Tag: networks

Senao Networks Unveils SX904 SmartNIC: A Breakthrough in High-Performance Networking

Senao Networks, a leading network solution provider, proudly announces its launch of SX904 SmartNIC based on the Intel NetSec Accelerator Reference Design. This cutting-edge NIC, harnessing the power of PCIe Gen4 technology and fueled by the Intel XeonD processor, sets an unprecedented standard in high-performance network computing. Senao will showcase a system demonstration at the Intel booth during the upcoming MWC in Barcelona, 26th to 29th of February, 2024.

As transformative shift in networking edge, enterprises are increasingly leaning on scalable edge infrastructure. In order to cater the demands of workloads, low latency, local data processing, and robust security, SX904 marks a significant leap forward.

The combination of Intel XeonD processor, PCIe Gen4 technology, dual 25G SFP28 support, and DDR4 ECC memory support enables the SX904 to achieve unparalleled data transfer rates and maximum bandwidth utilization, ideal for modern server architectures. It provides higher performance from the latest Intel Xeon D processor and Intel Ethernet Controller E810 and supports the latest Intel Platform Firmware Resilience, BMC, and TPM2.0. SX904 enables the seamless offload of applications optimized for Intel architecture with zero changes, optimizing performance transmission effortlessly into an Intel-based server in PCIe add-in-card form factor.

“Senao Networks is proud to introduce the groundbreaking SX904 SmartNIC, setting a new standard in high-performance networking. Our collaboration with Intel has propelled us to redefine industry benchmarks, delivering unparalleled excellence in networking technology.” –  Bou Lin, President of Senao Networks.

Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) to participate in the 2023 EuCNC & 6G Summit Event

The Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) is proud to announce its participation in the upcoming European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC) and 6G Summit joint event in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 6-9 June 2023. This event will bring together experts in the field of networks and communications from across the world to discuss the latest research and innovations in 5G, 6G and future communications systems.

Launched in 2022, the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) is an EU funding body that drives research and innovation in the field of smart networks and services, with the ultimate goal of enhancing the digital infrastructure of the future and building Europe’s leadership in this area. The SNS JU currently supports 35 Research and Innovation (R&I) projects across 9 key technological areas and with over €250 million of investment. These ongoing projects are now reaching milestones in their respective fields. Some 25 more projects should start at the beginning of 2024.

The SNS JU was instrumental in advancing the field of networks and services – particularly in the context of the upcoming 6G technology. It works closely with the 5G Public-Private Partnership (5G PPP) to ensure a seamless transition from 5G to 6G, with the aim of creating a robust and reliable digital infrastructure in Europe.
The 2023 EuCNC & 6G Summit focuses on all aspects of telecommunications ranging from 5G deployment and mobile Internet of Things (IoT) to 6G exploration and future communications systems and networks, bringing together cutting-edge research, and world-renowned industries and businesses. In past editions, the event has attracted over 1,300 delegates from 40 countries and featured over 70 exhibitors.

Director for Future Networks at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) Pearse O’Donohue will open the event.
“We are all using 4G. 5G is being introduced. And 6G is something that is coming at the end of the decade. So it is important that we already start the research in this area, so we make sure we have the necessary technology ready for our economy, services and our society”, Peter Stuckmann, Interim Executive Director of the SNS JU stated in a recent interview.

Colin Willcock, Chairman of the SNS JU Governing Board and the 6G Industry Association (6G-IA) will also participate in the event. He underlines “what is unique about the SNS JU is that it’s a Public Private Partnership”. Indeed, funding for the SNS JU comes from both the public side (European Commission) and the private (European industry). “This way, we make sure we look at the right problems, so we create the right technology for European industry going forward”, Willcock concluded.
SNS projects will present their latest developments at the event. The full programme and speakers can be found here: https://www.eucnc.eu/programme/

Host Ireland rebrands as Elio Networks ahead of Cork launch

Host Ireland has rebranded as Elio Networks ahead of its launch into the Cork market in April. The connectivity service provider is investing and expanding across Ireland in 2023, with launches in Limerick and in Galway later this year too

Elio Networks worked with Tribe, a Dublin based digital agency, to develop the rebrand.

David Russell, CEO of Elio Networks said: “Host Ireland is 25 years old. It grew out of a hosting business, but the name does not reflect what we do. We believe our new trading name and identity better communicates our goals and aspirations; it demonstrates our complete focus on offering better business connectivity solutions”.

“We worked to develop something clean, confident, and clear, that could be used across multiple jurisdictions. Our ambition isn’t just the Irish market; we want to look at a larger international expansion. We needed a brand and a name that would travel.”

The name is derived from Helios, the mythological sun god.

