I think we’ve all been there. The network is down, you’ve tried all the things that you know how to do, and now it’s time to call vendor support to figure out what the heck is going on with your network. Some of us dread this situation as navigating the support process can be daunting at times. We’re hoping to give you some tips in today’s episode to make that process go a little smoother. Listen in as we talk about our experiences with vendor support and what we’ve learned along the way to...

A gaggle of networking geeks sits around the virtual roundtable and has a conversation on current events. Topics include the ever moving SD-WAN market landscape, our favorite (and least favorite) tools that have emerged since plunging into pandemic mode, and an honest discussion on whether or not support from our major vendors has been deteriorating or not.   A considerable thank you to Unimus for sponsoring today’s episode. Unimus is a fast to deploy and easy to use Network...

In today’s episode we sit down with Network to Code’s founder, Jason Edelman, to discuss his personal networking journey, how Network to Code came to be, and how he views the networking industry through the lens of network automation and orchestration. Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

SD-WAN has been one of the most hyped technologies in a long time but as the hype settles out and real world deployments start to take shape, the picture is becoming clearer on what SD-WAN is and is not. In this episode we take a look at the original promises, where we are today in relation to those promises, and what SD-WAN might look like in the years to come.   A considerable thank you to Unimus for sponsoring today’s episode. Unimus is a fast to deploy and easy to use Network...

Networking Conferences play a big role in many of our professional lives and Cisco Live is the biggest one when it comes to networking. This year being what it is, we’re seeing our favorite in person events being transformed into virtual, online-only events. Considering how much community can play a role in how these events make an impact, we figured we would wax nostalgic on past events, share some favorite memories, and explore how this one event came to be significant for so many of...

Networking Conferences play a big role in many of our professional lives and Cisco Live is the biggest one when it comes to networking. This year being what it is, we’re seeing our favorite in person events being transformed into virtual, online-only events. Considering how much community can play a role in how these events make an impact, we figured we would wax nostalgic on past events, share some favorite memories, and explore how this one event came to be significant for so many of...

The increased rate of change in networking isn’t just impacting the operational models used to run networks. Network security posture, infrastructure, and operations are having to adapt quickly as well. In this episode we sit down with Henry Jiang, CISO of Diligent Corporation, to talk about how security is adapting to current infrastructure trends. Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0...

Have you ever wondered how emergency communications get re-established after major disasters? Who are the people who rush in to enable first responders to do their jobs efficiently in the most trying of circumstances. In this episode we talk with Dustin Li and Andrew White of ITDRC (Information Technology Disaster Resource Center) to find out exactly what it takes to use technology in disaster response and why it is so important. You can learn more about what ITDRC is doing as well as help...

The network automation community is continuously expanding and evolving. This can make it challenging to get a feel for where you are at on the automation journey. To shed some light on the current state of network automation, the NetDevOps survey was created. It’s an independent survey of network practitioners that collects information about the state of NetDevOps in the real world. As you might expect, it reveals some interesting trends within the community. In this episode we speak with...

I always enjoy an opportunity to talk about the ins and outs of what it’s like to do networking in industries that don’t follow the typical enterprise models. In today’s episode we’re doing just that. Brian Martin, from the Twitch network engineering team, is joining us to talk about what it’s like to run a network where the primary product is real-time streaming video. If you, like me, are interested in hearing what it takes to make a service like Twitch run, this episode is for you....

We find ourselves recording this in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and I have to be honest that it’s been a bit challenging finding motivation to talk about networking when there’s so many other important things on people’s minds. I mean, who really cares about networking at a time like this? But as I started thinking about that very question the reality hit me, it’s everyone. Everyone cares about networking at a time like this because everyone, young and old, is using technology,...

