EVPN behind the curtains

Is EVPN magic? Well, like Arthur C Clarke said, any considerable leap in technology is indistinguishable from magic. On that premise, moving from a traditional layer 2 environment to VXLAN driven by EVPN has much of that same hocus pocus feeling. To help demystify the sorcery, this blog aims to help users new to EVPN create some step-by-step understanding of how EVPN works and how the control plane converges. In this blog post, we’ll focus on basic layer 2 (L2) building blocks then work our way up to layer 3 (L3) connectivity and the control plane.

We’ll be using the “reference topology” as our cable plan and foundation to build our understanding of the traffic flow. Our infrastructure will try to demystify a symmetric mode EVPN environment using distributed gateways. All the configurations are defined in this github repo. 

If you’d like to follow along as we go, feel free to launch your own CITC blank slate and deploy the above playbook:

EVPN message types

Like any good protocol, EVPN has a robust process for exchanging information with its peers. In EVPN this process uses message types. If you already know OSPF and the LSA messages you can Continue reading

JAMstack podcast episode: Listen to Cloudflare’s Kenton Varda speak about originless code

JAMstack podcast episode: Listen to Cloudflare's Kenton Varda speak about originless code

JAMstack Radio is a show all about the JAMstack, a new way to build fast & secure apps or websites. In the most recent episode, the host, Brian Douglas, met with Kenton Varda, tech lead for Cloudflare Workers and author of Sandstorm.io to discuss some of the infinite uses for running code at the edge.

Listen to what Kenton had to say about serverless technology in this twenty two minute podcast here:

JAMstack podcast episode: Listen to Cloudflare's Kenton Varda speak about originless code

Here's the transcript of the podcast as well:

Brian Douglas: Welcome to another installment of JAMstack Radio. In the room I've got Kenton Varda from Cloudflare.

Kenton Varda: Thanks for having me.

Brian: Thanks for coming all the way across San Francisco to chat with me in person. I'm curious who Kenton is, but I'm also curious what Cloudflare is. Can you answer both questions? Let's start with, "Who is Kenton?"

Kenton: I'm an engineer. I'm the architect of Cloudflare Workers. In a past life I worked for Google for several years. I was once known as the "protocol buffers guy," I was the one who open sourced that. And I founded a company called Sandstorm that was later acquired by Cloudflare.

Brian: I'm Continue reading

How to install LUKS encrypted Ubuntu 18.04.x Server and enable remote unlocking

Much has been changed since my last post about LUKS remote unlock workaround (Particularly, The bug is finally fixed in cryptsetup 2:2.0.2-1ubuntu1.1 and no more workaround is needed). This, is the updated version on how to set things up properly.

UPDATE: Well, it turned out that while the previous bug is fixed, another one still exists. You can find the required workaround for it at the end of this article

In this post, I’m going to show you the required steps and downfalls on running a LUKS encrypted Ubuntu Server setup and how it can be extended to allow remote unlocking.

Prerequisites

  1. A server to install on
  2. Static public IP address
  3. The so called Alternative Ubuntu Server installer1
  4. Some patience ?

Installing and Setting up encrypted LVM

It is assumed that you already know your way around ISO files and how to boot them on your server.

We will also use the simplest possible setup: A server with a single disk

These steps would completely remove any leftover partitions and their associated data on the drive without the possibility to recover. Consider yourself warned!

We are going to use LVM inside the LUKS container, it is Continue reading

Base Go packages

The Go standard library is generally great, but some parts have replacements that are just plain better and remove frustrations that you may have not even realised were frustrations. Here are my recommendations for every Go program.

I wouldn’t recommend that anyone use the standard library version of these for any purpose, since better alternatives exist.

This list may expand in the future.

gorilla/mux

The standard router is fine, but very low level. Here’s some of the features that makes it vital.

Filter on HTTP method

With the standard router you have to manually check that the method is what you expect it to be, and if the same endpoint has both GET and POST then you have to route that yourself. With gorilla/mux it’s as simple as:

r := mux.NewRouter()
get := r.Method("GET").Subrouter()
post := r.Method("POST").Subrouter()
get.HandleFunc("/", handleRoot)
get.HandleFunc("/items", handleListItems)
post.HandleFunc("/items", handleUploadItem)

You can also assert that headers are in place, for example to check X-Requested-With because some API endpoints should not be allowed in cross-domain XHR requests. Adding it to the router instead of manual checks simplifies code and reduces risk of forgetting to add the check.

Pattern URLs

With Continue reading

Celebrating One Year With Our New Website

Images of our home page

It is hard for me to believe, but it was one year ago today that we launched this new website!  On September 14, 2017, James Wood began our flow of news with a welcoming blog post – and just a few days later the site was heavily used as part of our massive 25th Anniversary celebration. It was the culmination of a rather insane several months in which a whole crew of people within the Internet Society, as well as at our partners Moving Brands and ATTCK, all burned countless hours to make this site a reality.

One year later, we’ve published over 500 news articles and blog posts; published over 120 new resources and tutorials; promoted many events, and maintained a consistent flow of content on the critical issues affecting the Internet.

We’ve built campaign pages, integrated video and graphics (ex. our GIR page), showcased the amazing work our Chapters are doing, integrated social components (ex. our IoT page and Instagram), and pushed the limits of how many links any sane person should have on a page. I continue to be impressed by the beauty of pages like our Issues page (just move Continue reading

We’ve Added Another Google Cloud Course To Our Video Library!

