From the Greenroom

If you even glanced at my blog last week you probably noticed a slew of videos from VMworld 2011.  What was a simple idea a couple years ago – give people a taste of what we were up to at the various trade shows & highlight partners – has turned into a fun and exciting part of my job.  I do hope they give you a flavor of what is happening on the show floor.  While I try to schedule some interviews and topics prior to the show(s), many of the ‘on the spot’ videos truly are situations where I’m like, ‘ohhh, lets shoot that – ready?’  We do a little prep work especially for the whiteboard discussions but most of the time we just briefly chat about it and go live.  Many times we nail it but sometimes a hiccup happens, mostly mine, which is why I also post the video outtakes at the end.  I’ve always loved bloopers, even back when Dick Clark was pretending to laugh at all the flubs of 80’s TV.  We’ll be shooting again in a few weeks at Oracle OpenWorld so if you’re around, stop by and say hi.  I’ll even interview you if you like.

Over the next couple months, we’ll be posting a number of videos covering some v11 features like iApps and DNS Express along with series focusing on the many security solutions F5 offers.  I also got a few ‘In 5 Minutes’ videos in the queue  Video has certainly exploded over the last couple years and is an impactful way to communicate.  Retailers are using video more on their ecommerce sites to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions.  According to Forbes, video has graduated from a novelty to a mainstream method for execs in the C-Suite to get business information.  According to comScore, in December 2010, the average American spent more than 14 hours watching online video, a 12-percent increase from the prior year, and streamed a record 201 videos, an 8-percent increase. And according to Nielsen, on a year-to-year basis, the number of people watching mobile video increased more than 43%, while the amount of time spent doing so was up almost 7% and over 180 million (86%) of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video during July 2011.  Viewers watch online video for an average of 18.5 hours per viewer and engaged in 6.9 billion viewing sessions..  Obviously, this trend will continue as more people turn to their mobile devices for entertainment and information.

I sometimes find it a little difficult to get into the writing groove again after a week of shooting so I’ll just end it here but thanks for watching and stay tuned for more.

ps

Related

• F5 YouTube Channel
• F5 Web Media
• comScore Releases July 2011 U.S. Online Video Rankings
• Online Video Statistics for August 2011
• Should you consider a video commerce platform for your retail business?
• 14 Million U.S. Adults Used QR Codes in June
• More Americans Watching Mobile Video

Technorati Tags: F5, video, webmedia, ondemand, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, mobile, instructional, web, internet

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VMworld 2011: Find F5 Networks

I show you how to find the F5 booth #1131 at The Venetian in Las Vegas during VMworld 2011.

ps

Technorati Tags: F5, vmworld, integration, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, application delivery, cloud, virtualization, vmware

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Interop 2011 - The Video Outtakes

We always have a lot of fun shooting our videos and it’s not always perfect – here are the bloopers and outtakes from the Interop 2011 Videos.

ps

Resources:

• Interop 2011 - Find F5 Networks Booth 2027
• Interop 2011 - F5 in the Interop NOC
• Interop 2011 - VIPRION 2400 and vCMP
• Interop 2011 - IXIA and VIPRION 2400 Performance Test
• Interop 2011 - F5 in the Interop NOC Follow Up
• Interop 2011 - Wrapping It Up
• F5 YouTube Channel

Technorati Tags: F5, interop, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, internet, big-ip, VIPRION, vCMP, ixia, performance, ssl tps, testing

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RSA2011 - Welcome to San Francisco

An opening hello from the 20th Annual RSA Conference in San Francisco.

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Resources:

• F5 YouTube Channel
• F5 Joins with Oracle to Offer Enhanced Security for Web-Based Database Applications
• F5 Focus Group Assesses Security Risks from Politically Motivated Attacks, Stresses Focus on Fundamentals

Technorati Tags: F5, RSA, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, internet, cybercrime

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A Digital Poltergeist On Your Television

I love starting blogs with, ‘Remember when…’ and this is no different.  Remember when, we used to receive our television programming over the air via an antenna?  Many still do but the days of seeing a huge pointy metal object perched on top of a house are dwindling.  (That would actually be a cool photo essay – homes that still have working antennas.)  They’ve been replaced with satellite dishes and coax.  Even then, your programming was still coming over a dedicated cable from a system other than the internet.  Not so anymore.  The explosion of Internet ready Televisions, DVD players, Game consoles and other set top boxes to enjoy the entertainment the web has to offer has made many of us giddy with choices.  The range of web content, once exclusive to your browser, is now available to any room in the house and without a traditional computer.  Many Internet ready home entertainment devices come pre-equipped to watch Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Vudu, Amazon VoD, CinemaNow, Pandora and many others.  You can also surf the web like you would through a traditional computer bringing a whole new world of entertainment to your television.  But, as many of you know, anything connected to the internet can be at risk.

