Thursday, 20 February 2020

No Huawei gear in vital 5G project to bring virtual-reality Robin Hood to Sherwood Forest

Rural trials will not use equipment 'from high risk vendors' says Ministry of Fun

The UK's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS, aka the Ministry of Fun) has barred Huawei gear from rural 5G trials.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/20/huawei_blocked_from_uk_5g_trials/

Forcing us to get consent before selling browser histories violates our free speech, US ISPs claim

That ain't the way life should be responds the state of Maine

The state of Maine is violating ISPs’ free speech by forcing them to ask for their customers’ permission to sell their browser history, according to a new lawsuit.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/20/maine_isp_lawsuit/

Wednesday, 19 February 2020

Brit telcos score £218m licence fee repayment from Ofcom after penny-pinching regulator loses Court of Appeal case

But will you see your phone bills decreasing?

Ofcom must repay £218m to the UK's four main mobile network operators (MNOs) after overcharging them for spectrum access, the Court of Appeal ruled today.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/19/ofcom_218m_licence_fee_repayment_court_appeal/

Fire Brigades Union warns of wonky IT causing dangerous delays in 999 control rooms

In some of UK's worst flood-hit areas

IT failures in emergency fire control rooms are creating dangerous delays, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has warned.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/19/north_west_and_east_coast_fire_services_it_outages_causing_dangerous_delays/

Revolution, comrades: Internet Society told to halt .org sale… by its own advisory council

Would-be buyer Ethos attempts closed-room meeting to push deal through

The Internet Society's own members are now opposing its sale of the .org internet registry to an unknown private equity firm.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/19/internet_society_org_sale/

Tuesday, 18 February 2020

Google Cloud rolls up in an AMD second-gen Epyc test car, looks you in the eye, pats the passenger seat

Meanwhile: Chip fabs still running just fine in China, FYI, says analyst

Google has added rentable virtual machines powered by AMD's second-generation Epyc Rome server processors to its cloud platform line-up – as a beta, we note.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/18/google_cloud_new_epyc/

Japan would like to offer 5G firms cheap loans – because subsidies are only bad when Huawei gets them

Look over here! Mmmmm, tax breaks

In an effort to counter the influence and spread of Chinese-built kit, the Japanese government has approved a draft bill that will offer low-cost finance to firms looking to develop 5G and drone technologies.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/18/japan_cheap_loans_5g_firms/

Oracle gets a bit touchy-feely as CEO Catz shares a digital transformation bedtime story

Just what is it you lot actually do anyway?

Comment  Headlining the recent Oracle OpenWorld Europe gabfest in London, Big Red's CEO Safra Catz says big chages are afoot at the company, though the shadow of its colourful chairman continues to loom large.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/18/catz_keynote/

We can simulate him... we have the technology: Virtual humans make jump from super 'puter to Oracle Cloud

Ah Larry, you're all heart. Virtually

While the faithful were gathered for Oracle's OpenWorld Europe (OOW) knees-up at London's Excel centre, boffins using the company's cloud have been busy creating a virtual human.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/18/oracle_virtual_human/

Monday, 17 February 2020

Everything OK down there in the Oracle trench? Good. Big Red has a cloud-based data science platform for you

Good hook if you're already all-in. Oh, and there's an elephant in the room: full Hadoop implementation

Analysis  After securing a lofty position in enterprise applications and databases, Oracle has fixed its eyes on data science. And though analysts have expressed doubt about whether Big Red is producing technologies new to the field, its shiny Cloud Data Science Platform might appeal to those already heavily invested in Oracle's software.…



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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/17/oracle_data_science_platform/

Sunday, 16 February 2020

How the US-China trade is felt stateside: FPGA stalwart Xilinx trims workforce after lucrative Huawei sales pipe blocked

'A combination of losing Huawei and slower than anticipated ramp in 5G'

A small round of layoffs at Silicon Valley's Xilinx was the result of the US government's ongoing war on Huawei, one of the FPGA designer's top customers.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/16/xilinx_job_losses/

Friday, 14 February 2020

Steve Jobs, executives shot down top Apple engineers' plea to design their own server CPU – latest twist in legal battle over chip upstart Nuvia

Techies quit to go it alone, iGiant tries to lure away their staff – then sues – court told

Apple's iPhone chip designers mulled creating their own homegrown server processor for the Silicon Valley giant – but were shot down by Steve Jobs after they presented the idea at an internal meeting.…



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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/14/nuvia_apple_server/

Arista cats beat bunch of networking top dogs to lap up SDN boffins Big Switch

Buy to boost cloud, automation and visibility chops

Arista has beaten several rival suitors to snap up software-defined networking (SDN) specialist Big Switch after months of negotiations.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/14/arista_buys_big_switch_networks/

