Networks and Internet

Transcription

1 Department Presentation Networks and Internet

2 Department Presentation Networks Dušan Živadinović Head of department Routers, WLANs, mobile radio and satellite Internet, VPNs, Linux and Mac servers Networks are the basis! The most elegant web application will not work if the communication between the users and the web server fails; and an must pass through many stations before it arrives at its addressee. The only components of the network that most users see are the cable connections or the WLAN antennae. However, administrators at all places tirelessly take care of an ever increasing number of network components in order to make the data flow. The network department deals with all aspects concerning the network infrastructure. The topic area ranges from small home networks up to corporate infrastructures, from cabling via transmission technologies up to the installation of servers. LANs (Local Area Networks) and the prevailing TCP/IP protocol are in the focus. One of the basic technologies remains Ethernet, either via copper cables or optical fibres. Moreover, there are radio technologies getting along without data lines, above all the massively used Wireless LAN. Switches or WLAN base stations provide for the connections. When different networks have to be connected, routers come into play. They include DSL modems or TV cable modems, now, to allow for internet access. Another task of the network administrator is the security of the network and the servers. This involves the selection and installation of firewalls and the correct encryption of the data traffic which is important especially for the connection of teleworkers or other networks via Virtual Private Networks (VPN). The networks department tests the components, provides the necessary background knowhow, helps with practical articles, and gives an overview of the current state of the art. Most of the contents of the heise Netze channel on heise online ( originates from this department. 2

3 What is currently trendy on the market? More and more households have several PCs which are connected to a common Internet access. At the same time, Voice-over-IP and multimedia applications such as music and video streaming are gaining acceptance. Ernst Ahlers For home networks, a user-friendly installation and aesthetic aspects are most important. Thus, a variety of technologies has been devised: power-line networking via the power supply system, adapted methods such as HomePlug via existing telephone and TV cables, and, of course, Wireless LAN. In professionally used networks, however, the failure safety, the protection of the data, and the monitoring of all components have priority. Here, Ethernet is and will remain the measure of all things. Now, we have gigabit Ethernet interfaces on our PCs. The remaining infrastructure made up of switches, routers, and firewalls is being converted. 10-gigabit Ethernet via copper cables is starting to prevail in computing centres. More and more devices get their power via the network cable (power over Ethernet). This is first of all true for WLAN access points and telephones for voice-over-ip which can now be operated without an additional plug and cabling. In a network, data are not only transported but also saved. Designs such as network attached storage (NAS) and storage area networks (SAN) are state of the art. Network employment and hardware: Routers, switches, power lines, cabling of all kinds, WLANs, power supply: AC adapters, UPSs [email protected] Florian Klam Internet access via DSL is the standard for companies and private customers. ADSL has evolved into ADSL2+ and VDSL with vectoring. The number of optical fibre connections into houses is going up little by little. If no cable-based fast Internet access is available, Internet via mobile radio is increasingly provided using UMTS and LTE above all. Windows in networks, servers, mobile device management, virtualisation, Radius, Active Directory [email protected] 3

4 Department Presentation Networks Which subjects will be in the focus in the months to come? Reiko Kaps Routing, firewalls, IPv6 and other network protocols, VPNs, network services, Linux, network file systems, remote desktops/remote control In networks as well, a continuing trend to ever higher speeds is obvious. 10-Gbit/sec Ethernet via copper cables is the state of the art, 100-Gbit/sec via optical fibres is coming up on the horizon. The current standard in local radio networks (WLAN) allows for different speed levels. Devices reaching 300 Mbit/s and 450 Mbit/s are usual. Unlike the preceding g technology, n works in both available frequency ranges at 2.4 GHz and at 5 GHz. Current devices support both of them concurrently. 11ac devices reaching 1300 Mbit/s set the benchmark in the 5-GHz band, the highest 11ac level allows for 6900 Mbit/s. In the case of Power Line Communications (PLC) for networking, the next generation reaching up to 1 Gbit/sec is almost here. UMTS and LTE complement each other. The frequency ranges available now due to the deactivation of analogous TV are also used for the transmission of data. Both technologies allow for mobile applications which are no longer slowed down on the road due to slow Internet connections. Administrators of larger networks are taking Software Defined Networking more and more into consideration. The biggest part of the Internet uses version 4 of the Internet protocol. The successor IPv6 is establishing itself slowly but surely. Unlike version 4, it offers enough addresses for the years to come and thus eliminates crutches such as NAT. A boost of IPv6-enabled devices and services may be expected. 4

