Packet Pushers - Weekly Show

On today's Heavy Networking podcast we discuss network compliance. The big idea is to rethink how you do compliance so that the process is automation friendly and accommodates all the network device types you have to manage. We're sponsored by Itential and our guest is Chris Wade, CTO.

There's a huge amount that goes into building an ISP, from getting access to poles to run fiber, operating a cable plant, setting up customer support and billing, getting network gear in place---not to mention developing a viable business model and funding the whole thing. On today's Heavy Networking podcast we talk with Jim Troutman of Tilson Technology Management about building a local ISP in New England.

Today's Heavy Networking examines how some of the unpleasant bits of cloud networking can be improved, particularly in the areas of troubleshooting, visibility, security, and automation. Our sponsor is Aviatrix, and they’ve sent us three architects to nerd out about cloud network design and how Aviatrix might fit into the picture. Our guests are Brad Hedlund and James Devine from Aviatrix, and customer Chris Oliver with NI.

Subsea communications cables are an essential part of the global Internet. On today's Heavy Networking, sponsored by Telstra, we dive into the realms of undersea cables to learn how they are laid, signalling methods, POPs and landing stations, how they can be damaged (and repaired), and more. Our Telstra guests are Andy Lumsden, Head of Network Engineering and Operations; and Jeff McHardy, General Manager, Network Development and Commercial Management.

Today on Heavy Networking, the icanhazip story. On the surface, icanhazip.com is simple enough: You hit the URL, and get back your external, public IP address. There are no ads, no blinky lights, just an IP. This free, simple utility has become widely popular, with billions of requests per day. We talk with creator Major Hayden about why and how he built icanhazip, the time and money he's invested, and the insane amount of personal effort it's taken to keep it going.

Today's Heavy Networking, sponsored by Intel, dives into 5G, virtualization, and AI. Intel's 3rd Gen Xeon processors can support a variety of use cases, including running virtualized network functions in the data center, at the edge, and in the cloud. They also have built-in acceleration for AI and cryptography, giving organizations a flexible platform for a variety of workloads, including service providers building out 5G networks. Our guest is Cristina Rodriguez, Vice President Data Center Group General Manager Wireless Access Network Division at Intel.

Curt Norris started his career as an IT support specialist. Five years later he's an automation engineer. On today's Heavy Networking we discuss his career journey including milestones, ongoing learning, the pros and cons of mentorship, whether a degree makes a difference, and more.

Today's Heavy Networking explores Crosswork Cloud Traffic Analysis from episode sponsor Cisco. This tool is designed to make you deeply knowledgeable about your BGP peering relationships and traffic flows throughout your infrastructure. It will also recommend the routing tweaks in your IGPs, BGP, RSVP-TE, and segment routing to eliminate those pesky congestion points. We also discuss the pros and cons of putting network management capabilities in the cloud.

On today's Heavy Networking, sponsored by Palo Alto Networks, we hear from Salesforce about the evolution of its branch network to SD-WAN. Salesforce was able to trade MPLS for Internet broadband, get more bandwidth for less money, employ application-based steering and policy enforcement, and more. Our guests are Georgi Stoev, Sr. Network Architect at Salesforce; and Kumar Ramachandran, Senior Vice President at Palo Alto Networks.

Nick McKeown, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Stanford University, stops by the Heavy Networking podcast to speculate on the future of networking. Professor McKeown has been a force behind the Software Defined Networking (SDN) movement and has co-founded successful startups including Nicira and Barefoot Networks.

On today's Heavy Networking, we get practical with infrastructure-as-code, talking with sponsor Gluware about how their users have integrated network automation into their IT practices, bringing DevOps to NetOps. We also explore Gluware Lab, an IDE for network engineers can develop network features and workflows. Our guests are Olivier Huynh Van, Chief Science Officer and Co-Founder; and Michael Haugh, VP of Product Marketing.

Today's Heavy Networking is a nerdy excursion into EVPN VXLAN, including how it works, why you might want it, and why multivendor interoperability is so difficult with this standard. Guest Tony Bourke and host Ethan Banks also explore hardware challenges, automation strategies, EVPN flooding mechanisms, BGP multi-homing, and more.

Today on Heavy Networking, we talk with sponsor Arrcus about its support for segment routing and the impact it will have on the wider network market, particularly for 5G networks. Our guests from Arrcus are Keyur Patel, CTO and Co-Founder; and Murali Gandluru, Vice President, Product Management.

Lots of network engineers develop tools to help them automate tasks. What happens if you build something so useful it becomes adopted in your organization? Ivan Del Rio, Senior IP Engineer at DQE Communications, stops by the podcast to talk about a tool he built to automate some of his own tasks that is now being widely used. He discusses how and why he built the tool, and how supporting and developing the tool affects his day-to-day responsibilities.

Today's Heavy Networking gets into cloud-delivered security for user access. We're sponsored by Palo Alto Networks, and we'll talk about its Prisma Access service with a customer: Josh Dye, SVP at Jefferies Group. We discuss how Josh pivoted to Prisma Access during the pandemic, how he meets strict security and regulatory requirements for financial services, and more.

Today's Heavy Networking examines the role of deception and "canaries" in network security. A canary sits on a network segment (or multiple segments) and sounds the alarm if it comes under attack. Is this an effective security tool? How is it deployed and operated? What are the drawbacks? We discuss with guest Haroon Meer.

On today's Heavy Networking, sponsored by Palo Alto Networks, we examine what SASE means to you as a network engineer, its effects on how applications are protected and how you provide access to end users, and useful things to think about regarding how SASE services are provisioned and operated while you evaluate whether SASE is right for your org.

Today's Heavy Networking podcast, sponsored by Tempered Networks, dives into how Tempered builds a software-defined perimeter with native zero trust, leveraging the Host Identity Protocol (HIP), Tempered's Airwall software, cryptographic identities, and secure overlays. Our guests from Tempered are Jeff Hussey, Founder and CEO; and Bryan Skene, CTO.

Today's Heavy Networking thinks hard about how to manage security policy in modern IT infrastructure. We get into sources of truth, application modeling and application dictionaries, approval workflows, and more--all in the context of automation. Our guests are Ken Celenza and Brett Lykins from Network To Code.

Today's Heavy Networking explores how First Bank uses Aruba’s SD-WAN to advance its cloud migration, support remote workers, and provide secure segmentation for IoT devices. We also discuss the growing trend of SASE and First Bank’s strategy around cloud-delivered security services. Our guests are Marc Ashworth, CISO at First Bank; and Damon Ennis, VP of Engineering at Aruba Networks.