Packet Pushers - Datanauts

If you operate an IT environment where some of your resources live in AWS and some live on-premises, you’ve had to face the hybrid cloud DNS problem.

What problem is that? The Route 53 service isn’t a name server like you’re used to, but AWS has enhanced Route 53 to make hybrid cloud DNS easier for enterprises to deal with.

Today, the Datanauts help you understand integrating the Route 53 Resolver with the rest of your DNS environment. Our guide to this integration is Matt Adorjan, Cloud Engineering Manager at Balyasny Asset Management.

In part 1, Matt and the Datanauts discuss how cloud influences and changes traditional IT roles, and then talk about CloudPing.co, a utility Matt created that runs in each AWS region and pings all the other regions to track latency among them.

Part 2 dives into cloud DNS and the challenges that AWS’s Route 53 presents for hybrid cloud deployments. They talk about how Route 53 differs from traditional DNS, why you can’t route to the Route 53 resolver IP across VPN or DX connections, and how to address those limitations.

Part 3 examines the inbound and outbound endpoint feature that AWS added to Route 53, how it works, what it costs, and the pros and cons of this solution vs. other workarounds.

Sponsor: Quest Software

Quest Software is your go-to for everything Microsoft. Migrate to a new SharePoint or Office 365 environment, move to OneDrive for Business, consolidate Active Directory and Exchange, secure your AD from insider threats, and much more! Learn more at Quest.com/DatanautsPod.

Sponsor: Open Systems

Open Systems brings security, automation, and expert management to SD-WAN. Get visibility, flexibility, and control combined with performance, simplicity and security with SD-WAN from Open Systems. To find out more, go to Open-systems.com/packetpushers and get a free beanie and a Gartner report on the economics of SD-WAN.

Show Links:

CloudPing.co

Matt Adorjan on Twitter

Hybrid DNS for the Enterprise in AWS – Matt Adorjan On Medium

An Update to Hybrid DNS for the Enterprise on AWS — Introducing Route 53 Resolver for Hybrid Cloud! – Matt Adorjan On Medium

Amazon Route 53 Resolver for Hybrid Clouds – AWS Blog

Matt’s blog

Looking to elevate your skills from on-prem hardware monkey to cloudy diva? In this episode, we explore one person’s career path from tech support to cloud architect, and get his opinions on key cloud issues.

Our guest is Bill Gurling, Cloud Solutions Architect at Rubrik.

In part one of the show, we review  Bill’s career journey, which includes stints at GeekSquad, end user support, the army, and a converged infrastructure architect. We talk about what drove Bill to move into different roles, and why scripting and automation have been key throughout his journey.

In part two, we pivot to Bill’s cloud expertise and dig into his opinions on tools such as Terraform and AWS CloudFormation, including ease of adoption and what it’s like to work with these tools at scale.

In part three, Bill shares his insights on whether the industry will achieve the dream of multi-cloud applications, getting beyond lift-and-shift as organizations move to the cloud, and what it means to be a distinguished engineer.

Sponsor: Quest Software

Quest Software is your go-to for everything Microsoft. Migrate to a new SharePoint or Office 365 environment, move to OneDrive for Business, consolidate Active Directory and Exchange, secure your AD from insider threats, and much more! Learn more at Quest.com/DatanautsPod.

Show Links:

Bill Gurling on Twitter

Bill Gurling’s Blog

Which do you use – Terraform or CloudFormation? – Reddit

CloudFormation / Terraform real world use cases? – Reddit

Defining a Distinguished Engineer – Jessie Frazelle

More and more companies are learning that hosting an app in the cloud doesn’t mean you can forget about infrastructure design.

If you want that application rocket to stay in the air, you’ve got to prepare for failure and design for resiliency. Only then do you make it to orbit.

Our Datanauts discussion today is with Tom Vachon, a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Architect who’s going to share design insights for hosting resilient apps on Azure.

While Tom is a Microsoft employee, this isn’t a sponsored show and Tom isn’t speaking for the company.

We start with a definition of application resilience and how it aligns with and differs from business continuity and disaster recovery. We also examine why you need to consider resiliency even when using the cloud.

In part two, Tom and the Datanauts drill into Azure’s resilience mechanisms including availability zones, availability sets, paired regions, and more. Tom shares his recommendations for when to use these mechanisms.

Part three considers the role of DNS in application resilience, addresses security issues, and examines monitoring and testing options.

