Layoffs are a sensitive topic in the tech industry. Host Laura Santamaria discusses the emotional and practical impacts on employees and leaders. She also covers the signs of potential layoffs, and strategies for job searching post-layoff while maintaining perspective. She concludes with a tips for leaders to more effectively lead their teams through a layoff. ... Read more »...
Oct 10, 2024•22 min
Ivan Pepelnjak joins host Eric Chou to reflect on his extensive career, his decision to reduce his content creation, and offer advice for young engineers. They discuss the evolution of networking technologies, emphasizing the importance of mastering Linux and obtaining relevant certifications. Ivan highlights the significance of creating professional visibility and owning one’s content. The ... Read more »...
Oct 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Today on the Packet Protector podcast we talk with sponsor Juniper Networks about how to simplify the complexity that affects network and cybersecurity teams alike. From tool sprawl to floods of data, complexity bedevils operations and troubleshooting. We talk about what Juniper brings to the table for networking and security professionals to help them do ... Read more »...
Oct 08, 2024•37 min
Welcome to N Is For Networking, the newest podcast on the Packet Pushers network, where we explain the jargon, acronyms, and concepts of the networking industry in plain language. Your hosts are Holly Metlitzky, an industrial engineer and now a network sales engineer; and Ethan Banks, a veteran network engineer. Together, they’ll educate and help ... Read more »...
Oct 07, 2024•19 min
Take a Network Break! DDI specialist BlueCat is getting into network performance monitoring with its LiveAction acquisition, T-Mobile is ordered to spend almost $16 million to improve its infosec practices and get a CISO, and Cisco announced the end of life for its LoRaWAN IoT product line. Verizon recovers from a US-wide outage, security researchers ... Read more »...
Oct 07, 2024•26 min
Our topic today is digital twins. Sponsor Forward Networks offers software that creates a “mathematically accurate” copy of your network, be it on prem or in the cloud. We talk about what “mathematically accurate” actually means, and how a digital twin can support network operations including change control, network automation, visibility, and troubleshooting. We also ... Read more »...
Oct 04, 2024•58 min
Guest Tom McGonagle, the creator of GitNops, is back with host Scott Robohn for part two of their GitNops discussion. They continue their conversation about the principles and applications of GitNops in network operations, including automated testing, the collaborative role of GitHub, and the challenges of ensuring accurate configurations before deployment. Finally, they explore the ... Read more »...
Oct 04, 2024•45 min
Cloudflare’s transition from SysLog-NG to OpenTelemetry is the topic of discussion on this episode of Day Two DevOps. Guests Colin Douch and Jayson Cena from Cloudflare explain the reasons behind the migration, including the need for better scalability, memory safety, and maintainability. They delve into challenges such as ensuring uninterrupted customer traffic and optimizing performance. ... Read more »...
Oct 02, 2024•38 min
The terms “AI” and “machine learning (ML)” get thrown around pretty regularly in IT and cybersecurity. On today’s Packet Protector we get an introduction to AI and ML to help you ask the right questions when vendors tout their latest AI-infused products. Our guest is Jeff Crume, a distinguished engineer and cybersecurity architect at IBM. ... Read more »...
Oct 01, 2024•46 min
Take a Network Break! This week we discuss significant vulnerabilities in HPE APs and Cisco Catalyst 9K switches, the benefits of bug bounties, how HPE is adding third-party device monitoring to Aruba Central, and whether Arista can succeed at positioning CloudVision as a management platform for enterprise data center, campus, and WAN environments. Alkira’s cloud ... Read more »...
Oct 01, 2024•40 min
The Packet Pushers and guest Mason Reimert discuss strategies he’s using to prepare for the Cisco CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure lab exam. Mason shares practical tips for hands-on labbing for both established and emerging technologies like SD-WAN and SD-Access, resource management, virtualization tools, and automation. He also highlights the importance of understanding APIs, data formats, and ... Read more »...
Sep 27, 2024•53 min
The concept of psychological safety originated from research on surgical teams. Psychological safety is essential as it allows team members to voice concerns without fear of retaliation. As a leadership tool, it can help people perform at their highest levels. In this episode of Technically Leadership, guest Wesley Faulkner talks with host Laura Santamaria about ... Read more »...
Sep 26, 2024•35 min
GitHub Codespaces aims to simplify spinning up a developer environment in the cloud. Containerlab, which provides virtual lab environments for network engineers, is now integrated with Codespaces to make it easy to set up and share network labs. On today’s Network Automation Nerds show, we delve into this innovative use of GitHub Codespaces and containerlab ... Read more »...
Sep 25, 2024•42 min
Today on Packet Protector we get into BGP security. BGP is an essential protocol for directing traffic across the Internet, but it wasn’t designed with bad actors in mind, not to mention plain old configuration mistakes. Without additional controls in place, BGP is susceptible to issues such as route leaks and route hijacks that can ... Read more »...
Sep 24, 2024•37 min
Take a Network Break! This week we discuss Microsoft’s proposed deal to buy power from the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, new APs and switches from Juniper Networks, and T-Mobile landing a customer driven by the network slicing capabilities of 5G. China disbands a botnet, Nokia takes on data center switch giants with a new ... Read more »...
