NTT Europe Announces Its OpSource-Powered Cloud Solution

Enables enterprises to build and deploy their own cost-effective and scalable IT environment

NTT Europe, an ICT solution partner and wholly-owned subsidiary of NTT Communications Corporation, on Wednesday announced that it is leveraging OpSource's cloud capabilities, the NTT Com Global IP Network and NTT Com data centre infrastructure to offer an enterprise-grade, public cloud solution to its customers in the European market. OpSource is a provider of cloud and managed hosting solutions.

NTT Europe's OpSource Cloud is a public cloud offering powered by OpSource. It provides enterprises the ability to rapidly build and deploy their own cost-effective and scalable IT environment, easily managed via a self-service portal from anywhere in the world. As an ICT solution partner NTT Europe's main focus is on providing customers with propositions that meet all of their business needs from a global network infrastructure, application management, systems integration and managed hosting to virtualization solutions or content delivery.

NTT Europe's OpSource Cloud offering is an extension of the company's suite of Cloud Computing and Virtualization Services based on the VMware virtualization platform. Satisfying the immediate needs of a public cloud offering for enterprise customers in Europe, this service offering complements NTT Europe's private cloud, known as Global Virtualization Services. NTT Europe's OpSource-powered Cloud is built to run enterprise-class software as a service (SaaS) and web applications, and is ideal for customers who are developing applications or seeking flexible solutions to deploy computing power on demand.

"We are very excited to offer OpSource's market-leading technology as the new public cloud service to our customers, as this demonstrates our commitment to providing them with a complete and highly competitive portfolio of hosting options and solutions," said Masaaki Moribayashi, Managing Director of NTT Europe. "With NTT Europe, our customers can be assured we have the products and services to meet their ICT solution needs and that we are continuing to invest in the latest platforms and technologies to deliver the quality and comprehensiveness they have come to rely on."

"The OpSource Cloud combines the flexibility, availability and community of the public cloud with the security, performance and control the enterprise needs," said Treb Ryan, CEO, OpSource. "By pairing OpSource Cloud's technology with NTT Europe's secure data centre infrastructure, companies can take advantage of a solution that is not only powerful and completely reliable but scalable, removing any remaining barriers to enterprises adopting cloud computing today. We are pleased to work with NTT Europe and look forward to seeing what companies accomplish with its new Public Cloud."

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Who is on your Network RIGHT NOW? Introducing Live Client Tools

One of the most challenging aspects of managing large distributed networks is troubleshooting issues when the client is across town (or maybe even across the country!).  Having on-site IT personnel 24/7 at even small satellite branch offices can require a very large IT staff and is too expensive for most organizations. 

Meraki networks offer a variety of "remote hands" troubleshooting tools, helping network admins diagnose and resolve many wireless connectivity issues without dispatching IT staff to the site.  The ability to run diagnostic checks such as pinging an access point, running a throughput test from Dashboard, or reviewing detailed event logs have been integral to Meraki's value for distributed networks and organizations with small IT staffs and large footprints.

We are now announcing a set of Live Client Tools that expose even more up-to-the-second information about who is on a wireless network, and further help troubleshoot connectivity issues.  Administrators who log into their Enterprise network in Dashboard will notice several new and improved areas.  On the Monitor > Overview page, there is now a new addition under the network name showing the number of clients that are associated at that moment:

If you click on the "More" link, you will see an expanded list with more information, including which SSIDs and channels the clients are using.  This data is automatically refreshed as long as the "More" link is expanded.

Even cooler, Enterprise customers can change the access points map to show where clients are associated: click the "Options" menu on the map and select "Current clients."



But the really interesting stuff is on the Access Point and Client detail pages.  The Access Point detail page used to look like this:

Now, all of the live tools have been consolidated into a new, cleaner layout.  Both Pro and Enterprise networks will benefit from the new layout.  Enterprise networks now have two additional features in this area: Current Clients and Ping Client MAC.  Clicking on the play icon next to Current Clients will pop up a list of all clients associated to that AP at that instant, including useful information about each client such as MAC, SSID, channel, signal strength, and how long they have been associated.  Click on the name of a client to go to its client details page.  You'll even see clients that have associated, but not authenticated (they're listed in grey).  If you click the Ping link next to the client, you can actually ping that client in real time using ARP, as well as get additional information, such as RSSI changes over time and 802.1X identity (if appropriate).

The other new addition, Ping Client MAC, allows you to enter a MAC address and try to ping it.  This can be very useful if you are trying to determine if a particular device is on your network at that moment.

There is also a new Live Tools section on the client detail page.  From this page you can also ping that individual client, but there are a few additional new tools:

The Locate Client tool allows you to find out whether that client is associated on your network at that moment, and if so, where they're associated and for how long:

Finally, the Packet Counter tool shows a real-time count of received and sent packets to that client.  You can actually see the packet counters roll as you ping the client!

