
Author Archives: Russ
Author Archives: Russ
The post Worth Reading: The Marriage of the Ecosystem appeared first on 'net work.
The post Worth Reading: What’s Your KPI? appeared first on 'net work.
A few thoughts on new technology from around the web over the last week. Is data center software defined networks crossing the chasm? According to the Next Platform, for instance, it is —
This still leaves me with a question, however — what does a “software defined network” really mean? From one perspective, I’ve been working on software defined networks since the mid-1990’s. It is the software based centralized and distributed control planes that have defined the network ever since then; the last hardware defined network I worked on was based on inverse multiplexers and physical interconnects to direct and manage traffic. So what do we mean when we say “software defined network” today? It seems the biggest Continue reading
The post Worth Reading: Fairy Tales and Hard Work appeared first on 'net work.
There is an old saw about teaching and teachers: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” This seems to be a widely believed thought in the engineering world (though perhaps less in the network engineering world than many other parts of engineering) — but is it true? In fact, to go farther, does this type of thinking actually discourage individual engineers teaching, or training, in a more formal way in the networking world? Let me give you my experience.
What I’ve discovered across the years is something slightly different: if you can’t explain it to someone else in a way they can understand it, then you don’t really know it. There are few ways to put this into practice in the real world better than intentionally taking on the task of teaching others what you know. In fact, I’ve probably learned much more in the process of preparing to teach than I ever have in “just doing.” There is something about spending the time in thinking through how to explain something in a number of different ways that encourages understanding. To put it in other terms, teaching makes you really think about how something works.
Don’t get Continue reading
The post HL: Inside Cisco IOS Software Architecture appeared first on 'net work.
Industries mature, of course. That they do so shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who’s watched the world for very long. The question is — do they mature in a way that places a few players at the “top,” leaving the rest to innovate along the edges? Or do they leave broad swaths of open space in which many players can compete and innovate? Through most of human history, the answer has been the first: industries, in the modern age, tend to ossify into a form where a few small players control most of the market, leaving the smaller players to innovate along the edges. When the major impetus in building a new company is to “get bought,” and the most common way for larger companies to innovate is by buying smaller companies (or doing “spin ins”), then you’ve reached a general point of stability that isn’t likely to change much.
Is the networking industry entering this “innovation free zone?” Or will the networking industry always be a market with more churn, and more innovation? There are signs in both directions.
For instance, there’s the idea that once technology reaches a certain level of capability, there’s just no reason for Continue reading
The post Worth Reading: IPv6 Performance appeared first on 'net work.
Encryption, security, and privacy are at the top of our list, it seems. The question is — who really cares about your privacy? Is Google a champion of freedom, or a threat to national sovereignty?
Google is unique in its leadership, plans, and global marketpower to accelerate the majority of all global Web traffic “going dark,” i.e. encrypted by default. Google’s “going dark” leadership seriously threatens to neuter sovereign nations’ law-enforcement and intelligence capabilities to investigate and prevent terrorism and crime going forward.
But the truth about where the giants of tech stand on user privacy is another matter entirely. No organizations on earth have exploited users more than Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) have in their zealous quest to boost ad revenues by providing users’ personal data – demographics, searches, email and location, among others – to an ever-growing list of digital advertisers.
Russ’ take: The truth is probably out there someplace, but I doubt it’s as clean cut as either of these articles Continue reading
I’m changing roles from Principal Engineer at Ericsson to the Architecture Team at LinkedIn. New adventure! But don’t worry, ‘net Work is staying open for thoughts about life as a network engineer.
The post Change of Venue: LinkedIn appeared first on 'net work.