Monday, September 24, 2012

How Does WAN Optimization Work?




WAN optimization can work wonders for spread out enterprise networks, reducing latency, relieving congestion and speeding up bandwidth-hungry Web apps. Learn how this technology works.


WAN optimization controllers (WOCs) can breathe new life into slow wide area network links, relieving congestion, speeding up file transfers and making applications more responsive. But how exactly do vendors like Riverbed Technology, Juniper Networks, Blue Coat Systems and Expand Networks get their devices to work their magic?


  • They have limited capacity, so they can become congested
  • They suffer from high latency because they are long (relative to  LAN links)
  • Caching
  • Compression
  • Data reduction
  • Latency reduction
  • Quality of Service (QoS) tagging
  • Packet coalescing
CachingCompressionData ReductionLatency ReductionQuality of Service (Qos)Packet Coalescing



To answer this question, consider the two fundamental problems that WAN links present:
The best strategy for overcoming these two problems is simply to avoid using the WAN links whenever possible, and to minimize their use when it's not possible to avoid them. It's this strategy that underpins all the techniques that WOCs employ to optimize WAN traffic.
These most commonly used techniques include:
This is one of the most obvious ways of improving WAN performance. When a file is transferred over a WAN, say from a head office to a branch office, a copy of it is cached by the branch office's WOC. When other users in the branch office request the same file, the request is intercepted by the WOC before it goes over the WAN link, and the file is served locally from the device's cache.  Changes made to files in any location are communicated across the network to ensure that files are always kept in sync.
Using caching, the first access of any file is still slow because it still has to pass over the WAN before it can be cached it's only subsequent accesses that are much faster. To speed up the first access, the cache can be pre-populated overnight with commonly used files so that they are immediately available in the cache the following day.
This is another obvious step that can be taken to boost WAN performance. It tackles the problem of limited bandwidth by reducing the amount of data that has to be sent over the WAN using a variety of data compression techniques.
Some WOCs also include header compression, which can reduce the size of packet headers dramatically. This is particularly effective when the size of the header is large compared to the size of the rest of the packet.
Data reduction works like a combination of compression and caching. Driven by the principle that the best way of overcoming the problems presented by a WAN is not to use it if possible, a WOC using data reduction examines data as it travels over the WAN, and stores data it receives. If it detects a piece of data that it has already transmitted in a file that it is sending, that byte sequence is removed, and is replaced with a reference. When the WOC at the remote office receives the reference it can then retrieve that piece of data from its own cache and substitute it back in. This avoids transmitting over the WAN any data that has already been sent – even as part of a completely different file. In some circumstances the amount of data traveling over a WAN can be reduced by 75 percent or more using data reduction techniques.
Latency, as mentioned earlier, can be a problem with WANs. This is particularly true when dealing with "chatty" protocols like Common Internet File System (CIFS). CIFS (and other CIFS implementations like Samba on Linux) are frequently  used when remote disks are browsed and files are transferred across a WAN, but the protocol was never really intended for use over high latency links. The term "chatty" refers to the fact that in order to send data (in chunks of no more than 61kb) a large number of background communications has to travel back and forth over the WAN link. For example, the next chunk of data will only start to be sent over the network once a response has been received for the previous one. Hundreds or thousands of communications have to be sent across the WAN during the process of sending a single file, and due to the high latency of the WAN this means that accessing a file which would be more or less instantaneous on a LAN can take several minutes on a WAN.
The way that WOCs deal with this problem is by understanding that a file transfer is taking place, and pre-sending some or all of the file to the remote WOC as quickly as it can. Protocol communications at the remote end destined to for server at head office are then intercepted by the remote WOC which generates the appropriate response, so that much of the protocol "chat" never actually crosses the WAN—it is dealt with by the WOC, which  already has the file that the protocol is trying to transfer.
As long as the WOC "understands" a particular protocol, it can be used to accelerate transmissions—whether they are at the down at the TCP level, or up at the application level.
QoS is complex, although the underlying idea is simple. Traffic is identified, usually by its application, source, or destination, and given a priority for transmission over the WAN. This may include how long it has to wait before being sent over the WAN, or the amount of available bandwidth reserved for a given application. The result is to ensure that time sensitive packets, such as VoIP packets, are sent as quickly as possible - at the expense of less time sensitive packets during busy periods.
Packet coalescing is useful in circumstances where the packet header is large relative to the size of the data it is transporting. In essence it saves bandwidth by consolidating multiple packets into a single (coalesced) packet, with a single header. This can make save considerable amounts of bandwidth, especially in applications like VoIP.
All of the WOCs sold into this multi-billion dollar market  offer some combination of the techniques mentioned above. The results speak for themselves: applications running up to 50 times faster, file transfers reduced from minutes to seconds, and WAN bandwidth requirements as much as halved. It's no surprise that over the last few years the market for WAN optimization controllers has been very strong indeed.

