On APIs: Cars, not assembly lines.
In recent years, infrastructure vendors have been proudly pointing out their APIs. The idea is that because a chunk of infrastructure can be monitored and configured with APIs, the product can be described as automation-ready or open. Vendors, you’re getting it wrong here.CCIE Recertification + Certification News 2015
The last time I re-certified, it took me three times to pass the CCIE R&S written exam. While that exam is a challenge that many people fail to pass the first time out, I felt like I was getting rusty on some fundamentals. Three times was not the end of the world, but the effort felt forced. I wanted a refresher.Would I take Wireshark training?
If the buck stops with you when it comes to troubleshooting strange and bizarre application behavior, you’ll want to be able to use a packet capture tool effectively. Wireshark is ubiquitous; most network engineers use it. Wireshark has an active user and development community. Plus, there is a commercial variant through Riverbed if you care to go that route. Therefore, I view Wireshark as a safe packet analysis tool to spend time learning intimately.A Few Points About VMware EVO SDDC Networking
A Packet Pushers listener that heard us chatting about VMware's EVO SDDC solution raised a few concerns about the networking functionality in the current version of EVO SDDC. I was able to talk briefly with Krish Sivakumar, Director of Product Marketing, EVO SDDC & Ven Immani, Senior Technical Marketing Engineer, EVO SDDC at VMware to help clarify some of the issues.Interop 2016: Introducing The Future of Networking Track @interop
For the last several North American Interop conferences, I have been the Infrastructure track chair or co-chair. For Interop Las Vegas 2016, I will be doing something else. Greg Ferro and I are working together to create a new premium track titled The Future of Networking.The FCC Might Make It Harder To Use Wifi Firmware Of Your Choice
There's an ongoing issue in the wifi world where the FCC has proposed some new rules. The rules could effectively prevent using third party firmware in a wireless device. If this is a concern to you, you can share your thoughts on the issue with the FCC, at least until 9-October-2015.Google Plus Is Mouldering
A quick search for “Google Plus is dead” reveals a number of recent articles about the pending death of the social media platform. It’s not fair to say it’s dead as yet. But it’s certainly mouldering. I took an informal survey on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Slack, asking folks if they were still using […]What Does It Mean When A Project Has Been Forked?
Open source projects that involve lots of folks sometimes run into conflicts. Should the project go in direction X, or direction Y? Is feature A more important, or feature B? And so on. Sometimes the concerns around an open source project are more pragmatic than pedantic. Should we, as a commercial entity, continue to use this open source project as is, or go in our own direction with it? The keyword to look for in these circumstances is fork.Citizens of Tech Podcast Has Re-Launched!
My friend Eric Sutphen and I started the Citizens of Tech podcast using some spare capacity on the Packet Pushers platform to see what folks thought of the idea. We received lots of positive comments from the audience. Several of you stated that Citizens of Tech quickly became one of your "must listen" shows. With warm, glowing feelings of audience love in mind, we've opted to give the show a site of its very own! http://citizensoftech.comBreach Presumption: The East-West Data Center Security Problem
A recurring trend in security briefings I've taken over the last year is that breaches are assumed. If you don't assume your infrastructure has been breached, you're ignorant, and probably willfully so. Ostrich, meet sand. A weird response my brain had to this is to ponder that if we've lost the war, why are we still fighting?Interoperate or Die: On Brocade & Open, Standards-Based SDN
During a recent briefing with Brocade about the 2.0 release of the Brocade SDN Controller product, I took the opportunity to clarify their commitment to openness in the software defined networking world.Centralized vs. Distributed SD-WAN Functions
In the world of idealistic fantasy, an software defined network of whatever kind would centralize all functions. Pesky reality gets in the way of idealism, and so it is that we find full centralization to be an impractical idea.Scalability Is A Matter Of Context
Scale is a relative term. While every technology needs to scale to some point to be useful to IT practitioners, not every technology needs to scale infinitely. Every technology has a context in which it is viable — where it proves to be the best choice. But in another context, the opposite technology might rise to the surface as more appropriate. Don't be religious about such a decision. Know your business need well, research the technology thoroughly, plan for the future, and choose wisely. Don't pick a tool that solves someone else's problem.Is SD-WAN Simply WAN Optimization Evolved? Not Exactly.
Consumers evaluating SD-WAN shouldn't think of it as a WAN optimization replacement, at least not exactly. These are different technologies, although it might be fair to think of SD-WAN as the successor to WAN optimization. SD-WAN and WAN optimization are compatible technologies, but not interdependent technologies.Networking Books Up For Auction – Good Stuff Cheap
I've put several of my networking books up for auction on eBay. Lots of CiscoPress titles, but several others as well. Many design guides. Routing protocol coverage such as OSPF, including an OSPF vs ISIS guide by Jeff Doyle. Some are older, what I consider classics. Some are fairly new. Some are targeted at certification seekers. I need to clear some space here in my home library, and would like to move these titles along. Far too many books in my collection, and I've gotten what I can from these. Good luck!SD-WAN Gives Us The Best Path We Always Wanted
In networking, we rely on routing protocols to compute best path. That is to ask, from the perspective of a given router in a routing domain, what is the best way to reach a destination? Best path is typically computed using simplistic metrics like hop count, cost, bandwidth, and delay. Traditional "best path" thinking is effective, insofar as it goes. It scales to a large number of devices and destinations. It is resilient. It is mature. However, it has its limitations. Software defined WAN brings a much more sophisticated metric to the computation of best path.72% of Networking Performance Statistics Are Misleading
Like my tongue-in-cheek title, performance statistics are often misleading or, at best, meaningless without context. As a savvy consumer of any networking product, you should look at performance statistics as little more than a rough indicator of how a { box | software package | interface } performed under a specific test circumstance. Hint: the tests are usually rigged.IF { you like this blog } THEN { donate to my annual charitable campaign }
I am raising money for the Mt. Washington Observatory (MWO), a non-profit organization engaged in weather research in New Hampshire. I am joining the 15th annual Seek The Peak fundraiser for the MWO. The idea is simple: hike to the summit, with pledgers backing the adventure. If you've gotten value from the Packet Pushers podcast or this blog, I'd appreciate it if you'd donate to my Seek the Peak campaign. For the first three networking vendors that donate $1,000 or more, I'll have my picture taken at the Mt. Washington summit sign with your wearable and thank you in a blog post here.Pushing For The Next Level
Drew Conry-Murray joins the Packet Pushers as employee number 1.
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The post Pushing For The Next Level appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Drew Conry-Murray.