the company's important developing markets, executives told financial analysts. But transitions in some product lines also hit sales," added the IDG report.
Silver lining: For its data centers and security businesses, Cisco said it amassed more revenue and orders than for the year prior. Cisco CEO John Chambers said the company's UCS (Unified Computing System) data center architecture continues to gain market share.
More news: Cisco, Microsoft team on cloud data center
Cisco certifies Proact for European data center supply
Cisco buffs up Catalyst Ethernet switches
Cisco lays off 2% of workforce
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Rubber meets road for Internet of Things in 2014?
In an investigative article, TechHive's Caitlin McGarry notes how "over the last few years, companies have used the International CES [Consumer Electronics Show] to show off all types of Internet-connected hardware -- the usual suspects like phones, tablets, and PCs, but also TVs, thermostats and smoke alarms, not to mention cars, refrigerators, lightbulbs, and yes, even Bluetooth-enabled toothbrushes. It exists, therefore it is connected to the Web."
McGarry's reporting then seeks to answer the question, 'But after every device we own has been hooked up to the Internet, what then?', by examing how, this year, companies took to to the CES show floor especially geared up to show how "...smart gadgets "can [now] flawlessly talk to each other to fully automate our lives." Top topics of consideration include "the universal remote" for media devices, and how "smart can [also] be practical."
In related news, as reported by tongue-in-cheek Silicon Valley chronicler Valleywag, Google has just agreed to pay $3.2 billion in cash to buy Nest Labs, the makers of "unloved but important" home devices like thermostats and smoke alarms, "i.e. hardware that could help save and improve lives for a huge demographic of homeowners."
When Google pays $3.2 billion for a thermostat, you know the Internet of Things is real.
Related News: Corning touts Thunderbolt optical cabling at CES 2014
CES 2014: Amendment to 802.11ac spec unveils MU MIMO technology
McGarry's reporting then seeks to answer the question, 'But after every device we own has been hooked up to the Internet, what then?', by examing how, this year, companies took to to the CES show floor especially geared up to show how "...smart gadgets "can [now] flawlessly talk to each other to fully automate our lives." Top topics of consideration include "the universal remote" for media devices, and how "smart can [also] be practical."
In related news, as reported by tongue-in-cheek Silicon Valley chronicler Valleywag, Google has just agreed to pay $3.2 billion in cash to buy Nest Labs, the makers of "unloved but important" home devices like thermostats and smoke alarms, "i.e. hardware that could help save and improve lives for a huge demographic of homeowners."
When Google pays $3.2 billion for a thermostat, you know the Internet of Things is real.
Related News: Corning touts Thunderbolt optical cabling at CES 2014
CES 2014: Amendment to 802.11ac spec unveils MU MIMO technology
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