The Hedge

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A wide ranging network engineering podcast. The Hedge covers technology to life as a network engineer, Internet wide issues to small scale networks.

The Hedge

Knoxville, TN


    • May 29, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 41m AVG DURATION
    • 181 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Hedge

    Hedge 269: Web 3.0

    Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2025 45:26 Transcription Available


    Yes, we took an (unintentional) three-week break for medical reasons ... but we're back with a new episode. What is Web 3.0, and how is it different from Web 2.0? What about XR, AI, and Quantum, and their relationship to Web 3.0? Jamie Schwartz joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to try to get to a solid definition of what Web 3.0 and how it impacts the future of the Internet.

    Hedge 268: Will AI take our jobs?

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2025 36:56 Transcription Available


    nbsp; One of the "great fears" advancing AI unlocks is that most of our jobs can, and will, be replaced by various forms of AI. Join us on this episode of the Hedge as Jonathan Mast at White Beard Strategies, Tom Ammon, and Russ White discuss whether we are likely to see a net loss, gain, or wash in jobs as companies deploy LLMS, and other potential up- and down-sides.

    Hedge 267: Can modularization solve people problems?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2025 32:59 Transcription Available


    Solving technology problems often involves breaking a problem into multiple smaller problems, build interaction surfaces between the pieces, and glue the pieces back into a larger system. We also know every technology problem is actually a people problem--whether in the past, the present, or the future. Given these two points, can we say something like: "If technology and people problems are interchangeable, we should be able to solve people problems the way we solve technology problems--via modularization?"

    Hedge 266: SR/MPLS

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2025 39:00 Transcription Available


    When most people think of segment routing (SR), they think of SRv6--using IPv6 addresses as segment IDs, and breaking the least significant /64 to create microsids for service differentiation. This is not, however, the only way to implement and deploy SR. The alternative is SR using MPLS labels, or SR/MPLS. Hemant Sharma joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss SR/MPLS, why operators might choose MPLS over IPv6 SIDs, and other topics related to SR/MPLS. You can find Hermant's recent book on SR/MPLS here.

    Hedge 265: Out of Band Networks

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2025 46:32 Transcription Available


    Out of band management networks were once more common than they are today. Should we go back to building out of band management networks? Should out of band management networks be virtual or physical? How can we sell out of band management networks to the folks paying the bills? Daryll Swer joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss the importance of OOB management.

    Hedge 264: Documentation and Tech Debt

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2025 40:32 Transcription Available


    On this episode of the Hedge, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ talk about topics near and dear to every network engineer's heart--documentation, legacy, and tech debt. What should our philosophy of documentation be? What are legacy, end of life, and tech debt, really?

    Hedge 263: NFTs

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2025 45:21 Transcription Available


      How do Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, impact value and the future of all things digital? How are they different from--and similar to--blockchain? Jaime Schwarz joins Russ White and Tom Ammon to talk about what NFTs are, how they work, and how they might impact the future.

    Hedge 262: Stealthy BGP Attacks

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2025 42:48 Transcription Available


      Many providers count on detection in the global routing table to discover and counter BGP route hijacks. What if there were a kind of BGP hijack that cannot be detected using current mechanisms? Henry Birge-Lee joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss a kind of stealthy BGP attack that avoids normal detection, and how we can resolve these attacks.

    Hedge 261: The NTIA, Spectrum, and Broadband

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2025 41:25 Transcription Available


    In the United States, the National Telecommunications and Infrastructure Administration manages spectrum and researches the current state of Internet connectivity for policy makers. Henning Schulzrinne joins Tom and Russ to discuss the role of the NTIA, spectrum management, and broadband management.

    Hedge 260: The State of the DFZ

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2025 38:28 Transcription Available


    Trends in the global BGP table--the Default Free Zone (DFZ) table--can tell us a lot about the state of the global Internet. Is the Internet growing? Is IPv6 growing, or are we still in a world of "all things IPv4?" Geoff Huston joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to review the state of the routing table from 2024.

    Hedge 259: Architecture and Process

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2025 38:08 Transcription Available


    We often try to "institutionalize" things that work into repeatable processes—and most of the time, it doesn't work. The process ends up becoming unwieldy, eventually failing to prevent failures and stifling innovation. How can we get out of this rut? Differentiating between architecture and process. Far too many IT shops try to replace architecture with process. Our second topic for this episode is the destructive lies of the tool trope. Tools are not "neutral," they impact the way we think and work. A primary example of a tool that can often reshape our thinking and doing in very negative ways is ... the process.

