This post represents the solution and explanation for quiz-21. It is a very long post describing Pre-bestpath community, Point of Insertion, offset list and other networking hacks employed to tackle a less common problem. Make yourself a coffee and start reading...
While at Networking Field Day 7, we got a small preview of a new switch Dell Networking has just announced, the Z9500. At some point I’ll have another post coming discussing more of Dell’s presentation at NFD7, but I wanted to briefly talk about this new product and what it brings to the table for Dell.
In a past post, we’ve discussed microloops in link state protocols. If we examine a small ring topology (if you come to my Interop talk, you’ll discover that ring topologies are the heart of network convergence), we can see where and how a microloop forms. If the link between A and B fails, A and […]
Putting the Application in SDN
by Steve Harriman, VP of Marketing - March 25, 2014
We would like to highlight a couple of recent articles about SDN that reflect Packet Design’s perspective on the technology. Arthur Cole wrote in Enterprise Networking Planet about “SDN in the Enterprise: It’s the Applications, Stupid.” He rightly asserts that the value of SDN isn’t in the architecture itself, but in the applications that the environment supports. It is understandable that during the genesis of a technology, the majority of effort is spent in making it work, but we should not lose site of the fact that optimal application performance is the key to deploying SDN more broadly. And we as an industry are not nearly ready to effectively manage applications across software-defined networks.
In fact, Cole cites an article written by our own CTO Cengiz Alaettinoglu in Data Center Knowledge about how traditional, manual management methods are inadequate in a programmable, automated network environment. We need to automate network management best practices and processes to give human operators the visibility and control needed to adequately manage SDN applications in the data center and across the WAN. Continue reading
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Figure 1: Fabric: A Retrospective on Evolving SDN |
In my last post I talked about the broken trust in the Internet. Now let’s talk about steps we need to take to restore that trust. First, we need to realize that trust is regained by proving we are trustworthy. There is nothing we can do, or say, that will instantly restore trust; it is […]
The post Restoring Trust in the Internet – Part 2 appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Jonathan Strine.
I was just reading through Bob’s blog post from today and wanted to give a rebuttal of sorts. In his post, Bob tells us that’s he’s going to be at Cisco Live US in San Francisco this year but he won’t be coming on the Full Conference pass like he usually does. He’s going with the Social Event pass this year, which is actually a great, great way to attend. I know several people who are thinking about scaling back to the Social Event pass as well, and there’s nothing wrong with doing it like that. There are some things that it doesn’t get you, though.
The Social Event pass means no breakout sessions. These are the bread-and-butter of the conference and the real technical reason that I try to go each year (listen to me talk like I’m a 20-year NetVet…LOL). Yes, most of the sessions are available on Cisco Live 365 afterwards, but that leaves two problems for me. First of all, I will never actually make the time to go back and sit through these sessions after the event. It’s just something that won’t happen with life and work and everything going on. Secondly, I cannot sit Continue reading
It’s getting to be that time of year again when geeks across North America (and beyond) start getting excited for Cisco Live! The buzz is starting a bit early this year, but that’s because Cisco Live is about a month earlier this year (May 18-22) than it has been in recent years.
@Rob_Coote @blakekrone @scottm32768 @networkingnerd @BobMcCouch @fryguy_pa This is the backpack, no Dora this time pic.twitter.com/ZJ504qJ66P
— Kathleen Mudge (@KathleenMudge) March 20, 2014
@Rob_Coote @blakekrone @scottm32768 @networkingnerd @BobMcCouch @fryguy_pa My pics aren’t doing it justice. It’s cool pic.twitter.com/J2ZI8OgQzl
— Kathleen Mudge (@KathleenMudge) March 20, 2014
At Networking Field Day 7, the delegates were treated to vendor demonstrations that challenged our thinking about the future of networking. Perhaps the industry is not agreed on just how we’ll implement and operate our networks in the coming years, but one thing is for certain. The landscape will be different. In this and the previously […]
The post Show 184 – The Future of Networking Part 2 as Inspired by #NFD7 appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Ethan Banks.
Hadoop Operations Eric Sammer Hadoop is one of those applications all data centers seem to need to support – and there is a lot of information out there about how Hadoop works, how to use it, and how to build Hadoop systems. From these, it’s pretty easy to glean a general set of requirements for […]
The 3Com/HPN/H3C based Switches offers the utilization of interfaces such as Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, GigabitEthernet or TenGigabitEthernet. The Link Aggregation feature allows the gathering of many ports in order to increase the link’s velocity concerning the full duplex communication between the two devices.
In Link-Aggregation mode the ports are utilized in parallel, supporting the bandwith’s growth and expansion, without the need of buying an additional hardware.
For example, we can use four 100Mb ports in each device to form a communication between two switches using 400Mb among them. However, the utilization of redundant enlaces raises the possibility of loops within the network. Link Aggregation avoids the situation which the blocking state or loops, stop the gathered ports, treating them as one single interface. For the STP, SNMP and VLANs the interfaces are treated as one logical link.
Other name used for the Link Aggregation is EtherChannel.
The LACP protocol is part of the 802.3ad specification for Link Aggregation, allowing that switches and servers negotiate the port groups with different manufactures automatically. Both ports should offer constant support to the protocol, so that the Link Aggregation could work correctly.
Some Switch models can utilise the PagP (Cisco) protocol or interface Continue reading
Today marks Packet Life's sixth birthday, and I'm celebrating by launching the new site format I talked about in January. The relaunched site is hosted on an entirely new server from Linode, which means you can (finally) access packetlife.net via native IPv6! The entire code base has been rewritten on Django 1.6, and should feel lighter and more responsive. The layout has been rewritten as well using the Bootstrap CSS framework.
You might have noticed that some components of the old site are now gone: The discussion forums and wiki have been axed in favor of focusing more on the site's core content. The tools armory, which was initially in jeopardy, has been maintained in response to community interest (although I do intend to spend a good amount of time cleaning it up).
There are no doubt bits of code here and there that need a tweak or three, but generally speaking the site is up and running. If you do encounter an error, rest assured that I've been alerted and should have it fixed in little time. If you feel that something is terribly amiss, give me a shout on Twitter and I'll look into Continue reading