Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Intel touts progress toward 50Gbps optical link

Intel has reportedly shown working prototypes of silicon for a photonics link that moves data at 50Gbps. Capable of transmitting the equivalent of an entire HD movie every second, the technology will be ready to be integrated into PCs, embedded devices, and consumer electronics by 2015, according to the chipmaker.





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At a company event this week, Intel demonstrated what it said were working prototypes of the chips that will be used to transmit and receive data optically, according to IDG News Service writer Agam Shah. Non-working mockups of the cables that will be used to carry the data were also displayed, the story adds.

Intel first announced its 50Gbps phototonics link last year in conjunction with the Integrated Photonics Research Conference held in Monterey, Calif. Justin Rattner, Intel chief technology officer and director of Intel Labs, said at the time that "the silicon photonics link ... marks a significant achievement in our long term vision of siliconizing' photonics and bringing high bandwidth, low cost optical communications in and around future PCs, servers, and consumer devices."

Intel's silicon photonics transmitter and receiver
Intel previously claimed the silicon photonics interconnect (above) would work over distances of up to 50 meters (about 160 feet). But IDG'sShah now quotes Jeff Demain, Intel's strategy director of circuits andsystem research at Intel Labs, as saying the 50Gbps links will work upto 100 meters.

Demain is to have added that the silicon photonics technology --expected to be ready for commercial use by 2015 -- will coexist with itsearlier Light Peak interconnect. The latter currently runs at 10Gb/sec. over copper and isslated for an optical upgrade next year.

As we review later in this story, Intel now refers to Light Peak as Thunderbolt. The technology was brought to market in February on three Apple MacBook Pro notebook computers.

"We see (silicon photonics and Thunderbolt) as complementary. It's theevolution of these connectors and protocols as they move forward,"Demain was quoted as saying. Thunderbolt is more than a cable. It's arouter chip that aggregates DisplayPort and PCI-Express."

According to Intel, its silicon photonics technology stems from a 2006 breakthrough, whereby the light-emitting properties of Indium Phosphide were combined for the first time with the light-routing capabilities of silicon in a single hybrid chip. The prototypes are said to include four silicon lasers, whose light beams each travel into an optical modulator that encodes data onto them at 12.5Gbps. The four beams are then combined and sent to a single optical fiber for a total data rate of 50Gbps, the chipmaker says.

At the other end of the fiber, a receiver chip separates the four optical beams and directs them into photo detectors, converting their data back into electrical signals. The transmitter and receiver are "assembled using low-cost manufacturing techniques familiar to the semiconductor industry," according to Intel.

More about Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt reached the market on three MacBook Pro laptops from Apple: a 13-inch model that starts at $1,199; a 15-inch model starting at $1,799, and a 17-inch model that costs $2,499. Still an Apple exclusive at this point, it can be recognized on all three portables by a DisplayPort-style interface decorated with a Thunderbolt icon (below).

Thunderbolt uses a DisplayPort-style connector

According to Intel, the key to Thunderbolt's abilities is a controller chip (below left) that allows both DisplayPort and PCI Express protocols to be carried over a single cable (below right). This controller offers "low latency with highly accurate time synchronization," and provides for bus-powered devices (up to 10 Watts), the company adds.

Intel's Thunderbolt controllers (left) are intended for PCs and up to six peripherals (right)
(Click either to enlarge)

Apple's MacBook Pro product page touts Thunderbolt as offering "two 10Gb/sec. data channels," while Intel says it features "dual-channel 10Gbps per port." This means "a full 10 Gb./sec of bandwidth can be provided for the first device, as well as additional downstream devices," the chipmaker adds.

A Promise storage device connected to Apple's new MacBook Pro via Thunderbolt
(Click to enlarge)

We interpret these claims as meaning that while Thunderbolt never offers more than 10Gb/sec. of bandwidth, it does not slow down when multiple devices are connected. According to Intel, Thunderbolt allows up to seven devices (a PC and six peripherals) to be connected to a single cable with almost no latency. The distance between each of the devices may be up to three meters (9.8 feet), the company adds.

Thunderbolt-ready peripherals such as LaCie's Little Big Disk include dual ports so they can be part of a daisy chain. Apart from Apple, vendors that have signed on include Aja, Apogee, Avid, Blackmagic, Promise, and Universal Audio, Intel said in February.

