NetEqualizer News: October 2018

November 26, 2018 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include our 8.6 Release finishing its testing phase and more!

 

October 2018

 
8.6 Release is Ready for Pre-Release!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

Here in Colorado, we never really got a chance to experience a light frost. We went from a balmy 65 degrees on October 13th to winter with snow with temperatures in the mid teens on October 14th.
Like the changes in the weather, the NetEqualizer feature set is always evolving. In this issue we bring you the new 8.6 release, and as an added bonus a little out of-the-box thinking for the future. 

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net. 

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: The 8.6 Release is GA

:: Far-out Product Ideas

The 8.6 Release is GA

8.6 is now available for everyone!

How to get 8.6

Just e-mail us at support@apconnections.net or call us at 303-997-1300 during business hours to get the ball rolling.

Is upgrading painful?

No needles we promise! The upgrade process for 8.6 requires running a couple of commands from the GUI and then a single reboot. Worst case you should expect a 30 second service outage.

What is in 8.6?

Perhaps you missed our internal review back in August when we were testing. Here are the details of the main 8.6 features.  You can also read our full 8.6 Release Notes on our blog site at any time.

1) Scalable Time and Date for Reporting

Ever ask the question, “what was my bandwidth usage between 9:00pm and 12:00 pm last Thursday?” We now have the answer at your finger tips. Using the time and date range bar, located at the top of all our graphical reports, you can hone in on a particular time/date period – immediately rescaling the report as you move the bar. Our previous releases had fixed time periods of one day, one week, one month, etc. which was nice, but nowhere near as convenient. This was one of our most requested features.

2) Set your Priority to expire

Giving a user priority is akin to giving them permanent keys to the Fort Knox of Bandwidth. Perhaps you have a user that has a good reason for some extra bandwidth on Tuesday evening due to a business presentation; but come Wednesday you don’t wan’t their laptop with priority to accidentally go off in the middle day on a 50G backup with unlimited bandwidth, that might bring your network to a crawl. Never fear! Now, when assigning priority you can set an expiration date on your priority and avoid leaving that gate open.

3) Watch individual usage live on your screen

We have always had static reports on historical usage per IP, and now we have added a real time bar chart that updates once a second, so you can see in real time what a single IP is doing in terms of usage. I have used it while watching youtube and Netflix video, and was surprised to see how these application will consistently burst ahead to buffer up large chunks of bandwidth just by watching the usage bar jump up. I had suspected this behavior from Netflix, but it was nice to see it confirmed visually on my screen.

4) Bursting Pool/Subnet settings

People have always liked our pool/subnet shaping feature, but we often get asked by customers to relax enforcement during slack usage times. For example, if you have your guest wireless network restricted to 50 megabits on a 1G circuit on our 8.5 release, those users will never be able to go above 50 megabits. Now in 8.6, if you put a 50 megabit restriction on a group you can tell the NetEqualizer only to enforce that rule when the entire circuit is at capacity. With our 8.6 release, you have the choice of keeping the hard 50 megabit restriction in place all the time, or to only enforce this restriction during peak times.

As always, the 8.6 Release will be free to customers with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS) plans. Renew today if you are not current!
Far-out Product Ideas

Some interesting product ideas, just for fun…

Every once in a while we try to get out of the box and think of ideas that will stretch the imagination a little bit. Below are a couple that came to mind today. If you have a far-out idea, we’d love to hear about it. As a technology company we are always looking for ways to leap frog into new paradigms.
Site Survey Drone
I suspect others have thought of this idea and perhaps it has been implemented, so apologies in advance in case this is not an original idea.
We know that there are a variety of ways to survey areas for wireless coverage, and yet once the service is rolled out, dead spots abound. The contractor in charge must rely on reports from customers, or physically walk the site to find areas lacking in coverage. Seems like a good job for a small drone? Yes you need to a little intelligence to self navigate, and perhaps there might be little problems like closed doors (there goes the engineer in me thinking of obstacles). Bottom line is, it could be done, and could save a good bit of time and money.
Cleaning your Keyboard After a Sticky Spill
Yes I am going farther out with this one, but what if there was some service where you could hire an ant colony to clean up that sugary mess on your key board or mother board? Would ants be able to do this job effectively? The idea came to me when I saw a heard of goats being used to clear brush and noxious weeds off public right aways and roadsides. Ants are tireless workers and love sugar and people are always destroying their electronics with sticky spills.
Automatic Survey Response Application for your Phone 
I get 10 robo-calls a day with operators spoofing caller ID’s. You really can’t block them because they have figured out how to come from a new number with every call, and if you do block them, you are likely blocking an innocent party, since the caller ID was hijacked. To date, the FCC seems reluctant to do anything about it. I am not sure why perhaps there is money in this traffic for the operators? Last I heard, 50 percent of outbound calls in the US is from this garbage spammed traffic.
My idea: What if you had a little intelligent application (your private Watson that understands context) on your phone that responded like a potential real customer. Here is an example interaction.

Robo-Caller: Hello this is Henry with the warranty department, did you know your 1978 Honda is not covered by warranty?

Robo-App: Wow, please tell me more!

Robo-Caller: For a simple $9.99 a month we can extend your expired manufacture’s warranty.

Robo-App: Yes I’d like to sign up…

And so on. The idea is to engage the robo-caller for as long as possible, thus wasting their time to the point where the spamming operation is no longer viable.

—
Please email me at art@apconnections.net to share your far-out idea!
Blueberry Picking in New York

This picture is of a late summer right of passage in New York – picking blueberries with the family. It was taken last year at a blueberry patch in the Finger Lakes.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
Posted in Newsletters. Tags: . Leave a Comment »

NetEqualizer News: August 2018

October 14, 2018 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include our 8.6 Release finishing its testing phase and more!

 

August 2018

 
8.6 Release is Ready for Pre-Release!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

Wow how the summer flies by. The public schools here in Colorado are all in full session this week. By the time Labor day roles around, the buses will have been rolling for two weeks. Even though the days are still hot, and it still feels like summer outside our offices, nature is starting to signal the end of the season. The orioles that frequented our backyard feeder since May have headed south, replaced by migrating humming birds that are coming down from the mountains on their journey to Mexico and beyond. Best of all, August signals the completion of the 8.6 testing cycle. We will be releasing 8.6 with all its amazing new features in just a few days! 

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net. 

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: The 8.6 Release

:: Call Out for Pre Release Testing

:: Best of Blog: Three Myths About QoS and Your Internet Speed

The 8.6 Release

8.6 is headed to pre-release!

There are quite a few “wow” features in this upcoming release. Here are some first impressions now that our early beta users have had a chance to kick the tires on a live 8.6 system…

1) Scalable Time and Date for reporting

Ever ask the question, “what was my bandwidth usage between 9:00pm and 12:00 pm last Thursday?” We now have the answer at your finger tips. Using the time and date range bar, located at the top of all our graphical reports, you can hone in on a particular time/date period – immediately rescaling the report as you move the bar. Our previous releases had fixed time periods of one day, one week, one month, etc. which was nice, but nowhere near as convenient. This was one of our most requested features.

2) Set your Priority to expire

Giving a user priority is akin to giving them permanent keys to the Fort Knox of Bandwidth. Perhaps you have a user that has a good reason for some extra bandwidth on Tuesday evening due to a business presentation; but come Wednesday you don’t wan’t their laptop with priority to accidentally go off in the middle day on a 50G backup with unlimited bandwidth, that might bring your network to a crawl. Never fear! Now, when assigning priority you can set an expiration date on your priority and avoid leaving that gate open.

3) Watch individual usage live on your screen

We have always had static reports on historical usage per IP, and now we have added a real time bar chart that updates once a second, so you can see in real time what a single IP is doing in terms of usage. I have used it while watching youtube and Netflix video, and was surprised to see how these application will consistently burst ahead to buffer up large chunks of bandwidth just by watching the usage bar jump up. I had suspected this behavior from Netflix, but it was nice to see it confirmed visually on my screen.

4) Bursting Pool/Subnet settings

People have always liked our pool/subnet shaping feature, but we often get asked by customers to relax enforcement during slack usage times. For example, if you have your guest wireless network restricted to 50 megabits on a 1G circuit on our 8.5 release, those users will never be able to go above 50 megabits. Now in 8.6, if you put a 50 megabit restriction on a group you can tell the NetEqualizer only to enforce that rule when the entire circuit is at capacity. With our 8.6 release, you have the choice of keeping the hard 50 megabit restriction in place all the time, or to only enforce this restriction during peak times.

As always, the 8.6 Release will be free to customers with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS) plans. Renew today if you are not current!
Beat the crowd get a pre-release version

We need your help!

As of August 15th, we have completed all of our pre-release testing and declared 8.6 stable and ready for live customers! If you are dying to get your hands on any of our new features described above, please e-mail us and we will be glad to send out a pre-release version.
Best Of Blog

Three Myths About QoS and Your Internet Speed

By Art Reisman
This month’s best of blog talks about QoS and your Internet speed. It’s one of our favorites! Enjoy.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Myth #1: A QoS device will somehow make your traffic go faster across the Internet.
The Internet does not care about your local QoS device. In fact, QoS means nothing to the Internet. The only way your traffic can get special treatment across the Internet would be for you to buy a private dedicated link – which is really not practical for general Internet usage, as it would only be a point-to-point link…
Photo of the Month
Blueberry Picking in New York

This picture is of a late summer right of passage in New York – picking blueberries with the family. It was taken last year at a blueberry patch in the Finger Lakes.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
Posted in Newsletters. Leave a Comment »

NetEqualizer News: December 2017

December 17, 2017 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include a preview of 8.6 Release features, details on our leasing program, and more!

 

December 2017

 
8.6 Release is underway!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

The holidays are in full swing here in Colorado. We just celebrated Thanksgiving last week, and all ate turkey or tofurkey until we could no longer move! Although according to the media, it felt like we were all celebrating Black Friday and Cyber Monday…

In this month’s newsletter, we start discussing our ideas for the 8.6 Release. Release planning is underway, and we are targeting mid-2018 at this point. Read on to learn more. And it is not too late to contribute your suggestions – see how to add your suggestions below.
In this month’s newsletter we also discuss our NetEqualizer Leasing program, along with our ever-popular Best of Blog article.

We will be updating the User Guide to 8.5 shortly, look to hear more in an upcoming newsletter.

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net. 

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: What’s Next – 8.6 Release Planning Begins

:: Lease a NetEqualizer

:: Thank You!

:: Best of Blog: Cloud Computing Creates Demand for Bandwidth Shaping

What’s Next – 8.6 Release Planning Begins

We are working on exciting new features!

Starting in early 2018, we’ll begin development on the 8.6 Release for NetEqualizer. The 8.5 Release has been a big success, and with 8.6 we hope to expand on some of the major 8.5 changes to make them even better.

While we are still finalizing our list of features, here are a few that we are focusing on…

Beginning with the 8.5 Release, DNS names were brought into the mix in our Active Connections table:

As of our 8.5 Release, you can see activity for both IP addresses and DNS hostnames, allowing you to gain more insight into who is doing what on your network. For 8.6, we want to expand on this in two major ways:

1) Create and provide a GUI for a list of standard DNS domains that you can click on to automatically track in our reports. Many customers are interested in traffic from a common set of domains. We plan to provide these in a useful format so that you can easily track data associated with them.

2) Shaping by DNS name. Beginning with the 8.6 Release, not only will you be able to track connections by DNS name, but you’ll be able to shape by DNS name too! This is an exciting addition to our standard IP address-based configuration and rules.

