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Category Archives for "Networking"

Network Engineer Persona: Part Four

Part three introduced the first three key skills. This part presents the introduction to the last three core skills and a call to action.

Key Skill Four

I’m trying very hard to refrain from using the term DevOps, but the fundamentals of the DevOps movement are super important. The DevOps fundamental pillars are improving the flow of work, improving the quality using a feedback loop and sharing. A huge array of books have been created on the topic of DevOps in addition to blog posts and podcasts. If we view the persona of the Network Automation Engineer through the lens of the DevOps persona, the two are very similar. If we are to increase the flow of tasks and improve the quality of them using automation, then we need to be able to fix the issues close to the source of the problems and share knowledge. We do that with logging and an attitude change. Logging is critical for successful automation projects as well as attitude.

Knowing how to transmit logs, how to capture logs, how to sort through them and how to realize events from them is an entire skill. There are software stacks dedicated to this mission like Continue reading

Get 4 Philips Hue White A19 60W Dimmable LED Smart Bulbs for just $50 – Deal Alert

This is probably the cheapest price you're going to pay right now for these bulbs. At $49.97 for a 4-pack, you're paying $12.49 per bulb. A very solid discount over the typical list price. Automate your lighting experience with Philips Hue and control your lights from home or away. Create light schedules from the Philips Hue App and never come home to a dark house. Install the LED lights as you would install ordinary bulbs and pair them with the Hue Bridge, which allows you to control smart-bulb-equipped lamps and overhead lights via the Philips Hue App. The box includes four Philips Hue White A19 Energy Star Certified Standard light bulbs, a manual, and a two-year warranty. See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Why smart consumers are key to IoT security

As the IoT reshaped how companies did their business and how consumers purchased their beloved products, it was simultaneously revolutionizing the field of information security. Many IoT observers contend that not enough has been done to keep it secure, however, and today’s experts are increasingly pointing out that one key facet of IoT security is often forgotten: smart consumers.So how exactly should smart consumers play a role in IoT security, and how can today’s top companies, governments, and IoT-advocates help educate consumers to make better decisions? A brief look at the crucial next step in securing the internet of things shows that creating a generation of smart consumers won’t be easy, but it will certainly be worth the investment.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

[Video] Building a Pure Layer-3 Data Center with Cumulus Linux

One of the design scenarios we covered in Leaf-and-Spine Fabric Architectures webinar is a pure layer-3 data center, and in the “how do I do this” part of that section Dinesh Dutt talked about the details you need to know to get this idea implemented on Cumulus Linux.

We covered a half-dozen design scenarios in that webinar; for an even wider picture check out the new Designing and Building Data Center Fabrics online course.

Cisco Catalysts Supervisor Engines,Interfaces and Modules- Cisco 6500 and Cisco 6800

Today I will talk about the Line cards in the Chassis and explain you where to use which line card and how we design the network with the user count. People asked me so many questions on the line card part and they are always confuse about the use of the line cards in the chassis. The article is based on the Cisco devices where we are using the line cards to accommodate the users in the network at the access layer and to have the smooth traffic flow.

Below image shows the two different Chassis in VSS format where we connect the chassis back to back with the SUP engines. The SUP can be 2T or 6T depends upon the requirement and the design of the campus or enterprise network.

Fig 1.1- VSS using SUP Engines


Let's talk about one by one in details, First I will talk about the Supervisor Engines 6T and 2T. I will not talk about the previous SUP engines as they are going or they are already at the verge of end of sale/support.

SUPERVISOR ENGINES

C6800-SUP6T : This is a Supervisor Engine SUP6T with with 8 ports 10GbE, 2 ports 40GbE and Continue reading

New Policy Brief published on Community Networks and Access to Spectrum

Yesterday we published a new policy brief: Spectrum Approaches for Community Networks

Access to affordable and available spectrum is critical for Community Networks. Policy makers can play a key role in ensuring adequate access to spectrum. The policy brief examines the various ways that Community Networks can gain access to spectrum, including:

  • the use of unlicensed spectrum,
  • sharing licensed spectrum, and
  • innovative licensing.

Network operators also play a key role in helping Community Networks. The policy brief outlines recommendations for operators which include:

  • access to backhaul infrastructure at fair rates,
  • equipment and training partnerships, and
  • the sharing of infrastructure as well as spectrum.