    Hedge 258: pyATS and Testing Through Automation

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2025 36:27 Transcription Available


    We often think of network automation as a configuration tool, but automation can also be used for one-off, integration, and even continuous testing. Dan Wade joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to talk about pyATS and the concept of automated testing.

    Hedge 257: Gaining Experience in IT

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2025 41:19


    Every recruiter and hiring manager wants people with five years of experience, but you cannot get experience without being hired into a position. How can you break this conundrum? Daniel Dib joins Tom and Russ to talk about how folks just coming into IT, or even those with lots of experience who are trying to shift their focus, can gain experience.

    Hedge 256: The Impact of Your First Language

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2025 38:06


    Richard Wexelblat published an article in 1980 titled: "The consequences of one's first programming language." We've all seen C code written like Python, or Python code written like C, so it's obvious a coder's first language has a long lasting effect on their style. What about network engineers? Are there times and places where the first of anything a network engineers encounters has a long lasting impact on the way they think and work? In this roundtable, Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ consider different ways this might apply to network engineering.

    Hedge 255: Open Multi-perspective Issuance

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025 47:37


    One of the various attack surfaces in encryption is insuring the certificates used to share the initial set of private keys are not somehow replaced by an attacker. In systems where a single server or source is used to get the initial certificates, however, it is fairly easy for an attacker to hijack the certificate distribution process. Henry Birge-Lee joins us on this episode of the Hedge to talk about extensions to existing certificate systems where a certificate is pulled from more than one source. You can find his article here.

    Hedge 254: Should you /64?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 50:17


    One of the big questions about IPv6 is: "Should you use /64's for subnets?" Tom Coffeen joins Eyvonne Sharp, Rick Graziani, and Russ as we discuss the various questions surrounding IPv6 addressing, planning, waste, and ... should you /64?

    Hedge 253: Touch Grass!

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2024 28:22


    In this episode of the Hedge, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ talk about whether Intel will survive, centralization and industrial spying, and why you need to go touch grass and read a book.

    Hedge 252: The African IXP Association

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 40:38


    Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) are one of the key centers of Internet infrastructure. How do IXPs work together to build this critical infrastructure? Through ICP associations, such as the African IXP Association. Ricardo Simba joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to talk about a recent meeting of the African IXP Association.

    Hedge 251: Regulating Local Data Centers

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2024 31:39 Transcription Available


    What impact do local regulations have on our ability to build and operate new data centers in the United States? What impact do these regulations have on local economies? Juan Londoño, from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, joins Ned Bellavance and Russ White to discuss yet another part of the network engineering world.

    Hedge 250: Reacting to the Hype

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2024 36:36 Transcription Available


    It's roundtable time! Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ discuss several different topics, including the broader market implications for the changes going on at Broadcom and VMWare, balancing the cloud (they float!), reacting to the hype, and whether IP addresses will even be important in ten years.

    Hedge 249: FR Routing Update

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2024 40:52 Transcription Available


    Alistair Woodman joins Tom and Russ to talk about the current state of the FR Routing open source routing stack project. Like all software projects, FR Routing has entered a bit of a "middle phase," with a focus on maintenance and stability rather than new features and protocols.

    Hedge 248: Procrastination

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2024 33:31 Transcription Available


    Do you procrastinate too much? I know I do. Why do we procrastinate, and what strategies can we use to stop it? Terry Kim joins Eyvonne Sharp and Russ White to consider procrastination.

    Hedge 247: SONiC and other NOSs

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2024 45:37 Transcription Available


    SONiC has been around for a while--is there a solid commercial play for this open-source operating system? If so, what is it? What is the future for open-source and other network operating systems? Mike Bushong joins Tom Ammon, Eyvonne Sharp, and Russ White to discuss SONiC and open source network operating systems.

    Hedge 246: Complexity and Deployment

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2024 37:19 Transcription Available


    In this roundtable episode of the Hedge, Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ discuss complexity and deployment. Why do some protocols fail to deploy, or require decades, while others deploy quickly?

