a collection of talks and presentations i’ve given at various conferences and user groups over the years. this is not exhaustive.
(MN)NUG: NANOG overview
february 2026: slides
an overview of NANOG and highlights from recent meetings presented at the Minnesota Network User Group. covers notable presentations, emerging operational trends, and topics from the broader network operator community that are relevant to local practitioners.
NANOG 92: Open Network OS’ - what’s our deal here? (lightning talk)
there’s a lot of press in other fora regarding open network operating systems (notably SONiC) but surprisingly little practical discussion about the state of the software lifecycle in our gear and open NOS adoption at NANOG. what’s up with that?
an abbreviated discussion of some of the problems we seem to have in this space, with some gentle nudging on the topic.
CHINOG: gRIBI - an open interface for programming your RIB
may 2023: slides
a presentation on gRIBI at the Chicago Network Operators Group (CHINOG). builds on the NANOG 87 talk with additional operational context, expanded use case coverage, and lessons learned from real-world deployments. covers the interaction between gRIBI and other network management interfaces.
(MN)NUG: OpenConfig
september 2022: slides
an introduction to OpenConfig presented at the Minnesota Network User Group (MNNUG). covers the OpenConfig initiative’s goals for vendor-neutral network device modeling, the YANG-based data models, and how OpenConfig enables consistent network automation across heterogeneous vendor environments. includes practical examples of streaming telemetry and configuration management.
NANOG 87: gRIBI - gRPC Service for RIB Injection
february 2022: slides | NANOG | youtube
an overview of gRIBI, a gRPC-based API for programmatically injecting routes into a network device’s routing table. covers the protocol design, client/server interaction model, use cases, and practical deployment patterns.
CHINOG 09: IGPs - the new hotness
may 2019: slides
a presentation on interesting IGP developments given at the Chicago Network Operators Group (CHI-NOG 09). covers emerging trends and advances in interior gateway protocols relevant to network operators. some of this has remained woefully under-implemented and deployed.
NANOG 73: segment routing - the stuff marketing doesn’t talk about
an overview of segment routing (SR) concepts and deployment considerations covering the fundamentals of SR-MPLS, traffic engineering use cases, and the operational realities for service providers looking to adopt segment routing in their networks. TE didn’t get easier, it just got different.
IP Possibilities - IP Interconnection Panel
april 2013: slides | slideshare
a panel presentation on IP interconnection and internet peering at the IP Possibilities conference. covers peering relationships, interconnection economics, and the evolving landscape of internet traffic exchange. these are just my bits to kick off the discussion.
OpenStack Meetup: MSDC networks + OpenFlow/OpenStack
march 2013: slides
a presentation on cloud operator behaviors and principles given at the local Cisco office OpenStack meetup. covers operational considerations and patterns for cloud infrastructure management.
OPASTCO - internet peering
november 2009: slides
an overview of internet peering fundamentals and practices presented at OPASTCO. covers the principles of peering relationships, traffic exchange, and interconnection economics as they existed in the network operator community at the time.