NetEqualizer News: April 2013

April 18, 2013 — netequalizer

April 2013

Greetings!

Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News! This month, we discuss our new 7.0 Software Update, announce our FlyAway Contest winner, and preview our new “Equalizing Explained” video. As always, feel free to pass this along to others who might be interested in NetEqualizer News.
A message from Art…
Art Reisman, CTO – APconnections

art_smallSpring has sprung! As I write this today, it is raining in Colorado, which is great for my garden. Grass is greening up here, and soon everything will be budding out or in bloom. Just like our spring release, Software Update 7.0, which is now ready! We talk more about the release, and how to get it, in this month’s newsletter.

And with April Fool’s Day just past, I got a little creative and updated a Beatles song with a NetEqualizer spin. Check it out below. It is featured as our “Poem Of The Month”.

We love it when we hear back from you – so if you have a story you would like to share with us of how we have helped you, let us know. Email me directly at art@apconnections.net. I would love to hear from you!

7.0 Software Update: NDI and 64-Bit Release

We recently released our latest NetEqualizer Software Update, further improving our existing technology. The update from 6.0b to 7.0 has the following enhancements:

NetEqualizer Directory Integration (NDI) 

Level 1
Level 1 of NDI is now GA. This version allows you to view directory user names in the Active Connections table so that you can associate each connection with a particular user.

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Level 2
Level 2 of NDI is now in beta testing. This version allows you to view directory user names in quotas and set quota restrictions for users based on directory user name.

quotas

NDI requires a one-time setup fee of $1,000. This includes activation and setup of the NetEqualizer to prepare for incoming directory results via our API. Because each directory implementation varies drastically, gathering the required information on the directory side will require some development work.

64-Bit Processing

As part of our commitment to keeping our product supported on the latest hardware, we have upgraded our Linux kernel and re-certified the NetEqualizer software.

This kernel upgrade was also undertaken to take advantage of 64-bit processing. This will position us to offer enhanced capabilities to our core equalizing platform, without sacrificing speed and response times.

In previous releases, as we moved to multi-core hardware, we have split out key processes across cores, so that equalizing does not have to compete with other processing. With this 64-bit processing release, we will see increased speed for all processes across all cores.

—

Remember, Software Updates are available for free to customers with valid NetEqualizer Software & Support (NSS) – the NDI setup, however, has an initial fee.

At this time, most customers likely DO NOT need to update to 7.0 unless you are interested in NDI and/or are a NE4000-10G customer who needs faster performance.

For more notes on this Software Update, check out our release notes.

If you are not current with NSS, contact us today!

sales@apconnections.net

-or-

toll-free U.S. (888-287-2492),

worldwide (303) 997-1300 x. 103

New NetEqualizer Demo Video

Our previous “Equalizing Explained” video was great, but we felt it was necessary to create a new video that only focused on Equalizing and was short and to the point.

So, here it is on our YouTube channel.

equalizing

Even if you have already seen our old video, go ahead and take a look! It never hurts to have a quick refresher!

We will continue to develop and enhance this video over time – please feel free to send us your thoughts!

And the FlyAway Contest Winner Is…

Every few months, we have a drawing to give  away two round-trip domestic airline tickets from Frontier Airlines to one lucky person who’s recently tried out our online NetEqualizer demo.40

The time has come to announce this round’s winner.

And the winner is…

Michael Bamsey of Santel Communications.

Congratulations, Michael!

Please contact us within 30 days (by May 9, 2013) at:

admin@apconnections.net
-or-
303-997-1300

to claim your prize!

Best Of The Blog

The Wireless Density Problem

By Art Reisman – CTO – APconnections

Recently, we have been involved in several projects where an IT consulting company has attempted to bring public wireless service into a high density arena. So far, the jury is out on how effective these service offerings have fared.

The motivation for such a project is driven by several factors.

1) Most standard cellular 4G data coverage is generally not adequate to handle 20,000 people with iPhones in a packed arena. I am sure the larger carriers are also feverishly working on a solution, but I have no inside information as to their approach nor chance of success.

