How to Become a Better Networking Engineer

Got an interesting set of questions from one of my readers. He started with:

I really like networks but I don't know if I am doing enough for this community. Most of my work is involved with technologies which are already discovered by people and I am not really satisfied with it.

Well, first you want to decide whether you want to be (primarily) a researcher (focusing on discovering new stuff), an engineer (mostly figuring out how to build useful things by using existing stuff), or an administrator (configuring stuff).

Red Hat Doubles Down on Containers with $250M CoreOS Acquisition

The deal is set to bolster Red Hat's OpenShift and enterprise focus.

Cumulus content roundup: February

We’ve made it through the first month of the year, and the future of networking is looking bright — but is your data center ready for the brave new world? In this content roundup, we’re giving out the latest articles, videos and reports so you’re ready for 2018 and not left behind in twenty late-teen. There’s no time to waste! Get started on your data center upgrade today.

What’s new from Cumulus:

Cumulus Networks: What we do: Looking for an overview of who we are and what we’re working towards? We’ve got you covered. Watch this video for more information about our mission and our products, and share it with anyone else who wants to know what we’re all about.

Getting started with Linux: the basics – part 1: Everyone has to start their journey with Linux somewhere, so why not start here? This three part blog series about the basics of Linux networking teaches you everything you need. Check out part one to start learning the language of the data center.

Understanding Linux internetworking: Let’s say you’ve already got the hang of the basics of Linux. What’s the next step, and how can you take your Continue reading

Nuage Networks Q&A: The 5 Key Success Factors on your Digital Transformation Journey for the WAN and Beyond

Thanks to all who joined us for the Nuage Networks webinar: The 5 Key Success Factors on your Digital Transformation Journey for the WAN and Beyond. With over 20 SD-WAN solutions in the market it is increasingly difficult to select the right one. Nuage Networks provided an evaluation framework that can be used to not... Read more →

802.11: Wi-Fi standards and speeds explained

In the world of wireless, the term Wi-Fi is synonymous with wireless access in general, despite the fact that it is a specific trademark owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance, a group dedicated to certifying that Wi-Fi products meet the IEEE’s set of 802.11 wireless standards.These standards, with names such as 802.11b (pronounced “Eight-O-Two-Eleven-Bee”, ignore the “dot”) and 802.11ac, comprise a family of specifications that started in the 1990s and continues to grow today. The 802.11 standards codify improvements that boost wireless throughput and range as well as the use of new frequencies as they  become available. They also address new technologies that reduce power consumption.To read this article in full, please click here

802.11: Wi-Fi standards and speeds explained

In the world of wireless, the term Wi-Fi is synonymous with wireless access in general, despite the fact that it is a specific trademark owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance, a group dedicated to certifying that Wi-Fi products meet the IEEE’s set of 802.11 wireless standards.These standards, with names such as 802.11b (pronounced “Eight-O-Two-Eleven-Bee”, ignore the “dot”) and 802.11ac, comprise a family of specifications that started in the 1990s and continues to grow today. The 802.11 standards codify improvements that boost wireless throughput and range as well as the use of new frequencies as they  become available. They also address new technologies that reduce power consumption.To read this article in full, please click here

Worth Reading: TCP Congestion Signatures

Congestion in the Internet is an age-old problem. With the rise of broadband networks, it had been implicitly accepted that congestion is most likely to occur in the ‘last mile’, that is, the broadband link between the ISP and the home customer. This is due to service plans or technical factors that limit the bandwidth in the last mile. —Srikanth Sundaresan @APNIC

ExtraHop Makes its Security Status Official with Reveal(x)

Security has been ExtraHop customers’ top use case for its real-time analytics software.

3 Ways Mobile Operators Can Give MEC An Edge

5G and mobile edge computing are inextricably linked and will herald a new wave of innovation.

Hyperledger Sawtooth 1.0 Includes Unique Consensus Software

Sawtooth supporters include Intel, AWS, Ericsson, Huawei, IBM, and Microsoft Azure.

Verizon Sets Table With Calix Gear for NG-PON2 Deployment

The carrier claims the technology is a better long-term solution than other options.

Giving the Monkey a Smaller Club

Over at the ACM blog, there is a terrific article about software design that has direct application to network design and architecture.

The problem is that once you give a monkey a club, he is going to hit you with it if you try to take it away from him.