Technology is only a small piece of the automation puzzle and automation efforts often require adjustments or updates to the ways companies do their day to day work. Today we’re continuing our focus on Network Automation and Programmability by talking about Navigating Enterprise Process during automation projects. Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Cisco leads the industry when it comes to respected and valued IT infrastructure certification paths and last month Cisco made some significant changes to the way they do certifications. In today’s episode we discuss some of these changes and what the implications are for those of us pursuing new Cisco certifications or maintaining the certifications we already hold.   Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0...

In this inaugural episode of Network to Code on Network Collective, Jeremy Stretch, John Anderson, Rick Sherman, and Jordan Martin meet up around the virtual roundtable to discuss what a source of truth is, how it can play a critical role in your network automation efforts, and how the open source project Netbox might fill that role in your network. Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0...

It’s not illogical to argue that since we all use the same networking technologies that all networks are essentially the same. Routing protocols, layer two technologies, and overlays all behave the same whether they are run in SOHO, enterprise, or service provider environments. That being said, it feels like there can be worlds of difference between the application of these technologies in different environments. In this episode Nick Buraglio, Kevin Myers, and I discuss just how...

In today’s iteration of the Network Collective Community Roundtable, I join Kevin Myers and Darrel Clute to talk about what’s on their minds and whether or not the WAN as we know it is a thing of the past. Hardware independent software overlays are becoming more popular but does this mean that traditional WAN is going away? Hear what Keven, Darrel, and I have to say about it on this episode. Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By...

In this episode we sit down with Jed Casey and Bruno Wollmann to have a conversation about what’s top of mind. We take a quick look back at predominant trends in 2019, pull out the crystal ball and make some predictions for 2020, and discuss certifications and learning as engineers. Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

It’s been a while but we’re back and it feels great. In this episode I talk about the status of the show, where the heck I’ve been, and where we are headed. I also share my personal story on burnout and some of the lessons I learned along the way. In the episode I mention the fantastic Denise Fishburn and a video she did on burnout that helped me realize what I was dealing with. That video is embedded below. Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under...

Terry Slattery has a distinguished career in networking and is well known for his contributions to the Cisco CLI, being the second person to obtain the CCIE, providing consultation to many organizations, and the list goes on. If it’s happened in networking, there’s a very good chance that Terry has experience in it. Today Terry joins us to to talk about how he got started into networking and how he’s navigated a very successful career in networking.

At different points in our careers it can be difficult to ask for help. Maybe the expectation is that your customer is paying for expertise and you have to demonstrate it. Maybe it’s just embarrassing to admit when you don’t know something. Nobody can know it all though, so knowing when and how to ask for help will save you trouble and pain in your career. Listen in as Kevin Myers shares his thoughts on when, where, and how to ask for help.

As the networking world continues to embrace automation and orchestration, some of the terms used to explain this new way of doing things remain a little fuzzy. In today’s episode we’re going to look specifically at Infrastructure as Code and by the end we hope to define what it is as well as what it is not, provide some relevant examples of it in action, and clear up as much confusion as possible about what it means to network engineers.   Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod...

Today’s Network Collective Community Spotlight is highlighting Kevin Myers. Kevin is an accomplished engineer working in some of the more complicated and advanced corners of the Internet. Join us as we take a look into how Kevin got his start in networking and how he ended up working on some pretty interesting technology.

There’s always something to learn from other people’s stories so we’re making it a point to spend time talking about past experiences and lessons learned. In this first foray into this format, Nick Russo joins us to talk about a formative leadership experience that happened early in his career and changed his perspective on what leadership and failure looked like.

In this episode Jordan shares his thoughts on some of the nuanced differences between simple, complicated, and complex network designs. These are terms and descriptions that get thrown around a lot in our industry but do you really understand what they are or how they should impact your design? Outro Music: Danger Storm Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Today we’re introducing a new twist to the Network Collective Short Take, the community spotlight. One of the reoccurring themes in the listener survey was that you get to hear a lot about what our guests know but don’t get to know anything about them or how they came to have the knowledge that they do. This is an easy problem to fix so occasionally we’ll be profiling individuals in the industry who are doing good work. Today, that individual is Nick Russo. Nick has been a long time...