Distributed AI Training: Scaling Model Development
January 21, 2026
Practical patterns for distributed training of large models, from data parallelism to pipeline parallelism and efficient collective communication.
Technical Articles
Deep dives into distributed systems, cloud architecture, security, and AI from 18+ years of engineering experience.
2026
Real-Time AI Inference: Latency Optimization at Scale
January 19, 2026
Achieving sub-millisecond AI inference latency through model optimization, batching strategies, and hardware acceleration techniques.
Autonomous AI Systems: Designing for Days-Long Execution
January 17, 2026
Building AI systems capable of autonomous operation over extended periods, handling multi-day projects with adaptive planning and robust error recovery.
Edge AI Deployment: Running Models Everywhere
January 15, 2026
Strategies for deploying AI models to edge devices, from mobile phones to IoT sensors, with WebAssembly and optimized runtimes.
Rust Ecosystem Maturity: Building Production Systems in 2026
January 13, 2026
Exploring the mature Rust ecosystem in 2026, from web services to distributed systems, with practical patterns for production deployments.
Production AI Governance: Policies, Controls, and Compliance
January 11, 2026
Implementing comprehensive governance frameworks for AI systems in production, covering model approval, usage policies, and regulatory compliance.
Reasoning AI at Scale: Production Deployment Patterns
January 9, 2026
Strategies for deploying reasoning-focused AI models at scale, balancing compute costs, latency requirements, and quality objectives.
AI Security Frameworks: Building Defense in Depth for Production Systems
January 7, 2026
Comprehensive security frameworks for AI systems, covering threat modeling, defense strategies, and compliance requirements for production deployments.
Agent Orchestration Platforms: The Rise of Standardized Multi-Agent Systems
January 5, 2026
Exploring emerging platforms and standards for orchestrating multi-agent systems, from communication protocols to deployment patterns.
2025
2025 Year in Review: AI Architecture Evolution and 2026 Outlook
December 20, 2025
Reflecting on the architectural lessons learned from deploying AI systems in production, and what the evolution of AI architecture means for 2026
AI Observability Architecture Patterns
November 18, 2025
Architectural approaches to building comprehensive observability for AI systems, from model inference to agent reasoning chains and multi-step decision processes
System Design for Autonomous AI Systems
October 15, 2025
Architectural principles and design patterns for building robust, scalable autonomous AI systems that can reason, plan, and act with minimal human intervention
Agentic Workflow Architecture: Designing Autonomous Task Execution Systems
September 16, 2025
Architectural patterns for building workflows where AI agents autonomously plan, execute, and adapt to achieve goals with minimal human intervention
AI-Powered Security Architecture: Autonomous Threat Detection and Response
August 19, 2025
Architectural patterns for integrating AI agents into security operations for automated threat detection, analysis, and response orchestration
WASM Runtime Architecture: Performance and Security Trade-offs
July 14, 2025
Architectural considerations for building high-performance WebAssembly runtimes with robust security isolation
Distributed AI System Design: Architectural Patterns for Scale
June 17, 2025
Designing distributed architectures for AI systems that handle massive scale, geographic distribution, and complex coordination requirements
Production AI Safety Architecture: Building Guardrails for Autonomous Systems
May 20, 2025
Architectural patterns for implementing safety controls, content filtering, and behavioral constraints in production AI systems
AI Reasoning System Architecture: Designing for Deep Thought
April 22, 2025
Architectural patterns for building AI systems that perform extended reasoning, multi-step analysis, and self-verification at scale
LLMOps Platform Architecture: Building Production AI Infrastructure
March 18, 2025
Architectural patterns for building robust LLMOps platforms that handle model serving, prompt management, observability, and cost optimization at scale
Designing Multi-Agent Systems: Orchestration Patterns and Communication Strategies
February 12, 2025
Architectural approaches for coordinating multiple AI agents through hierarchical delegation, peer collaboration, and distributed task execution
Architectural Patterns for Modern AI Agent Systems
January 15, 2025
Exploring foundational architectural patterns for building robust, scalable AI agent systems in production environments
2024
AI at Scale: Architectural Lessons from 2024
December 28, 2024
Reflecting on a year of building and scaling AI infrastructure—key architectural insights, patterns that worked, mistakes made, and what's next for production AI systems.
