Delivering high-performance networking to the mass market

From scientific research labs to petrochemical corporations, users of high-performance computing (HPC) clusters are constantly looking for ways to increase interconnect throughput in order to maximize cluster performance. Increasingly, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) interconnect solutions offer a compelling option for many organizations. The potential for reducing infrastructure costs, converging network technologies and simplifying IT management has led organizations in a range of fields to adopt GbE solutions for their HPC environments. As network hardware vendors continue to improve throughput and reduce latency of these solutions, GbE could continue to attract more and more new customers.

For more than a decade, Force10 Networks has been working with IBM to deliver high-performance GbE networking solutions for HPC. Today, Force10 is collaborating with IBM to provide end-to-end 40 GbE solutions for HPC environments while bringing the benefits of high-performance networking to mass markets.

IBM AND FORCE10 HELP CREATE ONE OF EUROPE’S MOST POWERFUL SUPERCOMPUTERS 

Combining solutions from IBM and Force10 enabled Germany’s Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) to build one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe and the world. The organization operates a 294,912-core IBM® System Blue Gene®/P environment with Force10 ExaScale E1200i switches to help scientists and researchers solve complex problems and produce detailed models. The switches provide a transparent, high-speed interconnect with the storage system in a dense architecture. With this configuration, the supercomputer—named JUGENE—can provide a net storage capacity of 4.3 PB at an aggregated bandwidth of 66 GB per second.

“We needed a communication switch which was capable of taking over 200 10 GbE ports,” says Klaus Wolkersdorfer, head of the HPC systems division at JSC. “Only the Force10 switch was capable of doing this.” Since the initial deployment in 2007, JUGENE has expanded to more than 800 10 GbE ports.

With a peak performance of 1 petaFLOPS, JUGENE provides HPC users with substantially greater performance than the previous system, all while retaining a small footprint and controlling energy consumption. Given the performance of the system, it is not surprising that JUGENE is attracting new users to JSC from all across Europe.

FORCE10 OFFERS END-TO-END 40 GBE SOLUTIONS

Performance improvements in networking hardware are spurring continued adoption of GbE for HPC. Building on the success of 10 GbE, Force10 and other vendors are introducing products that can deliver even greater bandwidth. While the cost of 100 GbE products could put them out of reach for some organizations, 40 GbE solutions can help many organizations strike an optimum balance between performance and price.

To meet the rising demand for these high-bandwidth solutions, Force10 recently introduced the S-Series S4810 10/40 GbE top-of-rack switch, a high-density 48-port 10 GbE switch with four 40 GbE uplinks. The company also announced a new 40 GbE line card for its ExaScale core switch/router. These 40 GbE products will soon be offered for IBM System Blue Gene/P environments. In addition, a 40 GbE line card will be supported on IBM Intelligent Cluster™ integrated solutions and HPC clusters based on IBM System x® iDataPlex® servers.

“The new Force10 products enable organizations to achieve end-to-end, core-to-edge 40 GbE connectivity,” says Arpit Joshipura, chief marketing officer at Force10. “By combining these 40 GbE products with powerful IBM systems, organizations gain the performance and throughput they need for solving complex problems plus the density and energy-efficiency for controlling costs.”

Because the Force10 ExaScale switch remains at the core of the networking solution whether organizations are using 1, 10 or 40 GbE, organizations can migrate to 40 GbE solutions from earlier platforms while minimizing the upheaval to the network. Tools provided through the Force10 Open Automation Framework can help organizations simplify device management and switch provisioning so they can benefit from high-performance networking without added management complexity.

IBM AND FORCE10 OPEN HPC TO NEW USERS AND USE CASES

By pairing dense, high-performance, end-to-end GbE networking solutions with IBM System x servers, Force10 and IBM are helping to bring the power of HPC to a broader audience. Organizations that might not have used HPC in the past can assemble clusters of cost-effective industry-standard servers and capitalize on speeds of 10 Gbps—and now 40 Gbps—for a wide range of HPC applications.

High-performance GbE networking also creates opportunities that reach beyond traditional HPC use cases. Some organizations could take advantage of 40 GbE throughput to integrate resources from multiple data centers and build high-performance private clouds, opening a new world of possibilities for HPC.

(Reference : http://www-148.ibm.com/bin/newsletter/tool/landingPage.cgi?lpId=3844)

Konvensyen Kebangsaan Gerakan Paralimpik Negara Sedekad 2011-2020 (GPN2010-2020)

Majlis Paralimpik Malaysia (MPM) dengan kerjasama Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS)dan Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) telahpun menganjurkan satu Konvensyen Gerakan Paralimpik Negara Sedekad (GPN2010)di Hotel World Youth, Ayer Keroh, Melaka pada 25 hingga 27 Mac 2011 yang lalu. Tujuan konvensyen ini ialah untuk meneruskan perjuangan Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) untuk sedekad lagi dengan mendapatkan pandangan orang ramai agar program Gerakan Paralimpik Negara Sedekad Kedua (GPN2020) menemui sasarannya. Buat pertama kalinya saya menjadi peserta konvensyen ini.

GPN2020 adalah satu program Majlis Paralimpik Malaysia untuk menentukan atlet OKU akan mencapai status atlet cemerlang setanding dengan atlit negara maju yang lain. Untuk menjadi negara maju kerajaan seharusnya memberikan hak sama rata antara atlet biasa dengan hak atlet OKU.Perkara-perkara seperti kejayaan atlet OKU tidak mendapat liputan media cetak dan elektronik sepertimana liputan yang diberikan kepada atlet biasa adalah contoh dimana atlet OKU masih terpinggir berbanding atlet biasa. Skim Kemenagan untuk atlet OKU juga tidak setimpal dengan atlet biasa. Ada atlet OKU yang menjadi juara dunia tidak diberi liputan dan ganjaran sewajarnya. Inilah yang akan diperjuangkan oleh MPM untuk sedekad yang akan datang.