What is Riverbed and how does it work?




There are many types of WAN accelerators on the market right now, Riverbed has managed to stay ahead in the Gartner magic quadrant reports, and has led the field in this arena.
In summary, Riverbed devices are deployed on either end of a connection, typically a WAN or high latency connection, the devices will peer with each other and then build up tables in what Riverbed calls SDR (scaleable data referencing).
In simple terms imagine an IP conversation across a network is comprised of packets of data, if you think of these packets as words in a conversation it makes Riverbed easy to understand.
So using this example each packet equals a "word" in a conversation so if we had a short statement which said "THE BROWN DOG" when the conversation flowed through each Steelhead it will add these 'words' to its database and give each word a unique reference.
Next time the edge device sees one of these words. instead of sending the whole word(packet) it sends the reference only across the WAN link, then the remote site Steelhead rebuilds this packet and sends it out LAN side.
What this means is common and repetitive data which runs across WAN and high latency connections can be drastically reduced, if you think of emails as an example they often contain header information and signatures/logos etc, all of this equates to many packets of data which are sent repeatedly across the WAN.
The Steelheads will do run SDR on all types of TCP traffic by default but as well as this they also have specific optimisation streams for common 'chatty' types of traffic as well which optimise these even further.
These include: CIFS (including encrypted SMB1 and SMB2), HTTP(S), Oracle forms, MAPI (Exchange), SQL, NFS, Lotus Notes, Citrix (ICA and Session reliabilty), FCIP and SRDF.
In the deployments we manage at SAS we have seen drastic reductions in areas such as print traffic (again something which sends a lot of repeat information) and especially CIFS (such as Windows mapped drives) and MAPI (Outlook to Exchange conversations) The end result gives the user a much more LAN-like experience when working either remotely or in a remote office.
For mobile workers Riverbed has a mobile client which runs on laptops and acts as a built-in accelerator. This enables remote/home working to be much faster and more productive by indirectly reducing the latency of working on Internet connections. This mobile client works in the same way as an appliance with SDR but uses the local hard drive to store its database and reference

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

How to Deal With Arrogant People


By understanding what causes someone to be arrogant, you will gain the insight of who they really are. You will see what they’re trying to mask with their arrogance. You will understand what makes them hurt. You may develop compassion to better deal with them.
Causes of Arrogance
Arrogance is caused by insecurities and low self esteem. It’s a behavior people resort to, in order to cover up their feelings of inferiority. They wish to come off as very secure and well liked. And they don’t want to have anyone challenge them as they don’t do well with criticism.
Arrogant people are driven by the need for approval. When they express themselves in a bullying fashion, they are looking for validation from themselves and others. When they don’t receive it, they feel threatened and insecure. If you’re interested to know how to deal with arrogant people, read on.
1. Have Good Self Esteem
Having good self esteem will help you to deal with arrogant people. Whether your goal is to befriend, or to keep an arrogant person at a distance, good self esteem will protect you from getting hurt by them. Stay firm in your believes and principals.
2. Get Along
Arrogant people are still people. Sometimes, choosing to get along with them is the wisest path. Getting along with an arrogant person is usually quiet simple. All you have to do is accept them for who they are and agree with their point of view. Complimenting an arrogant person will go a long way as they thrive on recognition, compliments and approval.
3. Keep the Distance
On the other hand, keeping them at a distance will require that you honestly express your position to them. Do not let them think they are superior to you. Also, by simply avoiding giving them your approval and attention, you will cause them to stay away.
This also applies to keeping away from a confrontation. If you see that your encounter with an arrogant person is digressing, don’t let it escalate into a fight. It’s unhealthy, and will not resolve the issue. Getting away from this situation will let you regroup and rethink your approach for the future.
4. Find Humor
It’s important to keep things in perspective when dealing with arrogance. Looking at your encounter with a good sense of humor will often let both parties relax and enjoy the moment. Don’t get caught up in the battle of egos. This won’t accomplish anything.
In Conclusion
It’s good to keep in mind that most arrogant people aren’t arrogant by choice. It’s a defense mechanism they learned to use for self preservation. Something in their past is keeping them on guard. They may have fears or pains stemming from their childhood. Working out their past will greatly improve their personality.
If you care about the person, suggest they resolve their issues themselves or by seeking counseling. Everyone will benefit from peaceful and harmonious relationships and interactions. After all, we’re all on the same side!
Live well. Vlad

