Fear itself: Thinking through change and turmoil

Fair warning: this is going to be a controversial post, and it might be considered a bit “off topic.”

Maybe it’s just that time of year. Or maybe it’s several conversations I’ve been involved in recently. Or maybe it’s the result of following over 150 blogs on a daily basis covering everything from religion to politics to technology to philosophy. Whatever it is, there’s one thing I’ve noticed recently.

We’re really afraid.

I don’t mean “concerned about what the future might hold,” but rather — it seems, at least sometimes — sinking into a state of fear bordering on the irrational. Sometimes it feels like the entire world is one long troubleshooting session in the worst designed network I’ve ever encountered. Let me turn to a few completely different areas to illustrate my point. Some of these are going to make people mad, so hold on to your hats — and hear me out before you jump all over me or shut down.

We’re afraid of what the future might hold for us as engineers and as people. Maybe this entire software defined thing is going to destroy my entire career. Maybe I’ll end up like a buggy whip maker Continue reading

New products of the week 12.14.2015

New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.Array Networks vAPV Virtual Application Delivery Controller for Microsoft Azure MarketplaceKey features: Array’s vAPV Virtual Application Delivery Controller gives customers deploying on Microsoft Azure the ability to significantly enhance the availability, performance and security of cloud-based services. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

#WhoIS is BACK!

WOW it has been a long time.  It has taken life and career changes to get me back to the point that I have been able to really think about picking this up again.  I have had amazing feedback from the original audience and I am hoping to do even better for you al this …

Stretch’s Hierarchy of Network Needs

Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs from school? The theory asserts that every human shares the same set of basic physical and psychological needs in order to be happy, with more primal needs like food and shelter taking precedence over emotional needs like love and companionship.

maslows_hierarchy.png

A while back, I was pondering what would be necessary to fully automate a network, and it occurred to me that a very similar hierarchy of needs can be laid out for a computer network to achieve its optimal state.

1. A Functioning Network

At the very bottom of the hierarchy is everything a network requires to function: Routers, switches, cabling, power, and so on, just as tier one of Maslow's hierarchy encompasses everything a human needs to stay alive. At this stage, a network can function, and can even function well, but it cannot adapt or grow.

Many small businesses operate their networks at this stage for years with no major problems. After all, when left alone, computers and networks tend to just keep chugging along. And if your entire network comprises a cable modem, a switch, and a few access points, it's entirely possible that it will run for years without needing Continue reading

Stretch’s Hierarchy of Network Needs

Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs from school? The theory asserts that every human shares the same set of basic physical and psychological needs in order to be happy, with more primal needs like food and shelter taking precedence over emotional needs like love and companionship.

maslows_hierarchy.png

A while back, I was pondering what would be necessary to fully automate a network, and it occurred to me that a very similar hierarchy of needs can be laid out for a computer network to achieve its optimal state.

1. A Functioning Network

At the very bottom of the hierarchy is everything a network requires to function: Routers, switches, cabling, power, and so on, just as tier one of Maslow's hierarchy encompasses everything a human needs to stay alive. At this stage, a network can function, and can even function well, but it cannot adapt or grow.

Many small businesses operate their networks at this stage for years with no major problems. After all, when left alone, computers and networks tend to just keep chugging along. And if your entire network comprises a cable modem, a switch, and a few access points, it's entirely possible that it will run for years without needing Continue reading

Stretch’s Hierarchy of Network Needs

Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs from school? The theory asserts that every human shares the same set of basic physical and psychological needs in order to be happy, with more primal needs like food and shelter taking precedence over emotional needs like love and companionship.

maslows_hierarchy.png

A while back, I was pondering what would be necessary to fully automate a network, and it occurred to me that a very similar hierarchy of needs can be laid out for a computer network to achieve its optimal state.

1. A Functioning Network

At the very bottom of the hierarchy is everything a network requires to function: Routers, switches, cabling, power, and so on, just as tier one of Maslow's hierarchy encompasses everything a human needs to stay alive. At this stage, a network can function, and can even function well, but it cannot adapt or grow.

Many small businesses operate their networks at this stage for years with no major problems. After all, when left alone, computers and networks tend to just keep chugging along. And if your entire network comprises a cable modem, a switch, and a few access points, it's entirely possible that it will run for years without needing Continue reading

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Cloonix Network Simulator updated to v28

The Cloonix development team recently released a major update to the Cloonix network simulator.

Cloonix version 28 makes major changes to the infrastructure of Cloonix. It changes the installation procedure, the location of Cloonix files on your computer, and the names of the commands used to start and administer Cloonix.

cloonix28-110

Cloonix version 28 also makes changes to the features available to users. It adds support for multiple Cloonix servers running on the same machine, and standardizes and documents the new interface types used to connect virtual machines to each other.

Read the rest of this post for more details about what’s new in Cloonix v28.

