Ethan Banks

Author Archives: Ethan Banks

Day Two Cloud 109: PacketFabric Wants To Make Networking As Easy As Cloud (Sponsored)

Today's sponsored Day Two Cloud episode talks WAN networking with PacketFabric. PacketFabric lets you provision point-to-point and hybrid cloud connectivity as a service. Built on a private fiber network, the company's goal is to let you set up networking as if it was software. Our guest is Anna Claiborne, Co-Founder, CTO and CPO.

The post Day Two Cloud 109: PacketFabric Wants To Make Networking As Easy As Cloud (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Heavy Networking 591: Want Network Automation? Start With Compliance And Validation (Sponsored)

On today's Heavy Networking podcast we discuss network compliance. The big idea is to rethink how you do compliance so that the process is automation friendly and accommodates all the network device types you have to manage. We're sponsored by Itential and our guest is Chris Wade, CTO.

The post Heavy Networking 591: Want Network Automation? Start With Compliance And Validation (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Heavy Networking 590: What It Takes To Build An ISP In 2021

There's a huge amount that goes into building an ISP, from getting access to poles to run fiber, operating a cable plant, setting up customer support and billing, getting network gear in place---not to mention developing a viable business model and funding the whole thing. On today's Heavy Networking podcast we talk with Jim Troutman of Tilson Technology Management about building a local ISP in New England.

The post Heavy Networking 590: What It Takes To Build An ISP In 2021 appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Heavy Networking 590: What It Takes To Build An ISP In 2021

There's a huge amount that goes into building an ISP, from getting access to poles to run fiber, operating a cable plant, setting up customer support and billing, getting network gear in place---not to mention developing a viable business model and funding the whole thing. On today's Heavy Networking podcast we talk with Jim Troutman of Tilson Technology Management about building a local ISP in New England.

Heavy Networking 589: Cloud Networking’s Good, Bad, And Ugly: What CSPs Don’t Tell You (Sponsored)

Today's Heavy Networking examines how some of the unpleasant bits of cloud networking can be improved, particularly in the areas of troubleshooting, visibility, security, and automation. Our sponsor is Aviatrix, and they’ve sent us three architects to nerd out about cloud network design and how Aviatrix might fit into the picture. Our guests are Brad Hedlund and James Devine from Aviatrix, and customer Chris Oliver with NI.

The post Heavy Networking 589: Cloud Networking’s Good, Bad, And Ugly: What CSPs Don’t Tell You (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Heavy Networking 589: Cloud Networking’s Good, Bad, And Ugly: What CSPs Don’t Tell You (Sponsored)

Today's Heavy Networking examines how some of the unpleasant bits of cloud networking can be improved, particularly in the areas of troubleshooting, visibility, security, and automation. Our sponsor is Aviatrix, and they’ve sent us three architects to nerd out about cloud network design and how Aviatrix might fit into the picture. Our guests are Brad Hedlund and James Devine from Aviatrix, and customer Chris Oliver with NI.

Heavy Networking 588: Exploring The Hidden Realms Of Subsea Cables With Telstra (Sponsored)

Subsea communications cables are an essential part of the global Internet. On today's Heavy Networking, sponsored by Telstra, we dive into the realms of undersea cables to learn how they are laid, signalling methods, POPs and landing stations, how they can be damaged (and repaired), and more. Our Telstra guests are Andy Lumsden, Head of Network Engineering and Operations; and Jeff McHardy, General Manager, Network Development and Commercial Management.

The post Heavy Networking 588: Exploring The Hidden Realms Of Subsea Cables With Telstra (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Heavy Networking 588: Exploring The Hidden Realms Of Subsea Cables With Telstra (Sponsored)

Subsea communications cables are an essential part of the global Internet. On today's Heavy Networking, sponsored by Telstra, we dive into the realms of undersea cables to learn how they are laid, signalling methods, POPs and landing stations, how they can be damaged (and repaired), and more. Our Telstra guests are Andy Lumsden, Head of Network Engineering and Operations; and Jeff McHardy, General Manager, Network Development and Commercial Management.

Heavy Networking 587: When Your Side Project Gets Billions Of Hits – The ICanHazIP Saga

Today on Heavy Networking, the icanhazip story. On the surface, icanhazip.com is simple enough: You hit the URL, and get back your external, public IP address. There are no ads, no blinky lights, just an IP. This free, simple utility has become widely popular, with billions of requests per day. We talk with creator Major Hayden about why and how he built icanhazip, the time and money he's invested, and the insane amount of personal effort it's taken to keep it going.

The post Heavy Networking 587: When Your Side Project Gets Billions Of Hits – The ICanHazIP Saga appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Heavy Networking 587: When Your Side Project Gets Billions Of Hits – The ICanHazIP Saga

Today on Heavy Networking, the icanhazip story. On the surface, icanhazip.com is simple enough: You hit the URL, and get back your external, public IP address. There are no ads, no blinky lights, just an IP. This free, simple utility has become widely popular, with billions of requests per day. We talk with creator Major Hayden about why and how he built icanhazip, the time and money he's invested, and the insane amount of personal effort it's taken to keep it going.

Day Two Cloud 105: How The Fly.io Cloud Brings Apps Closer To Users

Fly.io is a public cloud that can run your applications all over the world. The goal of Fly.io is to allow developers to self-service complicated infrastructure without an ops team, while making multi-region a default setting to get apps as close to the user as possible. Our guest is founder Kurt Mackey. This is not a sponsored show.

The post Day Two Cloud 105: How The Fly.io Cloud Brings Apps Closer To Users appeared first on Packet Pushers.

What Makes A Senior IT Engineer “Senior”?

Ravi asks the following…

I’m trying to figure out what makes a network engineer truly a “senior” engineer. What skills, mostly non-technical, do they possess in order to bring value to the work place?

I’ll share my opinions based on my experience having held junior and senior IT engineering roles, as well as multiple managerial stints with engineers as direct reports. I’m mostly going to address IT engineering broadly rather than networking specifically, as my opinion is the same no matter which tech silo an engineer might hail from.

Technical Skills

As Ravi asked about “mostly non-technical” skills, I’ll be brief here. From a technical perspective, I believe a senior IT engineer is primarily differentiated from a junior in one word–experience. The senior engineer has installed more systems, planned more changes, fixed more problems, and survived more outages than a junior engineer in the same organization.

Ideally, that experience has led to wisdom about how technology can best serve the business needs of an organization. This wisdom will tend to eschew needlessly complex designs, nerd knobs, and “science experiments” conducted in production. This wisdom will also result in difficult problems being resolved more quickly. Experienced folks know somewhat instinctively Continue reading

Heavy Networking 585: From Help Desk To Network Automation Engineer In 5 Years

Curt Norris started his career as an IT support specialist. Five years later he's an automation engineer. On today's Heavy Networking we discuss his career journey including milestones, ongoing learning, the pros and cons of mentorship, whether a degree makes a difference, and more.

The post Heavy Networking 585: From Help Desk To Network Automation Engineer In 5 Years appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Heavy Networking 584: Optimize Your Peering With Crosswork Cloud Traffic Analysis (Sponsored)

Today's Heavy Networking explores Crosswork Cloud Traffic Analysis from episode sponsor Cisco. This tool is designed to make you deeply knowledgeable about your BGP peering relationships and traffic flows throughout your infrastructure. It will also recommend the routing tweaks in your IGPs, BGP, RSVP-TE, and segment routing to eliminate those pesky congestion points. We also discuss the pros and cons of putting network management capabilities in the cloud.

The post Heavy Networking 584: Optimize Your Peering With Crosswork Cloud Traffic Analysis (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

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