Changes in how we build data centers and networks, and in how we deploy applications and connect them, are really hard to deal with in abstract. Sometimes a model can help, something to help visualize the complexity. I propose the whirlpool. Imagine for the moment a whirlpool, swirling about in some major tidal flow. If…
Whatever your party, if you are concerned about the country’s future, I recommend this poem, one I’ve quoted to friends in the past. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging…
The cloud is a different model of computing, a combination of virtualization and network hosting. We all recognize that “the cloud” is something apart from virtual machines or containers, OpenStack or vCloud, IaaS or PaaS or SaaS. It’s also something apart from the specific kind of servers you might use or the data center architecture…
Telecom is really more about regulatory posture than technology. The US is now looking at a change in the FCC Chairmanship and the overall political balance of the body, and so there’s a chance that regulatory policy will shift. It might even shift sharply. However, FCC workings are murky so it’s not always easy to…
Does a new set of services for network operators imply a new network infrastructure? That’s a question some of you asked me after the series of blogs I’ve just done. I’ve talked about software automation of the service lifecycle, and that has focused primarily on cost management. Obviously, software automation could also facilitate the introduction…
I just got some interesting information from operators on the business case implications of early NFV tests and trials. I’d been trying to harmonize a series of lets-face-it inconsistent stories on what was going on. The results perhaps explain some of the disconnect between the CIO and the CTO, and perhaps even some of the…
There has been a lot of talk about service modeling, and I’ve contributed my own fair share. However, there have also been some developments in the space and I’ve gotten some questions from operators too. Given this, a re-examination of the key points seems to be in order. My conception of a service model is…
Across the various places I write on networking topics, the topic that consistently outperforms the rest is OSS/BSS. I also get more comments and questions on that topic, and operators tell me that it’s become the most important issue. That all means that this is a good time to look at just where we are…
If there is a winner in the sad commoditization of networking, it’s surely Huawei. Their sales have climbed steadily as everyone else struggles or ties into narrow market niches. They’ve won a lot of battles in legacy networking, but that doesn’t mean it’s all beer and roses from here on. Three reports of their Operations…
A popular song of my youth was “How Deep is the Ocean, How High is the Sky?” We may be adding another semantically related question to that list, which is “How High is the Top?” Top-down planning for technology change has always been a favorite notion of mine, and we’re now starting to wonder as…