Production AI System Design: Principles for Building Reliable ML at Scale
November 18, 2024
Core architectural principles and design patterns for building AI systems that are reliable, maintainable, and scalable in production environments.
AI Observability Architecture: Monitoring Systems That Learn
October 20, 2024
Architectural patterns for building comprehensive observability into AI systems, from model performance monitoring to feature drift detection and production debugging.
Zero-Trust Edge Security Architecture: Building Trust Boundaries in Distributed Systems
September 15, 2024
Exploring architectural patterns for implementing zero-trust security models at the network edge, balancing security rigor with performance requirements.
Distributed AI Training Infrastructure: Architectural Patterns for Scale
August 11, 2024
Exploring architectural approaches to building distributed training infrastructure that scales from single machines to hundreds of GPUs across multiple data centers.
Achieving 5x Latency Reduction: Architectural Decisions That Matter
July 14, 2024
Deep dive into the architectural decisions and trade-offs that enabled reducing system latency by 5x in a production security platform.
WASM Edge Deployment Architecture: Security and Performance at the Network Boundary
June 23, 2024
Architectural patterns for deploying WebAssembly at the edge, balancing security isolation, cold start performance, and operational complexity.
ML Security Analytics: Real-Time Threat Detection at Scale
May 19, 2024
Building machine learning systems for security analytics that can detect threats in real-time across massive data streams
AI Agents and Autonomous Systems: From Theory to Production
April 21, 2024
Building reliable AI agents that can plan, use tools, and accomplish complex tasks autonomously in production environments
RAG Architecture Patterns: Building Retrieval-Augmented Generation Systems
March 15, 2024
Comprehensive guide to RAG system architecture including retrieval strategies, chunking techniques, and production optimization patterns
Prompt Engineering Best Practices: From Basics to Advanced Techniques
February 18, 2024
Comprehensive guide to prompt engineering including techniques, patterns, and evaluation methods for production LLM applications
LLMs in Production: From Prototype to Scale
January 14, 2024
Practical guide to deploying and operating Large Language Models in production environments, including infrastructure, optimization, and reliability patterns
2023
2023 in Review: AI-Driven Infrastructure and the Rise of Platform Engineering
December 20, 2023
Reflecting on the major trends, technologies, and lessons learned in infrastructure and platform engineering throughout 2023
Platform Engineering Maturity: Building Internal Developer Platforms That Scale
November 12, 2023
A framework for evolving platform engineering practices from ad-hoc scripts to mature internal developer platforms
Control Plane Design: Building Scalable Management Systems
October 8, 2023
Architectural patterns for designing robust control planes that manage distributed infrastructure at scale
Data Path Optimization: Achieving Microsecond Latency at Scale
September 11, 2023
Deep dive into optimizing data path performance for high-throughput, low-latency systems with practical techniques and measurements
Edge Computing Security: Challenges and Solutions for Distributed Architectures
August 16, 2023
Exploring security challenges unique to edge computing and practical solutions for protecting distributed edge infrastructure
Multi-Cloud High Availability: Architecture Patterns for 99.99% Uptime
July 19, 2023
Designing and operating highly available systems across multiple cloud providers with practical patterns and real-world trade-offs
eBPF in Production: Observability and Security Without Kernel Modules
June 14, 2023
Deploying eBPF programs for production observability, security monitoring, and network optimization at scale
Rust for Systems Programming: Why We're Rewriting Critical Infrastructure
May 20, 2023
A practical exploration of adopting Rust for high-performance systems programming, including real-world migration patterns and lessons learned
Vector Databases for AI Applications: Architecture, Implementation, and Best Practices
April 22, 2023
A comprehensive guide to vector databases, from fundamentals to production deployment for AI-powered applications
Building Production-Ready Bot Detection Engines: Behavioral Analysis at Scale
March 18, 2023
Deep dive into designing and implementing bot detection systems using behavioral analysis, fingerprinting, and machine learning
Machine Learning for Real-Time Threat Detection: From Theory to Production
February 12, 2023
Practical insights on deploying ML models for real-time threat detection, including feature engineering, model selection, and performance optimization
Building AI-Driven Security Platforms: Architecture Patterns and Lessons Learned
January 15, 2023
Exploring the architectural patterns and design decisions that enable effective AI-driven security platforms at scale
2022
2022 Reflections: Architectural Lessons from Scaling to 100M+ Events Daily
December 28, 2022
A year-end reflection on architectural lessons learned from operating large-scale distributed systems, managing 60+ microservices, and optimizing systems processing hundreds of millions of events.
