EP 525 | MAY 5, 2025

Cisco, IBM Recruit AI for Threat Response; HPE Air-Gaps Private Clouds

AI security is a theme on today's Network Break, with AI infosec announcements from Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, and IBM. Plus, NetApp supports quantum-resistant algos for storage, HPE adds an Internet kill switch to its private cloud offerings, Microsoft and Extreme Networks celebrate strong quarterly results, and more IT news analysis. | LISTEN NOW

EP 103 | MAY 6, 2025

Why IT is Like Ultimate Frisbee

It’s all well and good to develop a technology strategy, articulate and document the strategy, and agree (supposedly) on that strategy. But what do you do when one or more of the tech teams act in apparent opposition to the strategy? John and Johna discuss why this happens and what questions you need to ask yourself when it does. And we also discuss how IT is more like ultimate frisbee than rowing crew. | LISTEN NOW

EP 061 | MAY 6, 2025

Comparing Breach Reports, RSAC 2025 Highlights, and a Security Awareness Soapbox

New breach reports show threat actor dwell times are dropping significantly. It's a positive development, but there is a caveat. We discuss this caveat and other findings from the 2025 editions of the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report and the Google M-Trends Report. We also get highlights from the 2025 RSA Conference, and JJ gets on a soapbox about security awareness training and password managers. | LISTEN NOW

EP 091 | MAY 7, 2025

The Future of Autonomous Networking With Jeff Doyle

Today's guest is Jeff Doyle, an expert in the networking industry with over 30 years of experience as a consultant, instructor, architect, author, and speaker. Eric chats with Jeff about his background and how he got into networking (spoiler: it was not a computer science degree!). The conversation explores Jeff's current work and delves into his predictions for the future of network engineering. Jeff also shares advice for engineers at all stages of their careers. | LISTEN NOW

EP 025 | MAY 8, 2025

DHCP - Someone Get Me an Address!

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) assigns an IP address to a host that joins a network, along with other information necessary for the host to communicate. DHCP also has more to it, and this week's episode is meant to be a solid introduction to this essential network protocol. We first discuss what it is and what you'd use it for. We then work through implementation details: servers, scope, design, options, relays, and security. Bonus material this week: meet DORA (not the explorer). | LISTEN NOW

EP 013 | MAY 8, 2025

The Process Communication Model: An Algorithm for Effective Communication

On this episode of Technically Leadership, we learn about the Process Communication Model (PCM), a framework for enhancing communication. Guest Aleksandra Lemańska calls PCM an algorithm for people, and it can be useful for improving interactions with engineers and technical folks operating in high-stress environments. We talk about how PCM works, understanding the way your own communication traits affect others, working with people from different cultures, the line between positive influence and manipulation, and more. | LISTEN NOW

EP 028 | MAY 9, 2025

Move from Monitoring to Full Internet Stack Observability: New Strategies for NetOps (Sponsored)

Network monitoring, Internet monitoring, and observability are all key components of NetOps. We speak with sponsor Catchpoint to understand how Catchpoint can help network operators proactively identify and resolve issues before they impact customers. We discuss past and current network monitoring strategies and the challenges that operators face with both on-prem and cloud monitoring, along with the complexities of modern network stacks. We also prognosticate on how developments such as L4S and ECN will affect network and Internet performance monitoring. | LISTEN NOW

EP 780 | MAY 9, 2025

The Whys and Hows of Automated Network Testing

On today's Heavy Networking we talk with Dan Wade about testing the network, inspired by Dan's talk at AutoCon 2: "Step 0: Test the Network." We discuss why testing is a good idea, and then explore four types of network testing, including unit tests and integration tests. We dig into Yang, RESTCONF, NETCONF and gNMI for gathering information. We also talk about when to test your network---isn't always related to a network change. | LISTEN NOW