We think these new tools further improve Meraki's uniquely clear approach to distributed, multi-site network management, a normally challenging task.  Network administrators can more quickly resolve their wireless users' connectivity issues and access accurate real-time data about the exact state of their network.

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Meraki - Get a Bird's Eye View of All Your Wireless Networks

Meraki’s cloud-based architecture makes it an ideal choice for distributed, multi-site systems of networks, with administrators able to manage up to 1,000 networks from a single web browser using Dashboard. We’ve recently added a feature that makes it even easier to visualize and manage geographically distributed networks. Users who have logged into Dashboard in the last day may have noticed a new link above the network name on the Monitor > Overview page:

The link is the name of the organization that contains the network. (The network selector at the top of the page groups your networks by organization. Many of our network administrators have just one organization, but it’s not uncommon to have more — one for Enterprise networks and one for Pro networks, for example.) Clicking on this link will take you to a new page, the All-Network Overview page:

This displays all of an organization’s networks on single map. These networks are listed at the top of the screen, along with color coded markers so that each network can be easily located on the map below. The usage graph displays cumulative usage across all listed networks. If you mouse over a particular network name, that network’s usage is highlighted on the usage graph, and its network markers are highlighted on the map below.

Jump to a network’s overview page by clicking its name, or jump to a particular access point in any of your networks by double-clicking its marker. If you’d like to see all your networks’ access points color-coded by status, that’s easy too: just uncheck “Color by network” on the map’s Options menu.

You can also get to the All-Network Overview page by choosing “All-network overview” from the network selector:

The All-Network Overview page is available today to all Meraki network administrators with two or more networks. This is a great tool to assist with managing large, multi-site deployments and we are very excited about this new addition to Dashboard.

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Meraki Introduces First Solar Powered Outdoor WiFi Access - Congo ...

New Meraki Solar and Meraki Outdoor Work Together to Cover Entire Neighborhoods with Outdoor Wireless Access

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – June 4, 2007 — Meraki Networks, pioneer of the first consumer wireless mesh Internet network designed to “unwire the world,” today announced the new Meraki Outdoor repeater and the Meraki Solar accessory, that together can cover entire neighborhoods with Wi-Fi access.

Priced at just $99, Meraki Outdoor can send a signal up to 700 feet. Paired with Meraki’s existing indoor $49 Mini, the Meraki Outdoor repeater can power access for dozens of households sharing one high speed connection. Meraki Outdoor can be easily installed on a wall or even a pole outside the house. It marks another step forward in Meraki’s efforts to change the economics of Wi-Fi access, driving the cost per household of high speed connections to $1 to $2 a month.

Adding the Meraki Solar accessory kit (priced separately) will allow the repeater to broadcast a signal without being connected to any electrical source, making it an ideal solution for any community, even emerging markets where electricity is scant or unreliable. Once connected, Meraki Solar’s power usage can be distributed throughout the day and managed by the Meraki Dashboard service ensuring the repeater is powered during peak usage times. The Meraki Dashboard is a web-hosted management tool designed to make monitoring, configuring, and monetizing a Meraki Network easy and is included with all Meraki products for no additional charge. The solar kit includes a solar panel, battery pack and an outdoor Ethernet cable.

“To change the economics of Wi-Fi access across the globe, there’s got to be a simple, efficient and inexpensive method for sending the signal long distances outdoors,” said Sanjit Biswas, CEO and a co-founder of Meraki. “The Meraki Solar and Meraki Outdoor will play an important role in our efforts to bring the next billion people online in the coming years.”

Formally launched just months ago, Meraki is already enabling Internet access around the globe. Today, more than 1,000 Meraki networks are up and running in more than 35 countries, providing access to about 40,000 users. Networks exist in a variety of economic and geographical landscapes – from urban networks in San Francisco, Portland and Caracas to rural networks in Alaska, Ecuador, and Brazil.

Some of the technical specifics of the Meraki Outdoor and Meraki Solar kit:

The Meraki Outdoor is an indoor/outdoor repeater that supports high gain and directional antennas and works with other Meraki repeaters to create robust networks. Features include:

- Unique industrial design (weatherproof plastics, easy to mount)
- Dual SSID supports public and private networks on the same connection
- Long-range support (400-700 ft; 6-18 miles with point-to-point antenna)
- 2 x 100Mbit Ethernet ports
- Low-cost: $99
The Meraki Solar accessory kit enables consumers to power their outdoor Wi-Fi with solar energy and is ideal for rural or urban settings.

- First solar repeater for the consumer market
- Regulates its own energy usage, providing up to 3x energy efficiency
- Pricing will be set this summer but the Meraki Solar will clearly be the most affordable option on the market
Both Meraki Solar and the Meraki Outdoor are expected to ship late this year.

