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Network AF Podcast

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Network AF is a journey of super-nerd proportions into the world of networking, cloud, and the internet. Avi Freedman, self-described internet plumber and podcast namesake, hosts top network engineering experts from around the world for in-depth, honest, and freewheeling banter on all-things-network — how-tos, best practices, biggest mistakes, war stories, hot takes, rants, and more.

Network AF

Phil Gervasi, Kentik's Head of Technical Evangelism stops by Network AF today to speak with host Avi Freedman about all things network observability and to recap their experiences at Cisco Live. Phil was a network engineer for 15 years prior to switching to marketing and finding his way into technical evangelism. In this conversation the two focus on building a foundation for data mining and collecting information that could better inform network intelligence and insights from observability platforms like Kentik. Highlights of today's conversation include:<ul><li>[01:23] Avi and Phil discuss highlights from Cisco Live</li><li>[03:35] Everybody is doing observability</li><li>[04:57] Actionable insights</li><li>[06:00] Bridging the gap with education and interest in networking</li><li>[08:18] Network operations-focused innovation</li><li>[10:45] How the industry is assisting engineer operations and architecture</li><li>[12:48] Correlation and machine learning</li><li>[16:19] Telemetry, ML, AI, and marketing fluff</li><li>[22:23] Collecting telemetry and solving difficult problems with automation in a multi-vendor environment</li><li>[26:29] Life Cycle Automation</li><li>[28:53] Building a foundation for intelligence and observability</li><li>[33:03] What Phil is looking forward to next year at Cisco Live</li></ul>

Technical marketer and evangelist, network architect and engineer, teacher, and blogger on networking and the networking industry at networkphil.com and popular community sites such as Packet Pushers, Tech Target, VMware Radius, and several networking vendors. 

Phil Gervasi

Head of Technical Evangelism at Kentik

Phil Gervasi, Kentik's Head of Technical Evangelism stops by Network AF today to speak with host Avi Freedman about all things network observability and to recap their experiences at Cisco Live. Phil was a network engineer for 15 years prior to switching to marketing and finding his way into technical evangelism. In this conversation the two focus on building a foundation for data mining and collecting information that could better inform network intelligence and insights from observability platforms like Kentik.


Phil Gervasi on Network Observability and Cisco Live

Network AF welcomes Doug Madory back to the podcast to discuss current events, including Russia invading Ukraine, and recent internet-related issues in Syria and Egypt. Doug is Kentik's Director of Internet Analysis, and uses BGP and traffic data to write about happenings with networks on a worldwide scale. Together with Kentik CEO and show host Avi Freedman, the two dive into the real-world implication of geopolitical events on the state of networking. Highlights of today's conversation include:<ul><li>[01:35] The current situation in Ukraine</li><li>[05:30] Route-jacking, forcing traffic through unknown infrastructure</li><li>[09:24] What internet activity looks like in Ukraine now</li><li>[12:09] Egypt and the cable "cutting" event, discussing submarine consortium cables</li><li>[17:37] The paths of submarine and overland circuit connections, how it impacts the flow of internet access across countries</li><li>[22:20] Connectivity can be much more network topological than geographically topological</li><li>[25:36] Syria and shutting down the Internet as the new norm</li></ul>

I conduct analysis of events and trends across the global Internet for Kentik (previously Oracle Internet Intel, Dyn Research and Renesys).

Doug Madory

Director of Internet Analysis at Kentik

Network AF welcomes Doug Madory back to the podcast to discuss current events, including Russia invading Ukraine, and recent internet-related issues in Syria and Egypt. Doug is Kentik's Director of Internet Analysis, and uses BGP and traffic data to write about happenings with networks on a worldwide scale. Together with Kentik CEO and show host Avi Freedman, the two dive into the real-world implication of geopolitical events on the state of networking.


Internet traffic and current events with Doug Madory

Network AF welcomes Doug Madory back to the podcast to discuss current events, including Russia invading Ukraine, and recent internet-related issues in Syria and Egypt. Doug is Kentik's Director of Internet Analysis, and uses BGP and traffic data to write about happenings with networks on a worldwide scale. Together with Kentik CEO and show host Avi Freedman, the two dive into the real-world implication of geopolitical events on the state of networking.