System Design for 100M+ Events Per Day: Architecture Patterns and Lessons
November 18, 2022
Architectural patterns and design decisions for building systems that process hundreds of millions of events daily, covering scalability, reliability, and performance optimization.
Cloud-Native Data Platform Architecture: Design Principles and Patterns
October 27, 2022
Architectural patterns for building scalable, resilient data platforms in the cloud, covering storage strategies, compute orchestration, and multi-region data management.
API Design Patterns and Evolution Strategies for Long-Lived Systems
September 23, 2022
Architectural approaches to designing APIs that evolve gracefully over years, balancing stability for existing clients with innovation for new capabilities.
Engineering Team Structure and Conway's Law: Architecting for Alignment
August 19, 2022
How team structure shapes system architecture and vice versa, with practical patterns for organizing engineering teams around microservices and distributed systems.
Distributed Tracing in Production: Architecture and Design Decisions
July 14, 2022
Architectural approaches to implementing distributed tracing at scale, covering design decisions, trade-offs, and patterns for observability in microservices architectures.
Data Mesh Architecture: Decentralizing Data Ownership at Scale
June 22, 2022
Exploring data mesh principles and architectural patterns for scaling data platforms across large organizations with distributed ownership and federated governance.
ML Feature Pipeline Architecture: Building Reliable Real-Time Feature Platforms
May 18, 2022
Architectural patterns and design decisions for building scalable ML feature pipelines that serve predictions in real-time while maintaining consistency and reliability.
The Path from 400ms to 50ms: A Performance Optimization Journey
April 14, 2022
A detailed walkthrough of systematic performance optimization that achieved 8x latency improvement through measurement, analysis, and targeted fixes.
Managing 60+ Microservices: Lessons from Large-Scale Systems
March 17, 2022
Practical strategies for operating dozens of microservices, from service mesh to observability, deployment automation, and organizational patterns that work.
Real-Time Data Processing: From Batch to Streaming
February 15, 2022
Transitioning from batch data processing to real-time streaming architectures, with practical migration strategies and lessons learned.
Event Streaming Best Practices: Lessons from Processing Billions of Events
January 20, 2022
Advanced patterns and best practices for building reliable, high-throughput event streaming platforms based on real-world experience at massive scale.
2021
2021 in Review: Lessons from Building at Scale
December 30, 2021
Reflecting on a year of building distributed systems, managing large engineering teams, and the key technical and organizational lessons learned.
Platform Engineering: Building Internal Developer Platforms That Scale
November 18, 2021
Strategies for building internal developer platforms that improve productivity, reduce cognitive load, and enable teams to move faster while maintaining reliability.
GraphQL Federation: Building Distributed Graph APIs at Scale
October 21, 2021
Practical guide to implementing GraphQL Federation for microservices, enabling teams to build a unified API while maintaining service autonomy.
Multi-Region Deployments: Strategies for Global Scale
September 16, 2021
Architectural patterns and implementation strategies for deploying applications across multiple regions while maintaining consistency, performance, and availability.
eBPF: The Future of Observability and Performance Monitoring
August 19, 2021
Exploring eBPF technology for deep system observability, performance monitoring, and network analysis without kernel modifications or application changes.
Edge Computing Patterns: Bringing Compute Closer to Users
July 14, 2021
Exploring edge computing architectures, CDN integration, and strategies for distributing computation to reduce latency and improve user experience.
Data Pipeline Architectures: Lambda vs Kappa vs Delta
June 17, 2021
Comparing modern data pipeline architectures for real-time and batch processing, with practical implementation patterns and trade-offs.
