Interop

What we saw at Interop NY

Sevcik and Wetzel — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:26:22 -0400

Last week’s Interop in New York City was eerily normal considering the carnage Wall Street was experiencing just blocks away. Although attendance was modest, vendors told us there were enough qualified and savvy buyers to make the show worthwhile for them. Word is that IT budgets are not being frozen despite economic uncertainty—at least not yet.

The coolness factor of the show was kicked up several notches by the fact that a third of the hall was devoted to Web 2.0-themed exhibitors with names like KickApps, Yuuguu, Kapow Technologies, and Zude. The Web 2.0 portion of the show drew bigger crowds than the “legacy” portion as curious attendees explored new (and opportunistically repositioned) wares. A small portion of the hall was also devoted to Mobile Business Expo, which had a legacy feel to it.

All things virtual featured prominently at this fall’s show, telepresence came into its own, and desktop videoconferencing solutions were prominent. With travel costs skyrocketing, we predict telepresence and desktop video will be up front and center at Interop next spring. Desktop videoconferencing has been around a long time, and may finally be catching on. If so, brace yourselves for a Pandora’s box of enterprise network headaches opened by new infrastructure and large bandwidth demands. The sheer scale of desktop deployments can quickly overload network links and QoS deployments.

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Hacker Wars - Episode Five: Interop Conference 2008 (New York, NY, USA)

Bruiser — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:47:45 -0400

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Why so little IPv6 at Interop?

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:36:09 -0400

I returned today from Interop 2008 Las Vegas expo, where I attended to gauge how well prepared exhibitors were for IPv6 network deployment. I was very disappointed that out of the approximately 450 exhibitors on the conference floor, there was only one company that even used the term "IPv6" on the posted exhibitor-list online. When walking around the booths, talking with both hardware and software companies, I was even more amazed at the unknowing responses I received. While I could only sample a percentage of the total exhibitors, a clear trend was coming to light during my discussions.

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Interop 2008 videos

videonet — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:55:25 -0400

The multimedia staff was busy at Interop, filming some 41 videos during the show:

