IT salaries continue to shrink; New Cisco cert goes beyond CCIE
As the economy continues to languish, IT salary trends offer little hope to both working and unemployed IT professionals, as companies cut wages and fewer high-tech positions become available due to attrition. Also, Cisco announced a new certification, the Cisco Certified Architect, which will become the rank above CCIE. The CCA will attempt to marry the networking engineering know-how of the CCIE with the business acumen of an MBA. (6:14)

Products of the Week
Our round-up of intriguing new products from Websense, Sun, ProStor among others.

Blind phone hacker gets 11-year sentence
A Boston-area teenager was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison Friday for hacking into the telephone network and harassing the Verizon investigator who was building a case against him.

NASA moon shot gets rocket blast, more money
NASA continued to develop its future moon landing program this week by getting a positive test on the rocket it might use to land humans on the moon and increasing the budget for the spacecraft it will use to get them there.

DoctorsonDemand.com prescribes an end to doctor's office visits
A recently launched service, DoctorsonDemand.com, uses interactive voice technology that allows consumers to contact an available doctor for a quick consult that could avoid costly in-office or emergency room visits.

Fahrenheit 113: Hot iPhone's Tragic Number
The manager at my local Apple Store looked a little grim when I mentioned iPhone 3GS overheating and battery problems yesterday. "If that's what it is, you're going to have a flood of phones coming back," I told him. As if he had to be told.

Trade groups urge China to drop Web filtering program
A wide-ranging group of trade associations has urged China to lift its requirement that an Internet filtering program be distributed with all new PCs, with the order set to take effect this week.

The cost of scaling Wi-Fi capacity
Wireless LANs rarely allow for simple direct cost comparisons. In addition to variable pricing structures among vendors, one reason is that product architectures differ. That means some systems have different components than others. So how can you compare them, tit for tat?

'Swatting' case shows need to ban caller-ID spoofing
What Matthew Weigman and his cohorts did went so far beyond "pranks" -- or even hacking -- as to leave little room to question the sentence he received yesterday. From an IDG News Service story on our site:

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

Microsoft's Big Bet On The Cloud and Search
Microsoft's set to bring online two new data centers, one in Chicago and the other in Dublin with 700,000 and 300,000 square feet of space respectively.

Does cloud commoditize Cisco, others?
Enterprises looking to pay for compute cycles on an as needed basis will require less data center infrastructure -- that's a given.

Virtualization, cloud computing pose new challenges, opportunities
Carnegie Mellon's Data Center Observatory teaches lessons on virtualization and the cloud.

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

Nortel: Why Avaya?
If Avaya buys up Nortel's enterprise properties, the new entity will have product overlap issues but they'll be overshadowed by something more important: customers.

Microsoft Research looking to make Outlook more social
Ron Barrett, A Better Windows World: Microsoft Research is designing a new Outlook add-in that will redesign the look of your e-mail user interface. The new project is called "Social Views of e-mail."

IBM embraces private cloud model within its own firewall
Big Blue is building several types of private cloud services within its own firewall to help deliver development and research tools to employees.

IBM supercomputer to heat university buildings
Excess waste heat from a supercomputer being constructed by IBM will be used to warm nearby university buildings in Switzerland.

Supercomputers go from biggest to cheapest
The increasing power of supercomputers has gone from gee-whiz to ho-hum. IBM, with its petaflop-exceeding Roadrunner, seems to maintain a near permanent position on the Top500 supercomputer list.

IBM, Cray lead Top 500 supercomputer rankings
IBM, HP, Cray, Intel dominate Top 500 supercomputer list.

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

DARPA wants a super-efficient supercomputer that can fit into a 19-inch cabinet, thanks
If you can squish all the processing power of, say, an IBM Roadrunner supercomputer inside a 19-inch box and make it run on about 60 kilowatts of electricity, the government wants to talk to you.

Survey looks for needs, plans of Cisco WAAS, WAN optimization users
Network World bloggers Peter Sevcik and Rebecca Wetzel, consultants at application performance advisor NetForecast, are surveying WAN optimization users -- including users of Cisco's WAAS appliance -- about their WAN optimization needs, plans, and preferences.