Tune into Joseph Holbrook’s Associate GCP Cloud Engineer Course to learn about the requirements of the GCP Cloud Engineer Associate Exam.

About the Course:

An Associate Cloud Engineer deploys applications, monitors operations, and manages enterprise solutions. This individual is able to use Google Cloud Console and the command-line interface to perform common platform-based tasks to maintain one or more deployed solutions that leverage Google-managed or self-managed services on Google Cloud. The GCP Cloud Engineer Associate is one of Google’s newest certifications, this course will walk you through everything you need to know to ace your certification exam.

Prerequisites:

  • Basic knowledge of cloud technologies
  • Basic Knowledge of GCP Cloud
  • A will to learn GCP Cloud
  • Access to a free trial account with GCP
  • Ability to use Codelabs and Quiklabs

Weekly Show 407: Delivering Applications In Multi-Cloud Environments With Avi Networks (Sponsored)

Running applications in a multi-cloud environment presents serious networking challenges. On today's sponsored Weekly Show, we talk with Avi Networks about how its software-based ADC and load balancer can help customers working in multi-cloud environments ensure application delivery, provide security, and enable automation at scale.

The post Weekly Show 407: Delivering Applications In Multi-Cloud Environments With Avi Networks (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Georgia Tech research: Smart building and IoT technology are highly fragmented

Greater cooperation among standards bodies, corporations, city governments and other stakeholders is needed so IoT and existing smart-building technology can work together to deliver the full potential of smart cities, according to a Georgia Tech study.The problem is that standards are lacking for current in-building systems, let alone having standards so they can share with newer IoT devices.[ Check out our corporate guide to addressing IoT security. ] One vendor of automation software for, say, elevators might use a much different data format than the manufacturer of a given building’s HVAC systems, making it difficult to integrate these two critical systems into the same framework.To read this article in full, please click here

Georgia Tech research: smart-building and IoT technology are highly fragmented

Greater cooperation among standards bodies, corporations, city governments and other stakeholders is needed so IoT and existing smart-building technology can work together to deliver the full potential of smart cities, according to a Georgia Tech study.The problem is that standards are lacking for current in-building systems, let alone having standards so they can share with newer IoT devices.[ Check out our corporate guide to addressing IoT security. ] One vendor of automation software for, say, elevators might use a much different data format than the manufacturer of a given building’s HVAC systems, making it difficult to integrate these two critical systems into the same framework.To read this article in full, please click here

Stuff The Internet Says On Scalability For September 14th, 2018

Hey, it's HighScalability time:

 

The Cloud Native Interactive Landscape is fecund. You are viewing 581 cards with a total of 1,237,157 stars, market cap of $6.86T and funding of $20.1B. (changelog)

 

Do you like this sort of Stuff? Please lend me your support on Patreon. It would mean a great deal to me. And if you know anyone looking for a simple book that uses lots of pictures and lots of examples to explain the cloud, then please recommend my new book: Explain the Cloud Like I'm 10. They'll love you even more.

 

  • 72: signals sensed from a distant galaxy using AI; 12M: reddit posts per month; 10 trillion: per day Google generated test inputs with 100s of servers for several months using OSS-Fuzz; 200%: growth in Cloud Native technologies used in production; $13 trillion: potential economic impact of AI by 2030; 1.8 trillion: plastic pieces eaten by giant garbage pac-man; 100: min people needed to restart humanity; 

  • Quotable Quotes:
    • Joel Hruska: Farmers in California have lost the fight to be allowed to repair their own tractors and equipment thanks to the capitulation Continue reading

Weekend Reads 091418

Security

You install a new app on your phone, and it asks for access to your email accounts. Should you, or shouldn’t you? TL;DR? You shouldn’t. When an app asks for access to your email, they are probably reading your email, performing analytics across it, and selling that information. Something to think about: how do they train their analytics models? By giving humans the job of reading it.

When you shut your computer down, the contents of memory are not wiped. This means an attacker can sometimes grab your data while the computer is booting, before any password is entered. Since 2008, computers have included a subsystem that wipes system memory before starting any O/S launch—but researchers have found a way around this memory wipe.

You know when your annoying friend talks about the dangers of IoT when you bragging about your latest install of that great new electronic doorlock that works off your phone? You know the one I’m talking about. Maybe that annoying friend has some things right, and we should really be paying more attention to the problems inherent in large scale IoT deployments. For instance, what would happen if you could get the electrical grid in Continue reading

From Idea to Action: Beyond the Net Selects 15 Amazing Chapter Projects!

The Beyond the Net Funding Programme is pleased to announce the results of our 2018 Grant Cycle. A total of 49 applications were received, and after a thorough reviewing process, 15 amazing projects were selected.

These projects are at the core of our mission, and will use the Internet to develop Community Networks in underserved areas, to empower women through ICT, as well as bringing awareness on  Internet policies around the world.

This is the result of months of effort from our Chapter Community. Many discussions, numerous clarifications and proposals, updates, and revisions form the Beyond the Net Selection Committee. We are proud of you all.

Please join us in celebrating the following projects!

Developing community networks in the Northern region of Brazil – Brazil Chapter

Supporting and promoting the development of the Internet to enrich people’s lives, the project aim is to contribute to the growth and improvement of community networks policies and practices in Brazilian rural areas, in order to strengthen those who are marginalized. Instituto Nupef will work to develop a new network in the state of Maranhão as well as a developing a communications plan for the Babassu coconut breakers organizations and movements. Objectives include Continue reading

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