Archive for 2019
Weekend Reads 122019: Last Call for the Year
I probably won’t be posting much after this edition of the weekend reads until after the turn of the new year. I have a few projects I need to go “heads down” on in order to be set for the beginning of next year, and it’s time to spend time with family and friends. I’ve “supersized” this list of stuff worth reading so you won’t get too bored over the break, however.
This was an entertaining and interesting live stream, full of really good questions and answers.
Upcoming Course: Data Center Design
My next course on Safari Books is a data center design webinar. I’ll talk about the history of the Clos fabric, fabric sizing with single-SKU designs, some of the pros and cons of single-SKU versus chassis based scaling, and underlay control planes. I generally go through these slides each time I give one of these webinars and rework various bits and pieces of it to smooth over things I remember being “rough” last time, and to update the material based on what I think is more relevant.
The Hedge 16: Pavel Odinstov on Fastnetmon Use Cases
In a previous episode, Pavel joined the Hedge to talk about the origins and architecture of the Fastnetmon open source network monitoring tool. In this episode, Pavel joins Russ White and Tom Ammon to talk about the many creative use cases to which you can apply this tool.
The Hedge 15: Alistair Woodman on Supporting Open Source
Many companies rely on open source, regardless of whether or not they realize it. In this episode of the Hedge, Alistair Woodman joins Russ White and Tom Ammon to talk about not only why you should support the open source projects you use, but how you can.
2019 on Rule11
Yep, it’s that time of year when everyone does “retrospective pieces…” So… why not? There were several notable events this year—first and foremost, I kicked off a new podcast called the Hedge for network engineers. It’s probably not going to make anyone’s “top ten list of must listen to podcasts” anytime soon (if ever), but it’s been a lot of fun to move out of the commercial podcast space and just talk about “whatever seems interesting.” The History of Networking podcast also became independent this year; we are chugging along at more than 60 episodes, and there are a lot of great guests yet to come.
On the personal front, I moved from LinkedIn to Juniper Networks, and made some progress at school. I have finished my coursework and passed my comprehensive exams, so I’m now a PhD candidate, or as it is more commonly known, ABD.
Rule11 has, as a blog, had a good year. The most popular posts were:
If you’re still confused about why this blog is called rule11, then you need to read this post.
Finally, just for fun… My family entered a gingerbread house competition in our town, and won. Now I can add “prize winning gingerbread house maker” to my resume, I suppose.
Keep watching this space, because there is plenty more to come in 2020.
Weekend Reads 121319
The History of Interop with Dan Lynch
Interop is the longest running “show” in the networking space—but it didn’t not start as a “show” at all. Dan Lynch, the founder of Interop, joins us at the History of Networking to talk about how Interop really started (hint, it’s in the name). One important lesson to learn through this discussion: it is not enough to have standards or open source; in the realm of network protocols, being able to prove multiple vendors can work together is important, too.