kernel of truth podcast

Innovation in the data center



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In this podcast we have an in-depth conversation about the different types and levels of innovation in the data center and where we see it going. Spiderman aka Rama Darbha and host Brian O’Sullivan are joined by a new guest to the podcast, VP of Marketing Ami Badani. They share that while innovation in the data center doesn’t appear sexy, outside of network engineers, in reality there has been a huge paradigm shift in the way data centers have built and operated last 3 years. So what does that mean? How is automation involved in this conversation? Listen here to find out.

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

Rama Darbha: Rama is the head of the consulting organization at Cumulus Networks, helping customers and partners optimize their open networking strategy. Rama has an active CCONP 2019::19 and CCIE #22804, with a Masters in Engineering and Management from Duke University. You can find him on LinkedIn here.

Ami Badani: Ami is VP of Marketing at Cumulus Networks responsible for all aspects of marketing from messaging and positioning, demand generation, partner marketing, and amplification of the Cumulus Networks brand. She has a decade’s worth of experience at various Silicon Valley technology companies. Most recently, Ami served as a key marketing leader at Instart Logic, helping to triple its sales growth and lead the disruption of the application delivery market. Prior to Instart Logic, she was Head of Strategic Marketing at Cisco where she co-founded and incubated the Internet of Things Platform as a Service business and launched the platform out of stealth mode. She began her career in various facets of investment banking and asset management at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Ami has an MBA from University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and a BS from University of Southern California.


kernel of truth podcast

Network monitoring



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Don’t let your switch be the one who called wolf! Network monitoring is a hot topic here at Cumulus Networks and to talk about it more, host Brian O’Sullivan is joined by two new guests to the podcast Justin Betz and Faye Ly. They sit down to chat about the evolution of monitoring, the challenges in achieving robust monitoring and visibility, and what does it even mean to have “good network monitoring and visibility?” Listen, learn and hopefully enjoy!

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

Faye Ly: Faye is the product manager for Cumulus NetQ. She worked at Cisco and Juniper for many years managed very diverse hardware and software platforms.  Her passion, however, lies in network management and UI/UX.  She chaired IETF Atommib working group and published a few RFCs. You can find her on LinkedIn here. 

Justin Betz: Justin is a Technical Marketing Engineer at Cumulus Networks. He holds both a CCIE and a CCONP certification and brings over a decade of experience in network operations to help Cumulus change the networking industry. Outside of the office, you’ll find him on the trails, either hiking or mountain biking. Find him on LinkedIn here.


kernel of truth podcast

Practical open networking



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But wait, there’s more! If you keep up with our podcast you may have noticed the previous episode where we talk about what open networking was, so why are we chatting about it again? Last time we talked about having open API’s and having the demarcation point between components but in this podcast, we’re extending the conversation out to show how everyone can take advantage of open networking in a wider, practical sense. Guests Rama Darbha and Roopa Prabhu join host Brian to share their thoughts, experiences and expertise on the subject. Listen, enjoy, and feel free to comment away here or on our social media channels if you have any questions or thoughts to add.

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

Roopa Prabhu: Roopa is Director of Engineering, Linux software at Cumulus Networks. At Cumulus she and her team work on all things kernel networking and Linux system infrastructure areas. She loves working at Cumulus and with the Linux kernel networking and debian communities. Her past experience includes Linux clusters, ethernet drivers and Linux KVM virtualization platforms. She has a BS and MS in Computer Science. You can find her on LinkedIn here.

Rama Darbha: Rama is a Senior Consulting Engineer at Cumulus Networks, helping customers and partners optimize their open networking strategy. Rama has an active CCIE #22804 and a Masters in Engineering and Management from Duke University. You can find him on LinkedIn here.


kernel of truth podcast

Open Networking in 2019



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We had a couple of weeks off but we’re back in action, bringing to you a podcast about what makes up open networking in 2019. We took a different approach than normal this time and have guests both from sales & engineering here to discuss the different things they’re seeing from their respective “worlds” with the hopes of bridging the gap between the two of them for you. Joining host Brian is Andreas la Quiante, calling in from Germany no less, and representing the “sales” side of the conversation. On the engineering side, we have some folks you might recognize from previous podcasts: Roopa Prabhu and David Ahern. With that intro out of the way, now is the time to sit down, relax and listen to their conversation here. We hope you enjoy it!

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

David Ahern: David is a Member of Technical Staff at Cumulus Networks. He traded a career in aerospace for Linux in 2000 and has been an advocate for open source and Linux since then. David is currently working on the kernel networking stack and associated userspace tools. You can find him on LinkedIn here. 

