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
Apr 29, 2024 • 1h
NB476: IBM Buys HashiCorp; Running Data Centers With Vegetable Oil?
Take a Network Break! We welcome guest commentator Kyler Middleton of Day Two Cloud to discuss the IBM/HashiCorp deal, then pivot to new Wi-Fi 7 APs from HPE Aruba Networking, and discuss why a data center builder in Ireland is constructing a power generation plant alongside the generator–and powering it partly with vegetable oil. Noncompete... Read more »
Apr 22, 2024 • 1h 1min
NB475: Cisco Hypes Hypershield; Broadcom Tries To Clarify VMware Strategy
Take a Network Break! This week we cover Hypershield, a new Cisco security product that uses technology from its Isovalent acquisition. We parse a blog from Broadcom CEO Hock Tan on the company’s VMware strategy, and discuss China’s latest counter-punch in its tech infrastructure fight with the United States. A KPMG survey reveals that executives... Read more »
Apr 15, 2024 • 1h 2min
NB474: Intel Strikes Back In GPU Wars; The Fork Is Strong With Valkey
Take a Network Break! This week we start with some FU on Intel drivers, and how FISA affects people outside (and inside) the US. In the news we cover Intel’s rollout of new XPU silicon and associated software as it tries to make up ground against Nvidia’s AI dominance, Zscaler’s acquisition of a microsegmentation startup... Read more »
Apr 8, 2024 • 37min
NB473: Duty To Report (Your Breaches); Intel Foundry Biz Loses $7 Billion
Take a Network Break! This week we start with some FU on Juniper’s Mist AI, the ConnectWise vulnerability, and the 25th anniversary of the Cisco Cat6. The US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has proposed new rules that require organizations to report security incidents within 72 hours and ransomware payments within 24 hours. Intel... Read more »
Apr 1, 2024 • 1h 5min
NB472: HPE Adds GenAI to Aruba Central; Intel Eager to Slurp Billions in Subsidies
Take a Network Break! This week we try to peel back the layers on HPE’s announcement about new GenAI capabilties in Aruba Networking Central, parse Broadcom’s touting of its AI credentials, and feel conflicted about Intel sucking up billions in taxpayer dollars. South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix dangles a $4 billion investment promise to the... Read more »
Mar 25, 2024 • 1h 11min
NB471: Nvidia Unveils 800G Ethernet, InfiniBand Switches For AI Fabrics; ‘Ghost Jobs’ Haunt Job Boards
Take a Network Break! Nvidia announces new 800G switches, one for Ethernet and one for InfiniBand, for building AI fabrics. Nvidia also announces an “AI supercomputer,” a rack-scale pre-built bundle of Nvidia GPUs and CPUs connected via InfiniBand switches. The NaaS startup Meter announces new campus switches and what it calls a “digital twin” capability,... Read more »
Mar 18, 2024 • 53min
NB470: NetBox Labs Adds On-Prem Support; ASML Vs. The Netherlands
This week on Network Break we discuss a new on-prem version of NetBox Labs’ source-of-truth software with enterprise support, why Selector AI is adding an LLM to its operations and observability product, and whether a new Web application firewall from Cloudflare can protect LLMs against malicious prompts. Viavi Solutions consolidates the network testing space with... Read more »
Mar 11, 2024 • 1h 4min
NB 469: Arista Debuts Network Observability Service; Startups Aim To Break Nvidia’s AI Chip Grip
This week we discuss a new network observability offering from Arista that integrates network telemetry with application data, why startups such as Groq and Taalas think they can break Nvidia’s grip on the AI chip market, and how Microsoft is hedging its LLM bets. Amazon goes nuclear with the purchase of a reactor-powered data center... Read more »
Mar 4, 2024 • 20min
NB 468: Broadcom Checks SASE Box; Spirent Announces AI Traffic Emulator For Ethernet Networks
Take a Network Break! Johna Till Johnson joins as guest host while Greg Ferro enjoys some time off. We start with follow-up regarding damage to subsea cables in the Red Sea, and then dive into news. AT&T deals with the fallout of a major US outage, Vodafone also suffers outages in the UK, and Elisa... Read more »
Feb 26, 2024 • 45min
NB467: More AI Assistants Emerge; Nvidia’s AI Goldmine Spurs New Competitors
Take a Network Break! This week we cover financial results from Palo Alto Networks (good, but next quarter’s softer forecast resulted in a drubbing), Cisco (not good), and Nvidia (so good that Wall Street is nervous about how long the party’s gonna last). Prosimo and Nokia have announced generative AI assistants that claim to help... Read more »
