Cisco to acquire equity stake in VMware

Cisco Systems Inc. plans to acquire a 1.6% equity stake in virtualization software player VMware Inc., mirroring a step Intel Corp. took earlier this month.

The investment is part of an upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of 10% of VMware's stock.

Cisco said Friday that it plans to buy US$150 million of VMware Class A common shares, which are owned at present by EMC Corp., VMware's parent company. The move is subject to regulatory and other closing conditions. Once the investment has been made, Cisco will own around 1.6% of VMware's total outstanding common stock. According to an updated VMware S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Cisco will buy 6.0 million shares, valuing each VMware share at $25.00.

VMware is considering whether it will appoint a Cisco executive to its board of directors.

Cisco hopes taking a stake in VMware will help bring two companies closer together and result in more users adopting VMware virtualization software and Cisco networking products. Cisco and VMware also announced they have agreed to collaborate on joint development and marketing.

Cisco kills Linksys brand

In a roundtable with the European press, John Chambers confirmed the "end of life" of the Linksys name, being replaced by the new and redesigned Cisco branding.

This decision follows Cisco's move last April to make it easier for Linksys resellers to add Cisco products to their offerings and vice versa. Also, just a few weeks ago, Cisco created a new division solely focused on the SMB market and headed by Rick Moran, formerly marketing chief of several Cisco communications applications like the unified communications portfolio, Cisco IPICS, Cisco Small Business Systems (Linksys One), TelePresence, Business Video and Physical security.

Cisco warns of bugs in wireless LAN controllers

The vulnerabilities affect Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers, but the company is offering a workaround..

Cisco Systems released a security advisory on Tuesday afternoon to address several vulnerabilities in its Wireless LAN Controllers that could enable hackers to cause a denial-of-service on the affected network.

The flaws lie in the handling of Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packets. The advisory noted that a unicast ARP request may be flooded on the LAN links between Wireless LAN Controllers in a mobility group.

A vulnerable WLC may mishandle unicast ARP requests from a wireless client, leading to an ARP storm. The bugs affect versions 4.1, 4.0, 3.2, and prior versions of the Wireless LAN Controller software, according to the advisory.

The protocol provides a mapping between a device's IP address and its hardware address on the local network. And the Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers provide real-time communication between lightweight access points and other wireless LAN controllers for centralised system-wide WLAN configuration and management functions, according to Cisco.

As a workaround, Cisco is recommending that operators require all clients to obtain their IP addresses from a DHCP server.

Cisco Says Network Gear Caused Duke iPhone Flooding

Cisco confirmed that the networking problem Duke University experienced involving Cisco's wireless network and Apple's iPhone was caused by a Cisco network issue. Cisco says it has worked closely with Duke and Apple to identify the source of the problem.

A two-sentence e-mail from a Cisco PR spokeswoman to Network World confirmed the problem was caused by a "Cisco-based network issue."

"Cisco has provided a fix that has been applied to Duke's network and the problem has not occurred since," according to the e-mail.

No other details were provided, and no reply has been received yet to an e-mail and two phone requests to Cisco for more details. No additional details have been provided by Duke University or by Apple.

The wireless problem crystallized exactly a week ago, on Friday, July 13 as it happens, when Duke's IT staff identified the source of intermittent floods of Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) requests as at least two Apple iPhones connecting via the phone's built in wireless LAN adapter to Duke's campus-wide net. The ARP floods, up to 30,000 requests per second, knocked offline sometimes as many as 30 access points, for between 10 and 15 minutes.

That conclusion was based on an early analysis of traffic trace data by Duke IT staff. Frank Miller, assistant director, communications infrastructure, with Duke's Office of Information Technology, was firmly convinced that the iPhone was the instigator. "I don't believe it's a Cisco problem in any way, shape, or form," he said at the time.

The Cisco spokeswoman's e-mail said Cisco "worked closely with Duke and Apple to identify the source of this problem."

Cisco Wide Area Application Services Edge Services SYN Flood Denial of Service

Software: Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS)

Description:

A vulnerability has been reported in Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS), which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service).

