RIP Up Your Dynamic Routing With OSPF

What is dynamic routing? Why is Routing Information Protocol (RIP) horrible, and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) ever so slightly less horrible? How does Linux handle OSPF, and what advantages does it bring over traditional networking gear in complex, intent-based, infrastructure-as-code environments?

RIP and OSPF are Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs). IGPs are protocols designed to allow network routers and switches within an organization’s internal network to dynamically reconfigure the network to respond to changes. These changes may include the addition or removal of network equipment or network links between network devices.

The purpose of IGPs is to tell networking equipment which devices live where. While devices that are part of the same subnet can find one another, they require a router to communicate with devices on other subnets. Routers and switches keep routing tables of which devices are on which physical interface, and VLAN. These routing tables allow each device to know where to send a packet to reach a given system, and whether or not that packet needs to be encapsulated or tagged.

IGPs allow routers and switches to exchange some or all of their routing tables so that other devices within the network fabric know where to send Continue reading

Moving a Prototype Network to Production

Network Engineers create and operate prototype networks all the time. Prototype networks are used to validate designs, test features or changes, troubleshoot use-case scenarios, and often just for learning. Typically, pre-prod testing environments are set up in such a way that device host names, attributes, configurations, IP assignments, software versions, and topologies are mostly inconsistent with production environments. This inconsistency is counter-intuitive, considering that accurate design validations should closely match reality to avoid any mistakes when deploying in production.

Cumulus Linux can run as a virtual appliance, allowing network engineers to build to-scale virtual networks for activities like modeling changes and performing validations, while opening the door for similar DevOps methodologies application developers have operated with for years: validated testing before deploying in production for continuous integration.

Enter Cumulus VX

Cumulus VX (Virtual Experience) is a Cumulus Linux virtual appliance. You can test drive Cumulus Linux on a laptop, while those fluent with Cumulus Linux can prototype large networks and develop software integrations before deploying into production environments.

Cumulus VX is a platform — just like Cumulus Linux on a real switch — and therefore is designed to perform just like an actual switch running Cumulus Linux. Every feature you Continue reading