Please read our press release for more information about this new paper.  Also visit our World Telecommunications Development Conference (WTDC) 2017 page for more about what our team is doing there in Buenos Aires this week.

The post New Policy Brief published on Community Networks and Access to Spectrum appeared first on Internet Society.

Network Engineer Persona: Part Three

Part three! Let’s get straight to business and carry on where we left off from part two.

Key Skill One

Thinking about automation in an agnostic way is your first footstep. Automation is about data flowing through building blocks that do things and decision points, allow you when to do things.

Removing CLI and replacing it with an abstraction layer isn’t much of a win. For instance, I regularly talk about the process of creating a VLAN and applying it to an Ethernet switch-port on a tagged interface. This somewhat simple ‘workflow’ creates more conversational friction than imagine-able. Let’s work through it.

Task: Create a VLAN
This task requires domain-specific parameters to a VLAN. These are: ‘VLAN_Number’ and ‘VLAN_Description’.

Task: Apply VLAN to Switchport
This task requires domain-specific parameters to a switchport. These are: ‘Port_Name’ and ‘VLAN_Number’.

Note how the inputs flow through the actions within the workflow?

The green arrows descending illustrate the ‘success transition path’ for each action component.

So, what about these questions?
1. Is the VLAN in use?

We can be more specific here, but it adds complications to the answer. Version two is: “Is the VLAN in use in the network zone that the device Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: Designing a content delivery strategy

Technologies like content delivery networks, cloud compute and storage, container schedulers, load balancers, web application firewalls, DDoS mitigation services and many more make up the building blocks that serve the online applications of organizations today. But the entry point to every one of those applications is an often-ignored bit of infrastructure: DNS. As the internet has mushroomed in size and traffic, DNS has adapted to become a critical factor in application delivery. Organizations that rely on content delivery networks (CDNs) can work with their DNS provider(s) to create a CDN strategy that best serves them and their customers.CDN: the what and the why A CDN’s job is what it sounds like: deliver content such as images, video, html files and javascript from a network of distributed systems to end-users. CDNs have been around for about as long as Managed DNS companies. Akamai is usually considered the first serious CDN player, and the company rose to prominence during the first dot-com boom. Generally, CDNs deliver content over HTTP or HTTPS, the web protocols, although there are occasionally use cases like video delivery where other protocols come into play.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: Designing a content delivery strategy

Technologies like content delivery networks, cloud compute and storage, container schedulers, load balancers, web application firewalls, DDoS mitigation services and many more make up the building blocks that serve the online applications of organizations today. But the entry point to every one of those applications is an often-ignored bit of infrastructure: DNS. As the internet has mushroomed in size and traffic, DNS has adapted to become a critical factor in application delivery. Organizations that rely on content delivery networks (CDNs) can work with their DNS provider(s) to create a CDN strategy that best serves them and their customers.CDN: the what and the why A CDN’s job is what it sounds like: deliver content such as images, video, html files and javascript from a network of distributed systems to end-users. CDNs have been around for about as long as Managed DNS companies. Akamai is usually considered the first serious CDN player, and the company rose to prominence during the first dot-com boom. Generally, CDNs deliver content over HTTP or HTTPS, the web protocols, although there are occasionally use cases like video delivery where other protocols come into play.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please Continue reading

More Accurate IT Acronyms

IT is flooded with acronyms. It takes a third of our working life to figure out what they all mean. Protocols aren’t any easier to figure out if it’s just a string of three or four letters that look vaguely like a word. Which, by the way, you should never pronounce.

But what if the acronyms of our favorite protocols didn’t describe what the designers wanted but instead described what they actually do?

  • Sporadic Network Mangling Protocol

  • Obscurity Sends Packets Flying

  • Expensive Invention Gets Routers Puzzled

  • Vexing Router Firmware

  • Really Intensive Protocol

  • Someone Doesn’t Worry About Networking

  • Somewhat Quixotic Language

  • Blame It oN DNS

  • Cisco’s Universal Call Misdirector

  • Some Mail’s Thrown Places

  • Mangles Packets, Looks Silly

  • Amazingly Convoluted Lists

  • ImProperly SECured

  • May Push Lingering Sanity To Expire

Are there any other ones you can think of? Leave it in the comments.