Automating Cumulus Linux with Ansible

Automating your network can seem like a daunting task. But the truth is that automating Cumulus Linux with Ansible can be easier than many of the things you’re probably already automating.

In this post, I’ll show you how to get started on your network automation journey using a simple, four-step process:

  1. Pick one small network task to automate
  2. Configure it manually on a small scale
  3. Mimic the manual configuration in Ansible
  4. Expand the automation to additional network devices

To illustrate, I’ll be using the following simple, bare-bones topology based on the Cumulus Reference topology. You can follow along by spinning up your own virtual data center for free using Cumulus in the Cloud.

Pick one network task to automate

The first step is to pick one thing to automate. Just one! The only caveat is that it needs to be something you understand and are comfortable with. Trying to automate a feature you’ve never used is sure to scare you away from automation forever, unless of course you have someone guiding you through the process.

Preferably, pick something that’s quick and simple when done manually. Configuring the OSPF routing protocol between two switches falls into this category. When done manually, Continue reading

C is to low level

I'm in danger of contradicting myself, after previously pointing out that x86 machine code is a high-level language, but this article claiming C is a not a low level language is bunk. C certainly has some problems, but it's still the closest language to assembly. This is obvious by the fact it's still the fastest compiled language. What we see is a typical academic out of touch with the real world.

The author makes the (wrong) observation that we've been stuck emulating the PDP-11 for the past 40 years. C was written for the PDP-11, and since then CPUs have been designed to make C run faster. The author imagines a different world, such as where CPU designers instead target something like LISP as their preferred language, or Erlang. This misunderstands the state of the market. CPUs do indeed supports lots of different abstractions, and C has evolved to accommodate this.


The author criticizes things like "out-of-order" execution which has lead to the Spectre sidechannel vulnerabilities. Out-of-order execution is necessary to make C run faster. The author claims instead that those resources should be spent on having more slower CPUs, with more threads. This sacrifices single-threaded performance in exchange Continue reading

Dustin’s Internet Community Roadtrip: In the Bay Area, The People Who Make the Internet Ecosystem Thrive

Dustin Phillips, Co-Executive Director of ICANNWiki, is traveling across the United States in his red Toyota Corolla, making connections with the people who are making their communities – and the Internet – a better place. He visited the Bay Area, first making a stop at the Redwood National and State Parks, where he learned about redwood communities and how their survival is dependent on interconnection, a metaphor for the Internet itself.

What is the Internet Ecosystem?

The Internet affects nearly every aspect of society, creating an extremely wide range of stakeholders. There is still a community of stakeholders engaged directly with the Internet’s policymaking processes, but increasingly there are Internet-related discussions occurring at what would traditionally be considered unlikely venues.

CITRIS and the Banatao Institute

Meeting with Dr. Brandie Nonnecke at the University of California, Berkley’s Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute was a fitting way to kick off my time in the Bay Area. We had a great discussion on the important role of civic participation and collaborative processes for informed decision-making in key issue areas.

Like the incredibly diverse plant life that grows in the understory Continue reading

Configuring SSL for gRPC on Junos

This is a short article on creating a self-signed root certificate which can be used to self-sign certificates for the purposes of treating our telemetry and instrumentation exploration with the security love it deserves. I also cover configuration of mutual SSL for gRPC on Junos. An article of dual purposes!

One of the things I see far too often is clear-text transport being used in demonstrations, labs and even production. This isn’t acceptable. We live in a world where security has to be woven in from the ground up. How do you really know your system works if you leave out all of the security controls?

I hear your teeth grinding. Why do you want to do this? First of all, even though we can bypass security on gRPC with Junos by going for insecure connectivity with clear-text, we shouldn’t. The world we live in is all about the data and the smallest amount of it can give the ‘bad guys’ a lead.

Now we’re done with the why, we need to deal with the how. There are three approaches to PKI that are common:

  1. Run around with your hair on fire rambling nonsense
  2. Create your own Certificate Authority (CA) Continue reading

Introducing Play With Kubernetes

Every month for the last year, thousands of people have used Play with Docker and the accompanying hands-on Play with Docker Classroom training site. These sites allow you to use and learn Docker entirely within your own browser, without installing anything. Last summer, we quietly launched the companion site Play with Kubernetes, to give people a full command line while learning Kubernetes. And today we’re launching a new Kubernetes training site, the Play with Kubernetes Classroom.

