Cisco’s DevNet and Networking Academy have teamed up again for another webinar series because of the high interest from last year's series. In our ever changing technology landscape, it only makes sense to revisit a few sessions from last year and share the latest details as well as feature a whole new set of topics. Join us for conversations about network programmability, security, SDN and network controllers, Python, and many other related topics.
Session 1: Networking with Programmability is Easy
Let us start this series by taking a look at how the world of networking is changing. This will help you to understand the resources available, which in turn can make you more efficient and ensure you get the ultimate benefits out of this webinar series. Discover the new skills that are required as a network engineer and what you can do to set yourself up on the path to a lucrative career.
We will also shed light on how the future requires network engineers, application developers, and infrastructure developers to all work together. People in these positions will need to explore how cross-functional collaboration and automation can help increase efficiency as well as expedite the pace of innovation. This session will provide insight on new Networking Academy course offerings to set you on a path of lifelong learning that will help you in your career -- regardless of the direction you pursue.
Download Slides | Answers to remaining Questions from the Speakers
Session 2: Role of a Network Engineer in the Programmable Age
Have you ever thought about what happens after you give a phone app permission to access your location or photos? The app requests data from your phone application, and then uses it to draw a map or enable you to alter your photo or some other useful action. Businesses today increasingly want to do similar things with network data—we call this Network Programmability.
In this session, we will explore how today we can manage and leverage networks in ways we have only dreamed of before. We will break down network programmability into its basic elements and explore what has driven this latest topic to the forefront of many network-engineering discussions.
Session 3: Software Defined Networking and Controllers
Imagine a network with thousands of devices, and now imagine answering the question: “where exactly is Bob’s computer in the network?”
What is the best way that is also scalable and fastest to answer that question? Join us to learn about the power of Software Defined Networking and Network Controllers and learn how that question can be answered immediately.
We dive deeper into the new software defined world with examples of a DNA-C controller taking over the repetitive and boring networking tasks, so that you can now concentrate on innovations in networking.
Session 4: Adding API Skills to Your Networking Toolbox
Smartphone apps are used for daily tasks such as directions from point A to B, to check the weather forecast, or simply to view the number of likes on a social media post. All of these apps are built on top of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which are exposed by your Android or iPhone device, and allow the app to interact and use its features (e.g. screen, network connections, sensors, etc.).
Let us take this a step further, what if the network could have similar API interfaces? What would be the first app you would build to interact with the network features?
The network does have APIs, and you can indeed write your own networking apps. Join this session to discover how in using a programmable network with APIs, you can multiply the power of your existing toolbox of networking skills. Learn all about APIs, how to interact with the network using RESTful APIs using tools such as Postman, and how to answer the question of “Where exactly is Bob’s computer in the network?,” – all with a single API call.
Session 5: The New Programmable Toolbox of a Networking Engineer
Have you ever wondered what programming language you should learn as a network engineer, or how you can write simple code to interact with the network? Curious as to what is in the new programmable toolbox of a networking engineer? During this session, hear the answers to all these questions and many more related to this topic.
We explore the Python programming language and why it is relevant for network engineers and discuss the basics of Python and how to use it to interact with the network APIs from a Python script. If you recall the question from the previous two session’s “where exactly is Bob’s computer in the network?”, you will learn the answer to that question by writing a few lines of Python code, saving it to a file, and simply executing it whenever you need the answer for that question.
Session 6: Program Networking Devices using their APIs
Imagine you have just unboxed a new router and you want to use APIs to configure it. Is there any way to move from CLI to APIs with the actual physical networking devices? Yes, there is – using Model Driven Programmability. To use network APIs, you cannot only programmatically interact with network controllers, but you can also use APIs to interact with the actual networking devices such as routers, switches, firewalls, etc.
Learn about the new concept of Model Driven Programmability and so-called YANG device models. During this session, you will also hear about the NETCONF and RESTCONF protocols that let you programmatically interact with networking devices, such as learning to use Python with NETCONF to add a new VLAN or change an IP address.
Session 7: Before, During, and After a Security Attack
Have you ever wondered what happens before a bad actor attacks a network? The hope is that their attempt to infiltrate the infrastructure will be eliminated by the layers of security protection built into the network. However, sometimes the attackers exploit an unknown, so-called, 0-day vulnerability to get inside. Do not panic – even during the attack, we can collect valuable information and learn how the attack is being-executed and if or where it is spreading.
Moreover, based on the collected information, we know where we should concentrate our cleaning efforts after the attack has been discovered and eliminated. Join this session to learn more about threat protection, and how simple scripts with programmability and automation can turn your response time to an attack from minutes to seconds.
Session 8: Play with Linux and Python on the Networking Devices
What app would you develop if you could run it directly on a router or a switch? What full-stack system would you want to deploy and run directly on a router or a switch if they could run a full Linux operating system? Now that your imagination is running wild, join this session to learn how on a network infrastructure you can now run your Python code directly from the IOS CLI. You will also learn how to spin up a full Linux container on a router with either your favorite network performance-monitoring tool or with a chat-bot app that lets you manage the network from a messenger app on your phone.
Session 9: Automate your Network with a Bot
When was the last time you had a chat with a bot? It could be when you recently bought a plane ticket. Some airline agencies have a chat-bot interface on their website. The bot might first ask where and when you would like to fly, followed by price range. After a short interactive chat, the bot can help you buy your ticket.
Taking the same concept, what if instead of manually configuring our network, we could talk to a bot and say “Hey network, in the next 2 hours, prioritize the video traffic from my managers laptop”? Join us for this last session of the Programmability with DevNet webinar series to learn how a few lines of code can integrate and cross-connect various systems into a simple, yet powerful, network automation chat-bot.