Meraki’s mesh networking enables anyone to easily and affordably install wireless networks in their home, apartment building, or across a city. The mesh topology enables multiple people to share one Internet connection, significantly changing the cost of Internet access. The Meraki system includes inexpensive hardware, network management tools, and online billing services.

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MobileIron: A Matter of Trust

Had a very interesting conversation this week about the evolving trust model for mobile security in the enterprise.  I was talking to Terry R, who focuses on risk management and compliance, and he was telling me how his company's perimeter security strategy needs to fundamentally change. 

As he put it:  "Our challenge is that our infrastructure, applications, and databases are designed for a perimeterized world.  Our systems rely on a strong perimeter.  We need to tear that perimeter down."
The catalyst for the conversation was smartphones, which operate almost constantly outside the perimeter.  Since the perimeter is no longer "reliable", security becomes a matter of trust.  Which device do I trust with which data for which user under which circumstance?  The same questions, certainly, as existed before smartphone adoption.  But the answers are now much more difficult to pin down.  The trust model for mobile is a rapidly moving target.  New operating systems appear every year.  New devices appear every week.  New consumer apps appear every minute.  And end-users constantly set and change the debate.

How does a security team keep up?  The more rigid ones will likely fall behind.  The nimble ones will adopt a flexible mindset that can trade effectively between security and privacy, usability and control.  Protecting enterprise data without compromising end-user experience will be the goal.  A dynamic but rational model of trust that can operationalize the model below will be one of the important tools.


(Thanks, Terry, for the ideas behind this post)

http://mobileiron.com/blog/2010/06/a-matter-of-trust/

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OpSource Recognized as a Top Ten Cloud Computing “Leader to Watch”

OpSource, Inc., the leader in enterprise cloud and managed hosting, today announced that Datamation.com recently recognized the company as one of the top ten cloud computing "leaders to watch" in a list which also included IBM and others.
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Meraki Enhances Network Insight Technology With Apple iPad Fingerprinting

Meraki, the cloud-based wireless networking company, today announced that its Network Insight technology now fingerprints Apple iPads, aiding wireless network administrators in analyzing and supporting their networks.

Network Insight is a technology unique to Meraki's Enterprise Wireless LAN, wherein Meraki's access points perform application-level inspection on wireless traffic, capturing forensics information used by network administrators to analyze network activity and troubleshoot client issues. The technology identifies network events (DNS, ARP, HTTP, etc), and client information such as the NetBios name, MAC address, operating system, and device make and model. This deep packet inspection operates at line-rate, with no drop in performance.

Once captured, this data is uploaded to the Enterprise Cloud Controller, Meraki's hosted network intelligence platform, allowing a network administrator to access the entire network's data from Meraki's browser-based Dashboard management tool.

With the enhancements announced today, Network Insight distinguishes Apple iPads from other devices running the iPhone OS, namely iPhones and iPod Touches.

"There is incredible excitement around the iPad, yet network administrators are eyeing it with caution," said Kiren Sekar, Product Marketing Manager at Meraki. "After the iPad's well-publicized DHCP renewal bug, as well as the potential for significant bandwidth consumption, administrators need visibility into their networks to see the iPad's impact and to support their users. Meraki's enhancements to Network Insight make this simple."

In use at MIT CSAIL network (covering MIT's largest interdepartmental laboratory), Network Insight identified iPads as a significant driver of wireless traffic. For the week ending May 21st, iPads made up 9 percent of all iPhone OS devices on the network yet consumed more than half of the bandwidth. The average iPad user transferred more than 300MB over the week, compared to an average of 31MB for iPhone users and 12MB for iPod Touch users. Over all, 40 iPads transferred 13.3GB, out of a total of 4192 devices that had transferred nearly 1TB of wireless data.

"The visibility that Meraki provides into their wireless solution is invaluable in understanding our network and supporting our users", says Jack Costanza, Assistant Director at MIT CSAIL. "Meraki removes the guesswork and uncertainty as we encounter new devices like the iPad that require us to adapt to new usage patterns."

iPad fingerprinting is available immediately for all Meraki Enterprise Cloud Controller customers.

About Meraki:
Meraki offers enterprise-class wireless networks at a fraction of the cost and complexity of traditional networking vendors. Using Meraki's unique cloud-based architecture, an administrator can configure thousands of Meraki access points over the web through a single interface. The company's customers include small-to-medium sized businesses, global hotel chains, and world-class educational institutions. Meraki wireless networks serve millions of users on over 15,000 networks in more than 140 countries. Meraki is located in San Francisco, California, and is funded in part by Sequoia Capital and Google. Follow Meraki on Facebook and Twitter. For more information, go to www.meraki.com.

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