What is a Failure Domain?

“No, I wouldn’t do that, it will make the failure domain too large…”
“We need to divide this failure domain up…”

Okay, great—we all know we need to use failure domains, because without them our networks will be unstable, too complex, and all that stuff, right? But what, precisely, is a failure domain? It seems to have something to do with aggregation, because just about every network design book in the world says things like, “aggregating routes breaks up failure domains.” It also seems to have something to do with flooding domains in link state protocols, because we’re often informed that you need to put in flooding domain boundaries to break up large failure domains. Maybe these two things contain a clue: what is common between flooding domain boundaries and aggregating reachability information?

Hiding information.

But how does hiding information create failure domain boundaries?

failure-domain

If Router B is aggregating 2001:db8:0:1::/64 and 2001:db8:0:2::/64 to 2001:db8::/61, then changes in the more specific routes will be hidden from Router A. This hiding of information means a failure of one of these two more specific routes does not cause Router A to recalculate what it knows about reachability in the network. Hence a Continue reading

Salesforce brings cross-channel service a step closer with new ‘Snap-ins’

You can't always bring customers to your best customer-service tools, but now you can bring those tools to them thanks to a new addition announced Wednesday for Salesforce's Service Cloud.Dubbed Service Cloud Lightning Snap-ins, the new offering allows organizations of any size to take key support features from Salesforce's Service Cloud and "drop" them into their websites or mobile apps. Case-management and live-chat capabilities can now be added to mobile and Web apps, for example, and a tap-to-call feature is available for Android and iOS.A new module enabling two-way video chat, meanwhile, allows customers and agents to see each other. A customer could also use a smartphone's front-facing camera to show the agent the problem at hand.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: How to use Anycast to provide high availability to a RADIUS server

After months of issues, they have finally restored my access to my blog! After such a hiatus, it is my pleasure to bring this particular post. I'm certain many will find it at the very least cool in an "I'm a network geek" kind of a way, or even better: you will find it very educational and even leverage it in your own world.  This is a solution I have been wanting to write about for a long time now, and let's be clear—it is not mine. This entire post is owed to a long-time personal friend of mine who is also one of the most talented and gifted technologists roaming the earth today. His name is Epaminondas Peter Karelis, CCIE #8068 (Pete). Pete designed this particular high-availability solution for a small ISE deployment that had two data centers, as is crudely illustrated by me in the below figure. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: How to use Anycast to provide high availability to a RADIUS server

After months of issues, they have finally restored my access to my blog! After such a hiatus, it is my pleasure to bring this particular post. I'm certain many will find it at the very least cool in an "I'm a network geek" kind of a way, or even better: you will find it very educational and even leverage it in your own world.  This is a solution I have been wanting to write about for a long time now, and let's be clear—it is not mine. This entire post is owed to a long-time personal friend of mine who is also one of the most talented and gifted technologists roaming the earth today. His name is Epaminondas Peter Karelis, CCIE #8068 (Pete). Pete designed this particular high-availability solution for a small ISE deployment that had two data centers, as is crudely illustrated by me in the below figure. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Is Salesforce planning a post-Oracle future?

Salesforce and Oracle have an interesting relationship. Even more interesting is the relationship between the companies' two founders, Marc Benioff and Larry Ellison, respectively.Benioff is, after all, a former Oracle alum and a protege of Ellison. And the two have an interesting history—sharing many perspectives (not to mention a penchant for kicking back in their respective Hawaiian bolt-holes). Indeed, the on-again, off-again war of words between the two has been excellent fodder for the peanut gallery. Who will forget the time Benioff's invitation to speak at Oracle Open World was removed?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US government agencies are still using Windows 3.1, floppy disks and 1970s computers

Some U.S. government agencies are using IT systems running Windows 3.1, the decades-old COBOL and Fortran programming languages, or computers from the 1970s.A backup nuclear control messaging system at the U.S. Department of Defense runs on an IBM Series 1 computer, first introduced in 1976, and uses eight-inch floppy disks, while the Internal Revenue Service's master file of taxpayer data is written in assembly language code that's more than five decades old, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.Some agencies are still running Windows 3.1, first released in 1992, as well as the newer but unsupported Windows XP, Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, noted during a Wednesday hearing on outdated government IT systems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Docker All the Things at OSCON!

