Technology Short Take #50

Welcome to Technology Short Take #50, the latest in my series of posts sharing various links and articles pertaining to key data center technologies. I hope that you find something useful here!

Networking

  • Tyler Christiansen recently published a post on a network automation workflow that was based on a presentation he gave at the SF Network Automation meetup. The workflow incorporates Ansible, git, Jenkins, and Gerrit. If you’re looking for more examples of how to incorporate these sorts of tools into your own network automation workflow, I’d recommend having a look at this article.
  • This post contains a link to a useful presentation on the essential parts of EVPN. It’s quite useful if you (like me) need an introduction to this technology.
  • Need to reset the CLI privileged mode password on your NSX Manager instance? Here’s a walkthrough. (Warning: as pointed out in the article, this is most likely not supported. Use at your own risk.)
  • This article by Russell Bryant is a great overview and update of the work going on with Open Virtual Network (OVN). I’m really excited about OVN and looking forward to seeing it develop and grow.
  • This is kind of cool, and (in my Continue reading

Show 234 – Design & Build #1 – Network Mergers

This is the first in a series we’re calling “Design & Build,” where we talk through some common network challenges you might face in your network career. Today, we talk about corporate mergers, where the network you know and love needs to work with a network that you don’t.

Author information

Ethan Banks

Co-host at Packet Pushers

Ethan Banks, CCIE #20655, has been managing networks for higher ed, government, financials and high tech since 1995. Ethan co-hosts the Packet Pushers Podcast, which has seen over 3M downloads and reaches over 10K listeners. With whatever time is left, Ethan writes for fun & profit, studies for certifications, and enjoys science fiction. @ecbanks
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The post Show 234 – Design & Build #1 – Network Mergers appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Ethan Banks.

ADN – Awk Defined Networking

Because I have yet to transition to a completely software-defined network in which everything configures itself (wink wink), I still have to do tasks like bulk VLAN changes.

Thanks to a recent innovation called ADN, or "AWK Defined Networking", I can do this in a shorter time window that the average bathroom break. For example, I just had a request to change all ports on a large access switch stack that  are currently in VLAN 76 to VLAN 64:

# ssh switch_name.foo.com 'show int status | i _76_' | grep Gi | awk '{print "int ",$1,"n","description PC/Phone","n","switchport access vlan 64"}'
Password: ***

int  Gi1/0/25
 description PC/Phone
 switchport access vlan 64
int  Gi1/0/26
 description PC/Phone
 switchport access vlan 64
[many more deleted]

Then I copied and pasted the results into config mode. Back to lounging on the beach.

Not even any Python skills required!

ADN – Awk Defined Networking

Because I have yet to transition to a completely software-defined network in which everything configures itself (wink wink), I still have to do tasks like bulk VLAN changes.

Thanks to a recent innovation called ADN, or "AWK Defined Networking", I can do this in a shorter time window that the average bathroom break. For example, I just had a request to change all ports on a large access switch stack that  are currently in VLAN 76 to VLAN 64:

# ssh switch_name.foo.com 'show int status | i _76_' | grep Gi | awk '{print "int ",$1,"n","description PC/Phone","n","switchport access vlan 64"}'
Password: ***

int  Gi1/0/25
 description PC/Phone
 switchport access vlan 64
int  Gi1/0/26
 description PC/Phone
 switchport access vlan 64
[many more deleted]

Then I copied and pasted the results into config mode. Back to lounging on the beach.

Not even any Python skills required!

Consumer groups dance on the grave of Comcast-TW deal

Consumer groups are cheering the news that Comcast abandoned its proposed US$45 billion acquisition of fellow cable and broadband provider Time Warner Cable, saying it’s good for customers and demonstrates the power of Internet activism.Comcast’s decision, announced Friday, would have taken away a major cable and broadband provider in the U.S., critics of the deal argued.“The only competition consumers would have had in their living rooms if this mega-merger had gone forward would be who handles the remote control,” Senator Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement. “Combining Comcast and Time Warner Cable would have created a corporate colossi, hampering consumer choice, competition and innovation in both the broadband and pay TV marketplace.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Consumer groups dance on the grave of Comcast-TW deal

Consumer groups are cheering the news that Comcast abandoned its proposed US$45 billion acquisition of fellow cable and broadband provider Time Warner Cable, saying it’s good for customers and demonstrates the power of Internet activism.Comcast’s decision, announced Friday, would have taken away a major cable and broadband provider in the U.S., critics of the deal argued.“The only competition consumers would have had in their living rooms if this mega-merger had gone forward would be who handles the remote control,” Senator Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement. “Combining Comcast and Time Warner Cable would have created a corporate colossi, hampering consumer choice, competition and innovation in both the broadband and pay TV marketplace.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Mobile apps that have changed my life: OmniFocus

