The Everything Feed - All Packet Pushers Pods

Take a Network Break! We start the new year by examining major themes and trends that we think will affect IT and networking in 2024. Topics include: AI beyond LLMs Whether open source can remain a viable model in a predatory tech environment Cisco vs. everybody Why IT can’t ignore geopolitics for strategic planning What... Read more »

Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADEM) provides detailed visibility into end user device and application performance. On today’s sponsored episode, we talk with Palo Alto Networks about how it uses AIOps with ADEM to help IT and help desk teams quickly identify and respond to problems for a distributed workforce. We also discuss synthetic transactions, and... Read more »

At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, patients are the priority. That focus on patient care extends to the hospital’s campus network, data center, wireless network, and SD-WAN. These networks are instrumental for delivering medical applications and connecting medical devices. On today’s Heavy Networking, we talk with network architects and engineers at NewYork-Presbyterian about their use of automation to... Read more »

Today’s show explores platform engineering. Guest Chad McElligott has thought a lot about the practice of platform engineering, and a blog post and talk he gave about the subject inspired us to reach out and have a conversation. Chad describes platform engineering as “the application of a Product Mindset to supporting your engineering organization’s software... Read more »

On today’s Day Two Cloud podcast we talk about a cloud project where things didn’t go as planned. There were people problems, technical problems, and regulatory problems. Our guest Jonah Andersson shares lessons learned and how they can inform your own cloud strategies. We also talk about how to identify your project goals to determine... Read more »

The difference between training and education is signficant and technology industry often conflates these terms. They are vastly different ways to providing learning and we dive into why we need more education and less training.

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast, sponsored by Fortinet, we dive into Fortinet Advisor. This is a new generative AI offering designed to act as an assistant to SoC analysts and security teams by providing context-aware event summaries, potential impacts, and recommended responses while also keeping humans in the loop. Episode Guest: Kevin Faulkner |... Read more »

Broadcom’s VMware has announced an end to perpetual licensing, network automation provider Anuta Networks is adding generative AI capabilities to its Atom platform, and high-end firewall revenues dip but campus switch sales soared in Q3 2023. The Open Networking Foundation, which oversaw open projects around software-defined networking, is closing its doors and folding its projects... Read more »

SD-WAN is evolving to encompass more features and capabilities around security, application performance, network visibility, and more. On today’s Heavy Networking, sponsored by Palo Alto Networks, we look at how SD-WAN has transformed from a simple network connectivity solution to a comprehensive networking and security system. We discuss the limitations of legacy branch routers and... Read more »

This is part two of a special edition of Day Two Cloud we’re calling Security KubeConversations. I spent two days in the Windy City, attending KubeCon Cloud Native Con Chicago 2023. I had the opportunity to speak to a wide array of vendors and open source maintainers about what’s happening on the security front in... Read more »

In this episode Ed, Scott, and Tom talk about 2023 and what stood out to us as important for IPv6. Topics discussed include: Overall levels of IPv6 adoption IPv6 security in 2023 IETF efforts with IPv6 IPv6-only in the enterprise Thanks for listening! Show Links: IPv6 Deployment Status (RFC 9386), April 2023 – RFC Editor Four... Read more »

Our KubeConversations series continues with a two-part episode on securing Kubernetes and cloud-native infrastructure. I attended KubeCon 2023 in Chicago and had the opportunity to speak with vendors and open-source maintainers about the work they’re doing to help protect your Kubernetes environments. In this episode we’ll talk about a Kubernetes Bill of Materials, protecting K8s... Read more »

Studying for a certification exam is also about grasping real-world concepts. And that’s exactly the approach David Coleman and David Westcott took when writing their CWNA study guide, now in its sixth edition. “The Davids” talk about the process of writing their book, the research involved, and the importance of making complex topics understandable for... Read more »

IBM has announced a new quantum processor and modular quantum computer in an effort to own the next generation of computing, Cisco unveils an AI assistant to help you untangle firewall rules, and Marvell debuts new DPUs for switches, firewalls, and other networking devices. The MEF looks for ways to stay relevant in the broadband... Read more »

Welcome to Heavy Networking! On today’s show we’ve got a roundtable conversation on the state of automation in the networking industry. This show was inspired by the recent AutoCon conference, which is a new conference focused specifically on network automation. Ethan Banks and I both attended, as did two our guests, and we’re going share... Read more »

Welcome to Day Two Cloud! In this episode with Microsoft, it’s November 2023, and I’m in Seattle for the Microsoft Ignite conference. If you think you heard this intro before and you’re wondering if you’re hearing the same episode again, you’re not. This is the second episode from Microsoft Ignite 2023. Today, I’m talking with... Read more »

Today we’re talking security, but security you don’t always see. Fortinet, today’s sponsor, has millions of devices in the field. These are real-world devices seeing real-world traffic, all day, everyday. While those devices have a primary protection role, they can also serve as sensors that collect threat signals and feed threat intelligence services that can,... Read more »

