AU Blogspot

             Thanks to David Cardoso for permission to use this Photo. 

Ten years ago the big upgrade in network speed was from 10 MB to 100 MB.  Organizations quickly began upgrading their LAN infrastructures to take advantage of this increase in performance.  This meant of course that CAT 3 cable had to be replaced with CAT 5 cable and all the switches and routers that couldn’t handle 100 MB had to be replaced.  Most organizations had to upgrade the NICs in all of their computers as well.  Five years ago, organizations started upgrading their datacenter structure to 1 Gig for all of their servers in order to enlarge the pipeline of data moving into and out of the datacenter from users. 

Although some organizations have provided 1 Gig throughput for their entire network, meaning that once again most switches, routers and NICs have to be replaced, many have not felt that the return on investment (ROI) is worth it.  Despite this, vendors are now touting the new 10 Gig Ethernet standard.   It will be interesting to see what type of demand for a speed that will most definitely require an organization to upgrade all involved switches and routers and NICS.  The cabling for 10 Gig is different as well.  

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

There are not many people who can seriously put into question the projected dominance of  Google search technology in the future evolution of the Internet.  Through his brilliantly engineered software architecture and conceptual maps of its' potential applications, supergenius Tim Berners-Lee, the acknowledged inventor of the World Wide Web, has for years been carrying his message of a "semantic web" that will make the current incarnation of the web seem like your Dad's Rolodex by comparison. 

In Berners-Lee vision, the next generation of web technology will be semantic, i.e. all data will be interconnected and capable of communicating with other "information"  through a common language so speak.  The following article discusses the development of the semantic web alongside the related, but not parallel development of Google’s search, mapping, and tracking applications.  Berners-Lee is not anti-Google, but he is passionately against the centralization of web data and any form of proprietary control over Internet content. 

I also encourage you to check out this very insightful video presentation in which Berners-Lee takes you on a virtual tour of the Web from its’ beginnings into tomorrow.  This is fascinating stuff.   Please share your thoughts with the Ashworth Blog community after brainstorming on your own.   
 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University    

               Thanks to Nick Cueva for permission to use this Photo. 

There isn’t a profitable business segment today that isn’t competitive and that even includes the SPAMMING industry.  Two of the biggest Spamming organizations, Nugache and Storm are currently going at each other head to head to dominate the SPAM/malware market.  Yes, there is a market for SPAM and malware.  Surprised?  These organizations are not owned and operated by legitimate business people.  No in is yet sure who is behind Storm but many IT security experts feel that Nugache is linked to the Russian Mob, aka the Russian Business Network. 

Both of these organizations distribute SPAM through Zombie networks and both have been involved in highly criminal activities.  Zombie networks are composed of PC’s across the globe, which have been compromised by some type of Trojan Horse which allows the Zombie controllers to then use them to send SPAM, conduct phishing attacks or other types of illegal activities.   Each of these organizations control hundreds of thousands of computers.  Take Storm for example.  Some IT security experts have estimated that the Storm Zombie network, called the Storm Botnet, runs anywhere from one to fifty million computer systems.   Even the most conservative estimates place the size somewhere around 150,000 to one million.  The Storm Botnet in 2007 accounted for 8% of all malware on Microsoft Windows computers. 

This year, Storm has an extremely viable competitor, Nugache.  Although its zombie technology is not as sophisticated as Storm’s (for instance, Storm is somehow able to send SPAM in the native language of the receiver while Nugache cannot) Nugache has a big thing going for it right now, price.  In an attempt to unseat Storm from its botnet dominance, Nugache has initiated a price war.  Nugache will send one million emails for only $100.  For $800 you can send 10 million emails. 

It is because of the ridiculously meager amount of money that is required to SPAM a million people that SPAMMING is very profitable, even if the response rate to SPAM is only .01%.   It is the sophistication of these controllable zombie networks that worry IT security professionals.  Many fear that the current war for control of the malware market is only the beginning of this illegal destructive industry.

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

 
                 Thanks to David K for permission to use this Photo.