We are also working on a 20Gbps NetEqualizer. As your networks continue to grow, we are right there with you to protect your investment in the NetEqualizer. As our 10Gbps customers start moving to larger networks, we will be ready with the 20Gbps unit.

We’ll keep you posted in coming Newsletters about the 8.6 Release and how it’s progressing. Stay tuned!

As always, the 8.6 Release will be free to customers with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS) plans. Renew today if you are not current!
Lease a NetEqualizer

Have you considered a Lease?

If you have always wanted to try the NetEqualizer in your environment, but have had trouble figuring out how to budget for it upfront, our popular NetEqualizer Leasing Program may be right for you! 

Under the NetEqualizer Leasing Program, you can get a NetEqualizer sized for your network installed today, for a 1st month and last month deposit, along with a $200 set-up fee. Then going forward, just pay a simple monthly lease fee, which covers support, software upgrades, and hardware warranty.

If this sounds like a good fit for you, contact us to discuss further or read more about our Lease Program here.
Thank You!

With the holiday season in full swing, we want to pause for a moment to thank you, our valued customers, for your loyalty in 2017 and beyond. THANK YOU! 

We here at APconnections truly appreciate your business. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to help you succeed, by keeping your networks running smoothly.

With your support, we look forward to continued success in 2018!
Best Of Blog

Cloud Computing Creates Demand for Bandwidth Shaping

By Art Reisman
The rise of cloud computing has been a mixed bag for the bottom line of traditional network hardware manufacturers. Yes, there is business to be had by supplying the burgeoning cloud service providers with new hardware; however, as companies move their applications into the cloud, the elaborate WAN networks of yesteryear are slowly being phased out. The result is a decrease in sales of routers and switches, a dagger in the heart of the very growth engine that gave rise to the likes of Cisco, Juniper, and Adtran.From a business perspective, we are pleasantly surprised to see an uptick in demand in the latter half of 2017 for bandwidth shapers. We expect this to continue on into 2018 and beyond…
Photo of the Month
Enjoying a Fall Hike

All across the United States, old abandoned railroad beds are being turned into recreational trails, typically used for hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing.  On a recent visit to western New York, I was lucky to spend a sunny day in late autumn hiking on one of the converted trails.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
Posted in Newsletters. Tags: . Leave a Comment »

NetEqualizer News: October 2017

October 26, 2017 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include a preview of our Reporting Only NetEqualizer, our customers’ favorite 8.5 features, and some tech tips!

 

October 2017

 
Reporting Only NetEqualizer
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.
As fall settles in here in Colorado, we are enjoying the cool evening weather and watching the leaves turn. It is truly a beautiful time of year to live in the Rocky Mountains! In this month’s newsletter, we announce our new offering – a Reporting Only NetEqualizer, for those of you who would like to use our technology to view network traffic and troubleshoot network issues. Read more below to see how this new offering might work in your environment. We are turning our attention to planning for 2018, now that we have completed our 8.5 Release. As always, we welcome your input into the release planning process. This month you can share your ideas with us! In this month’s newsletter we also offer you 8.5 Customer Favorite Features, and NetEqualizer Tech Tips, along with our ever-popular Best of Blog article.

We will be updating the User Guide to 8.5 shortly, look to hear more in an upcoming newsletter.

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

 

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: Reporting Only NetEqualizer

:: 8.5 Customer Favorites

:: Have a Say – Ideas for the Next Release

:: NetEqualizer Tech Tips

:: Best of Blog: The New Bandwidth Paradigm

Reporting Only NetEqualizer

With Attractive Pricing!

For about half the cost of our full featured NetEqualizer, you can now purchase a NetEqualizer with a Reporting License only. Our Reporting Only option enables you to view your network usage data in real-time (as of this second), as well as view historical usage to see your network usage trends. Reporting can help you to troubleshoot your network, from identifying DDoS and virus activity, to assessing for possible unwanted P2P traffic.

You might consider a Reporting Only NetEqualizer for a site where you would like better visibility into your network, and also think you may need to shape at some point. It could also help you to assess a network segment from a traffic flow perspective.

And the great thing is, we always protect your investment in our technology. If at a later time you do decide you want to use our state-of-the-art shaping technology, you have not lost your initial investment in the NetEqualizer. You can always upgrade and only pay the price difference.

What features come in Release 1 (R.v1) of the Reporting Only NetEqualizer?

Graphics Tools
• Reporting by IP, real time and historical usage
• Reporting by Subnet, VLAN real time and historical usage
• Reporting by Domain Name (Yahoo, Facebook etc) – Real time and historical
• Real-time spreadsheet style snapshot of all existing connections

Below is a sample report by domain name screen.

Troubleshooting Tools
• Top Uploaders & Downloaders
• Abusive behavior due to Viruses
• DDoS detection
• P2P detection
• Alerts and Alarms for Quota Overages
• Peak Bandwidth Alerting

More features to come in our next release. Please put in your request now!

Reporting Only prices include first year support.
NE3000-R 500Mbps price $3000
NE3000-R 1Gbps price $4000
NE4000-R 5Gbps price $6000

Note that Reporting Only NetEqualizers can be license-upgraded in the field to enable full shaping features at any time. In this configuration, we are offering bundled hardware warranty (NHW) and software upgrades & support (NSS) for only $500 per year.
8.5 Customer Favorites

Based on feedback from customers, here are the most-liked features of 8.5. Make sure to check these out if you have not already done so.

Pool-Specific Shaping Parameters

We have found that customers really like the ability to control their pool parameters for shaping. At first we were afraid that perhaps this feature might be too deep, especially for a new customer, but so far when we explain it, people really like it. Historically, you could only control the Ratio and Hogmin parameters for the entire NetEqualizer. But now, you can control them at a pool level – giving you even more control over your shaping.

Auto-scaling Graphs

Our graphs can be set so that the scale of each conforms to the data on the screen (auto-scaling), or they can reflect any data that is stored in history (fixed scaling). We learned recently how one of our customers loves auto-scaling, as his data can vary significantly over time. As he uses the Top Uploader & Top Downloaders on a daily basis, he needs the graphs to only reflect the current day in their scaling. We learned this one the hard way – it was offered in 8.4 but not in initial 8.5. Read below in our NetEqualizer Tech Tips section to see how to set up Auto-Scaling in your environment.
Have a Say

Ideas for the Next Release…

What would you like to see in our Next Release? Please let us know! To get you thinking, we’ve thrown out a few ideas here:
VM release for remote locations where logistics complicate hardware delivery?
• 20 Gigabit Shaping?
• Cloud Storage for Reports?
• Customizable Report Exports?
• Enhance Automated Alerts?
• Equalizing Self-Tuning?
NetEqualizer Tech Tips

Every few newsletters, we like to give readers and customers tips on how to best use the NetEqualizer. This month, we highlight the following NetEqualizer Technical Tips:

Implementing HTTPS

Did you know that we support HTTPS? If you have version 8.4 or better then the https access is already installed. You may need to open your https port on your firewall but you should be able to go to https://YourNetEqIP/ and it should work. It only has a self signed certificate so you may need to make an exception for it in your browser.

8.5 Fix: Auto-scaling your graph timeline

If you are one of the users who prefers to have your graphs auto-scale to what is displayed, this tip is for you! Simply follow these instructions and you’ll be all set.

  1. Navigate to the Maintenance -> Troubleshooting Tools -> Edit Any Text File page
  2. In the field “Full path to file:” type: /var/www/newgui/RTR/top-downloaders.php And hit submit.
  3. The top-downloaders.php file will now appear. Find the following string in that file: max: <?php echo niceMaxAxis($maxx); ?>
  4. DELETE that line completely. Click Save.
  5. Navigate back to Maintenance -> Troubleshooting Tools -> Edit Any Text File page
  6. In the field “Full path to file:” type: /var/www/newgui/RTR/top-uploaders.php
  7. And hit submit.
  8. The top-unloaders.php file will now appear. Find the following string in that file: max: <?php echo niceMaxAxis($maxx); ?>
  9. DELETE that line completely. Click Save.
  10. Your graphs should now scale to what’s displayed.
Best Of Blog

The New Bandwidth Paradigm

By Art Reisman
For years the prevailing belief was that consumers would always outstrip bandwidth supply.  From our recent conversations with several land line operators, their experience suggests that in the near-term, that paradigm may not be true.
How could this be?
The answer is fairly simple.  Since streaming HD video became all the rage some 10+ years ago, there has not been any real pressure from any new bandwidth-intensive applications.   All the while, ISPs have been increasing their capacity.  The net result is that many wired providers have finally outstripped demand.
Photo of the Month
Summer Concerts Come to an End

Hanging on to summer memories, Firefall closes out the summer concert series held most Fridays in the summer in Louisville, Colorado.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
Posted in Newsletters. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »

NetEqualizer News: September 2017

September 17, 2017 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include details on more 8.5 Release features, as well as a preview of our Product Demonstration Site and Demo Guide!

 

September 2017

 
Optimizing the 8.5 Release
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

Last month we announced that our 8.5 Release was officially Generally Available. Now that the dust has settled, and many of you have started updating your NetEqualizer(s) to 8.5, we are taking time this month to talk more about how to best use the new 8.5 features. Read on to learn more about how you can use wildcarding to optimize your implementation of our new Host Names feature, and how to use our new Pool-specific Ratio & Hogmin to make your Pools even better. If you would like to further explore 8.5, you can now see it live by viewing our Product Demonstration Site, which is updated to 8.5, and following along the 8.5 Product Demonstration Guide. In this month’s newsletter we offer you Tips for Optimizing your 8.5 Installation, our 8.5 Product Demonstration Guide, and our updated Product Demonstration Site.

We will be updating the User Guide to 8.5 shortly, look to hear more in an upcoming newsletter.

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: Tips for Optimizing Your 8.5 Installation

:: 8.5 Product Demonstration Guide

:: 8.5 Product Demonstration Site

:: Best of Blog: QoS Over The Internet – Is It Possible? Five Must-Know Facts

Tips for Optimizing Your 8.5 Installation

Using Wildcarding with Hostnames & Making Pools Even Better!

We are very happy to announce that our 8.5 Release is now Generally Available.

Tip #1: Using Wildcarding with Host Names
For those of you that are experimenting with the new 8.5 Release, we encourage you to try our reporting by DNS Host Name feature. One tip that will come in handy when using this feature is our wild card (*) prefix feature. For example, on a system here in our home office we use multiple security cameras, which all register their cloud DNS name as “tag”.amazonaws.com. The “tag” prefix is different for each camera, hence if we want to see the total upload traffic we set up our host name as “*.amazonaws.com.” which causes the NetEqualizer reporting chart to show us the aggregate traffic of all cameras.

In this first picture, you can see that we have set up *.amazonaws.com. as a Tracked Host, by adding it to RTR -> Traffic History -> Manage Tracked Hosts.

In our second picture, you can see the Download traffic has been aggregated for *amazonaws.com for the last week. This is a great tool to help us see the total usage on our network for our security cameras. When the download traffic is 0, our cameras were down.

Tip #2: Making Pools Even Better
Pools are a very powerful tool within the NetEqualizer that essentially allow you to take a segment of your network and apply a virtual NetEqualizer to a group of users. Up until the 8.5 Release, the virtual NetEqualizer within a Pool was forced to use the global parameter of HOGMIN or RATIO to trigger when Equalizing would kick in. For large networks with small pools this often created a dilemma. Do you tune your HOGMIN and RATIO for the entire Network or for the smaller pool segment? The good news is in 8.5 you no longer have to choose. When you define or edit your Pool configuration you can set a local RATIO and HOGMIN specific for each pool you define.

