If anyone has an idea of a topic that would be a good fit for the group (and a good subject for July), please let me know and we'll attempt to line it up.

We will be in touch soon with more details.

In the mean time, happy networking!

-Carl

At the RSA Conference in San Francisco last week, security vendors pitched their next-generation of security products, promising to protect customers from security threats in the cloud and on mobile devices. But what went largely unsaid was that the industry has failed to protect paying customers from some of today's most pernicious threats.

The big news at the show had to do with the takedown of the Mairposa botnet — a massive network of hacked computers that has infected half of the Fortune 100 companies. So-called advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks, such as the one that compromised Google systems in early December, were another hot topic.

Netezza changes the game. Again. : View nowBoth Mariposa and the Google attacks illustrate the same thing, however. Despite billions of dollars in security spending, it's still surprisingly hard to keep corporate networks safe.

Read the rest at NetworkWorld
 

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For more than 10 years, geeks from the Pittsburgh area have been getting together to socialize, network, and ingest adult beverages. It's always a great time, and the food at the Church Brew Works is awesome!  There is no fee to attend, and sometimes the sponsors provide some appetizers (have to get there early for them).

Click here for details and directions.

Subject – MPLS
The presentation will be given AT&T employees George Long and Mike Kaehly. MPLS was our #1 vote getter on the pacug.com website! This should be a great topic for the group.

We will also, as always, have an informal meet and greet session at Bettis Grille directly following the meeting. I look forward to seeing everyone there! Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Gathering Date & Time:
Wednesday February 24 at 6:30pm

Location:
Cisco Systems
323 North Shore Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

[more information - click here]
 

With the Mobile Internet at an inflection point as IP-enabled Smartphones and other connected mobile devices gain rapid acceptance, service providers have been actively investing in this market. Global mobile data traffic is expected to more than double every year through 2013, according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index.

Starent Networks' mobile infrastructure solutions play an important role in enabling service providers to scale their mobile infrastructure and monetize their investments via differentiated experiences. They provide the multimedia intelligence, core network functions and services to manage access from any 2.5G, 3G and 4G radio network to a mobile operator's packet core network. Starent Networks' access-independent technology is deployed in CDMA2000 (1X, EV-DO), UMTS/HSPA and WiMAX networks.

[READ MORE]

Effective January 4, 2010, the Cisco CCIE^® Service Provider, Storage, and Wireless lab exams will add a new type of question format in a section called Core Knowledge. In this new section, candidates will be asked a series of four open-ended questions that require a short written response to be entered into the computer, typically several words. The questions will be randomly drawn from a pool of questions on topics eligible for testing. Candidates can review the topics by visiting the CCIE track information on Cisco.com or the Cisco Learning Network. No new topics are being added as a result of this change.

Candidates will have up to 30 minutes to complete the Core Knowledge section and may not return to it once they have moved on. A passing score on the Core Knowledge section is required to achieve certification. Core Knowledge questions were implemented on Routing and Switching labs in February 2009 and Security labs in June 2009, and allow Cisco to maintain strong exam security and ensure that only qualified candidates are awarded CCIE certification. Candidates with exam dates on January 4, 2010 or later should expect to see the new question format on their lab exam.

 [more information]

QOS for VOIP was our #2 vote getter on the www.pacug.com poll for the December meeting. Our #1 vote was for MPLS. We are planning an MPLS presentation for a meeting in the near future.

We will also, as always, have an informal meet and greet session at Bettis Grille directly following the meeting. I look forward to seeing everyone there! Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Gathering Date & Time:
Wednesday December 16 at 6:30pm

Location:
Cisco Systems
323 North Shore Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Thursday, Oct 29 at 6:30pm

Presentation – Cisco WAAS (Wide Area Application Services)

Introduction

WAN Optimization and Application Acceleration Using Windows Server on Cisco WAAS

Sony Ericsson improved user experience and reduced IT costs. (1:12 min)

Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) is a comprehensive WAN optimization solution that accelerates applications over the WAN, delivers video to the branch office, and provides local hosting of branch-office IT services. Cisco WAAS allows IT departments to centralize applications and storage in the data center while maintaining LAN-like application performance and provides locally hosted IT services while reducing the branch-office device footprint. 

Location:

Cisco Systems
323 North Shore Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

See you there!

MAP