Thunderbolt requires no termination, unlike SCSI, but Intel says any DisplayPort device needs to be the last one in a chain (so, apparently, the interconnect will not support multiple monitors). Given that it relays both DisplayPort and PCI Express signals, Thunderbolt will make it "simple to create gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, or eSATA adapters using existing PCI Express device drivers," the chipmaker adds.

Intel's 50Gbps silicon photonics link
Further information
More information on Intel's silicon photonics research may be found on the company's website, here. A related presentation, white paper, and backgrounder, all in PDF format, may be found here, here, and here, respectively.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

My Fav Free Forensic Analysis Tools

I was talking about colleges with my son the other day to see what he is interested in for a possible major. I was hoping and praying he wouldn't say English since my guidance there would be like trying to divide by zero or philosophy because that meant he'd be living here until his late 30's. He told me he was interested in being a detective. Well! I must say my ears perked right up! I have always thought the two best careers in IT are forensics and data center. But no...he wants to be a actual detective...like you know the ones that carry a badge and stuff. I'm not sure were that even came from to be honest. He doesn't watch detective shows or read detective novels. Heck the closest I was to ever being a detective was looking for my pants and wondering why I was wearing moose antler horns and a eye patch after a blackout. Well I guess it could been worse. He could have wanted to go to Auburn...




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But that got me thinking about forensics itself and some of the tools I use. I believe that if someone is just getting into IT and they want a solid career path, it's hard to beat forensic science or data center engineering. Understand to be good in forensics you really need to understand HOW data actually works and moves though a system. Forensics is a top level discipline that you work towards after you master PCs, servers, networking (especially networking) and coding. Sounds tough but man alive is it a lot of fun. I would not say I am a forensics expert. Not even close. I am more of a hobbyist in this area. Now some of the tools out there in forensics are VERY expensive due to their incredible speed and "court room" validation.

However, if you just wanting to mess around and practice on a few machines to see if this is a career path for you, here are a few of the freebie tools I use and have had a ton of success with.

Are your pants on fire yet? Web Browsers analysis
This most common use I see for forensic hobbyist is getting to a history file when the history has been erased. This is a browser specific function so the tools must use the browser API's to accomplish this. Here are a few of my favs:
- From across the pond the folks at Forensics-software http://forensic-software.co.uk have two most excellent tools. Fox Analysis and Chrome Analysis
- If it's IE your looking for then its really hard to beat Nirsoft http://www.nirsoft.net/ I absolutely love their IECookieViewer They have a bunch of other tools as well for you to mess around with but their IE stuff is really second to none. Honorable mention to their Skype Log View as well. Very cool tool!

Email Fun
Email is more difficult to find a freeware tool on the forensics side of the house. Email is really a database with a bunch of insane tables and procedures that can lead you down a path more dangerous then walking around Olongopo drunk with money falling out of your pockets. And before you ask No wasn't me on the don't do this poster... Email Detective is a proggy we used back in the AOL/Compuserv days to rebuild email. About the only game on the freeware side of the track is from MiTec http://www.mitec.cz/mailview.html out of the Czech Republic called Mail Viewer It's lightweight and works good on Outlook Express, T-Bird and Windows Live email. See the commonality here? All of the email is cached or stored local and not on a server. For Outlook and other server based DB style systems, I just have not found a good freeware email tool I really like too much.

Lookin' for a file in a haystack
There are so many attributes to look at with files. The good news here is there is no shortage of really good freebie tools that allow you dissect a file with the precision of a kid removing the vegetables out of Kung Pow Chicken. For stuff like reconstructing images to see if folks have been taking pictures of you eating a salad at a steakhouse (I was watching for my wife!) it's hard to beat Forensic Image Viewer from Sanderson Forensics http://www.sandersonforensics.com also check out MFTview while your there. He requires you to register to download, but it is totally worth it!
- A tool I really love to mess around with is Memoryze from Mandiant http://www.mandiant.com/products/free_software/memoryze/ This digital bundle of awesomeness allows you to analyze live memory and even page files on a running system. It works great even on memory images. Oh man this tools digital foot must be hurtin' from the ass it kicks!