Chairman and Co-Founder of Scorbit, Jay Adelson, sits down with Network AF host Avi Freedman to talk about his history as a serial entrepreneur. Jay founded Equinix, Revision3, Opsmatic, and was the CEO of Digg. Throughout the conversation Jay and Avi touch on problems founders encounter, and discuss their mutual joy for gaming. Highlights of the conversation include:<ul><li>Imposter syndrome and working at DEC</li><li>Server evolution, power efficiency, and presentation</li><li>How not to build a data center</li><li>Terminating a cross connect and turning off service for Australia by accident</li><li>Equinix during its hyper-growth phase</li><li>Richard Clarke and peering</li><li>The Forrest Gump of the Internet</li><li>Amazing that the internet and the human body work at all</li><li>Emergent behavior and the case of HD DVDs</li><li>An evolution of the anarchy started by the internet</li><li>Scorbit, gaming, and problem solving in pinball</li><li>Advice and lessons to a young Jay</li></ul>

Jay Adelson is a serial entrepreneur, having built companies such as Equinix, Digg, Revision3, SimpleGeo, Opsmatic and Scorbit. Jay currently serves as Chairman and Co-Founder at Scorbit, a connected gaming company, as well as Co-Founder and General Partner of Center Electric, LLC, a venture firm he started with Andy Smith in 2014.

In late 2012, Jay co-founded Opsmatic, Inc., serving as Chairman. Opsmatic was sold to New Relic in October, 2015.

Jay served as CEO of SimpleGeo, Inc., in October, 2010, and sold them to Urban Airship in November, 2011.

Jay helped launch Digg, Inc. with Kevin Rose and provided business strategy to the company starting in October, 2004. He served as CEO beginning in 2005 and officially assumed the role full time when he formally resigned from Equinix, Inc. in October, 2005. Jay left the company at its peak in April, 2010.

In March of 2005, Jay co-founded and was CEO of Revision3 Corporation. He hired Jim Louderback to run Revision3 as CEO in June of 2007 and remained Chairman until their sale to Discovery Communications in May, 2012.

Jay founded Equinix (EQIX) in 1998 with Al Avery, and was responsible for the sustaining business model which led to Equinix's international success. During his seven years at Equinix, Jay provided technical leadership as Equinix's CTO, designing their products, datacenters, leading research and development, and helping drive their successful IPO.

On July 15, 2003, he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Science and Research & Development, as part of an industry panel on "The Private Sector's Role in Keeping America's Cyberspace Secure."

In 2008, Jay was selected by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Jay Adelson

Chairman, Co-Founder at Scorbit

Chairman and Co-Founder of Scorbit, Jay Adelson, sits down with Network AF host Avi Freedman to talk about his history as a serial entrepreneur. Jay founded Equinix, Revision3, Opsmatic, and was the CEO of Digg. Throughout the conversation Jay and Avi touch on problems founders encounter, and discuss their mutual joy for gaming.



Problem solving and pinball with Jay Adelson

Co-founder and CEO of Deft, Jordan Lowe stops by Network AF to talk to host Avi Freedman about all things IT infrastructure. Previously known as ServerCentral, Deft continues to innovate on its services to make managing IT infrastructure a better experience for the business and those who run it. Highlights of the conversation include:<ul><li>ServerCentral and being one of the first providers to combine domain names and web hosting for customers</li><li>Challenges in the networking business throughout Jordan's career, and the complexity of it all</li><li>How automation differs from 20 years ago when ServerCentral began</li><li>The challenges of running a network</li><li>Simplicity and reliability in the context of cloud native thinking</li><li>How Deft divides responsibilities between teams for cloud networking and network ops</li><li>The need for automation, and checks and balances for maintaining operations</li><li>The reason Deft uses its own global nLayer</li><li>Packet destiny and public peering</li><li>What emerging and interesting tech Jordan is interested in that is coming down the road</li><li>Hype around SDN and SD-Wan</li><li>The evolution of Edge computing, and cloud architecture's ability to deploy easily</li></ul>

Jordan Lowe co-founded Deft in 1999 and today is responsible for company strategy. He loves scuba diving and drinking adventurous new blends of whiskey — but not at the same time.

Jordan Lowe

CEO of Deft

Co-founder and CEO of Deft, Jordan Lowe stops by Network AF to talk to host Avi Freedman about all things IT infrastructure. Previously known as ServerCentral, Deft continues to innovate on its services to make managing IT infrastructure a better experience for the business and those who run it.


