DevCentral Visits: KubeCon NA 2023
Myself andAubreyKingF5are hitting the road together and getting our Cloud-Native on as we visit KubeCon NA 2023 in Chicago! The Cloud-Native Community is one of the most lively ones out there and we have a lot of people to visit. Keep an eye on this thread as we update with all of the things we learn about this week! Make sure to subscribe to theDevCentral Youtubechannel,followDevCentral,Aubrey King, andBuu Lamto get the latest updates. Check out the whole KubeCon NA 2023 playlist here.GITEX Global 2023 in Dubai - DevCentral Visits
@buulamis fresh from GITEX Global in Dubai! Here are some highlights from his trip and the connections he made at this massive IT conference. Make sure to subscribe to theDevCentral Youtubechannel,and followDevCentralandBuu Lamto get the latest updates. DevCentral Visits GITEX Global 2023 in Dubai! Zakeer Zubair on Navigating Changes in F5 and Dubai Over 16 Years Role Reversal! Zakeer Zubair Dives into Buu Lam's Journey Grant Taylor talks about Exclusive Networks and the Middle East region DevCentral Visits GITEX Global 2023 in Dubai! Buu arrives at GITEX Global 2023 in Dubai! This massive security conference (more than 200,000 attendees) has a lot of cool things to explore. Zakeer Zubair on Navigating Changes in F5 and Dubai Over 16 Years Zakeer Zubair, the Senior Manager for Solutions Engineering at Gulf & Levant, has seen significant changes in F5 and Dubai over 16 years. He discussed how market needs align well with F5's portfolio of application and API delivery and protection. He also highlighted the value of the university intern program. Role Reversal! Zakeer Zubair Dives into Buu Lam's Journey Role reversal! Zakeer Zubair interviewed Buu Lam about his journey to becoming a DevCentral Community Evangelist and the importance of sharing educational content. Buu also shares his impressions of Dubai as a first-time visitor! Grant Taylor talks about Exclusive Networks and the Middle East region Grant Taylor, General Manager of Exclusive Networks in the Middle East, oversees the largest distributor in the region. With professional services, specialized partner sales teams, the company is leading the digital transformation taking place in the Middle East.
Remember your first stack?
Do you remember your first stack? Maybe you got lucky and had a chance to build your first stack from the ground up, with ample time and resources. Your stack was flexible, efficient, and modern, with everything you need, and nothing you don’t. Maybe you inherited a stack that was built when your company’s business was really different…and managing security and updates takes enough time and resources that you never quite got around to upgrading the system to meet current business needs. Maybe your first stack showed just how many people had been involved in its development over the years, with idiosyncratic workarounds to allow integration of older and more modern tech. As you’ve moved from role to role, you’ve probablynoticed that every stack is different, featuring a unique combination of elements that reflect the current and historical needs of the business…and a unique set of app and API security and delivery needs to match. At F5, we’ve noticed that, too - That’s whywe’ve worked hard to build a set of security and delivery solutions that can work on any architecture. That’s also why we created the Frankenstacks—these colorful stacks are meant to bring to life the unique architectures our customers have built and to represent the creative solutions those architectures include. So, go ahead Choose a new Frankenstack avatar. (You can even pick one that reps your real-life stack.) Tell us what you remember about your first stack. And remember that whatever you’ve built, we secure that.F5 2023 State of Application Strategy Report
Hybrid IT is here to stay! So says F5’s 2023 State of Application Strategy Report. Did you know that almost 90% of our respondents are running in multiple clouds and most of them are using anywhere from 3 to 6 different cloud providers? But challenges remain. You can learn more about these and many other interesting tidbits in the F5 2023 State of Application Strategy report. Get yours at: F5.com/SOASDevCentral's Featured Member for April - Mihai Cziraki
Our Featured Member series is a way for us to show appreciation and highlight active contributors in our community. Communities thrive on interaction and ourFeatured Seriesgives you some insight on some of our most engaged folks. DevCentral MVPMihai Czirakiis our Featured Member for April 2023! He's been helping lots of other members with some great tips so let's catch up with Mihai! DevCentral: First, please explain to the DevCentral Community a little about yourself, what you do and why it is important. Mihai: I am a Data Center Network Senior Design Engineer working for _VOIS – Vodafone Intelligent Solutions. I have been working with load-balancing/ADC for the last 8 years (with some gaps). I started my career 15 years ago as a Network Support Engineer. At some point, I started working with F5 LTM and really enjoyed it. Since then, this has been my favorite part of my job. At some point, I wish this would be all I do, ‘playing’ with these types of devices and technologies. The other part that I discovered in the last years is Automation (Ansible,Python). In my free time, I like spending time with my family(I have 2 kids), traveling, and cycling (Road and MTB) DevCentral: You’ve been an active contributor in the DevCentral community. What keeps you involved? Mihai: I really like helping people. One, because when I started working with F5 BIG-IP LTM, I found help in this forum, and Second, because I feel I need to pass on the things I've learned. It also helps me reminding things that I have not used for some time. DevCentral: Tell us a little about your technical expertise. Mihai: I started as Support Network Engineer focusing and on routing/switching, then moved to firewalls and load-balancing/ADC. I’ve worked with BIG-IP LTM (no other modules unfortunately) and then moved to Citrix Netscaler. I really like working on deploying new applications/services using these devices. Next, I was(still am) into Network Automation. I started with Bash, then Ansible, and now Python. Now I am working in DC Network Design and sometimes this involves BIG-IP LTM devices. DevCentral: You are a Senior Design Engineer at _VOIS. Can you describe your typical workday, how you manage work/life balance and the strong support of F5 solutions? How has the pandemic impacted your work? Mihai: Since the pandemic, I’ve been working only remotely and I’ve started to like it. It gives me more time by not having to travel to the office. For almost 2 years I have been working at _VOIS – Vodafone Intelligent Solutions. “_VOIS is a global, multi-functional organisation, a Centre of Excellence for Intelligent Solutions focused on adding value and delivering business outcomes for Vodafone. “ On a normal day, the first thing I do is getting my daughter to school. When I get back, I start working. I am involved in multiple projects, so I am checking every day what I can do for each project. Sometimes I work on only one project for days, other times I can do small bits on multiple projects. When I have time I check the DevCentral forum to see what issues have 0 answers. If I know how to help or have an idea, I test it in the lab environment I have at home. (I have an Intel NUC with Vmware ESXI installed and an Eve-ng VM where I have an LTM with 2 web servers in the backend.) I check the forum several times per day. Sometimes I find interesting problems that someone has already answered and that I don't know how to solve, but I'm learning from them. Working in Network Design, sometimes I get a network design that involves an F5 device usually, but we also have other vendors. These are my favorites. Usually, they are about the topology and what features they can use for the solution or an app. So I have more of a consultant role. I don’t do implementations or operations anymore. I miss working with irules/profiles, setting up virtual servers for challenging web applications, securing an app etc. (But I have my lab for this) After my job schedule ends, I pick up my son or my daughter from school/kindergarten and spend some time with both of them. DevCentral: Do you have any F5 Certifications? If so, why are these important to you and how have they helped with your career? Mihai: After 7 years of working with load-balancing technologies, last year I decided to give it a try and get a certification. So I got F5-CA, BIG-IP. I did it because I had time and I wanted to remind myself of some things I have forgotten by not using them. I believe that experience with a technology beats a certification. That’s why I was not keen to have one. Even now I feel that I have to take the next level certification because the current one does not reflect my experience with these technologies. DevCentral: Describe one of your biggest Customer challenges and how the Community helped in that situation. (Does not necessarily have to be DevCentral) Mihai: It is not a Customer challenge but more an internal request to upgrade to a new OS version. It was back in 2015 when I was struggling to convert HTTP classes back to irules, because HTTP classes were getting deprecated. Doing it manually would have taken me quite a lot of time. So I opened my first DevCentral request. One of the members helped me with a regex command to convert a file of HTTP classes to an irule. Here it is : https://community.f5.com/t5/technical-forum/http-class-to-irule-conversion/td-p/242504 The DevCentral MVP member is: StephanManthey Thanks again! 🙂 DevCentral: Lastly, if you weren’t doing what you’re doing – what would be your dream career? Or better, when you were a kid – what did you want to be when you grew up? Mihai: I really love what I am doing and I am happy that I have a job that I like. But if I really have to choose something else probably it would be something about cycling. Maybe a bike shop/service or a bicycle travel agency. ---Thanks Mihai! The DevCentral Community really appreciates your willingness to share with our Members. Connect and Follow on Social: Mihai on LinkedIn Mihai's Blog Mihai's Github _VIOS on the Web _VIOS on LinkedIn'How to Pass the CKA Exam' Next Time on DevCentral Connects
