Cumulus content roundup: January

The new year is now in full swing and we’re excited about all the great content we’ve shared with you so far! In case you missed some of it, here’s our Cumulus content roundup- January edition. As always, we’ve kept busy last month with lots of great resources and news for you to read. One of the biggest things we announced was our new partnership with Nutanix but wait, there’s so much more! We’ve rounded up the rest of the right here, so settle in and stay a while!

From Cumulus Networks:

Cumulus + Nutanix = Building and Simplifying Open, Modern Data Centers at Scale: We are excited to announce that Cumulus and Nutanix are partnering to build and operate modern data centers with open networking software.

Cumulus Networks Strengthens Board of Directors Amid Record Growth and Market Adoption of its Open, Modern Networking Software: Former Deutsche Bank Group COO, Kim Hammonds, joins board as company leads the transition to open networking and data center modernization

Moving a Prototype Network to Production: With prototyping production networks, the network becomes elevated to a standard far superior to the traditional approaches.

Operations guide: We thought it would be great Continue reading

Cumulus + Nutanix = Building and Simplifying Open, Modern Data Centers at Scale

We are excited to announce that Cumulus and Nutanix are partnering to build and operate modern data centers with open networking software. We’ve worked closely with Nutanix, a leader in enterprise cloud computing, to develop a joint integration that will solve one of the most pressing enterprise infrastructure problems by unlocking the power of hyperconverged systems with open networking.

It’s a challenge every enterprise knows all too well: siloed servers, storage and compute make traditional IT infrastructure expensive and complex to maintain and creates a dynamic that holds back business innovation. Hyperconverged infrastructure with modern, open networking software allows for agility, flexibility, and a greatly simplified operational model across compute, storage, and networking. Our joint solution brings a fully automated and highly distributed network fabric to hyperconverged workloads for the modern data center.

Together, Cumulus and Nutanix unite compute, storage, virtualization and now networking in an open, scalable, and efficient way for today’s modern data center.

Cumulus Linux and NetQ with Nutanix delivers tangible business value by increasing operational efficiency shortening the time required to stand up Nutanix clusters, organizational agility by improving the user experience via a single interface using Nutanix Prism, streamlined procurement through common hardware partners such Continue reading

Kernel of Truth episode 10: 2019 predictions

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As we enter the year, many, if not most, organizations have already been engaging in 2019 planning and strategizing. With that in mind, we thought what better way to wrap up our first season of Kernel of Truth than with an episode dedicated to trends and predictions straight from the brains of some of Cumulus’ brightest — CTO and Co-founder, JR Rivers, TME manager Pete Lumbis, and consultant David Marshall.

Join as we as discuss EVPN, virtualization, keeping up with the demands of digital transformation and more. This will be our last episode of the season, with our next season kicking off later this month.

Guest Bios

JR Rivers: JR is a co-founder and CTO of Cumulus Networks where he works on company, technology, and product direction. JR’s early involvement in home-grown networking at Google and as the VP of System Architecture for Cisco’s Unified Computing System both helped fine tunehis perspective on networking for the modern datacenter. Follow him on Twitter at @JRCumulus

Pete Lumbis: Pete is a Technical Marketing Engineer at Cumulus Networks. He helps Continue reading

Cumulus content roundup: November

We’re at it again with the Cumulus content roundup- November edition. As always, we’ve kept busy this month with lots of great resources and news for you to read. From EVPN Underlay Routing Protocol to the benefits of Layer 3, we’ve rounded it all up right here, so settle in and stay a while!

From Cumulus Networks:

Choosing an EVPN Underlay Routing Protocol: We take a look at the options in routing protocols that could use as an underlay with the objective of understanding what might make them a fit or not for deployment in an EVPN network.

The Benefits of Flexible Multi-Cloud and Multi-Region Networking: Here we explore some of the reasons multi-cloud is fantastic for enterprises when they consider security, flexibility, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

Cumulus Linux Automation with Standard Linux Tooling: This blog focuses on the different options available for modern automation, & how the Cumulus Linux approach provides the greatest amount of flexibility.

Cumulus Networks Open-Ended NCLU Net Example Command: NCLU is the always helpful Network Command Line Utility and supports both inspection and modification of Cumulus Networks configuration data.

