30 August 2010

VMware “vFabric” And the Potential Impact on Data Centre Network Design

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If the VMware vFabric speculation is true, then the service focussed data centre designs just got very, very, interesting.

Teach a Man to Fish – On Learning to Learn and Certification

Musing on “learning something” as opposed to “learning to learn something”. I believe this is a vital part of understanding certification.

Musing: On Permananent and Ephemeral Knowledge and Exam Study

Like many tech-workers, we need to ingest vast quantities of knowledge to get started in our jobs. Without that knowledge, there is no working in our business. What is unique, however, is that we continue to ingest knowledge for the remainder of our careers – often consuming large portions of our personal time and energy. Worse we even get tested on it by sitting formal examinations.

How can we manage this process to be more effective ?

Musing: On Using the Word Cisco or CCIE in Your Blog Title

Recently ciscoblog.com got a takedown notice from Cisco lawyers and then acted all offended when asked to handover the name. What, you didn’t see it coming ?

If I Can’t Fix It, I’ll Break It. And That’s OK, It Needed Fixing Anyway.

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When explaining outage risks in a change review, I often need to grit my teeth and say quietly to myself…..

“Just in Case” Versus “Just in Time” Learning. Or Why Am I Learning This Useless Crud !?

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You need to learn what you don’t know to succeed in Networking. Understanding “Just in Case” instead of “Just in Time” learning might help you to understand why.

Cisco: Questions I Have About Cisco, UCS and the Market

I was recently asked to consider Cisco and their UCS and whether it is ready for adoption. This raised a number of questions that I’d like to have answers for.

Network ZEN: Management or Monitoring

Network ZEN on Network Management

Designer or Engineer, Artist or Painter

Are you a painter or an artist ? Are you an engineer or a designer ? Can you Paint with a Hammer?

Is This the Year of 10 Gigabit Ethernet in the LAN ?

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A number of switch vendors have announced (and they are certainly hoping) that 10Gb Ethernet is the THING for 2010. Really ?

Etherealmind – Motto Selection

I’m getting some new business cards printed and want to ask you for some input on a suitable slogan.

Why Does iSCSI Use TCP Instead of IP ?

The iSCSI protocol carries block data from storage array to server. Typically, that is inside a data centre where loss is not a problem. So why use TCP and have all that overhead ?

Musing:on Not Owning an E-Reader or Buying E-Books

I have been looking at e-reader’s with a beady eye. Who wouldn’t rather have a small, portable gizmo instead of the 2.2 kilogram textbook of Routing TCP/IP Volume II.

But there are really two HUGE problems that mean I won’t be buying one anytime soon. DRM and Data portability.

The Balloon Story

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Quite some time ago, someone sent me this joke. To this day, it should be funny but it isn’t because it is still true.

Blinken Lights, It’s All About the Blinking Lights

Classic Slashdot.

Why Can’t I Ping My ACE Module ? Diatribe on Service-Policy.

Had a problem with an ACE module today. It took two of us a while to realise what was wrong. And musings on service-policy syntax.

Network ZEN: Stackable or Chassis Switches

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The Zen Master was meditating over his network, at oneness with the Flow. A student approached the master and asked ‘may I not stack the c3750 to create more connections to the Flow’.

Too Many Directions, Too Much to Think About

I’m working on too many things – too many technologies, too many vendors. How did I get here ?