The vulnerability is caused due to an error in Edge Services, which uses CIFS optimisation, when handling packets sent to ports 139/TCP and 445/TCP. This can be exploited to cause a device running WAAS to stop processing all traffic by sending a TCP SYN flood to port 139/TCP or 445/TCP.

Successful exploitation requires that WAAS is configured for Edge Services.

The vulnerability is reported in WAE appliances and the NM-WAE-502 network modules running WAAS versions 4.0.7 or 4.0.9.

Solution:

Update to version 4.0.11.

Cisco Catalyst 3750G test

The product is an amalgamation of Cisco’s wireless LAN controller and its Catalyst 3750 switch. At its foundation are 24 copper Gigabit Ethernet ports, all of which are 802.3af PoE enabled, and the switch has a meaty 32Gb/sec switching backplane. The primary purpose of the Gigabit ports is to facilitate the distribution of Cisco’s Aironet access points. These act as the system’s eyes and ears on the wireless network, but only those running the LWAPP (lightweight access point protocol) are supported.

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Web 2.0 will speed up business

As a man who has the ear of Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, John Chambers, chairman of Cisco Systems, has become respected for his crystal-ball gazing.

Yesterday, the head of the world’s biggest maker of data networking equipment was at it again: he predicted consumer-led technologies, amid Web 2.0, will spark a boom in productivity.

Social networks, teleconferencing, wikis and other technologies that allow interaction on a large scale could also change traditional business models, Mr Chambers reportedly said.

But before he elaborated, and explained what the second growth phase of the internet might look like over the next decade, he verified Cisco’s track record as a soothsayer of all things ICT.

“If you go back to what we said in the mid-1990s, we made predictions on productivity that people thought were mathematically impossible and yet it was over-achieved beyond what any economist thought,” Mr Chambers told the Financial Times yesterday.

In an interview with the paper, he continued: “We said [internet protocol] would be the future and it wouldn’t be separate voice, and video and data networks, and that has happened.

“We said there would be a brutal industry consolidation among the data communication companies and that clearly happened.

“We said that all electronic devices past a given price point would connect to the internet. That’s clearly happened.”

For the future, Cisco’s growth will come not just from network infrastructure, but from applications that help customers leverage connections between themselves and their customers.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Presence Server Security Bypass

Description:

Two vulnerabilities have been reported in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM, formerly CallManager) and Cisco Unified Presence Server (CUPS), which can be exploited by malicious users to bypass certain security restrictions.

The vulnerabilities are caused due to unspecified errors and can be exploited by an unauthorized administrator to e.g. activate and terminate system services or to view SNMP configuration information in a CUCM/CUPS cluster environment.

The vulnerabilities affect the following versions:

- Cisco Unified CallManager 5.0 and Communications Manager 5.1 versions up to and including 5.1(2)
- Cisco Unified Presence Server versions 1.0 to 1.0(3)

Solution:

Apply updates.

Microsoft, EMC, Cisco join in effort to secure government data

Microsoft Corp., EMC Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. Tuesday jointly unveiled plans to build a Secure Information Sharing Architecture (SISA) that will let various government agencies and their vendors securely share sensitive information.

The SISA Alliance, which also includes three smaller vendors, will create a set of common IT architectures which grant only authorized personnel and communities the ability to access, store and exchange protected data within secure virtualized networks, according to officials at Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC.

The goal of SISA, according to officials of the sponsoring firms, is to remove silos of data management and data protection that have been commonly instituted within specific government entities.

Cisco will lend its network protection and secure virtualized network links capabilities, EMC will provide its networked storage systems and information lifecycle management tools, and Microsoft will add its identity management software, client system and operating system expertise, the executives said.

The other vendors include Liquid Machines Inc., which will provide content protection expertise, Swan Island Networks, Inc., which specializes in trusted computing environments and Titus Labs, a provider of email and document classification.

The companies agreed to jointly unveil technology developed under the program, and to require that all distributors of the technology be certified under a SISA Alliance program. The program will require such distributors to complete a SISA training program, thereby validating their ability to offer system integration or professional services expertise to support SISA implementation, officials said.

