February 2013
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Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News! This month, we discuss AD integration into NetEqualizer, our upcoming Educause conference, the new NetEqualizer Dashboard feature, and the history of P2P blocking. As always, feel free to pass this along to others who might be interested in NetEqualizer News. |
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A message from Art…
Art Reisman, CTO – APconnections
This Newsletter is our valentine to you! As candy is fattening, we are instead fattening up your mind. Our gifts to you include an opportunity to participate in our AD Beta Test, a chance to learn more about the history of P2P, and the opportunity to pick up some bling at Educause!
We love it when we hear back from you – so if you have a story you would like to share with us of how we have helped you, let us know. Email me directly at art@apconnections.net. I would love to hear from you! |
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In This Issue:
:: AD Integration Update and Beta Testing |
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AD Integration Update and Beta Testing We are well underway with beta testing our new and exciting NetEqualizer feature – Active Directory integration. The feature is being broken down into two release phases: In the first phase, we’ll allow administrators to see the Active Directory username associated with the IP Address in the connection table (assuming the user used Active Directory to authenticate). We’ll also allow you to sort the table by username and IP for quick analysis of a specific username. This screenshot shows how usernames will be displayed in the connection table:
In the second phase, which will be released in the summer of 2013, we’ll allow administrators to set rate limits by username as well as give priority to certain users. This way, users don’t have to be part of a certain subnet to gain priority access. If your organization uses Active Directory for user authentication, you have had a NetEqualizer for at least one year, and you’d be willing to assist us in our testing, let us know by sending an email to: Stay tuned to NetEqualizer News for more updates and GA release details! And get a cool NetEqualizer pen! We are conducting a Poster Session on Wednesday, 2/13 at the West/Southwest Educause Regional Conference in Austin, Texas. If you are at the conference, stop by to see us! If you do, and mention this Newsletter, we will give you a fabulous NetEqualizer pen!
Here is our abstract for the conference: Maximizing Your Internet Resource: Why Behavior-Based QoS Is the Future of Bandwidth Shaping Higher education is tasked to do more with less, particularly when managing a scarce resource like bandwidth. Behavior-based QoS, an affordable bandwidth shaping technology, is coming to the forefront. It’s also gaining mindshare as a superior bandwidth shaping technology, as encrypted traffic thwarts deep packet inspection. This poster will delve into the differences between DPI and behavior-based QoS, explaining where each is best suited for networks. Learn how to reduce P2P and HEOA/RIAA requests on your campus and see behavior-based QoS in action. We will offer a live online demonstration of our affordable NetEqualizer: We hope to see you there! Don’t Forget to Upgrade to 6.0! With a brief tutorial on our Dashboard If you have not already upgraded your NetEqualizer to Software Update 6.0, now is the perfect time! We have discussed the new upgrade in depth in previous newsletters and blog posts, so this month we thought we’d show you how to take advantage of our new Dashboard features! If you have not explored it, here is what you can expect to see: – You can immediately tell which key processes are running, through our green (on)/red (off) icons. This helps you to make sure that everything is running as expected. Remember, new software updates (including all the features described above) are available for free to customers with valid NetEqualizer Software & Support (NSS). If you are not current with NSS, contact us today! -or- toll-free U.S. (888-287-2492), worldwide (303) 997-1300 x. 103 A Brief History of Peer to Peer File Sharing and the Attempts to Block It
By Art Reisman – CTO – APconnections The following history is based on my notes and observations as both a user of peer to peer, and as a network engineer tasked with cleaning it up. Round One, Napster, Centralized Server, Circa 2002 Napster was a centralized service, unlike the peer to peer behemoths of today there was never any question of where the copyrighted material was being stored and pirated from. Even though Napster did not condone pirated music and movies on their site, the courts decided by allowing copyrighted material to exist on their servers, they were in violation of copyright law. Napster’s days of free love were soon over…
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Photo Of The Month
Photo by Casey Sanders A Slower Pace When people picture the state of Texas, most think of vast ranches, cattle, and cactus. While much of the state does resemble this type of landscape, the northeastern part is actually heavily wooded and contains many lakes. Life in this rural area of the country moves a bit slower than our high-speed, high-tech lives in Metro Denver, Colorado. Sometimes it is cathartic to put all the work aside for a bit and just stare off into the woods. |
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