Layer 3 can do it better. I’m convinced. You should be too.: Are you bringing the best solution Continue reading

Cumulus Networks Open-Ended NCLU Net Example Command

NCLU is the always helpful Network Command Line Utility. It’s a command interface for our products and platforms that’s designed to provide direct, simple access to network configuration information. Thus, NCLU supports both inspection and modification of Cumulus Networks configuration data. Better yet, NCLU is easy to customize for local environments and naming conventions using its net example facility.

NCLU Overview

In general, NCLU enables users at the command line to learn about current configurations, and make changes or additions to such configurations. NCLU reports on Interfaces and can provide information about IP addresses, VLANs, Access controls, Trunking, STP, and more. At the routing level, NCLU provides information about Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol settings and configurations. NCLU also offers information about services, including hostnames, NTP (Network Time Protocol), Timezone, and so on.

NCLU also includes comprehensive, context-sensitive help. Starting with the basic net command, users can learn about the various sub-commands available to them. Similarly, entering net <sub-command-name> provides help for that specific sub-command. This is how Cumulus (and other forms of) Linux delivers help information for users of complex commands like net.

In addition, NCLU commands provide control over configuration staging, Continue reading

Cumulus Linux Automation with Standard Linux Tooling

One thing’s for sure: The world of networking and networking administration is quickly changing. Part of this change is an evolution from old-school, proprietary centralized networking to more open options. This evolution has several different effects on the way network designers, administrators and engineers design and operate the network. This blog will focus on the different options available for modern automation, and how the Cumulus Linux approach provides the greatest amount of flexibility.

Breaking the Stranglehold

It wasn’t too long ago that the few big networking vendors had an almost unbreakable grip on organizational networking implementations, and correspondingly, with the way these implementations were managed. For most, this included the configuration of the various types of networking equipment using a command-line interface (CLI) and proprietary commands. Automating these types of solutions most often required either an offering developed by the vendors themselves, or the use of an application programming interface (API) written to interface with their products.

The question is whether this was a good thing or not. Generally, vendor-specific solutions have their advantages because they’re able to interface closely with the specific device code and take advantage of communications between the device coding team and the tools coding team.

Continue reading

Use Cumulus HTTP API to Help Automate Common Network Tasks

Cumulus Linux includes a RESTful programming interface for accessing network devices running that OS. It’s called HTTP API, and it implements an API to access the OpenStack ML2 driver and Network Command Line Utility, or NCLU. Understanding exactly what this means, and how it works, is essential before digging into the possibilities it presents. Here’s an overview to get this going.

The OpenStack ML2 Driver

The ML2 Driver, a.k.a. (in OpenStack’s terms) the Modular Layer 2 neutron plug-in, provides a framework. It enables OpenStack-based networking to use a variety of Layer 2 networking technologies, including those from Cumulus (for which a specific ML2 driver is available and ready to use). To use the OpenStack ML2 driver with Cumulus Linux switches, two essential ingredients must be present:

1. The REST API, which comes installed in Cumulus Linux. This includes an ML2 HTTP Server, which recognizes and responds to such requests. This runs on Cumulus-based network nodes to which management consoles or nodes will attach to interrogate, configure, or otherwise interact underlying devices.
2.  Elsewhere on the network, the Cumulus ML2 Mechanism Driver should be installed on a VM or system running Cumulus Linux. This is called a “controller node.” Continue reading

The Benefits of Flexible Multi-Cloud and Multi-Region Networking

A report recently published by 451 Research shows that almost 70% of all enterprises will be using a multi-cloud or hybrid IT infrastructure in a year’s time. As more and more enterprises are swayed into the cloud, companies who have already adopted the cloud are now choosing to go with multi-cloud infrastructure or hybrid architecture for their IT requirements.

The report also showcased that about 60% of all workloads are expected to run using a form of hosted cloud service by 2019. This is an increase of about 45% from 2017. This marks an impressive change from DIY owned and operated services to a cloud or third-party hosted IT services. Therefore, the future of IT services is clearly hybrid and multi-cloud.

Here we explore some of the reasons multi-cloud is a fantastic idea for enterprises when they consider security, flexibility, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

Reduce Security Risks Like a DDoS Attack

A Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attack is when a number of different computer systems attack a server, website, network resource or a cloud hosting unit. A DDoS attack can be executed by an individual as well as a federal government.

In a scenario that your company’s website is Continue reading