This is a great way to offer difference levels of service to groups of users. For example, you may want Equalizing to kick in sooner for one Pool, but allow larger traffic to go through without being equalized. You would do this by setting a lower RATIO and are larger HOGMIN than your global parameters. This is shown in our example below, where Pool 102 “Tier 2” has a RATIO = 80% and HOGMIN of 3Mbps. This is compared to the global RATIO of 85% and HOGMIN of 2Mbps. Pool 103 “Tier 3” is using the global default parameters, which is shown using brackets [ ].

If you are interested in exploring the 8.5 Release, and how you might use pool-specific RATIO and HOGMIN or DNS Host Names, please contact us. The 8.5 Release is free to customers with valid NSS (NetEqualizer Software and Support) subscriptions.
8.5 Product Demonstration Guide

We have now updated updated our Product Demonstration Guide to reflect the 8.5 Release!

In particular, the NetEqualizer Monitoring & Reporting section now shows the new Active Connections table with the penalties column, our updated NetEqualizer Log showing color-coded penalty information, and our new Traffic Graph by Host Name.
This guide is a great resource for anyone on your team that you would like to acquaint with the key features & functions of the NetEqualizer.  Use it standalone, or as a guide to walkthrough the Product Demonstration Site.
You can view the 8.5 Product Demonstration Guide here.
8.5 Product Demonstration Site

Take a look at our new 8.5 Product Demo Site!

We’ve updated our Product Demonstration (Demo) Site to the 8.5 Release. The Product Demon Site gives you a preview of the entire NetEqualizer user interface, with most features enabled. If you’ve been curious about NetEqualizer, this is a great place to start. See all of the NetEqualizer Setup Screens, along with Reporting and Maintenance interfaces.

You can view the 8.5 Product Demo Site here: http://bit.ly/2jfVCQr

Username: neteq
Password: neteq

In addition, take a look at our new secondary login for Read-Only users that focuses on Reporting, by going to the same link but using our demo reporting login:

Go to the 8.5 Product Demo Site here: http://bit.ly/2jfVCQr

Username: report
Password: report

Please contact us if you are interested in an online webex demo with our Sales Team or have any questions!
Best Of Blog

QoS Over The Internet – Is it possible?

FIVE MUST-KNOW FACTS

By Art Reisman

For those of you that are moving to a cloud architecture, you are reaping the benefits of lower costs and a simplified IT infrastructure, but lest we forget – you are concentrating your business applications on your Internet link. The following article gives some nice insight into ensuring QoS for those applications, and what to look out for as you move away from a WAN based infrastructure.

I had an inquiry from a potential customer yesterday asking if we could monitor their QoS. I was a bit miffed as to what to tell them. At first, the question struck me as if they’d asked if we can monitor electrons on their power grid. In other words, it was a legitimate question in a sense, but of what use would it be to monitor QoS? I then asked him why he had implemented QoS in the first place. How did he know he needed it?
Photo of the Month
Early Fall in the Mountains – views of Breckenridge Ski Resort…

One of our staff members just returned from an early fall trip to the mountains, which is a great time to start seeing fall color and also to escape late summer heat!  This shot was taken from a hiking trail on the east side of Breckenridge, where the grasses and aspens were all starting to turn yellow, orange, and red.  You can also see the Breckenridge ski slopes off in the distance.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: July 2017

July 31, 2017 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include our 8.5 Release is Generally Available, along with an updated Quick Start Guide, our new DNS Traffic Tracking, and more!

 

July 2017

 
8.5 Release is Generally Available!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

In our last newsletter, we mentioned that 8.5 development was complete. This month we are happy to announce that we have finished our testing phase (thanks test team!), and 8.5 is officially Generally Available! In this month’s newsletter we offer you detailed 8.5 Release Notes, preview some of the favorite 8.5 screens, and also provide the updated Quick Start Guide.

We will be updating the User Guide to 8.5 shortly, look to hear more in an upcoming newsletter.

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: The 8.5 Release is Ready!

:: 8.5 Release Notes

:: 8.5 Release Quick Start Guide

:: Let NetEqualizer Be Your Bandwidth Referee

:: Best of Blog: Tracking Traffic by DNS

The 8.5 Release is Ready

8.5 Release is GA!

We are very happy to announce that our 8.5 Release is now Generally Available.

By far the most exciting and pleasant surprise feature is the reporting by DNS name. This essentially gives NetEqualizer reporting the ability to show detailed traffic by type without the need for expensive and unreliable Layer 7 filtering. The ramifications and the history on why this is possible make for an interesting story, and thus we have dedicated a full article on the subject – see here. This is just one of the many exciting features available in our 8.5 Release – we preview some of these below…

1) DNS Visibility (Hostname Reporting)
As mentioned above, we are very excited about the new ability to track and view traffic flows by hostnames. With the 8.5 Release, you can view hostnames in the Active Connections table:

And, you can track these hosts by adding them to Traffic History-> Manage Tracked Hosts, as shown below. This enables you to view data by hostname in our Traffic History graphs, as shown in the graph below. This is in addition to our current offerings of Traffic History by IP address, Pool, or VLAN:

2) Login and Logout
The 8.5 Release also has more security features added – including login/logout, session management, and HTTPS.

3) Color-coding in the NetEqualizer Log
We’ve also enhanced the ability to read the log file by adding color-coded markings to our log entries. In 8.5, this includes penalty and informational entries. Below we show how information-only entries are highlighted:

These markings will show new penalties, increased penalties, decreased penalties, and removed penalties, as well as informational entries about traffic that is going through your NetEqualizer (see above).

4) Pool-specific Equalizing (Pool Level Ratio and Hog Minimum)
One of the most requested features we’ve heard from our users, the 8.5 Release has the ability to fine tune your Pool settings even further with pool-specific HOGMIN and RATIO parameters.

Feel free to use the network-wide defaults or create your own! The changes will be reflected in the Pool dashboard:

There are many more changes that we are know you will be excited to see. If you are interested in the 8.5 Release, please contact us. The 8.5 Release is free to customers with valid NSS (NetEqualizer Software and Support) subscriptions.
8.5 Release Notes
You have read about some of our 8.5 features & screens above.  If you are interested in learning more about 8.5, you can read our official 8.5 Release Notes, which as always, are posted on our NetEqualizer Blog site (www.netequalizernews.com).
8.5 Release Quick Start Guide

Take a look at our new Quick Start Guide!

We are happy to share a preview of our updated Quick Start Guide, which now reflects our 8.5 Release!

Some of the key changes now discussed include:

1) our new Login/Log Out capability, highlighted on Page 4.
2) our enhanced Active Connections Table on Page 11, which now shows penalty status for each data flow.
3) our “visual” NetEqualizer Log on Page 12, which contains detailed color-coded information about penalty statuses.

As this is the Demo Version, it does not contain passwords. As always, we ship the full Quick Start Guide with each NetEqualizer unit, so that you will receive an updated version with passwords each time you purchase a NetEqualizer.

Click here or on the image at right to view the full Quick Start Guide.
Let NetEqualizer Be Your Bandwidth Referee

NetEqualizer works so well you won’t even notice it!

The best compliment you can give an umpire or referee in a sporting event is that you did not notice them, and with that example in mind we can safely say our configuration checking is doing its job.

It is rare for us to get Support calls regarding configuration mistakes. This invisibility and smoothness of operation is due to ongoing work behind the scenes to make sure that configuration changes make sense and guide the user away from common mistakes. With every release we improve in this area! I’m sure our long-time customers from the very early days (circa 2005) would not recognize the GUI and ease of use if they made a jump all in one step.

As part of our 8.5 offering, our Support Team has enhanced their configuration validation capabilities. When you send in your diagnostic file, they can now automatically check your Traffic Limits and P2P Limits against a more complex set of validity rules, including unintended overlapping IP ranges.

If you are interested in taking advantage of this 8.5 feature, contact our Support Team to learn more.
Best Of Blog

Tracking Traffic by DNS

By Art Reisman

The video rental industry of the early 80’s was comprised of 1000’s of independent stores. Corner video rental shops were as numerous as today’s Starbucks. In the late 1990’s, consolidation took over. Blockbuster, with its bright blue canopy lighting up the night sky, swallowed them up like doggy treats. All the small retail outlets were gone. Blockbuster had changed everything – their economy of scale, and their chain store familiarity, had overrun the small operators…
Photo of the Month
After the storm – summer vacation on the lake…

One of our staff members just returned from a lake vacation, which in my opinion is the best kind of vacation in summer. This shot was taken right after a rainstorm on the lake. The sun peaking through the clouds really highlighted the landscape and made the rainbow stunning.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: May 2017

May 11, 2017 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include an update on the 8.5 Release, a reminder about our NetEqualizer Leasing program, a customer story about how RTR helped them identify a virus in their network, a refreshed NetEqualizer white paper, and more!

 

May 2017

 
8.5 Release – Development is Complete!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

Our 8.5 Release development has completed, five happy stars to the development team! This month we talk about Enhanced DNS resolution reporting, and preview the Read-Only Administrative Access screens. If you would like to get your hands on the 8.5 release as a beta tester, please contact us to participate. Look for the 8.5 Release to be generally available early summer 2017.  

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: First Impressions on our 8.5 Release

:: NetEqualizer Leasing always great option!

:: RTR Traffic History Reports Capture Unknown Virus Activity for WNPL

:: Updated Executive White Paper

:: Best of Blog: How to Create and Send an Encrypted File With No NSA Backdoor

First Impressions on our 8.5 Release

8.5 Release Development is Complete!

I finally got a chance to kick the tires on our 8.5 release, and it kicked me back! I really like so much in 8.5, it is difficult to determine where to start!

The biggest wow factor to hit me was our enhanced DNS reporting. For years our customers have been asking, “Can you tell me how much traffic went to YouTube or Netflix?” Well, I am thrilled to say that finally the answer is yes.

With our DNS reporting you can now track all the data to any well-known public domain. The screen shot below of our Active Connections Report says it all. You can see the domains in the DST (destination) and SRC (source) columns for all live traffic flowing through the network.

In addition to being able to see public domains for all active traffic, you can now also view Traffic History for any host names that you have set up to track. You can see history for a selected public domain in the screenshot below.

I also love our expanded login capabilities. Many of our customers have a support Help Desk team on site. These are the first responders for network problems in your organization. Just like their counterparts in the medical field (EMTs), they may not be trained in advanced surgical techniques. For example, you would not want them making policy changes on your bandwidth controller, but you definitely need your help desk personnel to do some initial triage, gather some data, and keep the patient alive, until the doctor arrives on scene.

Our NEW Read Only login will give them access to RTR and all its advanced reporting screens, without the possibility of any life-threatening policy changes to the network.

You can see that this person is logged in as Read Only by looking in the top right portion of the menu bar for the RTR icon, or looking for the “report” login next to the new Logout feature.

And finally, we continue to expand our Preferences capabilities, so that you can customize your experience with the NetEqualizer.

“Remember one hundred and twenty eight thousand bytes per second is a Megabit.” I was getting tired of uttering this phrase and being an apologist for our units displayed on our connection tracking (Active Connections) screen. In fairness to our engineering team, the connection tracking table started out as a simple troubleshooting tool for internal use, and has now morphed into one of the more important real-time reporting screens for our customers.