Wuhan coronavirus will knock $100m off our sales, warns Nvidia. Now get a load of our AI-driven data-center numbers

The past twelve months have not been good for GPU giant

Nvidia talked up its data center AI sales and strong just-past quarter to keep everyone's eyes distracted from an otherwise lukewarm financial year.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/14/nvidia_q4_numbers/

Judge Vulcan-nerve pinches JEDI deal after Amazon forks out $42m to pause Microsoft's military machinations

Pentagon's $10bn winner-takes-all cloud super-contract in stasis as Starship Bezos opens fire

A US federal court today slammed the brakes on the Pentagon's decision to award Microsoft the JEDI cloud mega-contract.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/13/judge_halts_jedi/

Thursday, 13 February 2020

Huawei to the danger zone: Now Uncle Sam slaps it with 16 charges of racketeering, fraud, money laundering, theft of robot arm and source code

CFO – and daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei – Meng Wanzhou named in fresh criminal indictment

Huawei has been charged by the US government with 16 counts ranging from fraud to conspiracy to launder money and steal trade secrets to racketeering conspiracy.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/13/huawei_racketeering_charges/

Git your coat – you've pulled: Standalone command-line interface for GitHub hits beta

Limited functionality and cloud only, but improvements are on the way

A beta of GitHub's command-line interface for managing issues and pull requests is available to download for macOS, Windows and Linux.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/13/github_cli_preview/

Internet’s safe-keepers forced to postpone crucial DNSSEC root key signing ceremony – no, not a hacker attack, but because they can't open a safe

Online security process stalled by offline security screw-up

The organization that keeps the internet running behind-the-scenes was forced to delay an important update to the global network – because it was locked out of one of its own safes.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/13/iana_dnssec_ksk_delay/

Cisco: We warned months ago our sales would be a bit glum, we did not disappoint, and don't expect changes soon. PS: We axed Cisco Live Oz

The aristocrats! The aristocrats!

As feared, Cisco saw its sales slip slightly from last quarter as customers held off on buying new network and comms gear.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/13/cisco_q2_earnings_down/

Wednesday, 12 February 2020

What's the German word for stalling technology rollouts over health fears? Cos that plus 5G equals Switzerland

Technologieverzögerung? Uh, Kommunikationsbürokratie?

Switzerland has stalled the rollout of next-gen 5G mobile networks over health concerns.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/12/swiss_halts_5g/

Microsoft and Oracle, sitting in a cloud... in-ter-ope-ra-bi-li-ty: Friends-with-benefits deal is working out nicely for both

I'll show you my customers if you show me yours

Oracle has continued its attempt to gain ground on cloud rivals by expanding its data centres and extending last year's love-in with Microsoft.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/12/microsoft_oracle_cloud_coop/

Deutsche Bank calls in AWS, Microsoft and Google to tout for cloud biz: Come in to tender, deal value unknown

One of the Big Three will snap up floaty tech pact within 'months'

Deutsche Bank has reportedly invited bids from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon to pitch for cloud services and other project work as part of a major tech investment scheduled over the next two years.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/12/deutsche_bank_hopes_the_cloud_will_fix_its_creaky_old_it_systems/

Uncle Sam: Secretly spying on networks around the world without telling anyone, Huawei? But that's OUR job

Chinese mega-maker denies latest allegations of backdoor shenanigans

An almighty row broke out on Tuesday over the cops-only backdoor Huawei builds into its cellular network products and who exactly can access it.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/12/us_huawei_backdoor/

You, FCC, tell us again why cities are only allowed to charge rich telcos $270 to attach 5G tech to utility poles?

Well, we just reached inside our ass and pulled it out, regulator tells court

The controversial decision by the FCC to impose a $270 limit on what cities are allowed to charge mobile operators for hosting a 5G cell on their utility poles finally came up for judicial review this week.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/12/ninth_circuit_fcc_5g_fee/

Monday, 10 February 2020

Jeff Bezos: I will depose King Trump

In today's episode of Absolutely Never Happening, Amazon wants the President to testify whether or not he personally ordered AWS JEDI snub

Amazon has taken the extraordinary step of moving to depose the President of the United States as part of its appeal against the Pentagon's decision to award the $10bn JEDI cloud contract to Microsoft.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/10/amazon_trump_deposition/

Time to call off Mobile World Congress yet? Nvidia, Amazon and Sony all sidestep trade show over coronavirus fears

Can GSMA really assure the event will be safe?