Monday, January 16, 2012

This One’s for Mr. Rams

For reasons best known to them Braun hasn't yet re-entered the entertainment segment. For the moment it's just appliances, grooming & healthcare products and design competitions from their end. So if they were to venture into the entertainment market, how do you think their speakers or an iPod docking station be? Tim Wieland has a fair view of how he'd like them to shape their speakers + dock and I think it's very Dieter Rams.

Designer: Tim Wieland

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

What’s Your Pee Telling You?!

There's no denying it! We've all monitored our urine's day to day qualities and wondered what it's telling us! It's smart to do so. The E-Urinal is a concept that will finally tell you. It measures PH, SG, URO, BLO, WBC, PRO, GLI, BIL, & KET (basically: sugar levels, PH, red/white blood cells, etc.) all while you pee! Just let it rip and check out your health score on the easy touch screen! Just remember to wash your hands…

We wanna know- would YOU use this in public? At home? Why or why not?

Designer: Royce Zhang


Monday, January 9, 2012

World's 50 Most Innovative Companies


A123 Systems
Why: Lithium-ion batteries make electric cars possible at mass-market prices.
Key innovation: Nanostructured electrodes result in lithium batteries more durable and safer than those in cell phones and laptops.
Akamai
Why: The exponential growth in traffic on the Web is possible because of services that route data intelligently.
Key innovation: Its algorithms optimize online routes for content delivery.
Amazon.com
Why: E-books are finally becoming a large, mainstream market.
Key innovation: Even as it seeded the e-book market with the Kindle, Amazon has made it easy for people to read e-books on other devices, such as the iPad.
American Superconductor
Why: Smart electrical grids and more efficient power cables can help save money and energy.
Key innovation: Underground superconductor power cables using AMSC’s Amperium™ high temperature superconductor wire can carry up to 10 times as much electricity as conventional copper cables.
Amyris
Why: Advanced biofuels could help reduce the use of gasoline and diesel.
Key innovation: Its genetically engineered yeast turns sugars into a building block of diesel fuel, which is usable in the existing transportation infrastructure.
Apple
Why: The rest of the consumer electronics industry is scrambling to catch up to the iPad. The iPhone still sets the standard for smart phones, even if its market share slips.
Key innovation: Its limited lineup of mobile devices all run on the same easy-to-use software.
Applied Materials
Why: Powerful computing devices are proliferating because of chips that incorporate ever-smaller features without rising in price.
Key innovation: Its machines can make chips that have both vertical and horizontal connections, to pack in more computing power.
ARM Holdings
Why: It is redesigning smart phones and tablets so that they'll use much less power and need recharging less often.
Key innovation: Developed energy-efficient customizable chips for mobile devices.
Complete Genomics
Why: Many doctors and researchers lack the resources to sequence genomes and analyze them themselves.
Key innovation: Sells sequencing as a service, analyzing DNA samples that customers send in.
First Solar
Why: New types of photovoltaics are reducing the cost of solar power.
Key innovation: "Thin-film" solar panels based on cadmium telluride, which are cheaper than conventional silicon panels, have made the company one of the world's largest photovoltaic manufacturers.
Geron