MPM juga akan memperjuangkan supaya satu Akta dibuat untuk MPM sepertimana yang telah diperuntukkan kepada Majlis Olimpik Malaysia (MOM) dan Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia (MSN). MPM juga akan cuba membina Akademi Paralimpik bukan hanya untuk atlet Malaysia sahaja tetapi diiktiraf oleh International Paralympic Committee (IPC) bagi atlet luar negara berlatih atau belajar disini. Blue Print GPN2020 adalah sasaran utama konvensyen ini.

Berdasarkan pemerhatian saya, saya berpendapat konvensyen ini berjaya dan semua resolusi yang diputuskan dalam konvensyen ini perlu dikemukakan kepada pemimpin negara dan perlu diberikan perhatian satu per satu. Tahniah kepada Dekan Fakulti Sains Sukan, UiTM dan Rekreasi kerana menjadi pengerak utama menjadi moderator dan fisilitator sepanjang konvensyen berlangsung.

(Gambar sepanjang konvensyen0 GPN2010/20)

Pengajian tinggi ke arah transformasi negara - Datuk Seri Hj.. Mohamed Khaled Nordin

DALAM konteks negara kita Malaysia, sektor pengajian tinggi merupakan faktor kritikal dalam mentransformasi negara melalui sumbangan pengeluaran modal insan yang berkualiti. Kita perlu bersama menjayakan transformasi kerajaan, transformasi ekonomi dan seterusnya menggalas amanah Rancangan Malaysia Kesepuluh (RMKe-10) dan Model Baharu Ekonomi (MBE) dengan meningkatkan keupayaan pengetahuan dan inovasi negara.

Bagi menentukan agar Malaysia berjaya menjadi negara maju berpendapatan tinggi dan mempunyai peranan penting dalam ekonomi global, satu-satunya pilihan kita ialah menggerak aktifkan semua potensi, kemahiran dan bakat seluruh rakyat Malaysia. Apabila kita sedar bahawa negara China dan India mampu melahirkan empat juta graduan setahun, negara kita yang kecil ini tidak mungkin dapat meminggirkan potensi setiap seorang anak Malaysia dan mengabaikan bakat anak-anak muda kita.

Kita mesti memastikan setiap orang, tidak kira latar belakang etnik, agama, ekonomi dan daerah mendapat peluang bukan sahaja dalam menguasai ilmu di bidang pendidikan, tetapi juga melibatkan diri dalam program-program yang mengetengahkan bakat dan potensi mereka di mana ianya selari dengan konsep keterangkuman.

Universiti pada dekad ini, arah tujunya banyak dipengaruhi dan ditentukan oleh proses globalisasi dan kuasa pasaran. Semua ini menuntut pengorbanan dan pembaharuan malah keberanian melakukan rejuvenasi, mengembali dan menyuburkan semula budaya akademia sebenar dalam universiti.

Sebagai sebuah organisasi yang berteraskan pendidikan, universiti harus menjadi medan di mana semua idea dan pemikiran dapat diperdebatkan secara ilimiah dan terbuka, dan juga memberi ruang kepada idealisme positif berkembang memandangkan komitmen mencari kebenaran sememangnya mendasari kewujudan sesebuah universiti.

Selain itu, komitmen yang tinggi terhadap kecemerlangan dan kepelbagaian juga perlu diperkukuhkan. Tiada kejayaan yang bermakna jika sesuatu itu tidak mencapai tahap kecemerlangan.

Oleh itu, kecemerlangan harus membudaya dan dibudaya terutamanya dalam kalangan masyarakat universiti. Pengurusan universiti mesti peka yang mereka adalah institusi yang mengurus pekerja berilmu dan pendekatan pengurusan perlulah memenuhi aspirasi ini.

Mereka mesti membangunkan budaya bekerja secara berkumpulan, mampu menguruskan bakat yang ada dan bersedia serta terbuka dalam soal peralihan kuasa kepemimpinan. Dalam menjayakan hasrat kerajaan agar ada nilai dalam perbelanjaan (value for money), semua peruntukan yang diberikan kepada universiti mesti diuruskan sebaik mungkin, telus dan impaknya mesti dirasakan.

Pimpinan utama universiti perlu mempunyai visi dan misi yang jelas, memahami budaya dan kehendak universiti masing-masing, mempunyai kesungguhan dan semangat, dan berlumba-lumba untuk meningkatkan kemajuan prestasi dan kreadibiliti universitinya. Kesemua pemimpin terutama Naib Canselor mestilah mampu menonjolkan kepemimpinan akademik yang berupaya mendapat penghormatan, menjadi rujukan, dan mendapat sanjungan ahli akademik yang lain.

Dalam masa yang sama, Naib-naib Canselor mesti mampu membangun dan menjalinkan jaringan dan hubungan intelektual termasuk di peringkat antarabangsa terutamanya dalam usaha mengumpul dana bagi mengukuhkan pendapatan dan kedudukan kewangan universiti.

Pendek kata, Naib Canselor dan kepemimpinannya mesti berani melagang perubahan untuk memastikan universiti mereka mampu bersaing dalam mendapatkan pelajar paling berbakat, menjadi fakulti paling tersohor dan mendapat geran penyelidikan paling ternama.

Sudah sampai masanya pemimpin utama di universiti memainkan peranan yang lebih luas dari lingkungan universiti masing-masing terutamanya bagi universiti penyelidikan untuk menjayakan peranan yang lebih global sifatnya.

Sehubungan dengan itu, sebahagian universiti kita juga mesti memiliki pengiktirafan antarabangsa jika kita ingin mengekalkan daya saing Malaysia. Sektor pengajian tinggi terutamanya di peringkat universiti, sudah menjadi perkara universal. Bila kita bercakap mengenai Universiti Oxford atau Harvard, kita tidak melihatnya sebagai sebuah universiti milik negara atau bertaraf kebangsaan semata-mata tetapi mereka dilihat sebagai universiti milik antarabangsa yang diiktiraf dunia.

Oleh itu, universiti kita harus berani mengambil cabaran untuk meningkatkan kedudukan masing-masing di peringkat antarabangsa. Naib-naib Canselor dan pasukan kepemimpinannya mestilah bersedia mengorak langkah untuk meletakkan universiti mereka sebagai entiti yang memiliki pengiktirafan antarabangsa melangkaui lingkungan kebangsaan atau negara.

