Juniper reveals branch router plans
Expect Juniper to roll out low-end branch-office routers over the next year as it tries to supply equipment for small businesses and branch offices, the new head of the company's branch-office business said during an interview at Interop.

Virtualization in Interop spotlight
With a focus on building virtualization into advanced data centers, the network industry will convene at its largest trade show this week in Las Vegas. Plus:
Interop network goes all-out virtual

Author kicks off Interop: 'IT does matter'
Interop Las Vegas kicked off today with a lecture from a college professor as the keynote address, a stark contrast to the industry luminaries who filled that slot in the past.

Video: Welcome to Interop 2008
Jason Meserve and Keith Shaw take their show on the road.

Extreme tops off data center rack
Extreme Networks this week threw its hat into the 10Gbps top of rack data center switching fray with a product that's designed to offer a migration path from 1Gbps and can scale through stacking.

Microsoft Vista security impresses IT staffers hot for NAC
Microsoft's network access control client in Vista and now in Windows XP has a lot of IT executives excited, according to an informal poll of about 250 attendees of an Interop Las Vegas NAC seminar who are actively considering deploying the access technology.

Microsoft: Hyper-V on fast track for summer release
Microsoft Tuesday confirmed that its Hyper-V server virtualization technology is likely to ship up to a couple months ahead of the previously projected date.

Free net monitoring tool gets a makeover
Spiceworks updates its IT Desktop application with an enhanced user interface, IT services activity feeds, report sharing features and Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory support.

Bell Labs spin-off to launch management appliance at Interop
Change and configuration management vendor nSolutions will introduce is NOVA line of appliances at Interop Las Vegas 2008.

Splunk augments IT search platform with change management add-on
Splunk develops add-on software to better manage change across heterogeneous environments.

Azaleos unveils SharePoint remote management service
E-mail service provider Azaleos Monday said it was expanding its focus and would add a remote monitoring service centered on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.

Interop vendors tout scalability
Speed and scalability are key attributes that WAN optimization and application acceleration vendors are touting at the Interop trade show and conference, going on this week in Las Vegas. A10 Networks, Citrix Systems and F5 Networks are among vendors displaying their latest wares at the show, and each is focused on satisfying the performance needs of today's most demanding enterprise data centers.

Interop for Cisco professionals
Cisco professionals will be running around like Peter Packet trying to see and do all the Cisco-related stuff at Interop this week. Note the Tuesday keynote, April 29, 3:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

LIVE CHAT

Network Access Control: fact and fiction with Joel Snyder
Mark your calendars for Monday May 5 from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. EST. Security guru Joel Snyder will guide you through the fact and fiction about NAC. He can answer your questions about what NAC products can and cannot do including integration with wireless, technology shortcomings, plug-ins and more. No registration necessary.

TODAY ON LAYER 8

We look at a science that at least sounds a lot simpler than Quantum Entanglement
Researchers have outlined an experiment they hope to conduct which would test atoms that would not only mean more accurate identifications of elements in everything from stars to environmental pollutants, but also could change the modern theory of the atom, researchers said.

FINAL DAY FOR APRIL GIVEAWAYS

Microsoft Subnet is giving away a Microsoft training course worth up to $2,500 courtesy of New Horizons; and 15 copies of the book "System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed."
Cisco Subnet is giving away a Cisco training course of the winner's choosing, worth up to $3,495, courtesy of Cisco training partner Skyline-ATS. Cisco Subnet also has 15 digital downloads of the Cisco Press book "CCSP SNPA Quick Reference" up for grabs. Go here for the entry instructions for all the competitions.