With 8.5 we bring you units in Megabits (or whatever unit your preference may be)! See the screenshot below. Once you select your preference, these units will be on your Active Connections Report.

With our 8.5 release entering the system test phase, we will soon be looking for Beta Testers (June/July timeframe). If you are interested in participating, please contact us.
NetEqualizer leasing always a great option!

Check out our leasing program!

Do you have a short term need for a bandwidth shaper? Perhaps a conference event, or something to tide you over while waiting for a bandwidth upgrade? Maybe your business model requires you to spread out expenses over time instead of an up front purchase? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, now is the time to contact us about leasing a NetEqualizer. We offer leases starting at 2 months with no long term contract.
RTR Traffic History Reports Capture Unknown Virus Activity for WNPL

RTR has more uses than you might think…

The following is an email we received from Kevin Getty – Head of Information Technology for Warren-Newport Public Library. Kevin found an interesting use for our RTR interface and associated data.

Thanks Kevin!
————————————————————————————————

Having some spare time one day I decided to see what I could do with the data that’s provided by the four week traffic history report. First I downloaded the data and imported it into a spreadsheet to see what was available and formatted it into a more user friendly display. Once formatted I grouped the data by IP address and started to analyze the upload throughputs by user per day. I quickly realized what “normal” activity was looking like for our network PC’s.

Once the IP’s were resolved to DNS names, I was surprised to see such high bandwidth from a specific PC. Bandwidth that was large and during closed office hours spreading across multiple days. I approached the user to see if they had any experience with slow or intermittent internet access and sure enough they did. Their experience of slowness was the NetEQ doing it’s wonderful job of penalizing them and normally it should, but the user experienced slowness due to a bug on the computer. They also stated they left their PC on overnight because they didn’t want to lose what they had been working on, so this explained why the traffic showed during closed hours. When asked if they knew when they started to experience slowness, their answer matched what the data showed in the four week report.

The next step was to investigate to see if the PC had any bugs or malware that hadn’t been caught yet. Using several antivirus and malware removal utilities that are known to be successful at finding the little buggers, all came up empty. So the next thing was to restore the user’s Windows profile from backup prior to the high traffic use. After restoring the profile and monitoring for a day, the reports showed normal traffic.

Since then I’ve written a windows application that will download the reports and analyze the traffic. Granted, not all high usage is necessarily bad traffic, but the uploading was what caught my eye and is analyzed in the application to signal an alarm. The first screenshot shows the overall bandwidth usage of the report.

The second shows the selected PC that was showing high usage. You’ll notice the consistent upload and download across several days.

I do have suggestions for your reports. Selectable date ranges and resolved DNS names would be nice.

I’ve been using NetEQ for over a decade now and I’m not sure what I’d do without it. Thanks for a great product and keep up the great work!
Updated Executive White Paper

Take a look at our refreshed white paper…

Our Executive White Paper has been updated to highlight a key capability of the NetEqualizer – that we are able to shape both encrypted and unencrypted traffic.

This is an important advantage of behavior-based shaping. Application traffic shapers are only able to shape unencrypted traffic, as they need to classify it to work with it. We have also updated the Comparison Table on Page 2 to better highlight how the NetEqualizer compares to Other Traffic Shapers.

The Executive White Paper is a good summary for management to read to get a quick feel of the NetEqualizer’s core capabilities, and also to understand how it differs from traditional application shapers.

Read our updated Executive White Paper here…
Best Of Blog

How to Create and Send an Encrypted File with No NSA Backdoor

By Art Reisman

Note: Believe it or not in a previous life, before I settled on computer science, I was a math major. Not much stuck from those days but I did remember one lesson very well, and that was that there are a plethora of ways to implement a mathematic encryption of data. In the following blog article I share with you an easy to use a program for personal encryption.

Below is a little routine I wrote to encrypt and decrypt a file.

This script is meant for encrypting text files and sending them privately through e-mail as an attachment.

Note: The author makes no claims about whether this encryption technique can be broken. It would not be easy.

Here is what you need to use this program.
1. Mac or other computer that can run a perl script from the command line
2. very basic knowledge of how to create and edit a file from the command line
Photo of the Month
Kansas Prairie Home from Days Gone By…

One of our staff members was visiting western Kansas recently, and decided to take a bike tour.  This house is one of many that remain from the Dust Bowl days, when many farmers abandoned their homes due to the prolonged severe drought. These homes dot the land, much of which was given away by the Homestead Acts.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: March 2017

April 7, 2017 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include an overview of more 8.5 Release features, a preview of our new website, and more!

 

  March 2017

 
8.5 Release – More Features!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

Our 8.5 Release development is almost complete! This month we preview some of the new features for you, and also show
some of the new screens that our development team has been willing to share. Look for 8.5 to be available in early summer 2017!

Our wireless Internet Provider customers may be interested in our newly released Hidden Node White Paper. And we are experimenting with a new website design. We would love your feedback!

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: 8.5 Release – Features Preview

:: NetEqualizer is a Hidden Node Solution

:: Under Construction – New Website?

:: Best of Blog: The Best Monitoring Tool for Your Network – May Not Be What You Think

8.5 Release – Features Preview

8.5 Release Additions – Continued from February…

In February, we talked about adding Real-Time Penalties to the RTR Dashboard, and adding Host Name from NSLookup to RTR Reports. This month we introduce several more features planned for 8.5:

1) Configuration Validation for Traffic Limits & P2P Limits

In order to make it easier for you to setup and configure your NetEqualizer, in 8.5 we are adding automated configuration validation to our toolset. In the first offering, we will automate the rules around defining traffic limits and P2P limits. As part of the installation process, when you send your diagnostic to Support, we will then run our configuration validation on your rule set. This will be particularly useful for customers that set up hundreds of traffic limiting rules.

2) Add Units to Active Connections Report

You can now select the units that you wish to see on the Active Connections Report. We currently show Active Connections in bytes/second (Bps), as this was aligned with how we used to show units in the configuration. However, in 8.5 we added the ability to select Configuration Units – the traditional Bytes per Second (Bps), or Megabits per second (Mbps), or Kilobits per second (Kbps). Now we are aligning Active Connections with those changes, by expanding our units selection to include Active Connections. See below for screenshots of this new feature.

In this example, as Megabits per second (Mbps) are selected, you can see that both Wavg (column 4) and Avg (column 5) are now shown in Mbps. Hopefully this will make it easier for you, as you can see your reports in Units that are meaningful to you:

As always, the 8.5 Release will be free to our customers with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS) plans.
NetEqualizer is a Hidden Node Solution

 Read our Hidden Node White Paper

If you are an Wireless Internet Provider, and are challenged with Hidden Nodes in your network infrastructure, you may want to read our newly released Hidden Node White Paper, to see how the NetEqualizer resolves this issue.Of the numerous growing pains that can accompany the expansion of a wireless network, the issue of hidden nodes is one of the most difficult problems to solve. Despite best efforts, the communication breakdown between nodes can wreak havoc on a network, often leading to sub par performance and unhappy users. Many times, the cost of potential solutions appears to outweigh the benefits of expansion, which in some cases may not be a choice, but a necessity. Yet, hidden nodes are a problem that must be addressed and ultimately solved if a wireless network is to achieve successful growth and development.

To continue reading, view the full white paper here. Check it out!
Under Construction – New Website?

Website Design Alternative – Tell Us What You Think!

We are working with a design agency to put together new web pages. Our initial set of pages are ready. We picked a dark background, and aimed for an interface that aligned with today’s mobile platforms, as it is more scrollable, and trend towards less text/more pictures.

Before we switch over to use these pages across our entire platform (we are using for our Google Adwords leads now), we would love to get your feedback.

Please take a minute to look at the new pages, and then click on the feedback button to email us your thoughts. 
Click the above picture or this link to view the new design: http://netequalizer.com/fast/
What do you like? Dislike? Any recommendations for what we should change? And the big question – should we keep our current website or move to this?
Best Of Blog

The Best Monitoring Tool for Your Network – May Not Be What You Think

By Art Reisman

A common assumption in the IT world is that the starting point for any network congestion solution begins with a monitoring tool.  “We must first figure out what specific type of traffic is dominating our network, and then we’ll decide on the solution”.  This is a reasonable and rational approach for a one time problem. However, the source of network congestion can change daily, and it can be a different type of traffic or different user dominating your bandwidth each day…
Photo of the Month
Pipeline Swallowtail

This is a picture of a Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly taken in Arizona in the high desert grasslands area over a recent spring break getaway. This butterfly can be found in a variety of habitats, but is most commonly found in forests.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: February 2017

March 12, 2017 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include 8.5 Release feature previews, a customer case study, an introduction to our 20 Gbps NetEqualizer unit, and more!

 

  February 2017

 
8.5 Release – Your Additions!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

It is not quite spring here in Colorado. We are enjoying our typical mix of snowy days, followed by days of warmth (55-60 degrees) and sun. I must admit I am ready for warmer weather, and the spring bird migration (birding is a favorite hobby of mine). It seems like all of the U.S. is having unusual weather right now, especially California with their seemingly constant rain & flooding.

While we await for the arrival of spring, we are huddled down focused on building out the 8.5 Release. I am happy to say that our 8.5 development is now well underway. This month, we discuss additional features that we have planned for the 8.5 Release, including some that have come directly from customer input! We really do listen to your ideas, and appreciate all suggestions. We always are happy to hear from our long-time customers. This month, we share a Case Study on Hobart and William Smith Colleges, as they mark their 10 year anniversary with the NetEqualizer.

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: 8.5 Release – Your Additions

:: 8.5 Release – Features Preview

:: Featured Case Study

:: 20 Gbps NetEqualizer

:: Best of Blog: Five Things to Know About Wireless Networks

8.5 Release – Your Additions

Here is what we added into the 8.5 Release – based on your feedback

We asked for input into our 8.5 Release and you responded with some great ideas – thank you!Here is what we selected for the 8.5 Release, based on three criteria:

1) popularity – how many customers recommended the feature,

2) impact – what we thought would provide the most value to all customers, and

3) alignment – what fit well with the code areas that we planned to work on for 8.5

These two features fit our criteria, and will be discussed in our Features Preview (below)

Active Connections Enhancements
&
DNS Name on RTR Reports

As you can see, your voice does count! So, please keep your suggestions coming. While we cannot guarantee that your specific feature will be built, we always incorporate them into our Features Request database, and then assess for each release.
8.5 Release – Features Preview

 8.5 Release Additions (continued from January)

In January, we talked about Pool-specific RATIO and HOGMIN, and retaining RTR State upon reboot. This month we introduce several more features planned for 8.5:

1) Active Connections Enhancements

Beginning with the 8.5 Release, the Active Connections page in RTR will show you which active connections are currently being equalized. This way, you can see in real-time which IPs are getting penalized on your network. We’ll highlight these connections in the table and allow you to sort based on them.

This suggestion came from one of our university customers!

2) Domain Name System Name (DNS) on RTR Reports

Beginning with the 8.5 Release, certain RTR reports will have a hostname mode that allows you to see the DNS name (hostname from nslookup), along with the IP address. If you have an internal naming system for your organization, this can be extremely valuable in identifying problem users or connections!

This suggestion came from our K-12, university, and business customers!

As always, the 8.5 Release will be free to our customers with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS) plans.
Featured Case Study

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Longtime customer Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) recently celebrated 10 years of solid service with the NetEqualizer to help manage their Internet connectivity.

We thought it would be great to share their experience in a Case Study. Derek Lustig, Director of Network and Systems Infrastructure, and his staff, graciously agreed to help put this together with us. Thank you Derek, Christopher, and Christina for sharing your insights!

