Archive for 2023
Hedge 172: Roundtable! SONiC, Open Source, and Complexity
It’s roundtable time at the Hedge! Eyvonne Sharp, Tom Ammon, and I start the conversation talking about the SONiC open source NOS, and then wander into using open source, build versus buy, and finally complexity in design and deployment.
Thanks for listening–if you have an idea for a Hedge episode, would like to be a guest, or know someone you think would be a good guest, let one us know!
Hedge 171: Paul Grubb on Zero Knowledge Middleboxes
Middleboxes are used in modern networking to sniff out attack traffic (IDS), block unwanted traffic (stateful packet filters), and share load among several different servers. Encryption, however, is making it hard for the middleboxes to do their job. Paul Grubb joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss zero knowledge middle boxes, which allow operators to enforce arbitrary policies on the underlying traffic of an encrypted connection without decrypting it.
To find out more about Paul’s work in this and other areas, please see Paul’s research page, this article on zero-knowledge middleboxes, and this research paper on zero knowledge middle boxes.
Weekend Reads 031723
Hedge 170: AI in the Real World with Jonathan Bartlett
Artificial Intelligence is being heavily hyped right now, especially in light of the newer generative AI systems (like ChapGPT). What is the reality behind the hype? Jonathan Bartlett, fellow at the Discovery Institute, joins us for a discussion on AI reality for this episode of the Hedge.
Upcoming Training: How the Internet Really Works Part 1
I’m teaching How the Internet Really Works over on Safari Books Online on the 24th of March—in a couple of weeks. From the description:
This live training will provide an overview of the systems, providers, and standards bodies important to the operation of the global Internet, including the Domain Name System (DNS), the routing and transport systems, standards bodies, and registrars. For DNS, the process of a query will be considered in some detail, who pays for each server used in the resolution process, and tools engineers can use to interact DNS. For routing and transport, the role of each kind of provider will be considered, along with how they make money to cover their costs, and how engineers can interact with the global routing table (the Default Free Zone, of DFZ). Finally, registrars and standards bodies will be considered, including their organizational structure, how they generate revenue, and how to find their standards.
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Hedge 169: Network Address Translation with Steinn
Network Address translation is one of those phrases that strikes fear into the hearts of some network engineers … and joy into the hearts of others! Steinn Bjarnarson joins us to discuss the history of NAT, its uses, its misuses, and how NAT fits into the big picture of network design today. Steinn just finished writing a paper on the history of NAT.