MultiPath TCP (MPTCP) is an effort towards enabling the simultaneous use of several IP-addresses/interfaces by a modification of TCP that presents a regular TCP interface to applications, while in fact spreading data across several subflows. Benefits of this include better resource utilization, better throughput and smoother reaction to failures.
In this episode of the Hedge, Tom Ammon and Russ White are joined by Ivan Pepelnjak of ipSpace.net to talk about being old, knowing about how things are going to break before they do, and being negative. Along the way, we discuss the IETF, open source, and many other aspects of the world of network engineering.
There is a rising tide of security breaches. There is an even faster rising tide of hysteria over the ostensible reason for these breaches, namely the deficient state of our information infrastructure. Yet the world is doing remarkably well overall, and has not suffered any of the oft-threatened giant digital catastrophes. Andrew Odlyzko joins Tom Ammon and I to talk about cyber insecurity.
JJ Garcia is Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Jack Baskin Endowed Chair of Computer Engineering at USC Santa Cruz. He first became involved in packet networks in the 1980’s, eventually inventing the Diffusing Update Algorithm (DUAL), which later became the basis for the Enhanced Interior Gateway Protocol (EIGRP). You can find more information about Dr. Garcia at his personal page.
Network engineering and operations are both “mental work” that can largely be done remotely—but working remote is not only great in many ways, it is also often fraught with problems. In this episode of the Hedge, Roland Dobbins joins Tom and Russ to discuss the ins and outs of working remote, including some strategies we have found effective at removing many of the negative aspects.
Fastnetmon began life as an open source DDoS detection tool, but has grown in scope over time. By connecting Fastnetmon to open source BGP implementations, operators can take action when a denial of service event is detected, triggering black holes and changing route preferences. Pavel Odintsov joins us to talk about this interesting and useful open source project.
Larry Landweber is John P. Morgridge Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He founded the CSNET project in 2979, one of the earliest networks eventually contributing to the creation of the Internet as it exists today. The CSNET eventually became National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET). Larry is credited with making the decision to use TCP/IP on CSNET.
Nash King (@gammacapricorni) joins Russ White and Tom Ammon in a wide ranging discussion of ethics in IT, including being comfortable with standing up and saying “no” when asked to do something you consider unethical and the virtue ethic. This is meant to be the first of a series of episodes on this topic.
Almost every company relies on open source software in some way, which leads to the natural question—how will the heart of the network, routing and switching, be impacted by open source software? In this episode of the Hedge, Sue Hares, Donald Sharp, and Russ White discuss the current and future world of open source routing software. Donald is one of the main drivers of the FR Routing open source routing stack; Russ White is a maintainer on the project and is still deeply involved in commercial routing software, and Sue Hares was deeply involved in the origins of the GateD open source routing stack.
Nick McKeown developed the open source P4 language for describing how a switching engine processes packets, allowing engineers to specify and implement customized forwarding to support policy and new protocols in the field. Dr. McKeown joins us on this episode of the History of Networking to discuss the origins of P4, and the motivations behind its development.