    Hedge 245: RADIUS and Authentication

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2024 37:32 Transcription Available


    RADIUS is one of those protocols we tend to forget about because it is ubiquitous--but authentication protocols are very large attack surfaces network engineers should pay more attention to. Alan DeKok joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss the RADIUS protocol.

    Hedge 244: Networks for AI

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2024 55:34 Transcription Available


    What are the requirements for running AI workloads over a data center fabric? Why is InfiniBand so popular for building AI networks? What about Ethernet for AI? Jeff Tantsura joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss networks for AI workloads.

    Hedge 243: The Open Radio Area Network (RAN)

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2024 42:14 Transcription Available


    The cellular network world is similar enough to the IP networking world to feel familiar, but different enough to require learning new terms and ideas. Tom Nadeau joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss one element of this networking world, the RAN network, and the current move towards open source and white box disaggregated solutions.

    Hedge 242: The Myth of the Coder

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2024 42:40 Transcription Available


    In the early days of computer programming, some thought there was a difference between a coder and a programmer. Did this division ever really exist, and are there similar divisions in network engineering?

    The Hedge 241: Starlink Performance w/Geoff Huston

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2024 53:35 Transcription Available


    When Starlink first went into service we heard a lot of stories about how its Internet service was slow and unreliable. We're a few years into Starlink launching satellites—how is Starlink holding up? Is service improving? Geoff Huston joins Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ to look into Starlink's performance today.

    Hedge 240: Build or Buy?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2024 41:20 Transcription Available


    Many network operators think the idea of building rather than buying is something that's out of reach--but is it? Join Steve Dodd, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ as we discuss the positive and negative aspects of build versus buy, what operators get wrong, and what operators don't often expect.

    Hedge 239: AI for Network Operations

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 15, 2024 42:04 Transcription Available


    There are (at least) three different aspects of AI in network engineering: network design to support AI, AI for development, and AI for operations. J.P. Vassuer joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss AI for understanding and operating networks. What are the possibilities? What are the pitfalls? What can we expect to see?

    Hedge 238: What Went Wrong? (Crowdstrike)

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2024 47:56 Transcription Available


      The massive failure resulting from a failed update to 8.5 million Windows hosts by Crowdstrike will live in Internet history for years to come. The failure will be studied by engineering teams and college classes to understand what went wrong and how we can stop this from happening in the future. Derick Winkworth (@cloudtoad), Eyvonne Sharp, Tom Ammon, and Russ White hang out at the hedge to talk about what happened and lessons learned from a network engineering perspective.

    The Hedge 237: What’s Wrong with Vendors?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2024 50:33 Transcription Available


    Looking at changes in the market in the last ten years, it certainly seems like vendors work less toward innovation and more towards locking customers in to revenue streams. Chris Emerick, Dave Taht, and Russ White decided it's time to talk about. What's wrong with vendors? And since everything can't be wrong with vendors, where are they doing the right thing?

    Hedge 236: Permissionless with Greg Ferro

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2024 57:07 Transcription Available


    Eyvonne and Russ catch up with Greg Ferro one last time to talk about the permissionless Internet--a thing of the past--vendor lock in, and many other random topics on this episode of the Hedge. Greg--here's to a grand time in the future. We'll miss you.

    The Hedge 235: Copyrights and Centralization

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2024 40:26 Transcription Available


    Join us as Tom, Eyvonne, and Russ hang out for another roundtable. We start the show talking about Tom's plant (is it real or ... ??). What does copyright have to do with Internet Service Providers? Should the two topics be related at all? What can the IETF do about Internet centralization?

    Hedge 234: We’re Looking in the Wrong Places to Solve the Cyber Workforce Shortage

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2024 47:39 Transcription Available


    We often hear about how there simply aren't enough tech people out there--especially in cybersecurity. Rex Booth, CISO at Sailpoint, joins Tom and Russ to discuss the problem, and why we should be looking in unconventional places to find the right people.

    Hedge 233: Making Heat Productive

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2024 32:04 Transcription Available


    Data centers turn large amounts of electricity into heat. Is it possible to recover even some part of this heat rather than throwing it off into the local environment? David Krebs of masterresource.org brings his vast experience with using heat from engines to bear on the problem to propose solutions.