It's been a brutal few days for Mobile World Congress, with several of its biggest participants withdrawing from the trade show over fears surrounding the coronavirus outbreak. The latest pack includes household names like Sony, Amazon, NTT Docomo and Nvidia, as well as 5G infrastructure stalwart VIAVI Solutions.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/10/more_big_names_call_off_mwc_appearances/

Don't tell us to go Huawei, Chinese ambassadors tell UK and France

Locking out network biz 'goes against the principles of a market economy and free trade', says diplomat

The Chinese state has gone on a diplomatic offensive over Huawei and 5G, with ambassadors to the UK and France both accusing their host countries of discriminating against the company.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/10/china_backs_huawei_ambassadors_uk_france/

Friday, 7 February 2020

Thursday, 6 February 2020

Guess we have to do this the Huawei then: Verizon sued by Chinese giant for allegedly ripping off patented tech

So hard to pick a side when it's the Hannibal Lecter and Charles Manson of technology going toe to toe

Huawei and Verizon are squaring off in America over allegations of patent infringement and failed licensing deals.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/06/huawei_sues_verizon/

Wednesday, 5 February 2020

Internet Society gets tetchy over .org sale delay, half-threatens ICANN over deadlines and jurisdiction

Meanwhile, DNS overseer continues to dither on whether to do anything

The operator of .org has responded aggressively to a further delay in its controversial sale of the registry to a private equity firm, warning DNS overseer ICANN not to spike the deal.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/05/internet_society_org_sale/

'Tens of millions' of Cisco devices vulnerable to CDPwn flaws: Network segmentation blown apart by security bugs

Enterprises face fear of phone fragging fest as Doom spawns on IP phones

Enterprise networking giant Cisco is expected to release a set of software fixes on Wednesday to address five critical vulnerabilities in devices that rely on the Cisco Discovery Protocol, known to its friends as CDP.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/05/cisco_cdpwn_flaws/

Outlook more like 'look out!' as Microsoft email decides everything is spam today

Cortana, set a reminder for when their services work. Cortana? CORTANAAA!

Microsoft is having a bad time this week. First it was Teams, and now Outlook has begun treating pretty much every email as spammy nonsense.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/05/outlook_broken/

Vodafone CEO: We will elbow Chinese firm Huawei from our European core networks

Project set to take half a decade and cost €200m

Vodafone will strip Huawei gear out of its core network across Europe at a cost of €200m following last week's fresh guidelines about the use of so-called "high risk vendors" from the UK government and the European Union.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/05/vodafone_to_strip_huawei_gear_from_its_network/

Tuesday, 4 February 2020

Infor is now a Koch company: Megacorp swallows cloud ERP outfit after investing billions in early-stage funding

Golden Gate Capital jettisons equity before IPO can kick in

Cloudy ERP outfit Infor has been picked up by Koch Industries after investment biz Golden Gate Capital sold off its remaining equity stake.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/04/infor_koch_buyout/

Colombia accused of rigging .co contract for dot-org provider Afilias – is this document a smoking gun?

Technical requirements file appears to include references to US biz's other operations

Analysis  Suspicions have grown deeper that a lucrative contract to run Colombia’s .co registry was rigged to favor US-based operator Afilias, thanks to unusual references in one of the South American government’s official documents.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/04/co_retender_afilias/

The winners and losers of infrastructure clouds revealed: AWS, Microsoft, Google and Alibaba get fatter

Can you smell the democratisation of IT? Neither can the shrinking 'others' section

AWS remains the biggest provider of infrastructure clouds with a revenue haul of $34.6bn in 2019 but for the first time it has pulled in less than double that of nearest rival Microsoft, which inhaled $18.1bn.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/04/worldwide_cloud_computing_revenue_up_37_in_2019_rivals_gain_slightly_on_aws/

Orange has an elegant solution to Huawei question in France: We'll stick with Nokia and Ericsson for 5G networks

C'est simple comme bonjour!

Orange, France's largest telecoms company, will use Nokia and Ericsson to deploy its 5G networks as pressure to ban Huawei from European networks mounts.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/04/orange_nokia/

Somewhere, Google's financial bods are playing on repeat... What do you want from me? It's not how it used to be...

Full-year profit up 14% to $34.3bn, YouTube bringing in $15bn ad sales – and shares down

Google's parent Alphabet on Monday reported $162bn in revenue for its 2019 fiscal year, up 18 per year over year, and $46bn in revenue for its fourth quarter, up 17 per cent.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/04/google_fy2019_results/

Friday, 31 January 2020

Is everything OK over there, Britain? Have you tried turning the UK off and on again? ISPs, financial orgs fall over in Freaky Friday of outages

BT, Gamma, Nationwide, Tide, anyone else?

