In this roundtable episode of the Hedge, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ hang out and talk about data centers--why are we building all these things again? Our second topic is the FCC's ban on non-US made home routers. Was this the right thing to do? Was it the wrong thing to do? Were there any other policy options?

What does biology have to do with computer networks? Much more than you might think. Communications systems, after all, need to solve the same problems--and they often use the same kinds of tools. In this episode of the Hedge, Emily Reeves and Joe Deweese join Russ and Tom to talk about a recent paper comparing computer communications to biological communications.

What are networking fundamentals, and why are they important? Join us for this repost of a classic Hedge discussion with Ethan, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ.

What's the deal with SONiC? Is it easy to build and use, or hard? Is it something you should be looking at? Jeff Doyle joins Russ and Tom to look at the SONiC operating system, ecosystem, and deployment.

It's episode 300, and it's roundtable time. In this episode, Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ talk about how systems can be designed to prevent injection attacks, and then the perennial unpleasantness of layoffs.

As we discussed in the prior episode, the 6G hype is building. What's in 6G, though, and how realistic is it that a new wireless technology is going to radically change the world? In this episode of the Hedge, George Michaelson joins us from Australia to discuss the ins and outs of 6G.

It's 2026, and it's time for a new cellular telephone hype cycle: 6G! Doug Dawson from CCG joins Russ and Tom to talk about why 5G is really 4.5G, the proposed changes for 6G, and the challenges higher frequency ranges and bandwidths face in the real world.   It's definitely worth following Doug's daily post about the telecom and wireless worlds over at Pots and Pans.

Has MPLS really "died" because of SD-WAN services? Scott Robohon joins Tom and Russ to talk about the past and future of MPLS.

AS-SETs (not that kind) were originally designed to simplify filtering at eBGP peering points--but they seem to have gone horribly wrong. Job Snijders and Doug Madory join Tom and Russ to discuss the history, use, problems, and (hopeful) demise of AS-SETs.

Should network engineers focus on specializing in one technology, vendor, or solution, or should they think about building a diverse skill set? Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ discuss the advantages of each, how these options relate to the future of network engineering, and skill diversification.

The future of network design and architecture is--based on current trends--is going to be working with and around resource constraints. How would resource constraints impact the way we design and manage networks? Mike Bushong joins Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ to ponder network engineering in a resource constrained world.

Is there an interaction between Moore's Law and network computing? If so, what is the relationship? How do advances in silicon capabilities and network speeds and feeds rely and drive one another. Geoff Huston joins Russ on this episode of the Hedge to look at a bit of the history.

The cost of building and maintaining a data center is rising rapidly--and not just in financial terms. George Michaelson joins Tom and Russ to discuss the wider costs of data centers.

Nash King (@gammacapricorni) joins Russ White and Tom Ammon in a wide ranging discussion of ethics in IT, including being comfortable with standing up and saying “no” when asked to do something you consider unethical and the virtue ethic.

As the Internet centralizes and gets "big," standards are often being sidelined or consumed. What are the possible results of abandoning standards? Is there anything "normal network engineers" can do about it?

In this Hedge roundtable, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ discuss The Amoeba and the Mathematician

In this episode of the Hedge, Geoff Huston joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to finish the discussion on the ideas behind DNS over HTTPS (DoH), and to consider the implications of its widespread adoption. Is it time to bow to our new overlords?

In this episode of the Hedge, Geoff Huston joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss the ideas behind DNS over HTTPS (DoH), and to consider the implications of its widespread adoption. Is it time to bow to our new overlords?

If you are struggling with building labs on lighter weight systems--or if you're just interested in what Containerlab is and does--join Rick, Roman, and Russ for this discussion of what Containerlab is, what it does, and where its going.

Sometimes we just like to talk about "life issues" as they relate to network engineering and technology career fields. Loneliness seems to especially plague network engineering and other "small" IT fields, where communities are small, change is rapid, and stress is high. Loneliness expert Lucy Rose joins Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ to discuss loneliness.

Do planned economies, like China, have an advantage in deploying IPv6? What do the numbers on the DFZ show? George Michaelson joins Russ and Tom to discuss.