Why: Embryonic stem cells provide a potential source of replacement tissue for use in treating an array of degenerative diseases and injuries.
Key innovation: Has begun clinical trials for a spinal-cord therapy derived from these cells.
Goldwind Science and Technology
Why: Increasing the time that turbines are operational will lower the cost of wind power.
Key innovation: Co-developed a direct-drive wind turbine that eliminates the need for a gearbox. Having fewer moving parts reduces the chance of costly mechanical failure.
Google
Why: It still sets the agenda in Web search, even as it pushes the development of Android for mobile devices.
Key innovation: Its software development process remains relatively fast even as the company has gotten very big.
HTC
Why: Smart phones that run Android have become an alternative to Apple's mobile devices.
Key innovation: Designed well-crafted devices in partnerships with Google and wireless carriers.
IBM
Why: Computing can transform infrastructure such as electric grids and traffic control systems.
Key innovation: Is drawing on its research expertise and that of software companies it's acquired to develop services for many infrastructure industries and expand the market for information technologies.
iRobot
Why: Robots can save lives by doing jobs too dangerous for people.
Key innovation: Its small, agile robots can detect and dispose of explosive devices for the military.
Life Technologies
Why: Quick, cheap DNA sequencing will lead to new diagnostic tests and targeted treatments.
Key innovation: Its desktop gene-sequencing machine costs $50,000, about a 10th as much as other machines.
Netflix
Why: Inexpensive video on demand, delivered over the Internet, undercuts cable and points the way to a likely future for TV.
Key innovation: Built demand for a streaming video service by including it free with DVD-by-mail subscriptions.
Nissan
Why: Mainstream use of electric cars could benefit the environment, especially where power is produced relatively cleanly.
Key innovation: Nissan's new electric car, the Leaf, has a reasonably modest sticker price of $32,000.
Novartis
Why: Understanding molecular pathways of rare diseases can shed light on common ones.
Key innovation: Introduced the first medication for patients with benign brain tumors associated with a particular genetic disorder; now the drug is approved for treatment of kidney cancer and is in testing for other types.
Pacific Biosciences
Why: DNA sequencing provides a way to detect microbes in the environment and monitor the spread of viruses in our bodies.
Key innovation:Its sequencing machine can read single strands of DNA in real time.
Roche
Why: Drugs that target genetic mutations unique to cancer cells may be more effective than ones that act more broadly.
Key innovation: A new drug blocks the effects of a mutation thought to be present in as many as 8 percent of all cancers.
Siemens
Why: Improving the electric grid is crucial to making alternative energy sources less expensive.
Key innovation: Developed wind turbines and other technologies for different aspects of the electric grid, from generation to transmission to distribution.
Suntech
Why: Extremely large-scale production of solar panels is reducing the technology's cost.
Key innovation: Developed its own solar cells and equipment for manufacturing them cheaply.
Toyota
Why: Hybrid cars can significantly reduce gasoline consumption by using an electric motor alongside a gasoline engine.
Key innovation: A market leader with its Prius model, it is developing battery technologies that are helping to make these cars less expensive and more energy-efficient.

