Introduction
I often participate in online discussions related to computer networking and datacenters. And of course there I like to share my own experiences about those topics there. However/ a bit of background information, about me, I live and work in the balkans. Some naysayers would say central europe, but 'ex-Yugoslavia' might be a better term. However for practicality I will call it 'the balkans' as for the purposes of this post I don't want to be confused with Germany or Switzerland.
Let's get back on topic. I like to talk online about my experiences in computer networking and datacenters online. However, all my experiences have been on the Balkan. When I hear the word datacenter, my first thought are the three local public datacenters I often visit and the local state run IX.
However, talking online, the internet is GLOBAL. And there is A LOT of survivor bias on the internet.The 1% of the best working in the best environments will dominate any online conversation due to survivor bias. My environment is the balkans, and I am certainly no genius. My networking experience is from the balkans.Someone working in networking in Germany is going to have a very different experience than I do. Someone working in networking in West Europe is going to have a very different experience than I do. Someone working in networking in south east Asia is going to have a very different experience than I do. Someone working in networking in the Congo is going to have a very different experience than I do.
And boy, someone working in Silicon valley in computer networking is going to have experience that is like an alternate dimension different from the balkans. Like when I talk online to people from silicon valley, it is a complete disconnect from what I see in my environment.
So, what are the differences?
But what is the difference? Well, let me do a comparison..Equipment... Naturally, silicon valley has the latest and greatest network, server and other datacenter equipment. and all of it is brand new. mentioning refurbishement is not unheard of, but it is already considered cheaping out. Equipment is replaced as soon as it is EoL, sometimes even when it is EoS(End of Sales).
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| Your average rack in 'the balkans', cca 2022 |
Now in my part of the space rock. Most enterprise equipment is first boughtonly after it hits EoL/EoS. Datacenters in my region are still dominated by Cisco 3750 era equipment. Heck, old 2950 devices are still common. We buy Cisco Nexus 3000 switches which are EoL.And we are are still more modern and up to date than at least 90% of datacenter inhabitants in our region..We buy 15 year old Cisco ASR9Ks based on RSP440. Technically those are still supported, but they will never support IOS-XR v7 due to a lack of support for 64 bits. Aaaand we are still ahead of 90% of our datacenter neighbors on equipment capability/recentness. But, there is some new equipment in our local datacenters, most of the time it is called Mikrotik and Ubiquity. Can you spell cheap? Servers? Servers also lag usually 5-10 years behind.
There is a real investment gap between silicon valley and the Balkans, who would have thougght /s. Credit where credit is due, my boss is not a penny pincher when it comes to network equipment. I guess that is why we are ahead of 90% of our neighbors. But put us in Silicon valley and we would be a laughing stock. Luckily we don,t have any compliance requirements.
Network automation... In silicon valley network automation has become a part of the job for many network engineers. It has come to a point where automation doesn't even emulate CLI sessions but uses APIs.
In the balkans however... I tend to work a lot with many regional ISPs. I only know one ISP where I know they do network automation for a fact. Network automation is viewed as nothingmore than an experiment for most network engineers here. Management support is usually lip service only, rather than a push for automation. 'Yes, automate, but automate on your own time.' Intent based networking? Haha.
Software defined networking in the balkans is a little bit better off, but that is mostly because it comes prepackaged with the network devices(Ubiquiti Unifi, Fortigate, Cisco Meraki). SD-WAN? I have yet to see SD-WAN in practice here.
MPLS and VPLS here are considered new technologies. MLAG is considered a new technology. IPv6 adoption is in single digits in most countires. In some counties still below 1%. Spine-leaf? Hah, hub and spoke.
These are just my experience within the regional datacenters and the regional networking industry, when compared to what I hear from people from America.
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| Meanwhile in silicon valley |
The conclusion
Like most industries, networking is not the same across the globe. Networking is different in America, Germany, the Balkan and central Africa. However on the internet we often forget about that and confusion arises.
Maybe I am wrong, but this is my experience.