Back in 2000, we were constantly told that the world was running out of IP addresses.  This was because IPV4, the IP standard we use for IP addresses only has so many mathematical combinations, thus there is a defined limit to the number of IP addresses that can be utilized.  Due to the wide spread use of IP in the world, a usage rate far beyond what the creators of IP ever visualized; the IT world was stressing out as to how to address the problem.  The solution was a new standard called IPV6 which introduced more bits into the addressing scheme.  In turn, millions of additional mathematical combinations were created, resulting in an equal number of additional IP addresses.   

Unfortunately, IPV6 is more complicated than its predecessor, requiring a degree of training for networking professionals.  We were told back then that IPV6 would be implemented by the middle of the decade and alleviate the crisis. 

Well guess what?  It’s 2008 and the world hasn’t run out of IP addresses which is why IPV6 is barely used in the industry today.  This is because of the wide popularity of NAT, Network Address Translation, which is used by most organizations that have a WAN presence.   

For those unfamiliar with NAT, Network Address Translation allows a single device, such as a router to act as an agent between the Internet (or “public network”) and a local (or “private”) network. This means that only a single, unique IP address is required to represent an entire group of computers.  This isn’t to say that IPV6 will wither on the vine.  As of right now, government offices are required to transition to IPV6 within the next couple of years and other organizations are planning such an implementation in the future, but IPV4 is and will continue to be alive and well for some time to come.

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

              Thanks to Jamie Hladky for permission to use this Photo. 

You have to learn how to crawl before you learn how to walk, but once you learn a foundation of IT skills in Ashworth University’s information technology programs and anchor yourself in the IT labor force, here are the ten hottest tech skill sets you should aim to learn in the next five years according to Tech Republic.

1. Voice over IP - sales of pure IP PBX systems for the first quarter of 2007 increased 76% over the first quarter of the previous year 
2. Unified Communications - the convergence of different communications technologies, such as e-mail, voicemail, text messaging, and fax 
3. Hybrid Networks – Networks are no longer all Windows or all Linux, they are a hodgepodge of different systems and IT pros need to learn more than one of them.   
4. Wireless Technologies – everything’s going wireless it seems.    
5. Remote User Support – with more employees working off-site today, help support personnel must provide remote support to anywhere. 
6. Mobile User Support – more and more organizations are providing blackberries and other smart portable devices for their employees that must be supported. 
7. Software-as-a-Service – or SaaS as it is referred to in technical articles.  With the popularity of Web 2.0, the trend is to now provide software applications over the Internet rather than installing them on each and every computer. 
8. Virtualization – With the dominance of VMWare and the soon to be released 2008 Virtual Application from Microsoft, virtualization is THE buzzword today along with its countless benefits. 
9. IPv6 – Although this standard has not grown in popularity as of yet, mostly because the wide usage of NAT has allowed us to not run out of IP addresses on the Internet as fast as predicted, this standard is going to come about within the next five years.
10. Security - A skill set that will probably always be in the top 10. 

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician/Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

                   Thanks to פיקוס for permission to use this Photo.

If you are in the IT Field or considering getting into it, you don’t need rose colored glasses to see a promising future for yourself.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that IT will be the fastest growing sector of our economy for the next ten years.  They also report that the three fastest growing jobs in the US are network system and data communication analysts, computer systems analysts and software application engineers.  In fact, in just about any top ten list, you will find IT has the most positions of any field.Now couple this tremendous growth with the following statistic:

The labor force for the 25 to 54 age group in IT will only grow at a dismal .2% between 2006 and 2016. 

Do you want to be in demand for the next decade?  Stay committed to your program studies and your hard work will pay off.  The bottom line is that it’s important to obtain as many skill sets as you can in the rapidly expanding IT industry.  If you need assistance with your lessons, I encourage you to reach out to me in the comments section of this blog.  I always look forward to hearing from my students!

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

 
         Thanks to Isaac Wayton for permission to use this Photograph.