Justeru, saya ingin menyeru agar kedudukan dan pencapaian universiti diukur berasaskan kepada sama ada mereka kekal 'Relevant' (relevan), 'Referred' (dirujuk) dan 'Respected' (dihormati). Dan ukuran 3R ini mestilah diasaskan kepada tiga (3) peringkat persekitaran yang mengelilinginya iaitu di peringkat kebangsaan, serantau dan juga global.

Setiap universiti perlu berusaha membangun dan mencapai kedudukan itu secara berperingkat. Dan ukuran tersebut pula perlu diasaskan kepada hubungan dan peranan setiap universiti dengan semua pemegang taruhnya iaitu kerajaan, pelajar, industri dan masyarakat, di mana setiap pemegang taruh akan melihat dan menilai setiap institusi kita sama ada ia kekal relevan, dirujuk dan dihormati.

Mungkin bagi memenuhi keperluan ini, maka setiap universiti perlu untuk membangunkan niche area mereka masing-masing lantaran terus menjadikannya sebagai satu kekuatan. Kalau bidang tujahan kita adalah dalam pengurusan atau keusahawanan atau pengurusan dalam kewangan Islam atau perubatan tropikal, kita mesti yakin dan tahu di tahap manakah kita berada dalam jangkauan status universiti kita, adakah kita telah diterima dan diiktiraf di peringkat kebangsaan, serantau dan global, atau universiti kita masih tidak mencapai mana-mana peringkat yang diikitiraf.

Ruang lingkup dan sumber persediaan kita tidak harus bersifat terlalu kecil sebaliknya mestilah melangkaui ruang lingkup yang besar agar kita dapat bergerak dan bertindak dengan berkesan di kesemua peringkat.

Tidak dinafikan, universiti pada hari ini, bukanlah semata-mata menjadi menara gading dan gedung ilmu tetapi ia juga sepatutnya menjadi tempat penjana tenaga masyarakat yang dinamik, sentiasa membangun dan maju. Bagi memperkukuhkan lagi peranan dan kedudukan universiti untuk memimpin masyarakat dan negara, kementerian akan memperkenalkan satu lagi Projek Agenda Kritikal (Critical Agenda Project-CAP) iaitu Program Pemindahan Ilmu (Knowledge Transfer Programme, KTP), menjadikan jumlah CAP di bawah Pelan Strategik Pengajian Tinggi Negara (PSPTN) kepada 23 kesemuanya.

Selain dari menjayakan usaha pemindahan ilmu, bersesuaian dengan kesejagatan kerjaya ahli akademik, mereka perlu digalakkan untuk terlibat dengan mobiliti untuk menyumbang kepakaran kepada sektor-sektor perkhidmatan awam yang lain sama ada melalui kaedah peminjaman, berkhidmat secara pentadbiran dan sebagainya.

Bagi menjayakan mobiliti akademik ini, beberapa perkara perlu diberikan penekanan, antaranya pengurusan universiti perlu membina dasar baharu yang mendukung "peranan ahli akademik untuk pembangunan negara".

Kepimpinan universiti perlu mempunyai pemikiran terbuka serta mempercayai bahawa sumber akademik yang bernilai universal, perlu dimanfaatkan untuk pembangunan negara dalam kerangka pelan mobiliti akademik yang baharu.

Walaupun penting bagi ahli akademik untuk menjalankan tugas asas di institusinya, mereka perlu digalakkan menyumbang merentasi fakulti/institusi, universiti atau agensi luar (kerajaan mahupun swasta) berasaskan kepakaran dan keupayaan mereka. Justeru, konsep pelantikan bersama (double-triple, multi appointment) boleh dikaji dan dipertimbangkan.

Selain itu juga, bagi mengiktiraf tenaga akademik yang terlibat dalam mobiliti akademik ini, penilaian tahunan, penghormatan, kenaikan pangkat dan penilaian pencapaian perlu mengambil kira keseluruhan sumbangan mereka di semua peringkat di luar fakulti selain universitinya.

Hari ini misalnya, terdapat ramai tenaga akademik daripada IPTA khususnya, dipinjamkan untuk mengisi jawatan-jawatan terbuka atau open post di pelbagai kementerian dan jabatan, sama ada di dalam atau di luar negara. Peminjaman mereka pastinya berasaskan kepada kemampuan dan kepakaran yang dimiliki oleh mereka, justeru itu, kementerian dan jabatan-jabatan yang terlibat amat menghargai kesediaan dan komitmen mereka untuk bersama-sama menggembleng tenaga membantu negara dalam kapasiti yang berbeza.

Kepulangan mereka nanti ke IPTA masing-masing iaitu selepas tempoh peminjaman tamat, diharapkan pengiktirafan dan kedudukan yang bersesuaian wajarlah diberikan kepada mereka dengan mengambil semangat kerangka mobiliti akademik yang akan kita perkenalkan ini.

Seperti yang kita semua sedia maklum, kerajaan telah memperkenalkan konsep cross-fertilization di mana beberapa ahli akademik boleh dilantik berkhidmat di pelbagai kementerian dan agensi dan saya berhasrat untuk melihat pengalaman mereka dapat dimanfaatkan oleh kerajaan dan swasta dan pengalaman baharu itu pula dapat di bawa pulang semula ke universiti masing-masing. Universiti hendaklah bersedia menerima mereka dalam kapasiti baharu sesuai dengan pengalaman dan pengiktirafan yang telah diberikan.

Justeru, universiti diminta meneliti semula perkara ini agar bakat mereka dapat dimanfaat di pelbagai peringkat untuk membantu negara, serta dalam masa yang sama dapat mengekalkannya untuk kembali berkhidmat dengan universiti apabila kemudiaan kelak.Jika ini gagal dilaksanakan, saya bimbang universiti akan kehilangan lebih ramai bakat pada masa hadapan dan hasrat negara untuk perkongsian ilmu tidak akan tercapai.