Roopa Prabhu: Roopa is Director of Engineering, Linux software at Cumulus Networks. At Cumulus she and her team work on all things kernel networking and Linux system infrastructure areas. She loves working at Cumulus and with the Linux kernel networking and debian communities. Her past experience includes Linux clusters, ethernet drivers and Linux KVM virtualization platforms. She has a BS and MS in Computer Science. You can find her on LinkedIn here.

Andreas la Quiante: Andreas is a Senior Pre­Sales Systems Engineer here at Cumulus Networks, CCIE # 7817 (Emeritus JUN­2019) / CCSI # 99941. He is a recognized expert in the areas of enterprise and data­center technology with decades of experience at Arista Networks, VMWare and Cisco among many more. He’s also lectured “in his spare time” at the Hamburg University of Applied Science. You can find him on LinkedIn here.


kernel of truth podcast

Network of pods



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You’ve probably heard of HCI (hyper-converged infrastructure), and we’ve chatted out it before on an earlier episode here but have you heard of “Network of pods?” Kernel of Truth host Brian O’Sullivan and “resident jam band man” JR Rivers have a great conversation about what pod architecture is and how is it relevant to you so be sure to queue it up and listen!

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

JR Rivers: JR is a co-founder and CTO of Cumulus Networks where he works on company, technology, and product direction. JR’s early involvement in home-grown networking at Google and as the VP of System Architecture for Cisco’s Unified Computing System both helped fine-tune his perspective on networking for the modern datacenter. Follow him on Twitter at @JRCumulus


kernel of truth podcast

Certifications



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In a recent podcast, we talked with our friend Angelo Luciani from Nutanix about the value of being part of a community and what that can mean for your career. We continue along that train of thought in this podcast but pivot over to the topic industry certifications. Host Brian talks again to Nick Mitchell and Eric Pulvino, two of our consultants who’ve not only taken certifications throughout their career but worked on and helped to create our open networking certification. Listen as they discuss the value of them, if any, what works for certifications and what doesn’t, who should be taking certifications and more!

As Brian mentions in the podcast, we have a social game going on for 2019 where you can win some fun prizes. Part of the game includes some flash give-aways of free CCONP certification exam registration and more!  Head over to our EPIC Year Game page to learn more or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

Eric Pulvino: Eric is a Senior Consulting Engineer on our Professional Services team. Before he became Cumulus Curious(TM) he worked for Cisco consulting on large service provider networks from various household names. Today he works with customers in all stages of the open networking pipeline from initial product training, on to architecture and design, as well as the deployment and operation phases. He is not sure if he loves Linux or Networking more but is happy to work at Cumulus Networks where he doesn’t have to choose. When not on-the-clock, he is frequently annoying his family, writing all kinds of python-based home automation. You can find him on Twitter at @EricPulvino.

Nick Mitchell: Nick has been a member of the Cumulus Networks team for over 3 years, previously as part of the technical support team, and currently as a Consulting Engineer within the Professional Services team. He has 10+ years of experience in the industry, the majority of which was during his time in a solution test team for both enterprise and data center networks at Cisco. As an avid Linux enthusiast and networking professional, Nick found open networking to be a common ground for his interests. Outside of work, Nick maintains his geek status with home automation projects. When not on a computer, he enjoys relaxing with his wife and dog on trips to the mountains or beach. You can find him on Twitter at @nwmitchell.


kernel of truth podcast

Infrastructure as code



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Our consultants are often the first to hear about trends and issues that customers and the industry as a whole are seeing and dealing with. Recently we’ve found that quite a few were unaware of what “infrastructure as code” is so we thought, let’s demystify it for everyone! Host Brian talks to Nick Mitchell and Eric Pulvino, two of our consultants who have first-hand knowledge about the topic and share not only what it is but what the problems infrastructure as code is solving for and why you should care! As you listen beware, there may be a “dad joke” and an attempt at Buzzword Bingo along the way. Apparently, it can’t be helped when you’re talking about “git.”

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

Eric Pulvino: Eric is a Senior Consulting Engineer on our Professional Services team. Before he became Cumulus Curious(TM) he worked for Cisco consulting on large service provider networks from various household names. Today he works with customers in all stages of the open networking pipeline from initial product training, on to architecture and design, as well as the deployment and operation phases. He is not sure if he loves Linux or Networking more but is happy to work at Cumulus Networks where he doesn’t have to choose. When not on-the-clock, he is frequently annoying his family, writing all kinds of python-based home automation. You can find him on Twitter at @EricPulvino.