It's time again for Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ to talk about current articles they've run across in their day-to-day reading. This time we talk about WiFi in the home, how often users think a global problem is really local, and why providers have a hard time supporting individual homes and businesses. The second topic is one no one really cares about ... apathy. What causes apathy? How can we combat it? Join us for this episode of the Hedge ... if you can bring yourself to care!

Is quantum really an immediate and dangerous threat to current cryptography systems, or are we pushing to hastily adopt new technologies we won't necessarily need for a few more years? Should we allow the quantum pie to bake a few more years before slicing a piece and digging in? George Michaelson joins Russ and Tom to discuss.

We all know netops, NRE, and devops can increase productivity, increase Mean Time Between Mistakes (MTBM), and decrease MTTR--but how do we deploy and use these tools? We often think of the technical hurdles you face in their deployment, but most of the blockers are actually cultural. Chris Grundemann, Eyvonne, Russ, and Tom discuss the cultural issues with deploying netops on this episode of the Hedge.

We network engineers often find ourselves without a viable plan--our plans always seem to go awry, to the point that many network engineers just give up on planning. Is "giving up" the right solution? Or can we learn to be better planners? Jonathan Adams and Tim McConnaughy join Russ to discussion planning for network engineers.

On this episode of the Hedge, Anil Varanasi joins Russ to talk about the complexities of network operations and what Meter is doing in this space. note: even though this is a more product-heavy episode of the Hedge than usual, it is not sponsored

Multicloud is all the rage — but is this always an intentional state of affairs, or do companies just “fall into” multicloud? Security in multicloud and certifications round out this episode of the Hedge, where we are joined by Joe Cozzupoli. You can get in touch with Joe through twitter at @jcozzupo24150.

What is the relationship between blockchain technologies and network engineering? Is blockchain "just another application," or are there implications for naming, performance, and connectivity? Austin Federa joins Tom and Russ to discuss the intersection of blockchain and networks.

When you think of careers in network engineering, you probably think of being a console jockey, racking and stacking and configuring boxes. There is, however, much larger than just these things. Ethan Banks joins Eyvonne and Russ to talk about the broader world of careers in network engineering.

Returning to a thread here at the Hedge, Rick Graziani joins Tom and Russ to discuss a college professor's perspective on why network engineers should learn the theory, and not just the configuration.

"Advocate for yourself!" What does this mean, and how can you do it? Alexis Bertholf joins Tom and Russ to discuss practical strategies to advocate for yourself.

Network automation efforts tend to focus on building and maintaining configurations–but is this the right place to be putting our automation efforts? Derick Winkworth joins Tom Ammon and Russ White at the Hedge for a conversation about what engineers really do, and what this means for automation.

What is the relationship between humans and machines? Do we adapt to machines, or do we adapt machines to humans? Does technology drive culture, or does our culture drive our technology? Join Mark Prosser, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ as they discuss what a sociotechnical system is and how it impacts our lives.

Requests for proposals (RFPs) are a little understood part of running a network--or any other IT system. What are some common mistakes, and some things engineers should think about, when building and executing RFPs? Andreas Taudte joins Tom and Russ to discuss RFPs.

What is Jevon's Paradox? Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ discuss how this famous paradox impact network engineering.

What is DNS Delegation and what is it used for? What is new in the Delegation world, and what impact does it have on DNS security and operations? George Michaelson joins Tom Ammon and Russ White for a discussion about DNS DELEG in this episode of the Hedge.

Many of us old timers (and a lot of young timers) worry about the future of networking. What if the future isn't a technology, or even AI, but a change in focus? Mike Bushong joins Tom and Russ to argue for operations as the future of networking.

Are you stressed? Everyone in IT seems to be continuously stressed--but what can we do about it? Sonia Cuff joins the Hedge to talk about stress. From time to time we like to repost episodes of significance--this week we're reposting episode 1.

Is the CLI the best way to configure, manage, and troubleshoot routers and other networking gear? Or should we move past the CLI towards automation and (possibly even) GUI-based tools? Mark Posser joins Russ and Tom to discuss on this episode of the Hedge.

