Enterprise technology opinions, analysis, and forecasts from Network World's experts
Network observability can be dismissed as a buzzword, but to be useful it should include monitoring, security, data, and actionable insights.
SASE can deliver needed information to more workers and for less cost than MPLS VPNs providing comparable connectivity.
Here’s our take on the top 10 vendors providing corporate networks with everything from SASE and NaaS to ZTNA and network automation.
IT pros need to require software bills of materials for the networking software used in their enterprises to guard against potential threats.
As network complexity grows, so does the complexity of dealing with it effectively.
The future of data centers will rely on cloud, hyperconverged infrastructure and more powerful devices.
With routing software deployed on off-the-shelf hardware, enterprises can reap the benefits of virtual routing that can extend to data centers and promote savings.
Uptime Institute says enterprises should beware that some cloud service architectures may appear more resilient but actually provide few guarantees of better availability.
Before adding more layers to network security, consider the benefits of explicit network permission, backed by AI-driven traffic analysis.
Liquid cooling, high efficiency equipment, and AI-enabled analytics are among the technologies driving more sustainable data-center operations.
Must-do initiatives include eliminating generic credentials, regularly auditing IT admin accounts, and deploying MFA for infrastructure access.
Broadcom’s chips plus VMware software could be the bridge that connects applications in data centers with the cloud.
Reliable change-management practices are critical to expanding network automation.
Long-term data storage can be done in the cloud, on disk drives, and optical disks, but each has some drawbacks.
Network-as-a-service is popularly defined as expensing network technology and management rather than doing it yourself, but there’s a better way to look at it.
With deployments of IoT devices and the arrival of 5G fast wireless, placing compute, storage, and analytics close to where data is created is making the case for edge computing.
New protocols like OpenVPN and WireGuard help keep VPNs relevant in the face of secure access service edge and zero-trust network access.
Google’s Aquila project is establishing a model for high-performance meshing that can handle the most demanding data-center workloads.
IP addresses are one of the fundamental building blocks of the internet, but could pose a potential security liability, if an attacker were to get ahold of yours.
Not every vendor can deliver full SASE, and that's OK. Not every enterprise wants, needs or can implement it.
Connected devices need a safe, reliable network of things (NoT) that ties them together, but that glue is likely IoT-specific protocols, not the internet.
If you can’t find qualified candidates for NetOps jobs, automate what you can, and hire someone smart and willing to learn who can train for the job you need filled.
Software vendor posts detailed analysis of what went wrong to help others avoid the same fate
Some network teams are finding power and simplicity in the shift from telling devices what to do, using imperative programming, to describing what they should be, using declarative programming.
Private 5G is a major step, so consider what devices need it, whether they move around and require privacy, and whether Wi-Fi you already have meets the need.
Backing up data can be fairly quick, but because the steps needed to access the backup and restore it to the live network, restores can be surprisingly slow.
The ‘best’ traffic paths chosen by routers in a network won’t necessarily be the fastest ones.
Rather than layering security onto networks, the networks themselves and carefully managed authorization policies can hinder attacks, but at an administrative cost.
The latest generation of IBM mainframes, the z16, is just the most recent chapter of one of the longest running tech success stories.