AI/ML in Production: Building Platforms That Actually Work
May 22, 2021
Real-world strategies for deploying and scaling machine learning systems in production, from model serving to feature pipelines and monitoring.
Latency Optimization: How We Reduced API Response Time from 400ms to 50ms
April 18, 2021
A detailed walkthrough of performance optimization techniques that achieved an 8x latency reduction in a high-scale distributed system.
Breaking the Monolith: A Practical Guide to Microservices Migration
March 20, 2021
Step-by-step approach to decomposing monolithic applications into microservices, with real-world patterns, pitfalls to avoid, and migration strategies that work.
Kafka Stream Processing: From Theory to Production at Scale
February 12, 2021
Practical guide to building production-grade Kafka stream processing applications, covering architecture patterns, performance optimization, and operational best practices.
Event-Driven Architectures: Building Systems That Scale to Billions of Events
January 15, 2021
Deep dive into designing event-driven architectures that can handle massive scale, exploring patterns, anti-patterns, and real-world implementation strategies.
2020
2020 in Review: Architectural Evolution in Cloud-Native Systems
December 28, 2020
Reflecting on architectural trends, lessons learned, and emerging patterns from a transformative year in cloud-native infrastructure and security
DevSecOps Automation: Architectural Patterns for Security Pipeline Integration
November 23, 2020
Architecture for embedding security throughout the software delivery lifecycle including shift-left patterns, automated testing, and continuous compliance
Platform Engineering: Architecture for Developer Experience
October 19, 2020
Architectural patterns for building internal developer platforms including self-service infrastructure, golden paths, and team topologies
Cloud Migration Architecture: Patterns, Strategies, and Lessons Learned
September 21, 2020
Architectural approaches to cloud migration including modernization strategies, data migration patterns, hybrid architecture, and risk mitigation
Distributed Tracing at Scale: Architecture and Design Patterns
August 17, 2020
Architectural approaches to implementing distributed tracing across thousands of services including sampling strategies, storage patterns, and query optimization
CI/CD Security Automation: Securing the Software Supply Chain
July 20, 2020
Architectural patterns for embedding security controls throughout continuous integration and deployment pipelines including secrets management, artifact signing, and vulnerability scanning
Microservices Communication Patterns: Synchronous, Asynchronous, and Hybrid Architectures
June 22, 2020
Architectural trade-offs between communication patterns in distributed systems including request-response, event-driven, and message-based approaches
Cloud Security Posture Management: Architecture for Continuous Compliance
May 18, 2020
Framework design patterns for automated security posture assessment, policy enforcement, and compliance validation across cloud infrastructure
Observability-Driven Development: Building Systems for Production Understanding
April 20, 2020
Architectural approaches to embedding observability into system design from inception, enabling production debugging and operational insights
API Gateway Architecture: Patterns for Microservices Edge
March 16, 2020
Architectural patterns for API gateways including routing strategies, authentication flows, rate limiting, and service aggregation trade-offs
Multi-Cluster Kubernetes: Architectural Patterns and Trade-offs
February 18, 2020
Exploring topology strategies, federation approaches, and cross-cluster communication patterns for distributed Kubernetes deployments
Remote-First Engineering Culture: Lessons from Distributed Teams
January 15, 2020
Building effective remote engineering teams with cloud-native practices, asynchronous collaboration, and robust communication patterns
2019
2019 Year in Review: Production Cloud-Native at Scale
December 27, 2019
Lessons learned running cloud-native infrastructure in production throughout 2019
Progressive Delivery: Canary Deployments and Feature Flags
November 19, 2019
Implementing safe deployment strategies with gradual rollouts
Event-Driven Architectures: Messaging Patterns at Scale
October 21, 2019
Building resilient event-driven systems with message queues and streams
Cloud Cost Optimization: FinOps for Kubernetes
September 16, 2019
Strategies for reducing cloud spending while maintaining performance
Debugging Distributed Systems: Tools and Methodologies
August 19, 2019
Systematic approaches to debugging complex distributed applications
Site Reliability Engineering Practices: SLOs, Error Budgets, and On-Call
July 23, 2019
Implementing SRE principles for reliable cloud-native services
Zero-Trust Networking: Implementing Security Beyond the Perimeter