Cisco launch Linksys One range for SMBs

Cisco has launched a range of routers designed to provide small businesses with packaged routing and switching for voice and wireless applications.

The Linksys One Services Routers (SVR200 and 3500) combine broadband or T-1 connectivity with Power over Ethernet (PoE) ports. The software included provides firewall, VPN, remote network management and monitoring and device detection for IP phones.

For small business with a staff of about 10 people, the SVR200 includes ADSL and Ethernet WAN links and built-in 802.11g wireless LAN connectivity. The SVR3500, which is aimed at larger offices with more than 100 staff, has dual T-1 connections and a 24-port PoE switch.

The products launched under the Linksys One brand include its Linksys One Service Router, Wireless Services Router, Gigabit Smart Switch and the Cisco Service Node for Linksys One XA Series.

Linksys has included capabilities that let users transfer more calls from IP phones to a cell phone, as well as improved automatic customer provisioning capabilities.

Cisco announces new product, application for effective biz

Cisco today announced new products and applications that allow organizations to use their network as a platform for more effective and more personalized business collaboration.

Cisco Unified Communications system 6.0 is a comprehensive communications system for voice, video and data. This new release introduces capabilities that will dramatically improve the productivity of mobile employees and cost-effectively deliver Unified Communications to small and medium-sized businesses. It also extends new collaboration features and third-party application integration across the portfolio. The system integrates wired, wireless and mobile devices to create a secure solution for the entire organization, regardless of a worker's location.

Further, marking the next major evolution of its small and medium-sized business (SMB) strategy, Cisco® today introduced several advancements designed to help maximize business efficiency and improve customer and employee collaboration. The advancements include the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition which combines key Unified Communications applications for mid-sized businesses (100-500 person) on a single platform with common provisioning and management and the Cisco Smart Business Communications System for small businesses.

Cisco Unified Communications System 6.0

A few highlights of the Cisco UC System 6.0 are:

- Mobility
- Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
- Collaboration
- A New Way of Communicating for Small Businesses

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Technology adoption increases business growth

According to a study by Cisco, companies that actively try to promote use of new technologies alongside more flexible working conditions, are more likely to successful than those that don’t.

Cisco polled more than 600 business and IT directors across the UK, representing companies with staff of 20-1,000 employees.

They found that those companies that actively utilised technology as a strategic asset, such as Wi-Fi, as well as allowing remote or home networking, were much more likely to have increased turnover by more than 15% over the past year.

However, the study also underlined that the use of technology for improving business efficiency and working conditions had to be directed by senior management, and that the company had to have a clear idea of where and how to invest in technology before implementing it.

Additionally, while a significant number of managers responding to the poll highlighted talent acquisition retention in employees as a major priority, actual working environment conditions were regarded as low priority.

This was especially in the case of home networking, with far fewer companies willing to allow employees to work from home than was necessarily required.

Cisco switches to consumer-oriented strategy

Network equipment maker Cisco Systems aims to make its way into Chinese consumers' living rooms with consumer-oriented gear and services, which could generate a new revenue stream for the US tech giant.Cisco mainly makes routers and switches, which direct the Internet and e-mail traffic and form the backbone of the worldwide Internet networks.

Although it was ranked 77th in Fortune 500 this year, the firm is much less known by average consumers as other brands, such as Apple, Microsoft and Nokia, as it is perceived as mainly a corporate technology vendor.

Susan Bostrom, chief marketing officer of Cisco, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily yesterday that Cisco needs to refashion itself as a more consumer-oriented company by changing the way consumers communicate with each other. "If you look back to 1990s, it's really about getting connected," she said. "But now it's about the power of end-users. We need to create human networks."

Cisco has been on a buying spree, acquiring a number of companies making consumer electronics devices including set-top box maker Scientific-Atlanta for $6.9 billion.
Cisco now hopes gear such as set-top boxes, wireless networked DVD players and video services could help it woo average consumers. "Now the work-life environment is much blurred," Bostrom said.

The consumer-oriented approach would help Cisco tap into China's booming consumer electronics market, the world's second-largest, second only to the United States, according to the Development Research Center of the State Council.