EP 518 | MARCH 17, 2025

Clock Starts For New Intel CEO; Arista Load Balancing Targets AI Infrastructure

Intel names Lip-Bu Tan as Chief Resurrection Officer, but how long does he have before investors get antsy? HPE plans to lay off thousands of employees under the cover of tariff uncertainties. Arista announces EOS cluster load balancing fto maximize switch link utilization for AI workloads. Cato Networks jumps into the on-prem LAN firewall market. We discuss these stories and more on today's Network Break podcast. | LISTEN NOW

SPONSORED | MARCH 17, 2025

Securing 5G Networks With Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE (Sponsored)

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we dive into 5G security with sponsor Palo Alto Networks. 5G services are being adopted worldwide for use cases such as IoT, connected vehicles, and AR and VR. At the same time, the number of threats against 5G is growing. We’ll talk about Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE 5G, which provides secure connectivity for 5G users, devices, and applications. We talk about SIM-based authentication, how Prisma SASE 5G can tie into zero trust initiatives, and how Palo Alto Networks leverages AI to analyze events and identify and block attacks. | LISTEN NOW

EP 054 | MARCH 17, 2025

Understanding WireGuard and Overlay VPNs with Tom Lawrence

WireGuard and other overlay VPNs are the focus of today’s podcast with guest Tom Lawrence from Lawrence Systems. We dig into differences between WireGuard and traditional IPSec VPNs, how WireGuard's opinionated approach to crypto suites helps improve its performance, and how WireGuard compares to OpenVPN. We also look at the broader category of overlay VPNs (many of which use WireGuard under the covers), explore the intersection of overlay VPNs and zero trust, and more. | LISTEN NOW

EP 048 | MARCH 18, 2025

Indoor GPS: Why Can’t We Get a Signal In Here?

Why can’t we get a GPS signal indoors and what does that mean for modern wireless technology? Guest Luke Jenkins has answers. He starts with the history, functionality, and applications of GPS and GNSS technologies and the proliferation of satellites enhancing navigation accuracy. He then delves into the technical aspects such as atomic clocks, signal processing, and the challenges of indoor GPS reception. The conversation also covers the integration of GPS with wireless technologies, particularly for Wi-Fi 6 and 7, and future advancements in geolocation accuracy. | LISTEN NOW

EP 267 | MARCH 19, 2025

Get Excited About Riding the AI Infrastructure Wave

The AI buildout is driving an infrastructure boom. On today’s show, we talk with Kendall Miller, an independent consultant in the DevOps and cloud-native space, about the boom's potential impacts on DevOps. For instance, the rise of AI workloads will increase the amount of infrastructure to be supported. At the same time, AI tools are emerging to help teams manage all that infrastructure. We also discuss AI hype, and what useful innovations and solutions might have a lasting impact once the hype subsides. Whether you're skeptical or excited about what the AI infrastructure boom will bring, this conversation is for you. | LISTEN NOW

EP 018 | MARCH 20, 2025

RIB vs. FIB & Administrative Distance or Route Preference

Ready for more routing and routing protocols? Today we discuss the roles of the network operating system (NOS), routing protocols, the Routing Information Base (RIB), and the Forwarding Information Base (FIB). We also include the dynamics of routing protocols, the importance of hardware like TCAM for performance, and the concept of administrative distance or route preference. Today’s bonus material is a quick chat about routing convergence and microloops. | LISTEN NOW

EP 171 | MARCH 20, 2025

IPv6 Basics - Routing

Our ongoing IPv6 Basics series continues with an episode on v6 routing essentials. We start with a comparison of various routing protocols: RIP, OSPF, IS-IS, EGP, and BGP. We look at pros and cons of each, and discuss challenges such as dual stack IPv4 and IPv6 network implementation, memory and resource use with IPv6, and link local addresses. | LISTEN NOW

EP 021 | MARCH 21, 2025

An Operator’s Perspective on NetOps and Programming

What's it like to move from a NOC role to an operations and automation role? On today's show we get the perspective of guest Joseph Nicholson, a Network Operations Engineer at NTT Data.  He explains how he got started with automation, using tools like Python and Ansible, and the critical role of documentation in network management. He shares tips on automating routine tasks, and how to break larger jobs into more automatable pieces. We also discuss the challenges network operators face when adopting automation, and how continuous learning, communication, and collaboration among tech teams can smooth those challenges. | LISTEN NOW

EP 773 | MARCH 21, 2025

Optimizing Ethernet for AI - An Update On the Ultra Ethernet Consortium

The Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC) is an industry body that aims to optimize Ethernet for AI and HPC use cases. On today's Heavy Networking we get an overview of the UEC and a status update on its efforts to date. We're joined by J Metz and Rip Sohan, both heavily involved with the UEC. We discuss the consortium's formation and milestones, and then dive into current projects, including the integration of Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) into Ethernet, the challenges of lossless networking, and innovative approaches to congestion control and flow management. We also discuss the future of the UEC and how collaboration among standards organizations will benefit the industry. | LISTEN NOW