Solutions In Search of a Problem

During a few recent chats with my friends in the industry, I’ve heard a common refrain coming up about technologies or products being offered for sale. Typically these are advanced ideas given form that are then positioned as products for sale in the market. Overwhelmingly the feedback comes down to one phrase:

This is a solution in search of a problem.

We’ve probably said this a number of times about a protocol or a piece of hardware. Something that seems to be built to solve a problem we don’t have and couldn’t conceive of. But why does this seem to happen? And what can we do to fix this kind of mentality?

Forward Looking Failures

If I told you today that I was creating software that would revolutionize the way your autonomous car delivers music to the occupants on their VR headsets you’d probably think I was crazy, right? Every one of the technologies I mentioned in the statement is a future thing that we expect may be big down the road. We love the idea of autonomous vehicles and VR headsets and such.

Now, let’s change the statement. I’m working on a new algorithm for HD-DVD players to produce Continue reading

How Developers Can Get Started with Python and Docker


Python started in 1991 with humble beginnings focusing on helping “automate the boring stuff.” But over the past few years, we’ve seen Python grow in popularity and become extremely useful not only for scripting but for building modern web applications, machine learning and data science. 

The TIOBE Index for February has Python ranked at number 3 on the list. Python has also been in the top 8 rank programming languages for the past 7 years. With such a popular and powerful programming language comes a vibrate and large community.

To that end, we are excited to announce that we are releasing a series of programming language-specific guides to help developers go from discovering the basics of Docker to delivering your images into a production environment and more.

The first in our series is a focus on the Python development ecosystem. We have created a series of tutorials, how-tos, and guides focused on the Python community with much more coming in the future. 

We are extremely excited to help Python developers become experts at developing and delivering the next generation of applications using the Docker platform. Below you will find a list of resources and our Python language-specific Continue reading

Keeping Pakistan’s Internet Exchange Points Running

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) are a vital element of Internet infrastructure. They can be found at physical and neutral locations where different IP networks meet to exchange local traffic via a switch. Implementing an IXP within a country helps bring faster, more affordable, and better performing Internet to people.

Frustrated by poor quality of service and high-cost connectivity, local Internet stakeholders started off the process of setting up an IXP in Pakistan. With the adoption of the 2015 telecoms policy, there was a new drive to foster interconnection and keep local traffic within the country.

Led by the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA), the telecom regulator, the government-initiated consultations on how to set up an IXP.  To develop an informed opinion about IXPs, PTA reached out to the Internet Society, the Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC), the local Internet community, and civil society.

The consultations led to the formation of an IXP board; comprised of all stakeholders. The new board decided to establish IXPs at Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore. The IXP board first set up an IXP in Pakistan at a neutral venue, the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC), Islamabad in 2016. HEC was ideal because it provided a Continue reading

Juniper targets WAN automation with new software suite

Juniper has unwrapped a suite of automation software it says will help users ensure their wide area network and cloud-connected services are running properly and cost-effectively.The company’s Paragon Automation suite promises to help eliminate manual tasks and workflow processes to make sure WAN operations are working as expected and, if not, quickly fix problems.Top metrics for multicloud management The suite, which is aimed at large enterprises and service operators, includes an amalgamation of technology from Juniper’s existing NorthStar controller and Healthbot network-diagnostics packages combined with other organically developed features in combination with software it got with its recent Netrounds acquisition.To read this article in full, please click here

AMD builds momentum in server market

The server market is fairly slow to change in all things, and that includes its processor platforms. But lately it's clear AMD's comeback is getting very real.Left for dead four years ago, AMD already has won over the gamers. Its Ryzen series of processors are the go-to choice for system builders on YouTube, whose specialty is building a high-end gaming rig in 15 minutes. But the server market is also taking note.The latest sign came from Mercury Research, which follows the semiconductor market, in particular CPU sales. For the fourth quarter of 2020, Intel held 92.9% market share to AMD's 7.1%, but Intel was down from 95.5% one year earlier in Q4 2019 and AMD was way up from 4.5%. For the server market, that's some rapid growth.To read this article in full, please click here

AMD builds momentum in server market

The server market is fairly slow to change in all things, and that includes its processor platforms. But lately it's clear AMD's comeback is getting very real.Left for dead four years ago, AMD already has won over the gamers. Its Ryzen series of processors are the go-to choice for system builders on YouTube, whose specialty is building a high-end gaming rig in 15 minutes. But the server market is also taking note.The latest sign came from Mercury Research, which follows the semiconductor market, in particular CPU sales. For the fourth quarter of 2020, Intel held 92.9% market share to AMD's 7.1%, but Intel was down from 95.5% one year earlier in Q4 2019 and AMD was way up from 4.5%. For the server market, that's some rapid growth.To read this article in full, please click here

Technology Short Take 137

Welcome to Technology Short Take #137! I’ve got a wide range of topics for you this time around—eBPF, Falco, Snort, Kyverno, etcd, VMware Code Stream, and more. Hopefully one of these links will prove useful to you. Enjoy!

Networking

Servers/Hardware

  • I recently mentioned on Twitter that I was considering building out a new Linux PC to replace my aging Mac Pro (it’s a 2012 model, so going on 9 years old). Joe Utter shared with me his new lab build information, and now I’m sharing it with all of you. Sharing is caring, you know.

Security

Cloud Computing/Cloud Management

What Should A Consultant Charge Clients? – Video

In this Day Two Cloud podcast clip, we discuss consulting and MONEY. To hear the entire episode, go here. Hosts Ned Bellavance and Ethan Banks are joined by Michael Jenkins, Sr. Systems Reliability Engineer at Managed Kaos; and Anthony Nocentino, Enterprise Architect at Centino Systems and Pluralsight author. If you like engineering discussions like this, […]

The post What Should A Consultant Charge Clients? – Video appeared first on Packet Pushers.

The Hedge #70: FR Routing Update

FR Routing is a widely used and supported open source routing stack. In this episode of the Hedge, Alistair Woodman, Quentin Young, Donald Sharp, Tom Ammon, and Russ White discuss recent updates, additions to the CI/CD system, the release process, and operating system support. If you’re looking for a good open source, containerized routing stack for everything from route servers to DC fabrics and labbing to production, you should check out FR Routing.

download

Save the Date! Next Docker Community All Hands

We’re excited to announce that our next Community All Hands will be on March 11th, 2021. This quarterly event is a unique opportunity for Docker staff and the broader Docker community to come together for live company updates, product updates, demos, community shout-outs and Q&A. We had more than 1,500 attendees for our last all-hands and we hope to double that this time.  

This all-hands will be particularly special because it will coincide with none other than….you guessed it…Docker’s 8th birthday! For this “birthday edition,” we’re going to make the event extra special.

We’ll start by extending the format from 1 hour to 3 hours to pack in more Docker goodness. The main piece of feedback we got from our last all hands was that it was way too short. We had too much content that we tried to squeeze into 60 minutes. This longer format will give us plenty of time to cover everything we need to cover and let presenters catch their breath ?

Another new feature of this all-hands will be integrated chat and multi-casting made possible by a new innovative video conferencing platform we’ll be using. This will give us the opportunity to present content Continue reading