June 18, 2019
Moving from perimeter-based security to zero-trust models in cloud-native environments
Infrastructure as Code Best Practices: Terraform at Scale
May 20, 2019
Production-tested patterns for managing infrastructure as code with Terraform across multiple environments and teams
GraphQL API Design: Schema Patterns and Best Practices
April 17, 2019
Designing scalable and maintainable GraphQL APIs for microservices, covering schema design, resolvers, and performance optimization
Service Mesh Observability: Deep Insights into Microservices Traffic
March 19, 2019
Leveraging service mesh capabilities for comprehensive observability across distributed microservices architectures
Serverless Architectures at Scale: Beyond Hello World
February 14, 2019
Real-world patterns and practices for building production serverless applications that handle millions of requests
Kubernetes Security Hardening: From Defaults to Defense in Depth
January 16, 2019
Comprehensive guide to hardening Kubernetes clusters beyond default configurations, covering RBAC, network policies, and admission control
2018
2018 Year in Review: Cloud-Native Reaches Maturity
December 28, 2018
Reflecting on the major milestones, trends, and lessons learned in cloud-native technologies throughout 2018
Container Runtime Security: Protecting the Foundation
November 22, 2018
Exploring container runtime security from kernel namespaces to security policies, covering vulnerabilities and hardening strategies
Envoy Proxy Deep Dive: The Foundation of Modern Service Mesh
October 19, 2018
Understanding Envoy proxy architecture, configuration, and its role as the data plane for service mesh implementations
The Evolution of Cloud-Native Monitoring: From Metrics to Observability
September 17, 2018
How monitoring practices have evolved in cloud-native environments, embracing metrics, logs, traces, and the observability mindset
Multi-Tenant Architecture Patterns: Isolation, Efficiency, and Trade-offs
August 20, 2018
Exploring multi-tenancy strategies for SaaS applications, from database isolation to Kubernetes namespace designs
Chaos Engineering Fundamentals: Building Resilient Distributed Systems
July 25, 2018
An introduction to chaos engineering principles and practices for testing and improving system resilience in production environments
Securing Secrets in Cloud-Native Applications: Beyond Environment Variables
June 14, 2018
Comprehensive strategies for managing sensitive data in cloud-native applications, from basic practices to advanced secret management systems
GitOps Workflows: Infrastructure as Code Meets Continuous Delivery
May 22, 2018
Implementing GitOps practices for declarative infrastructure and application deployment in Kubernetes environments
gRPC for Microservices: Moving Beyond REST APIs
April 18, 2018
A comprehensive guide to adopting gRPC for microservices communication, including protocol buffers, streaming, and production considerations
Running Service Mesh in Production: Lessons from the Trenches
March 20, 2018
Real-world experiences and practical guidance for deploying Istio and Linkerd service meshes in production environments
Serverless Security: Rethinking Application Security in Function-as-a-Service Environments
February 12, 2018
Exploring the unique security challenges and best practices for serverless architectures and FaaS platforms
Building Kubernetes Operators: Extending the Platform with Custom Controllers
January 15, 2018
A deep dive into building Kubernetes operators and custom controllers to automate complex application management at scale
2017
2017 Year in Review: Cloud-Native Evolution and Security Maturity
December 28, 2017
Reflecting on a transformative year in cloud-native infrastructure, security practices, and distributed systems
Container Orchestration Best Practices: Running Production Workloads
November 21, 2017
Practical lessons learned from running containerized applications in production with Kubernetes and other orchestration platforms
Building Resilient Microservices: Patterns for Failure Handling
October 19, 2017
Essential resilience patterns for microservices including circuit breakers, retries, timeouts, and bulkheads to handle failure gracefully
Unified Observability: Metrics, Logs, and Traces Together
September 20, 2017
How to build a comprehensive observability strategy that unifies metrics, logs, and distributed traces for effective system understanding
Cloud Migration Strategies: From Legacy to Cloud-Native
August 17, 2017
Practical patterns and strategies for migrating legacy systems to the cloud, minimizing risk while maximizing business value
Automated Compliance: Building Audit-Ready Infrastructure
July 25, 2017
How to build infrastructure that meets compliance requirements through automation, continuous monitoring, and infrastructure as code
Modern Encryption Practices: Key Rotation and Management
