Juniper Networks is putting more Marvis in everything. In a major announcement this week they released several new products. One of those was expanding the Mist AI platform into Juniper Apstra to create more integration between the two acquisitions. WIth Apstra you get intent-based networking and with Mist you get access to a virtual network assistant that can answer questions about issues or provide help with configuration. This and more on this week’s Gestalt IT Rundown. Thanks to Max Mortillaro for sitting in.

If you’ve ever managed ACLs for a firewall you know there has to be a better way, especially at scale. Tom Hollingsworth takes a look at a new solution from Invariant that has impressive roots and room to grow.

According to a recent report from the IEA, data center electricity demands are set to rise over the next three years. The report discusses the CO2 emissions and the potential mitigation that companies have committed to doing to achieve carbon neutrality. Also of note was the assertion that clean energy sources could meet this growing demand to help offset the need to rely on older power systems that are harder to optimize for efficiency.

Synopsys has officially agreed to acquire Ansys in a landmark $35 billion deal. Specializing in electronic design automation (EDA) tools, Synopsys is integrating Ansys’ electronics design analysis and simulation tools.

InfiniBand is the king of AI networking today. Ethernet is making a big leap to take some of that market share but it’s not going to dethrone the incumbent any time soon. In this episode, join Jody Lemoine, David Peñaloza, and Chris Grundemann along with Tom Hollingsworth as they debate the merits of using Ethernet in place of InfiniBand. They discuss the paradigm shift as well as the suitability of the protocols to the workloads as well as how Ultra Ethernet is similar to another shift in converged protocols – Fibre Channel over Ethernet.

Two of the biggest players in the networking space are about to become one. Rumors started swirling on Monday evening that HPE was looking to acquire Juniper Networks and those rumors were confirmed yesterday. HPE will be paying $40/share or approximately $14 billion for all of the company. Juniper started off as a huge player in the service provider space before making strategic acquisitions of companies like Mist Systems and Apstra to become a force in the wireless and data center networking space. The move has the networking analysts abuzz with potential for integration of AI software as well as complementary product lines.

AI is going to accelerate development of malware everywhere from code to prompts for social engineering. But tools can be used for defense as well as offense. In this episode of the On-Premise IT Podcast, Tom Hollingsworth is joined by Girard Kavalines, Ziv Levy, and Matt Tyrer as they debate the impact that AI will have on malware development in 2024 and beyond. Hear how AI can drive automation on both sides of the security spectrum as well as how we can better prepare to face an onslaught of assisted attackers.

Intel has been stepping up their game in the AI ecosystem. Both Meteor Lake and the latest Emerald Rapids Xeon SP processors are being positioned as edge computing powerhouses. From running AI workloads on end-user systems to providing support for AI frameworks throughout the infrastructure Intel is looking to break into the market that is dominated by big players right now. Perhaps we can take a quick look at why Intel sees so much promise here but also the hurdles they’ll have to clear to stake a claim.

IT security policies are aspirational goals because they have so many exceptions. The difference between being hacked and being safe could come down to one employee. In this episode, Tom Hollingsworth sits down with Jasper Bongertz and Brian Knudtson to talk about how security polices are inherently fragile and can cause people to have more faith in them than they should. Also discussed is how people are not always the problem in these situations and how companies can do a better job of crafting documents that reflect real-world applications of protection.

Meet Mike Bolitho, a wireless engineer for a major medical company. He sat down with Tom Hollingsworth at Mobility Field Day, where they discuss Mike’s background in enterprise IT. Mike initially considered law school but ended up in IT, working for one of the largest US healthcare systems, specializing in Wi-Fi. His typical day involves a lot of design work, predictive surveys, troubleshooting, and disproving that Wi-Fi is not always the culprit. Mike envisions reaching a principal or architect level position in the future, focusing on making decisions for the entire enterprise.