But, isn't there a ISO we can use like BackTrack instead of messin' round and piece mailing all of these tools?
ISO are really awesome. Just like there are many different fishing lures to catch Bass, there's also multiple ISO for different forensics needs. Of course you can just use the forensics mode on BT and it works good also. Here are a couple others I keep close at hand.
- Caine Live CD http://www.caine-live.net/ is one of my favs. Full featured with a ton of useful scripts built right in, this is a great general propose ISO with great support and really does Italy proud!
- Deft Linuxhttp://www.deftlinux.net/ another great ISO from Italy this is also another full featured ISO. It is very well documented and man alive is it fast! When I need speed, I turn to Deft!
- Plain Sight http://www.plainsight.info/ is a great ISO to get started on messing around with forensics and it has a lot horsepower too! The volatile memory examination tools are really the stuff!

Websites baby!
Some of my RSS locked forensics favs are:
- http://www.forensicfocus.com/ hardcore folks, news and training here!
- http://www.forensicswiki.org/wiki/Tools Nice up to date tool wiki
- http://www.ciscoworkshops.com Great free geek workshops that cover all things computer geeks dig!

Forensics is a huge field and I believe folks can really make there mark here. It really overlays nearly every single piece of IT out there today and oh man are these folks in demand. Plus it a fun hobby to get into just to really improve your troubleshooting skills. Well, time for me to head off to a customer call. I just glad he likes to talk networking on a Bass boat....

Jimmy Ray Purser

Trivia File Transfer Protocol
Soon after the site was established MGM/UA set up a website for Hackers it was hacked! A group calling itself the Internet Liberation Front managed to draw all over the photo of Hackers stars Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller, and replaced verbiage, 'this is going to be an entertaining, fun promotional site for a movie,' with 'this is going to be a lame, cheesy promotional site for a movie!' The studio decided to maintain the site during the theatrical run of the movie in its altered form. At least their not Sony....

Monday, June 6, 2011

Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt)

As fate would have it, an Intel chipset glitch delayed shipments of almost every laptop manufacturer, save one. Apple, which has typically been last in transitioning to new technology, is now among the first to launch laptops with Sandy Bridge (known officially as second-generation Core CPUs)—and arriving first has its privileges. The Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) ($2,199 direct) is the fastest laptop on our bench, thanks to a component overhaul that involves the first ever quad-core processor on a Mac laptop and a rekindled romance with AMD graphics. And then there's Thunderbolt, a new connection technology that has mounds of potential, but I'll contain my excitement until compatible peripherals ship. This, and a new Facetime HD Webcam, places the MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) at the peak of technology's Mount Olympus and earns it an Editor's Choice in the desktop replacement laptop category.


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Thunderbolt Icon Is the only Design Change
Design-wise, don't expect a thinner or lighter laptop. The only change to the design is the addition of a Thunderbolt icon next to mini-Displayport. The MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) keeps its wondrous shape and form, since all of the changes are from within. At the moment, I don't see a need to alter its exterior. It's still the thinnest, most streamlined laptop in its class, made so by carving the center out of a thin slab of aluminum. It's at least a quarter of an inch thinner and about a pound lighter, at 5.5 pounds, than the Dell XPS 15 ($1,115 direct, 4.5 stars) (6.3 lbs) and Asus N53JF-XE1 ($1,015 street, 4 stars) (6.3 lbs).
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Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) : Top
Apple MacBook Pro : Angle
Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) : Angle
Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) : Front

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The MacBook Pro15-inch (Thunderbolt) has several screen options, all of which require that you pay a significant premium, although I can't think of many consumer laptops that have an anti-glare screen (a $150 option). There are laptops that can scale to higher resolutions, though. The XPS 15 and the N53JF-XE1 either ship or have an option for a 1080p display (1,920-by-1,080); the Macbook Pro 15-inch is available with a 1,440-by-900 or 1,680-by-1,050 display ($100). Still, having screen options is a luxury that few others are willing to offer. The HP Pavilion dv7-4283cl, for instance, is only available with a glossy screen and 1,600-by-900 resolution.

