News & Events

Network Protocol Analysis using Wireshark Core Course, Austin TX June 19, 20 & 21

Network Protocol Analysis using Wireshark Core Course

3 day Training Course 3 Day, Austin TX, June 19, 20, & 21, 8:30am to 5pm

Location: Anue Systems, 8310 North Capital of Texas Highway #300, Austin, TX

Sponsors: Anue Systems, The Tech Firm & Gearbit

Cost: $1,800

Pay by credit card

 For more information contact sales@gearbit.com


This 3 Day class will cover many aspects of using Wireshark for troubleshooting, baselining and documentation with real world scenarios.  The majority of the exercises will be HANDS ON where the students will be capturing packets real time. The course is designed to give the students approximately 70% hands on. You’ll find the information you’ve been looking for, reading and understanding packets traces.

Your Instructors
Tony Fortunato is a senior Network Performance Specialist and founder of “The Technology Firm”. He’s certified instructor in many of the most popular Network Analyzers used today, and has conducted training at Networld Interopt, Sharkfest Developer and User Conference.

Visit these web sites for more information about Tony: www.thetechfirm.com; BIO & Background; Read what previous students have to say about Tony

This 3 day course will cover protocol and application analysis so you get more out of Wireshark and your current tools.

 

Wireshark Topics to cover:

  • What is a Protocol Analyzer?
  • What is TCP/IP Task Offloading?
  • Windows Installation Command Line Option
  • Time Display Settings
  • Shortcut Key Starting
  • NDIS, AIRPCAP and WINPCAP
  • Configuring Global Preferences
  • Capture Options
  • tshark, dumpcap and rawshark
  • Capture Filters
  • Capture Stop Triggers
  • Ring Buffers
  • Frame Display Options
  • IO Graphs
  • Name Resolution Notes
  • Sorting Columns
  • Drag and Drop Files
  • Endpoints and Conversation List
  • Flow Graph
  • Statistics Reports
  • Expert Info
  • Display Filters
  • Follow TCP Stream
  • Expert Info Composite
  • Exporting from Wireshark for advanced reporting.
  • Exporting SMB and HTTP objects
  • Remote Captures

 

Protocols  and Applications Covered

  • TCP, UDP
  • IPv4
  • ICMP
  • ARP
  • Telnet
  • FTP
  • HTTP
  • SMB
  • DHCP
  • POP & SMTP
  • Spanning Tree/Rapid Spanning Tree
  • and many more …

Protocol Concepts Covered

  • Various types of Retransmissions
  • Duplicate IP address detection

 

Other topics we will be covering:

 

  • Basic Networking
  • Throughout & Latency
  • Switching and Routing
  • Ethernet Operation
  • Wifi Overview
  • VOIP
  • Baselining, reporting and how to get your results across
Windows Tools we will be using:

  • cports
  • portable ftp server
  • portable http server
  • iperf
  • pathtest
  • Excel (optional)
  • pathping
  • netstat
  • arp
  • cdpr
  • drtcp & tcp optimizer
  • hrping
  • and many others ..

Sponsors:  Anue Systems, The Tech Firm and Gearbit

INTEROP-The Leading Business Technology Event- Las Vegas May 6-10, 2012

About Interop

Interop is the only event to give you a comprehensive and unbiased understanding of all the latest innovations—including cloud computing, virtualization, security, mobility and data center advances—that help position your company for growth.

Part of TechWeb’s family of global brands, Interop is the leading business technology event, driving technology adoption by providing knowledge and insight to help IT and corporate decision-makers achieve business success.

Through in-depth educational programs, workshops, real-world demonstrations and live technology implementations in its unique InteropNet program, Interop provides the forum for the most powerful innovations and solutions the industry has to offer.

Interop is the meeting place for the global business technology community. For more information on Interop events worldwide visit http://www.interop.com

Newsletter “Under The Hood” Spring 2012

The Gearbit newsletter “Under The Hood” Spring 2012

Here’s the article that Google wrote around performance. At Gearbit, we’ve been seeing performance improvements turning off “Slow Start”  and “Nagles’s algorithm” in the TCP stack in the servers. We also have been concerned about “buffer bloat” That is mentioned, but they have achieved a whopping 64% reduction with “page load time” by a newly developed protocol that they call “SPDY”. It adds a session layer atop of SSL for muliple concurrent interleaved streams, that can be invoked from client or server. SPDY improves HTTP increasing the number of streams, so that data can be more effectively set. Traffic is still managed by TCP with algorithms that monitor the ACK times, providing a congestion control, so that the network links don’t get congested. This will save server, firewall and load balances resources. Just think, we might get others to quit blaming the network!

Ray



Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization


http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/01/google-takes-on-internet-standards-with-tcp-proposals-spdy-standardization.ars

SPDY adds a session layer atop of SSL that allows for multiple concurrent, interleaved streams over a single TCP connection.

 

The usual HTTP GET and POST message formats remain the same; however, SPDY specifies a new framing format for encoding and transmitting the data over the wire.

