Phone Lines

• Allstream – Allstream has actually been at it for quite awhile in Canada. It started out at AT&T Canada in the 90s, and was scooped up by Manitoba Telecom in 2004. It has a very large fibre optic network in Canada, and can provide business phone services just about anywhere in the country either through local land lines, PRIs, or SIP trunking.
• Orpheum – You knew I had to include Orpheum. Orpheum only offers SIP trunking as an alternative to local land lines, but SIP trunking is highly cost effective and Orpheum’s been getting great feedback about the quality of the service.
• Primus – Your mileage may vary when it comes to customer service/technical support, but Primus’ services are available at a good price. Like Allstream, they can offer SIP trunks, PRIs and local land lines for voice connectivity.

Internet

• Allstream – Again, Allstream is a solid provider here. They can offer DSL for small businesses, and then upgrade you to a T1 or provide an E10 line when necessary. Larger businesses can look to Allstream for MPLS VPN, switched Ethernet, and other IP connectivity services if needed.
• Start – Start Communications is a local company based in London. They offer DSL, cable, and also connectivity through their own network that spans across downtown London and then some. If you’re tired of dealing with larger companies, or work/live in London’s downtown core, Start is a highly viable choice.
• Telus – Telus is similar to Allstream in that it offers services to businesses nationwide, but not consumers. However, if you’re tired of the duopoloy that is Bell and Rogers, give Telus a call and I’m sure they’ll be happy to engage in competition.
• TekSavvy – TekSavvy is a large ISP (250 employees) based out of Chatham, ON. I don’t use them personally, but I have many friends who do and they all rave about TekSavvy’s service! It can offer DSL (including dry loop), T1, E10, and E100 to your business with “Unlimited” usage caps.

Fax

• MyFax – The premise is simple here. Fax still lives on whether we like it or not. Instead of buying a fax machine, use a service like MyFax ($10/month) to send and receive faxes. Local numbers in most Canadian area codes are available, including 519/226.
• eFax – eFax is a similar service except that it costs $12.49 a month. There are pros and cons to both services, so compare the features available from myFax and eFax before settling on one. If you’re using a hosted PBX from a company like Orpheum or Primus, chances are fax is available as part of the service as well, eliminating another monthly bill.

I hope this post was helpful to you! It’s certainly not an exhaustive list of providers, but it should put you on the right track to cutting your small business’ costs.

Several new terms and protocols have begun propagating through the tech world when it comes to enabling a next generation data centre network – a network that will be based on 10Gbps at the server, and at least 40Gbps at the core (100Gbps in some cases). Many of the data centre networking vendors are already shipping 40Gbps ports, with just a select few shipping 100Gbps now.

Network virtualization is not only enabled within network switches. This is a larger play that has everything to do with your chosen hypervisor and virtual machine management software. In the network, your switches must be capable of automatically migrating virtual port profiles, building VLANs that span across data centres and geographies, lower latency, faster re-composition after route loss, etc. I’ve previously written about virtual networks (which I termed vNetworks at the time) when working for Info-Tech Research Group, here and here. However I can recap the major points here.

TRILL and DCB, on the other hand, are protocols designed to help improve the performance of the network.

I was initially going to expound on the benefits of TRILL and DCB, but I think there’s already plenty of information on the web available about that. Instead, I want to re-emphasize that data centre networking is finally changing. Soon you’ll be rid of spanning tree, and all of the associated headaches it brings in large environments.

So that about covers it! Different vendors may support each protocol differently, so be sure to perform your due diligence in the acquisition process. But really, there is no better time than the present to start evaluating vendors other than your incumbent. With companies like Extreme Networks, Arista, and Force 10 (now part of Dell) making such a splash over the last few years, your options are really wide open. Keep an open mind, and keep things like ease of administration, security features, and future proofing in the back of your mind.

FXI Cotton Candy

• Dual core 1.2GHz processor
• 1GB RAM
• Mali 400 GPU (video card) that’s capable of HD video
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• And more.

The upshot? It’s designed to run Android, Ubuntu, or act as a thin client in a virtual desktop infrastructure.

For me, this is terrific because I’ve been looking for a way to turn my 1 year old LCD TV into a “Smart TV” without purchasing another box to sit on my entertainment stand. I don’t want another box, and realistically I don’t need another box. The FXI is really ideal – running Ubuntu would give me a full blown computer capable of watching video, browsing the web, even editing files. Running Android would give me access to my Google profile, all of my Android apps (including games), and so on.

