SDN & Open Networking

In Chicago on October 26? Come think about SD-WAN with me.

Ethan Banks · < 1 minute to read

^{Published September 20, 2016 · Updated September 20, 2016}

On October 26, 2016 at 5:30p, I’m speaking to a couple of Chicago-based MeetUp groups banding together to hear me discuss implementing SD-WAN. The talk will be held at Cisco Systems Building – SkylineATS, 9501 Technology Blvd. 3rd Floor, Rosemont, IL. Sign up via http://bit.ly/2d5ffDC or http://bit.ly/2crmtng.

Join Me For An SD-WAN Webinar with Silver Peak 19-Nov-2015

Ethan Banks · < 1 minute to read

^{Published November 17, 2015 · Updated January 5, 2016}

I’m leading an SD-WAN related webinar as a guest of Silver Peak on November 19, 2015 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET. If you’d like to attend, register via http://bit.ly/1MqVD6S.

On APIs: Cars, not assembly lines.

Ethan Banks · 2 minutes to read

^{Published November 6, 2015 · Updated January 5, 2016}

In recent years, infrastructure vendors have been proudly pointing out their APIs. The idea is that because a chunk of infrastructure can be monitored and configured with APIs, the product can be described as automation-ready or open. Vendors, you’re getting it wrong here.

What Does It Mean When A Project Has Been Forked?

Ethan Banks · 2 minutes to read

^{Published September 18, 2015 · Updated September 24, 2015}

Open source projects that involve lots of folks sometimes run into conflicts. Should the project go in direction X, or direction Y? Is feature A more important, or feature B? And so on. Sometimes the concerns around an open source project are more pragmatic than pedantic. Should we, as a commercial entity, continue to use this open source project as is, or go in our own direction with it? The keyword to look for in these circumstances is fork.

Interoperate or Die: On Brocade & Open, Standards-Based SDN

Ethan Banks · 4 minutes to read

^{Published September 15, 2015 · Updated September 14, 2015}

During a recent briefing with Brocade about the 2.0 release of the Brocade SDN Controller product, I took the opportunity to clarify their commitment to openness in the software defined networking world.

Centralized vs. Distributed SD-WAN Functions

Ethan Banks · 3 minutes to read

^{Published September 1, 2015 · Updated September 1, 2015}

In the world of idealistic fantasy, an software defined network of whatever kind would centralize all functions. Pesky reality gets in the way of idealism, and so it is that we find full centralization to be an impractical idea.

Scalability Is A Matter Of Context

Ethan Banks · 4 minutes to read

^{Published July 30, 2015 · Updated July 30, 2015}

Scale is a relative term. While every technology needs to scale to some point to be useful to IT practitioners, not every technology needs to scale infinitely. Every technology has a context in which it is viable — where it proves to be the best choice. But in another context, the opposite technology might rise to the surface as more appropriate. Don’t be religious about such a decision. Know your business need well, research the technology thoroughly, plan for the future, and choose wisely. Don’t pick a tool that solves someone else’s problem.

Is SD-WAN Simply WAN Optimization Evolved? Not Exactly.

Ethan Banks · 4 minutes to read

^{Published July 29, 2015 · Updated July 30, 2015}

Consumers evaluating SD-WAN shouldn’t think of it as a WAN optimization replacement, at least not exactly. These are different technologies, although it might be fair to think of SD-WAN as the successor to WAN optimization. SD-WAN and WAN optimization are compatible technologies, but not interdependent technologies.