Kubernetes is an open source container orchestration system designed to automate software deployments, scale and management. It's also a hot topic on DevCentral Connects! Join us Tuesday, April 4th, 8:30AM Pacific, as JRahmjoins buulamto talk about his journey to become a Certified Kubernetes Administrator. He's going to go through his training, his study group, and they may even be joined by a special guest who helped coordinate it all. That's Tuesday, April 4th, 8:30AM Pacific. This Link https://youtube.com/live/Zbx1UnqDyhc sets your reminder. DevCentral Connects is live every Tuesday, 8:30AM Pacific. Subscribe.'The Ultimate Home Lab' Next Time on DevCentral Connects
Is your home lab a VM on a laptop? Maybe it's a tower dedicated for testing. Or maybe it is a fully-loaded 42U Rack in your closet with unlimited storage. If you'd like to get the most out of your home lab join DevCentral Connects Tuesday, March 28, 8:30AM Pacific as Principal Application Security Engineer James Cox joins buulamto talk about his tricked out home lab and give you some tips on how to maximize your little testing facility. This link https://youtube.com/live/BZiWaEycrvk sets your reminder...DevCentral Connects is live every Tuesday 8:30AM Pacific. Get the most out of your home lab and subscribe.DevCentral's Featured Member for March - Thomas Dahlmann
Our Featured Member series is a way for us to show appreciation and highlight active contributors in our community. Communities thrive on interaction and ourFeatured Seriesgives you some insight on some of our most engaged folks. DevCentral MVPThomas Dahlmannis our Featured Member for March 2023! He's been helping lots of other members with some great tips so let's catch up with Thomas! Plus, his birthday is this month so let's all wish him a Happy Birthday! DevCentral: First, please explain to the DC community a little about yourself, what you do and why it is important. Thomas: I am an experienced (aka old) senior security consultant who is deeply passionate about technology. I have an insatiable curiosity and am determined to fully understand the inner workings of any technology I encounter. This curiosity has led me down many rabbit holes and taken up a significant amount of my spare time, but it has also been instrumental to where I am today. I joined the security industry as a trainee at IBM in 2000 which started my journey into the world of firewalls, vpn, antivirus (yes I’m that old), mail scanners and a lot more. It was a blast. I had my first encounter with F5 in 2006 and have never looked back. It really got into my blood stream. In comparison, other technologies seem trivial and uninteresting. The F5 technology stack gives an unpresedented visibility into what goes around in the infrastructure and especially what needs to be done about it to keep bad actors out and maintain production stability. I’m told that I laugh a lot and easy to locate in a big building. DevCentral: You’ve been an active contributor in the DevCentral community. What keeps you involved? Thomas: While the F5 software stack is undeniably impressive, it can also be a daunting challenge that feels like a vertical mountain waiting to be climbed. As someone who has bumped their head and picked up painful experiences along the way, I am determined to spare others from similar struggles. I am constantly learning from DC and consider it my go-to source for knowledge and inspiration. As a result, I feel a sense of responsibility to share my insights with the community. We all stand on the shoulders of others, and I find it incredibly fulfilling to help lift others up and empower them to succeed. DevCentral: Tell us a little about the technical expertise/learning history you have. Thomas: I think, like many others, my journey started with LTM. It was a good fit for me as an infrastructure individual coming from the switching, routing, firewall world. The logic around the proxy mindset gave me a better understanding of the lower levels in the protocols as well as the higher. The more I played around with iRules the more familiar I became with HTTP and its inner workings. It was also in those days when Firepass came around and introduced me to authentication on a whole new level. When Firepass became APM the toolset just jumped to a complete new level. In the good old days before cloud and CDN, BIG-IP GTM (now called DNS) and WAM had its prime time and I also had a couple of projects with delivering content closest to the client. Again, it was an experince which got me up close and personal with HTTP and how you could trick the browser to be smarter. One of the most difficult modules to get on the wire is BIG-IP ASM/AWAF. It took me a couple of months to learn how to use the tool but many many years to master the delicate process of convincing customers that a web firewall is worth the time and show them how to operate it without the struggle. Recent time has given us Shellshock and Log4j so it has become easier to exemplify the needs for protecting the webapplications. Due to the recent geopolitical situation DDoS has shown us how vulnerable we are without proper protection, and here AFM has shown why it is there. It is quite satisfying to watch a DDoS attack just being swept away without interfering with production. As the F5 environment becomes bigger and more complex, I have used more and more time on finding ways to automate and work smarter. This is why I started my Let's Encrypt integration automation scripts. A lot of time goes into this simple but important task and saving just a couple of minutes every day really counts. This scripting focus