Screaming in the Cloud

Latest Episodes:

The Power of Networking in the Cloud with Tom Scholl Aug 29, 2024

Show notes

A cloud service is only as good as the team of network engineers who keep it up and running. In this episode, AWS Vice President and Distinguished Engineer Tom Scholl breaks down the importance of security and legwork needed to support the company’s massive infrastructure. Corey picks Tom’s brain while singing the praises of the AWS DDoS Protection Team, marveling at the scale of the modern internet, and looking ahead to the next generation of network engineers that could land at AWS. If you’ve ever wondered about the inner workings of the AWS cloud, then this is the discussion for you.

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro
(1:09) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:42) The importance of a good network for AWS
(3:38) Evolution of networking
(6:03) Efficiency of the AWS DDoS Protection Team
(7:29) AWS Cloud and weathering DDoS attacks
(10:03) Policing network abuse
(12:08) Walking the SES tightrope and network attacks
(15:00) Ensuring the security of the internet
(17:53) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(18:37) Scale of the modern internet
(20:47) Migrating the AWS network firewall
(21:54) Internal network scaling
(24:27) Preparing for DDoS disruption
(29:14) Finding the next generation of network engineers
(32:15) Where to learn more about AWS cloud security

About Tom Scholl:

Tom Scholl is a VP and Distinguished Engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the infrastructure organization. His role includes working on AWS’s global network backbone, as well as focusing on denial of service detection and mitigation systems. He has been with AWS for over 13 years.

Prior to AWS, Tom was a Principal Network Engineer at nLayer and AT&T Labs (formerly SBC Telecom). He also previously held network engineering roles at OptimalPATH Digital Network and ANET Internet Services.

Links Referenced:

AWS Security Blog: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/
How AWS threat intelligence deters threat actors: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/how-aws-threat-intelligence-deters-threat-actors/
Using AWS Shield Advanced protection groups to improve DDoS detection and mitigation: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/using-aws-shield-advanced-protection-groups-to-improve-ddos-detection-and-mitigation/
AWS re:Inforce 2024 presentation on Sonaris and MadPot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38Z9csvyFDg
NANOG 2023 presentation on AWS networking infrastructure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tcR-iQce7s
AWS re:Invent 2022 presentation on AWS networking infrastructure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJNR_dX8g8c
AWS re:Invent 2022 presentation onScaling network performance on next-gen Amazon EC2 instances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNYpWa7gf1A&t=1373s
IEEE paper on Scalable Relatable Diagram (SRD): https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9167399

Sponsor
The Duckbill Group: https://www.duckbillgroup.com/

Battling Back Against Data Breaches with Maya Levine Aug 27, 2024

Show notes

Data breaches can throw countless lives into disarray. With massive leaks and compromises happening on what feels like a daily basis, what can be done to protect people and services? On this episode, Sysdig Product Manager Maya Levine joins us for a discussion on the current state of affairs in the world of cybersecurity. Why do these attacks keep happening? Are they becoming too frequent? What can we do to prevent them? Maya has all the answers as well as tips to help keep you and your organization safe.

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro
(0:37) Sysdig sponsor read
(0:58) Product management at Sysdig
(2:09) Are cyber attacks becoming more frequent in the cloud?
(5:58) Urgency (or lack thereof) while under attack
(10:37) Motives and methods in modern data breaches
(15:57) Sysdig sponsor read
(16:20) The cost (and necessity) of audit logging
(18:46) “If breach is inevitable, what can people do?”
(22:36) Maya’s “I am Confused” talk
(25:40) Stopping attacks before they spiral out of control
(32:32) Where can find more from Maya and Sysdig

About Maya Levine:

Maya Levine is a Product Manager for Sysdig. Previously she worked at Check Point Software Technologies as a Security Engineer and later a Technical Marketing Engineer, focusing on cloud security. Her earnest and concise communication style connects to both technical and business audiences. She has presented at many industry conferences, including AWS re:Invent and AnsibleFest. She has also been regularly interviewed on television news channels, written publications, and podcasts about cybersecurity.