“If we don’t have the sun, we cannot live. Business cannot trade if it doesn’t have broadband. We are a connectivity and broadband player, but our business is moving towards business connectivity holistically,” Russell says.

Last year Elio Networks was acquired by Digital 9 Infrastructure, an investment business listed on the London Stock Exchange. Elio Networks currently operates its own fixed wireless network across Dublin and provides fibre connectivity globally.

“We believe in putting control back into the hands of our customers. We communicate throughout the install process, provide an install date that works for the customer, and have developed Elio Instant Fibre which is a unique industry product allowing next-day connectivity for customers,” Russell expands.

“We are uniquely positioned to do that because of our wholly-owned network and commitment to build out in urban areas. We want to change how businesses view connectivity.”

Countrywide Roll-Out

Elio Networks is investing and building infrastructure across Cork and is launching there next month. This will be followed by further investment and a launch in Limerick and in Galway before the end of the year.

“After that, we have an eye on international expansion. We believe that what we do, and the control we provide customers, isn’t replicated in many other countries, so we’re in a very good position to expand, backed by Digital 9 Infrastructure,” Russell continued.

“This time next year we will have an All-Ireland presence, servicing businesses across multiple connectivity options. Our focus is on challenging the Irish market, as we believe connectivity can be much better here; then we will look to international expansion.”

Palo Alto Networks Strengthens Its Protection for SaaS Applications and Reinforces ZTNA 2.0 With New Capabilities

With hybrid work well established as the norm for the post-pandemic workforce and vast amounts of sensitive data now stored in SaaS apps, the risk of SaaS misconfiguration poses a serious security threat to businesses. According to Statista, as of 2021 the average business now has over 110 SaaS applications (apps) that must be secured.

Misconfigurations in SaaS apps are a common problem. To address this, Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) announced today new innovations in Prisma® SASE that enable customers to identify and remediate misconfigurations in SaaS apps using SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) capabilities.

“SaaS apps have given organizations the freedom to have their workforce work from wherever they are most productive. The vast amounts of sensitive data being created, held, and shared via SaaS applications, however, expose a serious risk of data breach due to SaaS misconfiguration. Simply put, the world needs a SASE solution that can manage the configuration and security of SaaS applications,” said Anand Oswal, senior vice president, Network Security at Palo Alto Networks. “With today’s Prisma SASE updates, we are significantly strengthening the security posture of SaaS apps through the Palo Alto Networks Next-Gen CASB, which allows customers to easily view and configure security settings for multiple SaaS apps in a single place.”

In addition to SSPM, the company announced new ZTNA 2.0 security inspection capabilities, including ML-powered Advanced URL Filtering and Advanced Threat Prevention as well as the industry’s first natively integrated artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) solution for SASE, simplifying networking and security operations for customers.

The full set of product announcements are:

  • SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM): Powered by Palo Alto Networks Next-Gen CASB, the SaaS Security Posture Management capabilities go beyond CIS and NIST compliance checks and move to comprehensive security, allowing customers to configure security settings for multiple SaaS apps in one location. In an effort to reduce remediation time, SSPM can help fix misconfigurations with a single click and helps prevent configuration drift by allowing users to lock critical security settings in place.
  • Advanced URL Filtering: Prevents new, highly evasive phishing attacks, ransomware and other web-based attacks through the use of inline deep learning, rather than a URL database — preventing 40% more threats and detecting 76% of malicious URLs up to a full day before traditional web filtering solutions.
  • Advanced Threat Prevention: Provides the only intrusion prevention system (IPS) solution that can stop unknown command-and-control (C2) attacks in real time — 48% more than other IPS solutions. New capabilities bring security analysis from “offline” to “inline” using machine learning techniques — improving detection rates for zero-day threats without sacrificing performance.
  • AIOps for SASE: Palo Alto Networks natively integrated AIOps into its secure access service edge to significantly reduce manual operations and enable faster troubleshooting. AIOps for SASE provides automated root cause analysis, rapid problem remediation and guided best practice adoption. Predictive analytics enable more efficient capacity planning and anomaly detection, preventing business disruptions. A simple query-based interface empowers the IT service desk with automated troubleshooting and change analysis.

In addition to these software enhancements, Palo Alto Networks is introducing new hardware appliances — ION 1200-S and ION 3200 — to help organizations modernize their small to midsize branches. These new appliances include a fully integrated switch and Power over Ethernet (PoE) ports to connect and power endpoints within the local area network. Additionally, integrated WAN capabilities like 5G and LTE on the ION 1200-S and fiber ports on the ION 3200 allow customers to improve WAN availability, performance and speed. ION 1200-S and ION 3200 can help significantly reduce operational complexity by eliminating multiple point products while providing power redundancy with a built-in dual power supply that ensures network uptime and consistent connectivity.