Network performance worries delay app deployments
Apparent Networks' survey reveals IT managers put off new VoIP, video and unified communications deployments due to network performance worries.

Cisco sends employees home to work
Cisco survey of employees shows internal telework program saves money and satisfies workers.

Survey casts doubt on cloud adoption
Only 15% of corporate customers have adopted or are considering adopting cloud technology over the next year.

A day in the life of 3G
Only after the thrill of picking out your new smart phone is over -- after you've marveled at all the stylish new gadgetry and features, signed a service contract and finally laid your money down -- do you finally get a feel for the speed and reliability of the wireless service that connects your new phone.

Juniper boosts edge routers for multimedia
Juniper this week announced enhancements to its service provider edge routers that are designed to improve multimedia service delivery to users.

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

Cisco announces its biggest, baddest networking certification ever
On Monday, Cisco announced a new certification, the Cisco Certified Architect, which will become the rank above CCIE.

Juniper boosts edge routers for multimedia
Juniper this week announced enhancements to its service provider edge routers that are designed to improve multimedia service delivery to users.

Ethernet on a Ring
Scott Hogg: Core Networking and Security: If you are considering a network design that has a ring topology and you desire to use Ethernet, it can be done, but you should be aware of the issues you'll face. Ethernet is traditionally thought of as best for a bus or star topology.

Does cloud commoditize Cisco, others?
Cisco Subnet: The disruptive effects of cloud computing suggests hard times ahead for hardware. Enterprises looking to pay for compute cycles on an as-needed basis will require less data center infrastructure -- that's a given.

Cisco sends employees home to work
Cisco survey of employees shows internal telework program saves money and satisfies workers.

How to focus on the really important part of network engineering
This Saturday, July 4th, marks the two year anniversary of my "From the Field" blog on Network World. The single most important thing I have blogged about is that he best way to a great network is a solid written architecture based on template network designs.

Nortel Customers Fear The Future
In the past twenty years, Nortel has built a large market share in the enterprise voice markets, accumulating thousands of customers across the globe. Now, with a potential buyer on the horizon, many Nortel customers are fairly asking: "What now?"

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

NASA boosts packet inspection on 10 Gig WAN links
NASA has turned to a start-up specializing in packet inspection to monitor some of its 10G bit/sec WAN links.

Juniper boosts edge routers for multimedia
Juniper this week announced enhancements to its service provider edge routers that are designed to improve multimedia service delivery to users.

Ants munching?
There's nothing quite like awakening on a Sunday morning to the triple play of fail: no phone, no TV and no Internet service. Think the kids were happy? Think their Mom was happy? Think Dad was happy? Of course, we've been through this before.

Cisco announces its biggest, baddest networking certification ever
On Monday, Cisco announced a new certification, the Cisco Certified Architect, which will become the rank above CCIE.

Ethernet on a Ring
If you are considering a network design that has a ring topology and you desire to use Ethernet then you should first be aware of the issues of using Ethernet with a ring architecture.

Roll your own XP-to-Windows 7 upgrade on a USB drive
While news reports are circulating today that Microsoft may be building a version of Windows 7 distributed on a thumb drive, the bigger news for enterprises is that Microsoft is releasing a tool that let's you roll your own and that it supports XP-to-Windows 7 migration.

Acronymania Nervosa
So I'm dutifully studying up on Server 2008 R2 and reading on Microsoft's website about how Terminal Services is so good now, that we really can't call it Terminal Services anymore. In fact, we need at least three new names to describe it. Trouble is, they all seem to mean the same thing.

Nortel Customers Fear The Future
In the past twenty years, Nortel has built a large market share in the enterprise voice markets, accumulating thousands of customers across the globe. Now, with a potential buyer on the horizon, many Nortel customers are fairly asking: "What now?"

ICANN chief refutes US control
The new Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) chief has poured cold water on claims the organisation is resisting a break from alleged US oversight.