The Play with Kubernetes Classroom is a workshop environment just like the Play with Docker Classroom. We currently have an extensive Kubernetes workshop originally based on Jérôme Petazzoni’s Container Training Kubernetes workshop. But instead of doing it all locally or setting up VMs in the cloud, you can now run through the workshop entirely in the browser.

Like the Play with Docker Classroom, we’ll be curating contributions of additional labs from the community. So give Kubernetes in your browser a try, and then come on over to the Play with Kubernetes repository to share your own tutorials with the community.

Check out the Play with Kubernetes Classroom
Try Kubernetes in Docker Enterprise Edition

Try Kubernetes in the browser with https://training.play-with-kubernetes.com
Click To Continue reading

Introducing Play with Kubernetes

Every month for the last year, thousands of people have used Play with Docker and the accompanying hands-on Play with Docker Classroom training site. These sites allow you to use and learn Docker entirely within your own browser, without installing anything. Last summer, we quietly launched the companion site Play with Kubernetes, to give people a full command line while learning Kubernetes on the command line. And today we’re launching a new Kubernetes training site, the Play with Kubernetes Classroom.

The Play with Kubernetes Classroom is a workshop environment just like the Play with Docker Classroom. We currently have an extensive Kubernetes workshop originally based on Jérôme Petazzoni’s Container Training Kubernetes workshop. But instead of doing it all locally or setting up VMs in the cloud, you can now run through the workshop entirely in the browser.

Like the Play with Docker Classroom, we’ll be curating contributions of additional labs from the community. So give Kubernetes in your browser a try, and then come on over to the Play with Kubernetes repository to share your own tutorials with the community.

Try Kubernetes in the browser Continue reading

Datanauts 135: An Introduction To Edge Computing

It turns out you can t do it all in the cloud. And thus, we have the rise of edge computing, in which data is collected, processed, and analyzed close to the source of its creation and close to where people and systems need it.

The goals of edge computing include improving performance, reducing the costs and time of data transmission, and creating new applications to take advantage of that data.

Our guide to edge computing is Alex Marcham. Alex is a technologist, writer and researcher. You can find his work at NetworkArchitecture2020.com.

We level-set with a working definition of edge computing, examine the notion of locality and what it means for edge computing, and discuss latency issues.

We explore edge computing use cases such as industrial processes and video surveillance, and dive into the infrastructure that drives this technology.

Show Links:

Network Architecture 2020

Alex Marcham on Twitter

The post Datanauts 135: An Introduction To Edge Computing appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Making AI Users Accountable For Their Algorithms

Any new and powerful technology always cuts both ways.

The rapid rise of the machine learning flavor of artificial intelligence is due to the fact that, unlike prior approaches, it actually works and therefore can be embraced by a wide swath of businesses, research and educational institutions, and technology companies. …

Making AI Users Accountable For Their Algorithms was written by Jeffrey Burt at .

History Of Networking – Martin Casado – Software Defined Networking

Today, every network vendor sells a solution labeled “software-defined”. But in the 2000’s, the networking stack was driven by constraints in hardware that could not be changed. In this History of Networking, Martin Casado joins us to talk about the ideas that drove his research in software-defined networking and his thoughts on hardware and software in networking.

 

Martin Casado
Guest
Russ White
Host
Jordan Martin
Host
Eyvonne Sharp
Host

Outro Music:
Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The post History Of Networking – Martin Casado – Software Defined Networking appeared first on Network Collective.

Canadian Youth Advocates Participate in Enhancing IoT Project

On May 14, a group of young people who are currently working on or are studying tech, politics, computer science, and the Internet of Things (IoT) met for a two-hour Youth Advocates for IoT Security round table. This event was a part of the Internet Society’s year-long initiative, the Canadian Multistakeholder Process – Enhancing IoT Security in partnership with Innovation, Science and Economic Development, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, CANARIE, and CIPPIC. It serves as just one of several workshops that will be held during the process to develop recommendations for a set of norms and policies to secure the IoT in Canada.

The round table offered an opportunity for young people in school or their early careers to voice their opinions and provide unique inputs for consideration on the following aspects of IoT security:

  • How young people currently use IoT devices;
  • How they anticipate these devices will be used in the future; and
  • Effective ways of educating young consumers about IoT security.

The group discussed the ways in which IoT devices have become seemingly ubiquitous in youth’s lives. IoT devices have also become integral, and often required, parts of classroom learning and workplaces. Now, the lines Continue reading

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