“As one of the largest cinema chains and theme park operators in Australia, we started our journey with Palo Alto Networks by deploying Prisma SD-WAN to improve the reliability and throughput of our WAN connections,” said Michael Fagan, chief transformation officer, Village Roadshow. “Since then, we have added Prisma Access to complete our SASE architecture and secure both our remote locations and our hybrid employees. We are pleased to see the introduction of 5G and PoE switching into the Prisma SD-WAN appliances to help us further consolidate our branch infrastructure, and simplify our operations with AIOps for SASE. Our team loves the fact that they no longer need to remember usernames, pins, passcodes, tokens and have different multi-factor authentication apps. Performance and uptime has improved to allow our staff to continue working without disruption to services, thereby reducing the amount of calls through to our service desk team.”

“Protecting sensitive data, especially data in SaaS applications, is paramount for us. As we continued to utilise more cloud services we knew we needed to implement a SASE framework and provide Zero Trust Network Access to protect our users and applications,” said Simon Hibbert, general manager of IT, Chemist Warehouse Group. Implementing Prisma SASE has enabled our employees to do their jobs more efficiently, and enabled new ways for us to engage with our customers. Not only has it improved our security posture, but it also provides highly reliable and smooth connectivity.”

“The usage of SaaS applications continues to expand at a faster rate than security teams can keep pace with. As more applications are introduced and ownership becomes distributed across organizations, the risk of misconfigurations grows, which increases the likelihood for security incidents to occur. A SASE solution like Prisma SASE by Palo Alto Networks provides a logical consolidation point for all the capabilities needed for complete SaaS security, including SSPM. However, functionality cannot be sacrificed for efficiency,” said John Grady, ESG senior analyst. “Palo Alto Networks provides comprehensive SaaS security through its security-focused SSPM capabilities coupled with comprehensive application coverage and a history of analytics-led threat prevention.”

More information on Prisma SASE is available here and on their blog. Additionally, Palo Alto Networks will be hosting SASE Converge 2022, the premier summit for SASE, September 13-14 to discuss what’s next for SASE, and more.

Gas Networks Ireland Apprenticeship Programme

Gas Networks Ireland is searching for 14 of the country’s top recruits to join its sought-after and highly regarded Apprenticeship Programme commencing this October.

The four-year salaried programme provides mentor-led apprenticeships working on Ireland’s €2.7bn, 14,617km national gas network, which is considered one of the safest and most modern gas networks in the world.

Successful candidates will help to maintain and operate Ireland’s national gas infrastructure trusted by 710,000 Irish homes and businesses to provide efficient and reliable energy to meet their heating, cooking, transport and manufacturing needs.

They will also play a role in delivering a cleaner energy future for Ireland, as Gas Networks Ireland works to replace natural gas with renewable gases, such as biomethane and hydrogen.

Facilitated in partnership with SOLAS, apprentices receive on-site training with Gas Networks Ireland technical training coaches and attend formal classes in the Educational Training Boards, Meta facility and in appropriate Institutes of Technology.

On completion of the Apprenticeship Programme, successful trainees will be awarded a QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate Craft – the national and international requirement for craftsperson status.

Speaking about the programme, Gas Networks Ireland’s Director of People, Nicola McSweeney said:

 “The apprenticeship programme is vitally important for Gas Networks Ireland, as it allows us to attract the best talent and develop our plumbers and engineers of the future. Joining as an apprentice opens up a world of possibilities within the organisation. We are very proud to have a number of employees, who initially joined over 30 years ago as apprentices who are still part of the Gas Networks Ireland team today, including our Gas Technical Competency Training Manager, Brian Flynn, who now leads the apprenticeships training. We have a lot of knowledge to share and I look forward to welcoming our new apprentices.”

For further information and to apply to the Apprenticeship Scheme, please visit; www.gasnetworks.ie/careers. Closing date for applications is Monday 11 April.

Dell Technologies Telecom Solutions Simplify and Accelerate Modern, Open Network Deployments

Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) introduces new telecommunications solutions and services to bolster the open telecom ecosystem and help communications service providers (CSPs) affordably ramp their transformation to open, cloud-native networks.

The telecommunications industry’s growing open ecosystem gives CSPs more choice in their technologies and partners as they modernize to cloud-native networks. CSPs need the various technologies of this open ecosystem to work together seamlessly to offer differentiated edge services and reduce costs. Dell aims to remove complexity and speed modern network deployments with its Dell Telecom Cloud Foundation, Dell Open RAN Accelerator and new telecom solutions and lab capabilities.