The Twelve Principles of Agile Software

• Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
• Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
• Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
• Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
• The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
• Working software is the primary measure of progress.
• Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
• Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
• The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
• At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

Agile Manifesto

In February 2001, 17 software developers met at a ski resort in Snowbird, Utah, to discuss lightweight development methods. They published the "Manifesto for Agile Software Development" to define the approach now known as agile software development. Some of the manifesto's authors formed the Agile Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes software development according to the manifesto's principles.

Agile Manifesto reads, in its entirety, as follows:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

Twelve principles underlie the Agile Manifesto, including:

• Customer satisfaction by rapid delivery of useful software
• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development
• Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)
• Working software is the principal measure of progress
• Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace
• Close, daily co-operation between business people and developers
• Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location)
• Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
• Simplicity
• Self-organizing teams
• Regular adaptation to changing circumstances

In 2005, a group headed by Alistair Cockburn and Jim Highsmith wrote an addendum of project management principles, the Declaration of Interdependence to guide software project management according to agile development methods.

Practical cost saving benefits of cloud-based email management

Thinking about cutting costs by switching to email archiving and management in the cloud, but not sure how it all adds up? Understand the different ways Mimecast saves you time and money and put figures on what your own cost savings will be.

Can using Software-as-a-Service be cheaper than running the equivalent software in-house? Yes, especially when one service can replace multiple software tools for you. But will it actually be cheaper for your business and how can you work out the savings? Check out how Mimecast could bring down your email management bills, step by step.

1. Consolidate your email environment

2. Reduce help desk queries

3. Eliminate technology gaps & overlaps

4. Save on staff costs

5. Reduce ongoing costs

6. No unexpected costs

7. Cut the cost of downtime

8. Don’t pay extra for performance

9. Pay for what you use

10. Immediate value

(Reference: http://www.mimecast.com)

Five Best Practices for Unified Communications

Background

To meet today’s increasing demands, businesses need to communicate and collaborate more efficiently. Communication needs to be timely and effective, reaching people where and when they want to be reached, at the office, at home or on the go. Collaboration needs to include a broad sweep of individuals, cross geographic and organizational boundaries and be integrated with business processes.

One way to address these needs is with Unified Communications (UC), which brings together the tools of voice, email, messaging and conferencing and integrates them with business applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM). UC can improve organizational efficiencies, while simultaneously empowering knowledge workers.

The efficiency gains come from the integration and optimization of communication silos, supported by enterprise-wide standards and shared services. Productivity gains are harder to measure, but there’s a clear intuitive benefit that could be realized by reducing human latency. It might be hard to quantify, but we’ve all experienced the frustration of “telephone tag.” With a UC platform, employees can see who’s available at a glance, before placing the call.

Characteristics of Successful UC Projects

Enterprises that have begun migrating toward UC have been experiencing some challenges. For UC to be effective, the entire network must be prepared to manage the applications. The more complex the network, the more difficult it is to roll out UC. Limited platform choices and inflexible pricing models are making choices more challenging for network managers. Return on Investment (ROI) for UC is also hard to provide in dollars and cents, as much of the value comes from improved communications among employees and customers. Early Adopters of UC indicate that successful UC programs share the following characteristics:

• They are often inspired by IT, but are always driven by clear business needs – it’s not just a matter of rolling out the infrastructure.

• They are well supported by existing architectures, and their complexity is acknowledged – programs succeed when they’re supported by detailed plans to manage both technical and organizational change.

• They focus on the smallest practical set of technology choices to minimize interoperability issues

Five Best Practices

Enterprises that are realizing value from their UC programs are succeeding because they’ve followed some basic, common-sense practices. If your organization is considering a move in this direction, here are five best practices to consider:

1. Define a Guiding Vision that will Lead Toward Increased ROI UC depends on network readiness, network and application convergence and integrated wired and wireless access. It also involves a blending of software and platform capabilities, leaving most enterprises with a multi-vendor solution. Managing the integration of disparate communications tools and dealing with the associated re-training programs also makes for a complex transition. Developing the right strategy requires a long-term view, as well as an understanding of the short-term challenges.

2. Include Sufficient Up-Front Planning.

A clear roadmap for a UC implementation can help businesses manage expectations and be sure that time frames are realized. It should recognize that UC is not a software-only concept, and include initiatives aimed at ensuring end-user acceptance. The plan should also consider whether some commodity services might need to be outsourced, so corporate knowledge resources can focus on strategic UC applications.

3. Clearly Align Business and Technical Requirements

Phased migration plans can maximize the value of existing investments in applications, messaging, voice and other supporting infrastructures. Vendor-agnostic product recommendations can help ensure that the design meets an organization’s specific requirements, and UC migration planning should also consider next generation service architectures, such as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).

4. Find the Right Champion for the UC Program

Some programs emerge from IT and seek to introduce new capabilities. Programs may also emerge from business units seeking to establish UC capabilities to support a new product, service or business initiative. Regardless of the champion, there must be a well-developed integration plan and a realistic level of funding.

5. Establish Cross-Functional

Teams to Help Manage the Implementation. These teams can help deal with the complexity of a “meta-technology” environment that includes many different parts, and can develop a single methodology for planning implementation and introduction. Cross-functional teams can also be invaluable when it comes to communicating the benefits across the organization, as well as to customers, partners and suppliers.

Seeing Benefits

Once a UC program is under way, reaping the benefits is ultimately up to the users. An enterprise can make all the right decisions and deliver on a well-thought-out strategy and still not benefit from UC. Employees must be willing to make changes in the way they conduct business and communicate. UC can increase the efficiency of virtual teams, while reducing travel time and expenses, and can

also eliminate some communication barriers, reduce cycle times and improve the quality of day-to-day communication. UC can support the re-engineering of business processes and accelerate process improvement, but only if process owners are willing to evolve. If not addressed, user resistance to change can be a deal-breaker for an otherwise well-planned UC program.

Despite the great promise of UC, it remains a challenging prospect. Standards are still emerging and different vendors offer different approaches. Independent advice can help companies select the strategies, architectures and deployment plans that make sense for them.

