The Art of Network Engineering

Andy Lapteff sits down with network architect James Bensley at AutoCon 5 in Munich to explore the realities of service provider networking, architecture, automation, and standards development.   James shares his path from support engineer to architect, explains how network designs evolve, and discusses how architects balance business requirements, operational simplicity, and long-term scalability....

What happens when a network engineer realizes their biggest strength isn’t just technology, it’s communication? In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff sits down with Patrick McCabe to discuss the transition from network engineering into product marketing and other vendor-side technical roles. Pat shares stories from: carrier-scale networking, tier 3 operational support, IP...

AI infrastructure is reshaping networking faster than most engineers realize. In this episode, Andy Lapteff sits down with Scott Robohn to discuss why traditional network engineers should start paying attention to AI networking, GPU infrastructure, and the massive changes happening inside modern data centers. They explore: Why AI workloads are changing networking requirements GPU networking and lo...

Andy Lapteff sits down in person with Tom Hollingsworth ahead of Networking Field Day 40 for a wide-ranging conversation about Tech Field Day, what makes a great delegate, how great technical conversations happen, and why curiosity remains one of the most important traits in networking. Tom shares the “secret sauce” behind Field Day: strong content, the right audience, and logistics that make the...

In this episode, we break down why traditional job applications are failing and how networking communities like USNUA are becoming the fastest path to career growth in IT. You’ll learn:  Why applying online isn’t working   How real opportunities come from real conversations   Why community matters more than certifications  You don’t get hired through applications. You get hired through people. If...

For years, network engineers were told the same thing: “Learn Python… or fall behind.” But what if that’s no longer true? In this episode, we walk through a real Hello World for AI in networking: connecting an AI agent to NetBox using Model Context Protocol (MCP) and querying network data in natural language. No scripts. No Python expertise. Just results. This is a live, unfiltered build, from clo...

What does a network engineer actually make in 2025–2026? How do you ask for a raise without making it weird? And what's the single biggest thing holding your career back? We recorded this one live. This episode comes straight from the US Networking User Association PA Network User Group 2026 Spring Career Day — a standing-room-only event organized by USNUA in the Philadelphia area. Five talks...

What if the biggest problem in networking is that we’re solving the wrong one? In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering , Andy and Lexie sit down with Radia Perlman , one of the most influential figures in networking history and the inventor of Spanning Tree Protocol. This conversation goes far beyond protocols and configurations. Radia shares how networking evolved, through constraints,...

In this episode, Andy sits down with Gregory Grimes to unpack the world of Wi-Fi 7 and what it means for network engineers. If wireless has ever felt like magic compared to the predictability of route/switch, this conversation is for you. Andy and Greg walk through the evolution of wireless networking, from the early days of 802.11 to the latest innovations in Wi-Fi 7, including wider channels, be...

“AI Won’t Replace You, But Someone Using AI Might” AI is everywhere; stickers, marketing, hype. Network engineers are understandably skeptical. In this episode, Andy Lapteff is joined by longtime friend of the show John Capobianco (now Head of AI & DevRel at Itencho) and Mike Bushong for a practical, optimistic “ABCs of AI” discussion designed for working network engineers. We start with a blu...

What does “mission-critical networking” really mean? At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it’s not about uptime SLAs or dashboard metrics; it’s about supporting the research and care that helps save children’s lives. In this episode, we sit down with Remington Loose and Josh Morris to explore the architecture, scale, and responsibility behind one of the most meaningful networks in the world....

Erika Dietrick (aka “Erika the Dev”) is back on the show, and she’s days away from a major life change (welcome, Baby Dev). In this follow-up conversation, we dig into the thing that keeps coming up in network engineering careers: programming is no longer a “nice-to-have.” Erika breaks down her free YouTube course designed specifically for network engineers: Level 1 is “programmatic thinking” (the...

We've all worked on those technical projects that felt doomed from the start.  In this episode, we're joined by Eyvonne Sharp and Mike Bushong to dig into what actually derails technical projects, and why the root cause is usually people, not packets. We unpack: - Why 80–90% of project failures aren’t technical - What “executive sponsorship” is supposed to mean (and why most teams never...