“Communications service providers are changing how they build and deploy open networks, establishing the foundation on which they can develop and deliver innovative services to capture the edge opportunity,” said Dennis Hoffman, senior vice president and general manager, Dell Technologies Telecom Systems Business. “Our expanded telecom solutions portfolio brings the open ecosystem together for network operators, giving them the simplicity and reliability they need to modernize their networks and monetize new services.”

Dell Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation speeds network modernization, business growth

The Dell Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation is a turnkey, end-to-end, modern network infrastructure solution that helps CSPs build and deploy open, cloud-native networks faster with lower cost and complexity. The Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation includes Dell hardware, Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator management software and the CSPs’ choice of integrated telecom cloud software platforms, including Red Hat, VMware and Wind River.

Dell is adding new Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator Modules to its software, giving CSPs the ability to deploy and lifecycle manage the entire cloud foundation stack. Once implemented, CSPs will have a scalable cloud foundation spanning core, edge and RAN for their open hardware and software environment with the flexibility to design and deploy open network functions and differentiated edge services. ACG Research estimates an up to 39% OpEx savings for CSPs deploying the Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation in their networks. ACG Research found CSPs also save time on testing and certification, manual processes, server provisioning, software upgrades and cloud stack integration and testing.

Dell and Marvell collaborate on new hardware to accelerate Open RAN

With the introduction of virtualized and Open RAN architectures, 5G networks are undergoing a transformation that brings cloud scalability to the RAN. Existing virtualized and Open RAN alternatives have previously lacked the performance of established networks, hindering the ability for CSPs to implement cloud-native 5G.

Developed in collaboration with Marvell, the Dell Open RAN Accelerator Card is a new inline 5G Layer 1 processing card for vRAN and Open RAN solutions. Designed for Dell PowerEdge and other x86-based servers, the PCIe accelerator card brings the same Marvell OCTEON® Fusion technology and performance of today’s leading 5G radio networks to the Open RAN ecosystem. CSPs can have better performing systems that lower cost and power consumption, allowing them to affordably scale high performing, modern radio access networks with an open architecture approach.

“Marvell is delighted to partner with Dell Technologies to enable an open, virtualized 5G RAN architecture that delivers advanced features and performance built on our proven OCTEON® Fusion platform,” said Raj Singh, executive vice president, Processors Business Unit at Marvell. “The new Dell Open RAN Accelerator Card is an innovative no-compromise, cloud-native, in-line, Open RAN Layer 1 acceleration solution that addresses the shortcomings of existing vRAN alternatives.”

“We’re pleased to see Dell Technologies and Marvell come together to innovate and create technologies that will enhance Open RAN platform capability and vendor diversity for operators,” said Andy Dunkin, Open RAN RF and digital platform development manager at Vodafone. “The promise of virtualized Open RAN platforms will be enhanced with the Dell Open Ran Accelerator Card that should offer network operators like Vodafone a less costly and more efficient path to Open RAN.”

Dell and ecosystem partners help speed deployment of edge and core solutions

Dell continues to grow its open partner ecosystem with new telecom solutions for edge and core.

  • Dell Validated Design for Services Edge 1.2 brings together edge compute resources with private wireless connectivity, enabling the ease of deployment, scalable operations and security capabilities required for large numbers of edge locations. Enterprises can place sensors and devices at the edge of mobile networks to capture and process data in near-real time, and use the data to generate insights, optimize operations and help increase productivity. The open standards-based design now supports Airspan 5G RAN for a fast deployment of enterprise private 5G networks.
  • Dell Validated Design for the 5G Core with Oracle and VMware gives CSPs the choice to build a robust, scalable 5G core on industry standard infrastructure, in a more secure and reliable way. The solution can help reduce the time needed to design, test and integrate network components from multiple partners.

 

Dell expands telecom services and lab capabilities to drive faster ecosystem innovation

Dell continues to grow its telecom services capabilities to lead partner integration and accelerate CSPs’ deployment and adoption of telecom solutions. CSPs can quickly operationalize network infrastructure with Dell ProDeploy for NFVI. The service combines Dell factory integration and field deployment options to flexibly build the optimal NFV infrastructure specific to each customer’s network. The service integrates compute, networking and telecom cloud software platforms, helping CSPs deploy workloads faster and at scale, saving them time and cost. Dell’s proven processes enable 68% faster infrastructure deployment time with ProDeploy.

The Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab Solution Integration Platform helps CSPs and partners securely connect their lab resources to the Dell lab and infrastructure to develop and bring 5G and telecom edge services to market more quickly. With the labs interconnected to create a mini, open ecosystem, the Solution Integration Platform uses the latest DevOps techniques to conduct tests faster than manual testing, so services can be brought to market more quickly, with less risk and cost. CSPs and partners can use the new platform to conduct integrated testing and ongoing lifecycle management of Open RAN, 5G and edge services and applications.