Tech Field Day Podcast

Pretty much every application today has an API and scales out using modern infrastructure approaches, but is it a cloud? That’s the question we put to the panel of podcast guests today, as we look forward to Cloud Field Day 14 in June 2022. Certainly APIs are important to cloud applications, but it takes more than an API to be a cloud. The cloud operating model, and as-a-service financial mo...

You may have engineering talent on staff but how full are they? Because you must have a full stack engineer, or you’ll never get anything accomplished. What is a full stack engineer? Why are they so in-demand? And why are there no full stack lawyers? Or full stack doctors? In this episode, we discuss whether or not Full Stack Engineering is a Joke. On-Premises for Today’s Roundtable: Panelists Kei...

Enterprise IT has endured a significant number of changes in the past few years. The rise of the cloud coupled with a global pandemic forcing users to work remotely has made stakeholders ask about the need to replace hardware for a location that doesn’t see much traffic. Coupled with the desire of hardware vendors to move to a subscription model, it’s time to ask Does Enterprise IT Matter Anymore?...

The line between storage and memory is blurring thanks to Intel Optane technology, and systems equipped with this might not need storage at all. Join Dr. Jawad Khan of Intel as he discusses a real-world system that was able to outperform a high-end solution at a tenth the cost thanks to Intel Optane technology. Justin Warren and Frederic Van Haren join Stephen Foskett to discuss the implications o...

Companies are reinventing things all the time in IT. In their own fields, when venturing out to new ones, it seems that every company is trying to do things their own unique way, albeit trying to bring something new and incredible to the market, but there is a fallacy to this approach that’s foiling their good intentions. Enterprise IT companies don’t seem to communicate much amongst themselves an...

Most people assume that storage systems are secure, but security is not necessarily part of the design for most storage systems. In this episode, sponsored by RackTop Systems , Marc Staimer and Arjan Timmerman are joined by Eric Bednash and David Hughes of RackTop to discuss the real state of storage security. Although cybersecurity professionals have processes and directives in place in many spot...

Given the announcements of just about every company in the industry, it appears that AI requires specialized storage to function. In this special episode, recorded prior to AI Field Day, Andy Banta and Karen Lopez join Stephen Foskett to discuss the relationship between storage, data, and AI. We’ve seen lots of companies, including AI Field Day presenters DDN, NetApp, and WEKA, selling their...

The technology behind VPNs is venerable. Heavy clients that create client networking issues coupled with key exchanges makes users want to throw their hands up in dismay. Applications have integrated security features and moved to the cloud to provide centralized access. Are VPNs even worth it any more? In this episode, brought you by Keeper Security, we debate the premise that VPNs Aren’t Require...

Many companies are trying to leverage DevOps to sell products through developer advocacy, but does it actually work? Just having open source or sharing code on GitHub doesn’t guarantee that a company will get quality engagement, let alone testing or adoption. In fact, a developer focus can be counter-productive if a company wants to become a strategic partner to other companies. Open source works...

Wireless is the new normal for endpoint connectivity. But does it solve all the problems we have with connecting lots of devices over a wide area? Are there places where Wi-Fi doesn’t work as well as other technologies? With the rise of private cellular deployment options IT departments are asking whether or not they should be considering alternatives to traditional Wi-Fi. In this episode, a panel...

We all know how dangerous it is to have no security around your important IT assets. We need to keep the users safe and the infrastructure secure. What happens when we go overboard and implement too many polices and tools to protect things? Are we really helping the situation? Or are we just making it worse for everyone, including the people that rely on us to get their work done? In this episode,...

Storage is not secure, period. Storage has security weaknesses that can open doors to attackers to easily hack into sensitive data stores, and this is not news. Security vulnerabilities in storage have existed for years, but not much has been done about it. Today, on the face of rising ransomware attacks, when data security is supremely important, storage is still the weakest link in security. In...