(Reference : AT&T)

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT - DNSSEC

Scenario

When Laura returns to campus after the holiday break, she is shocked to hear that she has been de-registered from classes due to nonpayment of tuition. She calls her parents, who confirm that they paid her bill online in early December. They tell her that when they went to the bursar’s website, the page looked a bit different and asked for information they had previously entered, but the browser displayed the padlock icon indicating a secure connection, so they paid the bill as usual. They assure her that the funds have already been transferred from their bank account. Laura heads over to the bursar’s office, only to find a crowd of students in the same boat. As they talk about their predicament, they discover that they all paid their tuition online and that they all use the same regional ISP.

Further investigation by the university’s IT staff confirms that the students fell victim to DNS cache poisoning—a kind of computer attack in which hackers insert bad data into an ISP’s name server cache, which, as a result, directs Internet traffic from an intended site (in this case, the bursar’s website) to another location. The hackers even purchased an SSL certificate so that the bogus site would have the padlock icon.

The university has to let several hundred students re-register without having yet paid tuition, and the students and their families spend months getting their banks to refund the money that was fraudulently transferred from their accounts.

In the future, as administrators of domains and websites implement DNSSEC, such attacks will be prevented. DNSSEC adds a set of security provisions to the way Internet traffic is routed through name servers, protecting users from the kind of attack Laura suffered. When DNSSEC is implemented, if a user’s computer is redirected to a bogus version of a website, software that manages web traffic will encounter security keys that should match but do not, indicating a problem. In this way, DNSSEC will plug a fundamental weakness of the Internet.

What is it?

Internet-connected devices are identified by IP addresses, though users typically only know web addresses—people can remember “example.edu,” for instance, more easily than “192.168.7.13.” The Domain Name System (DNS) uses a distributed network of name servers to translate text-based web addresses into IP addresses, directing Internet traffic to proper servers. Though invisible to end users, DNS is a basic element of how the Internet functions.

DNS was built without security, however, leaving Internet traffic exposed to forged DNS data, which, among other things, allows the spoofing of addresses to redirect traffic to malicious websites. DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) adds security provisions to DNS so that computers can verify that they have been directed to proper servers. DNSSEC authenticates lookups of DNS data (including the mapping of website names to IP addresses) for DNSSEC-enabled domains so that outgoing Internet traffic (including e-mail) is always sent to the correct servers, without the risk of being misdirected to fraudulent sites.

Who’s doing it?

VeriSign administers the “root,” which supports all top-level domains (TLDs) (.com, .net, .info, and so forth), and is expected to implement DNSSEC for the root (“sign the root”) in 2010. Once that happens, DNSSEC traffic can be validated at its highest level—the root. Several nations—including Sweden (.se domain), Brazil (.br), Bulgaria (.bg), and the Czech Republic (.cz)—have implemented the technology for their country-code domains, and the Public Interest Registry has enabled DNSSEC validation for the .org domain. As part of its compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002, which requires increased security for the nation’s cyberinfrastructure, the U.S. federal government has implemented DNSSEC for the .gov domain. Until the root is signed, these domains will use a surrogate authority to validate their DNSSEC-enabled web traffic, but all TLDs will eventually use DNSSEC. EDUCAUSE is working with VeriSign to implement DNSSEC for the .edu domain, also in 2010, and this effort is expected to provide guidance about best practices to smooth the transitions of the much-larger .com and .net domains in 2010 and 2011.

How does it work?

As data packets travel over the Internet, DNS provides the “maps” that correlate web addresses with IP addresses and route traffic to proper destinations. Because DNS does not provide a mechanism to authenticate the data in name servers, forged or corrupt data in a name server can direct traffic to the wrong server—a weakness that malicious parties use to their advantage. DNSSEC adds digital signatures that ensure the accuracy of lookup data, guaranteeing that computers can connect to legitimate servers.

With DNSSEC, a series of encryption keys are handed off and authenticated—the second-level domain (SLD) key (from example. edu) is authenticated by the TLD (.edu), and the TLD key is authenticated by the root. In this way, when an SLD, its parent TLD, and the root are all signed, a chain of trust is created. (Holders of SLDs can implement DNSSEC before their TLD or the root is signed, creating so-called “islands of trust” that rely on intermediate measures to validate their encryption keys.) If the encryption keys don’t match, DNSSEC will fail, but because the system is backwards-compatible, the transaction will simply follow standard DNS protocols.

The value of the system will come when the root, the TLDs, and SLDs are signed, allowing DNSSEC to be used for all Internet traffic. At that point, when DNSSEC fails, users will not be routed to bogus servers, and they might also be notified that nonmatching DNSSEC keys prevented their transaction from going through.

Why is it significant?

Hackers continue to exploit the security weakness of DNS to their advantage. By caching address information, name servers don’t have to look up the IP address every time a frequently visited site is accessed, and this speeds up the experience for end users. If hackers are able to insert a bogus IP address into a cache, however, all users of that name server will be directed to the wrong site (until the cache expires and is refreshed). Corrupting the operation of DNS in this way can lead to many kinds of fraud and other malicious activity. By plugging some of the largest security holes in the Internet, DNSSEC has the potential to significantly expand the trustworthiness—and thus the usefulness—of the Internet as a whole.

What are the downsides?

Fully implementing DNSSEC will require an enormous amount of work across every quarter of the Internet—signing the root and the TLDs is simply the tip of the iceberg. Participation is voluntary at this time, and the benefit that DNSSEC ultimately provides will be a reflection of the willingness of domain holders to do that work—that is, the value of DNSSEC will be in direct proportion to the number of sites that implement it. Even after the root and the TLDs are signed, the advantage of DNSSEC will be qualified by uneven rates of adoption. Adding encryption keys to Internet lookups introduces complex logistical problems of managing those keys, such as how to periodically update keys without breaking the way name servers (and their caches) work, and how to accommodate the differing keys and protocols of different TLDs. Name server software is still evolving to support DNSSEC; many organizations will need to update their DNS software, and, in some cases, hardware upgrades will also be required. In addition, DNSSEC might degrade the speed of Internet lookups, resulting in a slower experience for end users. On top of the technical and resource-based challenges are policy issues that will need to be resolved at an international level. The effort to implement DNSSEC for the root has renewed a longstanding debate about where “control of the Internet” resides.