If your computers and mobile phones weren’t enough, now your Television is at risk of viruses.  These will be new forms of viruses never before seen or associated with our beloved idiot box, as my mom used to call it.  These internet ready entertainment havens have processors, memory, many run on Linux and are connected to the internet, how could they not be targets?  For many of the online services, we also need to enter our personal information, credit card info and other identifying data which could be stored right on your TV.  The very same information criminals like to get their hands on.  According to Ocean Blue Software, a company that develops television application software, TV’s do not have enough power to run a full anti-virus program on them.  OBS is actually developing a cloud-based AV service which will scan content before it is delivered to the set.  While I have a firewall at the edge of my home network, my TV does not have any security software, like Anti-virus or personal firewall on it.  If you can fully navigate the web from your TV, like type in any address, then you might be more at risk since you’ll be able to download just about anything.  If you use email and click a malicious link, then guess what, you very well could be infecting your TV/DVD/Set-top with a new form of malware.

We’ve seen this again and again over the years.  The rush of newness, intrigue, our desire to have things when we want them and the need to be connected has often forgot or ignored the security implications.  Deal with it later or not thinking it is a threat since no-one (yet) has compromised anything.  First computers, then our phones and most recently, we saw it with Cloud Computing – jump into the savings but forget about the security.  That was one of the topics of year for Cloud in 2010, I think.  We need to build-in security at the onset; we need to consider the risks anytime we connect any device to the internet; we need to remember that if our sensitive information is available somewhere – then someone will be looking for it.  There are many consumer appliances that are IP already like toasters, refrigerators, thermostats, DVRs, garage door openers, coffee machines, and other home gadgets.  Sounds cool doesn’t it?  Log on to my coffee maker to make sure it is set to grind and brew 15 minutes before I arrive.  Maybe that’ll be the next threat vector – my toast got burnt due to a virus. 

BREAKING NEWS from the FUTURE: We just got a report that a hacker has shut down all the refrigerators on the West Coast and now people are running out to buy ice and scrambling to find their non-internet connected coolers.  Luckily, many still have their antique, plug into the wall fridges in the garage and are able to salvage some perishables.  We’ll update you as this story evolves….

ps

Related:

• Ocean Blue Says Connected TVs Are Vulnerable To Viruses
• Digital TV's At Risk Of Virus Infection Warns OBS
• Ocean Blue Neptune Software to Fight Digital TV Virus Risks
• McAfee: Google TV could be subject to malware, viruses in 2011
• IPv6 and the End of the World
• Hackers turn their attention to mobile technology
• Connected TVs come of Age. Now what do we do with them?
• Are connected TVs, STBs at risk for computer viruses?
• Cell Phone Acting as a Portal for DNS and Internet Security Threats
• Fake CCTV Sites Deliver Malware
• New generation of TV services begin to close gap on cable

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Technorati Tags: F5, integration, cloud computing, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, television, threats, appliances, context-aware, set top devices, web, internet, cybercrime, security, entertainment, identity theft, scam, email, data breach

In 5 Minutes or Less Video - F5's iHealth System

Maintaining your system and troubleshooting issues can be time-consuming and tedious.  Whether you want to fix a problem, improve performance, or view your system’s running configuration, F5 BIG-IP iHealth™ can help you accomplish your task quickly and accurately. BIG-IP iHealth consists of BIG-IP iHealth Diagnostics and BIG-IP iHealth Viewer.  BIG-IP iHealth Diagnostics identifies issues, including common configuration problems and known software issues. It also provides solutions and links to more information.  With BIG-IP iHealth Viewer, you can see the status of your system at-a-glance, drill down for details, and view your network configuration.

F5 iHealth system, an exclusive online support service available to F5 customers and partners, is designed to proactively improve the performance of application delivery infrastructures.  iHealth is a web-based application that provides insight into BIG-IP product deployments through performance monitoring and automated analysis.  iHealth gives users a succinct description of identified issues along with F5's recommendations for addressing them.  This comprehensive analysis validates current product configurations against best practices, and displays heuristics data in an easy-to-understand format based on the familiar BIG-IP interface.  In offering a proactive approach to troubleshooting, iHealth significantly decreases the time and effort necessary to diagnose and address technical issues.

F5’s iHealth System

ps

Resources:

• BIG-IP iHealth Product Datasheet (pdf)
• F5 Introduces Self-Service Support Capabilities and Diagnostic Tools
• New iHealth service offers improved visibility into BIG-IP environments helping streamline support
• Improve performance and uptime with F5 BIG-IP iHealth Diagnostics and Viewer
• DevCentral Weekly Podcast 153 – iHealth
• F5 Friday: How About a Little Vendor as a Service?
• iHealth SlideShare presentation
• F5 Services
• F5 Customer Support

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Technorati Tags: F5, infrastructure 2.0, integration, big-ip, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, application delivery, diagnostics, cloud, context-aware, support, automation, web, video, blog, F5 iHealth