Sep 23, 2024•51 min
Do you know what DevOps is? Really? And how well does it fit traditional NetOps? Host Scott Robohn and guest Tom McGonagle explore ways to apply DevOps to Network Engineering and Operations. They review the seven DevOps practices and Tom’s proposed adaptations of DevOps under the banner of GitNops. This is the first part of ... Read more »...
Sep 20, 2024•39 min
AI is everywhere. So are questions about AI’s value, how it really works, and how it will affect technology. Hannah Foxwell aims to demystify AI via a new conference, AI for the Rest of Us, taking place October 24-25, 2024 in London. Hannah hopes to create a collaborative learning environment. In today’s Day Two DevOps ... Read more »...
Sep 18, 2024•34 min
Today on Packet Protector we look at cloud firewall architectures. If you’ve deployed firewalls in the campus or a data center, it’s useful to know that there are differences in the public cloud. We’ll dive into what you need to know, including deployment options, the role of high availability in public cloud, selecting the right ... Read more »...
Sep 17, 2024•34 min
Take a Network Break! This week we discuss the theft of 440Gbytes of customer data from a Fortinet cloud repository, how to think about resiliency after an AT&T network update kills access to Azure apps, and new troubleshooting features in Juniper Apstra. HPE goes to the bond market to raise as much as $6.5 billion ... Read more »...
Sep 16, 2024•26 min
On today’s episode, we cover open source Clabernetes, a tool that allows you to run Containerlab on Kubernetes. Containerlab provides a CLI for orchestrating and managing container-based networking labs. It starts the containers, builds a virtual wiring between them to create lab topologies of your choice and manages the lab’s lifecycle. We discuss the answer ... Read more »...
Sep 13, 2024•52 min
IT work requires ongoing training and skills development. Laura Santamaria and guest Scott Robohn discuss strategies for leveling up your team to ensure they have the skills they need. Laura and Scott talk about the need for continuous learning and explore options for encouraging skill development, even in budget-constrained environments. Good leaders should guide by ... Read more »...
Sep 13, 2024•41 min
This episode was recorded with Greg Ferro, co-founder of Packet Pushers, just days before his retirement in July 2024. Greg and Eric reflect on Greg’s influential career in network engineering and the evolution of the industry. Greg discusses the challenges of maintaining open-source projects amid increasing commercialization and corporate exploitation. He emphasizes the importance of ... Read more »...
Sep 11, 2024•1 hr 16 min
Today’s Packet Protector is an all-news episode. We cover the Volt Typhoon hacker group exploiting a zero-day in Versa Networks gear and a multitude of vulnerabilities in Zyxel network products. We also debate whether Microsoft’s endpoint security summit will be more than a public relations exercise, a serious backdoor in RFID cards used in offices ... Read more »...
Sep 10, 2024•33 min
Take a Network Break! This week we cover an AT&T lawsuit against Broadcom over changes to a support contract for VMware software, why Verizon is spending $20 billion to buy Frontier, and new critical security patches from Cisco. ASML, which makes the machines that make high-end computer chips, gets antsy over US restrictions to China. ... Read more »...
Sep 09, 2024•32 min
On today’s episode of Heavy Networking, Rob Sherwood joins us to discuss the impact that High Performance Computing (HPC)and artificial intelligence computing are having on data center network design. It’s not just a story about leaf/spine architecture. That’s the boring part. There’s also power and cooling issues, massive bandwidth requirements, and changes in how we ... Read more »...
Sep 06, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Simplification is the theme of today’s episode. Host Scott Robohn and guest Jack Maxfield explore the operational impacts of simplification for a Managed Service Provider (MSP). They discuss the challenges of managing multi-vendor environments and how to use templating and tools to simplify the management process. Proactive client communication and the integration of network and ... Read more »...
Sep 06, 2024•46 min
Cloud security and responsible disclosure are the focus of today’s conversation with guest Kat Traxler. Kat shares her insights on identifying vulnerabilities in cloud services, particularly Google Cloud, and the importance of curiosity in her research. The episode explores the role of bug bounty programs and the shift towards issuing CVEs for cloud vulnerabilities. Lastly, ... Read more »...
Sep 04, 2024•32 min
Take a Network Break! This week we cover a couple of listener FUs, and then dive into the news. Attackers exploit a zero-day in Versa to harvest credentials, AT&T agrees to a fine of nearly $1 million for a network outage that affected 911 calls, and Intel and Broadcom tout integrated optics for more broadband ... Read more »...
Sep 03, 2024•50 min
On today’s Packet Protector we talk about how to talk about security objectives in ways that resonate with business and non-technical leaders in your organization. Tying security objectives to business outcomes can help you maintain (or increase) budgets, build trust and credibility with executives, and better align your risk management efforts with the organization’s broader ... Read more »...
Sep 03, 2024•55 min
Our Heavy Networking guest today is Hans Driessens, and we sat down at AutoCon1 to talk through some of his network automation projects. Hans shares his journey from a service engineer to a consultant specializing in network automation. We discuss the evolution of programming languages, the importance of foundational programming skills, and the practicalities of ... Read more »...
Aug 30, 2024•58 min