Note: I’d be interested to learn about any arenas with great coverage…
Poem Of The Month

To the tune of “Imagine” – by John Lennon

Imagine there’s no congestion
It’s easy if you try
No hidden fees surprise us
Above us high speed guy
Imagine all providers, giving bandwidth away

Imagine there’s no quotas
It isn’t hard to use
No killer apps that die for
A lack of bandwidth too

Imagine all the gamers living Layer-7 free
You may say, I’m a streamer
But I’m just gonna download one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And your speed concerns will be done
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NetEqualizer News: March 2013

March 13, 2013 — netequalizer

March 2013

Greetings!

Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News! This month, we discuss AD integration into NetEqualizer, the results of our recent Educause conference, and new NetEqualizer features coming in 2013. As always, feel free to pass this along to others who might be interested in NetEqualizer News.
A message from Art…
Art Reisman, CTO – APconnections

art_smallSpring is almost upon us, and yet in Colorado it is just starting to feel like winter. We get our snowiest weeks typically in late February and early March. So far for this year, that is proving to be true. However, with spring coming soon we look forward to beginning again!

We love it when we hear back from you – so if you have a story you would like to share with us of how we have helped you, let us know. Email me directly at art@apconnections.net. I would love to hear from you!

2013 Software Update Features

We are already in the process of implementing exciting new features for our first Software Update of 2013!

Here is a quick preview of what you can expect this year:

– 64 Bit Processing: This change will allow current customers to operate on existing hardware and attain 20 to 50 percent improvements in performance.

– Sortable Active Connections Table: You will now be able to sort the Active Connections table by any of the columns you choose.

– Caching Service Updates: We will be updating and expanding our available caching services.

– Port-Based Equalizing: Check out our blog article on bandwidth management on the public side of a NAT router.

– Active Directory Integration: Now, administrators will be able to see AD user names in their Active Connections table.

– Other Minor Enhancements

Check back with NetEqualizer News for updates on each of these new features and their scheduled releases!
Remember, new software updates (including all the features described above – except AD Integration) are available for free to customers with valid NetEqualizer Software & Support (NSS).

If you are not current with NSS, contact us today!

sales@apconnections.net

-or-

toll-free U.S. (888-287-2492),

worldwide (303) 997-1300 x. 103

Educause Conference Poster Session Update
educause logo

Sandy had a great time at the West/Southwest Regional Educause Conference in Austin  February 12-14th, 2013!

Here she is in front of her Poster Session materials:

wsw educause photo 1

Sandy talked about the “Future of Bandwidth Shaping” with the attendees. One professor, who also runs a ISP for colleges, even came from South Africa!

Most of you know that NetEqualizer is the future of bandwidth shaping, but if you need to convince anyone else (your boss, the powers that be, etc.), we recommend printing out our updated 1-2 page Executive White Paper and sharing that. If you are in Higher Education, you can also check out our newly revised College & University Guide.

Stay tuned to NetEqualizer News for updates on upcoming conferences!

AD Integration Beta and Support Update

We are close to releasing our new Active Directory integration feature and are nearing the end of our beta tests!

Thanks to all of those organizations that have helped us out thus far.

As an additional note, because Active Directory is a complicated environment which varies from customer to customer, the AD Integration feature will be an additional charge beyond NSS. This fee will include support in getting you up and running with the new feature.

Best Of The Blog

How Much Bandwidth Do You Really Need?

By Art Reisman – CTO – APconnections

When it comes to how much money to spend on the Internet, there seems to be this underlying feeling of guilt with everybody I talk to. From ISPs, to libraries or multinational corporations, they all have a feeling of bandwidth inadequacy. It is very similar to the guilt I used to feel back in College when I would skip my studies for some social activity (drinking). Only now it applies to bandwidth contention ratios. Everybody wants to know how they compare with the industry average in their sector. Are they spending on bandwidth appropriately, and if not, are they hurting their institution, will they become second-rate?

To ease the pain, I was hoping to put a together a nice chart on industry standard recommendations, validating that your bandwidth consumption was normal, and I just can’t bring myself to do it quite yet. There is this elephant in the room that we must contend with. So before I make up a nice chart on recommendations, a more relevant question is… how bad do you want your video service to be?