 

Streams are bi-directional, i.e. can be initiated by the client and server.

SPDY aims to achieve lower latency through basic (always enabled) and advanced (optionally enabled) features.

 

Net Scan Tools New Release

Feb 2012, just released their new Pro Version 11.20 along with Managed Switch Prot Mapping Tool v1.99.9.3. You can find more inforamtion about this and other products at www.NetScanTools.com

-NetScanTools® LE 1.50 released on February 16, 2012
-Managed Switch Port Mapping Tool v1.99.9.3 released February 7, 2012
-NetScanTools® Pro Version 11.20 released January 19, 2012
-Secure Site Login Problems and Solutions
-Video: How to Login and Upgrade NetScanTools® Pro
-How to show hidden columns in the Switch Port Mapping Tool
-How to change the look of NetScanTools® Pro

Ethernet Technology Summit-February 21-23, 2012

Conference Information

“The Ethernet Technology Summit focuses on the use of Ethernet throughout the networking space. This includes the emergence of 10-Gigabit Ethernet as a key LAN technology on the desktop and in data centers. It also covers the emerging standards for 40-Gigabit and 100-Gigabit Ethernet. It also includes the use of Ethernet as a carrier backbone and transport method, as well as in storage applications and in virtualized data centers and clouds.  Other topics of interest include design and development, fabrics, chipsets and components, security, delay and packet loss, convergence, big data, and market research.”

Why Should YOU Attend the Ethernet Technology Summit

    1. Get the latest information on 40/100 GbE, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and data center Ethernet,
    2. Find out about products that will meet the latest specs or help developers work with them,
    3. Ask questions of the experts who wrote the specs and created the initial products
    4. Get the latest Ethernet market research,
    5. Hear about technologies for data and telecom centers, including 10 GbE over copper, carrier Ethernet, Ethernet security, and OpenFlow.

Program - The Ethernet Technology Summit will provide attendees with practical information on the current state of Ethernet, the world’s most widely used networking technology. The Summit consists of:

  • Half-day tutorials
  • Panel discussions
  • Keynotes
  • Paper sessions
  • Workshops on high-speed signaling and beyond 100GbE
  • Expert table sessions

Typical topics of interest include:

  • 40/100-Gigabit Ethernet
  • Storage (FCoE, iSCSI)
  • Data Center Ethernet
  • Ethernet and cloud computing
  • 10-Gigabit Ethernet
  • Security
  • Virtualization
  • Energy-efficient Ethernet
  • Ethernet chips and processors
  • Carrier Ethernet
  • Test equipment
  • Software-based networking/OpenFlow
  • Quality of service issues
  • Power-over-Ethernet
  • Management

Intended Audience:

  • Design, software, and test engineers
  • Communications specialists
  • Hardware and software designers
  • Field technicians
  • Telecom service providers
  • Military and government installations
  • Venture capitalists
  • System analysts and engineers
  • High-performance computing specialists
  • Embedded system designers
  • Applications engineers
  • Engineering managers
  • Solution providers and consultants
  • VARs, OEMs, system integrators
  • Telecom hardware and software specialists
  • Design services companies
  • Marketing and product managers
  • Universities and research institutes

Issues
Ethernet Advantages: As the most common LAN technology, Ethernet is widely used and understood. Standards are managed through IEEE (IEEE 802), and work on new standards proceeds continously. Chips, parts, boards (particularly network interface cards or NICs), and expertise are all widely available. The Ethernet ecosystem is large and has many significant players, such as Cisco Systems, Intel, Broadcom, Marvell, Alcatel-Lucent, Hewlett-Packard, and Ericsson. Trade groups such as the Ethernet Alliance and MEF are very active and promote education, testing, and certification.

Challenges Facing Ethernet: Need for higher speed with 100-Gigabit Ethernet on the horizon, need for management, quality assurance, and security tools as Ethernet moves into service provider networks, reducing power usage, increasing bandwidth, and the need for software to handle storage-over-Ethernet and new approaches such as convergence and Fibre Channel over Ethernet.

Major Issues: Higher speed, higher effective bandwidth, lower power consumption, quality-of-service, security, management tools, test equipment, certification, convergence

What the experts are saying about Ethernet Technology

“FCoE, which combines the best of both worlds of Fibre Channel’s SAN predominance and Ethernet’s LAN predominance, is once again the newest addition to the long history of network technologies due to Ethernet’s powerful installed base as a physical network medium. Ethernet continues to preserve network infrastructure investments by virtue of continuous innovation while staying true to its massive client base.”
–
 Skip Jones , Chairman FCIA
“FCoE, which combines the best of both worlds of Fibre Channel’s SAN predominance and Ethernet’s LAN predominance, is once again the newest addition to the long history of network technologies due to Ethernet’s powerful installed base as a physical network medium. Ethernet continues to preserve network infrastructure investments by virtue of continuous innovation while staying true to its massive client base.”
–
 Alan weckek, Dell’Oro Group, January 2011

Server Design Summit-November 29-30, 2011 Santa Clara, CA

Please join gearbit at the Server Design Summit-November 29-30, 2011 Santa Clara, CA

Don’t miss this opportunity to participate in this power packed two day event! Take advantage of this opportunity to network with members of the server industry.

