The Fat Pipe - All Packet Pushers Pods

The cloud yearns for automation. It’s got all those shiny APIs just waiting to be called by your intricate Infrastructure as Code running in a CI/CD pipeline.

But how do you pick the right tool for the job? Do you dive into the arcana of Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates, or stick with the sleek sophistication of Terraform?

Do you run your CI/CD pipeline through open-source Jenkins, or stay the course with the recently renamed Azure DevOps? Which is going to support your needs for day one, and keep you running on day two?

My guest is Ryan Bartram, an automation engineer. We discuss how his organization wanted to automate common processes such as user provisioning, server deployment, and alert handling in Azure.

The team developed runbooks that incorporated ARM. After running into limitations, they’re looking to augment with other tools and methods.

Other topics covered include:

* How the organization created a pattern/solution runbook model for common tasks such as user provisioning

* Moving toward the goal of Desired State Configuration (DSC)

* The importance of testing runbooks

* Why testing runbooks is hard, and the need to break them into modules

* Why the organization is considering Terraform

* Their use of Powershell and Pester

Show Links:

Pester: PowerShell Testing – GitHub

Tug: open source pull server for DSC – GitHub

Getting started with DSC – Microsoft

Ryan Bartram on Twitter

DFTAI – Ryan’s blog

Your Host:

Ned Bellavance on Twitter

Ned In The Cloud – Ned’s blog

Today's Day Two Cloud looks at what happens when automation plans meet automation reality in the public cloud. Guest Ryan Bartram discusses how his organization had to tweak runbooks and explore a variety of tools to get the job done.

Today's Heaving Networking episode delves into Web application firewalls (WAFs) with guest Scott Hogg. We examine how WAFs differ from typical firewalls, the security problems they're trying to solve, how attackers try to bypass them, operational challenges, WAFs and cloud applications, and more.

On today’s Heavy Networking our topic is Web application firewalls (WAFs). Which, in the traditional sense, are neither web applications nor firewalls.

So what are these strange creatures? If my company doesn’t have one, should I go to the pet store and get one? Will they bite me if I’m not careful? What does a web application firewall eat?

Helping us understand how to feed and care for our very own web application firewall is Scott Hogg, who you might know from the IPv6 Buzz podcast, part of the Packet Pushers podcast network.

We discuss:

* How a WAF differs from typical firewalls

* The security problems WAFs try to solve (protecting vulnerable Web apps)

* How WAFs are deployed

* The architecture of a typical WAF

* Operational challenges

* How attackers bypass WAFs

* The role of WAFs in cloud applications

* More

Sponsor: ITProTV

Get over 65 hours of free technical training from ITProTV. ITProTV offers online instruction in CompTIA, Cisco, VMWare, Microsoft and more. You can stream courses live and on demand on your favorite device. Sign up for a free membership at itpro.tv/packet-pushers and try it with no obligation.

Sponsor: Cumulus Networks

If you’re future-proofing your network, why go with legacy infrastructure? Cumulus Networks offers networking software for the open, modern data center, giving you the option to choose the new way every time. Find out more at cumulusnetworks.com/modernize.

Show Links:

Scott Hogg on Twitter

Hexabuild

IPv6 Buzz Podcast

Scott’s Network World author page

Scott’s Infoblox author page

Web Application Firewalls and IPv6, Scott Hogg – Network World

The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)

The Web Application Security Consortium (WASC)

Web Application Firewall Evaluation Criteria (WAFEC)

WAF Criteria – ICSA Labs (PDF)

Today we welcome sponsor SnapRoute for a Tech Bytes conversation. SnapRoute makes the CN-NOS, or the Cloud Native Network Operating System, a network OS that runs on whitebox hardware.

We get an introduction to its network OS, find out how SnapRoute differentiates itself from other network OSs, and learn about the operational capabilities it enables.

Our guests are Adam Casella, cofounder and CTO; and Glenn Sullivan, cofounder and Customer Success Officer.

We discuss:

* CN-NOS’s containerized design, which lets you update, test, and replace any component or application independently

* How CN-NOS combines a Linux kernel and Kubernetes to plug into automation pipelines

* The operational and business advantages of this approach

* Its protocol stack

* Hardware support

* Customer use cases

Links:

Networking Field Day: SnapRoute Company Overview with Glenn Sullivan – YouTube

Networking Field Day: SnapRoute CN-NOS Demonstration with Adam Casella – YouTube

The Cube: Dom Wilde CEO…Networking needs to step up its game – Silicon Angle

SnapRoute blog

SnapRoute on Twitter

SnapRoute on LinkedIn

SnapRoute on Facebook

SnapRoute email

Today we welcome sponsor SnapRoute for a Tech Bytes conversation. SnapRoute makes the CN-NOS, or the Cloud Native Network Operating System, a network OS that runs on whitebox hardware.

We get an introduction to its network OS, find out how SnapRoute differentiates itself from other network OSs, and learn about the operational capabilities it enables.

Our guests are Adam Casella, cofounder and CTO; and Glenn Sullivan, cofounder and Customer Success Officer.

