Pump-Up your ITIL with Automation

pump up ITIL blog

In the world of automation and agility, it seems that Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) doesn’t have a role to play anymore, being marked as an “old school” framework. Can it be the end of the methodology after it served numerous IT organizations for so long as a guideline and blueprint for their processes?

This series of articles shows how automation, and more specifically Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and the principles of Infrastructure as Code (IaC), can help bring some of the ITIL topics into the agile and automated bliss:

  • Configuration management
  • Change and release management
  • Incident and problem management

So let’s step into the topic of configuration management and what everybody still knows as CMDB (Configuration Management Database) even if ITIL has since long titled it as CMS (Configuration Management System). This name change was meant to highlight the fact that the function can be fulfilled by a combination of multiple databases and tools, but it won’t matter here, so we’ll stick to the infamous CMDB term.

Do you love your CMDB? Probably not, according to my experience with numerous customers. The data is generally outdated and wrong, considered useless, which means that its maintenance is considered a Continue reading

A new portal for Project Galileo participants

A new portal for Project Galileo participants

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A new portal for Project Galileo participants

Each anniversary of Project Galileo serves as an impetus for big-picture thinking among the Cloudflare team about where to take the initiative next. For this eighth anniversary, we want to help participants get the most out of their free security and performance services and simplify the onboarding process.

Organizations protected under Galileo are a diverse bunch, with 111 countries represented across 1,900+ web domains. Some of these organizations are very small and sometimes operated solely by volunteers. It is understandable that many do not have IT specialists or other employees with technical knowledge about security and performance capabilities. We strive to give them the tools and training to succeed, and we felt it was imperative to take this effort to a new level.

Introducing the Cloudflare Social Impact Projects Portal

To provide Galileo participants with one place to access resources, configuration tips, product explainers, and more, we built the Cloudflare Social Impact Projects Portal.

The crisis in Ukraine was a key source of inspiration for this endeavor. With overall applications for the project skyrocketing by 177% in March 2022, we were rushing to onboard new Continue reading

Kubernetes Unpacked 002: Tackling Container Management And Kubernetes Complexity

In this episode, Michael Levan chats with Neil Cresswell, CEO and Co-Founder of Portainer.io. They talk about the challenges of Kubernetes and how everyone is trying to navigate its complexities. They also dive into Kubernetes security, networking, and management.

The post Kubernetes Unpacked 002: Tackling Container Management And Kubernetes Complexity appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Using htop to check performance on Linux

While it's one of the best tools for examining performance on Linux, htop still requires some explanation before you'll be ready to take advantage of all the data it displays. It’s an excellent tool, but you need to understand the coloring scheme, how to scroll up and down through the processes displayed, and how to change your view of what’s happening on the system.It may take some time to get used to the type of information shown and be ready to quickly notice performance problems. That, of course, means that you have to know what normal behavior looks like on your system, and this generally requires spending time with the tool on a relatively frequent basis. In other words, use htop when you’re not at all concerned about how your system is performing and you’ll likely be able to make good use of it when you are.To read this article in full, please click here

Using htop to check performance on Linux

While it's one of the best tools for examining performance on Linux, htop still requires some explanation before you'll be ready to take advantage of all the data it displays. It’s an excellent tool, but you need to understand the coloring scheme, how to scroll up and down through the processes displayed, and how to change your view of what’s happening on the system.It may take some time to get used to the type of information shown and be ready to quickly notice performance problems. That, of course, means that you have to know what normal behavior looks like on your system, and this generally requires spending time with the tool on a relatively frequent basis. In other words, use htop when you’re not at all concerned about how your system is performing and you’ll likely be able to make good use of it when you are.To read this article in full, please click here

Using Custom Vagrant Boxes with netlab

A friend of mine started using Vagrant with libvirt years ago (it was his enthusiasm that piqued my interest in this particular setup, eventually resulting in netlab). Not surprisingly, he’s built Vagrant boxes for any device he ever encountered, created quite a collection that way, and would like to use them with netlab.

While I didn’t think about this particular use case when programming the netlab virtualization provider interface, I decided very early on that:

  • Everything worth changing will be specified in the system defaults
  • You will be able to change system defaults in topology file or user defaults.

Using Custom Vagrant Boxes with netsim-tools

A friend of mine started using Vagrant with libvirt years ago (it was his enthusiasm that piqued my interest in this particular setup, eventually resulting in netsim-tools). Not surprisingly, he’s built Vagrant boxes for any device he ever encountered, created quite a collection that way, and would like to use them with netsim-tools.

While I didn’t think about this particular use case when programming the netsim-tools virtualization provider interface, I decided very early on that:

  • Everything worth changing will be specified in the system defaults
  • You will be able to change system defaults in topology file or user defaults.

Day Two Cloud 150: Proactive Network Operations With Augtera (Sponsored)

Sponsor and startup Augtera Networks joins Day Two Cloud to discuss Augtera's proactive network analysis and operations product, which is meant to make you aware of problems before they become…problems. Augtera brings together traditional network sources such as flows and SNMP, plus telemetry and metadata to provide actionable information across networks you own and networks you don't.

RSA: Intel reference design to accelerate SASE, other security tasks

Intel has introduced a reference design it says can enable accelerator cards for security workloads including secure access service edge (SASE), IPsec, and SSL/TLS.The upside of the server cards would be offloading some application processing from CPUs, effectively increasing server performance without requiring additional server rack space, according to Intel. [ Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ] The announcement was made at RSA Conference 2022, and details were published in a blog post by Bob Ghaffardi, Intel vice president and general manager of the Enterprise and Cloud Division.To read this article in full, please click here

RSA: Intel reference design to accelerate SASE, other security tasks

Intel has introduced a reference design it says can enable accelerator cards for security workloads including secure access service edge (SASE), IPsec, and SSL/TLS.The upside of the server cards would be offloading some application processing from CPUs, effectively increasing server performance without requiring additional server rack space, according to Intel. [ Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ] The announcement was made at RSA Conference 2022, and details were published in a blog post by Bob Ghaffardi, Intel vice president and general manager of the Enterprise and Cloud Division.To read this article in full, please click here

RSA: Intel reference design to accelerate SASE, other security tasks

Intel has introduced a reference design it says can enable accelerator cards for security workloads including secure access service edge (SASE), IPsec, and SSL/TLS.The upside of the server cards would be offloading some application processing from CPUs, effectively increasing server performance without requiring additional server rack space, according to Intel. [ Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ] The announcement was made at RSA Conference 2022, and details were published in a blog post by Bob Ghaffardi, Intel vice president and general manager of the Enterprise and Cloud Division.To read this article in full, please click here

RSA: Intel reference design to accelerate SASE, other security tasks

Intel has introduced a reference design it says can enable accelerator cards for security workloads including secure access service edge (SASE), IPsec, and SSL/TLS.The upside of the server cards would be offloading some application processing from CPUs, effectively increasing server performance without requiring additional server rack space, according to Intel. [ Get regularly scheduled insights by signing up for Network World newsletters. ] The announcement was made at RSA Conference 2022, and details were published in a blog post by Bob Ghaffardi, Intel vice president and general manager of the Enterprise and Cloud Division.To read this article in full, please click here

Cisco adds to network training lineup with Cisco U. launch

Cisco is expanding the way current and future network pros acquire job-changing skills and prepare to earn certifications with a new educational unit called Cisco U.Cisco U. is a digital learning center that will offer a variety of online and in-person learning tools and classes, including quick-start skills assessments, tailored learning paths for Cisco certifications, and personalized AI-based skills recommendations. Read more: Network certs: Significant raises for the right onesTo read this article in full, please click here