It’s right around the corner… Cisco Live Europe 2018 in Barcelona, and I absolutely can’t wait!  Every Cisco Live I’ve ever been to, or presented at, has been an amazing experience, but Barcelona is going to be in a league of its own.  From the moment I arrive in Spain on Friday morning the entire week will be about network programmability, NetDevOps, and cloud.  Will there be code?… Oh yes, there will be code.

Pre-CLEUR DevNet Express

Continuing a long standing DevNet tradition, we are getting started early in Barcelona with a 2 Day DevNet Express for Data Center Infrastructure that runs Saturday and Sunday, all day.  This completely FREE event is open to anyone in the area, whether you will be attending CLEUR or not.  There are still open spaces left in registration. Can’t wait to see you all there.

Cisco Live Breakouts

I have 2 breakouts this year at Cisco Live Europe that are going to be excellent additions to everyone’s schedule.

Up first is BRKCLD-1009: Micro-Service Applications for Infrastructure People.  This is a session I first delivered last year, where I break down what it means to be “Cloud Native” and help us all understand what exactly is going on in Micro Service application design and architecture that makes these unique animals require something a bit different from our infrastructure.  But this year brings some new elements to the session.  My venerated MyHero Demo Application has had some infrastructure updates and has been migrated onto a shiny new Kubernetes cluster.  We’ll talk a bit about what was involved in re-platforming a modern application.

And second is BRKDEV-1368: Effectively Understand and Leverage YANG with NETCONF and RESTCONF for Model Driven Programmability, a brand new Cisco Live breakout that I’ll be delivering along with my good friend and co-worker Bryan Byrne.  We’ve long been talking about these important topics in DevNet in previous years, but in this session we’re devoting a full 2 hours to this critical and important topic for all network engineers today.  Come join Bryan and me as we demystify these new topics, and help jump-start your use of them across IOS XE, NX-OS and IOS XR.  We’ll checkout how to leverage these protocols natively, as well as in our Python scripts and other automation tooling.

DevNet Zone Classrooms and Workshops

And if the two breakouts weren’t enough, I’ve got a full set of DevNet Zone sessions lined up, including 2 BRAND NEW NetDevOps workshops where you can join me for some hands on exercises.

First up is one of my favorite talks to give, that is DEVNET-1725: How to Be a Network Engineer in a Programmable Age.  This is an entertaining look at what it means to be a network engineer today.  We review a bit of our history in a walk through the “Four Ages of Networking,” and explore the impact cloud and “digitization” has had on us.  And new this year is an introduction to “NetDevOps” and what it will mean to networking in the future.  Come join me and I guarantee you will hear both groans and loud laughs during the talk.

Next is another brand new session, DEVNET-3616: NetDevOps Style Configuration Management for the Network.  In this new DevNet classroom we explore what exactly configuration management is, and what it offers us in the network.  We’ll see how it will enable “Network as Code” approaches, and I end with a live demo where we’ll be leveraging Ansible to make “intent driven networks” a reality.

In DEVNET-2000: Network Programmability with Cisco ACI, I am joining ACI TME extraordinaire, Devarshi Shah, for a completely refreshed session on ACI Programmability.  ACI has always been about programmability, and in this session we cover everything you need to know to get started.  And new to the session this year, Ansible and ACI!

Which brings me to my 2 brand new workshops for CLEUR. In DEVNET-1365: Vagrant Up for the Network Engineer and DEVNET-2203: Build a Network Configuration CICD Pipeline we’ll be getting hands on with some real innovative approaches and techniques for network programmability.  We’ll be learning how we can work just like software developers with live developer environments directly on our laptops with Vagrant, and then turn around and watch how Continuous Development practices can make our network configurations act like modern applications.

Network Programmability Demos in DevNet Zone

And there is even more lined up for CLEUR.  We have three new interactive demos launching in Barcelona on network programmability topics.  We’ll have demo booths running non-stop where we are showcasing the latest in Network Analytics and Telemetry, Application Hosting in the Network, and NetDevOps Style Configuration Management.  Each booth has been designed to highlight the solution and concept, rather than a single technology puzzle piece.  And even more exciting, these booths will be active places for engagement.  Visit a demo booth in DevNet zone, and you will get hands on with the tech and run the demo.  Checkout the latest in technology from IOS XR, IOS XE, NX-OS, VIRL, pyATS, and so much more.

Is it CLEUR Yet?

As you can see, Cisco Live 2018 in Barcelona is going to be a heck of an event, and I can’t wait to see everyone there.  Let me know in the comments what you are most looking forward to! Here are those session registration links again. Don’t wait. Register now.:

2 Day DevNet Express for Data Center Infrastructure

BRKCLD-1009: Micro-Service Applications for Infrastructure People

BRKDEV-1368: Effectively Understand and Leverage YANG with NETCONF and RESTCONF for Model Driven Programmability

DEVNET-1725: How to Be a Network Engineer in a Programmable Age

DEVNET-3616: NetDevOps Style Configuration Management for the Network

DEVNET-2000: Network Programmability with Cisco ACI

DEVNET-1365: Vagrant Up for the Network Engineer

DEVNET-2203: Build a Network Configuration CICD Pipeline