Friday 9 December 2011

PRECISION TIME, FREQUENCY & SYNCHRONISATION SOLUTION - TimeTrace II

Time & Frequency Solutions (TFS), manufacturers of precision timing systems, have updated and re-launched their Timetrace GPS Common View Measurement System.  Not only has the unit received a facelift, but it also now sports a built-in computer with a well-designed touchscreen for configuration, monitoring and data log purposes.

The  19” 3U-high rack-mountable  unit is capable of tracking twelve GPS satellites (previously nine), offering high performance and reliability at an accessible cost. The unit processes data and produces files in accordance with BIPM directives, generating CGGTTS format files.



Timetrace II is an exceptionally accurate time and frequency comparison system which, when used in conjunction with a similar device in a National Standards Laboratory, brings the accuracy and traceability of your National Time standard into your laboratory.  Timetrace II enables calibration of clocks and frequency sources without resort to the use of travelling clocks.

Download Datasheet

IDA Steps Up Effort to Develop IPv6 Manpower Pool

31 August 2011 - The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is leading a national effort to build up a pool of IPv6-trained manpower in Singapore, to ensure that the country's ICT industry is well-positioned to take advantage of new opportunities in the IPv6 world.

With the depletion of IPv4 addresses, the Internet community will be moving towards adopting IPv6 technologies. In view of this, IDA sees the need to develop a local pool of IPv6 competent workforce, to support IPv6 adoption.

IDA recently called for a tender to identify a training provider to deliver IPv6 knowledge and skills training to two key target groups - the current workforce of ICT professionals, and the future workforce which comprises students from institutes of higher learning (IHLs) such as the universities, polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education.

For the current workforce which includes network planners, network administrators and other ICT professionals, the aim is to provide certified IPv6 training courses to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary IPv6 skills to handle IPv6 related tasks such as administration, IPv6 implementation and operational tasks. The courses will cover topics such as IPv6 packet generation and detection, network configuration, IPv6 routing protocols, and steps to migrate to IPv6. Each training programme will include theory, a hands-on component, and an examination.

In addition to this cohort, IDA is also targeting to train ICT professionals to become IPv6-certified trainers who will, in turn, be able to conduct IPv6 courses to train more ICT professionals with IPv6 skills and to develop their own courseware if required.

For the second target group - the students - IDA's main aim is to ensure that they are equipped with IPv6 knowledge prior to joining the IT workforce. This target group will be able to handle IPv6-related tasks and job requirements upon graduation. To deliver this, the training provider will have to develop an IPv6 training programme consisting of IPv6 course modules and an evaluation quiz to be offered to the IHLs.

"We would like to see the training provider establish strong collaborations with the various IHLs and to deliver IPv6 training using various mechanisms, for example, incorporating IPv6 modules into the existing school curriculum, conducting IPv6 workshops or organising industry-sharing sessions on IPv6 implementation experiences," said Mr Eddy Leong, Manager, IPv6 task force at IDA.

Students targeted will be drawn mainly from second and third-year polytechnic students, especially those pursuing diplomas in information technology or network systems, as well as university students doing relevant networking or ICT modules under Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Computer Engineering.

IDA targets to train a sizeable pool of ICT professionals and students over the next two years.

The IPv6 Competency Tender, which was closed in August, has been awarded to Progreso Networks.


Enjoy up to 70% funding support from IDA NOW!

IPv6 Certified Network Engineer Courses:
SILVER: 13-16 Dec (FULL), 9-12 Jan 2012, 13-16 Feb 2012, 6-9 March 2012
GOLD: 21-24 Feb 2012 

For course registration, email to ipv6@progreso.com.sg or cal65 6509 9600.

 

Thursday 24 November 2011

IDA Event: Unleashing the Potential of IPv6 for Business Continuity and Growth

IDA has invited PROGRESO Networks to join as an exhibitor in the Executive Briefing - Unleashing the Potential of IPv6 for Business Continuity and Growth on 17 Nov 2011 at Fort Canning Hotel.

The aim is to update the management, IT Managers and technologists of Singapore companies on the current status of IPv6 and how to move to IPv6 for business continuity and create new business opportunities.


PROGRESO had received a warm response from the crowd on the IPv6 Forum Certified Network Engineer Courses (Silver & Gold). Many of them have signed up with us on the IPv6 Forum Certified Network Engineer Course (Silver) which will be benefited from the 70% funding support from IDA.


Next Course Schedule for Certified Network Engineer (Silver)
  • 13 - 16 December 2011
  • 9 - 12 January 2012
  • 13 - 16 February 2012
  • 6 - 9 March 2012
To sign up, email to ipv6@progreso.com.sg.

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Computerworld Singapore: IPv6 certification course available in Singapore

Organisations in Singapore still hesitant to transition to IPv6 might find help in a certification course for network engineers.

Progreso Networks is offering IPv6 Forum Certified Network Engineer Courses which were announced by the president of the IPv6 Forum, Dr. Latif Ladid.
Progreso Networks, which is an IPv6 Forum-authorised training centre, said its courses can help companies which are still grappling with the issues surrounding the transition to IPv6.

Several industry studies have shown that organisations worldwide are still hesitant to transition to IPv6, which promises more Internet addresses compared to the current IPv4. Among the issues raised are security, lack of funds and a lack of basic understanding of what the transition means.