Here are some excerpts from the Case Study…

…HWS implemented the NetEqualizer solution based on its stellar reputation in the education space as well as its value, which is difficult to match in competing products….

…The NetEqualizer has been a great solution because it is extremely easy to maintain, and – when needed – it just works, says Derek Lustig of HWS.

You can click on the PDF picture to read the full Case Study, or click here to see all our Higher Education testimonials.
20 Gbps NetEqualizer

Our new high-bandwidth unit…

We are currently testing a high-end NetEqualizer with 20Gbps optics, and we have some good news! Our results have shown that we can push close to 15 Gbps with a full load (provided by our shaping simulator courtesy of Candela Technologies). If you plan to be pushing beyond 10 Gpbs in 2017 or 2018, let us know. We would love to talk to you!

If you would like to participate in a trial, let us know that as well.

We will be looking to trial our latest creation under real world conditions later this year.

contact_us_box
Best Of Blog

Five Things to Know About Wireless Networks

By Art Reisman

Over the last year or so, when the work day is done, I often find myself talking shop with several peers of mine who run wireless networking companies. These are the guys in the trenches. They spend their days installing wireless infrastructure in apartment buildings, hotels, and professional sports arenas to name just a few. Below I share a few tidbits intended to provide a high level picture for anybody thinking about building their own wireless network…
Photo of the Month
Saguaro Cactus

The Saguaro is an amazing cactus that can only be found in a very specific climate found in Arizona, California, and Mexico. The cactuses can live to be 150 years old, and are protected by governments that oversee this land. If you are ever in the area, they are worth checking out! The one in this picture has seen better days.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: January 2017

February 9, 2017 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include a preview of more 8.5 Release features, an announcement of our 8.4 User Guide, our planned 2017 Road Trips, and more!

 

  January 2017

 
8.5 Release Planning is Underway!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

As we kick off the new year, I am excited to begin development on our 8.5 Release, currently planned for late spring/early summer. This month, we continue to discuss the features planned for 8.5.img_2686I also like to get out in the field to meet with our customers, and those interested in the NetEqualizer. Check out my 2017 Road Trip plans in this month’s newsletter.

And finally, we have the 8.4 User Guide available, for those of you who like to delve into our features in detail – enjoy!

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: 8.5 Release Features Preview

:: 8.5 Feedback Received – Thank You!

:: The 8.4 User Guide is Now Available!

:: 2017 Road Trips

:: Time for a Tech Refresh?

:: Best of Blog: Top 5 Reasons Confirming Employers Don’t Like Their IT Guy

8.5 Release Features Preview

We are staring to develop our 8.5 Release!

Continued from November 2016…

In November we talked about Cloud Reporting, Read-Only Login, and NetEqualizer Logout.

This month we introduce several more features planned for 8.5:

1) Pool-specific RATIO and HOGMIN

2) Retain RTR State Upon Reboot

Pool-specific RATIO and HOGMIN

Ever since we first started making NetEqualizers, there has been one RATIO and one HOGMIN setting that applied to all traffic going through the device. Beginning with Release 8.5, however, we’ve enhanced our software to allow for Pool-specific RATIO and HOGMIN settings. This means that each Pool can have it’s own unique configuration with regard to these values. These changes help administrators have more fine-tuned control over when Equalizing occurs and what the minimum requirements for Equalizing will be on a Pool level rather than a network level.

Retain RTR State Upon Reboot

This has been one of the most requested features ever since we introduced RTR, and we are happy to say it will be part of Release 8.5. With this release, RTR will start upon reboot and maintain all your reporting settings so that you don’t need to go back into the device and start the service manually. This is useful in case the device is affected by a power outage or another type of unplanned activity.

Stay tuned to our newsletter for further updates on Release 8.5. We are currently underway in the development process and are still shooting for a late spring/early summer release. As always, the release is free to those with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS) plans. Contact us today with questions!

contact_us_box
8.5 Feedback Received – Thank You!

 We Appreciated Your Suggestions!

We asked for input to our 8.5 Release and you responded with some great ideas – thank you!fancy thank-you

Here are the features that you asked us to consider for 8.5. We will let you know what makes it over the course of future newsletters…

– Quota Enhancements: Email Customer on Exceed Quota, Summary Email before Reset, Quota in the Cloud, Web Portal

– Add sophisticated SNMP logic

– Protocol Tracking Reports

– Traffic by Source IP Report

– Bandwidth Test for Troubleshooting

– Build out Automated Alerts

– Add Real-Time Penalties to RTR Dashboard

– Add Name capability to HL, Masks, VLANs, P2P, and Priority

– Add Visibility to Penalty against what Rule

– Add Host Name from NSLookup to RTR Reports

If any of the above suggestions would also be useful to you and your organization, please let us know!

unnamed-3
The 8.4 User Guide is Now Available!

Dive into the details on NetEqualizer’s features…

We are excited to announce the User Guide has been updated to reflect Software Update 8.4, in several key areas.screenshot-at-feb-08-23-53-34

We have focused on updating the configuration sections, describing our new Batch Entry Screens for setting up Bandwidth Limits, limiting P2P Traffic, setting Bandwidth Priorities, and restricting Bandwidth Usage.

We also have added a new section to the User Guide, which walks through our Perform Quick Edits capability.  Quick Edits is useful when you want to add or delete one or a small number of rules.  We offer Quick Edits for seven (7) types of rules, including Pools, Hard Limits, and P2P Traffic Limits.

You can view the updated User Guide by clicking here or on the picture at right.

Note that the Appendices and Monitoring & Reporting sections are not yet updated to 8.4.

We plan to update the remaining sections of the User Guide to 8.4 soon. Look for an update in an upcoming newsletter!
2017 Road Trips

We’re hitting the road…

Our CTO, Art Reisman, is planning to make a swing up the East coast this spring. Most likely he will be in the Boston and New England area the week of Feb 20th – with some room for flexibility in the timeframe. If you are on the East coast and would like to host a formal on-site Tech Refresh, let us know and we will try to get it scheduled!

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Time for a Tech Refresh?

Re-familiarize yourself with NetEqualizer!

Now that Release 8.4 has been out for 6 months, and many customers have moved to it, you may have questions! Release 8.4 had a lot of changes associated with it that may be slightly confusing if you are used to older GUI versions.

Don’t worry though, we are here to help! If you are current on your NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS) plan, we’d like to offer you a FREE 30 minute Tech Refresh to go over any questions or issues you might have with your NetEqualizer. Contact us today to schedule a time slot with an engineer!

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Best Of Blog

Top 5 Reasons Confirming Employers Don’t Like Their IT Guy

By Art Reisman

ca3b912d-b4a8-40d4-a2a8-320abe66658e

1) The IT room is the dregs

Whenever I travel to visit with my IT customers, it is always a challenge to find their office.  Even if I find the right building on the Business/College Campus, finding their actual location within the building is anything but certain. Usually it ends up being in some unmarked room behind a loading dock, accessible only by secret passage designed to relieve the building of cafeteria waste near the trash bins. Many times, their offices are one and the same thing as the old server computer room, with the raised floor, screaming fans, and air cooled to a Scottish winter…
Photo of the Month
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TEDx Aruba

This past fall, a staff member and his wife, Andrea, visited the island of Aruba in the south Caribbean Sea. The official slogan for the country is “One Happy Island,” and this held true the entire trip – all of the people were extremely friendly and welcoming. The purpose of the trip was to present at TEDx Aruba on the topic of sustainability – specifically how our trash plays a role in the most pressing environmental issues of our time. Andrea runs a non-profit based in Boulder, CO that helps educate people on how to reduce their trash and plastic footprint as well as live more simple, meaningful lives. Check out her website and follow her on Instagram if you are so inclined!
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: November 2016

November 20, 2016 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include a 8.5 Release feature preview, customer testimonials, and more!

 

  November 2016

 
8.5 Release Planning is Underway!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

As we start into the holiday season here in the U.S., I am thankful for many things. First, I want to THANK YOU, our customers, for making this all worthwhile.

fancy thank-you

In my conversations with customers & prospects, I hear over & over how much our behavior-based shaping (aka equalizing) saves you time, money, and headaches. Thank you for validating all our efforts here at APconnections!

I am also thankful that the Presidential Election is over in the U.S., as I am tired of seeing political TV advertisements, which seem to be on every 10 minutes.

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: 8.5 Release Features Preview

:: We Want Your Suggestions for the 8.5 Release!

:: Is Anyone Out There Still Suffering From DDoS Attacks?

:: Featured Customer Testimonials

:: Best of Blog: Using NetEqualizer to Ensure Clean, Clear QoS for VOIP Calls

8.5 Release Features Preview

We are staring to plan our 8.5 Release!

We have started putting together initial plans for our late spring software update – 8.5 Release. We have some exciting features in mind! Here is a preview of several features that will be included:

Cloud Reporting

Have you ever wanted to access reporting data for longer than 4 weeks? The reason for the current NetEqualizer limit is that we can only store so much data on the device itself.unnamed-2

Our new Cloud Reporting offering will allow you to store historical NetEqualizer data for an extended period of time. You’ll be able to seamlessly pull this data from the Cloud and display the results on your NetEqualizer, or use it for other reporting and archiving purposes.

Read-only Login Account (customer feature request)

The NetEqualizer has always used basic HTTP authentication for it’s one account, but that is about to change! The next release will have a more standard login page with two roles – the current administrator role as well as a NEW read-only account role. The read-only account will let non-technical staff log in and view reports as well as a few other features.fsdf

NetEqualizer Logout (customer feature request)

We will support web application sessions with both log in & log out. Today we offer login but in 8.5 users will also be able to securely log their session out once they are finished using the GUI.

We are very excited about enhancing our recent 8.4 Release user interface with these changes. Stay tuned to the newsletter for updates on 8.5 features, release dates, and more!
We Want Your Suggestions for the 8.5 Release!

 We want your help! Last call for suggestions for our 8.5 Release.

Now is your last chance for 8.5 Release feature requests!

Many of our best features come from customer requests. For example, for all of you that wanted to have a read-only account for NetEqualizer administration, you’ll be happy to know that we have included it in our upcoming 8.5 Release. Our NetEqualizer Logout is also based on a customer suggestion.

For those suggested features that don’t make the cut, it is not because we did not like them (we like all the suggestions), but we have to filter on features that apply to a large set of our customers. We also keep track of all feature requests, so if yours does not make it into 8.5, it may be scheduled in a future release.

We only know what features you are interested in if you speak up! We have no way of knowing if a feature is popular or not unless we hear from you. So please, think deep and tell us what features would make the NetEqualizer tool more valuable to you!

Here are some questions you can ask yourself or your IT team to come up with ideas:

  1. What feature could I use to help us troubleshoot network problems, perhaps something you need to see in our reports?
  2. What feature would further help optimize our bandwidth resource, perhaps your wireless network has unique challenges?
  3. What security concerns do you have? Anything in the DDoS arena?
  4. What feature could be added to make setup and maintenance more efficient?

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Is Anyone Out There Still Suffering from DDoS Attacks?

What have your experiences been?

Perhaps the Russians have given up on hacking? We are not sure, but we certainly have seen a big drop off in DDoS help requests to our support team – so much so that we have put our DDoS firewall enhancement plans on hold.

We were working on a feature request to block foreign IP’s by connection count as one of our DDoS triggers. It would work something like this:

A NetEqualizer customer sets a white list for public IP’s to let through (not blocked). Any other public IP hitting the network with more than X active connections would trigger an alert or possibly a block based on your preference.

