BGP is without doubt the most scalable routing protocol, which made it a popular choice for large-scale deployments from service provider networks to enterprise WAN/VPN networks and even data centers. Its only significant drawback is the tedious configuration process (which almost reminds me of writing COBOL programs decades ago).
Read more ...Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a bit about SDN and more recently more about what can be done today with existing products, APIs, and tools in terms of improving operational efficiencies. Most of the examples have leveraged modern network devices that have some type of API because it streamlines how to integrate with 3rd party systems be it a custom application or a platform like Ansible (a platform that I’ve written about frequently). I’ve posted examples here and there on GitHub on these topics, but nothing that starts from the ground up.
With that in mind, I’ve recently created a new GitHub project that walks through step by step on how to get Ansible installed and specifically up and running ready to automate Cisco Nexus switches. Note: In full transparency, I was compensated by Cisco for this particular project. It was a no-brainer since I was already doing similar work over the past several months. That said, going forward it would be great to get others involved in any capacity from writing docs to writing code.
The README in the GitHub project repository outlines exactly how to get started. There Continue reading
The easiest way to describe Ansible is that it’s a simple but powerful it-automation tool. In the words of its creator Michael DeHaan “I wanted a tool that I could not use for 6 months, come back later, and still remember how it worked.” and it really feels like riding a bike. Even years from now when I take a look at an Ansible Playbook I’m sure I will immediately see what it does. Playbooks, which allows you to run several tasks together, are writting in YAML making them easy to read.
This guide is too short to teach you everything about Ansible. Instead the aim is to give you an idea of how you can use Ansible, and how it can help you manage your IT environment. Even if you don’t end up using Ansible, learning tools like it as Chef or Puppet can help you to think differently about how you operate your network.
Continue reading
The easiest way to describe Ansible is that it’s a simple but powerful it-automation tool. In the words of its creator Michael DeHaan “I wanted a tool that I could not use for 6 months, come back later, and still remember how it worked.” and it really feels like riding a bike. Even years from now when I take a look at an Ansible Playbook I’m sure I will immediately see what it does. Playbooks, which allows you to run several tasks together, are writting in YAML making them easy to read.
This guide is too short to teach you everything about Ansible. Instead the aim is to give you an idea of how you can use Ansible, and how it can help you manage your IT environment. Even if you don’t end up using Ansible, learning tools like it as Chef or Puppet can help you to think differently about how you operate your network.
Continue reading
How does Internet work - We know what is networking
Some time ago I was working on IPv6 implementation and in that period I written an article about NDP (you can read it here). After a while I received some comments that is not written well so I reviewed a huge part of it. It looks my english was far worst two years ago that I was really aware of In the reviewing process I realised that NDP usage of Solicited-Node multicast addresses was not clearly explained. This is the follow-up article which should explain how and why Solicited-Node multicast address are used in NDP. Let’s go! Solicited-node multicast address is IPv6 multicast address used on the local L2
VeloCloud was the first presenter at Network Field Day 9. They are one of the new breed of SD-WAN vendors. I’m impressed by what they’re doing, and and the potential it offers for re-thinking the way we do WAN connectivity. But I think the most interesting part is the increased visibility into how networks are performing.
I won’t go into the details of how it all works – Brandon covers some of it here, and you can look through VeloCloud’s site to understand it more. I want to focus on a few details around data analysis, and information brokerage.
In this video, Kangwarn Chinthammit talks about how VeloCloud is using their devices to monitor Internet quality. Because they’re installed in a wide range of locations, with many different WAN connection types, they’re building up some interesting data.
They’ve been able to do some deeper analysis of the data, and break down quality measurements by location, circuit type, hour, and day. Some of the interesting results include:
I receive lots of questions from my students, readers, customers, followers on network design. I try to answer as quickly as possible and in detail. Thanks to all of them ! I receive a lot of kind emails, messages from them to put my effort on this blog as well. But for many reasons, I… Read More »
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I wanted to take a moment and give a well-deserved congratulations to the 2015 Cisco Learning Network Designated VIPs. These fine folks spend a ton of time giving back to the community by helping others in their learning process.
Again, a very warm welcome and congratulations to this group. Your contribution to the community is much appreciated.
Bios and more information for the 2015 VIPs can be found here–
Disclaimer: This article includes the independent thoughts, opinions, commentary or technical detail of Paul Stewart. This may or may does not reflect the position of past, present or future employers.
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