Links:

Maya’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-levine/
Sysdig: https://sysdig.com/

Sponsor

Sysdig: https://sysdig.com/

Summer Replay - Innovations and the Changing DevOps Tides of Tech with Nigel Kersten Aug 22, 2024

Show notes

In this Screaming in the Cloud Summer Replay, we revisit our discussion with Nigel Kersten. When we spoke to him in 2021, he was the Field CTO at Puppet. Today, he works as the Chief Product Officer for Platform.sh. In this trip down memory, Nigel joins Corey to reflect on his time spent as a traveling contract trainer for Puppet, dive into the changes in DevOps since, and look back at how Docker handed over the keys and some of the attachments we have to a techno-social system. Nigel speaks on the innovations that have changed along the way and the impact they’ve had in the industry. Especially those who have a tendency to cling to “legacy.”

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro
(1:18) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:52) Corey's Puppet experience
(3:49) What is Puppet?
(5:04) Puppet’s role in DevOps
(8:12) Challenges in technology adoption
(12:36) Issues with legacy in tech
(18:26) The misconception of “limited” skilled workers
(23:16) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(24:00) Corporate communication breakdowns
(25:22) State of DevOps Report
(32:02) Cloud adoption and missteps
(37:46) More from the report and Nigel

About Nigel Kersten:

Nigel is a technical leader with 13 years of experience building teams and growing B2B startups as a CTO, VP of Engineering, and Head of Product, with substantial experience working with enterprise customers. Prior to that, he was recruited into the Google SRE org to develop an industry-leading infrastructure-as-code system.

Links:

Puppet: https://puppet.com
2020 State of DevOps Report: https://puppet.com/resources/report/2020-state-of-devops-report/

Original Episode:

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/innovations-and-the-changing-devops-tides-of-tech-with-nigel-kersten/

Sponsor:

The Duckbill Group: https://www.duckbillgroup.com/

Summer Replay - Building a User-Friendly Product with Aparna Sinha Aug 20, 2024

Show notes

On this Screaming in the Cloud Summer Replay, we revisit our conversation with Aparna Sinha, the Head of AI Product at Capital One. As a former Director of Product Management at Google Cloud, Aparan joins Corey to talk about GCP and how Corey was surprised to find that, in some ways, it was “its own universe.” She offers up why folks can expect a developer user-friendly experience when using GCP, and how it differentiates them from the litany of cloud providers out there. From focusing on developing, to a vast array of customers, GCP is bringing their best forward. Check out their conversation on how GCP is keeping its focus on the user!

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro

(0:48) Duckbill Group sponsor read

(1:21) Role of a Director of Outbound Product Management

(2:43) Developer experiences on Google Cloud

(8:47) The philosophy of courting developers

(11:38) The shift to serverless

(17:17) Cloud Run observations

(22:59) Duckbill Group sponsor read

(23:43) Customer involvement with Google Cloud

(28:55) Cloud Build vs. Cloud Deploy

(32:50) Google and cloud security

(38:45) Where you can find Aparna

About Aparna

Aparna Sinha is Senior Vice President and Head of Enterprise AI/ML products at Capital One. She is also a startup investor / advisor at PearVC. Aparna has a track record of successful P&L ownership, creating new revenue streams and building $B+ businesses through technical and go-to-market innovation.

She was Sr. Director of Developer Products at Google Cloud leading a 100+ member PM, UX, and DevRel Engineering team responsible for >40 cloud services and open source tools. She was an early contributor to Kubernetes, built the team and grew Google Kubernetes Engine 100x into a Top 3 revenue generator for Cloud. Prior to Cloud Aparna worked on Android, ChromeOS and Play. Previously at McKinsey & Company she was a leader in the business technology office, working with CIOs on server virtualization strategy, pricing, and SaaS.

