Show 180 – The Art of Network Architecture: Business-Driven Design
In this show, host Ethan Banks is joined by Russ White & Denise Donohue, co-authors of the soon-to-be-released CiscoPress title, The Art of Network Architecture: Business Driven Design. Orhan Ergun reviewed the book and also shares his perspectives. This isn’t just a book review, though. Really, the show uses the book as a springboard to […]
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The post Show 180 – The Art of Network Architecture: Business-Driven Design appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Ethan Banks.
Cisco ACI – Nexus 9000 Initial Configuration
I was fortunate enough to be given access to a pair of Nexus 9Ks in our lab, and I want to give a brief overview of the initial configuration process, and a brief introduction to some of the features initially presented to us on the switch platform. Here are a few summarized thoughts: Calling it a switch is actually kind of funny to me. All ports are routed and shutdown by default, and though you can obviously “no shut” them, and you can convert to a switchport, the switch is clearly built for all-L3 operations.Cisco ACI – Nexus 9000 Initial Configuration
I was fortunate enough to be given access to a pair of Nexus 9Ks in our lab, and I want to give a brief overview of the initial configuration process, and a brief introduction to some of the features initially presented to us on the switch platform. Here are a few summarized thoughts: Calling it a switch is actually kind of funny to me. All ports are routed and shutdown by default, and though you can obviously “no shut” them, and you can convert to a switchport, the switch is clearly built for all-L3 operations.Cisco ACI – Nexus 9000 Initial Configuration
I was fortunate enough to be given access to a pair of Nexus 9Ks in our lab, and I want to give a brief overview of the initial configuration process, and a brief introduction to some of the features initially presented to us on the switch platform. Here are a few summarized thoughts: Calling it a switch is actually kind of funny to me. All ports are routed and shutdown by default, and though you can obviously “no shut” them, and you can convert to a switchport, the switch is clearly built for all-L3 operations.Programmatically Configuring Interface Descriptions from Phone Descriptions
I wrote some Python code that allows you to do the following:- Query a Catalyst switch CDP neighbor table from its HTTPS interface,
- Extract the device names of the attached IP phones,
- Query Communications Manager for the IP phone device description,
- Apply the device description as the switch interface description.
I hope that this example saves someone the head-banging that I incurred while trying to figure out the AXL XML/SOAP API for Communications Manager.
I haven't tested this extensively; all my testing has been on Catalyst 3560 and 3750 switches and CUCM version 8.6. Using the --auto switch to automatically configure the switch is quite slow; this is a limitation of the HTTPS interface rather than the script code. It may be faster to leave that option off and manually copy/paste the printed configuration if you're in a hurry.
Note that your switch must be configured to allow configuration via the HTTPS interface; you may need to modify your TACACS/etc. configurations accordingly.
All the relevant info is in the Github repo.
Programmatically Configuring Interface Descriptions from Phone Descriptions
I wrote some Python code that allows you to do the following:- Query a Catalyst switch CDP neighbor table from its HTTPS interface,
- Extract the device names of the attached IP phones,
- Query Communications Manager for the IP phone device description,
- Apply the device description as the switch interface description.
I hope that this example saves someone the head-banging that I incurred while trying to figure out the AXL XML/SOAP API for Communications Manager.
I haven't tested this extensively; all my testing has been on Catalyst 3560 and 3750 switches and CUCM version 8.6. Using the --auto switch to automatically configure the switch is quite slow; this is a limitation of the HTTPS interface rather than the script code. It may be faster to leave that option off and manually copy/paste the printed configuration if you're in a hurry.
Note that your switch must be configured to allow configuration via the HTTPS interface; you may need to modify your TACACS/etc. configurations accordingly.
All the relevant info is in the Github repo.
ESXi Server Build
With the release of the IOS XRv router, along with CSR (Cloud Services Router), its time that I go ahead and build myself a virtualization solution.
To that effect, I have just ordered the components for a home build server, which was the cheapest, not to mention most silent option available.
The components are:
Intel Xeon 3.2 Ghz processor (E3-1230).
32 Gig of memory.
Intel Micro ATX server motherboard (S1200V3RPL).
A 120 Gig Kingston SSD.
A supposedly silent PSU.
And to house it all, a Lian-Li Micro-ATX cabinet (PC-V300B).
Hopefully, everything will be here next week. Looking forward to it 
Kicking tires on Cumulus Linux
So, I ended my last blog post with a wish – “hopefully someday I can get a real switch running Cumulus to play with ;-)” Well, as it turns out, that post was somewhat popular, and caught the attention of some folks at Cumulus Networks (who kindly RT’d my tweet publicizing the post – thanks!) […]
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The post Kicking tires on Cumulus Linux appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Will Dennis.
CCIE Version 4 one more attempt!