The chiclet-style keyboard carries on the Macbook Pro tradition of black keys that matches the black of the screen's bezel. Backlights, which are found between the keys and aluminum foundation, are absolutely invaluable in low-lit situations. You can also find a backlit keyboard in the XPS 15. The signature Apple clickpad dwarfs all others in terms of size and responsiveness. No other touchpad can recognize two- to four-finger gestures as accurately and fluidly as Apple's, and the reason for this is two-fold: First, it's made of glass, which doesn't wear out over time. Others use acrylic or some lesser material in their touchpad construction. Second, the coding drivers and software for the touchpad are created in-house (instead of through some third-party developer) so that each click, swipe, or pinch works to perfection.
Specifications

Type Gaming, Media, Business, Small Business, Desktop Replacement
Processor Name Intel Core i7-2720QM
Operating System Mac OS X 10.6
Processor Speed 2.2 GHz
RAM 4 GB
Weight 5.5 lb
Screen Size 15.6 inches
Screen Size Type widescreen
Graphics Card AMD Radeon HD 6750M
2nd Graphics Card Intel HD Graphics 3000
Storage Capacity (as Tested) 750 GB
Networking Options 802.11n
Primary Optical Drive DVD+R DL

What is Thunderbolt?
The last time Apple led the way with a new connection technology was when it initiated the FireWire standard. Thunderbolt, an I/O technology from Intel (codenamed Light Peak), operates under a similar principle in that it boosts transfer rates to unprecedented levels. The technology lives inside the mini-Displayport, so structurally the port looks exactly like the one in the previous MacBook Pro iterations. But when it's connected to a Thunderbolt-equipped peripheral, transfer rates can hit a theoretical 10Gbps. That's roughly 21 times the speed of USB 2.0 and FireWire 400, 12 times that of Firewire 800, and twice that of USB 3.0.

The Thunderbolt port, as Apple explains it, is essentially taking PCI Express—the channel that every port and slot goes through—out of the box. It's like finding the shortcut that gets you directly onto the five-lane highway. Originally, Intel designed Thunderbolt to work over an optical cable, but because it has yet to figure out how to power external peripherals through this method, copper is used instead. You'll need a new cable that runs from the Thunderbolt/mini-Displayport to the external device. Yes, it can still output to an external display—or connect to any device for that matter. As proof, Apple demonstrated a RAID server (made by Promise Technologies) attached to the laptop, which was then attached to an Apple Cinema Display, in a daisy chain configuration. Thunderbolt is bi-directional, meaning it can have two streams going at the same time—up to 10Gbps for each stream. In practice, for instance, you can simultaneously stream four uncompressed 1080p video clips from the RAID server to the laptop (first stream) and then display out to the Cinema Display at the same time (second stream) without lag or distortion. You can barely stream one uncompressed 1080p clip through FireWire, let alone four. During Apple's demonstration, transfer speeds were peaking at 5Gbps—the realistic speed of Thunderbolt, judging by the throughput meter Apple had in place.

You can also think of Thunderbolt as a universal port. If a company were to create a Thunderbolt hub or adapter, it can work with all sorts of connection technologies, including FireWire, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, eSATA, and Gigabit Ethernet. Remember, all of these technologies go through PCI Express at some point. Before you get too excited, though, Thunderbolt peripherals won't ship for months (the ones that were on display were prototypes), and Apple is rumored to have an exclusive on this technology until 2012. So doubts about its adoption rate is completely understandable. Update: Intel pointed out that there is no exclusivity on Thunderbolt, OEMs are free to implement it when they think the time is right.)

Facetime HD and Usual Suspects of Features
With the new HD Webcam sensor, video feeds no longer look grainy or grotesquely stretched when filling the entire screen. The streams are broadcast at a resolution of 1,280-by-720 (720p), which is about 3 times the resolution of the Webcam in previous MacBook Pro models. Video chatting with the Facetime app, over a Wi-Fi connection, was free of distortions. The MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) isn't the only laptop with an HD Webcam, though. You can find one in the Dell XPS 15, which has a Skype-certified HD Webcam. Lenovo, Sony, and HP have also rolled out laptops with 720p-capable HD Webcams.

Every other port and slot remains untouched from the previous iteration. It has two USB ports, FireWire 800, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and SDXC media card slot. The dual-layer DVD burner will seem generic compared with the Blu-Ray drives found in the Dell XPS 15 and HP Pavilion dv7-4283cl ($999.99 list, 4 stars). And don't expect to see a Blu-ray drive in a Mac laptop anytime soon, as this is a road Apple so far refuses to take. This configuration ships with a 750GB hard drive that spins at 5400rpm; the Dell XPS 15 and HP dv7-4283cl come with faster 7200rpm drives. The MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) offers SSD drives as well, in 128GB ($100), 256GB ($500), and 512GB ($1,100) capacities.