What do monkeys and clubs have to do with software or network design? The primary point of interaction is security. The club you intend to make your network operator’s life easier is also a club an attacker can use to break into your network, or damage its operation. Clubs are just that way. If you think of the collection of tools as not just tools, but also as an attack surface, you can immediately see the correlation between the available tools and the attack surface. One way to increase security is to reduce the attack surface, and one way to reduce the attack surface is tools, reduce the number of tools—or the club.

The best way to reduce the attack surface of a piece of software is to remove any unnecessary code.

Consider this: the components of any network are actually made up of code. So to translate this to Continue reading

VMware Cuts 159 Employees Amid Dell Technologies Buyout Rumors

The job cuts come amid rumors that Dell Technologies is considering buying VMware — or that VMware may acquire Dell Technologies.

Short Take – Why Does History Matter

Why is it important to look backwards, when our entire industry is looking forward. This is Jordan’s take on why history matters.

The post Short Take – Why Does History Matter appeared first on Network Collective.

What is microsegmentation? How getting granular improves network security

Microsegmentation is a method of creating secure zones in data centers and cloud deployments that allows companies to isolate workloads from one another and secure them individually. It’s aimed at making network security more granular. Microsegmentation vs. VLANs, firewalls and ACLs Network segmentation isn’t new. Companies have relied on firewalls, virtual local area networks (VLAN) and access control lists (ACL) for network segmentation for years. With microsegmentation, policies are applied to individual workloads for greater attack resistance.To read this article in full, please click here

What is microsegmentation? How getting granular improves network security

Microsegmentation is a method of creating secure zones in data centers and cloud deployments that allows companies to isolate workloads from one another and secure them individually. It’s aimed at making network security more granular. Microsegmentation vs. VLANs, firewalls and ACLs Network segmentation isn’t new. Companies have relied on firewalls, virtual local area networks (VLAN) and access control lists (ACL) for network segmentation for years. With microsegmentation, policies are applied to individual workloads for greater attack resistance.To read this article in full, please click here

What is microsegmentation? How getting granular improves network security

Microsegmentation is a method of creating secure zones in data centers and cloud deployments that allows companies to isolate workloads from one another and secure them individually. It’s aimed at making network security more granular. Microsegmentation vs. VLANs, firewalls and ACLs Network segmentation isn’t new. Companies have relied on firewalls, virtual local area networks (VLAN) and access control lists (ACL) for network segmentation for years. With microsegmentation, policies are applied to individual workloads for greater attack resistance.To read this article in full, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 4 questions to ask before deploying SD-WAN

SD-WAN has become the definitive buzzword in enterprise networking, and if you’re a decision maker in IT, chances are the technology has come up in conversation. According to Gartner, by 2018, 40 percent of WAN edge infrastructure will be based on SD-WAN or something similar.What is SD-WAN? In a nutshell, Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) simplifies enterprise connectivity between remote locations and branch offices. Common features of a SD-WAN solution include: Combining network links of one location into a single pool of capacity available for all applications and services Customization of the bandwidth and connectivity to meet the needs of your specific network services, locations, or users The ability to centrally define and manage policies and network traffic without requiring manual configuration at each device. Many startups and tech giants have positioned themselves as an SD-WAN solution, each with their own idea on how the technology works and what solution it offers the business. Yet with so many vendors out there claiming to be SD-WAN, it’s hard to determine which solution is right for your business.To read this article in full, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 4 questions to ask before deploying SD-WAN

SD-WAN has become the definitive buzzword in enterprise networking, and if you’re a decision maker in IT, chances are the technology has come up in conversation. According to Gartner, by 2018, 40 percent of WAN edge infrastructure will be based on SD-WAN or something similar.What is SD-WAN? In a nutshell, Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) simplifies enterprise connectivity between remote locations and branch offices. Common features of a SD-WAN solution include: Combining network links of one location into a single pool of capacity available for all applications and services Customization of the bandwidth and connectivity to meet the needs of your specific network services, locations, or users The ability to centrally define and manage policies and network traffic without requiring manual configuration at each device. Many startups and tech giants have positioned themselves as an SD-WAN solution, each with their own idea on how the technology works and what solution it offers the business. Yet with so many vendors out there claiming to be SD-WAN, it’s hard to determine which solution is right for your business.To read this article in full, please click here

Worth Reading: Ruru

With the increasing number of real-time applications (online games using virtual reality, multi-site financial transaction processing) and the radically new business models and use cases introduced by the 5G mobile architecture (robotics, tactile Internet) requiring interactive back-and-forth communication, user-perceived end-to-end latency is becoming an all-important factor for both users and network providers. —Richard Cziva @APNIC