Private Companies

BIND Biosciences
Why: Targeting cancer drugs narrowly to tumor cells will improve efficacy and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.
Key innovation: Its delivery system uses engineered nanoparticles to deliver drugs to specific cells.
BrightSource Energy
Why: It efficiently produces solar thermal power, which focuses sunlight to heat water into steam.
Key innovation: A boiler is heated directly with sunlight that bounces off mirrors.
Calxeda
Why: Its technology can reduce the cost of computing in data centers.
Key innovation: Runs servers with cell-phone chips rather than processors built on industry--standard designs, which are more power-hungry.
Cellular Dynamics International
Why: Screening drugs on human heart cells will help researchers find treatments for cardiac problems and test drugs for toxic side effects.
Key innovation: Uses induced pluripotent stem cells to make large numbers of heart cells for testing.
Claros Diagnostics
Why: Simple, fast diagnostic tests can help physicians track disease-related markers.
Key innovation: Its microfluidic device for doctors' offices can quickly detect elevated protein levels associated with prostate cancer.
Cotendo
Why: Web applications must get faster and feel much more responsive to users if cloud computing is to keep growing.
Key innovation: Its technology efficiently routes traffic across the Internet and makes websites faster.
Crowdcast
Why: Corporate decision-making gets smarter if it taps the insights of rank-and-file employees.
Key innovation: Private prediction markets let employees forecast the results of corporate choices.
eSolar
Why: Reducing the cost of constructing solar thermal plants will make them more competitive with fossil-fuel plants.
Key innovation: Software controls the mirrors that focus rays from the sun, eliminating the need to position them by hand.
Facebook
Why: Social networking on the Web is becoming a powerful advertising medium and a platform for startups that offer add-on services.
Key innovation: Adapts quickly to shape its site into a medium that advertisers consistently want to use.
Groupon
Why: By encouraging millions of people to sign up for quirky daily advertising e-mails, Groupon has created one of the fastest-growing revenue generators on the Web.
Key innovation: Offers local businesses a way to guarantee a return on their promotional budget, thereby tapping into a huge advertising pool that has eluded many Web companies.
Joule Unlimited
Why: Biofuels could be far cheaper if they weren't made from corn, sugarcane, and other forms of biomass.
Key innovation: Designed microbes that convert carbon dioxide and water directly into fuels.
Lattice Power
Why: Light-emitting diodes are an energy-efficient option for lighting in buildings and homes, but they are still expensive.
Key innovation: Its low-cost process produces LEDs on the same equipment used to make semiconductors.
Layar
Why: Augmented reality enhances the value of a mobile device, employing its camera and GPS and displaying information about the user's surroundings.
Key innovation: Its development platform lets businesses and advertisers add AR functions to their own apps.
Lyric Semiconductor
Why: Computer chips that operate with probabilities instead of binary logic could speed applications such as fraud analysis and machine vision.
Key innovation: Its microprocessor uses electronic signals to represent probabilities rather than binary 0s and 1s.
Novomer
Why: Biodegradable plastics that aren't made from petroleum offer several environmental benefits.
Key innovation: Its polymer-¬manufacturing processes use carbon dioxide to make plastics needed for packaging.
PrimeSense
Why: User interfaces based on gesture recognition make possible new applications in gaming and everyday computing.
Key innovation: Developed the 3-D sensor system that Microsoft's Kinect device uses to track movement.
Serious Materials
Why: Retrofitting existing buildings is a cost-effective way to increase energy efficiency.
Key innovation: Mass-produces windows with energy-saving features such as coatings and gas insulating layers.
Silver Spring Networks
Why: Computer intelligence in the electric grid will make energy distribution more efficient.
Key innovation: Developed hardware and software that standardize the way disparate parts of the grid communicate.
SpaceX
Why: Budget cuts will force NASA to rely on private companies for supply missions and other tasks.
Key innovation: Introduced a low-cost production method for everything from rocket engines to astronaut capsules.
Square
Why: Expanding the use of mobile payments will help small businesses.
Key innovation: Built technology that lets anyone accept credit cards using smart phones.
Synthetic Genomics
Why: Genetically engineered microbes are a promising way to make biofuels.
Key innovation: Created synthetic bacterial cells, possibly paving the way for organisms specifically tailored to make fuels.
1366 Technologies
Why: Conventional solar power is still too expensive to compete with fossil fuels, in part because of the cost of manufacturing silicon-based solar cells.
Key innovation: Developed a cheaper method for making silicon wafers, the most expensive component of a solar module.
Twitter
Why: Now that the company has begun to make money from its large user base, a service that has woven its way into everyday life is more likely to stick around.
Key innovation: Its business model offers selected opportunities for advertisers while drawing income from deals that let search engines index its content.
Ushahidi
Why: Web tools can help people respond to crises such as earthquakes and political protests.
Key innovation: Its open-source crowdsourcing tool overlays field reports on maps, providing critical and often life-saving data during emergencies.
Zynga
Why: Companies are building ¬businesses inside platforms like Facebook.
Key innovation: Its social games offer people a new way to interact online.