All this from the same size device that you use to carry around 4GB, 8GB or more data. And it costs $199. Sweet.

I first found out about this report from Symantec via Twitter, which led me to AM980′s “story” about it (basically a cut and paste job of Symantec’s original press release). As I read through the results, and then how Symantec came up with the results, I came to a few conclusions:

• The methodology is fundamentally flawed (as described in previous reports).
• The key indicator is that Symantec uses its own customers to provide infection data. All this tells us is that Symantec’s products detect some malware – not how much malware, not how effective it is at protecting the devices it’s installed on.
• It also doesn’t take into account how well protected customers are using other, competing anti-malware suites. This isn’t Symantec’s fault, but it’s disingenuous at best.
• “The prevalence of PCs and smartphones” is used as an indicator. Why? A greater number of devices doesn’t automatically introduce more risk. It introduces the opportunity for risk, certainly, but that also assumes you’re using these devices on the Internet. What if I’m not?

I know Symantec means well, but when every link leads back to a Symantec-related website (primarily Norton products), it all starts to look like a big marketing ploy… which, to be sure, it is. I don’t have a problem with Symantec marketing its products, but to conclude that the fine citizens of Burlington, ON live in Canada’s riskiest online city simply because Burlingtonians spend a lot of money on computing devices, Internet connections, and Symantec products isn’t right just because Symantec says so.

The tips that came out of the report are good:

• Get an antivirus product (keep it updated, schedule weekly scans)
• Use secure passwords (letters, numbers, and at least one symbol – keep it over 8 characters long)
• Stay away from unsecured wireless hotspots if you’re going to transmit data over unsecured websites – thankfully banking sites, most free email providers, and lots of other sites are available as secured sites (https:// in your browser).

• Shops offering free Wi-Fi should secure them by using a very simple password, like “free.” At least there will be encryption on the hotspot, allowing users to be safer than they were before on the same unsecured hotspot.

But that doesn’t mean you have to use Norton products. There’s AVG, Malwarebytes, Microsoft Security Essentials, Avira, and avast! which all offer good, free protection. No, they’re not necessarily the best, but it’s a hell of a lot better than having nothing at all.

The good news here, I suppose, is that Canadians are online and using the Internet, and mostly for good reasons. I just wish Symantec’s study had a better methodology that included data from the other anti-malware software providers too. I’m sure McAfee could do a similar study and they might end up with very different results depending on how they collected data.

Classic Three-Tier Network; Source: Microsoft

This was all well and good when, in the server room/data centre, every server had its own connection to the nearest switch, which fed into an aggregation switch, and then into a core switch and back down the layers again in the case of server-to-server or server-to-workstation traffic. Servers and workstations rarely moved, and therefore network configurations were fairly stagnant. But with server virtualization taking hold in companies all over the world, a lot of traffic no longer travels this way.

Virtual servers/machines (VMs) have increased the amount of traffic coming from, and travelling to, each server. That means that while many switches rarely ever reached their peak throughput in the past, that throughput is no longer enough to account for 15-20 VMs all running on a single physical server, the amount of VM-to-VM traffic occurring, and so on. A 1Gbps 24-port or 48-port switch isn’t enough anymore. It certainly doesn’t have the uplink speed to handle the VM-to-VM traffic, let alone a VM that needs to move to another physical server in order to get access to more resources (CPU, RAM, etc).

If you really let loose and allow full automation and orchestration to happen on a three-tier architecture, you will quickly find bottlenecks that have very expensive solutions.

So, what to do?

Step 1 – Increase throughput capacity.

10Gbps ToR/EoR switches are quickly becoming the norm. Not only do they have greater capacity, but newer switches from the likes of Extreme Networks, Cisco, Juniper, Arista Networks, HP, and Brocade also have a lot more intelligence built into them. Port profiles are automatically migrated to the new switch VMs end up being connected to if they move to a new physical server. Virtual networks can be easily defined without relying on physical ports configurations.

Step 2 – Turn on those features.

It’s no fun having toys you can’t play with. If you’ve just refreshed your data centre switches, whether it was just the ToR/EoR switches or the core switches as well, you must begin taking advantage of all the new functionality available to you. Developers put hours and hours of effort into crafting beautiful code that will help reduce latency, and deliver applications faster and more securely. Are you really going to let them down by not using that code?!

Step 3 – Eliminate a tier.