    Hedge 232: Writing and Publishing with Aninda Chatterjee

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2024 41:28 Transcription Available


    If you've ever wondered what the process of creating and publishing a book is like, listen in as Aninda joins Tom and Russ to discuss the trials and rewards of publishing his first book, Deploying Juniper Data Centers with EVPN VXLAN.

    Hedge 231: Decoupling for Security

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2024 32:13 Transcription Available


    We often think of decoupling, or modularization in network engineering speak, as a primary tool for scaling networks, but it also one of the best tools network engineers have to increase security. In this roundtable, Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ discuss an article by Bruce Schneier on decoupling, and how it applies to networking engineering.

    Hedge 230: Preparing for Layoffs

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2024 46:28 Transcription Available


    You will probably be laid off at least once in your career--we no longer live a world of "permanent positions," or even a world where people are in complete control of their "work destiny." It's important, then, to prepare to be laid off, made redundant, or impacted by a RIF, today. Mike Bushong joins Eyvonne Sharp, Tom Ammon, and Russ White in a wide-ranging discussion about preparing to be laid off.

    Hedge 229: QUIC

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2024 Transcription Available


    What is QUIC? Where did it come from? Why has it been successfully deployed where so many other protocols have either taken forever or flat-out failed? George Michaelson (of APNIC fame) joins Tom Ammon and Russ White on this episode of the Hedge to (quickly) talk about QUIC.

    Hedge 228: Five Execs Misunderstandings about Tech

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2024


    Miscommunication between techies and business leaders are often caused by misunderstanding. Listen in as Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ discuss these misunderstandings and how we can address them.

    Hedge 227: Provider Consolidation and Competition

    Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2024 Transcription Available


    Europe and the United States are completely different landscapes of Internet service providers. Which provides better service for customers, and which direction should these different markets go? Luke Kehoe joins Tom Ammon, Eyvonne Sharp, and Russ White to discuss the European market specifically, and why the European market needs consolidation.

    Hedge 226: Making Networking Cool Again

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2024 40:14 Transcription Available


    Alexis Bertholf joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss how we can make network engineering cool again—and to talk about how we got into network engineering.

    Hedge 225: The CCNA

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2024 61:38 Transcription Available


    The CCNA has a long history as an important certification for network engineers. While the CCST has been created by Cisco "below" the CCNA, or as a different starting point, many network engineers begin their career with the CCNA. Join Jason Gooley, Wendell Odom, Tom, and Russ as we discuss the most recent updates to the CCNA, the way updates to the program are changing, and Jason's and Wendell's updated book on the CCNA.

    Hedge 224: Is Open Source a Market Failure?

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2024 34:25 Transcription Available


    Is Open Source Software (OSS) a market failure? What does OSS add to the market that cannot be accomplished in other ways? What happened to the F (Free)? Join us for this roundtable episode of the Hedge.

    Hedge 223: The Political Side of Standards with Geoff Huston

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2024 59:55 Transcription Available


    Listen in as Geoff Huston, Tom, and Russ discuss how the IETF, governments, and political movements interact when creating standards and guiding the future of the Internet.

    Hedge 222: Get out there and publish!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2024 59:55 Transcription Available


    Eric Chou joins Tom and Russ to talk about the importance of creating content, and the many tools and ideas you can use to get out there and publish. You've heard us talk about this a lot--now it's time to get out there and publish.

    Hedge 221: Energy Aware Protocols

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2024 41:58 Transcription Available


    A lot of people are spending time thinking about how to make transport and control plane protocols more energy efficient. Is this effort worth it? What amount of power are we really like to save, and what downside potential is there in changing protocols to save energy? George Michaelson joins us from Australia to discuss energy awareness in protocols.

    Hedge 220: The Cost of the Cloud

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2024 50:53 Transcription Available


    Cloud services are all the rage right now, but are they worth it? There are many aspects to the question, and the answer is almost always going to be "it depends." Do you really need to spin up capacity more quickly than you can buy hardware and get it running? Do you really need to be able to spin capacity down without leaving any hardware behind? Is cloud really the best use of your team's time and talent?

    Hedge 219: Are We There Yet?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2024 43:03


    We've been talking about many of the same things in networking since the late 1980s--autonomous, self-driving, autonomic, etc.--and yet ... those things all still seem like some sort of Jetson's cartoon episode. Why aren't we there yet? Are these even the right goals?

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