Today was more Friday the 13th than Friday the 31st in the UK, it seems. Not only is it Brexit Day, marking Blighty's departure from Europe, but a bunch of services and internet connectivity broke.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/31/uk_internet_outages/

ICANN't approve the sale of .org to private equity – because California's Attorney General has... concerns

DNS overseer gets letter demanding documents about controversial registry sale

The California State Attorney General's Office (CA-OAG) sent a letter last week to DNS overlord ICANN asking for confidential information about the planned sale of the .org registry and a delay of the transaction.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/31/icann_dot_org_sale/

Quick, get the popcorn: Amazon Web Services says Microsoft's benchmarks for Azure are a load of stripe

Fight! Fight! Fight!

The cloudy database world was plunged into drama at the close of this week, as Amazon Web Services locked horns with Microsoft in a spat over benchmarks.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/31/aws_azure_performance/

It’s not true no one wants .uk domains – just look at all these Bulgarians who signed up to nab expired addresses

'It earns money for freelancers and very small businesses in our rather poor country' says maker of catcher tool

Hundreds of thousands of unwanted .uk domains are being dropped by their owners – and picked up by Europeans looking to profit from Blighty's registry system.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/31/uk_address_bulgarians/

And if you turn to your left, you can see the walls of Amazon Web Service's vast server farm. And next to it, a gift shop and visitors' center

We'll stop here so you can browse the shelves for books and toys

We used to joke Amazon is a cloud server giant with a gift shop in the parking lot. Well, we shall joke no more: two out of every three dollars the Jeff Bezos empire banked worldwide, over the final three months of 2019, came from Amazon Web Services.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/31/amazon_q4_2019/

Gin and gone-ic: Rometty out as IBM CEO, cloud supremo Arvind Krishna takes over, Red Hat boss is president

Big Blue shares up more than six per cent after-hours on surprise management shakeup

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, IBM named a new CEO, Arvind Krishna, and said Virginia "Ginni" Rometty, who has led the company since 2012, will step down on April 6 to serve as executive chairman of the board until her planned retirement at the end of the year.…



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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/30/ibm_replaces_ceo/

Thursday, 30 January 2020

Pop quiz: Who's responsible for data protection compliance in the cloudy era? If you said 'dunno', you're not alone

Survey is thinly veiled marketing from Microsoft, but the issue is real

A new survey published by Microsoft shows the extent of confusion in businesses about how to comply with data protection regulations in the cloud era.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/30/data_protection_and_cloud_computing_confusion_abounds/

UK government confirms surcharge-free EU roaming will end after Brexit transition period

I didn't see that on the side of a bus

Tomorrow, after nearly four years of excruciating debate and rancour, the UK will finally depart the European Union. What happens then? Not much. Britain enters an 11-month transition period, where it effectively remains a member of the single market and customs union. Once that ends, major changes will be afoot, including the end of free roaming across the European Union.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/30/uk_government_confirms_surchargefree_eu_roaming_will_end_after_transition_period/

BT: UK.gov ruling on Huawei will cost us half a billion pounds over next 5 years

And judging by today's Q3 numbers, that won't be welcome

BT is factoring in a £500m financial cost over the next half decade in light of the UK government's decision to limit the amount of Huawei gear used in the building of the country's 5G and gigabit-capable networks.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/30/bt_ukgov_riling_on_huawei_will_cost_us_half_a_billion_pounds_over_next_half_decade/

There are already Chinese components in your pocket – so why fret about 5G gear?

This is literally the whole point of standards

Column  A country torn apart by nationalism, corruption and warring factions becomes desperate for a commodity supplied by a distant power. The country's leaders try diplomacy, which is rebuffed. They legislate repeatedly to limit supply, but demand is so high that borders become completely porous.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/30/engineering_an_end_to_5g_china_crisis/

CalTech takes billion-dollar bite out of Apple, Broadcom for using its patented Wi-Fi tech without paying a penny

Knock knock knock: Give us the money! Knock knock knock: Give us the money!

Apple and Broadcom have been told to pay the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) a beefy billion bucks for ripping off three of the US university's Wi-Fi patents.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/30/caltech_apple_patent/

What pockets $129m profit a day, starts with M, and rhymes with 'wow, so soft'? Hint: Its cloud is going gangbusters

Azure am glad we got into the computer rental business, says CEO

Microsoft on Wednesday made noise about inclusivity, trust, and sustainability, while also gleefully noting that it had banked about $1.5bn more than expected in its second quarter of its fiscal 2020 year.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/30/microsoft_q2_fy2020/

Wednesday, 29 January 2020

US govt 'told Germany that Chinese spies bug' Huawei 5G kit. It also told the world Iraq had WMDs ready to deploy...