AI chatbots and image creators are all the rage right now--we are using them for everything from coding to writing books to creating short movies. One question we do not ask often enough, though, is how this impact human creators. How will these tools shape creativity and thinking skills?

Password hygiene drive IT professionals crazy--people forget their passwords, will not change them often enough, and choose weak ones. But are IT folks immune to these problems? What is the psychology behind passwords, and how do we do better? Karl Buhl joins Tom and Russ to talk about passwords.

Yes, we took an (unintentional) three-week break for medical reasons ... but we're back with a new episode. What is Web 3.0, and how is it different from Web 2.0? What about XR, AI, and Quantum, and their relationship to Web 3.0? Jamie Schwartz joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to try to get to a solid definition of what Web 3.0 and how it impacts the future of the Internet.

nbsp; One of the "great fears" advancing AI unlocks is that most of our jobs can, and will, be replaced by various forms of AI. Join us on this episode of the Hedge as Jonathan Mast at White Beard Strategies, Tom Ammon, and Russ White discuss whether we are likely to see a net loss, gain, or wash in jobs as companies deploy LLMS, and other potential up- and down-sides.

Solving technology problems often involves breaking a problem into multiple smaller problems, build interaction surfaces between the pieces, and glue the pieces back into a larger system. We also know every technology problem is actually a people problem--whether in the past, the present, or the future. Given these two points, can we say something like: "If technology and people problems are interchangeable, we should be able to solve people problems the way we solve technology problems--via modularization?"

When most people think of segment routing (SR), they think of SRv6--using IPv6 addresses as segment IDs, and breaking the least significant /64 to create microsids for service differentiation. This is not, however, the only way to implement and deploy SR. The alternative is SR using MPLS labels, or SR/MPLS. Hemant Sharma joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss SR/MPLS, why operators might choose MPLS over IPv6 SIDs, and other topics related to SR/MPLS. You can find Hermant's recent book on SR/MPLS here.

Out of band management networks were once more common than they are today. Should we go back to building out of band management networks? Should out of band management networks be virtual or physical? How can we sell out of band management networks to the folks paying the bills? Daryll Swer joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss the importance of OOB management.

On this episode of the Hedge, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ talk about topics near and dear to every network engineer's heart--documentation, legacy, and tech debt. What should our philosophy of documentation be? What are legacy, end of life, and tech debt, really?

How do Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, impact value and the future of all things digital? How are they different from--and similar to--blockchain? Jaime Schwarz joins Russ White and Tom Ammon to talk about what NFTs are, how they work, and how they might impact the future.

Many providers count on detection in the global routing table to discover and counter BGP route hijacks. What if there were a kind of BGP hijack that cannot be detected using current mechanisms? Henry Birge-Lee joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss a kind of stealthy BGP attack that avoids normal detection, and how we can resolve these attacks.

In the United States, the National Telecommunications and Infrastructure Administration manages spectrum and researches the current state of Internet connectivity for policy makers. Henning Schulzrinne joins Tom and Russ to discuss the role of the NTIA, spectrum management, and broadband management.

Trends in the global BGP table--the Default Free Zone (DFZ) table--can tell us a lot about the state of the global Internet. Is the Internet growing? Is IPv6 growing, or are we still in a world of "all things IPv4?" Geoff Huston joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to review the state of the routing table from 2024.

We often try to "institutionalize" things that work into repeatable processes—and most of the time, it doesn't work. The process ends up becoming unwieldy, eventually failing to prevent failures and stifling innovation. How can we get out of this rut? Differentiating between architecture and process. Far too many IT shops try to replace architecture with process. Our second topic for this episode is the destructive lies of the tool trope. Tools are not "neutral," they impact the way we think and work. A primary example of a tool that can often reshape our thinking and doing in very negative ways is ... the process.

We often think of network automation as a configuration tool, but automation can also be used for one-off, integration, and even continuous testing. Dan Wade joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to talk about pyATS and the concept of automated testing.

Every recruiter and hiring manager wants people with five years of experience, but you cannot get experience without being hired into a position. How can you break this conundrum? Daniel Dib joins Tom and Russ to talk about how folks just coming into IT, or even those with lots of experience who are trying to shift their focus, can gain experience.