IPv6 awareness

Several organisations, including the IPv6 Forum, are advocating the transition to IPv6 through industry awareness.

The IPv6 Forum is a not-for-profit organisation composed of leading Internet vendors, industry subject matter experts, and research & education networks. Recently, it launched a certification recognition programme where training institutions it has certified will be identified by a logo. IPv6 Forum offers two levels of certification - Silver, for beginner and intermediate skills and topics; and Gold, for all skills levels and advanced topics on IPv6.

PROGRESO said it is the only authorised training centre in Singapore for the complete Silver, Gold and Trainer Gold IPv6 Forum certified courses. The Progreso courses will train IT managers and engineers to maintain interoperability and facilitate a smooth transition of the IP protocols across their networks.

The company said "IPv6 implementation requires a new set of network configurations and capabilities."

"It is quite clear that Asia is leading in IPv6 adoption in the world. There is a real demand for IPv6-trained engineers and end-users to ensure a seamless growth of the Internet based on IPv6," said Ladid, who is also senior researcher at University of Luxembourg, Security and Trust (SnT) Center and emeritus trustee, Internet Society (ISOC).

Singapore chapter

At the announcement of the new courses last month, Ladid also announced the appointment of Victor Tang, managing director of PROGRESO as chairman for the Singapore chapter of the IPv6 Forum.

"The 'certified certification' initiative from IPv6 Forum Education Logo programme will further promote IPv6 adoption by providing an opportunity for networking vendors to enable their certification programmes 'IPv6 Ready' and officially recognised. This next level of IPv6 Education Logo Program is designed to certify vendors' certification programmes uniformly across the industry," said Tang. "We are already partnering with USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) - The National Advanced IPv6 Centre (NAV6) to offer three levels of certification to IT managers, engineers and end-users."

The Progreso courses will cover topics such as IPv6 addressing, ICMPv6, IPv6 Neighbour Discovery, Transition Approaches and Mechanisms, Mobile IPv6, Security, QoS, etc. -- topics that will help attendees to build, migrate and manage the IPv6 network with ease.

Source: http://www.computerworld.com.sg/mgmt/careers/ipv6-certification-course-available-in-singapore/

Thursday 28 July 2011

Networks Asia: Singapore network managers to get training on IPv6 migration

In an attempt to increase awareness and adoption of IPv6 in Singapore, the IPv6 Forum has appointed both a President of the local forum chapter and local company to train network and IT managers on preparing their business to migrate to the upcoming standard.

IPv6 offers the potential to build a much more powerful Internet, with vastly larger scale compared to the current situation.

The abundance of Pv6 addresses allows the assignment of globally- unique IP addresses to objects within the enterprise environment, removes the need for private addressing, and consequently eliminates the capital and operating costs associated with deploying and maintaining Network Address Translation (NAT) devices.

IPv6 will engender a new generation of novel applications and services that would support machine-to-machine communications and human- to-machine transactions. In turn, these developments will give rise to unprecedented improvements in operational automation, productivity, and efficiency for the connected enterprise.

Victor Tang, managing director at Progreso and the new Singapore chapter president said that the company is partnered with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) - The National Advanced IPv6 Centre (NAV6) to provide IPv6 Forum Certified Network Engineer Courses in Malaysia, Singapore and the region.

There are currently 3 instructor-led, hands-on, IPv6 certification training courses for professionals and managers: Certified Network Engineer (Silver) for S$2,500 (US$2,083), Certified Network Engineer (Gold) for S$3,500 (US$2,917), and Certified Trainer (Gold).

The Silver certification course is to equip participants with the skills and knowledge on the migration from IPv4 to IPv6 and to expose them to the technical expertise required to deploy IPv6 in their organizations. The Gold certification course will provide in depth information on the migration from IPv4 to IPv6 and to expose the participants to the technical expertise needed in router configuration for IPv6 technology. Participants will be trained in the program to equip themselves with strong knowledge on IPv6 routing protocols.

According to Tang, Progresso is in discussions with Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) for course funding. "A department in IDA has a standard course funding process for technology courses. As a training centre we have applied to that and if successful will be included in this funding," Tang said, "This funding is administered through the students and not the training centre. The student will get a certain amount of refund as funding for the course attended provided they fulfill the terms and conditions."

Dr Latif Ladid, Global President of the IPv6 Forum said that education was needed to drive home the importance of the transition to IPv6 as the adoption of the new standard from businesses was still low.

Ladid added that there was great potential for businesses who are ahead of their competition to take advantage of the opportunities offered by IPv6.

Singapore businesses are well positioned compared to others in the region with 57 organizations having applied for the next-generation IP addresses. However, less than half have made the switch, with 17 having IPv6 sites ready but not publicly accessible.

This is where Tang and the local chapter are meant to help.

Tang said that in his capacity as the Singapore IPv6 Forum Chairman his role is to help promote IPv6 knowledge. "One way to do this is to arrange IPv6 seminars to create awareness. I will also be speaking to different IT non-profit organizations to explore collaborative effort in promoting Ipv6 technology," he added.

Tang said he plans to work closely with industry partners, especially in trying to gather interested companies and individuals who like to develop themselves in IPv6 arena to share their experience and research on IPv6 knowledge. He also hopes to rally industry players to come forward to support and help Singapore advance in IPv6 deployment and development.