June 22, 2017
A deep dive into encryption key management, rotation strategies, and practical patterns for protecting data at scale
Security at Scale: Protecting Microservices Architectures
May 18, 2017
Practical strategies for implementing security in large-scale microservices deployments, from authentication to data protection
Distributed Tracing with OpenTracing: Making Sense of Microservices
April 20, 2017
A practical guide to implementing distributed tracing using OpenTracing to debug and understand complex microservices interactions
Service Mesh: A New Layer for Microservices Communication
March 15, 2017
Understanding service mesh architecture and how it solves critical challenges in microservices communication, security, and observability
Advanced Kubernetes Patterns for Production Readiness
February 20, 2017
Moving beyond basic Kubernetes deployments to build production-ready container orchestration with advanced patterns and best practices
Zero-Trust Architecture Principles for Modern Infrastructure
January 15, 2017
Exploring the fundamental principles of zero-trust security and how to implement them in modern cloud infrastructure
2016
2016 Year in Review: Cloud-Native Security Trends
December 28, 2016
Reflecting on the major cloud security developments of 2016—from container security to multi-cloud adoption, GDPR preparation, and the evolution of DevSecOps culture.
Scalable Encryption Architectures for Cloud Applications
November 17, 2016
Building encryption systems that scale from thousands to millions of operations per second, using envelope encryption, key hierarchies, and distributed key management.
GDPR Compliance Preparation for Engineers
October 20, 2016
Practical engineering considerations for GDPR compliance, from data encryption and access controls to data portability and the right to be forgotten.
Observability in Distributed Systems: Beyond Logging and Monitoring
September 22, 2016
Building comprehensive observability into microservices architectures with distributed tracing, metrics, and structured logging to understand complex system behavior.
DevOps Culture Meets Security: Building DevSecOps
August 18, 2016
Integrating security into DevOps workflows without slowing down development, from automated security testing to security-as-code practices.
Container Security Best Practices: Lessons from Production
July 15, 2016
Practical security strategies for containerized applications in production environments, from image hardening to runtime protection.
Serverless and Key Management: Evaluating AWS Lambda for Cryptographic Services
June 16, 2016
Exploring whether serverless functions are suitable for key management workloads and the unique challenges of managing cryptographic state in ephemeral environments
CI/CD for Security Software: Automating Deployment Without Compromising Security
May 19, 2016
Building continuous integration and deployment pipelines for security-critical microservices while maintaining rigorous security controls and compliance requirements
Building High-Performance Microservices with Go
April 14, 2016
Why we chose Go for performance-critical key management services and lessons learned from rewriting Java services in Go
Kubernetes in Production: Running Security Services at Scale
March 22, 2016
Taking Kubernetes from experimental to production for key management microservices, sharing lessons learned from six months of real-world operation
Integrating with Azure Key Vault: Lessons from Production Deployments
February 18, 2016
Deep dive into Azure Key Vault integration for enterprise key management, comparing with AWS KMS and sharing practical implementation guidance
Multi-Cloud Security Strategies: Building for Portability and Resilience
January 25, 2016
Designing security architectures that work across multiple cloud providers, balancing portability with cloud-specific features for encryption and key management.
Multi-Cloud Key Management: Building a Unified Platform Across AWS, Azure, and On-Premises
January 20, 2016
Designing key management architectures that span multiple cloud providers and on-premises infrastructure, tackling challenges of consistency, latency, and vendor differences
2015
2015 Year in Review: Cloud Security and Distributed Systems Trends
December 28, 2015
Reflecting on the major trends in cloud security, distributed systems, and infrastructure in 2015, and what they mean for the year ahead.
Enterprise Policy Management: Enforcing Data Protection at Scale
December 15, 2015
Building policy engines that enforce encryption and key management policies across multi-cloud environments, balancing flexibility with security
Distributed System Design Patterns for Reliability and Scale
November 20, 2015
Essential patterns for building reliable distributed systems: circuit breakers, retry strategies, eventual consistency, and handling partial failures.