We need to know if such a feature, or another DDoS approach would be better, based on your experience.

Let us know what you have been seeing as far as DDoS attacks on your network!

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Featured Testimonials

What our customers are saying…

We take great pride in ensuring our customers are happy with their NetEqualizer! You can find all of our customer testimonials on our website under the “Customers” menu.

Here are just a few testimonials that we’ve received in 2016:

Reed Collegeunnamed-6

“We’ve had NetEqualizers on campus at Reed for several years and continue to be very happy with the product. We have a very small staff and don’t have time to “tune” a device like a Packetshaper. Instead the NetEqualizer is protocol agnostic in the way it shapes traffic for most users but also allows us to quickly prioritize some traffic if necessary.

Over the years the NetEqualizer has saved us countless hours of staff time. We did lose some visibility into what is happening on our border network but our IDS/IPS replaced that functionality. NetEqualizer is an excellent product.” – Gary Schlickeiser – Director of Technology Infrastructure Services

Thanks Gary for your kind words!

Edmonton Regional Airport Authorityunnamed-7

“We presently use two NE3000 units for Internet traffic control and monitoring in a redundant setup. At present we have a maximum of 600 Mbps Internet throughput, with over 300 IP addresses in use in some 120+ address Pools.

The NetEqualizer is a very useful tool for us for monitoring and setting speeds for our many users. Most of the feeds come straight off our Campus network, which is spread over a seven kilometer distance from one end of the airdrome to the other. We also feed a number of circuits to customers using ADSL equipment in the older areas where fiber is not yet available. Everything runs though the “live” NE3000!

Controllability and monitoring is key for our customers, as they pay for the speed they are asking for. With the RTR Dashboard, we continually monitor overall usage peaks to make sure we provide enough bandwidth but, more importantly, to our individual customers. Many customers are not sure of how much bandwidth they need, so using the Neteq we can simply change their speed and watch the individual IP and/or Pool usage to monitor. This becomes especially useful now as many customers, including ourselves, use IP telephony to remote sites; so we need to maintain critical bandwidth availability for this purpose. That way when they or we have conference calls for example, no one is getting choppy conversations. All easily monitored and adjusted with the Dashboard and Traffic Management features.

We also have used the Neteq firewall feature to stop certain attack threats and customer infected pcs or servers from spewing email or other reported outbound attacks, not a fun thing but it happens.

Overall a very critical tool for our success in providing internet to users and it has worked very well for the past 8 or more years!” – Willy Damgaard – Network and Telecom Analyst

Thanks Willy! We are happy to help.

Cooperative Light & Powerunnamed-8

“Our company is an electric utility and we have a subsidiary WISP with about 1,000 unlicensed fixed wireless customers. We purchased our first NetEqualizer about a year ago to replace our fair access policy server from another company. The server we replaced allowed burst then sustained bandwidth so we weren’t sure if “equalizing” would work, but it works extremely well as advertised.

The NetEqualizer is stable and actually requires very little maintenance after initial configuration. In our case, we wanted to limit the upper end of what a customer could use (max burst). We were able to set that parameter in our wireless CPE’s. Then we set the equalizing pools for the size of our APs. The NetEqualizer can do a burst then sustained then burst at equal intervals, but to our surprise we actually didn’t need to use it.

We also purchased the DDoS Firewall and that is working nicely as well for quick identification of attacks. Perhaps the most important thing to note is the support is excellent. From sales to engineering the team is very responsive and knowledgeable. We were so impressed that we actually purchased a second NetEqualizer to handle the rest of our network. This company is A+.” – Kevin Olson – Communication Manager

Thanks Kevin!

It is wonderful to hear such glowing feedback from one of our newer customers! If you would like to share your feedback on the NetEqualizer, to be highlighted in a future NetEqualizer News, click here to send us an email.

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Best Of Blog

Using NetEqualizer to Ensure Clean, Clear QoS for VoIP Calls

By Art Reisman
 
Last week I talked to several ISP’s (Note: these were blind calls, not from our customers) that were having issues with end customers calling and complaining that their web browsing and VOIP calls were suffering. The funny thing is that the congestion was not the fault of the ISP, but the fault of the local connection being saturated with video. For example, if the ISP delivers a 10 meg circuit, and the customer starts two Netflix sessions, they would clog their own circuit.
Those conversations reminded me of an article I wrote back in 2010 that explains how the NetEqualizer can alleviate this type of congestion for VoIP. Here it is…
Photo of the Month
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Hiking Near Caribou Ranch
It’s been unseasonably warm in Colorado this fall. We’ve been taking advantage of this by hiking in the mountains amidst the changing leaf colors. 
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: October 2016

October 15, 2016 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include our new NetEqualizer Online Demo plus Demo Guide complete with the 8.4 Release, tips on when to use QuickEdits and Bulk Edits in the new GUI, and advice on how to speed up Windows and Apple updates on your network.

 

 October 2016

 
New NetEqualizer Demo, and more!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

art photo for NL

Fall in Colorado always seems so short compared to the other seasons. While still technically autumn, the more consistent colder temperatures make it feel like winter. By Halloween, we’ve usually had our first snow.

Just like the sun is setting on that fall feeling, we are finishing up everything that goes along with a major NetEqualizer software release. One of those last steps was updating our Online Demo with the latest code. We are excited to announce that it is now live! If you are curious about the 8.4 Release, check it out! We’ve enhanced our Online Demo to even more accurately reflect the value NetEqualizer provides and how the GUI supports your bandwidth shaping mission.

If you have any questions or want to update to the 8.4 release, feel free to contact us anytime!

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: New Demo NetEqualizer

:: Product Demo Guide for 8.4

:: 8.4 GUI: QuickEdits vs. Bulk Edits

:: Best of Blog: How to Speed Up Windows/Apple Updates

New Demo NetEqualizer

Announcing a brand new NetEqualizer Demo – Updated with our latest (8.4) code!

One of the final steps in solidifying the 8.4 Release was updating our online Demo machine with the latest code, as well as meaningful data that can be used to see examples of the NetEqualizer in action.

key

Above is the new 8.4 Dashboard for the Online Demo. You can see from the green information buttons that our demo is set up with for a 1Gbps license. The blue buttons show that this is NetEqualizer1, loaded with the 8.4 DEMO version.

graph

This screen shows the General Traffic Graph for the Online Demo. As you can see, the traffic load is consistent with the 1Gbps license.

With the new Demo machine, we’ve enhanced our sample data to be more accurate so that clicking through the interfaces realistically shows you what it’s like to run the NetEqualizer on your network. You can run reports, see active connections, analyze graphs, run commands, and make edits to the configuration, all while you explore the features of the NetEqualizer.

Check out the new interface here – and let us know what you think!

7cfb789e-ff7b-4b14-90b5-4efac931b576
Product Demo Guide for 8.4

 The Product Demo Guide for 8.4 is here!

Our Product Demo Guide has also been updated along with our new NetEqualizer Demo machine. The Demo Guide helps walk you through key concepts and interfaces within the NetEqualizer.demoguide

The Demo Guide is not just for potential NetEqualizer customers! If you want to see a preview of the 8.4 Release prior to upgrading, or just re-familiarize yourself with the NetEqualizer’s primary value-adds, this quick walk through is a great resource.

To view the updated guide, click here or click on the image to the right.

If you are interested in a more technical walk through with our engineering staff, contact us today!
8.4 GUI: QuickEdits vs. Bulk Edits

When to use each and why!

One of the most useful and interesting new features of the 8.4 Release is the ability to edit all of your NetEqualizer rules at once – something we call “Bulk Edits”. With Bulk Edits, you can perform several edits together, such as adding a rule, updating another rule, and deleting a third rule. You only have to save your new configuration one time, when you have finished all of your edits.

bulkedits

mpxGG3D

It is important to note that with Bulk Edits, your Equalizing process will be restarted when you save your new configuration. It only takes 10-20 seconds for the restart to complete, but during that time your network will not be shaped. For congested networks, it’s best to make bulk edit changes during a maintenance window or when the network is quieter.

The reason that we restart the equalizing process is that certain changes require the NetEqualizer to re-read in the new rules, and because Bulk Edits involve making arbitrary changes, we restart the Equalizing process to ensure all the adjustments are properly accounted for. Bulk Edits are great for large-scale changes and initial setup of the NetEqualizer!

For those looking to make singular adds or deletes to their rules, we also have a Quick Edits interface available. The advantage of Quick Edits is that you can add or delete a rule without having to restart the Equalizing process. Quick Edits are great when you just need to add or remove a rule!

quickedits

8.4 perform_quick_edits

If you have any questions on Bulk Edits vs. Quick Edits, and are current on your NSS (NetEqualizer Software and Support), please contact us any time!

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Best Of Blog

How to Speed Up Windows/Apple Updates

By Art Reisman
 
I discovered a problem with my download speed while trying to recover my un-responsive iPad. Apple’s solution required me attach my iPad to my Mac, and then to download a new iOS image from the Internet, through the Mac and onto the iPad.
Speed should have been no problem with my business class, 20 megabit Internet connection from a well-known provider, right?…
Photo of the Month
devilscauseway
The Devil’s Causeway
This land bridge in the Flat Tops Wilderness area near Steamboat Springs, CO is one of Colorado’s most unique natural wonders. Reaching the Causeway is a popular day hike for locals, but actually crossing it is not for the faint of heart. At it’s narrowest the bridge is 3 feet wide with 800 foot drops on each side. A nice cross breeze and rocky terrain makes your knees a little wobbly. If you are ever in the area, visit this park and make the trek, as this is one of the most beautiful remote parks in the state.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: August 2016

August 22, 2016 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter. Highlights include Release 8.4 feedback, a preview of our new Quick Start Guide, an update on our 20 Gbps unit, and DDoS news.

 

August 2016

 
Release 8.4 feedback, and more!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

art photo for NL

As the end of summer nears, here at APconnections we are basking in the glow of our latest 8.4 software release. Since our last newsletter, which announced that our 8.4 Release was generally available, we have been fully focused on deploying it. Our updated 8.4 GUI has been well-received, as you can read about in this month’s newsletter.

Also this month, we officially release our latest Quick Start Guide, updated for 8.4. Stay tuned for more to come on 8.4 documentation in next month’s newsletter.

Never one to rest on our laurels, we are now focused on the future – and this month you can read about our push for 20Gbps shapers. We also are enhancing our DDoS Firewall offering, to continue to bring you state-of-the-art protection.

We continue to work with you to solve some of your most pressing network problems – so if you have one that you would like to discuss with us, please call or email me anytime at 303.997.1300 x103 or art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: Release 8.4 Feedback

:: Release 8.4 Quick Start Guide

:: Is a 20Gbps NetEqualizer in Your Future?

:: More DDoS News

:: Best of Blog: Bandwidth Shaping Shake Up

Release 8.4 Feedback

Release 8.4 has been a hit!

Release 8.4 has been well received! We have had a good number of compliments so far on the new interface. Here is a sampling…

—
Thanks for chiming in early on holiday Sunday. We do know we can count on you guys! The new interface looks fantastic. Easy access to often used information. It’s clean, neat and modern. Well done!
—
Your instructions were great! The upgrade is complete… very smooth!
—
Still haven’t taken the time to thank you for the wonderful GUI upgrade – BIG IMPROVEMENT, THANK YOU!
—

The new release offers a complete overhaul of the previous user interface and enhances all of our setup and reporting screens. Here are just a few of the improvements we’ve made:

1) Bulk editing of your configuration. You can now make any number of changes to the configuration with one save!

mpxGG3D

2) New dashboard interface. The Release 8.4 dashboard offers a new real-time report, information about your NetEqualizer and running processes, as well as quick links to setup, reporting, and maintenance screens. 

