Screaming in the Cloud

Nipun Agarwal, Senior Vice President of MySQL HeatWave Development at Oracle, discusses the innovative MySQL HeatWave and its seamless integration with AWS. He reveals how it streamlines transactions, analytics, and machine learning while cutting costs for users. Nipun also highlights Oracle's strategy to make database transitions more accessible, the significance of customer feedback, and the optimization of HeatWave for enhanced performance and competitive pricing. His insights make it clear why HeatWave stands out in the crowded database landscape.

Andrew Brown, co-founder and cloud instructor at ExamPro Training Inc., passionately discusses his mission to provide free cloud education. He shares insights on managing his online presence while emphasizing community support over profit. Andrew critiques the reliance on certifications, advocating for real-world experience instead. The conversation also explores the value of multi-cloud learning and the challenges of navigating different platforms, pushing the notion that authentic teaching and collaboration are key to advancing in cloud technologies.

In this discussion, Paulus Schoutsen, the mastermind behind Home Assistant and president of the Open Home Foundation, shares insights on creating a user-centric smart home platform focused on privacy and customization. He reflects on the evolution from a simple Python script to a vibrant community of 1.6 million users. Paulus highlights how avoiding corporate investors allows for independence and robust user control. He also emphasizes the significance of open standards and community engagement in transforming home automation into a more accessible and sustainable solution.

Tobi Knaup, VP & General Manager of Cloud Native at Nutanix and co-founder of D2iQ, shares insights on the importance of multi-cloud strategies. He highlights the Kubernetes community's vital role in widespread adoption and warns against relying solely on Kubernetes. Tobi discusses the branding challenges of D2iQ's evolution from Mesosphere, and emphasizes that compliance and unique features are driving multi-cloud adoption. He also reflects on how tech founders adapt to shifting landscapes and regulatory requirements.

Spencer Kimball, CEO and co-founder of Cockroach Labs, shares insights on database resilience as outlined in the State of Resilience 2025 report. He discusses rising operational concerns, costly outages, and the necessity of robust modern strategies like active-active configurations. Spencer emphasizes the growing regulatory pressures, especially from the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act, while advocating for multi-cloud approaches. Despite the complexities, he aims to empower organizations in adapting to dynamic demands without compromising customer trust.

On this Screaming in the Cloud In this episode of Screaming in the Cloud, Corey Quinn is joined by AWS container hero and security engineer at the Python Software Foundation, Mike Fiedler. They delve into the intricacies of Python's ecosystem, discussing the evolution of PyPI, its significance, and the ongoing battles against security threats like account takeover attacks and typo-squatting. Mike sheds light on his role in maintaining the security and reliability of the Python Package Index, the importance of 2FA, and the collaborative efforts with security researchers. Corey and Mike also explore the challenges and philosophies surrounding legacy systems versus greenfield development, with insights on maintaining critical infrastructure and the often-overlooked aspects of social engineering.Show Highlights(0:00) Introduction(0:47) The Duckbill Group sponsor read(1:21) Breaking down the Python nomenclature and its usability(5:49) Figuring out how Boto3 is one of the most downloaded packages(6:43) Why Mike is the only full-time security and safety engineer at the Python Software Foundation(9:53) How the Python Software Foundation affords to operate(14:17) Mike's stack security work(16:14) The Duckbill Group sponsor read(16:57) Having the "impossible job" of stopping supply chain attacks(21:00) The dangers of social engineering attacks(24:44) Why Mike prefers to work on legacy systems(33:30) Where you can find more from MikeAbout Mike FiedlerMike Fiedler is a highly analytical, forward-thinking Information Technology professional. His broad-based background includes systems administration and engineering in global environments. Mike is technically astute and versatile with ability to quickly learn, master, and leverage new technologies to meet business needs and has a track record of success in improving performance, stability, and security for all infrastructure and product initiatives.Mike is also bilingual, speaks English and Hebrew, and he loves solving puzzling problems.LinksMike’s Mastadon: https://hachyderm.io/@mikethemanMike’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/miketheman.comMike’s Python Software Foundation blog posts: https://blog.pypi.org/The Python Package Index Safety & Security Engineer: First Year in Review: https://blog.pypi.org/posts/2024-08-16-safety-and-security-engineer-year-in-review/SponsorThe Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com 

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Co-Founder of Senzo, Ant Stanley. Ant sits down with Corey to do so. He offers up his history which has lead to his time as “Serverless Hero” to landing on the line that “serverless sucks.” Lend us your ears to see how that transition happened! Ant goes into detail on JeffConf (not the of the Bezos nomen), and working with servers and what to put where and why. Ant and Corey talk over the plague of AWS services where Ant offers his perspective how to trim the fat and keep things simple to make long-term objectives more attainable. They discuss the importance of training, the role of certifications for better and worse, and more. Tune in for his take!Show Highlights(0:00) Intro(0:51) Duckbill Group sponsor read(1:24) What does it mean to be an AWS Serverless Hero?(3:13) Why Ant and Corey are critical of the state of serverless(7:53) Woes with Lambda and CloudFront(10:12) The never-ending stream of new AWS services(13:36) Hurdles ahead of going serverless(17:33) Struggles of getting customers to understand a newly built service(21:31) Duckbill Group sponsor read(22:14) Pros and cons of certifications(32:17) Where you can find more from AntAbout Ant StanleyAnt Stanley is a community focused technologist with a passion for enabling better outcomes for society through technology. He is an AWS Serverless Hero, runs the Serverless London User Group, co-runs ServerlessDays London and is part of the ServerlessDays Global team. LinksA Cloud Guru: https://acloudguru.comhomeschool.dev: https://homeschool.devaws.training: https://aws.traininglearn.microsoft.com: https://learn.microsoft.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/iamstanOriginal Episodehttps://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/serverless-hero-got-servers-in-his-eyes-with-ant-stanley/SponsorThe Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com 

