Evolution Beats Revolution in the Software-Defined Data Center
Last week I participated in the Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) Symposium and there were a number of interesting conversations generated from the presentations and panels. Topics included thoughts on SDN architectures, how applications are driving changes in the data center and where the money/budgets will flow from with changes in the data center. Craig Matsumoto of SDN Central covered some of the highlights in his piece on “What the SDDC Good for Anyway?”
One topic of discussion that got a strong reaction from panelists was around whether significant organizational changes are needed to build and support an SDDC, and more importantly, how to go about making those changes. Everyone agreed that changes should come, but as Craig pointed out in his article, several speakers advocated a “rip the Band-Aid off” approach to breaking down silos. I can understand why one might think getting changes made all at once makes sense. However, the Embrane team has spent a lot of time thinking this through and speaking to customers about their SDN and SDDC plans, and it’s just not realistic.
While it’s good for enterprises to have a long-term plan for redesigning organizations and operational procedures, a phased approach delivers many Continue reading
The Benefit of Infrastructure APIs
A lot of networking folks have heard of the concept of an API but have been too easily discouraged when they realize many of their favorite platforms don’t really have a good one. As a result, the scripting-savvy networking guy is typically relegated to what I lovingly refer to as “SSH scraping”, or the act of making a really nice script that, after it’s all said and done, just sends SSH commands to the devices in the same way that a human would, only……faster.The Benefit of Infrastructure APIs
A lot of networking folks have heard of the concept of an API but have been too easily discouraged when they realize many of their favorite platforms don’t really have a good one. As a result, the scripting-savvy networking guy is typically relegated to what I lovingly refer to as “SSH scraping”, or the act of making a really nice script that, after it’s all said and done, just sends SSH commands to the devices in the same way that a human would, only……faster.Understanding CME Overlays with Dual-Line DNs
Normally I talk about overlays in the context of data center/SDN/cloud but today I’m going out into left field and am going to talk about voice! :-)
I freely admit that I’m a noob when it comes to Cisco voice so I’m not sure if the behavior I’m about to describe is obvious or not. It wasn’t obvious to me and I only figured it out after running into the issue for real and troubleshooting it to resolution.
The issue stems from my misunderstanding about how dual-line ephone-dns function when used in an overlay.
The Desired Behavior
Here’s the scenario: Cisco Communications Manager Express (CME) with a handful of IP phones registered to it. There’s no Communications Manager (UCM); the dial plan lives entirely within CME. PSTN connectivity is via (4) POTS lines terminated on FXO ports on the router running CME.
The desired behavior is to have incoming calls from the PSTN ring on all the IP phones simultaneously. If a second call comes in, it should ring on all the remaining phones, and so on.
The Original CME Config
Here’s what the original CME config looked like. At least, the parts of the config relevant to this blog Continue reading
10 Tips for Daily Time Management
Those in technology realize that a day of work can vary greatly and can change without warning. Additionally, many try to build elaborate project plans and organizational goals. However, what is sometimes overlooked is the importance of daily execution of tasks. Those in technology must individually address the need to stay on task each and […]
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The post 10 Tips for Daily Time Management appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Paul Stewart.
Understanding CME Overlays with Dual-Line DNs
Normally I talk about overlays in the context of data center/SDN/cloud but today I'm going out into left field and am going to talk about voice! :-)
I freely admit that I'm a noob when it comes to Cisco voice so I'm not sure if the behavior I'm about to describe is obvious or not. It wasn't obvious to me and I only figured it out after running into the issue for real and troubleshooting it to resolution.
The issue stems from my misunderstanding about how dual-line ephone-dns function when used in an overlay.
Show 162 – The Bourbonator Rises at #NFD6
The mostly nonsense title masks several discussions we have with many of the Networking Field Day 6 delegates around the following topics: Spirent’s new Avalanche NEXT testing platform for network transit and security platforms. What it is, what it does, and what we thought of the live demo we got. Our introduction to the ThousandEyes […]
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The post Show 162 – The Bourbonator Rises at #NFD6 appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Ethan Banks.
Finding a New Path (Part 2)
So –we’ve covered on of the two cases dealing with calculating a new path, and then I left you hanging for a week. What’s the second case? Let’s return to our small network for a moment to figure it out. What happens if D’s cost to reach the destination isn’t lower than E’s cost? E […]
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‘Dark Horse’ Networking – Private Networks for the control of Data
Next Generation Virtualization Demands for Critical Infrastructure and Public Services
Introduction
In recent decades communication technologies have realized significant advancement. These technologies now touch almost every part of our lives, sometimes in ways that we do not even realize. As this evolution has and continues to occur, many systems that have previously been treated as discrete are now networked. Examples of these systems are power grids, metro transit systems, water authorities and many other public services.
