Ansible Roles and Variables

While automation is great, we have to be careful not to recreate past problems. What I mean is that playbooks should be written in a generic fashion that can be applied to more than one host. If we’re writing playbooks that only work on one single host, we aren’t much further ahead than we were before.

Two of the key components of making playbooks reusable are Ansible variables and roles.  Let’s try and define each of them individually and while showing some examples along the way.

Roles
Roles allow you to call a set of variables, tasks, and handlers by simply specifying a defined role.  Roles require the use of a defined file structure in order to work.  Per the Ansible documentation, that structure looks like this…

image 
Roles are really just a way to split up your playbook into smaller reusable parts.  For instance, let’s consider we added another host to our lab…

image 
Now look at this playbook…

---
- hosts: linuxservers
  tasks:
    - name: Install Apache Web Server
      yum: name=httpd state=latest
      notify:
        - openport
        - startwebserver
  handlers:
    - name: openport
      service: name=httpd state=started
    - name: startwebserver
      firewalld: port=80/tcp permanent=true state=enabled immediate=yes

- hosts:  Continue reading

On Demand Network Labs [FREE]

Way too often do we want to learn a new technology, but end up spending countless hours just getting the product, tool, or technology downloaded, installed, and at a point to begin using. This is unacceptable.

We need a platform that offers on-demand network infrastructure labs that makes it extremely easy to test and learn how to use network device APIs, how to write code against a network device, and how to use DevOps tool chains in the context of networking.

It’s true, this has all become easier with tools such as Virtual Box and Vagrant, but you can still spend the same amount of time getting the underlying infrastructure setup as you spend on the actual tests you need to perform. In that model, you also need to be able have enough horsepower to run enough virtual machines as well, which often isn’t the case. On top of that, many Enterprises don’t allow tools such as these to be installed.

On Demand Network Labs

What I am proposing and getting ready to launch is a cloud based platform that allows you to launch pre-built network topologies in minutes. Upon launch, they are ready to be used, automated, and managed Continue reading

On Demand Network Labs [FREE]

Way too often do we want to learn a new technology, but end up spending countless hours just getting the product, tool, or technology downloaded, installed, and at a point to begin using. This is unacceptable.

We need a platform that offers on-demand network infrastructure labs that makes it extremely easy to test and learn how to use network device APIs, how to write code against a network device, and how to use DevOps tool chains in the context of networking.

It’s true, this has all become easier with tools such as Virtual Box and Vagrant, but you can still spend the same amount of time getting the underlying infrastructure setup as you spend on the actual tests you need to perform. In that model, you also need to be able have enough horsepower to run enough virtual machines as well, which often isn’t the case. On top of that, many Enterprises don’t allow tools such as these to be installed.

On Demand Network Labs

What I am proposing and getting ready to launch is a cloud based platform that allows you to launch pre-built network topologies in minutes. Upon launch, they are ready to be used, automated, and managed Continue reading

About McAfee’s claim he could unlock iPhone

So John McAfee has claimed he could unlock the terrorist's iPhone. Is there any truth to this?

http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mcafee-ill-decrypt-san-bernardino-phone-for-free-2016-2

No, of course this is bogus. If McAfee could do it, then he's already have done it.

In other words, if it were possible, he'd just say "we've unlocked an iPhone 5c running iOS 9 by exploiting {LTE baseband, USB stack, WiFi stack, etc.}, and we can therefore do the same thing for the terrorist's phone". Otherwise, it's just bluster, because everyone knows the FBI won't let McAfee near the phone in question without proof he could actually accomplish the task.

There's a lot of bluster in the hacking community like this. There is a big difference between those who have done, and those who claim they could do.

I suggest LTE baseband, USB stack, and WiFi stack because that's how I'd attack the phone. WiFi these days is pretty well tested, so that's the least likely, but LTE and USB should be wide open. I wouldn't do anything to help the FBI, though. The corrupt FBI goes around threatening security-researchers like me, trampling on our rights, so they've burned a lot of bridges with precisely the people Continue reading

Tips for migrating applications to Software Defined Networks

Although vendor-written, this contributed piece does not advocate a position that is particular to the author’s employer and has been edited and approved by Network World editors.Software Defined Networking (SDN) is one of the hottest trends in security and networking right now. Many enterprises are considering moving to virtualized networks such as VMware NSX as part of an overall shift from relatively inflexible hardware-based architectures to nimbler, faster, more scalable virtualized deployments.But as with any migration project, careful planning and management is required. Here we look at the steps involved in an SDN migration and what you need to consider at each stage.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

