Network Ops

Every morning I make a task list. During the day, I check some items off, and new items get added. The next morning, I make a new task list – at least as long as the previous one. And so the cycle continues. This isn’t good or bad – running out of work would be… Continue Reading

When I ran Metaswitch Operations, we spent a lot of time figuring out how to avoid mistakes. My team was shipping out a lot of boxes full of hardware, with each shipment subtly different – and if we shipped the wrong cable or entered the wrong mailing address or installed the wrong software version… it… Continue Reading

Like many others, I’ve been watching the ESPN / Netflix documentary “The Last Dance” about Michael Jordan’s time with the Chicago Bulls. I was expecting to see some great basketball footage and to hear about MJ’s dedication to his craft. What surprised me was how many useful insights Phil Jackson shared about how to coach… Continue Reading

This past weekend my family watched the new Netflix movie Enola Holmes, which was a thoroughly entertaining story that cared little that its characters bore minimal resemblance to the “real” Holmes family. Mycroft diminished The biggest departure from the original stories was Mycroft. For those less nerdy than me, Mycroft Holmes is Sherlock’s older brother,… Continue Reading

On the morning of Sunday August 30, CenturyLink’s IP network was reported to be down for about 4.5 hours – probably focused on the part of the network that came with their acquisition of Level 3. From what I’ve read (simplifying greatly), a CenturyLink customer had requested that they block a certain IP address from… Continue Reading

There’s a popular myth that there’s a red telephone on the US President’s desk that connects him directly to the Russian President in Moscow. While that’s a nice idea for the movies, that’s not literally true – but since 1963 the Washington-Moscow Direct Communications Link between the Pentagon and the Kremlin has existed to allow… Continue Reading