Telecoms giant denies everything, Germans put in order anyway

America warned Germany Huawei's cheap'n'cheerful 5G gear was effectively bugged by Beijing's spies and leaking secrets to agents, it is claimed. The US government's evidence of this alleged espionage has not been shared publicly, we note.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/29/huawei_spying_evidence/

It's been a day since Blighty embraced 'surveillance state commies' and US politicos haven't overreacted at all

You've fscked us, says Uncle Sam

Yesterday it was decided that certain "high-risk" vendors will be permitted to contribute towards the UK's 5G network in a limited way. The move provided great relief to Huawei but caused some dismay in the US.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/29/huawei_uk_us_relations/

EU outlines 5G rules: You don't have to keep 'risky' vendors completely Huawei

Just keep 'em out the core and keep supply chains diverse, ja?

It's not just the UK government that's wrestling with the decision to permit Huawei's gear on the 5G network. Across Europe, a similar debate has raged. Can Huawei, which many in intelligence circles believe to be inextricably linked to the Chinese government, be trusted to power the next generation of mobile telephony and data? Today, we got our answer: kinda.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/29/eu_snubs_us_to_permit_huawei_5g_gear/

UK energy watchdog to probe National Grid and Scottish Power over fault-plagued subsea cable

If Western Link had a report card, it'd definitely be under the C

Brit energy regulator Ofgem has opened an investigation into National Grid and Scottish Power's operations on the Western Link subsea cable.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/29/ofgem_to_investigate_national_grid_and_scottish_power_subsea_cable/

You spoke, we didn't listen: Ubiquiti says UniFi routers will beam performance data back to mothership automatically

And good luck opting out of that one

Ubiquiti Networks is once again under fire for suddenly rewriting its telemetry policy after changing how its UniFi routers collect data without telling anyone.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/29/ubiquiti_data_collection_policy/

You know the President is able to shut down all US comms, yeah? An FCC commish wants to stop him from doing that

Too bad the Republicans aren't going to agree with her

Comment  It's troubling how in the past few years some countries have, with increasing zeal, blocked off their own citizens from the internet for gross authoritarian reasons.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/29/president_internet_shutdown/

Tuesday, 28 January 2020

UK to Chinese firm: From 5G in Tyree to the Isles of Ebony, carry me on the waves… Sail Huawei, sail Huawei, sail Huawei

Well, in our non-core networks and sporting a 'high-risk' nametag

The Department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport is to severely restrict the use of Huawei - as a "risky vendor" - to a fraction of non-core networks across the UK due to worries about the Chinese vendor's link to, er, China.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/28/uk_says_yes_to_limited_huawei_non_core/

Low code? Low usage, more like: Add G Suite's App Maker to the Google graveyard, it's switching off next year

Dun-dun-dun, another one bites the dust

Google App Maker, which lets people build simple web-based applications using a graphical user interface, will be axed early next year.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/28/google_app_shut_down/

Monday, 27 January 2020

FCC lines up $16 billion for broadband across entire US. Well, except New York because, screw them, right?

They’ve got money, explains American watchdog that just can’t help itself

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is under fire from lawmakers, and one of its own commissioners, for excluding New York State from a $16bn rural broadband fund that is supposed to cover every corner of the US.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/27/fcc_excludes_new_york_broadband/

Because Monday mornings just aren't annoying enough: Google Drive takes a dive and knocks out G Suite

It's not you, it's G

An issue with Google’s online storage system, Google Drive, booted users out of the web giant’s online word processing and spreadsheets services on Monday morning, US west coast time.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/27/google_drive_falters/

You're always a day Huawei: UK to decide whether to ban Chinese firm's kit from 5G networks tomorrow

Though we might not hear about it straight away

Huawei or another way? The British government is expected to decide tomorrow whether to include the Chinese tech giant's kit in the core of the UK's 5G networks at a meeting with the National Security Council.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/27/uk_huawei_5g_core_decision_imminent/

Saturday, 25 January 2020

Protestors in Los Angeles force ICANN board out of hiding over .org sale – for a brief moment, at least

DNS overseer accepts 35,000-signature petition... and then runs away

It was only going to be one rogue member, then it wasn’t happening at all, and then the entire board of DNS overseer ICANN emerged from the organization’s headquarters into Los Angeles, blinking in the bright sun, to accept a 35,000-signature petition from those opposed the sale of the .org registry.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/25/icann_board_org/

Friday, 24 January 2020

Curse of Boeing continues: Now a telly satellite it built may explode, will be pushed up to 500km from geo orbit

DirecTV's Spaceway-1 to head off into the void before its batteries detonate

AT&T’s satellite telly service DirecTV will push one of its birds beyond its geostationary orbit – before it has a chance to explode into a million pieces.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/24/directv_shifting_satellite/

Don't drown in that Office 365 migration you've been putting off: There's help at hand – in the form of automation magic