While this evolution has brought on a very large benefit to both those managing and using the services, there is the rising spectre of security concerns and the precedent of documented attacks on these systems. This has brought about strong concerns about this convergence and what it portends for the future. This paper will begin by discussing these infrastructure environments that while varied have surprisingly common theories of operation and actually use the same set or class of protocols. Next we will take a look at the security issues and some of the reasons of why they exist. We will provide some insight to some of the attacks that have occurred and what impacts they have had. Then we will discuss the traditional Continue reading
RIP – Basic Configuration on Juniper
This article is a continuation of previous post about RIP Auto-Summarization and it's impact on discontiguous networks in Cisco networks, but this time from Juniper's perspective. Using the default auto-summary on Cisco devices can lead to routing loops in case of discontiguous networks, as shown in quiz 15.
RIP – Auto Summarization and Impact on Discontiguous Networks
This article discusses the solutions for quiz 15. Yes, I know, I know... it's about RIP ! But you need to be ready for anything when facing the challenges of a CCIE exam. Read along to review some things about auto-summarization (which is "on" by default).
Leading cross-functional teams: foot-in-the-door theory
When I was at Juniper, my job was basically to sell internally those ideas that were deemed so controversial or hotly contested that no one could get them through the corporate machinery. This put me in a position that I was almost always leading cross-functional teams whose members did not directly report to me. I […]
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The post Leading cross-functional teams: foot-in-the-door theory appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Michael Bushong.
To Kill a VTP
The Devil! Yes, VTP is not the Devil itself, but it very well could be. I understand the “protect it” or make sure you know what you’re doing arguments. Those are all fine and dandy, and the fact...[[ Summary content only, you can read everything now, just visit the site for full story ]]
Ubuntu OVF images for download
Lately I’m playing a lot with virtualization features and for this I needed a rapid way to deploy from scratch new instances. First I had the virtual machines converted to templates, but then I had to rebuild from zero the entire ESXi environment and those images were gone. I realized then it was more easier […]Plexxi DSE: An Informal Analogy
Sitting in the NFD6 demo with Plexxi and got a great overview of the DSE product they’ve been working on. This service allows them to dynamically build network configurations based on external services like Openstack, puppet, etc. The example that Derick provided was the fact that an access list - instead of referring to a source IP address, or destination port, etc. - we can now refer to a puppet request, for instance.Plexxi DSE: An Informal Analogy
Sitting in the NFD6 demo with Plexxi and got a great overview of the DSE product they’ve been working on. This service allows them to dynamically build network configurations based on external services like Openstack, puppet, etc. The example that Derick provided was the fact that an access list - instead of referring to a source IP address, or destination port, etc. - we can now refer to a puppet request, for instance.Five selfish reasons to interview candidates
Lets be honest. It is hard to justify the time needed to interview people. It can be really hard to motivate yourself to interview potential new hires when project deadlines are looming. It is perfectly fair to ask yourself, “what’s in it for me?” I think there is a payoff for time spent on hiring. […]
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The post Five selfish reasons to interview candidates appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by John Harrington.
NFD6 Preview: Solarwinds
You can’t really be in the networking industry without hearing about Solarwinds. Their IT management and monitoring products are very widely used. Nearly every customer I’ve worked with is using Solarwinds’ tools to some extent, whether it’s the ever-popular Orion NCM for network management and monitoring, or the slew of free tools that Solarwinds makes available for little troubleshooting or configuration tasks. Solarwinds has supported NFD for quite some time. At NFD5, they presented on quite a few things.NFD6 Preview: Solarwinds
You can’t really be in the networking industry without hearing about Solarwinds. Their IT management and monitoring products are very widely used. Nearly every customer I’ve worked with is using Solarwinds’ tools to some extent, whether it’s the ever-popular Orion NCM for network management and monitoring, or the slew of free tools that Solarwinds makes available for little troubleshooting or configuration tasks. Solarwinds has supported NFD for quite some time. At NFD5, they presented on quite a few things.Finding a New Path (Part 1)
In my last installment on the topic of fast convergence, I said I’d be discussing the calculation stage of fast convergence next. Orhan tried to scoop me in the comments, but that’s okay –I’m working at this through the process switched path, rather than interrupt context. In parallel with flooding information about the topology change […]