I am sure there are dozens of time/project management apps out there for iOS, but for me, there is only one - OmniFocus. In fact, I am sure there are many cheaper ones out there too. OmniFocus needs to be purchased for your Mac and iPhone/iPad separately, but I have discovered it is worth every penny. And admittedly, you could certainly try and proceed with only the app on only of your platforms. OmniFocus follows the GTD method for project management, which is simply Getting Things Done. This is a perfect system for me since I am one of those who is doing an awful lot over three major areas in my life: family/personal, work, and extra income. Of course, OmniFocus allows me to setup projects across these three major areas. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

With ransomware on the rise, cryptographers take it personally

Some of the world’s leading cryptographers are concerned about the increasing number of malicious programs that hold computers and mobile phones to ransom, in many cases by abusing the encryption algorithms they designed.Despite law enforcement efforts to disrupt ransomware operations, the prevalence of such programs continued to grow last year, according to a report published Thursday by antivirus vendor F-Secure.A family of ransomware programs known as Browlock, which impersonates police agencies and asks users to pay fictitious fines in order to regain control of their computers, was one of the top 10 PC threats during the second half of 2014, according to F-Secure’s statistics. An increase was also observed among the ransomware threats for Android phones.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Project Fi’s winners and losers

Project Fi, Google's Wi-Fi and cellular network service announced Wednesday, can variously be described as low-cost, disruptive, cutting edge, tantalizing, confusing, even awesome.Google is offering the lowest entry-level wireless price plan in the U.S. at $30 a month. That sum includes $20 for talk, text, Wi-Fi tethering and international coverage in 120 countries plus $10 for 1 GB of data. The plan adds $10 a month for each additional 1 GB of data thereafter. Google is partnering with Sprint and T-Mobile for the cellular service.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Infosys invests in cloud, health monitoring market

Indian outsourcer Infosys has made an acquisition in the area of cloud computing and invested in a personal health monitoring company as it tries to move into high value products and services.The transition is, however, taking time and in the financial results the company reported Friday its revenue and profit grew only slightly. The company said it faced pricing pressure in its core outsourcing business, which still largely prices its services around the number of people deployed on a customer’s project.As it expands into other markets, Infosys has agreed to pay US$120 million to buy Kallidus, a cloud-hosted platform for retailers to provide apps and other mobile content. The company also invested $2 million from its Innovation Fund in Airviz, a spinout from Carnegie Mellon University that is focused on personal air quality monitoring.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

WAN Virtualization – Is it something that you should consider?

In this article I will try to explain the basics of WAN Virtualization technology (sometimes referred as SD – WAN too), and how much it is relevant to Turkish Enterprises, considering existing architectures, and offerings from Service Providers. Although IP Networking is an area that we see myriad of changes, new applications, architectures etc…; somethings […]

Author information

Zafer Polat

Zafer Polat
Country Director at Verso

About Zafer Polat. Zafer is a network professional, consultant, and CCIE #11988. He has over 15 years experience of Telecom & Service Provider industry, system integration, and international business development. He is also a active member of Turkey IT Foundation, and trying develop ideas into projects that could help society in general.
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The post WAN Virtualization – Is it something that you should consider? appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Zafer Polat.

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Friday, April 24

Comcast: Let’s call the whole thing offJust one day after a U.S. regulator was said to be calling for hearings on the proposed $45 billion merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable come reports that Comcast is ready to abandon the tie-up, and may make an announcement on Friday. The combined companies would control more than half of the broadband Internet access market in the U.S.—a market where customers already grumble about their lack of choice, and pay more for less than people in virtually every other developed country. The omens for gaining regulatory approval have been darkening: not only did the Federal Communications Commission want hearings on the matter, but the Department of Justice, which monitors antitrust issues, was also apparently not a fan of the deal.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Friday, April 24

Comcast: Let’s call the whole thing offJust one day after a U.S. regulator was said to be calling for hearings on the proposed $45 billion merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable come reports that Comcast is ready to abandon the tie-up, and may make an announcement on Friday. The combined companies would control more than half of the broadband Internet access market in the U.S.—a market where customers already grumble about their lack of choice, and pay more for less than people in virtually every other developed country. The omens for gaining regulatory approval have been darkening: not only did the Federal Communications Commission want hearings on the matter, but the Department of Justice, which monitors antitrust issues, was also apparently not a fan of the deal.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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