Gathering network device versions with Ansible using SNMP

Ansible SNMPUntil there is a universal standard which states how to access network devices I believe SNMP is the best option when it comes to determining what a device actually is. While SNMP’s glory days might be long gone, if there in fact were any. There are still some instances where SNMP is more handy than the modern APIs we have now. All network devices respond in the same way to SNMP queries. This can be compared to a REST API where you have to know the URL of the API before you can target a device. Even with SSH which is also a standard the implementation differs between various vendors, while this doesn’t matter if you are connecting to the device manually it does if you are using a script. Looking at Netmiko a Python library for SSH, you have to specify device vendor and class when you connect. This is because SSH doesn’t work the same with Cisco devices, compared to HP devices, as prompts and paging work differently. However with SNMP it always works the same, sure all vendors have specific MIBs that they use. But general queries for standard MIBs work the same. Using a standard MIB Continue reading

Worth Reading: Thoughts on the Open Internet

I’m sure we’ve all heard about “the Open Internet.” The expression builds upon a rich pedigree of term “open” in various contexts. For example, “open government” is the governing doctrine which holds that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight, a concept that appears to be able to trace its antecedents back to the age of enlightenment in 17th century Europe.

I would normally place worth reading items in the right column, Geoff has written a six part series about the open Internet that’s worth reading. I’ve put links to each piece here.

Thoughts on the Open Internet – Part 1: What Is “Open Internet”
Thoughts on the Open Internet – Part 2: The Where and How of “Internet Fragmentation”
Thoughts on the Open Internet – Part 3: Local Filtering and Blocking
Thoughts on the Open Internet – Part 4: Locality and Interdependence
Thoughts on the Open Internet – Part 5: Security
Thoughts on the Open Internet – Part 6: Final Thoughts

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Gathering network device versions with Ansible using SNMP

Ansible SNMPUntil there is a universal standard which states how to access network devices I believe SNMP is the best option when it comes to determining what a device actually is. While SNMP’s glory days might be long gone, if there in fact were any. There are still some instances where SNMP is more handy than the modern APIs we have now. All network devices respond in the same way to SNMP queries. This can be compared to a REST API where you have to know the URL of the API before you can target a device. Even with SSH which is also a standard the implementation differs between various vendors, while this doesn’t matter if you are connecting to the device manually it does if you are using a script. Looking at Netmiko a Python library for SSH, you have to specify device vendor and class when you connect. This is because SSH doesn’t work the same with Cisco devices, compared to HP devices, as prompts and paging work differently. However with SNMP it always works the same, sure all vendors have specific MIBs that they use. But general queries for standard MIBs work the same. Using a standard MIB it’s possible to identify the manufacturer of a device and often it’s version. Continue reading

Riverbed Unleashes A Hungry “Project Tiger”

Riverbed's Project Tiger

“The future of the WAN is NOT . . . a router.”

These bold words were spoken by Riverbed’s Josh Dobies in a presentation to the delegates at Networking Field Day 10 this August, as a lead in to the first public announcement of “Project Tiger.”

Anatomy of a Tiger

Riverbed explained that the SteelHead appliances perform WAN optimization in sites with highly contended bandwidth. The SteelFusion appliances offer both “hyperconverged infrastructure” and WAN optimization. For sites that have plenty of bandwidth, however, there’s no Riverbed product you can put there and that–for Riverbed at least–is a problem. Riverbed’s proposed solution? Ironically, it’s an appliance that can act as a WAN router, but with some rather unusual features.

Key Technical Takeaways

The headline features of Project Tiger as I see it, are:

  • New SteelOS™ modular operating system (replacing RiOS)
  • Containerization technology, used for the SteelOS modules
  • Service-Chaining capability
  • Riverbed SD-WAN features
  • Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP), with policy and configuration managed centrally in SteelCentral™
  • BGP and OSPF to exchange routes with adjacent MPLS CE routers, for example.

Surprisingly absent from that list, however, is WAN Optimization. Despite being Riverbed’s core competency, this is not a feature of the Project Tiger appliance. Because Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: Huawei 5G hits 3.6 gigabits per second in field test

For anyone questioning the feasibility of super-high speed 5G networks—faster than wired is today—due to come on stream in 2020, be assured, tests have been completed that apparently indicate that the tech can actually work. China-based equipment maker Huawei has announced that it has, along with Japan’s largest Mobile Network Operator NTT DOCOMO, concluded a large-scale, non-lab field trial of 5G.Peak speeds Peak speeds reached 3.6Gbps Huawei says in a press release on its website. For comparison Verizon’s 4G LTE broadband in the U.S. has “peak download speeds approaching 50Mbps,” according to Verizon on its website.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft details takedown requests in expanded transparency report

In response to growing government demands for data, tech companies have been detailing those requests in transparency reports that elaborate on what gets done when government agencies come calling for users' data.Microsoft just released the latest incarnation of its data on Wednesday, including a new report on requests to get information taken down from the company's services.  Those requests, unsurprisingly, are focused on Bing, since it's the Microsoft service most responsible for displaying data to the public. That said, takedown requests came for includes other services, too, such as MSN and OneDrive.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Is the office desk phone obsolete?