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3) Perform quick edits without restarting Equalizing. If you just need to make a minor change, you can do so without impacting your busy network!

8.4 perform_quick_edits

Contact us today to update your NetEqualizer to Release 8.4! We also love hearing feedback from those of you who have been using Release 8.4!

As with all software releases, the 8.4 Release will be free to all customers with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS).
Release 8.4 Quick Start Guide

 Our new Quick Start Guide is here!

We are excited to announce that our Quick Start Guide has been updated to incorporate our recent 8.4 Release! Screenshot at Aug 22 14-27-51

This short guide contains 4 key sections to help you to set up & configure your NetEqualizer:

Step #1) Cabling the NetEqualizer into your Network
Step #2) Configuring the NetEqualizer
Step #3) Setting up Equalizing
Step #4) Validating & Backing up your Configuration

We also include three appendices, to further help with your setup:

Appendix #1) Viewing your Traffic
Appendix #2) Troubleshooting your Setup
Appendix #3) Syncing NetEqualizer to a Time Server

While used mainly to set up new equipment, this is a good reference if you want to revisit your settings. In addition, if you have not started using Real-Time Reporting (RTR), use Appendix #1 to get started.

We also recommend that you take a look at this to set your date/time and time zone (see Step #2), as well as to sync your NetEqualizer to a Time Server (see Appendix #3).

Stay tuned to our newsletter for updates on all of our 8.4 documentation releases!
Is a 20Gbps NetEqualizer in Your Future?

More Breaking News!

One of the advantages of the NetEqualizer and our underlying technology is that we do our shaping based on heuristics that can be collected quickly without requiring massive amounts of CPU resources. Traditional packet shaping technology that relies on heavy packet inspection cannot keep up with speeds over 5 Gbps without a complex set of parallel processors, which tend to drive product costs out of practical reach.

Hot on the heals of our Release 8.4, we are turning our attention toward a new class of bandwidth shaping solutions capable of handling 20 Gbps of throughput – while keeping the price tag well below anything else on the market. We will have more details in the coming months as we continue our in-house testing. Look for a formal announcement this fall, and feel free to contact us for more details before then!

airportMore DDoS News

Exciting enhancements to our DDoS Product!

More news on the DDOS front. We will be making some enhancements to our DDOS firewall this fall! Specifically, we will be adding a new feature to block/warn on external IP’s based on their total number of incoming connections. Currently our DDOS warning system triggers on the rate of data coming in from unknown external entities, however we do not have a total concurrent connection count alert specific to outside IP addresses. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks, and please email us your ideas for additional DDoS protection as you encounter any suspected issues on your network.
Best Of Blog

Bandwidth Shaping Shake Up

By Art Reisman
 
If you went to sleep in 2005 and woke up 10 years later you would likely be surprised by some dramatic changes in technology.
Smart cars that drive themselves are almost a reality
The desktop PC is no longer a consumer product
Wind farms now line the highways of rural America
Layer 7 shaping technology is now clinging to life, crashing the financials of several companies that bet the house on it
What happened to layer 7?
Photo of the Month
 

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

Remember those great roadside attractions?
This cheesy roadside attraction near Oakley Kansas off I-70 has come to end. I drove by it this summer and noticed the signage was down. The elderly operator had mentioned a few years ago that “times were not what they used to be” in the heyday of the 70’s. People were just not stopping anymore. Not only did it feature the world’s largest prairie dog as depicted in the photo, they also had a five-legged cow, a rattle snake pit, and a variety of North American animals in small cages. Although I felt bad for the animals and did not like to see them cooped up like that, I’ll miss the nostalgic charm of an era gone by.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: June 2016

June 30, 2016 — sandyapconnections

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter.  Highlights include our Release 8.4, an update on the ASCUE conference, a note about a possible 20Gbps NetEqualizer, and also a testimonial from one of our airport customers.

June 2016
Release 8.4 is here!
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

art photo for NL

Wow! It has been hot here in Denver the past few weeks. We went from May snow, to temperatures over 100 in just over 30 days. I prefer the snow, as I am not much of a hot weather person.

Speaking of heat, the pressure has been on us to get our 8.4 Release out this month. Breaking news – just in, the test team has just sent me a note that we are are ready for delivery on 8.4!

If you have feedback, ideas, or questions for me, please email me anytime at art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: NetEqualizer Release 8.4 Is Here!

:: ASCUE Update

:: Is a 20Gbps NetEqualizer in Our Future?

:: NetEqualizer at the Airport

:: Best of Blog: Virtual Internet Presence in the Netherlands Thwarts TV Blackout
NetEqualizer Release 8.4 Is Here!

8.4 is now Generally Available

We are excited to announce that Release 8.4 is now Generally Available! You can read all the details on Software Update 8.4 in our 8.4 Release Notes. And for those of you that have not heard already, here are the key updates to look forward to in 8.4:

#1) Graphical User Interface (GUI) Redesign

8.4 introduces a complete GUI redesign, finishing the GUI transition that we started with our 7.1 Real-Time Reporting (RTR) offering. Our new GUI is easier to navigate and more intuitive. Our logical groupings, such as Setup and RTR, make it easier than ever to find what you need. We now also enable you to select the units that you want to see for your entire GUI via Preferences. And now the GUI includes error checking to look for common data validation errors such as properly formed IP addresses and valid positive integers where required.  Additionally, we have expanded our warning and error messaging, to help ensure that your configuration is valid.

#2) The Updated NetEqualizer Dashboard 

The new NetEqualizer Dashboard gives you a quick view into the state of your NetEqualizer and your network, while providing access to all the key features of your NetEqualizer. From here you access our four core areas:
  • Setup – Use this to configure your NetEqualizer
  • RTR – Use this to monitor network connections and report traffic history
  • DDoS – Use this to view possible DDoS attacks
  • Maintenance – Use to view documentation and troubleshoot your NetEqualizer.

You can also utilize shortcuts to four Common Tasks (Start/Stop Equalizing, Show Configuration, View Active Connections, and Run Diagnostics). On our new Dashboard, all icons are clickable, so that you can drill into each area to view more details and edit as needed. We also think that you will enjoy seeing your current network traffic right on the dashboard via our new ticker tape type live monitor.

#3) Batch Configuration!

You now will have the ability to add, delete, and most importantly, modify, all of your Traffic Limits in a spreadsheet-type format from the GUI using Manage Traffic Limits.  This capability is a great feature to have in place when you are initially setting up your NetEqualizer, and also allows you to modify rules as your network changes. Manage Traffic Limits includes defining Hard Limits, Pools and VLAN Limits (Shared Limits), Masked Hosts, and User Quotas.

We also offer batch configuration for your P2P Limits (via Connection Limits) and Priority Traffic.
During batch configuration, we highlight all field changes to help you identify unsaved changes, and also include data validation error checking against your fields.
Please note: Batch Configuration changes require a full Equalizing Restart in order for your changes to take effect.  

#4) Perform Quick Edits

While batch mode can help you to initially configure your NetEqualizer and also support network changes, we also wanted to maintain your ability to make quick changes on the fly without bringing down your NetEqualizer process. Perform Quick Edits enables you to do just that. We have kept the ability for you to delete and add Individual Rules across all areas (Hard Limits, By Pool, By VLAN, Masked Hosts, User Quotas, P2P Traffic, and Priority Traffic), without needing to stop and restart Equalizing.

Please note: Perform Quick Edits do NOT require a full Equalizing Restart, as changes take effect upon saving.  For this reason, Perform Quick Edits does not include rule modifications – for that you use Manage Traffic Limits, Limit P2P Traffic, and Manage Priority Traffic.

8.4 perform_quick_edits

#5) Usability Enhancements

In addition to all the other great features in 8.4, we have added or enhanced the following:

  • You can now set the Date and Time, as well as the Time Zone, via the NetEqualizer GUI.
  • Run Diagnostics now offers the ability to save the generated data as a .txt file, that you can download and email to Support.
  • We have removed the information-only penalty threshold from the NetEqualizer Log, as it was confusing.
  • We have changed the Default Penalty Unit to 1, which works better with video traffic.
  • We have added DNS name resolution to all tabular reports in RTR via DHCP.
  • We have added Password Verification to the GUI.

Contact us today to update your NetEqualizer to Release 8.4!
As with all software releases, the 8.4 Release will be free to all customers with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS).
ASCUE Update

 Shaping Bandwidth – Learning to Love Netflix on Campus

As we mentioned in last month’s newsletter, one of our long-time customers, Hollis Townsend, Director of Technology Support and Operations at Young Harris College, spoke about his experience with the NetEqualizer in his talk at ASCUE.  Hollis’ presentation was titled “Shaping Bandwidth – Learning to Love Netflix on Campus”.

In case you missed Hollis’ presentation at the ASCUE Conference (June 12th-16th, 2016), I have enclosed some of the best excerpts here. Hollis presentation is a great case study into how the NetEqualizer can be used to affordably solve network congestion issues in campus environments. 

When Young Harris was looking to replace their Packeteer in 2007,
their wish list for their new solution was the following:

  •  Needed to be inexpensive to buy
  •  Inexpensive to maintain
  •  Web interface
  •  Easy to Maintain or Self Maintaining
  •  Expandable

After reviewing the market, in July 2007, Young Harris purchased a NetEqualizer to solve their network congestion issues and to replace their Packeteer. They have since upgraded their NetEQ as their network has grown over the years, and currently run an NE3000 with a 1Gbps license.  Here are their results:

They have significantly reduced costs.
  • They have spent significantly less than what they did on Packeteer.
  • They took advantage of our Lifetime Buyer Protection Policy of 50% trade-in credit towards new hardware, when they upgraded.
They find the NetEqualizer self-maintaining.
  • Virtually no time spent running the machine
  • About a 1 hour set up from the box to the rack and fully operational
  • Can view reports when desired
  • Literally months will go by with out anyone checking on it  
Students don’t complain and video can run. They had zero File Sharing notices in 2015 & 2016.
  • Students do not complain about bandwidth, just wireless coverage
  • System looks at flows, when bandwidth is over 80 percent, it starts shaping only the heavy users
  • Email, web surfing, gaming never gets shaped at all
  • Netflix, and most streaming services will adapt to low bandwidth on the fly
  • Most never see that they have been shaped, as once the peak is past bandwidth is returned to normal
  • Encrypted payloads don’t matter as it looks at the stream, not the content
  • File sharing is eliminated / reduced as it also is set to not allow a user to exceed multiple streams (over 45) from any single source.

Thank you Hollis for sharing your experiences with the NetEqualizer! 

ASCUE fitbit_winnerWe are also happy to announce that the door prize winner of the Fitbit fitness watch was Jacqueline Stephen of Mercer University in Georgia. You can see a picture of our happy winner here.

ASCUE is the Association Supporting Computer Users in Education and they have been around since 1968. Members hail from all over North America. ASCUE’s mission is to provide opportunities for resource-sharing, networking, and collaboration within an environment that fosters creativity and innovation in the use of technology within higher education.
Is a 20Gbps NetEqualizer in Our Future?

More Breaking News!