Show Links:

Tom Vachon on Twitter

ThomasVachon.com

Azure Architecture Center – Microsoft

Azure For AWS Professionals – Microsoft

Availability Checklist – Microsoft

Resiliency Checklist – Microsoft

Resiliency Checklist For Specific Azure Services – Microsoft

Do you know where your towel is?

Today’s Datanauts episode offers travel advice for IT pros who spend a lot of time on the road. Our three guests have logged millions of miles parachuting in to remote sites, driving to data centers, and flying all over the world to make customers happy.

They share their experiences on how to stay connected, how to maximize space in luggage and equipment cases, and how to get from point A to point B as smoothly as possible.

Our guests also discuss how to get work done when on the road, and how they manage time and tasks when they don’t know where they’ll be next week.

Last but not least, they share tips on maximizing travel programs, and recommend their favorite travel gear, clothing, and cherished accoutrements.

In this three-part show we interview travel veterans Ron Fuller, an NSX specialist with VMware; Tony Bourke, an IT instructor; and Greg Shipley, who works at InQTel.

Show Notes:

Bonus Tips From Greg Shipley:

PACKING: GEAR

I started off with bags that have a lot of compartments, but I could never remember which compartment I put things in. I eventually moved to having one big open bag (with few compartments) and then using smaller organizers to keep things separate. This accomplishes two things:

* I stopped needing to unzip and open a gazillion pockets to find something

* I can keep the smaller things near the object they store. Example: small (computer) cable bag stays near my laptop on the hotel desk, toiletry bag stays in the bathroom, etc.  So when it’s time to go, everything goes into the (nearby) little bags, little bags go into the big bag. I can usually clear out of my hotel room in 5 minutes or less now.

Northface basecamp duffel bag – small

https://www.thenorthface.com/shop/base-camp-duffel-s-nf0a3eto

* Practically indestructible – mine has been in dozens of countries and logged 100s of thousands of miles

* Does not scream “luggage” / is low profile

* Fits in overhead

* In a pinch, fits UNDER many airplane seats, too

* Toss it on your back or throw it over your shoulder and go

Clothing cubes

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-4-Piece-Packing-Cube-Set/dp/B014VBHNDU/ref=asc_df_B014VBHNDU/

Toiletry bag

https://www.workbygravel.com/products/the-explorer-slim-the-best-toiletry-bag-for-traveling

* Was originally a kickstarter.

* A little pricey, but so worth it; you will never again be plagued by a toothpaste explosion

Laptop sleeve

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ICV5E28/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

* Protects the laptop while it is packed

* Doubles as a light-weight item to carry your laptop on days you don’t need all of your gear. (shoulder strap included)

Baubax jacket

https://www.baubax.com/

* I like having my passport physically on my person, but without advertising it

* I’d recommend the sweatshirt or vest; soft-shell might be too much for a flight

(Computer) Cable bag

* Apple’s approach to international power adapters is superior to everything else I’ve seen

How are we doing with this whole public cloud thing? Today’s show looks at various components of the public cloud, including APIs, toolsets, and DevOps processes, and tries to get a measure of their maturity.

Our guest is Alex Neihaus, Cloud Architect at Air11 Technology. He has experience with both Azure and AWS clouds, so the podcast focuses primarily on these two (sorry Google).

In addition to APIs and toolsets, we discuss how IT professionals tackle migration to the public cloud, and the struggles and pitfalls that are commonly (or uncommonly) experienced.

Alex argues that organizations shouldn’t get hung up on tools. Process is more important. He also makes the case for why there is JSON, and only JSON.

Show Links:

AWS Lambda and PowerShell – Yobyot

Yobyot.com – Alex’s blog

Alex Neihaus on Twitter

In today’s episode we spend time with some folks behind a wildly successful open source project called dbatools.

We discuss the challenges of creating, maintaining, and communicating on a technical project that has thus far received nearly 14,000 commits!

Our guests are Chrissy LeMaire, the creator of dbatools and a Systems Engineer; and Rob Sewell, Beard Twizzler and a contributor to dbatools.

We discuss:

* The what and why of dbatools

* Challenges of driving user adoption

* The difficulties of distributed collaboration

* Handling GitHub issues

* Constructing a project roadmap and vision

* Communicating with stakeholders

* More

Chrissy & Rob Are Working On A Book!