Automation and Transformation in IT Infrastructure with Jordan Lowe

Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Unitas Global, Grant Kirkwood, joins Network AF to discuss motivations for starting the company and where they're at currently. Avi and Grant talk about what it is like to be a service provider and a solution provider (MSP) in one, and how it plays into what Avi calls the APIfication of networks and IT strategy. Topics throughout the conversation include: <ul><li>Non-software enterprise companies and whether or not they'll adopt more interest in peering</li><li>Donut Peering and creating better interconnection</li><li>Building reliable and resilient networks for edge computing</li><li>Unitas' growth and how Grant thinks about building networking skills internally</li><li>Looking for people to join the team who are curious</li></ul>

A serial entrepreneur by trade with over 21 years of experience, Grant is a technologist at heart. He most recently served as the CTO at PacketExchange, a London-based global telecommunications firm. Grant was previously the founder and CEO of Mzima Networks, an Internet service provider that grew to over 40  points of presence around the world, and the CTO of Netixs, a managed hosting service provider.

Grant Kirkwood

Chief Technology Officer, Co-Founder and  Director at Unitas Global

Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Unitas Global, Grant Kirkwood, joins Network AF to discuss motivations for starting the company and where they're at currently. Avi and Grant talk about what it is like to be a service provider and a solution provider (MSP) in one, and how it plays into what Avi calls the APIfication of networks and IT strategy.


Peering, edge computing, and community with Grant Kirkwood

Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Unitas Global, Grant Kirkwood, joins Network AF to discuss motivations for starting the company and where they're at currently. Avi and Grant talk about what it is like to be a service provider and a solution provider (MSP) in one, and how it plays into what Avi calls the APIfication of networks and IT strategy. 



Network AF host and Kentik CEO Avi Freedman discusses data analysis and trends in understanding online activity with David Belson. David is Cloudflare's Head of Data Insight, where he helps the organization communicate information about the internet such as outages and changes in protocol adoption. Throughout the conversation the two discuss: <ul><li>Dave's beginning in networking and his role at BBN</li><li>Data analysis growth from the early internet</li><li>Helping people learn skills through product education</li><li>Tracking the digital footprint of online activity</li><li>Advice for communicating and building media relationships</li></ul>

David has a long history of staring at data about the Internet. He’s currently Head of Data Insight at Cloudflare, helping to establish Cloudflare as a trusted source of information about Internet trends and events. He has been in the industry over 25 years, and has held similar roles at Fastly, the Internet Society, and Akamai, where he launched the successful State of the Internet Report/Connectivity program. He started his career at BBN in the mid 90’s, supporting one of the first commercial Web hosting services.

David Belson

Head of Data Insight at Cloudflare

Network AF host and Kentik CEO Avi Freedman discusses data analysis and trends in understanding online activity with David Belson. David is Cloudflare's Head of Data Insight, where he helps the organization communicate information about the internet such as outages and changes in protocol adoption.


Understanding data analysis and online activity with David Belson

Bill Marantz joins Avi and Network AF to discuss how his team uses open source and automation technologies. The two also discuss mentorship and recruiting during rapid stages of company growth, and touch on problem solving in networking without a technical background.

Bill Marantz has spent over twenty years designing, deploying and supporting flexible, stable and cost effective networks. He has enjoyed creativity solving infrastructure problems in the Internet service provider, managed hosting, high frequency trading, SaaS and cloud hosting industries. Bill loves a mix of technical, commercial and strategic challenges in his workday.

Bill Marantz

Director of Network Strategy and Interconnection, Linode

Bill Marantz joins Avi and Network AF to discuss how his team uses open source and automation technologies. The two also discuss mentorship and recruiting during rapid stages of company growth, and touch on problem solving in networking without a technical background.


Recent Episodes

SEASON 1

Phil Gervasi on Network Observability and Cisco Live

Internet traffic and current events with Doug Madory

Problem solving and pinball with Jay Adelson

Automation and Transformation in IT Infrastructure with Jordan Lowe

Peering, edge computing, and community with Grant Kirkwood

Understanding data analysis and online activity with David Belson

Bill Marantz of Linode on automation, mentorship, and problem solving

About The Show

Network AF

Avi Freedman

Kentik CEO and Co-Founder