

Network Break
Packet Pushers
Network Break keeps you informed with fast, focused analysis of IT news, products, tech trends, and business outcomes. Blending sharp commentary with a touch of humor, hosts Drew Conry-Murray & Johna Till Johnson sift through the weekly landslide of press announcements, product launches, financial reports, and marketing decks to find the stories worth talking about. You come away with the information and context to make smart decisions in your organization and career … all in the span of a (longish) coffee break.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 3, 2025 • 25min
NB516: Cisco, Nvidia ASIC Deal Chases Enterprise AI; Juniper Welcomes Third-Party LLMs
Take a Network Break! This week we start with a couple of follow-ups and a Red Alert, and then jump into tech news. Cisco and Nvidia team up to put Cisco ASICs and the Nexus NOS into Nvidia Ethernet switches, the market reads tea leaves as Microsoft walks away from data center capacity, and Juniper... Read more »

Feb 24, 2025 • 28min
NB515: Quantum Computing’s Future Looking More Certain; Arista Posts Record 2024 Revenues
Lots of good stuff in this week’s Network Break. Microsoft announces an 8-qubit quantum chip and declares that practical quantum computing is years, not decades, away. D-Wave says its quantum computers are now commercially available for research facilities, academic institutions, and governments. Apple rolls its own 5G modem into its iPhone 16e. Meta announces its... Read more »

Feb 18, 2025 • 38min
NB514: Cisco, Juniper Announce New Switches; SolarWinds Goes Private in $4.4 Billion Buyout
In this engaging discussion, Andy Lapteff, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Nokia and co-host of the Art of Network Engineering podcast, explores the latest in networking technology. He dives into critical security vulnerabilities, highlighting the importance of secure coding. Andy also discusses Cisco’s innovative data center switches and advanced DPUs, along with the competitive dynamics of urban bandwidth. The conversation emphasizes Nokia's advancements in Ethernet tech and the rise of automation, simplifying network management for traditional engineers.

Feb 10, 2025 • 39min
NB513: UK Demands Apple Backdoor; AI Spending: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
Take a Network Break! We start with some red alerts for Cisco ISE, Zyxel, Microsoft, and a Web manager suite called WeGIA. US senators and security experts sound the alarm about DOGE employees introducing security and stability risks in sensitive US government systems, security researchers demonstrate the effectiveness of supply chain attacks that start with... Read more »

Feb 3, 2025 • 30min
NB512: US Objects to HPE-Juniper Wedding; Cheeky DeepSeek Freaks VCs
Take a Network Break! The US Justice Department blocks the HPE-Juniper merger with a surprise lawsuit, DeepSeek shakes up the AI world, and Broadcom rolls out quantum-safe Fibre Channel controllers. Sweden seizes a vessel suspected of tampering with a subsea cable, a code update could make Linux significantly more power-efficient, and the WLAN market gets... Read more »

Jan 28, 2025 • 38min
NB511: Cisco Sells Security Blanket for AI Nightmares; Stratoshark Captures System Calls
Take a Network Break! We start with critical vulnerabilities affecting the Android OS, Cisco Meeting Management, and SonicWall, and then discuss a report that tens of thousands of Fortinet security appliances still haven’t been patched despite active exploits. Palo Alto Networks releases an open API to make it easier for developers to access Quantum Random... Read more »

Jan 20, 2025 • 48min
NB510: CISA Says US Tech Inherently Insecure; AI Now Included in Google Workspace
Take a Network Break! Guest co-host John Burke joins Drew Conry-Murray for this week’s analysis of tech news. They discuss a string of serious vulnerabilities in Wavlink Wi-Fi routers, Fortinet taking a one-two security punch, and CISA director Jen Easterly calling out US hardware and software companies for being “inherently insecure.” Microsoft and Google put... Read more »

Jan 13, 2025 • 30min
NB509: FCC to Raise Funds for Rip-and-Replace of Chinese Telco Gear; Billionaire Space Race Takes Off
Take a Network Break! We start with serious CVEs for Perl and Ivanti. On the news front, the FCC wants to license spectrum to raise money to help US telcos rip out Chinese network equipment–even though there’s no evidence Chinese equipment led to telco intrusions by Chinese attackers. Verizon boasts of 5.5Gbps download speeds on... Read more »

Dec 16, 2024 • 24min
NB508: Google Serves Up Custom AI and Quantum Chips; Nokia Puts Muscle Behind SONiC
Take a Network Break! This is our final show for 2024. We start with critical vulnerabilities in Ivanti and OpenWrt, and then discuss what effect a proposed bill from US Senator Ron Wyden would have on telecom security (short answer: more paperwork but unlikely to improve protection). Extreme Networks announces a new AI platform that... Read more »

Dec 9, 2024 • 42min
NB507: Arista Announces Stackable Switches; FBI Recommends Encrypted Messaging
Take a Network Break! This week we warn of significant vulnerabilities in WhatsUp Gold and Cisco NX-OS. We also discuss US federal reaction to the penetration of US telco networks by Chinese state actors. These reactions include network and visibility hardening guidelines from CISA, the FBI (reluctantly) recommending the use of encrypted messaging apps, and... Read more »