Automating mixed Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows Environments

For a system administrator, a perfect world would consist of just one type of server that we needed to support and just one tool to do that work. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world. Many system admins are required to manage day to day operations of very different servers with different operating systems. The complexity gets magnified when you start looking for tools to manage these distinct systems. Looking at how to automate these systems could lead you down a path of one automation tool per OS type. But why? When you can have one central automation platform that can be used for all servers. In this example, we are going to look at managing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Windows servers in one data center by the same group of system administrators. While we are going to cover the use case of managing web servers on both RHEL and Windows in some technical details, be aware that this method can be used for almost any typical operational tasks. 

 

Scenario: Managing the web service on RHEL and Windows

In this scenario, we have a system administrator that is tired of getting calls from the network Continue reading

Automating mixed Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows Environments

For a system administrator, a perfect world would consist of just one type of server that we needed to support and just one tool to do that work. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world. Many system admins are required to manage day to day operations of very different servers with different operating systems. The complexity gets magnified when you start looking for tools to manage these distinct systems. Looking at how to automate these systems could lead you down a path of one automation tool per OS type. But why? When you can have one central automation platform that can be used for all servers. In this example, we are going to look at managing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Windows servers in one data center by the same group of system administrators. While we are going to cover the use case of managing web servers on both RHEL and Windows in some technical details, be aware that this method can be used for almost any typical operational tasks. 

 

Scenario: Managing the web service on RHEL and Windows

In this scenario, we have a system administrator that is tired of getting calls from the network Continue reading

Repost: On the Importance of Line-Rate Switching of Small Packets

I made a flippant remark in a blog comment

While it’s academically stimulating to think about forwarding small packets (and applicable to large-scale VoIP networks), most environments don’t have to deal with those. Looks like it’s such a non-issue that I couldn’t find recent data; in the good old days ~50% of the packets were 1500 byte long.

… and Minh Ha (by now a regular contributor to my blog) quickly set me straight with a lengthy comment that’s too good to be hidden somewhere at the bottom of a page. Here it is (slightly edited). Also, you might want to read other comments to the original blog post for context.

Repost: On the Importance of Line-Rate Switching of Small Packets

I made a flippant remark in a blog comment

While it’s academically stimulating to think about forwarding small packets (and applicable to large-scale VoIP networks), most environments don’t have to deal with those. Looks like it’s such a non-issue that I couldn’t find recent data; in the good old days ~50% of the packets were 1500 byte long.

… and Minh Ha (by now a regular contributor to my blog) quickly set me straight with a lengthy comment that’s too good to be hidden somewhere at the bottom of a page. Here it is (slightly edited). Also, you might want to read other comments to the original blog post for context.

Docker Index Shows Continued Massive Developer Adoption and Activity to Build and Share Apps with Docker

It’s been one year since we started publishing the Docker Index (stats, trends and analysis from developers and dev teams based on anonymized data from millions of Docker users). At that time we saw how Docker was being used at an incredible scale to power application building globally. Today we are excited to share the latest edition of the Docker Index, this time with some yearly and quarterly comparisons. 

Every time we pull these user stats, we are blown away by the sheer volume and continued growth in activity happening across the Docker developer community. It’s clear to see that collaborative application development platforms are the foundation for developers who want to build, share, and run modern apps. We are also thrilled to see this type of growth more than one year after refocusing Docker on making developers’ lives easier. The Docker community has stayed with us and continues to grow at a tremendous pace, giving us very encouraging signals about the path that Docker is taking. 

To begin, there has now been a total of 318 billion all time pulls on Docker Hub, an increase of 145% year-over-year. That’s right, the total number of pulls has increased Continue reading

Day Two Cloud 084: So You Want To Be A Consultant

Today's Day Two Cloud gets into consulting. How do you start? What does the job entail? Is it a good job to have? How do you build a client base? There are so many questions! We're joined by Michael Jenkins, Sr. Systems Reliability Engineer at Managed Kaos; and Anthony Nocentino, Enterprise Architect at Centino Systems and Pluralsight author, to get some answers.