This is one way to dramatically cut down on network latency. The classic Distribution Tier has now been replaced with additional intelligence in what was the Access Tier. Now the Access Tier should be connected directly to both (yes, both) core switches. That core switches with far more ports than in the past, but it’s really for the best. You end up with a “flatter” network (two tiers instead of three), a 10Gbps or 40Gbps core, and greater resiliency at the physical layer since each ToR/EoR switch has connections to each core switch.

What you end up with is a data centre network that looks a lot more like this:

Two Tier Network; Source: IPintegration

Forgive me for using a vendor-specific image. I’m a huge fan of Extreme Networks, but am not being compensated in any way for using this image. In fact, it’s from one of Extreme’s British resellers.

So what about all those bells and whistles I alluded to? TRILL, DCB, virtual networks? I’m going to begin covering those in the next blog entry.

So instead of thinking about “fabric,” really you can picture a flatter network – two tiers instead of three – that don’t rely on STP, where routing is technically being done a Layer 2, and routing can be based on location-independent L2 MAC addresses.

I recently attended a vendor-agnostic session called “Ethernet Fabrics 101″ put on by Brocade in Toronto. It was really refreshing to see a vendor present basic facts about new technology with barely any vendor spin on it. Kudos to Brocade for that, and I’m looking forward to attending their next session.

Anyway, Brocade broke its definition for an Ethernet fabric into five characteristics:

• Flatter Architecture
• Distributed Intelligence
• Scalability
• Efficient
• Simplified Management

I’m going to spend the next few blog entries exploring those things, as well as TRILL, DCB, and where data centre networks are headed. 2012 is a pivotal year, but I suspect things will really take off in 2013 and 2014 as prices for 40GbE comes down, and even 100GbE for really demanding data centres (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and any cloud IaaS providers).

Photo taken by Dawn Lyons, LinesByLyons.com

The city of London has a lot of empty rooftops, especially in the downtown core. Lots of flat rooftops that just sit there, all day, all night, absorbing heat/cold and getting brown. See the picture to the right from my friend Dawn Lyons as an example – it was taken from One London Place this past June.

So much real estate. So much wasted real estate. What could it all be used for?

• Solar panels, generating additional income for the owners of those buildings
• Green roofs, saving money on cooling and heating those buildings
• Growing food

Wait, what?! Yes, growing food! There’s a new company, called Brightfarms, in New York City that’s doing exactly that – building greenhouses on building rooftops, planting the food, and then harvesting it. They’ve also got the grocery stores they’re selling to signed to 10 year contracts to buy whatever Brightfarms grows, ensuring a steady stream of revenue similar to the way the Province of Ontario has spurred the renewable energy market with the FIT and microFIT programs.

I see this as a way to get locally grown food for the other 5 or 6 months of the year that we really can’t grow much in Ontario. I love stopping at local farmers in Middlesex County and buying corn, cucumbers, asparagus, etc. during the summer months. But what do I do in February? Buy the stuff that’s imported from Chile or California at the Superstore, just like most other people.

That sucks, doesn’t it?

I’d really like to see a local startup, or even an established farmer with some capital, take this on. There’s clearly lots of real estate available, and Brightfarms seems to think they can grow up to 227,000 kg (500,000 lbs) a year on a single rooftop using 90% less water, and 95% less space than traditional agriculture thanks to hydroponic growing methods.

So, who’s the got money? The desire? I don’t have the money, but I certainly have the desire to see this happen in London, Toronto, Montreal, Windsor, Vancouver… wherever! The space is there – we just need to use it in better, smarter ways.

Where Has My Server Gone?

VLANs were first introduced to the networking world in 1988. They have a come a long way since then, with major revisions as recently as 2007. VLANs are not a perfect solution though, as you cannot extend them beyond the private, corporate network. They are limited to physically connected networks, making them unsuitable for today’s shifting IT environment.

Cloud computing has broken the traditional network boundaries, and so a new solution is needed. VMware and Cisco have a proprietary solution that uses Cisco’s Nexus 1000V virtual switch integrated with vSphere, but this solution doesn’t integrate with hypervisors from other vendors.

Instead, network virtualization gives you the ability to create VLANs across geographically and logically disparate networks. Each virtual network (vNetwork) can be isolated and managed separately from other vNetworks, giving IT the power to create vNetworks based on applications that extend from on-premise infrastructure to public cloud infrastructure.

Any node, in any location, can be registered as part of a vNetwork, whether it’s a physical server, virtual server, on-premise, or in a public Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud. Each node receives virtual MAC and IP addresses unique to the vNetwork, allowing data to flow solely through the vNetwork.

