What is virtualization as applied to networking? What is “open”? One of the challenges we always seem to face in networking (and often seem to get wrong) is defining our terms. I’ve noted in past blogs that a virtual, open, network means to some the substitution of open devices or hosted instances of device software…
The relationship between edge computing and IoT is complex, to say the least. One major factor is that we don’t really have either one of them at the moment, and another is that there are strident claims that each could be the killer driver of the other. Is this just marketing circular logic, or is…
Remember when I asked if we needed a new tech news site? Well, we got one. Protocol launched on February 5th, and it certainly looks different from the mainstream tech sites. The question, which only time will answer, is whether it’s really offers not only more than we can get now, but offers what we…
The US, with some (perhaps reluctant) agreement among allies, wants to bar Chinese supervendor Huawei from 5G buildouts for security reasons. US Attorney General Barr has proposed that the US take a stake in Nokia and/or Ericsson as a counter to Huawei and a means of reducing the cost impact on operators of dropping Huawei….
With the media asking whether it would really be so bad for operators if 5G were slipped, and whether perhaps the whole idea of accelerating 5G was worthwhile, Cisco is telling the world they’re the most important 5G vendor because they can help operators monetize 5G. I think all these stories are connected, and that…
If most Internet traffic is content, should we make content accommodations in the protocols used? As someone recently noted in a LinkedIn comment on a previous blog of mine, PARC has promoted a concept called “Content-Centric Networking” or CCN to do just that. The idea got a lot of attention four or five years ago,…
In a blog last week, I criticized the NFV concept of the VIM. A “virtual infrastructure manager”, I noted, should be an abstraction of the infrastructure, not a gateway to a presumed implementation. The fact that some operators are attempting to create a set of standard “NFVi” or NFV Infrastructure models is proof; a good…
The onrushing quarterly earnings reports cycle continues to generate insights into market and competitive conditions. Last week, Amazon blew away Wall Street expectations, Microsoft guided higher on its cloud revenues, and IBM ditched their CEO. All these developments have their own implications, but there are also some broader market trends being exposed, and I want…
The story that Big Switch is being acquired by Arista is just a story…for now. The story that there’s been a lot of M&A dialog around the company is pretty clearly true, and it may well be that it’s the interest overall that makes this important, not who ends up doing the deal. Big Switch…
Juniper reported their quarter on Monday, and their numbers and commentary always offer an interesting perspective on the networking market. This, even though you have to dig quite a bit to get past the traditional upbeat tone the company takes, no matter what’s happening. On the surface, the results were mixed. Revenue beat by a…