SignalFx
This article describes a proof of concept demonstrating how SignalFx's cloud service can be used to cost effectively monitor large scale cloud infrastructure by leveraging standard sFlow instrumentation. SignalFx offers a free 14 day trial, making it easy to evaluate solutions based on this demonstration.
The diagram shows the measurement pipeline. Standard sFlow measurements from hosts, hypervisors, virtual machines, containers, load balancers, web servers and network switches stream to the sFlow-RT real-time analytics engine. Metrics are pushed from sFlow-RT to SignalFx using the REST API.
Over 40 vendors implement the sFlow standard and compatible products are listed on sFlow.org. The open source Host sFlow agent exports standard sFlow metrics from hosts, virtual machines and containers and local services. For additional background, the Velocity conference talk provides an introduction to sFlow and case study from a large social networking site.
SignalFx's service is priced based on the number of data points that they need to store and they estimate a cost of $15 per host Continue reading
Securing BGP: A Case Study (2)
In part 1 of this series, I pointed out that there are three interesting questions we can ask about BGP security. The third question I outlined there was this: What is it we can actually prove in a packet switched network? This is the first question I want dive in too—this is a deep dive, so be prepared for a long series. 
This question feels like it is actually asking three different things, what we might call “subquestions,” or perhaps “supporting points.” These three questions are:
- If I send a packet to the peer I received this update from, will it actually reach the advertised destination?
- If I send this information to this destination, will it actually reach the intended recipient?
- If I send a packet to the peer I received this update from, will it pass through an adversary who is redirecting the traffic so they can observe it?
These are the things I can try to prove, or would like to know, in a packet switched network. Note that I want to intentionally focus on the data plane and then transfer these questions to the control plane (BGP). This is the crucial point to remember: If I Continue reading
As Retirement Approaches…
A paltry 15% of the radio spectrum that is suitable for broadband in the US has been made available to the private sector.
Software-Defined Storage: The 2016 Outlook
Interest in SDS is growing as companies look for alternatives to high-priced storage drives.
Automating Firewall Administration
It's time to delegate the manual process of firewall policy changes to software intelligence.
Inspecting East-West Traffic in vSphere Environments
Harry Taluja asked an interesting question in his comment to one of my virtualization blog posts:
If vShield API is no longer supported, how does a small install (6-8 ESXi hosts) take care of east/west IPS without investing in NSX?
Short answer: It depends, but it probably won’t be cheap ;) Now for the details…
Read more ...Getting Back to Basics with SDN
Typically when things start to get complicated, we talk about getting ‘back to basics’. The premise, of course, is to better compartmentalize, keep things in simple, digestible chunks, and not lose sight of the fundamentals.
For instance, if you’re not hitting the golf ball straight, it’s because you’ve incorporated too much variance into your swing. A good golf instructor will break the swing down into its components, and help you work on the basics.
We’re pretty far into the software-defined networking (SDN) hype cycle now. Every networking company (or even network service company) has an SDN story. In a lot of cases, SDN is still vapor-ware or marketecture. And for customers, there’s plenty of ‘SDN fatigue’ – which story should you believe?
In short, things have gotten a little complicated.
So what does getting back to basics mean in an SDN context? It’s means understanding the fundamentals components of an SDN solution. Fortunately, we can draw from real data and learn what’s working from customers that have already deployed.
Recently, EMA published research on the impact of SDN on network management. The report featured survey data from over 226 early adopters of SDN – both in the service roviders and Continue reading
SDxCentral’s Top 10 Articles — January 2016
VMware, Huawei & EMC make the Top 3.
What Are SAI And Switchdev And Why Do We Need Them To Succeed?
Howdy. In my last post I discussed the need for an open source framework to drive merchant switching silicon. Towards the end of that long post, I mentioned a future post talking about the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) and switchdev in depth. Welcome to that post. There’s been a lot of synergy between both projects, […]
The post What Are SAI And Switchdev And Why Do We Need Them To Succeed? appeared first on Packet Pushers.
What Are SAI And Switchdev And Why Do We Need Them To Succeed?
Howdy. In my last post I discussed the need for an open source framework to drive merchant switching silicon. Towards the end of that long post, I mentioned a future post talking about the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) and switchdev in depth. Welcome to that post. There’s been a lot of synergy between both projects, […]
The post What Are SAI And Switchdev And Why Do We Need Them To Succeed? appeared first on Packet Pushers.
Understanding BGP Table Version – Part 1: Intro to BGP Table Version
Diving into the BGP Table First a Look at the Local BGP Table Before we begin… let’s take a look at the BGP table. One would assume (rightly so) that anything called the “BGP table version” probably is tied somehow... Read More ›
The post Understanding BGP Table Version – Part 1: Intro to BGP Table Version appeared first on Networking with FISH.
Clearing Up Some Misinformation RE: eBGP Multihop and TTL
Myth: You have to set ttl to 2 because it is decremented on the way to the loopback.
**This blog is a formatting cleanup and update to a previous blog I posted in 2013 on NetworkWorld.
Years and years ago I was trying to learn more about BGP and I was reading some book with a chapter on the topic. Back then I pretty much believed that if it made it into a book it must be true and my knowledge had to be in error. 
So to say I was confused back then would be an understatement.
Why? Well ya see… they basically said that the reason one must set the TTL to 2 for eBGP peers that are directly connected, but peering with their loopbacks, was cause “the TTL gets decremented on the way to the loopback”
When I try to help someone deprogram this brain washing, I find pictures help. So for those who’d like to get deprogrammed and learn the truth… Let’s go play in the lab!!!
In the picture above we have 3 Routers in 3 different BGP ASes. We all probably know that if we peer R1 and R2 Continue reading