5 Internet Nothing works without the internet! The Internet is the central platform for services, information, and communication. No matter if you want to go shopping, buy a ticket, or transfer money all this is more convenient and less expensive if performed online. c t magazine shows its readers the most favourable way into the net and supports them in finding the bestsuited provider. At that, not only prices and speeds are in the focus but also services and reliable technologies. The comprehensive supply with broadband Internet is an important aspect of social justice. We will observe what politics and economics do to fill the gap between supply and demand. Although technologies such as LTE produce relief, on the long term only optical fibre connections will offer enough reserves for high bandwidths which are indispensable for future applications. Apart from regular tests of software such as web browsers or Internet filters for the protection of children, c t magazine provides information on tools for all those who want to create their own homepage, i.e. content management systems or PHP frameworks. The readers are supported in choosing the adequate web space provider, they learn at an early stage what current technologies can do, and they are provided with practically relevant examples for web programming. Axel Kossel Head of department Navigation, ecommerce, banking, car IT, cloud services [email protected] The mobile use of the Internet represents the largest growth market. More and more users access online information even on the road. For this purpose, Android phones, the iphone, and other smartphones come with a new concept: apps instead of websites. It allows for a better use of the bandwidth and an optimum representation of the contents. In this context, location-based services delivering current information depending on the location are especially in vogue. 5

6 Department Presentation Internet Is the net safe? Jo Bager Browsers, ing, web development, web services, social media, apps Holger Bleich Subjects such as spam, phishing, and viruses cause much insecurity among the users. Regarding banks and online shops, for example, effective methods for protecting the customers comprehensively against fraud and identity theft are often missing. It is true, Windows and recent versions of browser software offer a slightly improved protection against online threats but the authors of malware always win by a nose. c t informs about the risks and explains what the users can do to protect themselves. Spam, i.e. undesired promotional mails, is a big problem hindering online communication. All counter-measures reduced the mass of undesired sales messages only for a short time, if at all. If the modernization of the old mail standards prone to be overloaded fails, this communication medium will become less important. One important aspect is the protection of data, especially in social networks and online shops. The new identity card and DE mail are two examples for new remedies created by politics. On the other hand, people are not only afraid of an increasing control of the medium by governmental authorities and secret services but they also fear that the net neutrality might be threatened by economical interests. Web hosting, server hosting, s, spam, consumer protection, internet law [email protected] 6

7 What comes next? Companies see the added value of the community in the web 2.0, but fear on the other hand to loose control over their brand image. Guerilla marketing, for example entries in consumer forums by the vendors themselves, cost the medium credibility. A long time ago, blogs and wikis entered the daily web life. However, user-generated input is not a guarantee for high-quality contents. Web services can be used just like locally installed software. A new software range is being offered from editors via office packages up to entire desktops. To use this software, only a current browser is required. Cloud services provide memory space and computing power on demand. This could finally revolutionise the software market by no longer selling applications but offering them financed by ads or against a fee. In this, browser extensions such as flash loose importance due to HTML5. Up to now mostly unnoticed by the end users, the large software companies work massively on semantic technologies praised occasionally as web 3.0. Behind this idea is no less a figure than Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the world wide web. The semantic web provides web sites with meta information so that their contents can be analysed by machines. This facilitates the localisation and categorisation of information considerably and allows even more for individualisable services. Daniel Berger Browsers, CMSs, web development, social media [email protected] Urs Mansmann Internet access, mobile Internet, VoIP, messaging, data protection, smart home [email protected] 7

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