Category: News digest

CCIE R&S V4.0 Written: Beta Exam Announcement

The beta version of CCIE Routing and  Switching Written Exam v4.0 (351-001) is available for scheduling at all worldwide,  Cisco-authorized Pearson VUE testing centers starting August 7, 2009 and continuing  through September 9, 2009.

Nevertheless the number of beta exams is limited, so as soon as all the seats are taken this beta test period will end, even if this is before September 9, 2009.

Candidates may schedule and take the exam on the same day.  The beta exam will be offered at a discounted price of US$50, with full recertification or lab qualification credit granted to all passing candidates.

Another point to keep in mind is that the results will be received six to eight weeks after the close of the beta period. Therefore, CCIEs in suspended status with an expiration date before November 30, 2009 should recertify using another exam. Candidates may only attempt a beta exam once during the beta period.

More information about the steps to register for exam, you can find on The Cisco Learning Network website.

Cisco IOS Software BGP 4-Byte AS Number Vulnerabilities

Recent versions of Cisco IOS Software support RFC4893 (“BGP Support for Four-octet AS Number Space”) and contain two remote denial of service (DoS) vulnerabilities when handling specific Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) updates.

These vulnerabilities affect only devices running Cisco IOS Software with support for four-octet AS number space (here after referred to as 4-byte AS number) and BGP routing configured.The device is vulnerable if it is running affected Cisco IOS version and has BGP configured, regardless of whether the device is configured with a 2 or 4 byte AS number under the router bgp configuration command

The first vulnerability could cause an affected device to reload when processing a BGP update that contains autonomous system (AS) path segments made up of more than one thousand autonomous systems.

The second vulnerability could cause an affected device to reload when the affected device processes a malformed BGP update that has been crafted to trigger the issue.

Cisco has released free software updates to address these vulnerabilities.

No workarounds are available for the first vulnerability.

A workaround is available for the second vulnerability. For the second vulnerability, configuring “bgp maxas-limit [value]” on the affected device does mitigate this vulnerability. Cisco is recommends using a conservative value of 100 to mitigate this vulnerability.

This advisory is posted at the following link: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20090729-bgp.shtm

Cisco has a new partner for IP-based smart grid buildout initiative

Some months ago Cisco announced it’s plans to provide network infrastructure to utility companies and their customers to manage power supplies and energy consumption.  Now, Cisco found a partner in a Switzerland based company called Landis+Gyr (L+G).

LG_logoLandis+Gyr is the leading global provider of integrated energy management products tailored to energy company needs and unique in its ability to deliver true end-to-end advanced metering solutions. Landis+Gyr operates in more than 30 countries across five continents, and employs over 5,000 people with the sole mission of helping the world manage energy better. For more information please visit www.landisgyr.com.

Together with it’s partner, Cisco is looking to supply utilities with an IP network, from the power generation facilities to the home. The partnership is intended to deliver solutions based on Landis+Gyr’s expertise in advanced metering infrastructure and applications as well as Cisco’s experience in defining the architecture of an end-to-end networking and security solution.

Landis+Gyr’s and Cisco’s collaboration aims to capitalize on the strengths of open standards, such as IP, allowing for greater ease of deployment and scalability, as well as optimized efficiency of communications networks. The two companies plan to work on future architectures in the areas of smart metering, the utility data center, and wireless and fixed last-mile communications with the objective to ensure interoperability across Cisco’s and Landis+Gyr’s smart grid solutions.

According to L+G, their product Gridstream, helps you maximize the effectiveness of your energy management assets through the seamless integration and flow of technology and information. Whether you need the latest smart metering and network technology or personal energy management tools, Gridstream gives you access to a complete range of advanced multi-energy products and systems.

If you take this and associate it with Cisco’s IP based solution, you obtain one excellent product which can communicate remotely based on the most used protocol in the world. For Cisco, and not only, this seems to be a new “gold mine” which will generate a large amount of income since today’s global direction is to reduce functional costs, such as energy in this case.

Source: Landisgyr.com

Cisco HealthPresence

For sure, many of you heard about Cisco TelePresence, but how many of us know about another new project from Cisco, called HealthPresence?  The most basic description is that what TelePresence does for business environment,  HealthPresence does it for the medical industry.

From the HealtPresence product FactSheet: “Cisco HealthPresence creates a live, “face-to-face visit” experience over the network for clinicians and patients, even though they might be hundreds of miles apart. The visit is enhanced by the availability of physical and diagnostic information (such as vital signs) generated from a variety of medical devices integrated with Cisco HealthPresence. Cisco HealthPresence is based on market-ready, advanced networking technologies. Using the network as a platform, Cisco HealthPresence combines state-of-the-art video, audio, and medical information to create an experience similar to an in-person visit to a doctor or health specialist.
Cisco HealthPresence can be located in a variety of places, including office buildings, shopping malls, community centers, hotels, or schools, thus offering convenient and timely access to healthcare services.”

Below you can see how Cisco’s CTO Padmasree Warrior and Sean Curtis, Technical Marketing, demonstrate new innovative healthpresence solutions that Cisco is developing that build on existing Cisco products and technologies:

[flashvideo filename=https://ipnet.xyz/vid/cisco/healthpresence_warrior_072809_350.flv width=400 height=329 image=https://ipnet.xyz/vid/cisco/healthpresence_warrior_072809_350.jpg /]

If you are wondering when this project will become a realistic alternative to the “trip” to hospital then find out that a trial is already in place in a real medical environment.  The Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Cisco collaborate on the first HealthPresence pilot based at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland. Upon a successful outcome of this program, further trials may be planned in Scotland and around the world:

[flashvideo filename=https://ipnet.xyz/vid/cisco/telehealth_070909_350.flv width=400 height=329 image=https://ipnet.xyz/vid/cisco/telehealth_070909_350.jpg /]

Is this the future of medical investigation and research? I guess for now we can only wait to see if this solution can really overtake the classic travel to doctor.

Source: Cisco.com