Source: http://www.networksasia.net/content/singapore-network-managers-get-training-ipv6-migration?page=0%2C0

Friday 22 July 2011

ZDNet Asia: IPv6 course preps Singapore IT pros for efficient move

SINGAPORE--Local company, Progreso, is conducting Singapore's first IPv6 Forum-certified course to train network engineers and other IT professionals on how to make the migration a smoother, more efficient process, revealed a company executive.

Victor Tang, managing director at Progreso, said the company is offering two tiers of courses--Silver for beginners and Gold for advanced learners--that are aimed to equip IT professionals with a good grasp on how to plan and manage the migration from IPv4 to IPv6. The cost of the Silver course is priced at S$2,500 (US$2,083) while the Gold course is priced at S$3,500 (US$2,917), he added.

"The Silver course covers IPv6 fundamentals. For [course graduates] who have covered the basics, they can move on to the Gold certification, which will provide more details on how to configure routers and networks," elaborated the director. Tang was speaking at the launch of the Singapore chapter of the IPv6 Forum here Thursday.
Quizzed on why the company decided to offer the course, Tang explained that he saw the opportunity to "plug the gap" in IPv6 training after sensing a lack of similar programs in the market.

"It is not [just] about getting the infrastructure [right], people must also possess IPv6 knowledge so when it's time to switch over, the process would move faster," he noted.

Additionally, the company had earlier applied for funding from the IDA, and its request is currently being reviewed, said the executive. If successful, prospective students can look forward to subsidized course fees, he noted.
Tang also highlighted IDA's efforts in moving the nation toward IPv6. He said the local ICT regulator has been the "core engine" in pushing the migration since the start of the new millennium. If not for its efforts, he added, Singapore would be much further behind in its adoption of the next-generation Internet protocol (IP).


That said, he noted that while many organizations here are interested to build up their competencies in the technology, they are not in a rush to switch over as IPv4 addresses are still available from service providers.

Singapore chapter to further IPv6 cause This mentality could cause local businesses to suffer in competitiveness as major emerging economies such as China and Indonesia have already turned on IPv6, cautioned IPv6 Forum President Latif Ladid.
He said Singapore, as a major global trading center, cannot afford to "island" itself and local companies still using IPv4 will be effectively shutting itself off from these big markets.

Furthermore, turning on IPv6 connections will also kickstart a two-way communication between Internet users, said Ladid. This, he noted, would allow for better geolocation advertising as well as enabling the implementation of smart grids and other IT efficiencies.

In town to witness the launch of the 76th chapter here Thursday, Ladid revealed that Singapore has one of the highest number of allocated IPv6 prefixes, with 57 organizations having applied for the next-generation IP addresses.
However, only 17 companies have made the switch over to IPv6, and none of these companies that have turned on the IP have allowed users to access these sites. Instead, people are still accessing their IPv4-based sites, he noted.

Tang, who was also appointed the chairperson of the IPv6 Forum Singapore chapter, said the task of the organization would be to "send an expert to convince" these Internet service providers (ISPs) to turn on their IPv6 services for end-users.
"So, if by year-end, SingTel offers the connection, [for example], then that is a job well done," Ladid added.

Ladid added.By Tyler Thia , ZDNet Asia on July 21, 2011
Source: http://www.zdnetasia.com/ipv6-course-preps-singapore-it-pros-for-efficient-move-62301295.htm

Victor Tang Appointed New Chairman for IPv6 Forum in Singapore

Singapore, 21 July 2011: PROGRESO Networks (PROGRESO), a specialist in IT training, consultancy and professional services, today announced the launch of Singapore’s first public IPv6 Forum Certified Network Engineer Courses - a timely and much awaited help for many who are grappling with the realities of IPv6 transition. PROGRESO is currently the only Authorized Training Centre in Singapore for a complete Silver, Gold and Trainer Gold IPv6 Forum certified courses

Mr Latif Ladid, Global President of the IPv6 Forum is in Singapore to launch the new certification courses and to appoint Mr Victor Tang, Managing Director of PROGRESO as Chairman for the Singapore chapter of the IPv6 Forum. “It is quite clear that Asia is leading in IPv6 adoption in the world. There is a real demand for IPv6 trained engineers and end-users to ensure a seamless growth of the internet based on IPv6.” said Mr Ladid who is also the Senior Researcher at University of Luxembourg, Security and Trust (SnT) Center and Emeritus Trustee, Internet Society (ISOC).

“The ‘certified certification’ initiative from IPv6 Forum Education Logo program will further promote IPv6 adoption by providing an opportunity for networking vendors to enable their certification programs ‘IPv6 Ready’ and officially recognized. This next level of IPv6 Education Logo Program is designed to certify vendors’ certification programs uniformly across the industry,” added Mr Tang. “We are already partnering with USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) - The National Advanced IPv6 Centre (NAV6) to offer 3 levels of certification to IT managers, engineers and end-users.”

As IPv6 adoption increases globally, co-existence of IPv6 and IPv4 addresses on the internet is inevitable. PROGRESO’s new IPv6 Certified Network Engineer Courses will train IT managers and engineers to maintain interoperability and facilitate a smooth transition of the IP protocols across their networks. IPv6 implementation requires a new set of network configurations and capabilities. The new IPv6 Certified Network Engineer Courses will cover IPv6 addressing, ICMPv6, IPv6 Neighbour Discovery, Transition Approaches and Mechanisms, Mobile IPv6, Security, QoS, etc. that will help attendees to build, migrate and manage the IPv6 network with ease.