Hot on the heels of our newly-released 8.4 Software Update, we have begun testing a couple of new hardware configurations for our NetEqualizer systems. In our next generation systems, we hope to achieve a commercial version capable of shaping 50,000 subscribers at speeds at or above 20 gigabits.

Look for an update in next month’s NetEqualizer News!
airportNetEqualizer at the Airport

Airport Congestion – No Problem for the NetEqualizer!

eiaThe next time you are waiting in the terminal trying to send a few last minute e-mails over the public WiFi, please don’t blame us.
If your connection is dragging, you are probably dealing with an installation where congestion control was an afterthought.

Airports with NetEqualizers at their head tend to be very responsive. Here is what Edmonton Regional Airport Authority, one of our customers, had to say…

Their NetEqualizer Configuration

“We presently use two NE3000 units for internet traffic control and monitoring in a redundant setup. At present we have a maximum of 600Mbps internet throughput with over 300 IP addresses in use in some 120+ address Pools.

(NetEqualizer is)… A very useful tool for us for monitoring and setting speeds for the many users. Most of the feeds come straight off our Campus network, which is spread over a seven kilometer distance from one end of the airdrome to the other. We also feed a number of circuits to customers using ADSL equipment in the older areas were fiber is not yet available.

Everything runs though the “live” NE3000!”

How the NetEqualizer has helped EIA 

Controllability and monitoring is key for our customers as they pay for the speed they are asking for. With the RTR Dashboard we continually monitor overall usage peeks to make sure we provide enough bandwidth but more importantly with individual customers. Many customers are not sure of how much bandwidth they need so using the Neteq we can simply change their speed and watch the individual IP and/or Pool usage to monitor.

This becomes especially useful now as many customer including ourselves use IP telephony to remote sites, so we need to maintain critical bandwidth availability for this purpose. That way when they or we have conference calls for example, no one is getting choppy conversations. All easily monitored and adjusted with the Dashboard and Traffic Management features.

We also have used the Neteq firewall feature to stop certain attack threats and customer infected PCs or servers from spewing email or other reported outbound attacks, not a fun thing but it happens.”

“Overall a very critical tool for our success in providing internet to users and it has worked very well for the past 8 or more years!”

Willy Damgaard 
Network and Telecom Analyst 
Edmonton Regional Airport Authority, IT Department
 
Thanks for the kind review, Willy!  
Best Of Blog

Virtual Internet Presence in The Netherlands, Thwarts TV Blackout

By Anonymous Guest
 
A few months ago I got rid of my Cable TV.  Other than a few sports networks, I never watched the other 507 channels.  Once free from that expensive local bundle, I  subscribed directly to MLB.tv for 1 year for about $100 a year, less than one months cable bill. It turned out there was one small hitch in my plan. Whenever I tried to watch my local Rockies , it is blacked out on the MLB.tv service in deference to their contractual obligations with their other distributor. ( my old cable company).  It seems the MLB.tv is smart enough to know where you are watching from based on your IP address…
Photo of the Month
 
lebronLeBron James
This photo is a copy of an acrylic painted by one of our staff members, and hangs in the office here in Colorado. Although it is LeBron James with his Miami Heat colors and number, it is a nice reminder of what hard work and perseverance can accomplish.
APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer | (303) 997-1300 | Email | Website 
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NetEqualizer News: May 2016

June 1, 2016 — netequalizer

We hope you enjoy this month’s NetEqualizer Newsletter.  Highlights include updates on upcoming Release 8.4, Seven Network Troubleshooting Tips, a reminder about the upcoming ASCUE conference, and also our complimentary Tech Refresh offering.

May 2016
Release 8.4 will debut in June! 
Greetings! Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News.

art photo for NLSpring has sprung in Colorado (finally!).  We are being treated to sunny days, mixed with cool winds and rain.  On the nice days, I like to birdwatch.  If you ever want to read a great story about birders, check out “The Big Year“.  The book is great; unfortunately the movie was a box office bomb!

2016 feels like a Big Year for the NetEqualizer!  We think you will agree that our 8.4 Release is a game changer.  We have added many batch configuration screens, which streamline the whole set-up process. 8.4 is expected to be Generally Available (GA) in June. Read below to learn more.

This month our favorite blog article gives you Seven Network Troubleshooting Tips, useful to those that do not troubleshoot on a daily basis!

Don’t forget that there is still time to register for ASCUE! We will be represented at the ASCUE Conference June 12-16th. Join Young Harris College at their talk featuring the NetEqualizer.
 
And finally, if you have not already taken advantage of our FREE Tech Refresh, what are you waiting for?  Contact us today to schedule your session.
If you have feedback, ideas, or questions for me, please email me anytime at art@apconnections.net.

And remember we are now on Twitter. You can follow us @NetEqualizer.

– Art Reisman (CTO)

In this Issue:

:: NetEqualizer Release 8.4 Debuts in June!

:: Renew your NetEqualizer Knowledge with a Tech Refresh

:: Learn about the NetEqualizer at ASCUE June 12-16

:: Best of Blog: Seven Must Know Network Troubleshooting Tips
NetEqualizer Release 8.4 Debuts in June!

A Few of My Favorite Things about Release 8.4….

Comments by Art Reisman
Last month we detailed some of the new features coming out in our 8.4 Release. To be honest, at the time of the last newsletter, I had not actually kicked the tires on it. These past few weeks I have been using it extensively, and have been really quite impressed. Here are some of my notes on what I love about 8.4.

#1) The Updated NetEqualizer Dashboard 

The Dashboard, with a ticker tape type live monitor, finally provides a clean professional look that the NetEqualizer deserves. From here you access four core areas: 1) Setup, 2) RTR, 3) DDoS, and 4) Maintenance. One change that you will love to see – your key is now listed in Mbps or Gbps. Below you can see under “Authorized to Pass” the key is for 10Gbps. The new curb appeal certainly has had a positive effect on recent customers that have previewed 8.4.

#2) Batch Configuration!

You now will have the ability to edit and modify all of your rules in a spreadsheet-type format from the GUI.  In my opinion, this was long overdue, so I am excited that we have finally been able to incorporate this feature into our GUI.

Previously, this was only possible by directly editing our configuration file.  While certainly efficient, it used to be a risky proposition, as there was no checking for malformed rules. With the GUI front end, error checking is now in place to look for common data validation errors such as properly formed IP addresses and valid positive integers where required.  There are also warning messages to help alert you as needed.  And as you can see below, you can name your Pools to something meaningful on your network (here they are called Test Pool 1, Test 2, and Test 3).

#3) Easily Set Time and Time Zone

The new GUI also has an easy way to set the time and pick a timezone – no more logging in to the NetEqualizer terminal! (enough said)

#4) See Everything in the Units you Choose

You can now choose your units for almost the entire interface!  No longer will you have to convert your trunk up and trunk down when setting those up for Equalizing.  You will now see them in the configuration units that you choose (Mbps, Kbps, Bps).  And you can select different units for graphs and configuration, if you prefer.   

 

Check back next month to get your copy of Release 8.4! 

As with all software releases, the 8.4 Release will be free to all customers with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS).
Renew your NetEqualizer Knowledge with a Tech Refresh

If you have not already scheduled a Tech Refresh, consider it!

Our FREE* Tech Refresh sessions (*with valid NSS) are conducted via webex, so you do not even have to leave your office to renew your NetEqualizer knowledge!Please take advantage of this offering, especially if you have new staff, are upgrading to a new release, or would like to learn more about our new features.  We receive glowing feedback on these sessions – they are only 30 minutes to one (1) hour and are worth the time!

These sessions can ensure that you and your team get the most out of your NetEqualizer!

Here are just a few of the benefits:
  • Learn about new releases – We are constantly evolving and enhancing our product. Tech Refreshes can help quickly get you up-to-speed on what is new!
  • Learn about features you are not using (yet) – Maybe you would like to use DDoS or RTR but need to better understand how they work. You can use this time to get acquainted with all the NetEqualizer has to offer.
  • Quickly educate a new employee – Our Tech Refreshes make training a new staff member on NetEqualizer a breeze!
  • Ask questions and review your configuration – Use this time to make sure that your unit is optimally configured, and ask any NetEqualizer questions that you have been curious about.
Schedule your Tech Refresh today by clicking the link below!
Tech Refreshes are free to all customers with valid NetEqualizer Software and Support (NSS).  We also offer full-day Onsite Training for you and your team, contact us for availability and pricing.
Tech Refresh button
Learn about the NetEqualizer at ASCUE  June 12-16

Join Young Harris College at ASCUE! 

Learn how they use the NetEqualizer to solve network congestion

 
It is almost here!  If you work in higher education, join your colleagues at ASCUE this spring, June 12-16th in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  And if you have ever wanted to learn more about how the NetEqualizer is used in higher education to resolve network congestion, you can hear all about it at ASCUE!

One of our long-time customers, Hollis Townsend, Director of Technology Support and Operations at Young Harris College, will be talking about his experience with the NetEqualizer in his talk at ASCUE.  Hollis’ presentation is titled “Shaping Bandwidth – Learning to Love Netflix on Campus“.

Young Harris has been using NetEqualizer to solve their network congestion issues since July, 2007. They have upgraded their NetEQ as their network has grown over the years, and currently run an NE3000 with a 1Gbps license.
We are also happy to announce that APconnections, home of the NetEqualizer, will be a Silver Sponsor at the ASCUE Conference. We will be giving away a great door prize – a Fitbit fitness watch!
It is not too late to register.  Visit the ASCUE website for details!
 

ASCUE is the Association Supporting Computer Users in Education and they have been around since 1968. Members hail from all over North America. ASCUE’s mission is to provide opportunities for resource-sharing, networking, and collaboration within an environment that fosters creativity and innovation in the use of technology within higher education.
Best Of Blog

Seven Must Know Network Troubleshooting Tips

By Art Reisman – CTO
 
Editor’s Note: This article contains some great tips to troubleshoot your network. While our network administrators already know this, others may not.  We hope this helps you the next time you are staring at a “loading…” message, and wondering what is going on!  
To get started you’ll need to get a hold of two key software tools: 1) Ping Tool and 2) a Network Scan Tool, both which I describe in more detail below.  And for advanced analysis (experts only), I will then show you how you can use a bandwidth shaper/sniffer if needed.

Ping Tool

Ping is a great tool to determine what your network responsiveness is (in milliseconds), identified by trying to get a response from a typical website. If you do not already know how to use Ping on your device there are hundreds of references to Ping and how to use it.  Simply google “how to use ping ” on your favorite device or computer to learn how to use it.
For example, I found these instructions for my MAC; and there are similar instructions for Windows, iPhone, Linux, Android, etc.
  1. Open Network Utility (located inside Applications > Utilities).
  2. Click Ping.
  3. Fill out the “Enter the network that you want to ping” field. You can enter the IP address or a web URL. For example, enter http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer to test the ping with that website.
  4. Click Ping.

Network Scan Tool

There are a variety of network SCAN tools/apps available for just about any consumer device or computer.  The decent ones will cost a few dollars, but I have never regretted purchasing one.  I use mine often for very common home and business network issues as I will detail in the tips below. Be sure and use the term “network scan tool” when searching, so you do not get confusing results about unrelated document scanning tools.
Once you get your scan tool installed, test it out by selecting Network Scan. Here is the output from my MAC scan tool.  I will be referencing this output later in the article.
Photo Of The Month

Cross That River

I had no idea that there were still Ferry Crossings along the Mississippi River. I took this photo in April, 2016 while traveling through the area.  Those trees in the background are in Kentucky, and I am standing in Missouri.
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