PlexxiPulse—Products for Success

As the industry transitions into the next era of IT, the flood of data and application growth is forcing Cloud-based network architectures to change radically (for more info take a look here). This shift is causing an increased emphasis on tools and service integration rather than a focus on individual components. The emerging role of Cloud Architect is tasked with delivering agility and cost savings through automation, resource elasticity, data and application mobility and workflow integration. We’ve identified this new role and have the tools that will enable Cloud Builders to be successful—Plexxi Control software, Plexxi Connect and Plexxi Switch. Interested in learning more? Take a look at our solutions brief on networking for Cloud Builders.

Below please find a few of our top picks for our favorite news articles of the week.

ITBusinessEdge: Striving Toward Unified Enterprise Infrastructure
By Arthur Cole
Most enterprises are already realizing some of the benefits of cloud computing in the form of lower capital and operating costs, better scalability and access to more modern, robust infrastructure. But if they are not careful, they run the risk of migrating workloads onto too many disparate platforms, creating the same kinds of data silos that currently Continue reading

Last 5 Days to Enjoy the DesignWorld Subscription Discount

Hello Everyone As you all know, the DesignWorld is a place where you can find network design videos, articles, quizzes, and comparison charts. Currently, only CCDE resources are there, but the good news is that other courses will be added, too. In addition, CCDA and CCDP courses will be added. There was a promotion for the […]

The post Last 5 Days to Enjoy the DesignWorld Subscription Discount appeared first on Cisco Network Design and Architecture | CCDE Bootcamp | orhanergun.net.

Enjoy the DesignWorld Subscription Discount before the 5-day Deadline

Hello Everyone As you all know, the DesignWorld is a place where you can find network design videos, articles, quizzes, and comparison charts. Currently, only CCDE resources are there, but the good news is that other courses will be added, too. In addition, CCDA and CCDP courses will be added. There was a promotion for the […]

The post Enjoy the DesignWorld Subscription Discount before the 5-day Deadline appeared first on Orhanergun.

Stuff The Internet Says On Scalability For February 26th, 2016


Wonderful diagram of @adrianco Microservices talk at #OOP2016 by @remarker_eu  

 

If you like this sort of Stuff then please consider offering your support on Patreon.

  • 350,000: new Telegram users per day; 15 billion: messages delivered by Telegram per day; 50 billion suns: max size of a black hole; 10,000x: lower power for Wi-Fi; 400 hours: video uploaded to YouTube every minute;

  • Quotable Quotes:
    • sharemywin: I don't think consensus scales. So, I think they'll be an ecosystem of block chains.
    • @aneel: "There is no failover process other than the continuous dynamic load balancing." 
    • Jono MacDougall: If you are happy hosting your own solution, use Cassandra. If you want the ease of scaling and operations, Use DynamoDB.
    • @plamere: Google’s BigQuery is *da bomb* - I can start with 2.2Billion ‘things’ and compute/summarize down to 20K in < 1 min.
    • Haifa Moses: We’re evaluating a totally new software model that allows us to automatically diagnose if a failure occurs during a mission and for messages to be displayed for flight controllers on the ground
    • @fmbutt: IBM abstracted analog calculation. MS abstracted HW. Goog abstracted SW. Powerful Mobile AI could abstract clouds. 
    • Jon Grall Continue reading

Worth Reading: In the Trenches with OpenStack

In a sense, and oversimplifying a bit, OpenStack is an automation framework for Linux that just happens to allow Windows instances to run on KVM, just like the Azure cloud and Azure Stack are similar extensions to Windows Server that just so happen to also support Linux instances on Hyper-V. There have been a dozen releases of OpenStack since that time, on a six-month cadence of April and October launches that, interestingly enough, have also regularized the pattern for Linux operating system launches, too. -via the next platform

The post Worth Reading: In the Trenches with OpenStack appeared first on 'net work.

Brocade joins the OpenPOWER Foundation

In my 32 year career in the IT industry there has never been a better time to embrace the partners needed to meet client requirements, needs and expectations.  Brocade has built its business on partnering with suppliers who deliver enterprise class infrastructure in all the major markets. IBM is one example of a partner who... Read more →

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