Where is it going?

Having the root and TLDs signed will provide some incentive for domain holders to implement DNSSEC because the chain of trust can be established, but until a critical mass of domains incorporate the technology, the benefits might not seem to justify the effort. Administrators of most TLDs are expected to develop resources to help ease the implementation of DNSSEC for domain holders, but many of the thorniest technical issues—about not only the transition to but also the maintenance of DNSSEC in practice—still need to be sorted out. Presumably, as domains begin implementing DNSSEC in large numbers, momentum will grow and sustain the transition, but it remains to be seen how long the process might take or at what point a mandate to implement DNSSEC will be required for full adoption.

What are the implications for higher education?

The risks posed by DNS and the benefits of implementing DNSSEC have special significance for higher education. Colleges and universities are expected to be “good Internet citizens” and to lead by example in efforts to improve the public good. Because users tend to trust certain domains, including the .edu domain, more than others, expectations for the reliability of college and university websites are high. To the extent that institutions of higher education depend on their reputations, DNSSEC is an avenue to avoid some of the kinds of incidents that can damage a university’s stature.

In more tangible terms, higher education institutions store enormous amounts of sensitive information (including personal and financial information for students and others, medical information, and research data), and they maintain valuable online assets to which access must be effectively restricted. DNS attacks result in stolen passwords, disrupted e-mail (which often is the channel for official communications), exposure to malware, and other problems. DNSSEC can be an important part of a broad-based cybersecurity strategy.

(Reference : http://www.educause.edu)

Global IP Addresses

Have you ever wondered who controls the allocation of IP space? Globally routable IP addresses are assigned and distributed by Regional Internet Registrars (RIRs) to ISPs. The ISP then allocates smaller IP blocks to their clients as required.

Virtually all Internet users obtain their IP addresses from an ISP The 4 billion available IP addresses are administered by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA, http://www.iana.org). IANA has divided this space into large subnets, usually /8 subnets with 16 million addresses each. These subnets are delegated to one of the five regional Internet registries (RIRs), which are given authority over large geographic areas.

The five RIRs are:

• African Network Information Centre (AfriNIC, http://www.afrinic.net/)
• Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC, http://www.apnic.net/)
• American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN, http://www.arin.net/)
• Regional Latin-American and Caribbean IP Address Registry (LACNIC, http://www.lacnic.net/)
• Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE NCC, http://www.ripe.net/)

Your ISP will assign globally routable IP address space to you from the pool allocated to it by your RIR. The registry system assures that IP addresses are not reused in any part of the network anywhere in the world. Once IP address assignments have been agreed upon, it is possible to pass packets between networks and participate in the global Internet. The process

of moving packets between networks is called routing.

(Reference: http://wndw.net)

Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) - The Only Hands-On Information Security Certification

In the information security industry, there are a multitude of information security certifications, but only GIAC (Global Information Assurance Certification) builds the true hands-on skills that go beyond theory and tests on the pragmatics of security administration, management, audit, and software security.

GIAC offers more than 20 specialized information security certifications that correspond to specific job duties. The family of GIAC certifications target job-based skill sets rather than taking a one-size fits all approach. The GIAC certification process validates the specific skills of security professionals and developers with standards established on the highest benchmarks in the industry.

(Reference: http://www.giac.org)

Perlaksanaan Pensijilan MS ISO/IEC 27001:2007 Dalam Sektor Awam - Bila Sistem ICT di UiTM akan mempunyai pensijilan MS ISO/IEC 27001:2007?

Surat Pekeliling MAMPU bertarikh 24 November 2010 mewajibkan semua agensi kerajaan termasuk semua universiti di Malaysia melaksanakan pensijilan MS ISO/IEC 27001:2007 Pengurusan Sistem Keselamatan Maklumat (Information Security Management System - ISMS) di agensi masing-masing.

Justeru di UiTM, dalam melaksanakan keputusan ini, Pusat Sistem Maklumat Bersepadu (PSMB) selaku pusat yang bertanggungjawab terhadap ICT di UiTM sewajarnya mengambil tindakan proaktif seperti:-

a) Mengatur rancangan pematuhan pensijilan ISMS sebagaimana yang telah ditetapkan oleh Jemaah Menteri dan memberi maklum balas mengikut keperluan dari masa ke masa;

b) Mengenal pasti skop pelaksanaan dan pensijilan ISMS berdasarkan perkhidmatan kritikal agensi; dan

c) Merujuk kepada dokumen-dokumen berikut sebagai panduan pelaksanaan:

i) Malaysian Standard (MS ISO/IEC 27001:2007 Information technology - Security techniques - Information Security Management Systems – Requirement);

ii) International Standard (ISO/IEC 27003:2009 Information technology - Security techniques - Information Security Management System Implementation Guidance); dan

iii) International Standard (ISO/IEC 27004: 2009 Information Technology-Security Techniques - Information Security Management Measurement).

Mesyuarat Jemaah Menteri pada 24 Februari 2010 telah mengambil maklum bahawa tahap keselamatan maklumat kritikal negara perlu memenuhi standard antarabangsa yang boleh dicapai melalui pelaksanaan pensijilan MS ISO/IEC 27001:2007 Pengurusan Sistem Keselamatan Maklumat.

Mesyuarat Jemaah Menteri juga telah bersetuju Sektor Awam yang merupakan sebahagian dari Prasarana Maklumat Kritikal Negara (Critical National Information Infrastructure – CNII) perlu mendapatkan pensijilan MS ISO/IEC 27001:2007 Pengurusan Sistem Keselamatan Maklumat dalam tempoh 3 tahun. Sebarang usaha untuk mendapatkan pensijilan tersebut dalam tempoh lebih awal adalah digalakkan.

Diharapkan pihak yang terbabit dgn ICT di UiTM dapat merealiasasikan MS ISO/IEC 27001:2007 ini selewat-lewatnya pada pertengahan Jun 2011.