####

About PROGRESO Networks

Established in 2004, PROGRESO Networks (PROGRESO) specializes in IT training, consultancy and professional services to Carriers, Government Agencies, SMEs and Systems Integration partners in Singapore and Southeast Asia. We assist our customers to deliver IPv6 solutions and ensure interworking with both IPv4 and IPv6 networks.

We are partnering with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) - The National Advanced IPv6 Centre (NAV6) to provide IPv6 Forum Certified Network Engineer Courses in Malaysia, Singapore and the region. Our trainers come from training, consultancy and professional services backgrounds, bringing to the classroom not just academic knowledge but also practical experience and current updates on technology developments and the rapidly changing demands of the workplace.

There are currently 3 instructor-led, hands-on, IPv6 certification training courses for professionals and managers: Certified Network Engineer (Silver), Certified Network Engineer (Gold) and Certified Trainer (Gold). Course details and starting dates are available at www.progreso.com.sg.

About IPv6 Forum

The IPv6 Forum is a world-wide consortium of worldwide leading Internet vendors, Industry Subject Matter Experts, Research & Education Networks, with a clear mission to advocate IPv6 by dramatically improving technology, market, and deployment user and industry awareness of IPv6, creating a quality and secure new Generation Internet and allowing world-wide equitable access to knowledge and technology, embracing a moral responsibility to the world.

To this end the IPv6 FORUM has:

•established an open, international FORUM of IPv6 expertise
•shared IPv6 knowledge and experience among members
•promoted new IPv6-based applications and global solutions
•promoted interoperable implementations of Ipv6 standards
•co-operated to achieve end-to-end quality of service
•resolved issues that create barriers to IPv6 deployment

The Internet Engineering Task Force has sole authority for IPv6 protocol standards. The IPv6 Forum reserves the right to develop IPv6 Deployment Guides to foster the operational use of IPv6. The IPv6 Forum is a non-profit organisation registered in Luxembourg since July 17, 1999.

Tuesday 5 July 2011

PROGRESO Networks' IPv6 Course Launch Early Birds Promotion!

The aim of IPv6 Forum Certified Network Engineer (Silver) certification course is to equip participants with the skills and knowledge on the migration from IPv4 to IPv6 and to expose them to the technical expertise required to deploy
IPv6 in their organizations.


Course Pre-Requisites: A good knowledge of general networking concepts is assumed. IPv4 is reviewed as it is compared and contrasted with IPv6, but experience on IPv6 is not critical. Knowledge on the level of Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) would be an added advantage.

Course Outline:
• The Internet Protocol and its context (TCP/IP)
• IPv6 Address Architecture and Scheme
• IPv6 Neighbour Discovery
• IPv6 Operating Systems Configuration
• IPv6 Device Configuration
• Introduction to IPv6 Routing
• Transition Mechanisms
• Introduction to Tunelling

IPv6 Course Launch Early Birds Promotion till 31 July 2011

Course Date:
1. 19 - 22 July 2011
2. 16 - 19 August 2011
3. 20 - 23 September 2011

Time:
9am to 5pm


Training Venue:
62 Burn Road #05-01, TSH Centre, Singapore 369976


Contact us for more information. Tel: 6509 9600  Email: ipv6@progreso.com.sg

Thursday 16 June 2011

IPv6 Changes Security: Is Your Business Ready?

The Internet is running out of room and, as a result, it is about to undergo a major transition to expand the number of available addresses online. This transition is from today’s IPv4 IP protocol to the new IPv6 standard. Businesses need to know and understand this transition – because there will be new security problems in the interim period.

Even though the promise of IPv6 is one of more security, IPv4 has earned its bones over the past few decades, and we’ve familiarized ourselves with what it can and cannot do. On the other hand, we have little to no experience with IPv6 in the real world. On paper, IPv6 looks great.But, I’m sure the Titanic did too. At best, IPv6 facilitates better security, it doesn’t guarantee it. 
Case in point: IPSec. Essentially, this secures IP communication by encrypting and authenticating IP packets. In IPv4, it was optional as a feature; in IPv6, it’s mandatory. Making a feature mandatory doesn’t mean it will find widespread support; the point is, IPv6 isn’t automatically more secure. It’s going to take a lot of pre-rollout preparation and an immense amount of security vigilance to get it right.
For businesses, there’s a lot to consider, and this will likely fall into the lap of the CSO. There are all sorts of pitfalls to avoid, and here are some to keep on top of at all times.

Buggy Programming. This is where things usually fall apart. In a transition this complex, on a scale this large, programmers are much more likely to make mistakes in the implementation, which could leave vulnerabilities wide open to hackers, negating the effectiveness of IPv6’s bells and whistles of security. The worst-case scenario is actually ending up with an IPv6 infrastructure that’s even more brittle than the IPv4 infrastructure before it, placing a business at even greater risk, by amplifying the attack space.

Transition Exploitation. This migration is going to take a while, and until then, businesses will be straddling a dual IPv4/IPv6 environment, each with its own specific set of security problems.This ups the workload for companies’ networking staff and increases the number of ways things could go wrong. This is where security vigilance is crucial; due to this hybrid interim, we’re going to encounter unusual situations where hackers can potentially take advance of an interaction between the protocols.