Aparna holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, and a patent from Google. She served as Chair of the Governing Board of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

Links:

DevOps Research Report: https://www.devops-research.com/research.html
Twitter: https://x.com/aparnabsinha

Original Episode:

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/building-a-user-friendly-product-with-aparna-sinha/

Sponsor:

The Duckbill Group: https://www.duckbillgroup.com/

Summer Replay - That Datadog Will Hunt with Dann Berg Aug 15, 2024

Show notes

In this Screaming in the Cloud Summer Replay, we revisit our conversation with Dann Berg. At the time, he was a Senior Cloud Analyst at Datadog, but he now provides community support for the FinOps Foundation. Dann and Corey go into the weeds of cost optimization, and each of them bring their respective experiences forward. Dann’s offers his take on multi-cloud and how Datadog is tackling its customer needs there. But the talent doesn’t end there, Dann is also an emerging thinker and influencer in the space, and to boot, an accomplished writer and playwright. Two of his plays have been produced in NYC and China. Check out their conversation!

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro

(1:02) Duckbill Group sponsor read

(1:36) Transitioning to Senior Cloud Ops Analyst

(5:12) The composition of Dann's team

(6:54) Cloud cost optimization in the regular business cycle

(10:43) Helping customers understand their cloud bills

(17:42) Paying attention to pricing changes

(21:06) The psychology of cloud economics

(23:20) Working with multiple clouds

(25:02) Duckbill Group sponsor read

(25:46) Spending too much money to save too little money

(31:12) The dangers of relying on third-party tools

(34:01) Pricing woes

(36:25) Where you can find Dann

About Dann Berg

Dann Berg currently works part-time with FinOps after spending more than a decade in the industry. He is also an active member of the larger technical community, hosting the monthly New York City FinOps Meetup, and has been published multiple times in places such as MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, and others. When he’s not saving companies millions of dollars, he’s writing plays, and has had two full-lengh plays produced in New York City and China., Dann is the Director of Community at Vantage. Previously, first FinOps Practitioner at Datadog and FullStory. Host of the NYC FinOps Meetup for almost three years. He also writes plays.

Links:

Datadog: https://www.datadoghq.com
Personal Website: https://dannb.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannberg/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannberg
Monthly newsletter: https://dannb.org/newsletter/
Previous SITC episode with Dann Berg, Episode 51: https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/episode-51-size-of-cloud-bill-not-about-number-of-customers-but-number-of-engineers-you-ve-hired/

Original Episode:

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/that-datadog-will-hunt-with-dann-berg/

Sponsor:

The Duckbill Group: https://www.duckbillgroup.com/

Summer Replay - Heresy in the Church of Docker Desktop with Scott Johnston Aug 13, 2024

Show notes

In this Screaming in the Cloud Summer Replay, we revisit our conversation with Scott Johnston, CEO of (the church) of Docker. Docker’s community and their fervor is well known, and Scott has much to say about it! Join the discussion as Scott goes into how he left Puppet after some exposure to Corey to become the CEO at Docker. Scott tells us what exactly Docker is, and where it starts, which is the community around it. Scott talks about the reset that Docker went through in November of 2019, where they decided to make the developer the focus of their mission. He also dives into Docker Desktop, which Scott goes into the details of. Check out this episode for more!

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro
(1:15) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:48) What is Docker?
(4:03) Returning to being a developer tool
(5:56) Docker’s pricing changes and Docker Desktop
(11:47) Community reaction to the pricing change
(13:57) Building customer confidence
(18:52) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(19:36) Putting trust into user
(22:04) Docker’s monetization strategy
(29:28) Embracing change
(32:16) Where to learn more about Scott and Docker

About Scott Johnston

Scott first typed ‘docker run’ in 2013 and hasn't looked back. He’s been with Docker since 2014 in a variety of leadership roles and currently serves as CEO. His experience previous to Docker includes Sun Microsystems, Puppet, Netscape, Cisco, and Loudcloud (parent of Opsware). When not fussing with computers he spends time with his three kids fussing with computers.