Shifting an installation is complex yet not impossible, says Quadrotech

Sponsored  Since its launch, Office 365 has been growing in adoption. During that time the businesses using Office 365 have changed, through acquisition and restructuring. With this change comes some complex and unique problems, particularly when it comes to moving Office 365 and its related applications.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/24/office_365_tenant_to_tenant_migration/

When world+dog has a data platform too, Cloudera has to stand out before next new shiny distracts investors

Hadoop slinger's big bet joins list of rivals doing the same thing

When Hadoop distributor Cloudera marked a year since it signed off its merger with rival Hortonworks with the appointment of a new CEO, it was hardly a glowing endorsement of the strategy so far.…



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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/24/cloudera_data_platform_clock_ticking/

Protesters backing Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou during her US extradition hearings were 'duped paid actors'

What do we want?! $100. When do we want it? As soon as we finish this shift

Protesters rallying outside Canada's Supreme Court this week in support of embattled Huawei finance chief Meng Wanzhou turned out to be paid actors – who said they thought they were extras for a film or music video.…


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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/24/huawei_cfo_actors/

Thursday, 23 January 2020

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare fragged our business VOIP: US ISP blames outage on smash-hit video game rush

This is Windstream, going dark...

US ISP Windstream says a video game update is to blame for an outage affecting its business VOIP service earlier this week.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/23/windstream_fvoip_outage/

Hapless 'AWS engineer' spilled customer passwords, keys on public GitHub repo

Only up for five hours, but that's plenty of time for the wrong person to spot it

An AWS engineer reportedly published "personal identity documents and system credentials including passwords, AWS key pairs, and private keys" to a public GitHub repository by accident.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/23/aws_engineer_accidentally_publishes_customer_credentials_on_github/

Sorry to be blunt about this... Open AWS S3 storage bucket just made 30,000 potheads' privacy go up in smoke

Talk about high tech: Software maker exposes cloud silo of personal info in tale of security gone bong

A tech biz specializing in software for marijuana dispensaries inadvertently exposed to the public internet a database containing tens of thousands of mellow Americans' personal information.…



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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/23/thsuite_data_exposed/

Wednesday, 22 January 2020

Chrome suddenly using Bing after installing Office 365 Pro Plus... Yeah, that might have been us, mumbles Microsoft

Bad-a-Bing, badda-boom: Netizens complain of browser hijacking

Users who install or update Office 365 Pro Plus, part of the Office 365 subscription for larger businesses, will find their browser search engine automatically set to Bing, according to Microsoft documentation.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/22/office_365_bing/

Enterprise skinflints, rejoice: AWS slashes cost of disaster recovery, Kubernetes services

CloudEndure gets cheaper, new host-level backup for VMs as AWS looks to lock 'em in

AWS has lopped 80 per cent off the price of its CloudEndure disaster recovery service and 50 per cent off Kubernetes (K8s) clusters.…



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https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/22/aws_claims_80_reduction_in_price_of_disaster_recovery_solution/

Tuesday, 21 January 2020

CityFibre relieves TalkTalk of its FTTP sister biz for £200m – after Boris win blows away Labour's nationalisation vow

Deal will crank telco's reach up to 8 million premises in UK

Goldman Sachs-backed telco CityFibre has snapped up TalkTalk's fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network for £200m, two months after the deal was delayed during the general election.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/21/talktalk_fibrenation_cityfibre/

South American nations open fire on ICANN for 'illegal and unjust' sale of .amazon to zillionaire Jeff Bezos

Nastygram to DNS overseer follows long, flawed and drawn-out process

Eight South American governments have vowed to make life difficult for DNS overseer ICANN after it gave the .amazon top-level domain to the US tech giant headed by Jeff Bezos.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/21/amazonb_icann_spat/

Looking for a great value broadband deal? War-torn Syria will do you proud

UK internet costs shamed by European colleagues, but at least it's not Eritrea

After a third trip to thrash the router this morning, Brits might not be too surprised to learn that they're being ripped off for broadband compared to their pals across the Channel.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/21/global_broadband_pricing_league_table_2020/

Let’s check in on the .org sale fiasco: Senators say No, internet grandees say Yes – and ICANN pretends there's absolutely nothing to see here

'Ethos Capital, ISOC, and PIR have failed to provide clear and transparent information'

Analysis  A quick hypothetical for you: if your organization received a letter from six senior politicians urging you not to move forward with a controversial decision, and you looked out your windows to see dozens of protesters insisting on the same, would you……


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/21/org_sale_fiasco/

Wave goodbye: DigitalOcean decimates workforce as co-founder reveals lack of profitability, leadership turmoil

Literally: As much as 10% of employees at server-hosting biz laid off in 'non-cost-cutting' move