We discuss:

* CN-NOS’s containerized design, which lets you update, test, and replace any component or application independently

* How CN-NOS combines a Linux kernel and Kubernetes to plug into automation pipelines

* The operational and business advantages of this approach

* Its protocol stack

* Hardware support

* Customer use cases

Links:

Networking Field Day: SnapRoute Company Overview with Glenn Sullivan – YouTube

Networking Field Day: SnapRoute CN-NOS Demonstration with Adam Casella – YouTube

The Cube: Dom Wilde CEO…Networking needs to step up its game – Silicon Angle

SnapRoute blog

SnapRoute on Twitter

SnapRoute on LinkedIn

SnapRoute on Facebook

SnapRoute email

Today's Network Break explores why Microsoft is adding a Linux kernel to Windows, examines a new SD-WAN colo option from Cisco, discusses a new offering from VMware and Dell EMC that lets you get infrastructure on premises but pay for it like the cloud, plus more tech news and a couple of follow-ups.

Take a Network Break! We start with a few FU’s regarding last episode’s Dell announcements, as well as a correction on our reporting on Juniper’s SD-WAN capabilities.

On the news front, Microsoft has announced it will include a Linux kernel in Windows, VMware and Dell EMC partner to deliver on-premises infrastructure that’s operated and paid for as if it was in the cloud, and Cisco announces an “SD-WAN for colocations” offering.

China has reportedly repurposed U.S. hacking tools to use against Western countries, internal vendor security continues to be a problem, and Microsoft recommends that admins use separate workstations for administrative duties as a security measure.

The Public Internet Registry, which runs the .org domain, wants to eliminate price controls. Last but not least, Symantec’s CEO resigns as the company reports its Q4 and full fiscal year results.

Sponsor: ExtraHop

ExtraHop is the enterprise cyber analytics company delivering performance and security from the inside out. ExtraHop offers complete visibility with machine learning to help you make quick, confident decisions about your IT environment. Explore the ExtraHop Performance Platform at extrahop.com/packetpushers.

Sponsor: TeleGeography

We’re also sponsored by TeleGeography,  a telecommunications market research firm. TeleGeography wants you to know about its  WAN Cost Benchmark. This is a tool that lets you model your hybrid WAN expansion plans and compare costs based on over 2 million data points. Head to benchmark.telegeography.com to learn more.

Sponsor: Gluware Intent

Join the Packet Pushers  in New York City on Tuesday, May 14th for a live event with Gluware. This half-day event will feature technical talks on data center automation,  you’ll hear from Gluware customer Merck, and more. After the event you can mingle with your IT peers, Gluware hosts, and the Packet Pushers. Tickets are free but the spaces are limited. Get details and sign up at packetpushers.net/gluware.

Tech Bytes: SnapRoute

Stay tuned after the news for a sponsored Tech Bytes conversation with SnapRoute, the startup behind the Cloud Native Network OS (CN-NOS). We get an introduction to its network OS, learn how SnapRoute differentiates itself from other network OSs, and drill into the operational capabilities it enables.

Follow Up Links:

Dell EMC Networking Virtual Edge Platform – Dell EMC

Contrail Service Orchestration (CSO) Deployment Guide – Juniper Networks (PDF)

Heavy Networking 448: An Inside Look At What’s New In Juniper’s Contrail SD-WAN (Sponsored) – Packet Pushers

News Links:

Announcing WSL 2 – Windows Command Line Tools For Developers – Microsoft

Today's Heavy Networking podcast is a sponsored conversation with Juniper Networks on what's new in its Contrail SD-WAN, including a cloud-managed option. We also examine competitive differentiators such as scale, and how Juniper is integrating Mist with Contrail SD-WAN to enable SD-Branch.

In today’s sponsored Heavy Networking episode, Juniper Networks’ Contrail SD-WAN is on the agenda.

We get a detailed look at how Contrail SD-WAN operates, examine key security features and capabilities, and explore new options including Contrail SD-WAN as a cloud service managed by Juniper.

We also examine Juniper’s competing differentiators, including scale, a focus on app Quality of Experience (QoE), the ability to customize the solution, and how Contrail SD-WAN can extend into the branch LAN and Wi-Fi networks for management and security.

Our guest is Tony Sarathchandra, Director of Product Management at Juniper.

We discuss:

* How Juniper’s SRX and NFX fit into the solution

* The role of Contrail Service Orchestration

* Investment protection in the solution

* Juniper’s ability to scale to more than 10,000 endpoints with a single SD-WAN controller

* Built-in security features and the ability to integrate third-party security software and services

* Juniper’s new cloud-hosted solution

* Integration with Mist APs and the Mist Cloud for operational visibility in the branch

* More

Show Links:

Contrail SD-WAN – Juniper Networks

Contrail SD-WAN: 15 Features In 15 Minutes – Juniper Networks via YouTube

Contrail Juniper SD-WAN Solution – EANTC (report)

Contrail Service Orchestration (CSO) Deployment Guide – Juniper Networks (PDF)