With so much going on in the IT world every day, sometimes it seems almost impossible to keep up on all the latest news and updates. We decided we wanted to start compiling all the most important news stories of the month to use as a resource for both our team – and yours. This post will be specifically on Cisco news.

Be sure to check back often to take advantage of this resource and stay up-to-date!

1. Cisco sells Linksys brand to Belkin

While this news initially broke in January, the acquisition was finalized mid-March. According to Computerworld, this move is significant because it shows a “continued a shift by Cisco away from consumer products and toward large architectures for enterprises and service providers.” It will be interesting to watch the shift as Cisco abandons the consumer market and dedicates its attention to the larger IT solutions industry.

2. Cisco Announces Platform that Provides Unified Access for Wired and Wireless Infrastructures

The Unified Access Data Plane, or UADP, is a way for enterprises to combine traditional data networks and mobile platforms. Enterprise Networking Planet states, “This proposal represents an entirely new class of networking hardware that allows people to build unified networks from the ground up, essentially uniting two distinct logical networks into one.” This development is important as demand for seamless solutions continues to grow and organizations look toward next-generation infrastructures.

3. Cisco Password Implementation Error Puts Hardware at Risk

 This news hit the IT world last week after research uncovered the security risk. Cisco then issued a warning about password weaknesses in some of its routers, switches and appliances that are using the Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE. According to InformationWeek, “The problem stems from Cisco’s use of the Type 4 password algorithm in the operating system, and its failure to salt – add random bits to – passwords or use PBKDF2, which randomizes passphrases and adds a salt, thus deriving a cryptographic key that’s more difficult to crack.” The company recommends that organizations search for any Type 4 passwords they’ve generated and replace with Type 5 passwords.

4. Cisco Owes $70 Million for Patent Fraud

A federal jury decided on Friday that Cisco owes XpertUniverse Inc. $70 million for patent fraud, alleged to have occurred during a partnership between the two companies. According to the Wall Street Journal, Cisco was found guilty of “fraud by concealment” in addition to violating two patents. Cisco continues to reject the allegations and states that it may pursue an appeal.

To allow us to spend time with our loved ones this holiday season, we have adjusted our regular business hours, keeping in mind that you still need to keep your networks up and running. This post is just a quick reference so you know when to reach out to us.

Holiday Hours

Monday, December 24 (Christmas Eve)
CLOSED

Tuesday, December 25 (Christmas Day)
CLOSED

Wednesday, December 26 – Friday, December 28
Regular business hours (8 a.m. – 7 p.m. EST)

Monday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve)
8 a.m. – 2 p.m. EST

Tuesday, January 1 (New Year’s Day)
CLOSED

Any orders placed after 2 p.m. on December 31 will be shipped on Wednesday, January 2.

We hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season!

We just wanted to make you aware of some great news. The experts at our CABLExpress® division recently released a new Data Center Structured Cabling Guide and it’s available for FREE!

Simply click here to download your own copy of the guide.

This white paper will benefit you because it’s a concise, helpful guide to the proper ways to approach structured cabling in the data center. It explains what structured cabling systems are and analyzes how you can maximize ROI in your data center.

It covers:

• What is a Point-to-Point Cabling System
• What is Structured Cabling
• Why Use a Structured Cabling System
• Why Performance Matters
• Why Repeatability Matters
• Structured Cabling Products

Download your free copy here and have it at the ready anytime you plan moves, adds or changes in your data center. And keep in mind, the experts at CABLExpress are always prepared to help you build a future-proof cabling and data center infrastructure that will maximize you investment for years to come.

While October is more commonly recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it is also Computer Learning Month. Created by the Computer Learning Foundation, Computer Learning Month is meant to serve as a time for people to learn about new technologies and to share this knowledge with others.

Many in education use this month to teach students different types of technology and to showcase how it can be used to enrich the learning experience. While the students’ focus may only be on the computer screen in front of them, as IT professionals we understand the importance of what goes on behind the scenes – the importance of building and maintaining an effective network.

This month, IT professionals in all sectors should aim to do 2 things:

1. Share our knowledge of various technologies with those around us so that they can gain a better understanding.
2. Learn something new ourselves. While we may be the tech experts, there is always something more we could be doing to make our networks more effective and more efficient.

To start you out on your month of learning, you may want to check out the new CABLExpress Data Center Structured Cabling Guide to learn more about how to maximize ROI in your data center.

This is quick post to let our customers and friends who visit the website how they can connect with CXtec.  We try to stay pretty active in sharing information on our blog and various social media.

We know people prefer some types of communication and social media more than others.  So, we thought it might be a good idea to let people know in one quick blog post all the ways they can connect, share and get updates from us.

CXtec on Twitter

Our Twitter username is @CXtec.  On Twitter we share thoughts from our website, company news, product information, industry news, community events, and a ton of other fun and interesting observations we think you might enjoy.

CXtec on Facebook 

CXtec’s Facebook page mostly covers our company news, events, culture, and career opportunities.  We could be  talking about our people getting involved in community events like The Light The Night Walk or other community events. Maybe we are posting new positions or letting people know about a job fair.  We might even put up some photos of our fun sales contests.  Of course, we are always looking for fun and helpful content that is relevant to you.  So, maybe we’ll do even more in the future.

CXtec on Linkedin

Our Linkedin page is straight forward. You get our company profile, and various postings on company news.  If you are the type who checks Linkedin consistently it might be worth it to give us a follow.

CXtec Flickr

We have a lot going on here at CXtec.  So, we get a ton of photos, and we share lots of them on Flickr.   Feel free to check them out.

CXtec on Spiceworks

If you did not know, Spiceworks is an social community online just for people in the IT world.  At this point there are around 2 million IT pros that are in this community.  There are all kinds of discussions and information.  Sure, there are groups for Cisco users and other manufacturers. There are discussion groups about networking, hardware, virtualization, security and so on. . There are groups for specific industries. There are all kinds of groups. There are even groups about music, movies, TV, gaming, cooking and other fun stuff.  CXtec is a Spiceworks partner and are vary active in the community. We are even running a contest for the next few weeks. You really should check it out, join, and follow us.

CXtec on Network World

CXtec’s Vice President of the Technology Solutions Group, Frank Kobuszewski, writes blog posts on Network World periodically under a column called Switch It Up. He writes about various topics pertaining to Cisco.  Sometimes it’s about specific hardware and other times it’s a 30,000 foot view of the Cisco world.

CXtec Blog:

Of course, there is this blog.  If you scan the topics and some of the posts, you will see we talk about a range of things.  We offer observations and ideas that relate to our philosophy on network hardware, IT budgets, end-of-life management,  electronics recycling and disposal, and a bunch of other topics.  We also share thoughts on industry trends and news from time to time.  Plus, we keep people up to date on events and learning opportunities like webinars.  There really is quite a bit on the blog.  You can subscribe to updates on the blog here.

Send Your Suggestions

If you have any suggestions about what you might like to see on any of the above, please let us know.   Just contact us , fill out a quick form and leave your note. It will get to us.  Thanks.  I hope to see you connecting up with us soon.