Last week, the Docker team headed to Austin for OSCON for a week packed full of containers and open source! The official conference agenda featured many Docker talks including a keynote session (complete with live open sourcing of the core … Continued

Software-Defined WANs: Viptela gets $75M in funding

Looking to continue tapping a market IDC says will be worth $6 billion by 2020, Software-Defined WAN company Viptela today said it raised $75M in a Series C round of financing.The new round of funding brings Viptela’s total funding to about $110M.The company said it would use the proceeds to grow sales, marketing, technical support and research and development.+More on Network World: What network technology is going to shake up your WAN?+This funding round was lead by investments from Redline Capital and new investor Northgate Capital as well as existing investor Sequoia Capital. Also as part of the financing, Tatiana Evtushenkova, Director of Redline Capital has joined the Viptela Board of Directors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Software-Defined WANs: Viptela gets $75M in funding

Looking to continue tapping a market IDC says will be worth $6 billion by 2020, Software-Defined WAN company Viptela today said it raised $75M in a Series C round of financing.The new round of funding brings Viptela’s total funding to about $110M.The company said it would use the proceeds to grow sales, marketing, technical support and research and development.+More on Network World: What network technology is going to shake up your WAN?+This funding round was lead by investments from Redline Capital and new investor Northgate Capital as well as existing investor Sequoia Capital. Also as part of the financing, Tatiana Evtushenkova, Director of Redline Capital has joined the Viptela Board of Directors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Software-Defined WANs: Viptela gets $75M in funding

Looking to continue tapping a market IDC says will be worth $6 billion by 2020, Software-Defined WAN company Viptela today said it raised $75M in a Series C round of financing.The new round of funding brings Viptela’s total funding to about $110M.The company said it would use the proceeds to grow sales, marketing, technical support and research and development.+More on Network World: What network technology is going to shake up your WAN?+This funding round was lead by investments from Redline Capital and new investor Northgate Capital as well as existing investor Sequoia Capital. Also as part of the financing, Tatiana Evtushenkova, Director of Redline Capital has joined the Viptela Board of Directors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Inside the million machine clickfraud botnet

Online advertising is a multi-billion dollar business mostly ran by Google, Yahoo or Bing via AdSense-like programs. The current generation of clickbots such as the Redirector.Paco Trojan have taken abuse to a whole new level, burning through companies’ advertising budget at an unprecedented pace. —Bitdefender

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Brocade Workflow Composer enables IT to move with digital speed

In several of my previous posts, I’ve connected the dots between digital transformation and the need for IT to evolve. IT professionals need new technologies, tools and processes to meet the demands of the digital era. This often requires a willingness to do things that were never the norm in previous technology eras.One of the biggest changes that IT must accept is the willingness to automate processes. Whenever I have spoken to IT professionals in the past, particularly network engineers, the reaction to automation tools has been somewhat tepid. As a former network engineer, I can relate. I want to control everything so that I know things are done correctly and everything is operating as it should.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Brocade Workflow Composer enables IT to move with digital speed

In several of my previous posts, I’ve connected the dots between digital transformation and the need for IT to evolve. IT professionals need new technologies, tools and processes to meet the demands of the digital era. This often requires a willingness to do things that were never the norm in previous technology eras.One of the biggest changes that IT must accept is the willingness to automate processes. Whenever I have spoken to IT professionals in the past, particularly network engineers, the reaction to automation tools has been somewhat tepid. As a former network engineer, I can relate. I want to control everything so that I know things are done correctly and everything is operating as it should.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco Live US! 2016

I am fortunate enough, to be able to goto Cisco Live US! again this year.
Last year was such an experience, that my hopes are really high for this year as well.

I will be arriving on Friday the 8th and leaving on the 15th. Not a long stay this time, but it was what my boss could arrange for.
Again this year I will be bringing my better half, so she can experience the city and hopefully we’ll get a few hours of sightseeing in between commitments.

