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Category Archives for "Networking"

IDG Contributor Network: Why WAN metrics are not enough in SD-WAN policy enforcement

On the topic of measuring WAN metrics, most engineers think to look at the standard statistics of loss, latency, jitter, and reachability for determining path quality. This is good information for a routing protocol that is making decisions for packet flow at layer 3 of the OSI model. However, it is incomplete information when looking at it from the perspective of the overall user experience.  In order for an SD-WAN solution to provide materially better value than a typical packet router, it must look beyond the metrics considered by the router.    SD-WAN devices shouldn’t be considered routers in the conventional sense. Routers use local tables and algorithms such as Dijkstra to determine the shortest path to a destination for a packet. The term packet is important here. It is all that the router cares about. If you look up the definition of a router, it is a device that functions at layer 3 to deliver packets to their destination network. When there is a problem the router will process the topology change and compute new routing table entries that are a point in time decision of the available paths. These topology changes take time to process. This can Continue reading

Coming Soon: Networking Features in Ansible 2.5

Ansible 2.5 Networking Features

The upcoming Ansible 2.5 open source project release has some really exciting improvements, and the following blog highlights just a few of the notable additions. In typical Ansible fashion, development of networking enhancements is done in the open with the help of the community. You can follow along by watching the networking GitHub project board, as well as the roadmap for Ansible 2.5 via the networking wiki page.

A few highlighted features include:

New Connection Types: network_cli and NETCONF

Ansible Fact Improvements

Improved Logging

Continued Enablement for Declarative Intent

Persistent SSH Connection Improvements

Additional Platforms and Modules

Let's dive into each of these topics and elaborate on what they mean for your Ansible Playbooks!

New Connection Types: network_cli and NETCONF

Prior to Ansible 2.5, using networking modules required the connection type to be set to local. A playbook executed the python module locally, and then connected to a networking platform to perform tasks. This was sufficient, but different than how most non-networking Ansible modules functioned. In general, most Ansible modules are executed on the remote host, compared to being executed locally on the Ansible control node. Although many networking platforms can execute Python code, the vast Continue reading

The global Internet requires a global, collaborative approach to Internet Governance

Now more then ever, the Internet Society believes in the need to preserve the values of openness, inclusiveness and transparency that have always been at the heart of the Internet. A coherent global governance model for the global Internet that includes everyone is key to achieving this vision. But how can we get more governments to embrace the kind of collaborative governance that has shaped the Internet we know and use today? How can we improve and expand the model so that it becomes more widely adopted around the world? How can YOU help that to happen?

Today we are pleased to announce the launch of our Collaborative Governance Project. This brand new initiative aims to help stakeholders of all communities to understand the ways in which they can turn collaborative thinking into tangible and implementable policies and practices.

Under the leadership of Larry Strickling, the project will initially concentrate on building support for collaborative governance approaches globally. We will actively engage stakeholders in the development and evolution of the project.

As a first step in that process, we are holding two open calls for the community on March 1, 2018, to tell you about the project, get your input Continue reading

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