Hello Networks,
Might sound unprofessional, but seriously Wanted to get your views about upcoming technlogies or market. Things like virtualization, cloud services , automation and SDN models and its use cases have actually done some shift, no much gap between ISP and DC tech. For example things like SDWAN, EVPN, SR…etc will end classical MPLS this is if you do not want to perform your own scripted PCEP and will be used in ISP, enterprise and DC
If you would like to provide a good career advise for someone willing to change, is working in designing datacenter (learning storage, Virtulaztion, cloud services, LB…etc) or working in a mid-size company that is looking for its own solutions type of this and you will utilize your own skills differently and honestly you do not know what you would expect or learn
What would you choose and have anyone went through this route before? what is your experience/advise?
I think the network is moving more towards virtualized and whitebox platforms. Slowly but surely. If you look at how Juniper’s virtual platforms - the vSRX and vMX (and I’d imagine vQFX though I haven’t played with this myself) work, and at how they built the MX204 router hardware and software stack, I think that speaks to where things will be going over the next decade. Cisco’s on board to at least some degree as well with the Nexus 1000v NX-OS platform. All of this coupled with the rise of the cloud - and not just AWS and Azure, but private in-house clouds and smaller public cloud providers running OpenStack or other products which integrate nearly with these virtualized platforms.
Beyond the software and virtualized side, there’s the hardware side and going beyond how Juniper built the MX204, you have a growing trend among large organizations to run white box hardware solutions which I suspect will eventually trickle down as well. There’ll be plenty of fun toys to play with well into the future! 