Whispers in the Wires

Whispers in the Wires

Cisco Meraki and Catalyst Integration: One Step Closer to Disaggregation?

Cisco Meraki and Catalyst Integration: One Step Closer to Disaggregation?

Network disaggregation, separating the network operating system and management from the underlying hardware, has been a perennial conversation in the network industry. The tight coupling of vendor networking software with the hardware has been something many of us in the industry just accepted, mostly because there was very little choice.

802.11ax and 5G NR-U - Peace, Love, and RRM

802.11ax and 5G NR-U - Peace, Love, and RRM

LTE in unlicensed spectra was proposed a few years ago. There was concern. Now there’s 5G NR-U to consider.

Auditing Secure Web Traffic:  Conflicting Demands

Auditing Secure Web Traffic:  Conflicting Demands

Individuals and businesses have conflicting needs: privacy and visibility. Whose demands will win?

Cisco Defense Orchestrator

Cisco Defense Orchestrator

Managing consistent network security policy across multiple devices becomes increasingly complex as more devices are added. Cisco has a solution...

Big Ideas in Small Design: SMB vs SME

Big Ideas in Small Design: SMB vs SME

Ask 10 people what the difference is between small to medium business (SMB) and small to medium enterprise (SME), and we’re going to get nearly 10 different answers. Some will say that it’s a distinction of organizational structure. Others will say that an SMB becomes an SME after

Arguments Gone Wrong

Arguments Gone Wrong

Are there any good arguments anymore or is it just about winning?

The Ever-Elusive Single Pane of Glass

The Ever-Elusive Single Pane of Glass

A Single Pane of Glass (SPoG) gets promoted as a feature, but that first word is the hardest part to achieve.

Network Security vs Convenience: A War of Perspective

Network Security vs Convenience: A War of Perspective

The network was never secure, or at least not in the way we think of as “secure” today.

Layers in Layers: Why the OSI Model Still Matters

Layers in Layers: Why the OSI Model Still Matters

Troubleshooting begins with the physical layer, but the physical layer isn’t what it used to be.

Cisco Live! US 2019 and My TFD Biathlon

It's that time of year again. Cisco Live! US with the Tech Field Day Extra sessions, and Security Field Day 2 to follow. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks!

Do Network Engineers Dream of Software Defined Sheep?

Do Network Engineers Dream of Software Defined Sheep?

I really want Software Defined Networking (SDN), or something like it, to be the go-to approach for networking, but can we even agree on what SDN is?

One Framework to Rule Them All

One Framework to Rule Them All

Automation and orchestration frameworks tend address specific technology applications. Is it too much to hope for more?

SolarWinds NPM 12 NetPath

At only 1.0 and four months out of the lab, the NetPath functionality of NPM 12 is already very impressive. It demystifies not only known quantities like internal application paths, but also what’s happening beyond the enterprise network edge at the carriers and the destination networks.

Cisco Umbrella Branch

Cisco Umbrella Branch

The Enterprise Branch Enterprise branch technologies are of a particular interest to me, mostly because my customer base is at the top end of the small enterprise space. They’re not quite big enough to dive completely into full enterprise architectures, but their needs are definitely beyond what has been

You Can't Try It If You Don't Knock It

You Can't Try It If You Don't Knock It

Reducing the attack footprint and implementing a poor man's 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) at the same time.

Savvius Insight

Recently, I had the opportunity to evaluate a Savvius Insight appliance.

Generate IOS SSH Server Keys on Startup

Generate IOS SSH Server Keys on Startup

When working with Cisco IOS, I use the following EEM script to generate the SSH key on reload if there isn't one present already.

On Being Wrong

I have always found it easy to confidently stand on what I know. I have found it even easier to stand on what I think I know. The difficult part is finding the line where one becomes the other. When does confidence become overconfidence?

Simplified NAT

Originally published as "Curbing the Evil of NAT (in IOS)" Introduction NAT is a necessary evil. It is necessary because the IPv4 address space would have been exhausted before the end of the 20th century and it can be argued that the Internet as we know it today would never

Crucible and Chrysalis: The Personal Value of the Expert-Level Certification Process

Crucible and Chrysalis: The Personal Value of the Expert-Level Certification Process

Introduction The choice to begin pursuing an expert-level certification is often made lightly. After experiencing the training, study and testing process of the associate-level and the professional-level certifications, it is understandable to expect that the expert level is more of the same; more advanced, but essentially a logical progression. This