Richard Rushing from AirDefense talks with Keith Shaw about his company's latest wireless vulnerability scans, which show how unsecure the wireless networks around Las Vegas casinos really are.; network world; security; wireless; Jim Duffy chats with Dave Roberts from Vyatta,, who talks about the performance, innovation and economic benefits of its open-source routing strategy, which claims twice the performance at half the cost of traditional networking vendors.; lanwan; network world; networksystemsmgmt; Farpoint Group's Craig Mathias weighs in on all things mobile at Interop and beyond, including talk of an enterprise iPhone.; network world; wirelessmobile; Recent iLabs testing of unified communications revealed that the technology is still in its early stages. Jed Daniels, team educator on the UC iLabs team, chats with Keith Shaw about the state of the UC marketplace.; convergencevoip; network world; Simon Crosby of Citrix talks with Jon Brodkin about why IT has been slow to adopt virtualization in environments beyond just saving money from server consolidation.; datacenter; network world; networksystemsmgmt; storage; In a special video edition of Twisted Pair, Jason Meserve and Keith Shaw wrap up Interop 2008 from the show floor.; News; network world; storage; Doug Charles of Alacatel-Lucent talks about the Nonstop Laptop Guardian, which provides security and IT control for corporate notebooks when workers are on the road.; network world; networksystemsmgmt; security; wireless; wirelessmobile; Michael Hyatt from BlueCat Networks chats with Denise Dubie about how the growth of wireless devices, VoIP and the looming IPv6 issue will create an IP address management nightmare if companies aren't prepared.; datacenter; network world; networksystemsmgmt; Greg Kopchinski from Bivio Networks talks with Jason Meserve about how deep packet inspection is now moving beyond just looking at the packet header at wire speed.; network world; networksystemsmgmt; security; Sunil Cherian from Array Networks talks with Tim Greene about its Wi-Fi Perfect offeing, which helps bring NAC to wireless by keeping employees and guest access away from each other.; network world; security; wireless; wirelessmobile; Ron Nutter, host of Network World's Help Desk Tool Chest podcast, talks with Jason Meserve about what he was most impressed with at this year's Interop 2008 show.; network world; networksystemsmgmt; wireless; Matt Hamblen from Computerworld stops by the video booth to offer up his insights on traveling the show floor and conference areas at Interop 2008.; datacenter; network world; wireless; wirelessmobile; Jason Meserve talks with Michelle Dickman from TriGeo, which is aiming to be the 'universal translator' of multiple vendors' log files to help companies become proactive in defending the network.; network world; networksystemsmgmt; security; Al Baker from Siemens gives Jason Meserve an update in the latest unified communications trends, including how video and videoconferencing is playing a role in unifying all communications.; convergencevoip; network world; Emmet B. Keeffe III from iRise talks with Jon Brodkin about the explosion of enterprise application development for the Apple iPhone, and how developers can visualize applications with tools from iRise.; network world; software; wireless; wirelessmobile; The hottest technologies at the show may be virtualization, solid state disks and anti-virus, but fragmentation issues are also popping up with these new methods of data manipulation. Derek De Vette from Diskeeper chats with Keith Shaw about this.; network world; networksystemsmgmt; Jim Duffy sits down with Joel Hackney from Nortel to discuss the company's virtualization, unified communications and green IT initiatives.; datacenter; network world; vendornews; Ryan Woodings from Metageek shows Keith Shaw the prototype of the 5 GHz version of its Wi-Spy wireless spectrum analyzer, a $400 tool that scans the airwaves for troubleshooting wireless LANs and non-Wi-Fi interference sources.; cool_tools; network world; wireless; wirelessmobile; Keith Shaw chats with Dave Flynn from Fusion-io, who shows off the ioDrive, a storage area network system that can fit in the palm of your hand.; cool_tools; network world; storage; Bernie Davidovics from SeaNet Technologies speaks with Denise Dubie about why IT needs to see what the business is seeing in order to track down application- and network-related latencies.; lanwan; network world; networksystemsmgmt; Joel Snyder from OpusOne talks with Neal Weinberg about the latest NAC issues, vendor interoperability moving closer to reality, and advice on how to keep hydrated in a desert environment.; Tim Greene speaks with McAfee CEO David DeWalt about new dangerous malware, zero-day attacks, spear phishing, corporate compliance and how McAfee deals with more than 500,000 network attacks per day at its own company.; network world; security; Ermis Sfakiyanudis of eTelemetry talks with Jason Meserve about its new Metron device, which helps companies monitor the usage of online video viewing of their employees as well as other network bandwidth usage.; lanwan; network world; Keith Shaw speaks with Storage Appliance's Quan Lung about its Clickfree backup device, which aims to make data backup for users and IT as easy as plugging in a USB cable.; cool_tools; network world; storage; wirelessmobile; Vivek Pathela from Netgear stops by the video booth to talk about some of the seven new products announced at the show by Netgear, including some smart switches, a heavy-duty NAS box and a new 802.11n wireless system.; lanwan; network world; storage; wireless; wirelessmobile; Tim Greene sits down with Paul Mockapetris, inventor of directory name services (DNS), discussing the triumphs and improvements of the technology over the last 25 years. ; lanwan; network world; networksystemsmgmt; Tom DeSot from Digital Defense talks with Ron Nutter about whether companies are becoming too reliant on technology solutions for compliance efforts, and if they are forgetting the basics of security.; network world; security; APC's Scott Cassidy chats with Keith Shaw about how physical threats and dangers (floods, humidity, extreme temperatures) may be more important than protecting data in the data center.; datacenter; network world; security; Automating processes too complex? Pshaw, says Travis Greene from NetIQ, who talks with Keith Shaw about some of the misconceptions surrounding IT process automation.; datacenter; lanwan; network world; Network Test's David Newman talks with Keith Shaw about preparing for a large-scale enterprise 802.11n test. What are the issues regarding deployments for this new wireless technology?; network world; wireless; wirelessmobile; Mark Bauhaus from Juniper Networks chats with Neal Weinberg about adaptive threat management issues and the latest network access control (NAC) trends.; network world; networksystemsmgmt; security; Kaspersky's Tom Bowers talks about the latest security threats, including the SQL injection attacks of the past week and a new Pinch worm that is stealing passwords.; News; network world; security; Tom Racca from Colubris talks about the state of 802.11n wireless in the enterprise, as well as challenges that still lie ahead for the technology. ; network world; wireless; wirelessmobile; Stephen Pollack from PlateSpin talks with Beth Schultz about how Novell's recent acquisition of PlateSpin allows the two companies to integrate technologies to aid the desktop management and virtualization space.; datacenter; network world; The 70-plus volunteers that help create the Interop show network aren't just doing it to provide network services for vendors. The network's true value comes from showcasing the hottest technologies.; datacenter; network world; Charles Kaplan from Mazu Networks talks with Jason Meserve about how it expanded its behavior analytics offerings beyond security and into WAN management and performance and availability management spaces.; lanwan; network world; Polycom's Ben Guderian talks about his company's latest IP conference phones that feature 22khz "HD Voice" quality and a shield to kill the annoying cell phone buzz.; News; convergencevoip; network world; Polycom launched two new products at Interop - Video Border Gateway and endpoint software update - designed to make it easier to SOHO users to connect to the corporate office over video. Polycom's John Antanaitis provides the scoop on the new gear.; News; convergencevoip; network world; SMC's Iain Kenney chats with Ron Nutter about green computing initiatives, updates to management interfaces to control power usage, and other environmental friendly computing topics.; News; datacenter; network world; Steve Pao from Barracuda Networks talks with Keith Shaw about the latest threats from spam, malware, phishing and other messaging dangers.; News; network world; security; Jason Meserve and Keith Shaw (aka The Twisted Pair) preview Interop 2008 in Las Vegas.; News; lanwan; network world; Network World's coverage of Interop 2008 in Las Vegas.

