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Category Archives for "Networking"

Repost: Think About the 99% of the Users

Daniel left a very relevant comment on my Data Center Fabric Designs: Size Matters blog post, describing how everyone rushes to sell the newest gizmos and technologies to the unsuspecting (and sometimes too-awed) users1:


Absolutely right. I’m working at an MSP, and we do a lot of project work for enterprises with between 500 and 2000 people. That means the IT department is not that big; it’s usually just a cost center for them.

Repost: Think About the 99% of the Users

Daniel left a very relevant comment on my Data Center Fabric Designs: Size Matters blog post, describing how everyone rushes to sell the newest gizmos and technologies to the unsuspecting (and sometimes too-awed) users1:


Absolutely right. I’m working at an MSP, and we do a lot of project work for enterprises with between 500 and 2000 people. That means the IT department is not that big; it’s usually just a cost center for them.

IPv6 Prefix Lengths

These days its up to IPv6 Service providers to determine what IPv6 address prefix length they assign to each customer. This leads to the question: What lengths are commonly used for customer assignments? Let's see if we can answer it.

NAN061: Transforming Network Telemetry Into Operational Insights With Kentik (Sponsored)

The expectations for application delivery are higher than ever before, the networks that support those applications are increasingly distributed, and visibility is essential for network operations and troubleshooting. On today’s sponsored episode, Kentik’s Phil Gervasi joins us to discuss how Kentik collects essential performance data to help you monitor and manage all the networks your... Read more »

Stop the Network-Based Application Recognition Nonsense

One of my readers sent me an interesting update on the post-QUIC round of NBAR whack-a-mole (TL&DR: everything is better with Bluetooth AI):

Cloudflare (and the other hyperscalers) are full into QUIC, as it gives them lots of E2E control, taking a lot of choice away from the service providers on how they handle traffic and congestion. It is quite well outlined by Geoff Huston in an APNIC podcast.

So far, so good. However, whenever there’s a change, there’s an opportunity for marketing FUD, coming from the usual direction.

Stop the Network-Based Application Recognition Nonsense

One of my readers sent me an interesting update on the post-QUIC round of NBAR whack-a-mole (TL&DR: everything is better with Bluetooth AI):

Cloudflare (and the other hyperscalers) are full into QUIC, as it gives them lots of E2E control, taking a lot of choice away from the service providers on how they handle traffic and congestion. It is quite well outlined by Geoff Huston in an APNIC podcast.

So far, so good. However, whenever there’s a change, there’s an opportunity for marketing FUD, coming from the usual direction.

Lessons from building an automated SDK pipeline

In case you missed the announcement from Developer Week 2024, Cloudflare is now offering software development kits (SDKs) for Typescript, Go and Python. As a reminder, you can get started by installing the packages.

// Typescript
npm install cloudflare

// Go
go get -u github.com/cloudflare/cloudflare-go/v2

// Python
pip install --pre cloudflare

Instead of using a tool like curl or Postman to create a new zone in your account, you can use one of the SDKs in a language that you’re already comfortable with or that integrates directly into your existing codebase.

import Cloudflare from 'cloudflare';

const cloudflare = new Cloudflare({
  apiToken: process.env['CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN']
});

const newZone = await cloudflare.zones.create({
  account: { id: '023e105f4ecef8ad9ca31a8372d0c353' },
  name: 'example.com',
  type: 'full',
});

Since their inception, our SDKs have been manually maintained by one or more dedicated individuals. For every product addition or improvement, we needed to orchestrate a series of manually created pull requests to get those changes into customer hands. This, unfortunately, created an imbalance in the frequency and quality of changes that made it into the SDKs. Even though the product teams would drive some of these changes, not all languages were covered and the SDKs Continue reading

CCNA 200-301 Updated To Version 1.1

Cisco is updating the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) exam to version 1.1. In the past, Cisco only did major updates to their exams. Since then, they have moved to doing more frequent and minor updates, in a more agile fashion. Before going in to the changes, let’s answer some common questions that are covered in Cisco’s FAQ:

    Why is the CCNA being updated?
    Cisco regularly performs reviews of their exams. Exams get updated to clarify exam topics, introduce new ones, and phase out outdated products and solutions.

    What is being added?
    New topics include generative AI, cloud network management, and machine learning.

    When can candidates register for CCNA v1.1?
    Registration begins on August 20, 2024.

    What if I’m already studing for CCNA v1.0?
    Complete your study and take the CCNA v1.0 exam.

    What percentage of the exam is being updated?
    Approximately 10% of the exam is updated.

    When is the last day to test for CCNA v1.0?
    The last day of testing for CCNA v1.0 is August 19, 2024.

    So what is being changed? The different domains and their percentages is not changing. The domains and their percentage remain as:

    NB475: Cisco Hypes Hypershield; Broadcom Tries To Clarify VMware Strategy

    Take a Network Break! This week we cover Hypershield, a new Cisco security product that uses technology from its Isovalent acquisition. We parse a blog from Broadcom CEO Hock Tan on the company’s VMware strategy, and discuss China’s latest counter-punch in its tech infrastructure fight with the United States. A KPMG survey reveals that executives... Read more »