Ineffective Blacklists. While IP blacklisting has been successful in reducing the global volume of spam, there’s the concern that ISPs won’t be able to scale IP blacklisting to IPv6, given its sheer size. This represents the problem that some security techniques may not transition very well from IPv4 to IPv6, giving hackers even more room with which to mount their attacks.

DDos Attacks. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, which overwhelm a computer network or Web site to make it useless, will still pose a threat to businesses in IPv6. While IPsec can mitigate the effects of DDoS attacks to some degree, it does not prevent them, leaving resources at risk of being bombarded and brought to a complete stop. Broadcast amplification attacks, like “smurf” attacks, can do exactly that: keep you from your customer.

Evading Security Measures. Fragmentation attacks will still be a problem in IPv6, although architectural changes mitigate these attacks more efficiently. Fragmentation attacks can be used to evade, intrusion detection systems [IDS], intrusion prevention systems [IPS], and firewalls--often a business's only means for learning when they’re being attacked. Once they’re in, everything is fair game: client information, credentials, e-mails and trade secrets.

Masking Points of Origin. Spoofing attacks will still be a threat in IPv6, but the new IPsec mandate will better manage this threat for businesses. Spoofing allows hackers to conceal their identities, making it hard to track them down after an attack. It can also be used to fake an identity--to implicate an innocent person or company in an attack in which they had no real involvement. Attacks aren’t limited to those that try to steal information or destroy resources, they can actually attempt to tarnish the company’s reputation.

On June 8, World IPv6 Day, industry leaders like Facebook, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Bing, Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Cisco (NADAQ:CSCO), among others, did a test run of their content over IPv6 for 24 hours. This served as an excellent benchmark for businesses, in order to gauge--at least somewhat--the impact it will have not only on their customer base, but their infrastructure.

You’re going to have to hurry: the federal government is considering the end of 2012 as the deadline for converting to IPv6. Don’t take this change lightly; we’re talking about the backbone of e-commerce, and that can make all the difference between maintaining your bottom line--or not.

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Event: Moving into the New Internet World - IPv6 with PROGRESO Networks



The existing Internet based on Internet Protocol version 4 is running out of available addresses due to massive web growth, particularly Mobile Internet in both developed and developing nations and APNIC has started allocating the last /8 available IPv4 addresses since 15 April 2011.

In order to avoid the IPv4 address shortage, the next version of IP address, IPv6, is the solution that will provide 340 undecillion of available addresses as compared to just 4 billion of addresses in IPv4. Moving from IPv4 to IPv6 will encourage economic growth, innovation and foreign direct investment through continued Internet growth.


EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

1.30pm                       Registration
2.00pm - 2.15pm       Welcome Speech & Company Introduction
                                 Mr Victor Tang, Director - PROGRESO Networks Pte Ltd


2.15pm - 3.00pm       Keynote Address -
                                 IPv6 Migration, Planning & Execution
                                 Prof. Dr. Sureswaran Ramadass, Director of National
                                 Advanced IPv6 Centre of Excellence (NAv6)


3.00pm - 3.45pm      Tea Break & Networking Session

3.45pm - 4.15pm      Speaker Slot

4.15pm - 4.45pm      Introduction of IPv6 Certification Courses
                                Mr Adil Hidayat, IPv6 Trainer, National Advanced IPv6 Centre of   

                                Excellence (NAv6)

4.45pm - 5.00pm      Q & A


WHO'S ATTENDING?
CEOs, CIOs, IT Managers and other corporate decision makers who need to acquire basic IPv6 knowledge and understand the opportunities that lies ahead with IPv6.



For event RSVP, please email to marketing@progreso.com.sg or call us at +65 6509 9600 for more information.
Limited seats available. Kindly Register by 24 JUNE 2011

Friday 15 April 2011

Asia Pacific IPv4 Exhausted, Becomes First Region Unable to Meet IPv4 Demand

Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC) today announced it has reached the last block of its available pool of IPv4 addresses. The day is marked as key turning point which initiates a major change in regional delegation policy. From today's announcement [PDF]:

This event is a key turning point in IPv4 exhaustion for the Asia Pacific, as the remaining IPv4 space will be 'rationed' to network operators to be used as essential connectivity with next-generation IPv6 addresses. All new and existing APNIC Members who meet the current allocation criteria will be entitled to a maximum delegation of a /22 (1,024 addresses) of IPv4 space.

APNIC Director General Paul Wilson explained the Asia Pacific region is the first to reach the point of being unable to meet IPv4 demand. This is due to the unprecedented fixed and mobile network growth the region is experiencing.


"Considering the ongoing demand for IP addresses, this date effectively represents IPv4 exhaustion for many of the current operators in the Asia Pacific region," Wilson said. "From this day onwards, IPv6 is mandatory for building new Internet networks and services."

Friday 8 April 2011

The next generation internet: IPv6 Forum Launches the IPv6 Education Certification Logo Program


TOKYO - BEIJING - Penang - Malayisia - New Hampshire - USA - LUXEMBOURG, September 06, 2010 - The IPv6 Forum Ready Logo Program Committee releases a new program: the IPv6 Education Certification Logo Program. This program defines and certifies courses, engineers and trainers with Silver & Gold Logo levels and requires IPv6 implementation on the web site of the education program.