One of the things that im really looking forward to, is meeting up with friends and peers. This year is a bonus for me, as I get to say Congratulations to my friend Daniel (lostintransit.se) in person and not just on the phone, on passing the CCDE practical exam!

Also, a first for me, will be meeting up with Darren (mellowd.co.uk). We have been talking for a long time on twitter, mail and webex and im really looking forward to meeting him in person.

When we get closer to the event, I will be posting my Cisco Live! schedule here.

If you happen to be Continue reading

Top-level domain expansion is a security risk for business computers

The explosion of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) in recent years can put enterprise computers at risk due to name conflicts between internal domain names used inside corporate networks and those that can now be registered on the public Internet.Many companies have configured their networks to use domain names, in many cases with made-up TLDs that a few years ago didn't use to exist on the Internet, such as .office, .global, .network, .group, .school and many others. Having an internal domain-based namespace makes it easier to locate, manage and access systems.The problem is that over the past two years, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved over 900 gTLDs for public use as part of an expansion effort. This can have unexpected security implications for applications and protocols used on domain-based corporate networks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Top-level domain expansion is a security risk for business computers

The explosion of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) in recent years can put enterprise computers at risk due to name conflicts between internal domain names used inside corporate networks and those that can now be registered on the public Internet.Many companies have configured their networks to use domain names, in many cases with made-up TLDs that a few years ago didn't use to exist on the Internet, such as .office, .global, .network, .group, .school and many others. Having an internal domain-based namespace makes it easier to locate, manage and access systems.The problem is that over the past two years, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved over 900 gTLDs for public use as part of an expansion effort. This can have unexpected security implications for applications and protocols used on domain-based corporate networks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Top-level domain expansion is a security risk for business computers

The explosion of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) in recent years can put enterprise computers at risk due to name conflicts between internal domain names used inside corporate networks and those that can now be registered on the public Internet.Many companies have configured their networks to use domain names, in many cases with made-up TLDs that a few years ago didn't use to exist on the Internet, such as .office, .global, .network, .group, .school and many others. Having an internal domain-based namespace makes it easier to locate, manage and access systems.The problem is that over the past two years, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved over 900 gTLDs for public use as part of an expansion effort. This can have unexpected security implications for applications and protocols used on domain-based corporate networks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Six Ways Ansible Makes Docker-Compose Better

ansible-and-containers.png

Containers are popular for many reasons. One key reason: container images are easy to build and, once built, don't change.  When Developer A says, "Hey, check out this new application, just download this container image and run it," Developer B doesn't have to ask the question, "How do I configure it?"  Developer B can just download the image and run the container, and enjoy a high likelihood that it will run exactly as Developer A intended.

Until Developer A announces the need for a second, third and fourth container, that is.  A microservices approach advocates for simple containers, sure -- but that also means more of them, all doing different things, and all connecting together... somehow.  So now Developer A needs to tell Developer B "be sure to run all of these containers together, and make sure these two containers share a data volume, and make sure these other two containers have a network link between them, and make sure the REST API for this one is exposed on these ports. Oh, also! Make sure you've got your DNS set up right, because it's all a hilarious dumpster fire if you don't."

Complexity doesn't go away in the container world; it just moves to different Continue reading

Pushing Everyone’s Buttons In IT

HistoryEraserButton

We have officially reached the point in our long and storied IT careers where we, as old fogies, have earned the right to complain about the next generation of users and professionals. Just as the gray beards before us complained about the way we did things, so too is it our turn to moan about the state of affairs. Today, I’d like to point out how driving IT to the point of pushing simple buttons is destroying the way we do things.

Easy Buttons

The fact that IT work has been able to be distilled into a series of simple button pushing exercises is very thrilling. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort building devices and frameworks that take the hard part out of building devices and frameworks. We no longer have to invent languages to build things or hardware to do things. Instead, we can refine our programming capabilities or use general purpose hardware in new combinations to provide environments for our users.

That’s one of the things that is driving people to the cloud. Cloud isn’t just about exciting hardware or keeping your data in other places. It is just as much about predictable, repeatable frameworks and Continue reading

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