Heavy Networking

On today's Heavy Networking we explore network and firewall automation with sponsor BackBox. BackBox has developed a platform that aims to deliver practical automation out of the box. We get under the hood to understand how it works, what it delivers, and how it addresses the challenges of network and security operations.

This week on Heavy Networking we've assembled a roundtable of network engineers to talk about...stuff. Each guest has brought a topic to discuss with the table, so we've got lots of subjects and lots of experiences and opinions. In particular we explore SPB, career advice, getting network automation off the ground, and the joys and perils of self-hosting.

On today's sponsored Heavy Networking we dig into cloud-delivered Secure Web Gateways (SWGs), which help guard end users against Web-based threats and enforce corporate Web access policies. As employees split time between home, office, and who knows where else, and as more applications move online, cloud-based SWGs help connect and protect workers. Our sponsor is Palo Alto Networks.

Tony Bourke, an expert in network automation tools, discusses the evolution and benefits of automation, centralized configuration management, infrastructure as code, data modeling, continuous integration, and the challenges and tools for network automation in cloud and on-premises environments.

On today’s Heavy Networking podcast, we look at how sponsor ZPE Systems is rethinking Out-Of-Band management for automated, NetOps-driven infrastructure. This includes tasks like device staging, deployments, upgrades, and more. And you don’t just have to take ZPE’s word for it; we also talk to a customer who’s using the products to run a retail business with a lean networking team that supports more than fifty sites.

On today’s Heavy Networking we talk LACP and link aggregation. While bonding two or more links together to act as a single virtual link has been done for decades, LACP and link aggregation aren't the same thing, and the distinction matters. Our guest to get into the differences is network instructor Tony Bourke.

Certifications are a part of life in IT. On today's Heavy Networking we explore preparation strategies with guest Mary Fasang. Her certs run the gamut from CompTIA to MCSE to the CCNP, as well as the PMP and ITIL certs. How should you prepare for a cert in 2023 when there’s so much content, so many training options, as well as home labbing available? How do you handle failure? Which certs have been the hardest? What study materials have proved helpful? Mary shares her strategies.

Packet-level fundamentals are essential for network engineers to be able to diagnose and solve network and application problems. On today's Heavy Networking, we dive into the transport layer and packets with packet analysis expert and instructor Chris Greer.

Its about reducing the cost and complexity of DWDM coherent optical networks. Connecting the DWDM network directly to your router removes the DWDM edge equipment which simplifies operation, reduce cost,space & power while improving provisioning time. How is Juniper entering this market and what do you need to know ?

Today we’re going deep on software-defined networking for containers and OpenStack with sponsor Juniper Networks. Juniper has revamped its approach to secure networking for telcos and telco cloud-delivered services with Juniper’s Cloud-Native Contrail Networking or CN2 software. CN2 lets you automate the creation of network connections for containers and for virtual machines while also providing routing, security, segmentation and isolation of workloads. Our guest and guide into the guts of Cloud-Native Contrail Networking, hereafter referred to as CN2, is Nick Davey. Nick is Director of Product Management for SDN and Telco Cloud technologies.