Heightened data-loss prevention needs fuel arms race between vendors
Though deploying commercial DLP still is expensive — a $100,000 price tag and up is not unusual — the process of filtering content to spot leaks of data, intentional or otherwise, shows signs of starting to become commoditized.

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

A Day in the Life of 3G
Only after the thrill of picking out your new smart phone is over--after you've marveled at all the stylish new gadgetry and features, signed a service contract and finally laid your money down--do you finally get a feel for the speed and reliability of the wireless service that connects your new phone. That wireless service--so often an afterthought to smart phone buyers--is hugely important: it connects your new phone to all the fun and useful apps and services that made you lust after a smart phone in the first place.

Cisco sends employees home to work
Cisco survey of employees shows internal telework program saves money and satisfies workers.

Hands On With Google Voice
Chances are you've heard or read about Google's phone management system Google Voice, but you're not really sure what it does. There's a good reason for this aura of mystery. Google Voice got its start as a phone service called GrandCentral, which the search giant bought in 2007. It's been in beta ever since-but unlike other Google betas that are open to the general public, this one was limited to former GrandCentral users and a select group of industry elite.

EC warns countries not to go it alone in broadband upgrades
A week after the U.K. unveiled plans to establish a super-fast broadband infrastructure across the country within the next three years, Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for telecommunications, Thursday warned E.U. member states, including the U.K., not to go it alone.

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

Storage on Twitter
In 140 words, some users tend to express a lot. The twitter-waves were busy for the last few weeks with almost minute-to-minute updates on the NetApp—Data Domain—EMC love triangle acquisition. Yesterday almost every storage twitterer set aside storage concerns in favor of updates on Michael Jackson. Today, let's pause to reflect on some of the most popular twitterers in storage. They are: Read...

The lost NASA tapes: Restoring lunar images after 40 years in the vault
The goal is to have all the image files processed by February, producing a moon atlas with a resolution higher than anything previously seen.

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

More top picks from the week

That was FAST: Microsoft wins large customer for enterprise search

Microsoft's Virtual Machine Manager R2 to be available by Dec. 21

Microsoft Training for Solution Providers – a nifty website...

Linxter offers a secure cloud messaging framework

Startups are critical to global prosperity

From our bloggers:

Can free Microsoft Security Essentials AV software fight off entrenched vendors?
Mitchell Ashley, Converging on Microsoft: One of the most common complaints you hear about the Microsoft Security Essentials beta is that the free antivirus software is like asking the fox to watch the hen house.

Solid-State Disks and Server 2008, Part 4
Glenn Weadock, Windows Server 2008: The Law of Unintended Consequences sometimes works against us but on happier occasions it works in our favor. We've been looking at Solid-State Disks recently, and it turns out that they have some unintended benefits beyond the main virtue of being fast.

Use this hidden partitioning wizard
Brian Egler, SQL Server Strategies: In a previous blog entry I talked about the Sliding Window partitioning scenario. I even tried to involve Gwyneth Paltrow in a SQL Server Blog which is no mean feat. (When you teach classes over the Internet you have to think of original ways of gaining student's attention).

Windows 7 upgrade pricing means mixed IT shops for a while
Mitchell Ashley, Converging on Microsoft: Are we going to have aggressive pricing for Windows 7 so we can finally move on from Vista and XP, or will we see the Microsoft of old, overcharging for Windows upgrades, this time starting at $120 for entry level Windows 7 versions.

Using ConfigMgr 2007 Desired Configuration Management
Kerrie Meyler, Managing Microsoft: DCM is one of the new features of Configuration Manager 2007. Using DCM enables you to monitor, report on, and take action regarding the configuration of your managed systems.

Solid-State Disks: A Different Animal
Glenn Weadock, Windows Server 2008: In an earlier posting, I noted that Solid-State Disks (SSDs) have certain behavioral differences from traditional spinning disks. One of these has to do with the speed of disk writes.

Microsoft Research looking to make Outlook more social
Ron Barrett, A Better Windows World: The people at Microsoft Research are designing a new social media Outlook add-in that will literally redesign the look of your email user interface.