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Slowdown in Vegas

Craig Mathias — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:41:13 -0400

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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Microsoft Learns Interop Is About Interoperability

Mitchell Ashley — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:50:33 -0400

Microsoft had three big themes during their appearance at last week's Interop 2008 conference in Las Vegas; interoperability, Network Access Protection (NAP) and Unified Communications. Yes, I said interoperability. Over and over again I heard mention that so many were surprised by Microsoft's open stance (pun intended) towards interoperability between Microsoft, partner and other third-party products. What was surprising is that I heard it from network equipment, security and software companies alike. Are Microsoft's actions matching up to their words?

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Who had the best presentation of a product?

Larry Chaffin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:46:06 -0400

Who had the best presentation of a product?

You really have to take your hat off to any CEO and President that shows up to Interop to talk to the partners and customers. Michelle Dickman of TriGeo is just that person, not only does she come and talk to everyone at the booth. But she does every presentation, every day, during all of Interop. That to me shows someone who cares about the company, wants to be on the front line and hearing what people have to say. If you have not had a chance to make it by the TriGeo booth, stop by and talk to the only CEO and President I know of on the floor doing every presentation.

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How boring are the session at Interop?

Larry Chaffin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:34:29 -0400

How boring are the session at Interop?

Well let me tell you that they are pretty boring, I have moved around and sat through three days of different sessions and moderators. I have not found one yet that has kept people in the room, seems like after 15 minutes people are up and out looking for something better. I was hoping for some interesting talk between vendors in different areas. But it seems like none of the vendors really want to be in the same room as the competition.

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Microsoft/Foundry Create UC Patchwork

Mitchell Ashley — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:53:48 -0400

Interop 2008 Update: So is it still unified communications if it takes a combination of Microsoft, Foundry, Sun and Mitel to create a complete unified communications offering to battle Cisco's UC equivalent?

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Could start-up FastSoft be the next big thing at Interop?

Larry Chaffin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:12:27 -0400

While other people are going to the free meals and executive talks with the big companies, I was spending my time looking at the companies we don't know. Looking for that one company who I thought could make a difference and, I think I might have found it. In the little row called Startup where other members of the press came by and gave companies five minutes, paid no attention and left. I spent 45 minutes asking every question. I am very sure I overwhelmed the staff of the 6 foot booth but sometimes you have to ask the hard questions.

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Hyper-V May Cause Hyper Tension

Mitchell Ashley — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:47:32 -0400

Interop 2008 Update: Network World's John Fontana is reporting we may see Microsoft's Hyper-V ship to customers in June or July 08, busting out ahead of the 180 day timeframe Microsoft originally gave itself. Microsoft needs a successful Hyper-V launch out in the marketplace to begin to stave off VMware's dominance. But Hyper-V can't do it alone, that's only part of the picture. Just having Hyper-V is like having a NASCAR race car but no pit crew. Hyper-V's got to have the management tools to be successfully utilized by IT.