Your choices are:

  1. bad
  2. crappy
  3. downright awful

Although my answer may seem a bit sarcastic, there is a truth behind these choices. I sense that much of the guilt of our customers trying to provision bandwidth is based on the belief that somebody out there has enough bandwidth to reach some form of video Shangri-La; like playground children bragging about their father’s professions, claims of video ecstasy are somewhat exaggerated…
Photo Of The Month

photo-3

Snow Geese in Kansas

If you look closely at the lake you can see a gaggle of white Snow Geese in the water. Though they typically live in colder climates, they’ll come to warmer states in the winter to breed. This photo was taken in Kansas on a recent trip by one of our staff members.
Posted in New Features, Newsletters. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »

NetEqualizer News: February 2013

February 20, 2013 — netequalizer

February 2013

Greetings!

Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News! This month, we discuss AD integration into NetEqualizer, our upcoming Educause conference, the new NetEqualizer Dashboard feature, and the history of P2P blocking. As always, feel free to pass this along to others who might be interested in NetEqualizer News.
A message from Art…
Art Reisman, CTO – APconnections

art_smallIn February, our thoughts turn to love and friendship. Valentine’s Day is coming up this week, a great day to celebrate those in your life that you love. So this month we celebrate you, our customers!

This Newsletter is our valentine to you! As candy is fattening, we are instead fattening up your mind. Our gifts to you include an opportunity to participate in our AD Beta Test, a chance to learn more about the history of P2P, and the opportunity to pick up some bling at Educause!

We love it when we hear back from you – so if you have a story you would like to share with us of how we have helped you, let us know. Email me directly at art@apconnections.net. I would love to hear from you!

AD Integration Update and Beta Testing

We are well underway with beta testing our new and exciting NetEqualizer feature – Active Directory integration. The feature is being broken down into two release phases:

In the first phase, we’ll allow administrators to see the Active Directory username associated with the IP Address in the connection table (assuming the user used Active Directory to authenticate). We’ll also allow you to sort the table by username and IP for quick analysis of a specific username.

This screenshot shows how usernames will be displayed in the connection table:

ad

In the second phase, which will be released in the summer of 2013, we’ll allow administrators to set rate limits by username as well as give priority to certain users. This way, users don’t have to be part of a certain subnet to gain priority access.

If your organization uses Active Directory for user authentication, you have had a NetEqualizer for at least one year, and you’d be willing to assist us in our testing, let us know by sending an email to:

sales@apconnections.net

Stay tuned to NetEqualizer News for more updates and GA release details!

See You at Educause!

And get a cool NetEqualizer pen!

We are conducting a Poster Session on Wednesday, 2/13 at the West/Southwest Educause Regional Conference in Austin, Texas.educause logo

If you are at the conference, stop by to see us!  If you do, and mention this Newsletter, we will give you a fabulous NetEqualizer pen!

pens3

Here is our abstract for the conference:

Maximizing Your Internet Resource: Why Behavior-Based QoS Is the Future of Bandwidth Shaping

Higher education is tasked to do more with less, particularly when managing a scarce resource like bandwidth. Behavior-based QoS, an affordable bandwidth shaping technology, is coming to the forefront. It’s also gaining mindshare as a superior bandwidth shaping technology, as encrypted traffic thwarts deep packet inspection. This poster will delve into the differences between DPI and behavior-based QoS, explaining where each is best suited for networks. Learn how to reduce P2P and HEOA/RIAA requests on your campus and see behavior-based QoS in action.

We will offer a live online demonstration of our affordable NetEqualizer:

(www.netequalizer.com).

We hope to see you there!

Don’t Forget to Upgrade to 6.0!

With a brief tutorial on our Dashboard

If you have not already upgraded your NetEqualizer to Software Update 6.0, now is the perfect time! We have discussed the new upgrade in depth in previous newsletters and blog posts, so this month we thought we’d show you how to take advantage of our new Dashboard features!