Servers are an enormous worldwide market! When combined with the multibillion dollar emerging cloud market, that means huge opportunities for Server Design Summit exhibitors! You won’t want to get left behind or fail to take advantage of the new combination of servers and the cloud.

As an exhibitor at the Server Design Summit you demonstrate your leadership in servers, make yourself known as a leader in cloud computing, and establish your position in the emerging high-performance, low-power cloud server era. Summit features include exclusive exhibit times (with no concurrent sessions), lunches and receptions in the Exhibit Hall, proven management team dedicated to helping your sales efforts, strong industry and user support (as shown by an extensive on-line survey), a convenient Silicon Valley location.

Conference Information

Server Design Summit is the only event focused entirely on the $40 billion server market. And it is the first event to deal with “Bringing Servers into the Cloud Computing Era”.

It will cover such key emerging topics as virtualization and consolidation, cloud computing, green design and energy saving methods, solid state drives, open specifications and standards, blade and appliance servers, high-performance servers, power and cooling, and low-latency and high-availability applications.

The Server Design Summit focuses on the design of next-generation servers ranging from simple blades to powerful high-end systems. Servers have the primary function of managing data transfers rather than actual computing. They generally operate in large racks in data centers. Problems include load balancing, power dissipation, consolidation, and expansion. Current issues include designing for virtualization and cloud computing, reducing power consumption, managing large numbers of servers (server farms), increasing throughput and performance, and bundling of servers, interfaces, and software into unified architectures. Other issues include the use of advanced interfaces and storage devices such as 10/40/100GbE, InfiniBand, NAS, SAN, and solid state drives.

Why Should YOU Attend the Server Design Summit

  • reduce server costs
  • save space in data centers
  • reduce server power consumption
  • allow for easier expansion of centers
  • simplify maintenance
  • reduce storage costs
  • solve cooling problems in data centers
  • consolidate servers
  • consolidate data centers
  • automate server management
  • reduce administrative overhead
  • identify interoperability issues
  • learn about server standards

Newsletter “Under The Hood” Winter 2012

The Gearbit newsletter “Under The Hood”

When examining the ongoing health of your network, it’s
important to have those important statistics. Most of us
use systems that show the up-down status, tell us the
utilization of various segments and ports of the network.
Even have some ability to measure response time. Not
to mention server performance, some status of DNS and
the firewall. But is that enough? When faced with an
application response time is slow, or VoIP quality is poor
will the statistics give you the answer?
Recalling a response time problem at a finical institution, a few techs gathered together in the bosses office to device a
game plan. As the information unrolled, with each person giving their thoughts on the matter, the list of things to check
began to grow. One tech insisted that the wiring needed to be redone at this location. He was convinced it had to be the
problem. Well, that was his area of expertise and he had just completed a site tour of this location. It was a mess. But was
that the problem? How do you know? I’ve found locations where this is the problem.
I find going back to the basics is needed from time to time. Ask yourself how did the information get from client to server
and back again? Starting at the Client PC leaving the operating systems, through the network interface, on the wire
through the switches, routers, firewalls, WAN compression, and oh yea then the cloud.
Getting to this information can sometime only be compiled with a protocol analyzer, viewing the packets and
understanding the traffic flow. Even today’s tools, such as Wireshark, will present this information to you in charts, graphs,
but it’s important to view the packet flow, down to the transaction to see if all is well.
Better analysis delivering and building more credibility diagnostics.
Our goals are to make
• A more transparent network operations
• Rapid problem identification and reporting for immediate resolution
• Improved efficiency in network information management with creditable findings
• Delivering faster and better decision making
• This leads to more transparent network operations to the end user.

To download a copy go to: (download pdf)

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT

Gearbox is a low cost solution equipped with a packet engine that inspects every packet. The expert deep packet inspection engine examines each packet for trouble and outputs accurate detailed alarms defining the problem.

We have included a select group of tools which are developed with automation intelligence and are tuned and configured for optimal effectiveness in locating network issues.
The gearbox allows you to:
  • Packet engine inspects packets in the network stream, examining for potential issues
  • Provides detail alarm anomaly alarms and notification anomaly log entry
  • Notification anomaly log entry can be retained for analysis or forwarded to central depository/ sys-log server for event management
  • Transfer knowledge-work with your IT staff to provide continuing education and support
  • Expertly assess your networking needs and continue to evaluate and improve your networks performance
The Gearbox also includes a select group of automated intelligence tools that are tuned and configured for optimal effectiveness in locating network issues.
  • Automated Expert Analysis
  • Problem Identification
  • I/O Statistics
  • Traffic Analysis and Performance
  • Seven Layer Protocol Monitoring, (DNS, Mail, Microsoft, SQL, Samba, VoIP, Web Protocols)
  • Knowledge Transfer