Another great thing about creating open source projects? Sometimes, you can write books about it! Chrissy and Rob forgot to mention that they are are currently working on dbatools for SQL Server in a Month of Lunches.

The MEAP (preview book) should be released within the next few months and the book is due out in early 2020.

Show Links:

dbatools.io

Chrissy LeMaire on Twitter

Rob Sewell on Twitter

Continuous Delivery for your Module to the PowerShell Gallery – Rob Sewell (via YouTube)

Easter egg!

On today’s Datanauts podcast we assess the current state of the PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance standard and its impact on your infrastructure and security operations. Our guest is Paul Snyder, an IT Risk Consultant for a large insurance agency.

In part 1 we walk through the basics of PCI, including the organizations behind it, which organizations are subject to the standard (anyone that processes credit card transactions), and the various assessment levels, from a do-it-yourself checklist to a visit from your friendly neighborhood QSA (Qualified Security Assessor).

Part 2 examines the scope of PCI in terms of the data its protecting and which systems fall under assessment. We also discuss the differences between compliance and security–they aren’t the same thing.

Part 3 offers advice on how to survive an assessment, the documentation you’ll need to provide, what to know about assessors, and how to work with QSAs to maximize a positive outcome (don’t lie, don’t try to play games).

Show Links:

PCI Security Standards Council: Document Library

PCI Security Standards Council: Self Assessment Questionnaire

PCI Security Council: Understanding SAQs (PDF)

Paul Snyder on Twitter

State Of The SOC – Paul Snyder’s Blog

Paul Snyder on LinkedIn

Today’s Datanauts show tackles three different topics with three guests. We explore

* AWS Outposts with Ned Bellavance

* Choosing the right NVMe fabric with Howard Marks

* Being Cautious with Parallel Network File System (NFS) with Chris Wahl

This show is a departure from our usual format where we divide one subject into three segments. Let us know what you think of this experiment.

Even More Podcasts!

If you like Datanauts, check out other podcasts in the Packet Pushers network, including IPv6 Buzz, Full Stack Journey, Heavy Networking, and Network Break. Get nerdy tech analysis and compelling conversations about infrastructure, cloud, professional development, and more.  Find them all at packetpushers.net.

Show Links:

AWS Outposts and Azure Stack – Ned In The Clouds (Ned Bellavance’s blog)

DeepStorage.net – All things Howard Marks

Wahl Network – Chris Wahl’s blog

RFC 5661 “Network File System (NFS) Version 4 Minor Version 1 Protocol” – IETF

RFC5664 “Object-Based Parallel NFS (pNFS) Operations” – IETF

Welcome to the Datanauts capstone show for 2018.

We’ve constructed a plethora of potent presents for you. Listen in as we talk about the direction of this show, reveal how the sausage is made, and preview topics we’re going to invest in for next year.

Then we’ll delight your senses with a very special “Mad Lib” style prediction for 2019.

Many thanks to everyone who voyaged with us through the galaxy on our mission to bust silos, and we’ll be back in 2019!

2018 By The Numbers:

Each episode was downloaded an average of over 14,000 times during 2018.

Over 525,000 downloads for 2018 Datanauts episodes.

Top 3 episodes by downloads for 2018:

* Datanauts 143: Getting To Day 2 Cloud

* Datanauts 116: Understanding VXLAN Networking

* Datanauts 123: Security Without Firewalls

Show Links:

Datanauts On Twitter

The Datanauts’ Favorite Episodes from 2018:

Datanauts 145: Microservice Meshes with Istio And Envoy

Datanauts 121: A Professor Takes Us To Machine Learning School

Datanauts 141: Managing Cloud Native Applications

Datanauts 131: Masters And Mentorship

The prime directive of the Datanauts podcast is to bust silos and get all the IT disciplines around the table to design solutions together.

Today’s episode, sponsored by HPE and Intel, explores how HPE helps companies unify their silos and build a modern IT infrastructure. Our guest is Garth Reid, Senior Strategist – Enterprise Portfolio at HPE.

We discuss key areas of the infrastructure stack including storage and compute, and examine the concepts of hyperconverged and composable infrastructure.

We also drill into specifics on how HPE brings software-defined capabilities to its portfolio, including Nimble, Simplivity, and Synergy.

Show Links:

Nimble Storage – HPE

Simplivity – HPE

Synergy – HPE