DigitalOcean last week axed an undisclosed number of employees.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/21/digitalocean_layoffs_cloud/

Friday, 17 January 2020

Google Cloud gets out of bed, slips on suit, draws up premium support, vows to take it SLO to lure enterprises

Meanwhile, AMD snags Intel exec as server chip boss

Google is hoping to improve the appeal of its mid-tier Cloud platform to enterprises with a new set of support and response options.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/17/google_premium_support_cloud/

Thursday, 16 January 2020

Remember when Netscout got so upset at 'challenger' label in Gartner Magic Quadrant, it sued? Well, top court just ended all those shenanigans

Connecticut Supremes affirm trial judge's decision to toss 'pay to play' claim

Gartner did not defame network biz Netscout by placing it in the "challenger" section of its Magic Quadrant instead of the "leaders" section, the Supreme Court of the US state of Connecticut has ruled.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/16/netscout_gartner_lawsuit/

Load of Big Green for Microsoft: Lloyds Banking Group inks company-wide Managed Desktop deal

Bankers ring in 2020 by thwacking employees with the Windows stick

Microsoft has signed up UK finance behemoth, Lloyds Banking Group, to manage its desktops and mobile devices.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/16/lloyds_microsoft_managed_desktop/

Wednesday, 15 January 2020

Problems at Oracle's DynDNS: Domain registration customers transferred at short notice, nameserver records changed

Must have missed Oracle's December memo: 'It is now time that we part ways with this business'

Customers of Oracle's DynDNS who used the service for domain registration - rather than just dynamic DNS - have suffered a sudden involuntary change of registrar, in some cases redirecting websites to those of different companies.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/15/oracle_dyndns_domain_registration/

Totally Subcontracted Business: TSB to outsource entire IT estate to IBM for a cool $1bn after 2019 meltdown

Big Blue to build and run private cloud

TSB parent, Spain's Banco Sabadell, has signed a €1bn group deal with IBM to build and run its entire banking infrastructure via a private cloud among a raft of other services – the outage hit UK arm has told The Register.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/15/tsb_outsourcing_entire_it_estate_to_ibm_for_a_cool_1bn_after_2019_meltdown/

AppSheet. Gesundheit! Oh, we see – it's Google pulling no-code development into a cloudy embrace

We'll 'empower millions of citizen developers' says Google. Now where have we heard that before?

Google has cleared the way for non-developers to build applications that make use of Google cloud services with the acquisition of Seattle-based no-code development platform AppSheet confirmed.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/15/google_cloud_embraces_nocode_development_with_appsheet_acquisition/

What links trendy .co domains, two warring registry giants, and Colombia's curious approach to technology tendering? We'll tell you...

Who will control the CC TLD in future? Well, only one company fits the criteria, funnily enough

Special report  The Colombian government has been accused by its own internet community of fudging a contract so that just one North American company in particular is eligible to operate the .co top-level domain-name registry.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/15/colombia_dot_co/

Tuesday, 14 January 2020

Go on, eat your fibre, new build contractors. It's free! OpenReach lowers limit for free FTTP connections

You may not have plumbing to the premises, but by god you'll have fibre

Good news for much-maligned new-build contractors in the UK - equally maligned UK broadband infrastructure provider OpenReach today says it will drop the threshold for installing gigabit-capable fibre-to-the-premises connections to new build developments — from 30 houses to just 20.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/14/openreach_lowers_newbuild_limit_for_free_fttp_connections/

The data is in: Cloudera installs former Hortonworks CEO Rob Bearden as new chief

Docker who? Veteran Hadooper already plugging away after 6-month stint at container biz

Cloudera has turned to the co-founder and one-time CEO at Hortonworks - the business it merged with in 2018 - to run the show.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/14/cloudera_turns_to_hortonworks_cofounder_and_ceo_in_the_hotseat/

Amazon to ask court to block DoD's early Valentine's date with a Microsoft JEDI

Not keen to let them Hang Solo. (We're here all week.) Decision on next Friday's paperwork to arrive 11 Feb

Amazon Web Services is expecting a decision next month from a US Court about whether the brakes will be slammed on the lucrative Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract awarded to Microsoft.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/14/jedi_appeal/

ICANN finally reveals who’s behind purchase of .org: It’s ███████ and ██████ – you don't need to know any more

Purchase funded by debt, includes another ex-ICANNer, will be done through four different companies. All perfectly normal

Analysis  DNS overlord ICANN has finally released additional details over the proposed sale of the .org internet registry to a private equity firm – details that raise more questions than answers.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/14/icann_org_redacted/

Monday, 13 January 2020

MI5 gros fromage: Nah, US won't go Huawei from dear old Blighty over 5G, no matter what we do

UK.gov decision to use Chinese biz or not due in a week or two, maybe, perhaps... sort of

The head of Uk's domestic spy agency, MI5, has declared that he has "no reason to think" that Britain's impending decision to use Huawei in the core of 5G mobile networks will harm UK-US relations.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/13/mi5_chief_huawei_comments/

Friday, 10 January 2020

UK Home Office opens AWS cash firehose even wider with £100m public cloud services deal

Every little helps, right Jeff?