Linxter offers a secure cloud messaging framework
Alpa Agarwal, Microsoft Startups to Watch: Linxter is a cloud messaging framework for connecting all kinds of applications, devices, and systems. A behind-the-scenes, message-oriented cloud-based middleware technology, Linxter automates the complex tasks that developers face when creating communication-based products and services.

Sporting segues to SQL Server
Brian Egler, SQL Server Strategies: This week the Wimbledon Tennis Championships are on again in London and I remember being inspired to write a blog entry on Spatial data types during that great Mens final last year. Is this possible? A segue from Wimbledon to SQL Server?

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

New worldwide Cisco CCIE count surpasses historic 20K milestone
Additionally, the brand new Cisco CCIE Wireless track added 6 new CCIEs to the worldwide count.

Are sealed-in laptop batteries a good idea?
When Apple introduced its new MacBooks recently, it touted a doubled battery life -- but noted that the laptops' batteries were sealed into the case, not user-swappable as is the norm on laptops.

Toyota research achieves brain control of wheelchair
Researchers in Japan have developed a brain-machine interface (BMI) system that allows for control of a wheelchair using thought.

Apple iPhone 3GS Overheating Reports
Is the Apple iPhone 3GS having overheating issues? I've seen some reports circulating on the Web today that indicate some handsets might indeed be affected. And I have my own tale to add to fray.

A Day in the Life of 3G
Only after the thrill of picking out your new smart phone is over -- after you've marveled at all the stylish new gadgetry and features, signed a service contract and finally laid your money down -- do you finally get a feel for the speed and reliability of the wireless service that connects your new phone?

Happy 2-Year Anniversary - A Reminder to Focus on What's Really Important in Network Engineering
This Saturday, July 4th, marks the two year anniversary of my "From the Field" blog on Network World. It's been a great and demanding experience.

DOJ pushes probe of Oracle-Sun deal beyond deadline
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) needs more time to examine Oracle's proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems beyond an initial review period, Oracle said Friday.

Why Social Networking Won't Find You Employees
Many companies are turning to social networks as a recruiting tool for finding employees, but Shafiq Lokhandwala, CEO of NuView Systems, disagrees. Keith Shaw talks with Lokhandwala about why employers need to stay away from social networks as a serious recruiting tool. (14:34)

The lost NASA tapes: Restoring lunar images after 40 years in the vault
The goal is to have all the image files processed by February, producing a moon atlas with a resolution higher than anything previously seen.

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

Budget cuts give IT management projects new life
Economic uncertainly drove many IT executives to reduce high-tech spending in 2008 and early 2009, but the same thinking behind slashed costs has renewed interest in projects designed to improve IT service management and streamline processes for infrastructure and operations professionals.

Cisco sends employees home to work
Cisco survey of employees shows internal telework program saves money and satisfies workers.

VC puts money in open source management software
Open source IT automation and management software maker Reductive Labs secures $2 million in venture capital funding from True Ventures and other private investors to further develop its Puppet product.

No virtualization skills? Better get started
Virtualization know-how is becoming a standard requirement across IT disciplines.

Reflex Systems' virtual triple threat
Reflex Systems evolves its security products into tools for the virtual realm, and the vendor again updates the technology to incorporate policy-based management and compliance-related capabilities.

Free mgmt. software gets network smarts
Spiceworks adds social networking, third-party plug-ins and network mapping features to its free management software.

Virtualization Opportunities Galore: Dell, Intel, Symantec, and VMware
Mark Bowker, Liquefying IT: Mature virtualized environments are those that have typically been able to quickly virtualize 20-30% of their x86 environments. I keep saying that is the easy part—for the most part, it is brain-dead simple. Achieving that next 5% is what can be extremely difficult.

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

Preparing for a layoff
Yoh's Dan Cobb suggests some steps to take to preserve your finances, shorten the time you're unemployed and gain leverage in your next job search.

