Why I think ACI and VXLAN are the future
The Raise of the Robots & The End of an Era I had an interesting read or listen I should say last week - The Rise of The Robots. This audio-book made me think about the number of things but the one that sprang to mind immediately was automation and my own prospects when it comes to be replaced by the machines... I keep telling myself, they can't automate everything and there will always be a requirement for highly skilled engineer to migrate the LAN or WAN edge while making sure nothing is impacted.. You can't really replace the core network...
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The Most Unlikely Network Outage
Why I don't like VTP I think this must be 7-8 years now since I first heard that running VTP in Client / Server mode can be dangerous and should be avoided. There are some well known problems and scenarios in which you can bring the entire network down by simply replacing a switch. The point of this blog is not going to explain how this can happen because that is already widely documented on the internet.Instead what I would like to demonstrate here is less known side effect of using VTP Server / Client mode when VTP Pruning is also...
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Identity Services Engine Upgrade
Identity Services Engine (ISE) is simply a very robust RADIUS server that will provide Authentication & Authorization function to all Wireless and Wired users on the network. I am not going to delve into details about ISE Configuration and Deployment models because that can be found in many books and on Cisco website. The purpose of this blog is simply to provide a number tips that you can use if you need to upgrade your ISE deployment. I will use Wireless LAN Controllers as example but the same concept applies to any Network Authenticating Device (NAD) like switches, firewalls etc. I...
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Core Network Migration to VSS
This is my first ever blog and it is quite long as I think I picked a complex subject. I would like to share some advice regarding the Core Network Migration approach. I have personally led many successful large scale migrations on critical networks including hospitals like: York, Bristol, Clatterbridge, Barnsley and I can tell you that each migration is different but there are multiple common elements that I will try to point out. I have spent significant amount of time planning and executing multiple core migrations so I hope those tips will make it easier for you. On the other hand I...
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