(Rujukan : Web Site MAMPU)

Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer's Guide

Man is driven to create; I know I really love to create things. And while I'm not good at painting, drawing, or music, I can write software. Shortly after I was introduced to computers, I became interested in programming languages. I believed that an ideal programming language must be attainable, and I wanted to be the designer of it.

Later, after gaining some experience, I realized that this kind of ideal, all-purpose language might be more difficult than I had thought. But I was still hoping to design a language that would work for most of the jobs I did everyday. That was my dream as a student. Years later I talked with colleagues about scripting languages, about their power and possibility. As an object-oriented fan for more than fifteen years, it seemed to me that OO programming was very suitable for scripting too.

I did some research on the 'net for a while, but the candidates I found, Perl and Python, were not exactly what I was looking for. I wanted a language more powerful than Perl, and more object-oriented than Python. Then, I remembered my old dream, and decided to design my own language. At first I was just toying around with it at work. But gradually it grew to be a tool good enough to replace Perl. I named it Ruby--after the precious red stone---and released it to the public in 1995.

Since then a lot of people have become interested in Ruby. Believe it or not, Ruby is actually more popular than Python in Japan right now. I hope that eventually it will be just as well received all over the world. I believe that the purpose of life is, at least in part, to be happy. Based on this belief, Ruby is designed to make programming not only easy, but also fun. It allows you to concentrate on the creative side of programming, with less stress. If you don't believe me, read this book and try Ruby.

I'm sure you'll find out for yourself. I'm very thankful to the people who have joined the Ruby community; they have helped me a lot. I almost feel like Ruby is one of my children, but in fact, it is the result of the combined efforts of many people. Without their help, Ruby could never have become what it is. I am especially thankful to the authors of this book, Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt. Ruby has never been a well-documented language. Because I have always preferred writing programs over writing documents, the Ruby manuals tend to be less thorough than they should be.

You had to read the source to know the exact behavior of the language. But now Dave and Andy have done the work for you. They became interested in a lesser-known language from the Far East. They researched it, read thousands of lines of source code, wrote uncountable test scripts and e-mails, clarified the ambiguous behavior of the language, found bugs (and even fixed some of them), and finally compiled this great book. Ruby is certainly well documented now! Their work on this book has not been trivial. While they were writing it, I was modifying the language itself. But we worked together on the updates, and this book is as accurate as possible. It is my hope that both Ruby and this book will serve to make your programming easy and enjoyable. Have fun!

Yukihiro Matsumoto, a.k.a. ``Matz''

Japan, October 2000

(Reference : http://www.ruby-doc.org)

Kemana Halatuju ICT UiTM Menempuh Alaf Digital Baru 2010?

Pada Jun 2010, IEEE telah meluluskan standard 802.3ba (40/100 Gigabit Ethernet standards) untuk teknologi ethernet berkelajuan tinggi, ia membolehkan data dihantar melalui copper, fiber optic (single mode) dan fiber optic (multi mode) pada kadar kelajuan 40Gbit/s dan 100Gbit/s. Pada hari ini UiTM masih menggunakan IEEE Std 802.3ae-2002(10GE) yang diluluskan oleh IEEE pada tahun 2002. Dalam masa yang sama UiTM masih lagi mengamalkan pengurusan sistem telekomunikasi secara tradisional dimana sistem telefon diuruselia oleh Unit Telekomunikasi, Pejabat Pengurusan Fasiliti manakala sistem rangkaian data (network) diuruselia oleh Unit Rangkaian, Pusat Sistem Maklumat Bersepadu menyebabkan sistem telefon (PABX) terpisah dengan sistem data (rangkaian).

Sistem data (rangkaian) semua kampus cawangan UiTM diseluruh negara disambung diantara satu sama lain ke Kampus Induk Shah Alam menggunakan IPVPN Over Metro-Ethernet yang disewa daripada Syarikat Telekom Malaysia Berhad (STMB). Dalam masa yang sama, sistem telefon (PABX) semua kampus UiTM diseluruh negara dihubungkan diantara satu sama lain melalui public switched telephone network (PSTN), kesan UiTM mengurus sistem ICT cara tradisional menyebabkan UiTM tidak dapat menikmati kemudahan unified communication yang telah diumumkan oleh Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCIF) pada Mei 2010.

Tahun 2010 menuntut UiTM untuk menilai semula sistem pengurusan dan amalan ICT sediada supaya ia diurus selaras dengan perkembangan teknologi semasa masa kini supaya teknologi ICT digunapakai sepenuhnya untuk menambahbaik sistem penyampaian di UiTM. UiTM sewajarnya menggunakan menggunakan teknologi unified communication kerana ia terbukti membawa banyak manfaat kepada organisasi yang menggunakannya diseluruh dunia. Perubahan yang drastik perlu dilakukan oleh pengurusan universiti supaya perlaksanaan dan penggunaan teknologi unified communication dapat dilaksanakan dengan mengabungkan unit-unit yang terlibat dengan pengurusan telefon dan data diletakan dibawah satu pengurusan.

Tasks and Responsibilities for Project Managers

• Get all key players on the project team.
• Manage task interfaces.
• Assure clear identification of task completion.
• Assure communication of task completion.
• Manage responsibility interfaces.
• Question blurry responsibilities.
• Clarify delegation levels.
• Balance the needs of project, client, organization.
• Identify stakeholders and their definition of project success.
• Balance project objectives with other objectives.
• Act as a catalyst, and when necessary, a devil’s advocate.
• Promote effective communication and wide participation in decision making.
• Manage conflicts. Conflict and aggressiveness are necessary elements in an adhocracy.
• Management’s job is to channel them toward productive ends.
• Bring conflicts to an early resolution. Do not sweep them under the rug. They won’t go away.

About Project and Project Management

A Project Is....