Massive Component Overhaul
Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) With Intel's second-generation Core architecture, this isn't a mere brain transplant where you swap out one processor for another—it's a multi-organ makeover. For the first time in MacBook Pro history, the MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) is equipped with a quad-core processor—a 2.2GHz, Intel Core i7-2720QM (past models had dual-core processors). The two extra cores play a vital role in multithreaded tasks, such as those found in professional video and photo editing packages (think Final Cut Pro and Adobe Products). A revamped architecture also means faster memory speeds (up to 1333MHz), although capacities are still 4GB to start, 8GB ($200) maximum.

On our PCMark Vantage test—a gauge of overall performance—the MacBook Pro 15-inch scored 8,315 (under Windows 7 Home Premium via Bootcamp), outpacing the Asus N53SV-A1 (7,257), which has a second-generation 2GHz Intel Core i7 2630QM CPU and 4GB of memory (stay tuned for our review).. The MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) finished Handbrake, a single-threaded video transcoding test, in 1 minute 53 seconds, well ahead of the Asus N53SV-A1 (2:06). It crushed the previous Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Core i5), particularly in Cinebench 11.5 (5.07) and Handbrake (1:53) tests where the gains were doubled. It wouldn't even be fair to compare the MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) to the Dell XPS 15, Asus N53JF-XE1, and HP dv7-4283cl, since the other three are running previous-generation Intel parts. Suffice it to say, it was a massacre, but I suppose being first with new technologies on our labs bench has its advantages.

One of the more unexpected changes lies in the graphics. Apple has long been an Nvidia proponent on the laptop side, although it has used ATI (now AMD) graphics chips in the past. But the company believes that the AMD Radeon 6750M is a better 3D chip, and the performance numbers bear that out. This is the first time a MacBook Pro has broken the 10,000 point mark in 3DMark06 (it scored 10,878), edging the Asus N53SV-A1 (10,073) and its Nvidia GeForce GT 540M GPU. The MacBook Pro15-inch (Thunderbolt) blew past the Dell XPS 15 (8,174) and HP dv7-4283cl (4,723) in the same test, although the Dell XPS 15 is being updated with a new Nvidia chip as we speak. At high-quality settings, popular game titles like Crysis (18.8 frames per second) and Lost Planet 2 (30.8 fps) were absolutely playable, as I found out by running them in Windows 7, via Bootcamp.

Apple also found a way to link its Automatic Graphics Switching (AGS) technology with the AMD graphics chip, whereas Windows-based laptops are still performing the switch manually through software. The switch, like the previous iteration, is done automatically by recognizing which apps or tasks require a heavy-duty graphics chip. So plugging in an external display, running 3D games, or transcoding an HD video defaults to the AMD Radeon 6750M, while basic tasks (e-mail, Web browsing, etc) defaults to the integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics. Apple will also let you to force the laptop to run on the AMD graphics, done through system preferences.

Although the size of the battery didn't change and the internals aren't any more energy efficient than the previous platform, the MacBook 15-inch (Thunderbolt) improved its battery score on MobileMark 2007 (run in Windows via Bootcamp) to 4 hours 40 minutes (from 3 hours, 21 minutes in the previous version). It goes without saying that power management and battery optimizations are better tuned in the Mac OS 10 environment than in Windows7, which is why I also looped a MP4 movie file in OS 10 until the battery died. The 15-inch lasted 6 hours 43 minutes in this test. Whether it's in Windows 7 or Mac OS 10, it outlasted the Dell XPS 15 (3:48 on MobileMark 2007) and Asus N53JF-XE1 (3:15).

Final Thoughts
Now, I realize that it's still early in the game, as scores of laptops will eventually arrive on my bench with Intel's second-generation chips and with graphics chips as powerful as the ones found in Apple's new laptops. As it stands, however, the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) is the fastest and fastest shipping laptop to date (you can stroll into Apple store and buy one as we speak), and it's all thanks to an Intel chipset glitch that prevented every other manufacturer from shipping their new laptops on time. Apple has assured me that this glitch will not affect any of the MacBook Pros, since they're all using new and unaffected chipsets from Intel.

As for the new Intel architecture, this happens once every year, if not longer, and Apple made the most of it. The speeds clocked from our full range of performance tests were mind-blowingly fast, as were the graphics frame rates that came from a renewed partnership with AMD. Although Thunderbolt is still very early in its third-party support stages, it's a hot new technology that Apple wrestled away from everyone else. Add the Facetime HD Webcam and the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) is a technological tour de force.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

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