The typical approach to security is to just put some firewalls in place and create a perimeter, right? While that might work well in very specific enterprise settings reality is more nuanced, especially in a service provider. In this episode we discuss why Firewalls Don’t Seem to Belong Everywhere. On-Premises for Today’s Roundtable: Panelists Nick Buraglio Chris Cummings Vince Schuele Moderator T...

Looking at the new companies in enterprise storage, it’s obvious that storage just isn’t storage anymore. Even more traditional storage vendors are adding software as a service and data services, and these are major selling points rather than the ability to store data. At Storage Field Day in March 2022, none of the companies is presenting block and file storage, SAN or NAS, or any of...

The modern world of security is transforming quickly. Attackers are leveraging new tools and new ways to invade systems  and capture data or demand ransoms. The traditional method of securing your enterprise isn’t enough any more. If you’re thinking in a reactive way you’re falling behind and may never catch up. In this episode we discuss all the ways that Reactive Security Controls are Not E...

You’ve probably heard of Web3 but how do we actually define it? We know that it has something to do with connecting the web to a blockchain but the true definition of Web3 is unclear. We can all agree that there are exciting aspects of Web3 but why are we doing this? We can already do a lot of things without Web3, from online banking to distributed applications. Do we really need a blockchain? Is...

As public cloud becomes more popular and competitive, developers are adopting cross-cloud platforms that can be thought of as a hypercloud. One driver for this is high availability, but many platform decisions are driven by a desire for more advanced features. Still, we must be aware of data gravity and the complexity involved with these platforms. Kubernetes is the ultimate example of a hyperclou...

How many times have we heard of an exciting new advance in enterprise IT that is poised to revolutionize the way we do things only to see it fizzle out? Perhaps it’s bad business practice but what about those that were acquired by bigger companies and disappear? Is it a bit of bad luck? Or is it something more sinister? In this episode we explore the idea that Disruptive Technologies Get Buried. O...

Have you ever watched a movie sequel that felt just like the previous one but with slightly newer references? That’s how 2021 felt compared to 2020. In 2022, will we see the technology landscape shift dramatically? Or will it feel like the past twelve months but with faster speeds and lower costs? Join a group of forward-looking thinkers on this episode as we decide whether or not 2022 will be the...

Networking is networking, right? It’s all the same routers and switches that move packets between locations. How different can they really be? Join Tom Hollingsworth as he brings on a panel of service provider networking experts to dissect the differences between the traditional enterprise network and a service provider or transit network. What are the ultimate goals of your infrastructure? And wh...

Unstructured data is varied in nature and continues to grow, especially in our new world of telematics, multimedia, and AI. In this sponsored episode, Amy Fowler of Pure Storage joins Gina Rosenthal, Enrico Signoretti, and Stephen Foskett to discuss the challenge of dealing with unstructured data. With IDC estimating that 85% of user data will be unstructured, the challenge isn’t to provide...

When designing Wi-Fi networks, there are a number of buttons that you can push to help make the perfect setup to maximize coverage and throughput. Depending on the application you use to do the work you may find some buttons easier to use than others. However, the most popular value to change seems to be the data rate. Is this a good idea? Or are you just setting yourself up for failure? In this e...

Containers were supposed to be lightweight and stateless, unlike the heavy virtual machines that dominate today’s datacenter. In this first on-premises episode in two years, Stephen Foskett puts the question of heavy containers to Ned Bellavance, Nico Stein, and Nathan Bennett. Containers were intended to abstract system services rather than hardware like virtualization, and this results in their...

The question of cloud readiness has plagued the enterprise for a decade, but we have finally gotten to the point that enterprise IT is coming to the public cloud. Some of the drivers for cloud adoption include the pandemic and work-from-anywhere as well as the current shortage of chips and equipment. But there is a pull for cloud as well, now that applications have evolved to the point that they w...

The rise of massive ransomware outbreaks has led to a number of strategy changes, including the pivot of disaster recovery and business continuity companies into marketing their solutions as an effective way to stop ransomware. But are these products really going to solve the issue? Or just treat the symptoms of the wider problem? On-Premises for Today’s Roundtable: Panelists Scott Driver Bruno Wo...