A recent survey on IPv6 training and studies at universities and vendors has demonstrated that IPv6 training and courses are way too embryonic to have any critical impact. It is estimated that some 20 million engineers are working on the current Internet worldwide at ISPs, corporate and all other public and private organizations and they will need quality training on IPv6. This is a gigantic task since it’s the first upgrade of the Internet and most probably the last one for decades to come. The web site of the study can be seen here: http://www.training4ipv6.eu/

The IPv6 Forum Education Logo Program’s prime objective is to encourage and accelerate the education on IPv6 and promote thereby swifter adoption of IPv6 in the education curriculum and programs of the universities, research institutes, vendors and training specialists. This program is designed to increase practical engineering expertise and hands-on knowledge to tackle this large undertaking ahead of us extending thereby user confidence by demonstrating that IPv6 will be deployed by qualified engineers.


LATEST NEWS: 

PROGRESO Networks will be launching a full range IPv6 solution in the coming July 2011.  We offer the IPv6 forum certified course, consultancy services, deployment and migration services and products.  As a Singapore ATC(Authorised Training Centre) for IPv6, our courses will include the following:

- IPv6 Forum Certified Engineer (Silver Certification)
- IPv6 Forum Certified Engineer (Gold Certification)
- IPv6 Forum Certified Trainer (Gold Certification)

Contact us for more information on IPv6 solution:

Office No.: +65 6509 9600
Fax No.: +65 6509 9667
Info: ipv6@progreso.com.sg 

Thursday 31 March 2011

fourDscape® Surveillance Technology helps First Responders Access Events in Real-time.

fourDscape® is a patented four dimensional, integrated visualization technology providing situational awareness and command & control in a single easy-to-use interface. fourDscape's browser/server architecture, has been designed to be a modular, open, and easy to use, and provides interactive visualization capabilities which make it an ideal technology to integrate into the data center and facilities environments.


The fourDscape® solution integrates user-generated data from disparate sources, including live smart sensors, into actionable information. The information can be displayed in a fourDscape® browser that effectively presents the data in a single visual scene or common operating picture, providing automated situational awareness for Incident Commanders, First Responders, Law Enforcement, Security Personnel and anyone else that is responsible for Securing and Protecting Infrastructure and/or Human Assets.

The layered system architecture works by refining raw sensor data as it propagates up each layer until it is visually represented in a fourDscape® browser as a temporally-spatially correlated set of dynamic objects in a 4D scene. This scalable, network-based architecture is capable of managing large arrays of surveillance, scanning and tracking sensor suites. The natural user interface delivers full contextual and interactive situation awareness and control.

fourDscape® is a modular system conceptually similar to internet browsers/servers, except that websites exist in 2D space, whereas 4D Portals utilize the entire expanse of 4D time and space. fourDscape® 4D browser users can navigate into the 3D virtual reality of a 4D Portal and move back and forth through the fourth dimension of time to effectively analyze many correlated real-time sensor datasets, both inside the data center and within the surrounding facility.

Related products: TailgatER Mobile Commander Visuality Solutions

Contact Us
Office No.: +65 6509 9600
Fax No.: +65 6509 9667
Info & Sales: sales@progreso.com.sg

Wednesday 30 March 2011

S'pore Needs Science and Technology to Enhance Security

SINGAPORE: Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said Singapore will need to constantly leverage on science and technology to enhance operational capabilities in homeland security.

One way is to work with youths and tertiary institutions to get them to take "a serious role" in helping to make Singapore safe against security threats.

A group of polytechnic and university students have topped the Novel Automobile Barrier Challenge, which was first launched in September last year. They beat 26 other entries to emerge as the top three winners.

The challenge requires participants to come up with a kind of barrier that will effectively stop a moving vehicle travelling at 60 kilometres per hour, from crashing into a building or a facility.

It is understood that this is the first time that the Home Affairs Ministry has organised such a challenge with a tertiary institution and it said it is the first of many to come.

The winning team from the National University of Singapore walked away with a cash prize of S$8,000. One of the team members, Mr Tan Chun Liang, who is a PhD student from the School of Design and Environment, explains how the barrier works.

Mr Tan said: "The design is extremely portable, and we actually designed it so it does not look like a barrier...car hits metal, metal hits ground and ground hits spike. Car stops."

Some of the other ideas received may also be adopted by the ministry but feasibility studies will still need to be conducted.

Dr Lee Fook Kay, Chief Science and Technology Officer with the Home Affairs Ministry, said: "We have barriers but a lot of the barriers are fixtures that we put in the building. Those which are more portable are not so effective, so that's why we are reaching out to the students to see whether they can come up with good solutions. And I think students also tend to look at the economical way of looking at the problem. So they may not be very expensive solutions but they work.

"If you look at events, people do put barricades but some of these are pretty heavy to transport and they are quite a burden. So the ideas that the students have come up with are really very novel. They are deployable and very portable. Students tend to really think out of the box."

A Memorandum of Understanding with NUS is also on the cards to facilitate sharing of information and ideas in science and technology.

Mr Shanmugam said: "MHA aims to stay ahead of evolving security threats, and ensure that the Home Team is always prepared in the face of an ever-changing security environment. A strong partnership with our educational institutions facilitates capability, expertise development and promotes mutual interest."

Mr Shanmugam added that such partnerships will take Singapore's homeland security capabilities to the next level.

