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Lessons Learned Writing a Custom Config Builder 26 Jul 2013 | 07:34 pm
A while back, I set about developing a modest configuration templating system for my employer. When I first joined the company, new network devices were being provisioned using configuration templates...
Route Distinguishers and Route Targets 10 Jun 2013 | 07:27 pm
People new to MPLS VPN are often unclear on what functions route distinguishers and route targets serve, and the difference between the two. Let's see if we can clear up some of that confusion. If you...
Network Engineering Stack Exchange Beta Live! 20 May 2013 | 08:58 pm
A couple months ago, I announced a proposal to start a Stack Exchange site dedicated to answering questions concerning network engineering, similar to how Stack Overflow and Server Fault cater to the ...
ERSPAN from NX-OS to IOS 14 May 2013 | 11:27 pm
Most readers are probably familiar with the switchport analysis (SPAN) feature on Cisco's Catalyst switches. SPAN replicates all ingress and/or egress traffic from one or several interfaces to another...
What the Hell is SDN? 2 May 2013 | 11:20 pm
If you follow any number of news feeds or vendor accounts on Twitter, you've no doubt noticed the term "software-defined networking" or SDN popping up more and more lately. Depending on whom you belie...
The Importance of Watching the Wire 3 Apr 2013 | 06:42 am
I came across an interesting problem today that I think serves as an excellent example of why packet analysis is such a critical skill for network engineers. A few days ago, the internal network belo...
Five Years 23 Mar 2013 | 11:53 pm
Today marks the five-year anniversary of my first post on Packet Life. (Funny, it doesn't feel like it's been that long.) Those of you who follow the blog regularly no doubt have noticed that I don't ...
Proposing a Stack Exchange Site for Networking 15 Mar 2013 | 04:34 am
If you've spent any time writing code, you've undoubtedly come across Stack Overflow, a question and answer forum dedicated to the discussion of computer programming which has become quite popular in ...
CCIE University 26 Feb 2013 | 05:30 am
Just a quick heads up for CCIE candidates: A reader contacted me today to point out yet another company who has ripped off my (free) content and repackaged it as their own. The offending company is a ...
WAN Circuit Topologies 6 Feb 2013 | 09:26 am
There are a variety of approaches to connecting multiple sites across a wide area network (WAN), ranging from leased lines to MPLS to IPsec VPN tunnels. Unfortunately, many of the options and potentia...