Network Automation: Be Bold!
I’ve had something on my mind concerning network automation, and I think it’s worth mentioning it here. There’s been a lot of talk - including plenty from myself - about using tools like Ansible for creating network configuration files; that is, text files that contain configurations for network devices, usually a list of CLI commands. And this is a great first step, certainly if you’re new to network automation.Last Chance! Simplify WAN/MAN Orchestration through SDN Segment Routing
Join SDxCentral and Cisco for a special DemoFriday on October 30th at 10:00am PT on how SDN with Segment Routing can simplify WAN/MAN orchestration.
Teaching AND Training Are Education
Training isn't enough. You need some teaching too.
The post Teaching AND Training Are Education appeared first on EtherealMind.
Network Break 55: Microsoft’s Switch, Security Gets Hotter
Network Break 55 examines new switch releases from Microsoft, Arista & Dell, a white-hot security market, Cisco security bugs, and why we don't need to get worked up about cloud outages any more.
The post Network Break 55: Microsoft’s Switch, Security Gets Hotter appeared first on Packet Pushers.
Using Vagrant with OpenStack
In my earlier post on using Docker Machine with OpenStack, I talked about combining technologies in a “provider/consumer” model. In this post, I’m going to talk about creating this provider/consumer model using a different combination of technologies: OpenStack as the infrastructure provider and Vagrant for consuming that infrastructure.
If you’re unfamiliar with Vagrant, I recommend you first read this introduction to Vagrant (after that you can dig into all the other Vagrant-tagged posts). As I explain in that first post, Vagrant leverages the idea of providers (which enable Vagrant to work with various back-end virtualization platforms/solutions) as well as boxes (which are essentially VM templates). In this particular case, we’re leveraging an OpenStack provider for Vagrant that allows Vagrant to use OpenStack as the back-end virtualization solution. However, since OpenStack already has the equivalent of VM templates (in the form of images), there’s no need to use a Vagrant box. This makes using Vagrant with OpenStack slightly different than your typical Vagrant use case.
Prerequisites
Let’s start with reviewing some prerequisites—these are the things you’ll need to do/have done before you can use Vagrant with OpenStack (besides the obvious things like having Vagrant installed).
- You’ll need a working OpenStack Continue reading
How Facebook Tells Your Friends You’re Safe in a Disaster in Under Five Minutes
In a disaster there’s a raw and immediate need to know your loved ones are safe. I felt this way during 9/11. I know I’ll feel this way during the next wild fire in our area. And I vividly remember feeling this way during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Most earthquakes pass beneath notice. Not this one and everyone knew it. After ceiling tiles stopped falling like snowflakes in the computer lab, we convinced ourselves the building would not collapse, and all thoughts turned to the safety of loved ones. As it must have for everyone else. Making an outgoing call was nearly impossible, all the phone lines were busy as calls poured into the Bay Area from all over the nation. Information was stuck. Many tense hours were spent in ignorance as the TV showed a constant stream of death and destruction.
It’s over a quarter of a century later, can we do any better?
Facebook can. Through a product called Safety Check, which connects friends and loved ones during a disaster. When a disaster hits Safety Check prompts people in the area to indicate if they are OK or not. Then Facebook closes the worry loop by Continue reading
Getting to Know John Ryan, Business Development & Channels
Knowing the members of our Ansible community is important to us, and we want you to get to know the members of our team in (and outside of!) the Ansible office. Stay tuned to the blog to learn more about the people who are helping to bring Ansible to life.
This week we're happy to introduce you to John Ryan, who joined Ansible as head of business development and channels. John has more than 30 years of experience in business development, channels, sales and marketing in infrastructure software, open source and network security. He’s held leadership positions at Proofpoint, Apigee, Red Hat, IBM and Sun Microsystems. John holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.
What’s your role at Ansible?
I develop and manage strategic alliances with leading cloud, networking, storage, infrastructure technology and consulting, reseller and systems integrator partners. I’m also helping to build out Ansible’s partner program, resources and joint DevOps market-making initiatives.
I collaborate closely with the a wide spectrum of teams, including product, engineering, marketing and sales leadership teams along with our partners to develop, promote, sell and drive Continue reading
Iran: Latest Nation to Host Critical Global Internet Infrastructure
As crippling economic sanctions are poised to be lifted by the United States, Iran is starting to emerge from its isolation as a regional and, in a very limited sense, global Internet player. Iran continues to methodically build out its Internet infrastructure, working on its domestic connectivity (including IPv6), providing service to neighboring countries (such as Iraq and Afghanistan), stockpiling limited IPv4 address space, and providing a strategic terrestrial alternative to vulnerable submarine cables.
Recently, Iran began hosting a root DNS server, thereby potentially providing this critical service to the rest of the world. In this blog, we’ll explore some of these latest developments and their challenges. In November, European Internet registrar RIPE will hold its regional operator meeting (MENOG) in Tehran, where attendees from around the world will learn firsthand about recent developments in the fast-growing Iranian Internet.
K-root Debuts in Iran
As most readers of this blog will know, when you access any resource on the Internet by name (e.g., www.cnn.com), your computer must first convert this name into an IP address (e.g., 23.235.46.73), which it then uses to gain access to Continue reading
Don’t Miss the Brocade SDN Controller Webinar with Insights on OpenDaylight!
Join SDxCentral and Brocade for the SDN Controller Report webinar on September 29th. Register today!
Worth Reading: The changing mobile landscape
The post Worth Reading: The changing mobile landscape appeared first on 'net work.
Intellectual virtue and the engineer
On the 19th of January in 2009, Captain “Sully” Sullenberger glided an Airbus A320 into the Hudson River just after takeoff from LaGuardia airport in New York City. Both engines failed due to multiple bird strikes, so the ditching was undertaken with no power, in a highly populated area. Captain Sullenberger could have attempted to land on one of several large highways, but all of these tend to have heavy traffic patterns; he could not make it to any airport with the power he had remaining, so he ditched the plane in the river. Out of the 155 passengers on board, only one needed overnight hospitalization.
There are a number of interesting things about this story, but there is one crucial point that applies directly to life at large, and engineering in detail. Here’s a simple question that exposes the issue at hand—
Do you think the Captain had time to read the manual while the plane was gliding along in the air after losing both engines? Or do you think he just knew what to do?
Way back in the mists of time, a man named Aristotle struggled over the concept of ethics. Not only was he trying to Continue reading