Juniper Master Class: Disaggregation Pros and Cons

On the 28th—in two days—I’m doing a master class over at Juniper on DC fabric disaggregation. I’ll spend some time defining the concept (there are two different ideas we use the word disaggregation to describe), and then consider some of the positive and negative aspects of disaggregation. This is a one hour session, and it’s free. Register here.

Free Speech is More than Words

A couple of weeks ago, I joined Leslie Daigle and Alexa Reid on Techsequences to talk about free speech and the physical platform—does the right to free speech include the right to build and operate physical facilities like printing presses and web hosting? I argue it does. Listen in if you want to hear my argument, and how this relates to situations such as the “takedown” of Parler.

Listen here

New Video Course: How Networks Really Work

Those who follow my work know I’ve been focused on building live webinars for the last year or two, but I am still creating pre-recorded material for Pearson. The latest is built from several live webinars which I no longer give; I’ve updated the material and turned them into a seven-hour course called How Networks Really Work. Although I begin here with the “four things,” the focus is on a problem/solution view of routed control planes. From the description:

There are many elements to a networking system, including hosts, virtual hosts, routers, virtual routers, routing protocols, discovery protocols, etc. Each protocol and device (whether virtual or physical) is generally studied as an individual “thing.” It is not common to consider all these parts as components of a system that works together to carry traffic through a network. To show how all these components work together to form a complete system, this video course presents a series of walk throughs showing the processing involved in various kinds of network events, and how control planes use those events to build the information needed to carry traffic through a network.

You can find this How Networks Really Work here.

This course is largely complimentary to the course Ethan and I did a couple of years back, Understanding Network Transports. Taking both would give you a good understanding of network fundamentals. This material is also parallel and complimentary to Problems and Solutions in Computer Networks, which Ethan and I published a few years ago.

I am working on one new live webinar; I really need to get my butt in gear on another one I’ve been discussing for a long time (but I somehow dropped the ball).

On the ‘net: From Stamps to the Stack

I’ve started publishing in the Public Discourse on topics of technology and culture; the following is the first article they’ve accepted. Note the contents might be classified as a little controversial.

The recent “takedown” of Parler by Amazon, Apple, and Google has spurred discussion in technological circles. Do the companies’ actions constitute an abuse of free speech? Or were the tech giants well within their rights, simply enforcing their own “terms of service”? Looking back at the history of free speech in the United States, especially the historical moment during which the right to free speech was codified, can offer guidance.

On the ‘net: The Art of Conviction

I was recently a guest on The Art of Conviction podcast, where we covered a bit of my background, some of the challenges I’ve faced in getting where I am, and then we moved into a discussion around my recently finished dissertation. I’m working to find places to publish more in the area of worldview and culture; I’ll point to those here as I can find a “home” for that side of my life.

You can find the recording here.

Beyond my episode, The Art of Conviction is a fascinating podcast; you should really subscribe and listen in.