Links:

Docker: https://www.docker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottcjohnston

Original Episode:

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/heresy-in-the-church-of-docker-desktop-with-scott-johnston/

Sponsor:

The Duckbill Group: https://www.duckbillgroup.com/

Summer Replay - Spreading the Networking Vibes with Serena (@shenetworks) Aug 08, 2024

Show notes

In this Summer Replay, look back on Serena a.ka. @shenetworks’ mark on the digital sphere! Serena’s work on the social end of the spectrum is only a facet of her work. As a network engineer in the age of cloud, Serena has much to say about the work of data centers. Corey and Serena talk datacenters, cybersecurity, and the role that her social media presence plays into her work in that typically curmudgeonly world. She traces the rise of her content and how she intends to utilize that previously untapped space to spread the network “vibes”!

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro
(0:50) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:24) Data centers in the era of the cloud
(3:46) Establishing an online presence
(7:00) Misconceptions of the industry and engaging content
(11:12) Modern marketing campaigns
(13:43) What data centers look like today
(18:53) Today’s entry path in tech
(20:58) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(21:42) Is the future solely in the cloud?
(26:00) Ramifications of putting all the eggs in the AWS basket
(29:52) Aiming content at beginners
(33:56) Where you can find Serena

About Serena

Serena is a Network Engineer who specializes in Data Center Compute and Virtualization. She has degrees in Computer Information Systems with a concentration on networking and information security. She is most known for her content on TikTok and Twitter as Shenetworks. Serena’s content focuses on networking and security for beginners which has included popular videos on bug bounties, switch spoofing, VLAN hoping, and passing the Security+ certification in 24 hours.

Links:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shenetworks
Twitter: https://x.com/shenetworks

Original Episode:

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/spreading-the-networking-vibes-with-serena-shenetworks/

Sponsor:

The Duckbill Group: https://www.duckbillgroup.com/

Summer Replay - What GitHub Can Give to Microsoft with Jason Warner Aug 06, 2024

Show notes

In this Summer Replay, we revisit our conversation with Jason Warner, where he explained to us how to “Git” on it. Since this episode’s original airdate, Jason has since went on to become the CEO and co-founder at poolside, but his time at GitHub has given him the expertise to inform folks about all the exciting things GitHub has going on. Listen as Jason offers insight into GitHub’s successes which have led to their acquisition by Microsoft. He breaks down his own history at GitHub and its vision to become the “worlds most important software company.” Jason dives into some of the details of GitHub acquisition and the possibilities for what they want to achieve, and where they expect to go within Microsoft. Jason and Corey discuss how to talk about the cloud for its current, and importantly, future clients. Jason talks about what GitHub will bring to Microsoft, and perhaps how it’ll be for the better. Tune in, because the getting is about to “git” good.

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro
(0:27) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:01) The role of GitHub
(4:46) How GitHub and Azure can coexist
(7:08) When to adopt to the cloud
(9:55) GitHub’s impact on Microsoft
(13:24) Experiencing acquisition
(19:34) Misconceptions of GitHub
(21:36) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(22:20) Practicality of Codespaces
(25:34) Designing software with a purpose
(28:40) Dispelling nerd culture in software
(30:55) Starting in a non-technical direction
(33:52) Where you can find more about Jason

About Jason Warner:

Jason Warner is the co-founder and CEO of poolside. He serves on the operating board of Bridgewater Associates. He has previously worked at GitHub as their CTO.