Encryption Best Practices: Lessons from Building Enterprise Key Management
November 18, 2015
Practical guidance on encryption implementation, common pitfalls to avoid, and patterns that work at enterprise scale
Building CipherTrust Monitor: ELK Stack for HSM and Microservices Monitoring
October 22, 2015
Designing a comprehensive monitoring solution using Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana for tracking HSM health, key operations, and microservices performance
Building Cloud Services with Go: Performance, Concurrency, and Simplicity
October 18, 2015
Why Go has become my language of choice for building cloud-native security services, with practical examples of concurrency patterns and performance characteristics.
HSM Integration Patterns: Hardware Security for Critical Keys
September 25, 2015
Practical patterns for integrating Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) into cloud-based encryption systems, balancing security, performance, and operational complexity.
Microservices Architecture for Enterprise Key Management
September 17, 2015
Decomposing monolithic key management systems into microservices: design patterns, challenges, and lessons learned from production deployments
Compliance and Data Protection: Building for Regulations
August 20, 2015
Navigating the complex landscape of data protection regulations including PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and SOC 2, with practical architectures and implementation patterns.
First Look at Kubernetes: Orchestrating Security Microservices
August 20, 2015
Exploring Kubernetes for orchestrating containerized key management microservices and evaluating if it's ready for production security workloads
Building Observability with the ELK Stack: Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana
July 30, 2015
Implementing centralized logging and monitoring for distributed systems using the ELK stack, with practical patterns for security services and microservices.
Containerizing Security Services: Docker for Key Management Microservices
July 16, 2015
Exploring how Docker containers can be used for security-sensitive microservices while addressing unique challenges around secrets management and HSM access
Navigating Compliance Requirements: PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and Key Management
June 25, 2015
Understanding how compliance frameworks shape key management architecture and what it takes to build compliant encryption systems
Security Considerations for Microservices Architecture
June 25, 2015
Exploring the unique security challenges that emerge when moving from monolithic applications to microservices, and practical patterns to address them.
First Steps with Kubernetes: Container Orchestration for the Future
May 28, 2015
An early exploration of Kubernetes and its potential for orchestrating containerized workloads, including security services and distributed systems.
Distributed Key Storage: Designing for Scale and Reliability
May 14, 2015
Building distributed systems for key storage that balance security, performance, and fault tolerance across multiple data centers
AWS Encryption Services: A Practical Guide to KMS and CloudHSM
April 22, 2015
Exploring AWS's encryption offerings, comparing KMS and CloudHSM, and understanding when to use each for enterprise workloads
Containerizing Security Services with Docker: Lessons and Best Practices
April 22, 2015
How we're using Docker to deploy and manage security-critical services, including key management and encryption services, with a focus on isolation and security.
Cloud Security Architecture Patterns: Building Defense in Depth
March 18, 2015
Exploring essential security architecture patterns for cloud-native applications, from network isolation to identity management and data protection.
Cloud Security Architecture: Rethinking Trust Boundaries
March 18, 2015
How cloud computing changes fundamental security assumptions and what it means for enterprise architectures
HSM Integration Patterns: Building Reliable Cryptographic Services
February 20, 2015
Deep dive into hardware security module integration patterns for enterprise applications, focusing on performance, reliability, and security
Building Distributed Key Management Systems: Architecture and Challenges
February 20, 2015
Exploring the architectural patterns, consistency challenges, and security considerations when building distributed key management systems for global scale.
Enterprise Encryption Best Practices: Lessons from the Field
January 15, 2015
A comprehensive guide to implementing encryption at enterprise scale, covering key management, performance considerations, and architectural patterns.