Richard Wexelblat published an article in 1980 titled: "The consequences of one's first programming language." We've all seen C code written like Python, or Python code written like C, so it's obvious a coder's first language has a long lasting effect on their style. What about network engineers? Are there times and places where the first of anything a network engineers encounters has a long lasting impact on the way they think and work? In this roundtable, Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ consider different ways this might apply to network engineering.

One of the various attack surfaces in encryption is insuring the certificates used to share the initial set of private keys are not somehow replaced by an attacker. In systems where a single server or source is used to get the initial certificates, however, it is fairly easy for an attacker to hijack the certificate distribution process. Henry Birge-Lee joins us on this episode of the Hedge to talk about extensions to existing certificate systems where a certificate is pulled from more than one source. You can find his article here.

One of the big questions about IPv6 is: "Should you use /64's for subnets?" Tom Coffeen joins Eyvonne Sharp, Rick Graziani, and Russ as we discuss the various questions surrounding IPv6 addressing, planning, waste, and ... should you /64?

In this episode of the Hedge, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ talk about whether Intel will survive, centralization and industrial spying, and why you need to go touch grass and read a book.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) are one of the key centers of Internet infrastructure. How do IXPs work together to build this critical infrastructure? Through ICP associations, such as the African IXP Association. Ricardo Simba joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to talk about a recent meeting of the African IXP Association.

What impact do local regulations have on our ability to build and operate new data centers in the United States? What impact do these regulations have on local economies? Juan Londoño, from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, joins Ned Bellavance and Russ White to discuss yet another part of the network engineering world.

It's roundtable time! Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ discuss several different topics, including the broader market implications for the changes going on at Broadcom and VMWare, balancing the cloud (they float!), reacting to the hype, and whether IP addresses will even be important in ten years.

Alistair Woodman joins Tom and Russ to talk about the current state of the FR Routing open source routing stack project. Like all software projects, FR Routing has entered a bit of a "middle phase," with a focus on maintenance and stability rather than new features and protocols.

Do you procrastinate too much? I know I do. Why do we procrastinate, and what strategies can we use to stop it? Terry Kim joins Eyvonne Sharp and Russ White to consider procrastination.

SONiC has been around for a while--is there a solid commercial play for this open-source operating system? If so, what is it? What is the future for open-source and other network operating systems? Mike Bushong joins Tom Ammon, Eyvonne Sharp, and Russ White to discuss SONiC and open source network operating systems.

In this roundtable episode of the Hedge, Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ discuss complexity and deployment. Why do some protocols fail to deploy, or require decades, while others deploy quickly?

RADIUS is one of those protocols we tend to forget about because it is ubiquitous--but authentication protocols are very large attack surfaces network engineers should pay more attention to. Alan DeKok joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss the RADIUS protocol.

What are the requirements for running AI workloads over a data center fabric? Why is InfiniBand so popular for building AI networks? What about Ethernet for AI? Jeff Tantsura joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss networks for AI workloads.

The cellular network world is similar enough to the IP networking world to feel familiar, but different enough to require learning new terms and ideas. Tom Nadeau joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss one element of this networking world, the RAN network, and the current move towards open source and white box disaggregated solutions.

In the early days of computer programming, some thought there was a difference between a coder and a programmer. Did this division ever really exist, and are there similar divisions in network engineering?

When Starlink first went into service we heard a lot of stories about how its Internet service was slow and unreliable. We're a few years into Starlink launching satellites—how is Starlink holding up? Is service improving? Geoff Huston joins Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ to look into Starlink's performance today.

Many network operators think the idea of building rather than buying is something that's out of reach--but is it? Join Steve Dodd, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ as we discuss the positive and negative aspects of build versus buy, what operators get wrong, and what operators don't often expect.

There are (at least) three different aspects of AI in network engineering: network design to support AI, AI for development, and AI for operations. J.P. Vassuer joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss AI for understanding and operating networks. What are the possibilities? What are the pitfalls? What can we expect to see?