-CNA/ac (


PROGRESO Networks Homeland Security Solutions:

Encryption Solution Military Solutions Video Surveillance

Contact Us
Office No.: +65 6509 9600
Fax No.: +65 6509 9667
Info & Sales: sales@progreso.com.sg

Thursday 24 March 2011

Media Converters in the MAN and Beyond

Most Local Area Networks have migrated to a Gigabit or at least a Fast Ethernet backbone with switched 10/100 connections to clients, printers and file servers. Fast on the inside, but slow on the outside, many U. S. businesses rely on copper T-1 and T-3 connections, or fiber ATM / SONET circuits for WAN connectivity. These connections were designed for voice but were never intended to handle the exponentially growth of Internet and data traffic, applications or the protocols typically used in today's LAN. What's more, provisioning and maintaining these circuits, or upgrading from a T-1 to a T-3 connection is an expensive and time-consuming proposition for both the service provider and the customer. It also requires significant capital investment at both the Point of Presence (POP) and the customer premises.  Ethernet is the dominant LAN protocol with the highest market penetration. Ethernet equipment is readily available at reasonable prices, and provides a migration path from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps to Gigabit Ethernet. And with the 10, 40 and eventually, 100 Gigabit Ethernet standard, the application space for Ethernet will logically expand from the LAN to the MAN, and eventually to the WAN.


Media Converters are Flexible

Connecting copper switch ports to modular media converters for optical access enables service providers to fully benefit from the flexibility and distance offered by media converters. Media converters support multiple types of media from copper to multi-mode and single-mode fiber, and support 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet.  Single-mode converters routinely cover distances of 20, 40 and 80 kilometers with 1310 nm optics, and even up to 130 kilometers with 1550 nm optics.

Media converters can also greatly enhance the consistency of service. With modular media converters, the network administrator can troubleshoot one circuit while the other customers' connections remain up and running. On the customer side, a standalone media converter can be used to provision an optical demarcation point, resulting in more cost savings and simplicity because the Telco router can be eliminated. Behind the media converter on the network edge, a Layer 2 LAN switch can be used to interconnect the public and private networks. Advanced protocols such as 802.1q, 802.1p, Quality of Service, and Network Address Translation can be handled at the POP switching router.

Benefits of Media Converters in the MAN

Tried and proven in the LAN, Ethernet is well positioned to become the protocol of choice for the transport of data, voice and video also outside the LAN.

Protocol transparency — service provider supplies the customer a standard Ethernet interface

Bit rate transparency — customer can connect to the service provider network at 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps or Gigabit Ethernet

Ethernet simplifies the network design — a traditional Telco router can be replaced with a remotely managed media converter

Customers can use the bandwidth they need, when they need it, without the wait associated with legacy services

Using media converters with Ethernet-based services minimizes the cost of provisioning and maintaining optical circuits

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Coming Soon! Magnum 10ETS Configurable Ethernet Terminal Server

The Magnum 10ETS Configurable Ethernet Terminal Server, coming soon, will be GarrettCom's latest "Next-Generation" product in the Magnum 10-Series. The Magnum 10ETS is built on the same chassis design, and contains the next-generation hardened industrial-grade features of the Magnum 10KT Managed Switch. Like the 10KT, the 10ETS is an IEC 61850-compatible networking device with the extra hardening required for substation applications designed in, and the only dual hot-swappable power supplies in the industry.
The Magnum 10ETS offers up to eight Ethernet ports--which may be switched or routed, OR 32 serial ports. Each Magnum 10ETS may also be configured with an IRIG-B Timing Card to provide precision time synchronization for Protection and SCADA and other devices.

Features

• Configurable Ethernet Terminal Server with up to eight Ethernet ports or 32 serial ports
• Dual hot-swappable power supplies in a 1U rack-mount package
• Configurable IRIG-B Timing Modules available for precision timing to Protection & SCADA devices
• MNS-DX Software Supports Switching or Routing on all Ethernet Ports
• Substation-hardened, IEC 61850-3 compliant, no fans

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Dual-rate Media Converter HET-3012

Connection Technology Systems (CTS) HET-3012 series media converter are the Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000 Base-TX to 1000Base-X media converter. The HET-3012 series media converter converts traditional twisted-pair RJ45 cable into various fiber media including multi-mode, single-mode, SC connector, bi-directional wdm, or a SFP slot for pluggable fiber transceiver. The traditional transmission distance of 100m over RJ45 copper can be extended from 550m to 80km over fiber.


HET-3012 series media converter is fully compliant with IEEE 802.3, 802.3u, 802.3ab & 802.3z standards. Besides, it is equipped with some switching features including ow control and store and forward.  The installation and operation are simple and straightforward.  The operation status can be monitored through a set of diagnostic LED indicators on the front panel. It is especially designed for network operators, metro Ethernet providers, enterprises, SMB, who have the need of implementing ber optical Ethernet networks over long distance, for FTTX solutions, and are looking for an effortless and reliable 1000Mbps media converter.

Features

Easy To Install And Use
With Auto-MDI/MDI-X and 10/100/1000Mbps auto-senses support. If network device connected to the CPE Switch is never need crossover cables and adjusts running at 10/100/1000Mbps speed

9K Bytes Jumbo Frame Size
Support jumbo frame size 9K bytes to ease the network traffic loading and facilitate IPTV service

Built-in Cable Tray
Keep excessive fiber inside the box. Save extra cost of buying a separate cable tray as well as saving installation space

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Timing Systems - How do they work?

The Timing System receives a signal from a trusted time source, such as GPS. Other time sources could be terrestrial signals such as MSF (transmitted from Anthorn, England) and DCF (transmitted from Frankfurt, Germany),  or even timecode signal inputs, e.g. RS232, RS422, IRIG, AFNOR and NASA timecodes.