Source: vCider

This is different from a VLAN, which traditionally required configuring ports on your physical switch to make the connected device part of the VLAN. vNetwork switches are pure software implementations of network switches, providing more flexibility over the configuration of the network, with the ability to bring nodes from public IaaS clouds (e.g. Amazon EC2) and servers rented from hosting providers (e.g. Rackspace) all into a single vNetwork.

vNetworks Sound Great on Paper

If you have a network at all resembling the examples shown on vCider’s website (a startup in the network virtualization space), vNetworks will provide at least two key benefits to network management:

1. Flexibility. Organizations are looking to optimize costs and operational efficiency by moving workloads to the least expensive platform and to improve service availability by building application delivery networks and high availability configurations. vNetwork software makes this possible.
2. Platform agnosticism. Existing solutions from Cisco and VMware are proprietary and only work in Cisco networks supporting VMware environments. However, a new breed of vNetwork solutions from vCider, Nicira, and Big Switch Networks will provide you with the ability to manage virtual machines running on multiple hypervisors or cloud servers from multiple providers, all on a network that could be built on HP, Dell, Cisco, and Aruba networking gear.

This is Just the Beginning

At the moment, these solutions are working at layer 3 (the network layer) of the OSI stack. That is a good and natural place to be, given the path selection and internetworking capabilities embedded at that layer. Ideally, virtual switches would also operate at layer 4, providing great control over TCP and UDP connections, fostering end-to-end connectivity as well.

In the meantime, vCider, Nicira, and Big Switch are all very young companies with, for the most part, unproven solutions. Only vCider’s solution has launched and is commercially available, though both vCider and Big Switch showcased their products at GigaOM Structure 2011.

Initially, these products will support the most well-known cloud IaaS and networking vendors – Amazon, Rackspace, Cisco – and then move to other vendors with less market share. If you didn’t jump on the Amazon and Rackspace bandwagon, instead waiting for a cloud IaaS provider that would better suit your needs, you’ll have to wait a bit longer for a vNetwork solution.

There are really two key takeaways network professionals need to take from this:

1. Network virtualization will solve problems to do with cloud bursting, workload optimization, and connecting applications running on disparate networks. This will make it easier for businesses to manage those applications, regardless of where the instance is running.
2. Paired with cloud orchestration and automation software, vNetworks put us one step closer to being able to dynamically, and automatically, shift workloads from one infrastructure to another while being able to maintain a persistent network configuration.

The bottom line is that virtual networks, or vNetworks, are coming on the scene to solve a problem: managing public cloud servers as a disparate network. When you can wrap your public cloud servers, rented dedicated servers, and on-premise servers into a single vNetwork because they all belong to the same application or department, the promise of workload optimization and dynamic reallocation gets one step closer to reality.

• rTraction - a highly skilled, well-respected web development and online marketing firm that services many non-profits in the city
• Echidna Solutions – another great web development firm who has donated a lot of their time to efforts like Emerging Leaders
• Info-Tech Research Group – one of the top 10 IT research firms in the world, rated as the best IT research firm by Outsell (full disclosure: I work at ITRG)
• Resolution Interactive Media – a very talented group of web developers best known for their online training site built for LHSC, and highly interactive websites for several Ontario colleges
• Big Blue Bubble – a local video game development company, probably best known for Burn The Rope right now
• Antic Entertainment – local video game development company that has won awards for their game Junk Battles
• Start Communications – an Internet service provider, with their own network around downtown London, that customers have been raving about ever since the UBB debate flared up earlier this year
• Aaron McGowan – a well-respected, and very talented, freelance programmer that specializes in mobile apps and mobile websites
• Digital Extremes – a large video game developer that’s produced several blockbuster titles like BioShock, Unreal Tournament, Homefront and Dark Sector

And there are lots of others, most of which can be seen on TechAlliance’s Member Directory. For instance, I bet you didn’t know that DirectDial.com is owned by EK3 Technologies, which is based in London. I’m not going to sit here and boast about my company, Orpheum Hosting Solutions, but I do believe Orpheum’s providing a much needed service to freelancers and small business owners!

So really, I won’t sit here and listen to people complain about the lack of a tech industry in London. No, we’re not Santa Clara, California (in the heart of Silicon Valley). But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an industry to break into, or a need that’s going unserved. In fact, if you’re feeling frustrated with your attempts to find a job as a developer or networking professional, London has enough small businesses that the right business plan and marketing will get you the opportunity to do plenty of work. I used to freelance and got the opportunity to build computer networks from scratch for several businesses, and I knew a lot less then than I do now.

Here’s the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.