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Category Archives for "Networking"

AMD continues server push, introduces Zen 2 architecture

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) revealed the Zen 2 architecture for its family of both desktop/laptop and server microprocessors that it plans to launch in 2019, with a promise of twice the performance throughput over the previous generation. The news came at a briefing in San Francisco that saw a number of AMD announcements.Zen is the core architecture. On the desktop and notebooks, it’s sold under the Ryzen brand name. For servers, it’s sold under the Epyc brand. The next generation of Epyc, code-named Rome, is due next year.Zen made AMD competitive with Intel once again after the disastrous line of subpar processors named after heavy equipment (Bulldozer, Piledriver, Steamroller). With Zen 2, AMD hopes to surpass Intel in all aspects of performance.To read this article in full, please click here

History Of Networking – Bob Hinden – IPv6

In this episode, Bob Hinden, credited as the co-inventor of IPv6, joins Network Collective to share his perspective on the creation of IPv6.
Bob Hinden
Guest
Russ White
Host
Donald Sharp
Host

Outro Music:
Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The post History Of Networking – Bob Hinden – IPv6 appeared first on Network Collective.

Itential puts organizations on the path to the modern network

In the realm of enterprise computing, we have already automated the management and orchestration of software-defined compute and storage resources. Need another server or more storage capacity? Those virtual resources can be created in mere minutes — and without intervention from a human to initiate or manage the process.Need changes to the network, such as a router reconfiguration? Well, that’s going to take a lot of time and effort from a range of humans. Even something as simple as an update to a DNS or IPAM server can take three to five days to complete. A port turn-up can take just as long — not because any physical action takes that much time, but because the workflow of all the human reviews and approvals takes time.To read this article in full, please click here

Itential puts organizations on the path to the modern network

In the realm of enterprise computing, we have already automated the management and orchestration of software-defined compute and storage resources. Need another server or more storage capacity? Those virtual resources can be created in mere minutes — and without intervention from a human to initiate or manage the process.Need changes to the network, such as a router reconfiguration? Well, that’s going to take a lot of time and effort from a range of humans. Even something as simple as an update to a DNS or IPAM server can take three to five days to complete. A port turn-up can take just as long — not because any physical action takes that much time, but because the workflow of all the human reviews and approvals takes time.To read this article in full, please click here

Presenting To The D-Suite

Do you present to an audience? Odds are good that most of us have had to do it more than once in our life or career. Some of us do it rather often. And there’s no shortage of advice out there about how to present to an audience. A lot of it is aimed at people that are trying to speak to a general audience. Still more of it is designed as a primer on how to speak to executives, often from a sales pitch perspective. But, how do you present to the people that get stuff done? Instead of honing your skills for the C-Suite, let’s look at what it takes to present to the D-Suite.

1. No Problemo

If you’ve listened to a presentation aimed at execs any time recently, such as on Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den, you know all about The Problem. It’s a required part of every introduction. You need to present a huge problem that needs to be solved. You need to discuss why this problem is so important. Once you’ve got every head nodding, that’s when you jump in with your solution. You highlight why you are the only person that can do Continue reading

How to make the business case for SD-WAN

Entegra Bank, a fast-growing financial institution based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, switched from MPLS links for its 22 branches to SD-WAN-based broadband and slashed its WAN connectivity bill by 50%, while increasing bandwidth an average of fivefold.Loren Long, senior vice-president and CTO at the bank, says he had been eyeing both SD-WAN and broadband for some time, waiting for SD-WAN technology to mature and for rural broadband to improve in availability, dependability and security. After a positive experience with Silver Peak’s WAN optimization gear, “we felt confident to make that change,” he says.In a typical SD-WAN scenario, branch office broadband would connect directly to the public Internet. But since this a bank with heightened security and compliance responsibilities, traffic from the branches is backhauled over an encrypted VPN to internal gateways, where a third-party security services provider monitors all traffic and enforces security policies.To read this article in full, please click here

How to make the business case for SD-WAN

Entegra Bank, a fast-growing financial institution based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, switched from MPLS links for its 22 branches to SD-WAN-based broadband and slashed its WAN connectivity bill by 50%, while increasing bandwidth an average of fivefold.Loren Long, senior vice-president and CTO at the bank, says he had been eyeing both SD-WAN and broadband for some time, waiting for SD-WAN technology to mature and for rural broadband to improve in availability, dependability and security. After a positive experience with Silver Peak’s WAN optimization gear, “we felt confident to make that change,” he says.In a typical SD-WAN scenario, branch office broadband would connect directly to the public Internet. But since this a bank with heightened security and compliance responsibilities, traffic from the branches is backhauled over an encrypted VPN to internal gateways, where a third-party security services provider monitors all traffic and enforces security policies.To read this article in full, please click here

Using MPLS+EVPN in Data Center Fabrics

Here’s a question I got from someone attending the Building Next-Generation Data Center online course:

Cisco NCS5000 is positioned as a building block for a data center MPLS fabric – a leaf-and-spine fabric with MPLS and EVPN control plane. This raised a question regarding MPLS vs VXLAN: why would one choose to build an MPLS-based fabric instead of a VXLAN-based one assuming hardware costs are similar?

There’s a fundamental difference between MPLS- and VXLAN-based transport: the amount of coupling between edge and core devices.

Read more ...

Fun in the Lab: FTDv & FMC – Install and Deploy

This is my Stealthwatch playground…. errrr… I mean … ahem… “work environment” for a Technical Solution Workshop I am working on for Stealthwatch.

Going to set up FTDv and FMC today.  A co-worker and friend, Scott Barasch, helped me get jump started… so figure I’ll pass on what I just learned to you. ?

What this blog will cover is

  1. DEPLOY
    1. Deploying the OVF for FTDv
    2. Deploying the OVF for FMC
  2. VMware settings
    1. Tweak for FTDv
    2. Tweak for FMC
  3. Prepping to Power On
    1. Snapshot Both Before Power On
    2. Power Both On
  4. Setup via Console
    1. FMC – console in and setup IP address
    2. FTDv – console in and step thru the prompts
  5. Test IP Connectivity
    1. Ping FMC and FTDv from the PC
    2. Notice Can’t ping FTDv
    3. Fix
    4. Ping
  6. Browse into FMC
    1. Change password
    2. Setup DNS
    3. Setup NTP
    4. Accept EULA
    5. Apply
  7. LICENSING
    1. License FMC
  8. FMC/FTDv: Make the Connection
    1. FTDv – Point FTDv to FMC
    2. FMC – bring the FTDv into the fold.  ?

 

So let’s begin.  What I have to host my FMC & FTDv VMs is a UCS M4 with a NIC connected to a Cat4948 in vlan 1.  That NIC is tied to vSwitch0 in the UCS. Continue reading

BrandPost: Top Ten Reasons to Think Outside the Router – No. 9: Sub-par SaaS Performance

In the form of the iconic David Letterman Top Ten List segment from his former Late Show, Silver Peak is counting down the Top Ten Reasons to Think Outside the Router. Click here for the #10 reason to retire traditional routers at the branch.The #9 reason it’s time to retire traditional routers at the branch: Sub-par SaaS Performance! We often hear from customers that their employees complain that Salesforce.com (or Office365 or Workday or any of myriad SaaS apps) is more responsive from home or from Starbucks than from the branch office.To read this article in full, please click here

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
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