ESHARP.NET

Technology and life with Eyvonne Sharp

Network Field Day 17 Signals Big Changes Ahead for Networking

By 1 Comment

Rarely in our careers do we get the opportunity to participate in magic. When I say magic, I’m not referring to mystical unicorns or the vendor-promised pixie dust. I’m talking about those fleeting times when we connect with a group of people with shared interests, keen abilities, and an energy surrounding their craft. When we do, we usually can’t plan, prepare for, or prompt these moments. More than once in my career, these experiences have passed by before I’ve fully appreciated their significance.

Last week, I flew to Silicon Valley along with eleven talented, interesting, and challenging delegates for my second Network Field Day. For three days, we soaked in presentations from networking vendors who shared their vision for the future of networking. We asked questions, compared notes, and challenged the presenters. We ate and laughed and shared battle scars and compared experiences in real time. In short, it was magic.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share more with you about the specific presentations we saw and what we learned from several vendors. But for now, I want to share some themes I observed and the trends you can expect to see coming to a network near you.

Open Source is a Thing

Before you roll your eyes and tell me I’m twenty years too late in this declaration, hear me out. For years, open source tools and solutions have been invading IT. Open source has fueled the Internet since its inception and we’ve seen the open source marketplace mature for our friends in the server space. However, until very recently, the haughty network engineer has declared his (or her) domain too mission critical for open source software. New offerings, even from incumbents, will no longer allow a network engineer to make such an argument with credibility. Nearly every presentation included a link to a GitHub repository where tools and demos can be downloaded.

Containers and Kubernetes are Coming to a Datacenter Near You

Historically, network engineers have focused their attention from the IP address down the stack. They’ve paid little attention to the platforms which host applications. This trend is changing. Containers and Kubernetes made a significant appearance in several presentations. As networking vendors move toward open source tools and continue to virtualize their solutions, our networking gear will begin to look a lot more like servers. A forward thinking network engineer will not be able to ignore containers, Kubernetes, or Linux and maintain relevance.

The Ball is Rolling

Organizations, and entire industries, have inertia. For decades, the networking industry has grown rapidly while only making small incremental technology changes. The larger the industry has grown, the more slowly it has evolved. The interconnectedness of our networks, the protocols on which our industry standardized, and the foundational nature of networking as it relates to the IT stack have contributed to this slowness. Networking is a large industry with lots of inertia which has been sitting still.

Several factors have converged and are pushing the networking industry with enough force to make it move. The most significant force is the cloud which is proving that infrastructure can be provisioned with the click of a button. Although the cloud brings with it new challenges that we will have to solve, it is forcing all of IT infrastructure, and most notably networking, to change how we operate. Other factors which deserve mention are the countless developers, network engineers, hobbyists, and entrepreneurs who’ve seen a vision for a better network and have been working, in small ways, to bring that vision about.

In Closing

Although the industry has been slow to move toward this new automated future, the incumbents are beginning to see that we cannot continue on as we have. They are trying to change. I expect we will see a couple more years of reorganization, bumbling, and lots of intent-based marketing spin but in the long run, our networks will be more automated, we will think more about systems than devices, and there will be a lot of cool new tech to learn.

Network Field Day 14 and the Best Community Ever!

By 1 Comment

This week, I will participate as a first-time delegate for Networking Field Day 14. I’m excited, honored, and a bit intimidated by this great opportunity.

At Tech Field Day, industry vendors present intensely technical product information to network practitioners. The presentations are live-streamed, complete with unscripted question and answer sessions, and later archived over at the Tech Field Day web site. Delegates ask probing questions in a public forum and are often able to separate marketing from reality in ways that were impossible before social media.

Many of the #NFD14 delegates I’ve known through Twitter and have met at Cisco Live. I’ve listened to, and benefited from, Greg Ferro’s Packet Pushers podcast for years. Others will be new faces for me.

The Best Community Ever

Tech Field Day represents the best of the IT community. But I must say the networking community rises above any other, professional or non-professional, community which I’ve endeavored to be a part. They’re welcoming, inclusive, and downright helpful.

In many instances, I’ve reached out to a subject matter expert on Twitter to discuss a particular challenge I’ve faced. In one instance, I exchanged several emails about the benefits and downsides of ASA clustering – when to use it and when to implement a standard HA pair instead. In other cases, I’ve used the networking community to fact-check vendors. For example, Vendor A says Vendor B’s hardware falls down in high-load scenarios. Is that really true? The community has helped clarify.

Beyond these great traits, members of the networking community fulfill and break the stereotype of the “IT Guy” at the same time. Most of them fly their geek fly high — without apology. But at the same time, they’re witty, snarky, funny and more diverse than any stereotype would indicate. In my experience, their snark is lighthearted and rarely directed at one another. Vendors, executive leadership, corporate processes, and horrible applications bear the brunt of community criticism –- and in many instances rightfully so. Anyone, at any skill level, with a legitimate desire to learn their craft and grow as a network practitioner, will be welcomed.

So, if you tune into the live stream of Networking Field Day 14 and have a question, reach out! Use the #NFD14 hash tag or mention one of us in your tweets. I’ve done it in the past. Through the delegates, you’ll have direct access to vendors in ways you may not otherwise enjoy. Take advantage of it. We’re one big community with the same problems and challenges. If you have a question, I’m sure others do too. I hope you’ll join us for the live stream sessions next week. I’ll blog as I’m able but for instant (and often stream-of-consciousness) comments, watch my Twitter stream. We’ll enjoy experiencing networking awesomeness together!

This post wouldn’t be complete without a shout-out to those in the network community who have reached out to me personally, helped me be a part, and encouraged my participation even when I felt clueless and bumbling. Follow these folks on Twitter, you won’t regret it.

Tom Hollingsworth (@networkingnerd)
Amy Renee (@amyengineer)
Chris Church (@layer_3)
Ethan Banks (@ecbanks)
Greg Ferro (@etherealmind)
Scott McDermitt (@ScottM32768)

 

And, check out the Network Field Day 14 delegate page to follow all the #NFD14 delegates.