Josh Stephens
Is big data a big drain on your network?
There's a lot of talk right now in the industry about big data and the Business Intelligence (BI) applications that are being used to wrangle it. However, very few people are talking about the impact that big data can have on the...
5 tech team lessons from 'The Avengers,' and a movie review
Last weekend I went and saw the new movie "Marvel's The Avengers". For those of you who don't know me very well -- I am a HUGE fan of superhero movies. I went into this movie with very high expectations and with the realization that...
Results from Geek Day 2012 in Washington D.C.
Last week I was out in Washington D.C. presenting at Geek Day. It's a trade show and networking event focused on IT professionals (geeks) in both the public and private sectors. As you would imagine, I couldn't resist the opportunity...
Josh Stephens
Josh Stephens is the founder of Bearded Dog, a company focused on technology consulting and development in Austin, Texas. Working in network management and infrastructure for almost 20 years, he has designed and deployed networks...
Data center expertise: Hard to come by, harder to validate
Last week I spoke at Data Center World out in Las Vegas. This was my first time to attend this show and AFCOM did a great job with it. My presentation was on best practices for simplifying data center networking and not only did it...
The softer side of network administration
Many times when we think about what makes a good network administrator, we limit our thinking to technical knowledge. Do they understand Ethernet? Do they have a firm grasp of 802.11? Can they make practical use of the OSI Model?...
Tracking down problem devices on your network
If you've been a network administrator for very long, you've probably had to deal with a situation where you had to track down a problem user or machine. Here's how that might have gone:A situation emerged where you had to shut down...
Are virtual network devices creeping into your network?
Virtualization technologies have dramatically changed the way that we think about servers and computing resources in general; this is common knowledge among most technologists and especially with system administrators. However, many...
The dangers of mobile management for you, the user
The subject of personally-owned mobile devices like tablets and smartphones being used on the corporate network is a hot one. I posted about it here, but it's a much wider issue than I covered in that piece. Many companies are...
Managing the influx of wireless devices around the holidays
'Tis the season for new and cool 802.11 enabled gadgets. Whether you have house guests jumping on your network with laptops, iPads, and smart phones, or employees showing up at work with their newly acquired Wi-Fi capable iPhones,...