Eric Carter, Director of Product Marketing at Sysdig, dives into the fast-paced world of AWS cloud security. He discusses the significance of real-time threat detection against evolving attacks and the critical role of automation alongside human oversight. Tools like Falco and Runtime Insights are highlighted for their ability to detect misconfigurations and stealthy threats. Eric introduces a '10-minute benchmark' for defense strategies, emphasizing proactive measures and adaptive frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK to outsmart attackers.

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, Corey is joined by John Allspaw, Founder/Principal at Adaptive Capacity Labs. John was foundational in the DevOps movement, but he’s continued to bring much more to the table. He’s written multiple books and seems to always be at the forefront. Which is why he is now at Adaptive Capacity Labs. John tells us what exactly Adaptive Capacity Labs does and how it works and how he convinced some heroes to get behind it. John brings a much-needed insight into how to get multiple people in an organization on the same level when it comes to dealing with incidents. Engineers and non. John points out the issues surrounding public vs. private write-ups and the roadblocks they may prop up. Adaptive Capacity Labs is working towards bringing those roadblocks down, tune in for how!Show Highlights(0:00) Introduction(0:59) The Duckbill Group sponsor read(1:33) What is Adaptive Capacity Labs and the work that they do?(3:00) How to effectively learn from incidents(7:33) What is the root of confusion in incident analysis(13:20) Identifying if an organization has truly learned from their incidents(18:23) Gitpod sponsor read(19:35) Adaptive Capacity Lab’s reputation for positively shifting company culture(24:22) What the tech industry is missing when it comes to learning effectively from the incidents(28:44) Where you can find more from John and Adaptive Capacity LabsAbout John AllspawJohn Allspaw has worked in software systems engineering and operations for over twenty years in many different environments. John’s publications include the books The Art of Capacity Planning (2009) and Web Operations (2010) as well as the forward to “The DevOps Handbook.”  His 2009 Velocity talk with Paul Hammond, “10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation” helped start the DevOps movement.John served as CTO at Etsy, and holds an MSc in Human Factors and Systems Safety from Lund UniversityLinksThe Art of Capacity Planning: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Capacity-Planning-Scaling-Resources/dp/1491939206/Web Operations: https://www.amazon.com/Web-Operations-Keeping-Data-Time/dp/1449377440/The DevOps Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/DevOps-Handbook-World-Class-Reliability-Organizations/dp/1942788002/Adaptive Capacity Labs: https://www.adaptivecapacitylabs.comJohn Allspaw Twitter: https://twitter.com/allspawRichard Cook Twitter: https://twitter.com/ri_cookDave Woods Twitter: https://twitter.com/ddwoods2Original Episodehttps://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/finding-a-common-language-for-incidents-with-john-allspaw/SponsorsThe Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com Gitpod: http://www.gitpod.io/

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Michael Garski, the director of software engineering at famed electrical guitar manufacturer, Fender. Prior to this position, he worked as a principal software architect at Viant, a principal software architect at MySpace, a manager of internet development at Countrywide Financial, and a manager of system architecture at Fandango, among other positions. He also had a four-year stint in the US Navy, working as an engineering laboratory technician. Join Corey and Michael as they talk about how artists are angels and Fender’s job is to give them wings, how Fender has diversified its offerings in recent years, how serverless is a mindset and how Fender approach serverless technology, how Fender’s traffic surged during the pandemic and how everything mostly scaled up without a hitch, the challenges of teaching students to play instruments over the internet, the vendor lock-in boogeyman, and more.Show Highlights(0:00) Introduction(0:42) Dragonfly sponsor read(1:25) How does Michael describe Fender’s work(2:08) Fender’s work to go serverless(4:13) The impact of COVID on Fender(6:19) Explaining Fender Play and how it works on the backend(9:44) Working with MediaConvert(11:30) Experiences with scaling and hitting AWS service limits(12:52) Why Michael prefers working on the customer side(15:33) The Duckbill Group sponsor read(16:15) Frustrations with gateways and third-party apps(19:03) Managing a massive influx of users during COVID(21:13) The vendor lock-in boogeyman(23:19) Cloud costs vs. saving time(24:49) Walking the fine line of criticism as a director(28:09) Enforcing consistency across services(31:52) Where you can find more from MichaelAbout Michael GarskiMichael Garski has worked in the Los Angeles tech industry for over 20 years, across companies including Fandango, Countrywide Home Loans, MySpace, Viant, and is currently at Fender Musical Instruments as the Director of Platform engineering were he leads the devops, data, and api engineering teams. His focus currently is on building the platform to support the consumer facing digital products for Fender. The most prominent application he supports is Fender Play, a web and mobile application that provides video-based instruction for guitar, bass, and ukulele for more than a quarter-million subscribers.LinksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgarski/Original Episodehttps://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/keep-on-rockin-in-the-server-free-world/SponsorsDragonfly: dragonflydb.ioThe Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com