With the introduction of the OpenStack DNS service (designate) to the Rapid Access Cloud, users are now able to host and manage DNS zones and records, to assist with accessing and managing their resources. Nothing is required for users to start leveraging the OpenStack DNS service, as we have created automated convenience records for floating …
By the Cybera Data Science Team Introduction In our first blog, we used network speed test data captured by Ookla (speedtest.net) to analyze how internet speeds have changed in Canada from 2008-2014. While upload and download speeds are critical factors for people looking to participate in the digital economy, other factors such as network quality …
Does where you live affect your network quality? Read More »
On June 1 2016, Cybera officially transferred the operations of the Learning Management Cloud (LMC) to the University of Alberta. This was a bittersweet moment for us. We were sad to say goodbye to something that we had grown and developed since its inception in 2012. In a way, it was like sending our child …
Where are all the fibre networks in Alberta? How many free WiFi spots do we have access to in the province? And how soon until we see internet delivered by drones? After a year of researching, Cybera has unveiled a comprehensive update to the networking chapter of its 2014 State of Alberta Digital Infrastructure Report. The in-depth review looks at the …
New reports from Cybera give the low-down on Alberta’s networking capabilities Read More »
By the Cybera Data Science Team Introduction To an ever increasing degree, participation in the economy and society at large is mediated by the internet. If people don’t have good internet access, they feel disenfranchised. Currently in Canada, there are many, many people who feel disenfranchised. For several years now, it has seemed that internet …
Canada’s Internet Performance: What the Numbers Show Read More »
One of Cybera’s newest projects involves creating a pilot Identity Federation for Alberta K-12 School Authorities. This Identity Federation, known as MyUnifiED, will give participating school staff and students the ability to log into different web services using their school’s login account — they no longer need to have a separate set of credentials stored …
Welcome to the Rapid Access Cloud Experimental Region NOTE: The Area51 cloud region was decommissioned in 2018 Cybera’s Rapid Access Cloud provides a stable and reliable platform for non-production, demonstrative, or development purposes, using tried and well-tested OpenStack services like OpenStack Compute (nova) and OpenStack Object Storage (swift). Introducing new services to the Rapid Access …
By Richard Schreier, Project Manager, Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) Until recently, there was not a lot of choice in what domain name came after the dot in your web address. Traditionally, .CA or .COM were two of about 250 top-level domains (or TLDs in domain industry jargon) available, most of which were very specific to the …
Municipalities “to the right of the dot”. Imagine the new opportunities! Read More »
Early in the Pokemon Go craze, several articles warned that the game’s Terms & Conditions offered poor protection for the private details of those who downloaded the app, as it provided full access to users’ Google accounts. Clearly the majority of players did not read this policy (or care, if they did). At last check, …
Online privacy and security — whose responsibility? Read More »
By Michael Strobl, PhD Student, University of Alberta A common use of Cybera’s Rapid Access Cloud has been for classroom learning. Instructors from a number of Alberta institutions have used the cloud to run student assignments, teach the basics of cloud computing, or run modern-day analytics. This post highlights one such use case from the …
Classroom Case Study: Working with NoSQL Databases on the Rapid Access Cloud Read More »
Members of the Alberta Internet Buying Group may have noticed their internet bill was a little lower this month. July 2016 marked the seventh major decrease in the cost of bandwidth for the group, which was reduced from $5.75/Mbps to $5.00/Mbps. This month also marks the fourth anniversary of the Internet Buying Group. To celebrate its achievements over the past four …
Alberta’s Public Sector Celebrates Four Years of (More) Affordable Internet Read More »
Pokémon Go was officially released in Canada this weekend. The game has proven to be great for socializing, giving folks a reason to get out more, and people are even finding their love interests through the game (looks like Tinder has some competition). But the game is also giving headaches to police, raising safety issues, …
Network outages are never a pleasant experience, but they are even worse when you’re left in the dark and don’t know a) If the problem is on the local network, b) Whether anyone is looking into the problem, or c) What might be causing it. This used to be the case for some of Cybera’s …
Revere to the rescue: Cybera’s new network alerts system Read More »
As part of Cybera’s mandate to explore new technologies and share our experiences with stakeholders, we are actively looking for new ways to improve our processes and bring value to our research and education community. One of the first projects I worked on when I joined Cybera was our metrics dashboard… More specifically, I was …
The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) is the non-profit, community driven organization responsible for managing internet number resources in North America and parts of the Caribbean. Anyone residing in the ARIN region with an interest in internet governance is encouraged to apply for the Fellowship Program.
Last month’s Open Data Science Conference (ODSC) started with some hands-on problem solving for attendees to mull over: How long will it take 3,000 people to filter through one registration desk, given there are four possible streams they could register through, sorted alphabetically by last name? You might be tempted to reference last year’s registration …