Nick Mitchell: Nick has been a member of the Cumulus Networks team for over 3 years, previously as part of the technical support team, and currently as a Consulting Engineer within the Professional Services team. He has 10+ years of experience in the industry, the majority of which was during his time in a solution test team for both enterprise and data center networks at Cisco. As an avid Linux enthusiast and networking professional, Nick found open networking to be a common ground for his interests. Outside of work, Nick maintains his geek status with home automation projects. When not on a computer, he enjoys relaxing with his wife and dog on trips to the mountains or beach. You can find him on Twitter at @nwmitchell.


kernel of truth podcast

The power of community



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Click here for our previous episode.

From developer days to hackathons and from events to forums, Slack and social media included- there’s a community out there waiting for you! In this episode, host Brian talks to community evangelist for Nutanix Angelo Luciani and our own Pete Lumbis about the power of community and self-service. What are the perks, both personally and professionally, that you get when you’re actively participating in a community? What are some communities and resources we’ve found useful? Grab a taco, listen and find out. We promise you’ll get the taco reference after listening.

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

Angelo Luciani: Angelo is a community evangelist for Nutanix. He gets to tell the Nutanix story to audiences all over the world. He is active in the virtualization community and also mentors others that need that extra lift. He is co-creator of Virtual Design Master the first online IT reality show, designed to uplevel viewers and participants IT design skills. He blogs at virtuwise.com and you can find him on Twitter at @angeloluciani .

Pete Lumbis: CCIE R&S #28677 and CCDE 2012::3, Pete is a Technical Marketing Engineer at Cumulus Networks. He helps customers build and design next generation, fully automated data centers. He can be found on Twitter at @PeteCCDE


Integrated networking telemetry



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Telemetry, is it cool or not? Host Brian tries to wrangle in JR Rivers and Scott Raynovich to find out in our latest episode. Will he succeed? Or, more importantly, what does integrated networking telemetry mean and why should you care? Listen and find out although pro tip: make sure you listen to the whole episode to find out what surprising band JR has been listening to.

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

Scott Raynovich: Scott is the Founder and Principal Analyst at Futuriom. Founded in 2017, Futuriom is the research and analysis community focused on next-generation technologies that will have a profound impact on the world. They analyze the companies and technologies that they think will provide the most growth over the next decade, including artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and cybersecurity. If you’d like to learn more about next level visibility with integrated network telemetry watch our on-demand webinar with him here. You can also find him on Twitter at @rayno.

JR Rivers: JR is a co-founder and CTO of Cumulus Networks where he works on company, technology, and product direction. JR’s early involvement in home-grown networking at Google and as the VP of System Architecture for Cisco’s Unified Computing System both helped fine-tune his perspective on networking for the modern datacenter. Follow him on Twitter at @JRCumulus


kernel of truth podcast

Storage solutions



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You asked for it, we listened, and now we’re delivering! This episode, host Brian calls on Pete Lumbis and special guest David Illes from Mellanox to answer a question we got on our community Slack channel: What are middle-tier customers doing for storage of Cumulus enabled solutions?” David and Pete share not only what’s changing for middle-tier customers but also tackle the topic of storage solutions in general. What sort of things are we seeing as customers migrate to Ethernet storage? Listen and find out.

Guest Bios

Brian O’Sullivan: Brian currently heads Product Management for Cumulus Linux. For 15 or so years he’s held software Product Management positions at Juniper Networks as well as other smaller companies. Once he saw the change that was happening in the networking space, he decided to join Cumulus Networks to be a part of the open networking innovation. When not working, Brian is a voracious reader and has held a variety of jobs, including bartending in three countries and working as an extra in a German soap opera. You can find him on Twitter at @bosullivan00.

David Iles: David is Senior Director of Ethernet Switching at Mellanox Technologies. Over the last 20 years, David has held leadership roles at 3COM, Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, and IBM where he pioneered advanced network technologies including High Speed Ethernet, Layer 4-7 switching, Virtual Machine-aware networking, and Software Defined Networking.  David’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to join two startups to build exceptional technical marketing teams at Alteon Web Systems and BLADE Network Technologies.  As a life-long technologist, David has several patents in the area of data center networking.

David’s current focus is on enabling the sales of Mellanox Ethernet Switches into the evolving landscape of data center networking, HCI and SDS infrastructure, Open Networking, and cloud computing. Looking for more from David? Read his latest blogs here. 

Pete Lumbis: CCIE R&S #28677 and CCDE 2012::3, Pete is a Technical Marketing Engineer at Cumulus Networks. He helps customers build and design next generation, fully automated data centers. He can be found on Twitter at @PeteCCDE