It's found in every modern business, on every desk. It's powerful enough to connect even the most geographically distant workers, and yet, it strikes fear into the hearts of many millennial workers. It's the desk phone, and despite the prevalence of text messaging, collaboration apps and video conferencing, rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated."Maybe the desk phone is headed for retirement, but it's not there yet. There's still a significant portion of the workforce that prefers using their office phone to conduct business and mission-critical calls," says Curtis Peterson, senior vice president of operations at telecommunications provider RingCentral.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

CCNA – Operation of IP Data Networks 1.3

We move on to the next topic:

1.3 Identify common applications and their impact on the network

When you work in networking, it’s important to have an understanding of how applications work and what are their characteristics. Is it sensitive to packet loss? Is it sensitive to jitter? What ports does it use? Let’s have a look at some of the common applications that you need to be aware of for the CCNA certification.

HTTP

HTTP is the most important protocol on the Internet. The major part of all traffic from the Internet is HTTP. With sites like Facebook, Youtube, Netflix, this will not decrease in the future, rather web traffic will dominate even more. HTTP is normally run on TCP port 80 but it’s possible to run it on custom ports as well. Because HTTP runs over TCP, it is not very sensitive to packet loss and it does not have strict requirements for delay or jitter. However, people still don’t have a lot of patience for a web page loading and if there is a lot of packet loss, it may affect streaming services such as Netflix or services where downloading/uploading of files is done. From a Continue reading

The Lack of Historic Knowledge Is so Frustrating

Every time I’m explaining the intricacies of new technologies to networking engineers, I try to use analogies with older well-known technologies, trying to make it simpler to grasp the architectural constraints of the shiny new stuff.

Unfortunately, most engineers younger than ~35 years have no idea what I’m talking about – all they know are Ethernet, IP and MPLS.

Just to give you an example – here’s a slide from my SDN workshop.

Read more ...

Is Apple’s security honeymoon on OS X ending?

Apple scored unforgettable hits against Microsoft with its Mac vs. PC ads, which anthropomorphized Windows as a sneezing, miserable office worker.   Security experts always knew that the campaign was a clever bit of marketing fluff, one that allowed Apple to capitalize on Microsoft's painful, years-long security revamp. The landscape is changing, however. Apple's market share of desktop computers is nearing 17 percent. OS X, Apple's operating system, is popular with consumers and enterprises now, making it a more interesting target for hackers. A report to be released on Thursday by the security company Bit9 + Carbon Black shows that more malware has been found this year for OS X than in the last five years combined.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Using Docker Machine with Photon TP2

In this post, I’ll show you how to use Docker Machine in conjunction with VMware Photon OS Technical Preview 2 (aka “TP2”). Given that Photon was designed to host containers, this is—for the most part—pretty straightforward. There are a couple of glitches that I need to point out, though, that might hang up new users.

First off, kudos to Fabio Rapposelli for taking some time at VMworld to help me work through the details. I really appreciate his time!

If you want to use Docker Machine with Photon, there are four major requirements today (stress the word “today,” as all these products are rapidly evolving and these requirements may soon disappear or change):

  1. You’ll need to use Fabio’s special build of Docker Machine that includes support for AppCatalyst and Photon OS. I anticipate that support for AppCatalyst and Photon OS (the latter of which is what’s really needed in this case) will get rolled into Docker Machine (main branch) soon, but for now a different build is needed. (If you don’t use Fabio’s build, Docker Machine will report an “unrecognized OS” or similar).

  2. You’ll have to use Docker Machine’s generic driver. Even Fabio’s branch of Docker Machine doesn’t yet (to Continue reading

BT Group may give OpenStack the boot

OpenStack has gained considerable popularity over the years for its open-source cloud platform, but this week it looks like one major user is seriously considering dropping the technology in favor of a proprietary alternative.U.K.-based telecom giant BT Group said it will switch to a different option for delivering virtual enterprise services, according to a Wednesday report in Light Reading, unless OpenStack can address its concerns regarding six key areas: virtual network functions, service chain modification, scalability, security, backward compatibility and what's known as "start-up storms" when numerous nodes all come online at the same time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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