Okay, I know there are a lot of different explanations about how to describe these common components of networks (see, for instance, here, here, here, here, and here), but every once in a while I get a question about whether or not 40G will make things go “faster” in networks (often relating to FCoE and storage in general). Why write another …
Quick Take: Why Not the User-Defined Data Center?
I’ve been struggling with names (or rather, the act of naming) recently. As I get more and more involved into the aspect of Data Centers and Programmability, trying to become more familiar in a world that remains considerably alien to me, I begin to struggle with some of the rather buzzword-laden (but ultimately vague) nomenclature: Software-Defined Networks Software-Defined Storage Software-Defined …
OpenStack and Storage, a Response
I respond to an excellent article by Stephen Foskett, who was responding to one of my one OpenStack articles.
Brocade and Evaluator Group’s Really, Really Bad FCoE Study
It’s been almost four years to the month that I took on Gartner’s horrible anti-FCoE diatribe, and since then I’ve joined Cisco, written a few more blogs, and even gone toe-to-toe with the technology’s largest critic – Brocade. For the most part, the tete-a-tete has been cordial, if a little snarky (just the way I like it!), and generally falls …
SNIA SDC Observations, Part II: The Not-So-Good
In my first post, I was talking about how the SNIA Storage Developer’s Conference really met and exceeded expectations in a lot of ways. There were many shining moments, but unfortunately there were quite a few disappointing ones as well.
SNIA Storage Developer’s Conference Observations, Part I
This past week I went to the SNIA Storage Developer’s Conference in Santa Clara. It was the first time that I came to a conference as an attendee in a very, very long time. Overall, the experience was positive and interesting, but there were some moments of disappointment as well, as some of the major limitations of storage perceptions came …
Yet Another Social Media Misunderstanding
Today I saw an article float by in the Twitter river: “Why do only 7% of managers consider social media skills most important for employees?” Go ahead and read the article, because the attitudes are pretty interesting. The author, however, conflates a couple of things and winds up 180 degrees from the direction he should be facing. First, “social media” …
Yahoo! Hates! Its! Employees! – A Rant
People who are complaining about Yahoo’s remote worker policy have lost their freakin’ minds.
Deeply Disturbing – The Troll or The Terrorist
Yesterday a blog post came across my Twitter stream from Leo Traynor, an Irish writer who blogged about why he left Twitter (and subsequently came back). The story, entitled “Meeting a Troll…“, is deeply, deeply disturbing and horrific. I read this blog post and felt physically ill for hours at the depth of depravity and darkest human psyche and motivations. …
From Products to Strategy, a Journey of a Single Step
It’s hard to believe I’ve only been at Cisco for a little more than 2 years. At some companies, that may be considered to be the “long-toothed veteran,” but at Cisco it’s still a blink of an eye. During that time I’ve been doing a lot of work on FCoE in the storage team of fantastic individuals, but the time …
Cagematch: Synology vs. Drobo
This post is a long time coming and is extremely overdue. The only reason why I am finally getting off my rump and writing something is because today I was forwarded an open letter, “mea culpa” article written by Tom Buiocchi, CEO of Drobo on Scott Kelby’s site. Now, I only got the link to Mr. Buiocchi’s response, and I …
Apple’s Sour Fruit Leaves Bitter Taste
Why I have turned off Apple’s atrocious MobileMe calendar syncing.
FCoE Fact Frustration? Me too.
Last week, I had a very interesting email conversation with Chris Mellor, storage writer for The Register. As a trade press reporter, Chris has been trying to distill some of the technologies of FCoE for his readers and one of his articles prompted me to write to him and offer some corrections and clarification. At first I thought that Chris’ …
FCoE Standards: Taking a Step Back
While it may seem like I’ve been taking a hiatus from blogging for a while, the truth is that I’ve been working on a number of writing projects related to FCoE. As I mentioned on a recent Infosmack podcast there have been a lot of developments coming out this month and, understandably, there are a lot of people who are …
Infosmack Goodness
Just a short post today to promote the Infosmack podcast that I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate. I’ve been a fan of the podcast for a while and when Greg Knierieman asked me to join I was honored and excited. Along with Greg and Marc Farley from 3Par, I was invited along with Doug Hazelman from Veeam. …