The Network Automation Journey

Hosted by Tony Bourke

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Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

This is a (probably) limited series where Tony Bourke, a networking instructor (Arista, Cisco, etc.) talks in a vendor-neutral way about the process of network automation, the basic concepts, and where everything falls into place.

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50 recent

June 16, 20266 min

Are Traditional Networking Jobs No More?

Yeah, I think network automation is now just part of being a network administrator.

June 1, 20267 min

What the &#@! Is A Tenant?

In this episode I talk about the concept of a tenant as it relates to network automation (and networking in general).

March 16, 20269 min

Finding the Time To Automate When You're Already Underwater

You're slammed, tickets piling up, deadlines slipping, you're barely keeping your head above water. And some Youtubers are telling you that you should automate? In this economy? I talk about the genuine issue of finding the time to learn, let alone implement, network automation in these trying times.

January 19, 202622 min

Network Automation Platform Wishlist (Part 1)

What would a replacement for Ansible look like? What do we want in a network automation platform that would replace Ansible?

January 13, 20268 min

Ansible: No Commit Confirm?

In this episode I talk about the lack of commit/confirm in many of the NOS modules.

December 8, 20259 min

What Is The Goal of Network Automation/NetDevOps

It's easy to be overwhelmed and see all these network automation tools and wonder... what is even the goal? The tools are there to help us achieve our goals, they're not the goal themselves and I talk about how you can pick which tools makes the most sense for you. Especially as it's easy to see all these new tools and methods and think that

November 3, 20259 min

Push Configs from Data Models to Configs: The Genesis Torpedo Method

In this episode I talk about my preference for generating a new config and replacing the entirety of the old config, every time, much like the Genesis Torpedo from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Adding things is easy, removing stuff is hard. It can be done, but it's just easier to wipe away what was there in lieu of "it's new matrix."

October 28, 20259 min

Throwing More Shade at YANG

I don't like YANG for configuring devices (and I'm going to tell you allll about it).

September 13, 20259 min

Don't Add Meetings/Committees To Your Change Control Process, Add Autotmation

More meetings, more committees, more reviews isn't going to deliver more reliable network changes. While a formalized process and policies for network changes is important, you hit a point of very diminishing returns: Doubling your meetings or committees or reviews isn't going to halve your error rate. It just adds friction to the process.

September 5, 20258 min