also talks natually into the way clouds work and how you fx operate thousands of domains in F5 Distributed Cloud. A lot of what is required of us today is simply too dynamic to be operated manually. Fortunately, the F5 software stack has consistently proven to be a reliable and effective solution for meeting these needs. DevCentral: You are a Senior Security Consultant at Orange Cyberdefense. Can you describe your typical workday, how you manage work/life balance and the strong support of F5 solutions? How has the pandemic impacted your work? Thomas: My job is multiroled and besides working as a consultant I also have a dozen consultants reporting to me. So, a typical week is split between nursing my consultants, administrative tasks, interfacing with the business and helping out customers. When I work as a consultant my assignments are split into projects and ad-hoc tasks. Balancing all of these responsibilities can be a delicate task, as it is important to ensure that I don't burn out. Luckily I'm a soccer dad which forces me to clock-out and stand on the sideline of the soccer fields or shuttle the kids around the country for matches. There is nothing like mother nature teaching you about themodynamics of the northern hemisphere (freezing your extremities off) to clear you mind. To sharpen my F5 skills I have created my own mini datacenter back home. I run my own mail infrastructure and various other services. Most of these services are tied in behind some sort of F5 product, BigIP or NGINX. This forces me to be eating my own dogfood and is a perfect testbed for solutions my customers are looking for or I can build new crazy constructions for inspriation. It is simply the best way of learning how it all works. Now looking back at the previous 2-3 years of Covid I feel a lot has changed and a lot stays the same. The nature of the pandemic has forced us to think differently, and for some to brake habbits. For some it is now possible to be working remotely which was unheard of before. This flexibility has really given possibilities and made the world a bigger place. It has also shown to me that I really need to be close to people and I how much I thriwe in a crowd. I feel we lost out on a lot of oppotunities because of the distance and people were harder to reach. Nothing beats a room with a whiteboard and a lot of coffee. I think were are slowly finding a new balance between interacting physcially and working remotely. DevCentral: Do you have any F5 Certifications? If so, why are these important to you and how have they helped with your career? Thomas: Yes, I'm a 401 CSE. There are two specific reasons as to why I hold this certification. First one is to keep our partner level, we must hold a certain amount certified consultants. The second one is to prove to customers that I can more than spell to F5. You become more trustworthy with this badge. I have always been in the partner channel so certifications were mandatory. What I have come to realize is that being forced to prepare for these certifications actually gets you through documentation you otherwise wouldn't have. Everytime I do this I pick up new knowledge, niche or sometimes groundbraking. So it isn't all bad. DevCentral: Describe one of your biggest Customer challenges and how the community helped in that situation. Thomas: Recalling all the times I've frantically searched for a small detail that ultimately saved the day is a challenge. However, it's often those little things that make a significant difference. I see the big strength of the community in that you always have access to a solution, part of it or inspiration for it. This ubiquitous access to knowledge for everyone is what sets F5 apart from all others. If I shall highlight a single event I think I will select a situation where one of my customers was suffering from DDoS attacks that we needed to fix - fast. A search on DC gave me a skeleton for an iRule. Our requirements where somewhat more demanding than what we could find, but by giving us the inspiration the iRule grew from 20 lines to beyond 600. This iRule is now in my standard toolbelt against DDoS and is slowly expanding everytime attacks comes in or the customer environments changes. It has proven its worth and is now protecting numerous customers in different industries. A true testament to the power of the community. DevCentral: Lastly, if you weren’t doing what you’re doing – what would be your dream career? Or better, when you were a kid – what did you want to be when you grew up? Thomas: When it comes to my career path it has always been easy - something with IT. Observing others as they struggle to find their way, I feel immensely privileged by how effortlessly my own journey has unfolded. I don't think I have ever dreamed of being anything else, boring I know. Should I have chosen another path, I think I would have chosen a military career. Ironically, when I look at my daily life today, I can't help but feel that I chose a non-kinetic military path, as I find myself entrenched in protecting customers from cyber attacks. ---Thanks Thomas! The DevCentral Community really appreciates your willingness to share with our Members. Connect and Follow on Social: Thomas on LinkedIn Thomas' Website Thomas' Mastedon Handle Orange Cyberdefense on LinkedIn Orange Cyberdefense on Twitter