The UK's Home Office has tossed £100m worth of taxpayer cash at Amazon Web Services to renew a public cloud hosting agreement with the hyper tax efficient American giant for four years.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/10/home_office_hands_aws_100m_for_public_cloud_services/

It's Becoming Messy: Judge says IBM's attempt to extinguish age-discrimination lawsuit should be rejected

IT goliath under pressure to settle cloud sales star who claims he was unlawfully axed after turning 60

Analysis  A judge's recommendation to reject IBM's bid to dismiss an age discrimination claim raises the likelihood that the case could go to trial – and puts pressure on the IT titan to settle.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/10/ibm_age_case/

Thursday, 9 January 2020

'No BS' web host Gandi lives up to half of its motto... Customer data wiped out in storage server meltdown

0xdeadbeef

Customers of web hosting outfit Gandi.net have been left less than impressed by its handling of a data-destroying storage crash.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/09/gandi_loses_customer_data/

As internet pioneers fight to preserve .org’s non-profit status, those in charge are hiding behind dollar signs

ICANN, ISOC, PIR and Ethos still refusing to provide details

Comment  The controversial proposed sale of the .org internet registry to an unknown private equity firm will hit a critical decision point this week, and all the organizations in charge are refusing to talk about it.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/09/org_preservation/

Cogent cut off from ARIN Whois after scraping net engineers' contact details and sliding them to sales staff

And the techies are almost universally very happy about it

There are still corners of the internet that function like the old days, and US regional internet registry ARIN has just proved it – much to the joy of network engineers.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/09/arin_boots_cogent/

Wednesday, 8 January 2020

We won't CU later: New Ofcom broadband proposals mull killing off old copper network

Yearly review promises FTTP for rural bods, price check on network wholesaler Openreach

Ofcom today published new proposals that aim to see fibre-to-the-premises broadband become more ubiquitous, particularly for users in rural areas and finally kill off the old copper network.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/08/ofcom_new_broadband_proposals_would_see_an_end_to_the_old_copper_network/

5G signals won't make men infertile, sighs UK ad watchdog as it bans bonkers scary poster

'Unsubstantiated' ad must never be seen again, growls adland watchdog

A group of Luddites who think 5G causes everything from cancer to lack to sleep have had an advert promoting their views banned from public display.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/08/anti_5g_poster_banned_unsubstantiated_cancer_claims/

Tuesday, 7 January 2020

Thought 5G marketing was bad? Cable industry sticks with ridiculous 10G branding as another year rolls around

What started as a joke slowly blends into potential fiber reality

CES  It started out as a joke, a way to repeat the hype-success of “5G” mobile technology for the cable industry. And yet “10G” – standing for 10 gigabit-a-second broadband fiber speeds – may be here to stay.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/07/cable_industry_10g_branding/

ICANN extracts $20m signing fee for $1bn dot-com price increases – and guess who's going to pay for it?

Sorry, meant to say Verisign contributes to 'security threat' education

Comment  Operator of the dot-com registry, Verisign, has decided to pay DNS overseer ICANN $4m a year for the next five years in order to “educate the wider ICANN community about security threats.”…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/07/icann_verisign_fees/

Monday, 6 January 2020

A Notepad nightmare leaves sysadmin with something totally unprintable

When curiosity killed the print job. All the print jobs

Who, Me?  Welcome to another entry on the Who, Me? naughty list, filled with the confessions from techies who were perhaps a little silly, maybe somewhat devious, and yet still escaped with careers intact.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/06/who_me/

Friday, 3 January 2020

It's always DNS, especially when you're on holiday with nothing but a phone on GPRS

The time a reader found himself in an awful BIND

On Call  Did your phone ring over the New Year? No? Then spare a thought for those unfortunates who remain answerable day or night to the dread trill of a panicked On Call.…


via The Register - Data Centre: Networks
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/03/on_call/

Thursday, 2 January 2020

Amazon, Google, Microsoft: Who had the best year in cloud in 2019?

We pick one technology highlight for each of the Big 3

Analysis  Three technology giants continued to dominate cloud computing in 2019, with each bringing in some interesting tools to play with as they sprawled over smaller players.…



via The Register - Data Centre: Cloud
https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/02/amazon_google_microsoft_who_had_the_best_year_in_cloud_in_2019/