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Listen to the Interrop keynote, get a free book

Interop — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:13:48 -0400

C.K. Prahalad delivered the keynote at Interop today.

Never heard of him?

He’s the #1 most influential management thinker in the world, according to the Times of London.

He used the kickoff-keynote platform to kickoff the U.S. release of his new book, The New Age of Innovation: Driving co-created value through global networks.

Interesting stuff if you’re in a graduate economics seminar, but he had a tough row to hoe vs. the likes off Cisco’s preacher/CEO John Chambers and other keynote regulars.

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Who's your caddy?

Interop — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:28:30 -0400

BlueCat Networks is hoping to drive the point home that now is the time for enterprise companies to upgrade their IP address management systems by equipping its Interop booth with a simulated golf driving game and by having, er, caddies on hand to help out show attendees improve their game. Booth workers of the female persuasion are donning a common uniform that is one part Catholic schoolgirl and one part old-time golfer. With argyle sweaters and socks, and mini-skirts asking passers-by "Who's your caddy?" BlueCat will draw Interop attendees to its display, but it's unclear if the vendor's message about automating IP address management with its Proteus appliances will be why they remember the vendor.

Saying no to hardware

Interop — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:17:39 -0400

This year's InteropNet is nearly all virtual -- and network architect Geoff Horne worked hard to get it that way. The monster network that powers Interop features an almost totally virtualized server environment. Some vendors who donate equipment to the temporary network brought their own physical servers, but Horne turned them away. "If anyone had hardware we pretty much yanked it out and said 'no, you're going virtual," he says. Check out the full story here.

NAC seminar attracts a crowd

Interop — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:13:41 -0400

One of the knottiest problems with NAC technology remains how to get data about devices that can't run NAC clients such as phones and printers, panelists said in a sold-out Interop workshop devoted to NAC. The best way to deal with it is checking the behavior of devices continuously after they are admitted to the network to flag and block them when they stop acting like printers and phones. "If these devices do things they shouldn't, you need to know," said Brendan O'Connell, a senior product manager at Cisco who sat on the panel.

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Interop Las Vegas 2008 off to a strong start

Interop — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:07:25 -0400

Interop 2008 is happening this week, and Network World has the networking industry event covered from many different angles.

This year's Interop will also have security and software conferences running alongside it. In a nutshell, the organizers decided to expand the scope because they realize that networking doesn't exist in a vacuum, and that interoperability is an issue that cuts across various IT disciplines. Read more .

Great product! Not ADWARE as stated.

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:46:37 -0400

This product uses a web interface and does load banner ads but is not ADWARE as mentioned in this article. Is this website ADWARE because it has ads? No. This is a great product with a unique business operation generating revenue through ads. They absolutely listen to their customers in a timely manner and get us the features we need most as IT managers. The product is built on open source technologies and performs well on a server as well as desktop. I personally prefer it run on a server. This product simply put makes IT managers life much easier!

Interop for Cisco professionals

Cisco Subnet — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:44:26 -0400

Cisco professionals will be running around like Peter Packet trying to see and do all the Cisco-related stuff at Interop this week. Note the Tuesday keynote, April 29, 3:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. It features Jayshree V. Ullal, senior vice president, Cisco's Data Center, Switching and Services Group. Also check out the session on Thursday, May 1, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. called "The future of application delivery." This is a panel that will include Cisco and a couple of its competitors in the WAN acceleration market.

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Soft market to hurt Interop?

Cisco Subnet — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:02:15 -0400

Interop convenes next week under the pall of soft US enterprise spending and the resultant drag on network financials.

Juniper is the latest to feel the weight of the sluggish market. The company just posted a solid quarter that exceeded Wall Street expectations, but it was due mostly to sales to service providers. Juniper's Service Layer Technology group, comprised mostly of enterprise products like the NetScreen VPN gear, was down 9% sequentially due especially to softness in federal government sales.

Extreme, meanwhile, was downgraded by JMP Securities this week after posting a disappointing fiscal third quarter. Extreme blamed the miss on customers delaying purchases.

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Trapeze announced the same products this time last year

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:50:45 -0400

Trapeze announced the same products this time last year, and we've been waiting to see them delivered ever since...