Powering data centres is big deal in current decade. Massive increases in consumption and scaling of off-prem clouds has exceeded the capacity of civilian power grids while cloud operators are reluctant to sign thirty year supply agreements so that more power plants can be built. Enter power micro-generation where too large DCs needs too small... Read more »

Network automation takes a variety of forms, from individual scripts that handle specific tasks, to workflows that have to be orchestrated across multiple devices and systems. Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we talk with sponsor Pliant about its automation platform. Pliant helps you orchestrate across devices and domains with a low-code approach that uses... Read more »

Broadcom’s latest Trident ASIC will include a neural net inference engine on the chip that can analyze traffic and take action in the packet pipeline, but it’s up to customers to build rules and signatures based on their own training data. Broadcom has also announced it will lay off approximately 1,300 VMware employees. Identity provider... Read more »

Public clouds abstract away much of the nitty-gritty work that goes into provisioning infrastructure, including networking. Application teams can quickly connect resources and deploy applications without having to know much about the plumbing that links everything together. When they compare the public cloud experience to standing up applications in an on-prem data center, the on-prem... Read more »

In this episode Ed, Scott, and Tom discuss the Customer-Side Translator (CLAT) function and its role in enabling client connectivity in IPv6-only networks. Topics discussed include: Traditional use of the CLAT and 464XLAT by mobile service providers How the CLAT may be used in enterprise IPv6-only networks Where DNS64/NAT64 doesn’t work and drives the need... Read more »

From using hollow core fiber to building networks designed to support AI workloads and modern applications, there’s a lot happening in Azure networking. In this sponsored Day Two Cloud episode, recorded live at Microsoft Ignite this November, we have a wide-ranging discussion about new and forthcoming features and capabilities. My guest is Narayan Annamalai, who... Read more »

If you’re not paying attention to mDNS traffic, it might be hurting your Wi-Fi performance. Bryan Ward shares his research looking at the mDNS protocol on a higher ed network and its dramatic impact on Wi-Fi airtime. Bryan shares his experience of identifying and resolving network issues related to mDNS traffic and client isolation. He... Read more »

Our conversation begins with an exploration of the concept of cognitive load in relation to platforms. David, despite being an IT professional and not a psychiatrist, brought an intriguing perspective to the table. He emphasized how platforms, such as VMware, Kubernetes, and Cloud Foundry, are designed to remove effort from users, making it easier for... Read more »

Now that Broadcom’s $69 billion VMware acquisition is complete, will Broadcom invest more in VMware to compete in multi-cloud or settle for profitable revenue collection from existing customers? Nvidia debuts a SuperNIC designed to accelerate Ethernet to support AI workloads and announces partnerships with server makers to bundle its NIC in an AI Ethernet stack.... Read more »

Distributed Denial of Service attacks, or DDoS, have plagued the Internet for decades. And attackers are finding new ways to take advantage of higher levels of bandwidth and the ever-growing number of network-connected devices. Today on Tech Bytes, sponsored by Nokia, we’ll talk about what’s brewing on the DDoS front and how Nokia’s Deepfield is... Read more »

Welcome to part 2 of my KubeConversations. I spent two days in the Windy City attending KubeCon Cloud Native Con Chicago. I had the opportunity to speak to a wide array of vendors and open source maintainers about what’s going on in the cloud native ecosystem. From those conversations, I picked up on some major... Read more »

China demonstrates the strength of its home-grown technology industry by announcing a 1.2Tbit Internet backbone that stretches 3,000 kilometers, Fortinet warns of a 9.8 severity bug in its SIEM product, and Nvidia and Dell roll out ready-made models and infrastructure for enterprises to build their own generative AI apps. HPE Aruba Networking releases a new... Read more »

We continue our Future of Networking series with part two of our conversation with Brad Casemore. Now retired, Brad has participated in the industry as both a technologist and IDC analyst. In this episode we look at the rise of zero trust and what it means for campus networking. We discuss how geopolitics influences IT... Read more »

Network engineers and architects considering IPv6 can benefit from the experiences of those who have gone before them by avoiding the problems that have bedeviled other deployments. On today’s show, your hosts discuss three typical pitfalls and how to get over or around them without falling in. Those IPv6 pitfalls include: IPv4 thinking Deploying ULA... Read more »

Welcome to a special edition of Day Two Cloud. Host Ned Bellavance traveled to KubeCon Chicago 2023 and spoke to vendors and open source maintainers about what’s going on in the cloud-native ecosystem. This episode features conversations on platform engineering. Part 2 will focus on security. Episode Guests: Cole Morrison, Developer Advocate at HashiCorp LinkedIn... Read more »

Private LTE and Wi-Fi use a lot of overlapping skills but there are also some key differences that Wi-Fi pros need to be aware of. Dr. Avril Salter joins host Keith Parsons to highlight important distinctions between Wi-Fi and private LTE or 5G networks, including spectrum use and application suitability. They also discuss the complexity... Read more »