IT has already been paying close attention to the green revolution as it applies to technology.  Last year, the Chief Network Engineer for Google came out with a startling quote, “If the performance per watt of today’s computers doesn’t improve, the electrical costs of running them could end up far greater than the initial hardware price tag.”  Consider that while a typical server in the 2000 consumed only 100W of power, the average server today consumes at least four times as much.

To compound this, the number of servers in networked organizations has expanded drastically in the past decade as the ccommon practice up to now for server management was to allow rack-mounted servers to run just one workload.  This is exemplified by a 2005 study by Stanford University that showed that Servers in the United States and their attendant cooling systems consumed 45 billion kilowatt-hours of energy in 2005. That’s more than Mississippi and 19 other states. 

Now factor in the exploding economies of China and India and the number of servers they are putting on line each day and one can easily recognize the strain on resources that the IT industry is levying on the world.  It leaders across the country are recognizing that the current network model is unsustainable in the years ahead under realistic budgetary constraints.  Energy consumption is one more reason why more and more organizations are turning to virtual servers, centralized storage and virtual or multi-user desktops. 

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

 
                              Image courtesy of 80stees.

In a surprise announcement, Microsoft vowed to increase the openness of its key products!

Yes this is still February, April 1st is several weeks away yet!

So what did Microsoft say in this release? Well,

Specifically, Microsoft is implementing four new interoperability principles and corresponding actions across its high-volume business products: (1) ensuring open connections; (2) promoting data portability; (3) enhancing support for industry standards; and (4) fostering more open engagement with customers and the industry, including open source communities

Several times in the last few years I have advocated for Microsoft to Open Source Windows and Internet Explorer and while this announcement doesn’t go that far, it does seem to be a step in the right direction.

According to Microsoft’s CEO-in-waiting and current Chief Software Architect, Ray Ozzie

“Customers need all their vendors, including and especially Microsoft, to deliver software and services that are flexible enough such that any developer can use their open interfaces and data to effectively integrate applications or to compose entirely new solutions,” said Ozzie. “By increasing the openness of our products, we will provide developers additional opportunity to innovate and deliver value for customers.”

The Microsoft products this refers to are Windows Vista (including the .NET Framework), Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, Office 2007, Exchange Server 2007, and Office SharePoint Server 2007, and future versions of all these products. (more…)

                          Image courtesy of Stephanie Simpson.

I enjoyed this insightful video interview on the growing power of Participatory Web Media.  The interviewees are acknowledged in the industry as leading figures in the social media marketing realm.  You’ll notice their cynicism regarding companies who attempt to “spin” or manipulate social media with little understanding of new media culture.  I agree that these companies are doomed to fail in the online market.  As an internet marketer, you can’t just follow the ”buzz.”  You have to understand the the ”buzz” and relate to it from the consumers’ perspective.  After you’ve done your research, you can begin figuring out where your business might fit in and ultimately add value to the consumers’ experience.  Continue working hard through your program studies.  There are exciting careers waiting for those who dedicate themselves to their education and training.  I believe you can be one of these dedicated people with bright futures.  Stay focused.      

Cheryl Syrett
Internet Marketing Instructor
Ashworth University

               Thanks to radiorover for permission to use this Photo.

The following interview with Robert Moore illustrates the apathy that is still amazingly apparent in the IT industry today despite the strong awareness of IT vulnerabilities and the importance of tightening security for all organizations and even home users.  It also shows how easy it is for even computer novices to break into network devices.   

A quick Google search for sites showing the default passwords for just about any computer or network device sold on the market in the past decade can be easily found.  Many of these sites are not developed for malicious purposes.  The fact is that network devices are constantly resold and recycled.  This requires that the device be reset to its default configuration to erase the settings made by the original owner.  In order for the new owner to configure the device, he or she must know the default password credentials in order to access the device.  Because the original device documentation is often missing, these default password sites are vital. 

These sites make it even more important to immediately change the password for any newly purchased network device.  Recently, I heard a high school student inform me that he regularly accesses his neighbor’s wireless router by using the default logon for the device.  By doing this, the student can use his neighbor’s DSL connection for free.

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University