Day Two Cloud 084: So You Want To Be A Consultant

Today's Day Two Cloud gets into consulting. How do you start? What does the job entail? Is it a good job to have? How do you build a client base? There are so many questions! We're joined by Michael Jenkins, Sr. Systems Reliability Engineer at Managed Kaos; and Anthony Nocentino, Enterprise Architect at Centino Systems and Pluralsight author, to get some answers.

The post Day Two Cloud 084: So You Want To Be A Consultant appeared first on Packet Pushers.

State Consistency in Distributed SDN Controller Clusters

Every now and then I get a question along the lines of “why can’t we have a distributed SDN controller (because resiliency) that would survive network partitioning?” This time, it’s not the incompetency of solution architects or programmers, but the fundamental limitations of what can be done when you want to have consistent state across a distributed system.

TL&DR: If your first thought was CAP Theorem you’re absolutely right. You can probably stop reading right now. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, maybe it’s time you get fluent in distributed systems concepts after you’re finished with this blog post and all the reference material linked in it. Don’t know where to start? I put together a list of resources I found useful.

State Consistency in Distributed SDN Controller Clusters

Every now and then I get a question along the lines of “why can’t we have a distributed SDN controller (because resiliency) that would survive network partitioning?” This time, it’s not the incompetency of solution architects or programmers, but the fundamental limitations of what can be done when you want to have consistent state across a distributed system.

TL&DR: If your first thought was CAP Theorem you’re absolutely right. You can probably stop reading right now. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, maybe it’s time you get fluent in distributed systems concepts after you’re finished with this blog post and all the reference material linked in it. Don’t know where to start? I put together a list of resources I found useful.

Meraki-CLI – Command Line Utility for the Meraki Dashboard

Meraki changed the industry years ago as one of the first platforms to use a cloud portal for all configuration; forgoing the typical local CLI/GUI administration of network appliances. One of the first things a traditional network engineer (like myself) may notice about Meraki equipment is their complete lack of a command-line interface. For the […]

The post Meraki-CLI – Command Line Utility for the Meraki Dashboard appeared first on Packet Pushers.

How COVID-19 is shaping enterprise networking

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the networking arena in a number of ways, including the rise of fully automated remote offices, the need to support a "branch of one," and the growth of new communications software tools."One of the biggest trends we are seeing is business agility. That is, IT looking at the tech they have deployed and evaluating it not just in terms of speeds and feeds, but how agile it is to handle whatever's coming next," said Todd Nightingale, Cisco's Enterprise Networking & Cloud business chief. "Software APIs are a huge part of that trend, because it is amazingly easier to handle changes through APIs and software that make it possible to change things in a day rather than months."To read this article in full, please click here

How COVID-19 is shaping enterprise networking

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the networking arena in a number of ways, including the rise of fully automated remote offices, the need to support a "branch of one," and the growth of new communications software tools."One of the biggest trends we are seeing is business agility. That is, IT looking at the tech they have deployed and evaluating it not just in terms of speeds and feeds, but how agile it is to handle whatever's coming next," said Todd Nightingale, Cisco's Enterprise Networking & Cloud business chief. "Software APIs are a huge part of that trend, because it is amazingly easier to handle changes through APIs and software that make it possible to change things in a day rather than months."To read this article in full, please click here

How COVID-19 is shaping enterprise networking

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the networking arena in a number of ways, including the rise of fully automated remote offices, the need to support a "branch of one," and the growth of new communications software tools."One of the biggest trends we are seeing is business agility. That is, IT looking at the tech they have deployed and evaluating it not just in terms of speeds and feeds, but how agile it is to handle whatever's coming next," said Todd Nightingale, Cisco's Enterprise Networking & Cloud business chief. "Software APIs are a huge part of that trend, because it is amazingly easier to handle changes through APIs and software that make it possible to change things in a day rather than months."To read this article in full, please click here