Extreme Networks is jumping into Zero Trust Network Access, Palo Alto Networks is reportedly spending more than half a billion dollars to acquire a corporate browser startup, and Forrester predicts as much as 20% of VMware’s customers may jump ship after the Broadcom acquisition completes. Arista touts a strong third quarter, while F5 forecasts a... Read more »

Network engineers have a good grasp on how to build data center networks to support all kinds of apps, from traditional three-tier designs to applications built around containers and microservices. But what about building a network fabric to support AI? Today on the Tech Bytes podcast, sponsored by Nokia, we talk about the special requirements... Read more »

Cloud environments often have poor visibility and monitoring, and sensitive corporate data can be placed in many different locations – object stores, databases, and so on. Maintaining access control is hard, and managing compliance and governance on that access and data is a real problem. And each cloud has its own proprietary security tools that... Read more »

What if you could have a multi-cloud network that was cloud-native, but you didn’t have to know the nitty-gritty details for each of the clouds? That is, you work with a cloud network interface, and that platform handles the networking–in a cloud-native way–for you. You wouldn’t need to know the nuances of AWS, Azure, and... Read more »

On today’s Packet Pusher’s Tech Bytes podcast, sponsored by VMware, the conversation delves into HPE’s partnership with VMware, particularly around HPE Greenlake for VMware Cloud Foundation. HPE was recently recognized as VMware’s 2023 partner of the year. Today’s podcast features an interview with Frances Guida, Director, Compute Workload Solutions Product Management at HPE. The podcast... Read more »

We discuss potential repercussions for security executives after the SEC charges Solar Winds’ CISCO with fraud, examine a new SD-LAN offering from Versa Networks that aims to integrate security controls into a campus fabric, and discuss a new open-source tool from Cloudflare for scrubbing sensitive authentication tokens from HAR files. Extreme Networks posts strong revenues... Read more »

The Future of Networking series continues with Brad Casemore, who survived multiple decades in the technology sector, including sixteen years as an analyst for IDC. He’s been a longtime observer of networking markets, technologies, and trends. Recently retired from the analyst business, we’ve invited Brad onto the show as a kind of exit interview to... Read more »

DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation (DHCPv6-PD) is an IETF RFC that lets one router delegate a long-lived prefix, using DHCP, to a requesting router. What’s the need for this? As the RFC notes, some applications expect stable addresses. It also notes: It is appropriate for situations in which the delegating router does not have knowledge about the... Read more »

AI and machine learning are being more widely used in IT and elsewhere. Today's episode opens the AI magic box to better understand what's inside, including software and hardware. We discuss essentials such as training models and parameters, software components, GPUs, networking, and storage. We also discuss using cloud-based AI platforms vs. building your own in-house, and what to consider when assembling your own AI infrastructure.

Two Wi-Fi engineers share their experiences automating wireless workflows, including the role of Python & tools like Postman.

AI is making its way into network operations, and on today’s episode, sponsored by Nokia, we talk about how Nokia has developed a ChatGPT-based application that runs on its SR Linux network OS. Network engineers can use this app to query about network state, ask troubleshooting questions, check configurations, search logs, and quickly sort through reams of documentation.

Today's episode includes Cisco patching a critical vulnerability affecting IOS-XE gear, startup Prosimo releasing a cost calculator to help network engineers track their public cloud networking costs, and Juniper integrating its SD-WAN to the AWS cloud WAN. We also cover Cisco's investment in a quantum networking startup, growing DPU sales, and Intel divesting from pluggable optical modules.

AI and machine learning are finally being applied to networking in meaningful ways. On today's sponsored show we talk with Selector about its AIOps platform, which ingests networking logs, flows, configurations, SNMP, and other telemetry to detect patterns, spot problems, and provide contextual insights to help network engineers do their jobs better. We speak with Selector about what it is, how it works, and concrete use cases.

Today we debate its technoloyg is reaching a stable phase. Greg argues that we are in a period of stability, citing resistance to change and a slowdown in advancements. Johna believes that the rise of quantum computing and AI will lead to significant disruptions. They also discuss the future of AI and quantum computing, with Johna predicting a transformative impact by 2026, while Greg suggests a slower adoption due to existing heavy investments in technology.

On today's Day Two Cloud we talk about how to build a successful security practice within your organization. Our guest is Swathi Joshi, VP, SaaS Cloud Security at Oracle. She breaks down security teams into three core groups: proactive security, defensive security, and assurance (risk reduction, enabling secure access, meeting compliance requirements). She also shares her insights around SoCs, security automation, threat and vulnerability management, and successful blue team practices.

Today's Tech Bytes podcast explores custom silicon with sponsor Nokia. Nokia has recently launched its new FPcx chip for Nokia routers. We’ll talk about the features and capabilities in the new silicon, and the value to service providers and enterprises that custom silicon can bring.

This week's IT news podcast covers a serious Cisco exploit against IOS XE, new firewalls from Juniper, Broadcom's hopes to capture the routing market with merchant silicon, more movement on restoring net neutrality in the US, and more.