Links:

GitHub: https://github.com/
@jasoncwarner: https://twitter.com/jasoncwarner
GitHub: https://github.com/jasoncwarner
Jasoncwarner/ama: https://github.com/jasoncwarner/ama

Original Episode:

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/what-github-can-give-to-microsoft-with-jason-warner/

Sponsor:

The Duckbill Group: https://www.duckbillgroup.com/

Summer Replay - Breaking Down Productivity Engineering with Micheal Benedict Aug 01, 2024

Show notes

In this Summer Replay, we revisit our 2021 conversation Micheal Benedict. At the time, he was the Head of Engineering Productivity at Pinterest, and today, he’s Head of Infrastructure Engineering at Airtable. Micheal tells us what exactly it means to lead engineering productivity and divulges more details on productivity engineering. He traces the history of productivity engineering at Pinterest and offers some distinct observations on building out internal teams. Micheal talks about what it is like in his day-to-day complexities of working in AWS. Tune in for Micheal’s take on the specific details of productivity and the cloud.

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro
(0:55) Panoptica sponsor read
(1:36) What is product engineering?
(2:44) The effectiveness of internal platforms
(7:46) Solving AMI problems
(10:23) Building foundations and learning woes
(13:06) Micheal’s day-to-day at Pinterest
(15:31) When engineering productivity starts to make sense
(18:58) Changes Micheal would've made at Pinterest
(20:56) Panoptica sponsor read
(21:19) Biggest mistakes at Pinterest
(23:46) Navigating outages in the cloud
(30:51) Corey’s personal experiences with Pinterest
(36:20) The legacy of code
(40:31) Where you can find more from Micheal

About Micheal Benedict:

Micheal Benedict is an engineering leader with a decade of experience in building and scaling infrastructure for consumer and enterprise companies.

He currently heads Infrastructure Engineering at Airtable. Previously, he led teams at Databricks, Pinterest, and Twitter, enhancing developer productivity, scaling infrastructure, and driving efficient use of multi-million $ cloud budgets.

Micheal holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University at Buffalo.

Links:

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/micheal
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michealb/

Original Episode:

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/breaking-down-productivity-engineering-with-micheal-benedict/

Sponsor

Panoptica: https://www.panoptica.app/

Summer Replay - Cutting Cloud Costs at Cloudflare with Matthew Prince Jul 30, 2024

Show notes

In this Summer Replay of Screaming in the Cloud, Corey is joined by Co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, Matthew Prince. In this cost-cutting conversation from 2021, Matthew breaks down what exactly Cloudflare is up to, and how they are handling their clients' cloud cost needs. The pair focus on Cloudflare as a company and the options they are bringing to their clients. They discuss their mutual concerns with some AWS costs and why Cloudflare’s suite of tools has slowly been made available over time. Turn back the clock with this fan-favorite episode for more insight.

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro
(0:53) Backblaze sponsor read
(1:20) Origins of Cloudflare
(5:55) The Achilles Heel of the AWS cloud
(10:09) What is Cloudflare R2?
(12:26) Pricing philosophies in the cloud
(17:35) Egress cost of the “static” internet
(19:48) How Amazon’s pricing harms the overall market
(24:34) Firefly sponsor read
(25:10) Cloudflare’s endgame
(28:32) Staying focused as a business
(33:35) The value of providing a valuable service
(37:17) “The internet is a fad.”
(42:19) The strength of admitting you’re wrong
(43:04) Where you can find out more about Cloudflare

About Matthew Prince:

Matthew Prince is co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. Cloudflare’s mission is to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world's largest networks, which spans more than 200 cities in over 100 countries. Matthew is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, winner of the 2011 Tech Fellow Award, and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law. Matthew holds an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a George F. Baker Scholar and awarded the Dubilier Prize for Entrepreneurship. He is a member of the Illinois Bar, and earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago and B.A. in English Literature and Computer Science from Trinity College. He’s also the co-creator of Project Honey Pot, the largest community of webmasters tracking online fraud and abuse.

Links Referenced:

The Cloudflare Blog: blogs.cloudflare.com

Sponsors:

Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/
Firefly: https://www.firefly.ai/

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