The Challenges That Keep ISP Engineers Up at Night
ISP engineers have traditionally been a “person of many hats”. There are many things that keep us up at night. Among them are some of the following.
Network Operations
Internet Service provider topics, Network operations, and other topics. Some topics include Mikrotik, Cisco, Arista and other configurations.
The Grey Area of Customer Problems in ISP networks
When you run a network, you’ll hit this situation sooner or later. A customer buys a service, but the issue they are dealing with is not related to your network. It is theirs. But do you help them?
Management networks and the Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Most ISPs don’t start with a management network. Instead, they add it later as the network expands. They add a router, an OLT, some core switches, and a few servers. Everything runs smoothly—until it suddenly doesn’t. Then someone asks a tough question, usually during an outage: If the main network goes down, how do we … Read more
Differences between a VLAN and a Private VLAN
Many engineers use the term VLAN in a broad way, often referring to any logical separation on a switch. However, a standard VLAN and a Private VLAN address different needs. Mixing them up can lead to network design mistakes.
What Network Time Protocol Is and Why You Should Care
If you manage a network and haven’t considered synchronizing your devices with the NTP protocol, this article is for you. Logs, BGP sessions, RADIUS accounting, DHCP leases, syslog, NetFlow, security alerts. Every one of them depends on accurate time. Network Time Protocol, usually called NTP, is the protocol that keeps clocks in sync across IP networks. It runs over UDP port 123.
AI-Driven Network Operations: What’s Real and What’s Marketing for ISPs
This is the second installment in my series about the modern Internet Service Provider. The term AIOps gets thrown around liberally, and it’s worth being precise about what machine learning actually does well in network operations versus where it’s still a pipe dream. Where ML Delivers Measurable Value Today Anomaly detection is the most mature … Read more
How the Modern ISP Network Is Actually Structured
The three-tier model of core (edge), distribution, and access remains the foundation of ISP network architecture, though the distinctions between these layers have become less defined. A current assessment requires analysis beyond standard diagrams.
The Modern ISP Network: Architecture, Challenges, and What’s Next for Internet Service Provider Infrastructure
You’re managing a network that deals with more traffic than ever before. Your subscribers stream 4K video, work from home using cloud-based tools, and rely on applications where even a slight delay matters. The systems you have now are working, but the reality is that the network design you use today won’t be enough for the next five years.
Annatomy of a DDoS attack. When ports fill up
Identifying a DDoS attack requires an understanding of normal network behavior. In the left portion of the graph,
How Internet Service Providers can use AI – the 10,000 foot level
How Internet Service Providers can use AI – the 10,000 foot level
Stuck SFP modules in switches
If you have been around the Data Center world working on switches, you will have run into this at one point. A stuck SFP. If you have ran into this, the following article by Edge Optical Solutions will be of use. https://edgeoptic.com/kb_article/how-to-remove-a-stuck-sfp-module There is also a Reddit thread on this. Isn’t there always a Reddit … Read more
LibreQOS Buffer Bloat test
https://bufferbloat.libreqos.com What Each Phase Tests Baseline Your connection’s inherent latency when idle (measures base network quality) Download How much latency increases when downloading large files (simulates streaming, software updates) Upload How much latency increases when uploading data (simulates video calls, cloud backups) Bidirectional How much latency increases during simultaneous heavy download and upload (simulates real-world … Read more