The signal then calibrates the internal clock in the master timing system. The internal clock, or oscillator, provides stability to the overall system if the GPS signal (or other synchronisation source) is interrupted for any reason. Many grades of oscillator are available, according to the stability grade required.





Diagram: example of how an airport timing system interfaces with different legacy systems







The time signal is then converted into outputs, which can be in many different formats, such as serial, parallel, NTP and industry-standard time codes such as IRIG, and AFNOR. Many standard systems are unable to cope with a multi-vendor requirement, where many different output interfaces are required.  This requirement is especially evident with legacy systems. We have overcome this by producing a range of flexible modular timing systems together with a wide range of output modules to interface with whatever systems the customer requires.

Time & Frequency Solutions recommend the use of a 'dual-redundant system' whereby a changeover unit links two timing systems with the ability to switch the signal from one to the other if a failure occurs. Sometimes a triple-redundant system is more appropriate, linking three timing systems.

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Unsecured communications can put your business and your life at risk.

Government and private individuals and organizations have all the tools and technology needed to intercept voice and data communications traffic. If you are concerned about your business secrets, or the health and safety of yourself and your loved ones, you absolutely must take the steps necessary to protect your sensitive communications.

Gold Lock 3GTM is the preferred solution for thousands of users around the world.
Here's why:

Licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Gold Lock 3G is a world-class software-based solution providing military-grade encryption for voice and data communications.

Gold Lock's triple layered security scheme turns your PC/laptop, Nokia phone or Windows mobile device into a military grade encrypted communicator, protected against any interception attempt by private, governmental or military entities.

You can depend on Gold Lock 3GTM to instantly encrypt your calls, file transfers and text messages even when making International calls. No VOIP provider is necessary. Protection is provided across all methods of Internet access including 3G, EDGE, GPRS, WI-FI and more. Plus, Gold Lock 3GTM is easy to use and the keys are auto- managed with no user intervention required.

If you're not protecting your vital communications, you're transmitting financial, business and personal information in the clear. This opens you and your organization up to infiltration by criminals including industrial spies, kidnappers, terror organizations and other entities that do not have your best interests at heart.

Monday 7 March 2011

Moving IPv4 to IPv6

As we all know, the usage of the Internet has been growing by leaps and bounds especially over the past few years. Information transfer is all important now, with more and more people hopping onboard the World Wide Web and an enormous number of gadgets also becoming Internet enabled.

Now imagine that with the explosive growth of the Internet, IPv4 addressing system imposes a limitation on the number, possibility of IP addresses could result in stalling the growth of the Internet in all its aspects. The new addressing system IPv6 is based on a 128-bit which vastly enhances the number of addresses. Experts have made it clear that a gradual transition to the new protocol is inevitable. In fact, countries like China and Japan have made rapid progress in launching IPv6.

Advantages of Using IPv6 over IPv4

The following advantages are immediately obvious in the new scheme of things:

  • Larger address space


  • Support for mobile devices


  • Simplified address auto-configuration


  • Improved address management


  • Built-in security with end-to end IP Sec


  • Enables more levels of hierarchy for route aggregation (Route aggregation on the Internet is similar to the ZIP code system used by the postal department. For e.g., mail addressed with ZIP codes 9xxxx are directed to the West coast. Regional and local post offices on the West coast then sort the mail by looking further into the ZIP code. For example, 98xxx letters are sent to Washington while 97xxx letters are sent to Oregon.)


  • Makes it possible to upgrade functionality as needed, e.g., multicasting, QoS and mobility features. Quality of Service (QoS) is a technology that helps ease the congestion in packet-switched networks. QoS provides for network traffic to be divided into different classes during times of congestion, and helps in prioritizing information transfer.


  • On the IPv6 platform, billions of new devices such as cell phones, PDA's, appliances and even cars can be IPv6 enabled;


  • The Internet can extend its reach to billions of new users in densely populated regions of the world;


  • The protocol makes it possible for "always on" access technologies like xDSL, Cable or Ethernet connectivity.

    Mobility


  • With IPv6, mobile access of the Internet becomes simplified to a great extent, as it incorporates a specific protocol, called Mobile IP to support mobility. In an IPv6 environment, there is support for roaming between different networks.

    Security


  • In addition to supporting mobile devices, security is a matter of increasing concern. IPv6 incorporates Internet Protocol security (IPsec), which provides for authentication, encryption, and compression of IP traffic. IPSec is a set of open standards meant for the protection of data communicated over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It achieves this protection through the use of cryptographic security services. IPsec supports network-level peer authentication, data origin authentication, data integrity, and data confidentiality (encryption), and replay protection. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) IPsec Working Group has developed the standards for IPSEc.

    Multicasting



  • A large part of the TCP/IP communications involves the sending of messages from one source device to one recipient device, and this is referred to as unicast communication. It is also possible to send a message from one device to a set of recipients, otherwise known as multicasting. Multicasting support is a standard feature of the IPv6 protocol, making the process of communication faster, easier and more reliable.

    RFC's

    The Requests for Comments (RFCs) consist of a series of notes that relate exclusively to the Internet. RFCs discuss many aspects of computer communication, focusing on networking protocols, procedures, programs, and concepts. RFC 2460 is the document that covers the Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification in detail.