Using Cloonix

In this post, I wrote some examples to show how to use the changed features in Cloonix v28 but I will not discuss the basics of using Cloonix because I assume the reader is already familiar with Cloonix.

If you are not already familiar with Cloonix, you should read the Cloonix documentation. Also, I have written many posts about using the Cloonix network simulator. Please check these posts if you need more information about using Cloonix.

Install Cloonix

The procedure to install Cloonix v28 has changes slightly — one new software dependency has Continue reading

Tor hires former EFF chief as executive director

A former Electronic Frontier Foundation executive director will lead the Tor Project, the widely used anonymity tool that frequently comes up in debates over encryption and privacy. Shari Steele was selected in part for her experience in growing non-profits and "will be especially valuable as we continue our campaign to diversify our funding sources," wrote Roger Dingledine, Tor's interim executive director, in a blog post. Steele spent 20 years at the EFF, starting as a staff attorney, then legal director and eventually executive director.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Obsessive Efficiency Disorder

I read this blog post from Mattias Geniar and I think he gave a name of a concept I had in my mind from years. It started a while ago when I tried to find a more efficient ways to do my daily work and it got bigger and bigger up to be almost an… […]

Custom events

Measuring Page Load Speed with Navigation Timing describes the standard instrumentation built into web browsers. This article will use navigation timing as an example to demonstrate how custom sFlow events augment standard sFlow instrumentation embedded in network devices, load balancers, hosts and web servers.

The JQuery script can be embedded in a web page to provide timing information:
$(window).load(function(){
 var samplingRate = 10;
 if(samplingRate !== 1 && Math.random() > (1/samplingRate)) return;

 setTimeout(function(){
   if(window.performance) {
     var t = window.performance.timing;
     var msg = {
       sampling_rate : samplingRate,
       t_url         : {type:"string",value:window.location.href},
       t_useragent   : {type:"string",value:navigator.userAgent},
       t_loadtime    : {type:"int32",value:t.loadEventEnd-t.navigationStart},
       t_connecttime : {type:"int32",value:t.responseEnd-t.requestStart} 
     };
     $.ajax({
       url:"/navtiming.php",
       method:"PUT",
       contentType:"application/json",
       data:JSON.stringify(msg) 
     });
    }
  }, 0);
});
The script supports random sampling. In this case a samplingRate of 10 means that, on average, 1-in-10 page hits will generate a measurement record. Measurement records are sent back to the server where the navtiming.php script acts as a gateway, augmenting the measurements and sending them as custom sFlow events.
<?php
$rawInput = file_get_contents("php://input");
$rec = json_decode($rawInput);
$rec->datasource = "navtime";
$rec->t_ip = array("type" => "ip", "value" => $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']);

$msg=array("rtflow"=>$rec);
$sock = fsockopen("udp://localhost",36343,$errno,$errstr);
if(! $sock) {  Continue reading

“Understanding IPv6” – 7 Part IPv6 Network Computing Series

Newer to IPv6?  Know it some but just want to go a little bit deeper?  I realized I never put up here on my web site my 7 part … labor of love…. IPv6 blog series I did over on Network Computing.  :)

 

blog1

Understanding IPv6: Link-Local ‘Magic’

Fish performs a little IPv6 sleight of hand in the second post in her series on IPv6.

 

sniffer_full_of_3s

Understanding IPv6: A Sniffer Full Of 3s

Fish explores Wireshark sniffer traces in order to understand the difference between IPv4 and IPv6 addressing.

 

 

pyramid3

Understanding IPv6: What Is Solicited-Node Multicast?

Fish lays down the basics of solicited-node multicast, which provides the functionality for Neighbor Discovery in IPv6 addressing.

 

pyramid

Understanding IPv6: Prepping For Solicited-Node Multicast

Before jumping into solicited-node multicast, a review of link-local scope multicast addresses is helpful.

 

ipv6_topo_with_ping_detail_small

Understanding IPv6: The Ping Before Solicited-Node Multicast

Fish gets ready to walk through solicited-node multicast, analyzing an ICMP ping echo request in IPv4 and showing how it differs from IPv6.

 

puzzle_0

Understanding IPv6: Solicited-Node Multicast In Action

In the Continue reading

Bitcoin miner KnC is planning another four-week datacenter build-out

Four weeks: That's how long Swedish bitcoin mining company KnCMiner takes to build a new datacenter, from breaking ground to beginning operations."The longest part is signing the agreement," CEO Sam Cole said Friday, announcing plans for another 20MW datacenter in the Swedish town of Boden, part of the "Node Pole" technology cluster near Lulea where Facebook built one of its most energy-efficient datacenters.One reason for the speed is that KnC doesn't have to worry about air conditioning. The Node Pole is on the edge of the Arctic Circle, where cooling can be as simple as opening a door.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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