• A group of tasks, performed in a definable time period, in order to meet a specific set of objectives.
• It is likely to be a one-time program.
• It has a life cycle, with a specific start and end.
• It has a work scope that can be categorized into definable tasks.
• It has a budget.
• It is likely to require the use of multiple resources. Many of these resources may be scarce and may have to be shared with others.
• It may require the establishment of a special organization, or the crossing of traditional organizational boundaries

Major components of project consists of

• Work of scope.
• Time.
• Resources.
• Costs.
• Quality.
• Communication.
• Risk.
• Contracts and Procurement.

Fundamentals Concepts of Excellence

The Fundamental Concepts of Excellence are the underlying principles of the EFQM Excellence. Model which are the essential foundation of achieving sustainable excellence for any organisations.

Achieving Balanced Results
Excellent organisations meet their Mission and progress towards their Vision through planning and achieving a balanced set of results that meet both the short and long term needs of their stakeholders and, where relevant, exceed them.

Adding Value for Customers
Excellent organisations know that customers are their primary reason for being and strive to innovate and create value for them by understanding and anticipating their needs and expectations.

Leading with Vision, Inspiration & Integrity
Excellent organisations have leaders who shape the future and make it happen, acting as role models for its Values and ethics.

Managing by Processes
Excellent organisations are managed through structured and strategically aligned processes using fact-based decision making to create balanced and sustained results.

Succeeding through People
Excellent organisations value their people and create a culture of empowerment for the balanced achievement of organisational and personal goals.

Nurturing Creativity & Innovation
Excellent organisations generate increased value and levels of performance through continual and systematic innovation by harnessing the creativity of their stakeholders.

Building Partnerships
Excellent organisations seek, develop and maintain trusting relationships with various partners to ensure mutual success. These partnerships may be formed with customers, society, key suppliers, educational bodies or Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO).

Taking Responsibility for a Sustainable Future
Excellent organisations embed within their culture an ethical mindset, clear Values and the highest standards of organisational behaviour, all of which enable them to strive for economic, social and ecological sustainability.

(Resouces : http://www.efqm.org)

References to Various Methodologies for ICT Project Management

1. Association for Project Management
2. Malcolm Baldrige Model
3. BS 5750 - British Standards Institute.
4. EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management)
5. ISO 9002 (International Standards Institute)
6. ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
7. PMBOK (Project Management Institute)
8. AIPM(The Australia Institute of Project Management)
9. IPMA(The International Project Management Association)
10. SSADM (Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method)
11. PRINCE2

Bytes, Megabytes, and Gigabytes

Hard disk space and random access memory (RAM) are measured in megabytes and gigabytes. First, you need to understand the basic unit in this numbering scheme—the bit. A bit is the basic unit of information in the binary numbering system, representing either 0 (for off) or 1 (for on). Computers read binary numbers, or strings of 0s and 1s.

Bits are grouped to form larger storage units, the most common of which is a byte. Bytes are made up of 7 and 8 bits, which, collectively, are also known as an octet. The word byte is a contraction of BinarY digiT Eight. The most important thing to remember here is that a byte usually holds one character—such as a number, letter, or symbol.

Bytes represent very small amounts of storage, so they are usually grouped in larger quantities. A kilobyte (KB) contains 1,024 bytes. You’ll see your file sizes in the Windows Explorer, for example, listed in kilobytes if the files are small. The prefix kilo indicates 1,000 in the metric system.

A megabyte (MB) contains 1,048,576 bytes. The prefix mega represents 1 million in the metric system and is used for file size, as well as for computer memory and hard disk capacity. A gigabyte (GB) contains 1,073,741,824 bytes. The prefix giga represents 1 billion in the metric system. You generally see gigabytes when talking about hard disk capacity. Large gigabyte hard drives now are the norm; you can purchase 40GB drives with no problem in a computer these days.

The appearance of the PC (personal computer)

Ted Hoff at Intel invented the microprocessor in 1971. At the same time, IBM invented the floppy disk as a convenient, small and cheap means of storing computer data. Now, using a single processor chip, complemented by a few memory chips and input/output devices, it was possible to create a working micro-computer. The first commercially available computer kit (the MITS Altair) duly appeared in 1975, and the Commodore PET computer was the hit of 1977. A period of intense further development of the microprocessor chip took place at Intel. The 8086 chip was released in 1979 and the 8088 in 1980.

Based on the Intel 8088 microprocessor, the IBM PC (personal computer) appeared in August 1981 . This set the standard for PCs as we know them today. The IBM PC incorporated the DOS (disk operating system) software developed by the Micro-Soft company (later renamed Microsoft) which had been set up by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. By 1983, a new version of the IBM PC, the IBM PC XT, included a hard disk for storage of data.

Apple Computer, founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976, introduced the Macintosh computer in 1984. It revolutionised personal computing with the graphical user interface (GUI), the use of a mouse to ‘point and click’ and the opening of different ‘windows’ for different tasks. Microsoft quickly reacted by introducing a new operating system software, Microsoft Windows, in 1985. The ‘look and feel’ of Microsoft Windows were so similar to the Macintosh operating system that it led Apple Computer to file a lawsuit.

The role of UNIX in the development of the Internet

In 1969, the UNIX computer operating system was developed by Ken Thompson of AT&T Bell Laboratories. It has turned out to be one of the most powerful and widely accepted computer operating systems for computer and telephone exchange systems requiring multitasking and multi-user capabilities.

Standard UNIX commands allow for access to computer files, programs, storage and other resources. Encouraged by the hardware volumes purchased by AT&T (American Telegraph and Telephone company), UNIX was quickly adopted by many computer manufacturers as their standard operating system, so that computer programs and other applications written for UNIX could easily be ported (i.e., moved with only very few changes) from one computer system to another.

Most importantly for the development of the Internet, one of the participants in the ARPANET, the University of California in Berkeley, at the request of DARPA, wrote an extension to UNIX to incorporate the newly developed TCP/IP protocols. This version of UNIX was called UNIX 4.2BSD(Berkeley System Distribution). It was immediately used in the ARPANET and was released to the public domain in 1983. It opened the door for rapid further development of applications for file transfer between computers and for a more-widely standardised form of email. The embedding of TCP/IP within UNIX also made UNIX servers the natural choice of hardware for web servers, which would appear later.