Recorded on-site in Austin, Texas, at AutoCon 4 (Network Automation Forum), Andy sits down with Colin Doyle to talk about the human side of technical communication and why it matters more than ever in technical careers. They dig into practical speaking advice for engineers: how to slow down without losing authority, why “dead air” feels scarier than it is, how to stop relying on scripts, and how t...

Most network engineers know BGP, OSPF, and maybe EIGRP, but far fewer have hands-on experience with ISIS. In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff sits down with Russ White and Mike Bushong for a deep, opinionated, and refreshingly honest discussion about routing protocol design in modern data centers. We explore why BGP has become the default hammer for every networking nai...

In this special on-location episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff sits down in person with Kevin Myers for a conversation that pulls no punches. Kevin brings decades of service provider and whitebox experience to the table as the two dive deep into one of networking’s most complex decisions: how to choose the right vendor to build your network. From Cisco to whitebox, from enterp...

Andy sits down with longtime friend William Collins to unpack three big themes shaping modern NetOps.  First: the AWS US-East-1 outage and the myth that “cloud = resiliency by default.” They explore blast radius, hidden regional dependencies, cost trade-offs (active/active vs. DR), and why resiliency is engineered, not purchased.  Next: how public speaking accelerates a technical career (without l...

Network engineers don’t tune into corporate all-hands because they’re “lazy,” they tune out because the message often isn’t for them. In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff sits down with longtime industry leaders Scott Robohn and Mike Bushong to unpack the disconnect between engineering teams and executive communications, and how to fix it. They talk about: Why engineers...

Blue Origin’s Lexie Cooper is back! We riff on New Glenn’s first launch and what “vehicle #2” means for launch cadence, where to watch from Florida without getting arrested, and why streaming your learning, even when it’s awkward, is a cheat code for growth.  Andy shares his live Python study saga (and a friendly dust-up with Jeff about “just code it”), while Lexie takes us down to Layer 1: PHYs,...

Learning Python as a network engineer can feel confusing, frustrating, and let’s be honest, pretty dry at times. But Andy and Jeff are diving in together to make it real, relatable, and (hopefully) a little more fun. In this episode, they pick up where the last Python Party left off: exploring variables, strings, methods like .title() and .strip(), and why whitespace can break your scripts. Along...

We’re kicking off a brand-new “Python Study Sessions” series—learn right alongside host Andy Lapteff as he starts from absolute basics and builds momentum one concept at a time. In this first session, Andy walks through the installation of Python, setting up VS Code, running “Hello, world,” and getting comfortable with the Python REPL. Then we dive into fundamentals you’ll use everywhere: variable...

BGP isn’t just “the internet’s protocol”—it’s the most flexible policy engine in networking. In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff and Jeff Clark sit down with Kevin Myers (aka StubArea51) to unpack Border Gateway Protocol from the ground up: why BGP replaced EGP, how policy differs from IGP topology, and where iBGP shines inside modern enterprises. You’ll hear practical...

What happens when a farm kid with a knack for taking things apart discovers computers? Meet Tom Lawrence, the tech polymath behind Lawrence Systems and a YouTube channel with over 375,000 subscribers. In this engaging conversation, Tom reveals how his curiosity-driven journey from 1990s Linux enthusiast to MSP owner and content creator was fueled by a simple philosophy: lead with value. Tom's...

From refinancing a car to attend Novell School to founding one of networking's most influential podcasts, Ethan Banks shares his remarkable journey through the evolution of network engineering with raw honesty and deep insight. In this captivating conversation, Ethan takes us back to the mid-90s when networks ran on a patchwork of protocols like IPX, DeckNet, and AppleTalk, before the industr...

Ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes of a tech podcast? From planning to publishing, this episode lifts the veil on the entire content creation process that powers The Art of Network Engineering. The journey begins with planning—far from simply hitting record and talking, successful episodes require thoughtful topic selection, guest coordination, and scheduling. We reveal how projec...