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TNO048: Ops to Orchestrated: An Architect’s Automation Journey
On today’s show, sponsored by Itential, we talk about automation in the real world. Guest Jesse Ford is an automation architect at Itential. We talk about his career journey, how he got into network automation, how he decides which is the best tool for a job, and why tool diversity isn’t the same as chaos.... Read more »PP084: Inside the CVE Process With Cisco (Sponsored)
CVEs, or Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, are such a routine aspect of tech that most IT pros probably take them for granted. But like many things we take for granted, the CVE process takes some serious organizational infrastructure to function. On today’s Packet Protector, sponsored by Cisco, we talk about the organizations and processes that... Read more »TCG061: How Are You Using AI?
Join William Collins and Evyonne Sharp as they catch up on all things AI. They discuss the AI bubble and how it relates to venture capital, stock, and company evaluations. They talk about the AI experience for the average person, the adoption rate of AI tools, and how the AI infrastructure buildout might affect the... Read more »NAN104: The Art and Science of Writing a Network Automation Book
Host Eric Chou talks with Jeff Kala, co-author of the newly released “Network Automation Cookbook 2nd Edition,” to discuss his book and the experiences that led him from networking to network automation author. They discuss Jeff’s learning style and why it was helpful when working on his book. Lastly, they dig into Jeff’s predictions on... Read more »HS115: Cyber-Risk Assessment and Cybersecurity Budgeting: You’re (Probably) Doing It Wrong
To understand how much to spend on cybersecurity, you have to accurately assess or quantify your risks. Too many people still peg their cybersecurity spend to their IT budget; that is, they’ll look at what they’re spending on IT, and then allocate a percentage of that to cybersecurity. That may have made some sense when... Read more »
TNO047: Advice From Both Sides of the Network Aisle
Senad Palislamovic has held many roles in his time, from engineer to network operator to sales engineer and back again. He’s been around long enough to see trends come and go. Senad visits Total Network Operations to share some of his observations on network automation, AI for NetOps, and the quality of network data. Senad... Read more »N4N041: Switched Virtual Interface (SVI) and Integrated Routing and Bridging (IRB)
If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between a Switched Virtual Interface (SVI) and Integrated Routing and Bridging (IRB), today’s show is for you! Ethan Banks and Holly Metlitzky start with some history and the basics of communication between layer 2 and layer 3 and then explain how the concepts of SVI and IRB... Read more »PP083: A CISO’s Perspective on Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open-source protocol that enables AI agents to connect to data, tools, workflows, and other agents both within and outside of enterprise borders. As organizations dive head-first into AI projects, MCP and other agentic protocols are being quickly adopted. And that means security and network teams need to understand how... Read more »HW063: Designing a Wireless-First Office
A wireless-first office is a sensible goal these days when most laptops don’t have an Ethernet port and lots of devices use Wi-Fi. Wireless and network architect Phil Sosaya led the transition to wireless-first offices at sites across the globe. He details his design approach, including why he doesn’t bother with site survey software. He... Read more »TNO046: Prisma AIRS: Securing the Multi-Cloud and AI Runtime (Sponsored)
Multi-cloud, automation, and AI are changing how modern networks operate and how firewalls and security policies are administered. In today’s sponsored episode with Palo Alto Networks, we dig into offerings such as CLARA (Cloud and AI Risk Assessment) that help ops teams gain more visibility into the structure and workflows of their multi-cloud networks. We... Read more »TCG060: Rockets, Networks, and Markets With Michael Reid
Michael Reid went from studying aerospace engineering to becoming CEO at Megaport, a global network-as-a-service platform. How did he get there, and what can we learn from his journey? We walk his career path, including a pivotal role scaling ThousandEyes from 74 million to over 2.4x ARR post-acquisition, and how those experiences shaped his approach to... Read more »NAN103: The Evolution of Multi-Cloud Networking
We’re thrilled to welcome Tim McConnaughy back to the podcast. Tim is a hybrid cloud network architect, author, and co-host of the Cables to Cloud podcast. He recently wrote a 5-part blog series titled ‘Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road’ that reflects on his career path, including his decision to leave a startup. We discuss the impetus... Read more »PP082: Building a Workable Mobile Security Strategy In a World of Risky Apps
Today we’re bringing back one of our favorite guests — Akili Akridge. He’s a former Baltimore cop who transitioned to building and leading mobile offense and defense teams for federal agencies and Fortune 100s. These days he’s a straight-talking expert on all things mobile security. We’re digging into mobile threats, why they keep CISOs up... Read more »HS114: In or Out? Deciding Which IT Functions to Bring In or Push Out
In times of major change–whether in IT or the economy–organizations should take a fresh look at their sourcing strategy. Companies outsourcing key functions need to re-examine the reasoning and scrutinize the results. The same goes for in-house functions. IT leaders need to ask: is our sourcing strategy in line with our current corporate and IT... Read more »