Some Initial Thoughts on the Software-Defined Network (SDN).

         imported      Tech · MPLS · MPLS_TE · IETF · SDN · Thoughts

At one of the Ericsson R&D days, Professor Scott Shenker - who's an academic at the University of California in Berkeley, presented on a concept that he calls the "software defined network'. Now, if you haven't seen the presentation - it's definitely worth watching (it's on YouTube, here), and provides quite an engaging look at the problem of network scaling from the perspective of academia, and especially in terms of a comparison to the more rigorous disciplines of computer science, like OS design.

Progress with Error Handling for BGP

         imported      Tech · BGP · IETF · Presentations

It's been quite a while since I updated this blog, very lax of me, sorry! The lack of updates appears more indicative of how busy I appear to have been since presenting the error handling draft work at NANOG (which looks to be the last post!). Since January, I've presented at the IETF in Prague, and then again in Qu�bec City - particularly on a number of aspects of the work that I've been documenting here for some time!

NANOG 51 Presentation

         imported      Tech · LINX · BGP · IETF · UKNOF · Presentations · NANOG

The video from the presentation I gave a NANOG, LINX and UKNOF has now been posted. You can find the video at the following URL - NANOG 51: BGP Error Handling or by clicking on the image below. The full slide deck is also on this site - here.

BGP Error Handling - Developing an Operator-Led Approach in the IETF

         imported      Tech · ISP · BGP · IETF · Presentations · UKNOF

As I presented at UKNOF 18, I have now written an Internet-Draft to address the requirements of Network Operators for how BGP should handle errors in UPDATE messages. The draft can be found on the IETF site, and I'm currently seeking opinions as to whether this reflects the an operational consensus! If you're an Operator (DFZ, MSE or otherwise), it would be great to hear from you! I'll be presenting the draft at NANOG 51 in Miami on Tuesday - if you're there, feel free to ping me!

LINX71 - 100GE in the Lab

         imported      Tech · Work · ISP · Presentations

I spoke at LINX71 about the testing that we (C&W) have been doing in the lab with 100GigE - we got a pre-production card and hence had a look at the technology for real. Thanks to LINX, the presentation video can be seen by clicking on the image below. Once again, however, whatever LINX use as a presentation laptop didn't render my slides properly - even though I'd submitted PDF too!

Ghent 6

         imported      Cycling · Photography · Grupetto · Belgium

I took some photos of the Ghent 6 day on the Grupetto trip out there. The full gallery is here, but some selected highlights are below:

BGP Error Handling and Enhancements Post IETF-79

         imported      Tech · Work · BGP · IETF

With IETF 79 happening last week - I think one of the great things that's coming out of the IDR work leading up to the meeting has been that quite a few drafts have been written around the requirements that exist in BGP for better error handling. I've been vocal about this before, of course, so it's not that surprising that I'm (yet again) banging the drum for this cause, however, we are getting somewhere finally.

Save Herne Hill.

         imported      Cycling · London

Herne Hill is looking for support, it’s both historic, and a fantastic facility in London. It’d be great to see more people supporting this! Here’s the campaign page.

UKNOF 16 - Enhancing BGP - Video

         imported      Work · London · ISP · BGP · IETF · UKNOF · Presentations

Tom Bird of PortFast and Brandon Butterworth of Bogons do a great job of webcasting, and recording UKNOF video. Thanks to them, the video of the presentation I gave at UKNOF16 can be watched here. Or you can download it by clicking the image below! As always, thoughts/comments/corrections most welcome! This is also probably a good time to mention that my new work mail address is rob.shakir (at) cw.com

Cycling Video

         imported      Tech · Cycling

Checking out a few videos that people have linked me to recently I thought that this piece was amazing - really great speed. It also looks like the 5D and 7D are really quite awesome at doing 60fps HD! The video presentation over at vimeo is really cool too! PUSH PULL from Landis Fields on Vimeo.