How to Buy a Business Laptop
You're a very busy professional, so we'll bottom-line this for you. All you care about is a laptop that will get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and you don't want some luxury status symbol. Games and movies--who has the time?

SAP CTO on Innovation And Cloud Computing
As the CTO of SAP, Vishal Sikka's job is to figure out what SAP's future applications will look, feel and act like for its customers. He does that by experimenting with untested, emerging technologies; innovating with his team and co-innovating with customers and partners; and developing new ways to think about enterprise architecture and governance mechanisms.

Job Seekers: Get Ready for the 'Character' Interview
As laid-off executives flood the labor pool, some employers are seizing the opportunity to "upgrade" their management teams, say executive recruiters. In this job market, employers realize they might be able to recruit more experienced leaders- possibly at lower salaries-now than in the past, says Joe Goodwin, president of The Goodwin Group, an executive search firm based in Atlanta.

RSA chief: The job of security guy is not to be 'Doctor No'
IT security managers should enable cloud computing by learning how to manage risk, says RSA chief Art Coviello.

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

Average tenure of a senior Cisco executive is 11.5 years
Had an interesting conversation earlier this week with a famous networking industry journalist and the subject of Cisco's senior executive team came up. Remarkably, we both were wondering aloud about what the average tenure would be of the 61 executives listed on Cisco's Mount Rushmore (i.e. Cisco's executive biographies web page). Obviously, my curiosity got the best of me and I'm proud to...

RSA bolsters Cisco security gear
Colleague Ellen Messmer has the scoop on Cisco adding data leak prevention capabilities to its IronPort e-mail security appliances. RSA will supply its DLP scanning technology to the Cisco products, Messmer writes.

Q & A about Cisco partner Agito VoIP, UC and PBX functionality to BlackBerry smart phones over the WLAN and cellular network
Pejman Roshan - Chief Marketing Officer of enterprise fixed mobile convergence (eFMC) vendor Agito Networks, gave the following Q & A session regarding Agito's RIM BlackBerry support announcement earlier this week. Agito, which partners with Cisco, as well as other major PBX and WLAN companies, is fusing enterprise wireless LANs, carrier cellular networks, IP telephony and location technology to...

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are

Lesson from Iran: Controlling Internet Use Is a Slippery Slope
There was an ominous juxtaposition of two articles about controlling Internet use in the June 17th issue of Wall Street Journal. One article described how the Iranian government is using deep packet inspection to spy on and limit its citizens' Internet use--and the other described how the UK is about to mandate the use of deep packet inspection to identify and crack down on piracy. 

Events in Iran prove Bradbury wrong
Here's one of the more ironic juxtaposition of events in recent memory: Last week, famed science-fiction author (and anti-censorship advocate) Ray Bradbury came out against the Internet — just as the 'Net's ability to evade censorship played a crucial role in advancing the cause of democracy in Iran.

Great balls of customer service
Gibbs replays the experience of an unhappy cell phone customer and scans the news.

Will Groupware (oops, I mean Collaboration) Drive Mobility?
I worry that too much data and too little real information, as we've seen with Facebook and Twitter, will lower productivity, impact ROI, damage competitiveness, and trash the bottom line.

End=Lean IT; Means=Service Assurance
let's be frank – even in the best of times, IT is forever under pressure to cover an expanding ecosystem of IT infrastructure and application components without expanding the cost of operations. So how do we handle this?

Will your enterprise cut spending for mobile voice and data?
A new Strategy Analystics survey finds that almost half of American households would drop mobile data services completely to save money. But what about enterprise IT?

The iPhone continues to attract customers away from BlackBerry devices
Typically, the conversation surrounding smartphones centers on which new device is best positioned to challenge Apple's growing influence and success in the market.

Palm Pre: The official Cool Tools review
The scoop: Palm Pre, by Palm (on Sprint network), about $200 (after rebates, plus data and voice service plans).

June Giveaways
Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet are giving away training from Global Knowledge to two lucky readers and 15 copies each of books on IPv6 security, the Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module, and Active Directory Domain Services 2008. Deadline for entries June 30.

Network World on Twitter? You bet we are