Author Archives: Greg Ferro
Author Archives: Greg Ferro
In recent network designs, the big, hot and heavy chassis switch has become the last option for a number of reasons. Switch Performance and Capacity. Port Density In the past, the most common decision for buying a chassis has been port density. A chassis backplane provides a high speed connection for the line cards to […]
The post Last Chance at Chassis Switch Saloon appeared first on EtherealMind.
You can ignore big problems but they need big solutions to remove them from the agenda.
The post Big Problems Often Require Big Solutions appeared first on EtherealMind.
A couple of weeks ago, Cloudflare announced a new solution that allows DDOS Protection, Caching and application firewalls of SSL encrypted traffic without handing over the private key. This is a significant breakthrough for companies. Many companies have strong controls over private keys that prevent external sharing. More often the simple cost of key ceremonies is punitive to the business.
The post PQ Show 34 – Cloudflare Keyless SSL appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Greg Ferro.
I wish my life was like this dashboard where I could turn all the knobs to ten but I can't.
The post Poster: Life Dashboard appeared first on EtherealMind.
A constant refrain from vendors and software makers is that OpenFlow technology doesn't scale, is too complex, and doesn't work in hardware. Startups like Corsa are proving them wrong.
The post Corsa Adds BGP, Proves OpenFlow In Hardware Scales appeared first on EtherealMind.
There are many people who are dissatisfied with the social media platforms. I am too. I'm challenging myself to blog 30 times in 30 days to highlight the blog as the best social media platform.
The post I Challenge Me And You To 30 Blogs in 30 days appeared first on EtherealMind.
Is Enterprise IT starving its operational process by reducing headcount and overcapitalising on assets ? If so, what arguments can we make for or against this idea ? Part 2 of an essay on investing in people instead of equipment.
The post Blessay: Human Infrastructure Poverty & Over-Capitalisation In The Enterprise – Part 2 appeared first on EtherealMind.
When we spend millions of dollars on a network product we don't actually expect it to work. That's why it is completely normal to see job advertisement for a 5 day contract engagement to perform a validation that product doesn't have any bugs. Think about the cost incurred by this company to check if this Cisco Nexus is actually fit for purpose.
The post Rant: Oh, You Want It To Work As Well ? appeared first on EtherealMind.
Is Enterprise IT starving its operational process by reducing headcount and overcapitalising on assets ? If so, what arguments can we make for or against this premise ?
The post Blessay: Human Infrastructure Poverty & Over-Capitalisation In The Enterprise – Part 1 appeared first on EtherealMind.
Bra-padding is a term used to describe fluff marketing pieces about some relatively minor advance in product or technology. Mostly favoured by large incumbent technology vendors like EMC, Cisco etc who have an over-abundance of marketing people who need something to occupy their time.
The post Dictionary: Bra-padding appeared first on EtherealMind.
At the IDF 2014 conference, Intel made a big song and dance about their Rack Scale Architecture which removes the need for “top of rack” networking and changes the nature of servers in a big way. My initial impression is that this has limited application in the enterprise or cloud providers but might be useful […]
The post PQ Show 33 – Intel Rack Scale Architecture – Real or Impractical ? appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Greg Ferro.
It has been a while since Cisco acquired Tail-F but no one seems to have noticed how this acquisition impacts Cisco's competitors by upsetting the software development plans.
The post Musing: Cisco Buys Tail-F and Disrupts Competitor Product Development appeared first on EtherealMind.
When the sales grunt talks about investment protection, its sure sign that they have run out of features, functions or value propositions to sell you. But do you really need investment protection or is it just another revenue stream for vendors (and a cost for you).
The post Do You Really Need Investment Protection for Your Network ? appeared first on EtherealMind.
Collection of useful, relevant or just fun places on the Internets for 22 September 2014 and a bit commentary about what I've found interesting about them:
The post Internets of Interest – 22 September 2014 appeared first on EtherealMind.
Take a stroll through the Intel IDF 2014 conference which was all about the Software Defined Network/Storage/Infrastructure/Architecture ......
The post Network Break 17 appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Greg Ferro.
This blog post from Cloudflare should mean the end of big Internet pipes in Enterprise Data Centre with massive reductions in load balancers, IDS units and web servers.
The post Response: CloudFlare Keyless SSL Means The End of Big Pipes and Load Balancers in The Data Centre appeared first on EtherealMind.
When using Open Daylight (ODL), two open standards for configuration are OpenFlow & NETCONF. Which is the better choice ? Is there an option for both ? A use case on when to use OpenFlow and NETCONF protocols in the Enterprise by using the best features of each protocol.
The post OpenDaylight in the Enterprise: OpenFlow and NETCONF in the right places appeared first on EtherealMind.
This week, EVO:RAIL & Converged thingies, Cisco's multiple SDN strategies, Don't be a precious snowflake and Congress open source project.
The post Network Break 16 appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Greg Ferro.
The post Poster: State of SDN in 2014 appeared first on EtherealMind.
Vendors keep telling me that every business is different and customer have different needs. We all buy the same products from the same companies, use the same deployment methodologies and best practices, have the same problems and deliver the same results to the business. You aren't a precious snowflake.
The post Rant: You Are Not A Precious Snowflake. IT Infrastructure Is The Same Everywhere. appeared first on EtherealMind.