If you have not explored it, here is what you can expect to see:

– You can immediately tell which key processes are running, through our green (on)/red (off) icons. This helps you to make sure that everything is running as expected.
– You can Run Diagnostics directly by clicking on the icon at the top right of the Dashboard.
– You can see how much bandwidth is being consumed both from the Internet (% Bandwidth Down) and to the Internet (% Bandwidth Up). One great side affect of this is that you can tell if your cables are set-up correctly too. Typically, Bandwidth Down is much higher than Bandwidth Up.  If you see the opposite, you should consider reversing your cables. Contact our Support Team if you have questions.
– You can quickly see what version you are running, which will help you to determine if you need to upgrade.  You can always see what is available in each software update on our blog by clicking on the Software Updates page.
– If you are using Pools to limit bandwidth, you can select which Pool to view the Pool Traffic Up and Pool Traffic Down.To keep the Dashboard relevant and clean, we limit what we show there. However, we are open to suggestions! If there are other key items that you think warrant Dashboard status, let us know. Just send an email with your ideas to:

sales@apconnections.net.

Remember, new software updates (including all the features described above) are available for free to customers with valid NetEqualizer Software & Support (NSS).

If you are not current with NSS, contact us today!

sales@apconnections.net

-or-

toll-free U.S. (888-287-2492),

worldwide (303) 997-1300 x. 103

Best Of The Blog

A Brief History of Peer to Peer File Sharing and the Attempts to Block It

By Art Reisman – CTO – APconnections

The following history is based on my notes and observations as both a user of peer to peer, and as a network engineer tasked with cleaning it up.

Round One, Napster, Centralized Server, Circa 2002

Napster was a centralized service, unlike the peer to peer behemoths of today there was never any question of where the copyrighted material was being stored and pirated from. Even though Napster did not condone pirated music and movies on their site, the courts decided by allowing copyrighted material to exist on their servers, they were in violation of copyright law. Napster’s days of free love were soon over…
Photo Of The Month

signs

Photo by Casey Sanders

A Slower Pace

When people picture the state of Texas, most think of vast ranches, cattle, and cactus. While much of the state does resemble this type of landscape, the northeastern part is actually heavily wooded and contains many lakes. Life in this rural area of the country moves a bit slower than our high-speed, high-tech lives in Metro Denver, Colorado. Sometimes it is cathartic to put all the work aside for a bit and just stare off into the woods.
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Check List for Integrating Active Directory to Your Bandwidth Controller

January 19, 2013 — netequalizer

By Art Reisman, CTO, www.netequalizer.com

Art Reisman CTO www.netequalizer.com

The problem statement: You have in place an authentication service such as Radius, LDAP, or Active Directory, and now you want to implement some form of class of service per customer. For example, data usage limits (quotas) or bandwidth speed restriction per user. To do so, you’ll need to integrate your authentication device with an  enforcement device, typically a bandwidth controller.

There are products out there such as Nomadix that do both (authentication and rate limiting),  but most authentication devices are not turn-key when it comes to a mechanism to set rate limits.

Your options are:

1) You can haggle your way through various forums that give advice on setting rate limits with AD,

2) Or you can embark on a software integration project using a consultant to accomplish your bandwidth restrictions.

In an effort to help customers appreciate and understand what goes into such an integration, I have shared notes that I have used as starting point when synchronizing our NetEqualizer with Radius.

1) Start by developing (borrowing if you can) a generic abstract interface (middle ware) that is not specific to Active Dircectory, LDAP or Radius. Keep it clean and basic so as not to tie your solution to any specific authentication server.  The investment in a middle ware interface is well worth the upfront cost.  By using a middle layer you will avoid a messy divorce of your authentication system from your bandwidth controller should the need arise.

2) Chances are your bandwidth controller speaks IP, and your AD device speaks user name. So you’ll need to understand how your AD can extract IP addresses from user names and send them down to your bandwidth controller.

3) Your bandwidth controller will need a list of IP’s or MAC addresses , and their committed bandwidth rates. It will need to get this information from your authentication database.

5) On a cold start, you’ll need to make bandwidth controller aware of all active users, and perhaps during the initial synchronization, you may want to pace yourself so as to not bog down your authentication controller with a million requests on start-up.

6) Once the bandwidth controller has an initial list of users on board, you’ll need to have a back ground re-synch (audit) mechanism to make sure all the rate limits and associated IP addresses are current.

7) What to do if the bandwidth controller senses traffic from an IP that it is unaware of? You’ll need a default guest rate limit of some kind for unknown IP addresses. Perhaps you’ll want the bandwidth controller to deny service to unknown IPs?

8) Don’t forget to put a timeout on requests from the bandwidth controller to the authentication device.

Posted in Bandwidth Management. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a Comment »
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