For regular visitors to my blog you may have noticed a countdown calendar has appeared again. I have managed to get a lab date in Brussels before the version 5 change. I had previously failed the lab at the mobile lab in London in December and after Christmas my plan was to get one more […]
The post CCIE Version 4 one more attempt! appeared first on Roger Perkin - Networking Articles.
Show 179 – Avaya Efficient Data Center Design at Fujitsu & the Sochi 2014 Winter Games
In this episode, Avaya comes on board to talk about new and efficient ways to design data centers. They bring a couple of customers along to discuss their implementations: Fujitsu Technology Solutions and the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Speaking with host Greg Ferro are Paul Unbehagen, Chief Architect for Avaya Networking; Albert Knoll, Network […]
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The post Show 179 – Avaya Efficient Data Center Design at Fujitsu & the Sochi 2014 Winter Games appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Ethan Banks.
Common Programmable Abstraction Layer
In late January, there were some big names on stage at the latest Open Compute Summit. I’d like to focus on one keynote panel that was called, “Opening Up Network Hardware.” The panelists for this session included Martin Casado (VMware), Matthew Liste (Goldman Sachs), Dave Maltz (Microsoft), and JR Rivers (Cumulus) and was led by Najam Ahmad (Facebook). If you haven’t watched the session already, it’s definitely worth it. You can check it out here.
It’s always interesting when there are consumers of the technology on stage with those that sell and build their own technology. Even in a session like this, it’s hard to put Facebook and Microsoft in the consumer/user group because they are increasingly rolling their own. But Goldman Sachs (GS) on the other hand is unique --- and more relevant to the Enterprise. They are a user of Enterprise technology, but what makes them unique, in my opinion, is that they seem to be crossing the chasm or straddling Enterprise technology and rolling their own (DIY) with technology from OCP and what they announced at last year’s ONS, which was soon after they joined the ONF. And there is probably Continue reading
Coffee Break – Show 2
This is “The Coffee Break”. A podcast on state of the networking business where we discuss vendors moves and news, analysis on product and positioning, and look at the business of networking. In the time it takes to have a coffee break.
Coffee Break – Show 2
This is “The Coffee Break”. A podcast on state of the networking business where we discuss vendors moves and news, analysis on product and positioning, and look at the business of networking. In the time it takes to have a coffee break.
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The post Coffee Break – Show 2 appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Greg Ferro.
Coffee Break – Show 2
This is “The Coffee Break”. A podcast on state of the networking business where we discuss vendors moves and news, analysis on product and positioning, and look at the business of networking. In the time it takes to have a coffee break.
The post Coffee Break – Show 2 appeared first on Packet Pushers.
CCNA 10 years!
Ten years ago I’ve passed my first Cisco exam: CCNA! What was supposed to be just a marginal skill for a junior systems engineer became both my job and my passion. Ten years later and 21 Cisco exams later (and…One-liner iptables rule to Filter NTP Reflection on Linux Hypervisor
Anybody annoyed enough with massive NTP monlist floods over the weekend? If you did like I did, I believe what immediately came to your mind was, “this shouldn’t have happened if they just had put a ‘default ignore’ line in their ntp.conf file!” But unfortunately there are some people who’re not like you, including casual […]
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The post One-liner iptables rule to Filter NTP Reflection on Linux Hypervisor appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Tamihiro Yuzawa.
How Can MSTP Configuration Changes Impact Your Network
This post represents the solution and explanation for quiz-19. As shown in the quiz, a simple change of the MSTP configuration, for example changing the vlan to instance mapping, can immediatelly create short network cuts. Read along to see full explanation.
Planning projects instead of burning benjamins
Engineers are often unstuck by poor planning and get hit with large financial penalties as a result. Projects can become mired in delays and complications due to unforeseen costs and expenses. There are some unavoidable bumps in the road, but … Continue reading
The post Planning projects instead of burning benjamins appeared first on The Network Sherpa.
Python bindings for the HP VAN SDN Controller
For the last 9 months, I've been silently working on a little pet project. It's finally ready to be released in to the wild and to be used by one and all for creating Python-based SDN Applications for the HP VAN SDN Controller.
Introducing the hp-sdn-client
When I started working with the HP VAN SDN Controller (while it still had a cool code name) it became immediately apparent to me that extending the controller with Java applications is not for everyone. There's lots of heavy lifting to be done with things like Maven, OSGi and Remote Debugging. Not only that, but I am not a "Java guy" (or was not until recently to be more exact) and being able to rapidly prototype applications in Python appealed to me.
The HP VAN SDN Controller's REST API exposes a large amount of the functionality available to the Java API with the exception of handling OpenFlow Packet-In, Packet-Out events. For a large number of applications this is absolutely fine, and this is where I hope this library will be useful.
The library is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license so it's free for all to use. The source is hosted on GitHub Continue reading
Python bindings for the HP VAN SDN Controller
For the last 9 months, I've been silently working on a little pet project. It's finally ready to be released in to the wild and to be used by one and all for creating Python-based SDN Applications for the HP VAN SDN Controller.