Ops 'N' Hops Derek Morgan

In this conversation, Derek and Ned discuss their backgrounds in IT and how they got into the world of DevOps. They also talk about their experiences in help desk and consulting, as well as their journey into infrastructure as code using tools like CloudFormation and Terraform. They share advice for those starting out in help desk and discuss the challenges and upgrades they encountered with Terraform. In this conversation, Ned Bellavance and Derek discuss various topics related to infrastructure as code, including the use of Terraform and CloudFormation, the benefits of learning multiple languages, and the importance of building a foundation in fundamental concepts. They also touch on the resurgence of on-premises solutions like Proxmox and the challenges of cybersecurity insurance. Ned emphasizes the value of experimentation and failure in learning and encourages listeners to explore and not be afraid to fail.

In the inaugural episode of the Opsie Daisy podcast, Derek and Malcolm discuss the June 2019 outage at GCP, which was a major networking outage that affected all US regions. The outage lasted between three hours and 20 minutes to four hours and 25 minutes, depending on the region. The impact was significant, with packet loss and service disruptions across multiple regions. The outage also affected some G Suite services, highlighting the interconnectedness of Google's services. The root cause of the outage was a combination of a software bug and misconfiguration in the maintenance event, leading to the failure of the network control plane jobs. During the conversation, the principal themes discussed were the challenges and limitations of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), the impact of the Google outage, and the root cause analysis and follow-up actions taken by Google. The conversation highlighted the lack of security in BGP and the difficulty of upgrading the protocol due to the diversity and scale of the internet. The Google outage was caused by a combination of misconfigurations and a software bug, resulting in network congestion and loss of traffic. Google is taking steps to prevent similar incidents in the future, including modifying the cluster management software and extending the time for the network to run without the control plane. In this conversation, Malcolm and Derek discuss the outage that occurred in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in June 2019. They highlight the importance of public retrospectives in the tech industry and commend companies like Google for being transparent about their outages. They also discuss the issue of SLA credits and the mixed reactions to Google's process for applying for them. The conversation emphasizes the significance of effective communication during an outage and the need for human intervention in complex systems. They also touch on the challenges of managing complexity and the trade-offs between preventing outages and adding more processes. Overall, they rate the outage as a 3 out of 5 on the Opsie Daisy scale.

In this conversation, Josh Grant discusses his background in technology and his experience in the Coast Guard. He also talks about the beer scene in California and the importance of networking and mentoring in career development. Josh emphasizes the value of understanding the abstraction layer below your work and the importance of diverse skill sets in a team. He also highlights the need for different leadership styles to motivate and engage team members. In this conversation, Josh Grant discusses his career transition from the Coast Guard to the tech industry and his role as an individual contributor at SMS Data Products Group. He shares his experience working with startups and the AWS IQ platform, where he provides assistance to customers with AWS-related issues. Josh also talks about his current projects involving GitHub Enterprise Server and working with clients in the nuclear power and healthcare industries. He emphasizes the importance of networking, planning, and continuous learning in achieving career success.

In this episode, Derek interviews Ruben De Vries, a platform engineer in the telecom industry. They discuss various topics including Ruben's journey in the tech field, the importance of continuous learning, and the challenges of managing stateful workloads on Kubernetes. They also touch on the benefits of contributing to open source projects and the use of load testing tools for server performance. In this conversation, Derek and Ruben discuss various topics related to platform engineering, startups, and working in larger companies. They talk about the challenges of transitioning from a startup to a different model, such as a larger company. Ruben shares his experience with backstage and platform engineering, highlighting the learning curve and the desire to deploy backstage. They also discuss the importance of maintaining databases and not worrying about when backstage was released. The conversation touches on the different environments in which they thrive and the politics involved in earning trust in a larger company. They also talk about the success metrics for a platform engineer and the significance of security in DevSecOps.

In this episode, Derek interviews Christina Roberts, Chairwoman of the Board for the Agile Learning Institute. They discuss the importance of learning in the tech industry and how it can help individuals navigate the complexities of their work. Christina shares her journey into tech and emphasizes the value of starting with a programming language like Python. They also discuss the differences between QA and CS roles and the importance of continuous learning and collaboration in the tech field. Christina highlights the work of the Agile Learning Institute in providing resources and support for individuals looking to enhance their skills and advance their careers in tech.

In this episode, Jen Bergstrom, the Cloud and Data Solutions Lead at Parsons, shares her journey in the tech industry and provides insights into her role as a manager. She discusses the importance of staying up to date in the industry and offers tips for women facing bias. Jen also talks about work from home and hybrid work environments, multi-cloud solutions, and the choice of infrastructure as code tools. She shares her thoughts on the future of natural language infrastructure building and emphasizes the importance of data security and export regulations. Jen concludes with advice for those starting a career in tech. In this conversation, Jenn Bergstrom shares her insights and experiences in the tech industry. She emphasizes the value of taking side paths and how they can lead to unexpected opportunities. Jenn also discusses the importance of building relationships and leveraging online communities like LinkedIn and Tech Study Discord for networking and learning.