Key Management Fundamentals: The Foundation of Enterprise Security
January 15, 2015
Exploring the critical role of key management in modern enterprise security architectures and why it's the cornerstone of data protection
2014
2014 Year in Review: Evolution and Maturity
December 22, 2014
Reflecting on a year of platform expansion, cloud integration, and architectural maturation of FC-Redirect
Implementing Distributed Consensus with Raft for FC-Redirect
November 18, 2014
Building a production Raft implementation to provide distributed consensus and high availability for FC-Redirect's control plane
Hybrid Storage: Bridging On-Premise FC and AWS
October 20, 2014
Designing hybrid storage architectures that span on-premise Fibre Channel infrastructure and AWS cloud storage
Containers vs VMs: Storage Networking Implications
September 16, 2014
Analyzing how the rise of containers changes storage networking requirements compared to traditional VM architectures
Code Optimization Best Practices: Lessons from Two Years of FC-Redirect
August 14, 2014
Practical code optimization techniques that delivered real performance improvements in production systems
Using Apache Spark for FC-Redirect Analytics at Scale
July 18, 2014
Leveraging Spark for analyzing massive volumes of flow data and gaining insights into storage network behavior
Integrating FC-Redirect with OpenStack: Cloud Meets Storage
June 15, 2014
Exploring how to integrate traditional Fibre Channel storage networking with OpenStack cloud infrastructure
Preparing FC-Redirect for the MDS 9700: Next-Generation Platform
May 20, 2014
Early exploration of the upcoming MDS 9700 platform and architectural changes needed to leverage its capabilities
Microservices Patterns for Storage Networking
April 22, 2014
Exploring how emerging microservices architecture patterns can improve modularity and scalability in storage networking systems
Building Observability into Production Systems
March 18, 2014
How I built comprehensive monitoring and observability into FC-Redirect to enable fast debugging and proactive issue detection
Lock-Free Data Structures: When and How to Use Them
February 12, 2014
Practical guide to implementing and using lock-free data structures in FC-Redirect, including ring buffers, queues, and hash tables
Optimizing FC-Redirect for the Nexus 7000 Platform
January 16, 2014
Deep dive into platform-specific optimizations for FC-Redirect on the N7000, leveraging its unique architecture for 30% better performance
2013
2013 Year in Review: Scaling, Performance, and Growth
December 20, 2013
Reflecting on a year of scaling FC-Redirect from 1K to 12K flows, achieving 20% performance improvements, and lessons learned along the way
Tales from the Field: Debugging Customer Issues in Production
November 14, 2013
Real-world customer issues I've debugged in FC-Redirect deployments and the lessons learned from each
My Performance Optimization Workflow: Profile, Understand, Optimize
October 8, 2013
A systematic approach to performance optimization based on lessons from scaling FC-Redirect, including tools, techniques, and mental models
SDN and Storage Networking: The Coming Convergence
September 12, 2013
Exploring how Software-Defined Networking principles are transforming storage networking and what it means for FC-Redirect architecture
High Availability at Scale: Lessons from 99.999% Uptime
August 18, 2013
Deep dive into the architecture patterns and operational practices that enable five-nines availability in FC-Redirect at massive scale
Docker and the Future of Storage Networking
July 25, 2013
Exploring how Docker's emerging container technology will impact storage networking architectures and what we need to prepare for
Asynchronous Processing: Decoupling Fast Path from Slow Path
June 20, 2013
How implementing asynchronous processing patterns improved FC-Redirect throughput by 40% while maintaining correctness guarantees
Platform Migration: Lessons from Moving to MDS 9250i
May 15, 2013
Deep dive into the challenges and solutions for migrating FC-Redirect to the MDS 9250i platform while maintaining backward compatibility
Debugging the Impossible: Tracking Down a Heisenbug in Production
April 22, 2013
A war story about debugging an intermittent flow corruption issue that only appeared in production under specific load patterns
Data Structures: The Foundation of Performance
March 18, 2013
How choosing the right data structures improved FC-Redirect performance by 10x and reduced memory footprint
The Power of Message Batching in Distributed Systems
February 20, 2013
How implementing intelligent message batching reduced network overhead by 80% and improved FC-Redirect performance
Scaling FC-Redirect: From 1K to 12K Flows
January 15, 2013
Deep dive into the architectural challenges and solutions for scaling FC-Redirect from 1,000 to 12,000 concurrent flows while maintaining performance
2012
2012 Year in Review: Lessons Learned in Storage Networking
December 18, 2012
Reflecting on key lessons and insights from two years of working on storage networking and virtualization at Cisco
The Future of Storage Networking: Trends and Predictions
November 20, 2012
Looking ahead at emerging technologies and trends that will shape the future of storage networking
Storage Capacity Planning: Methodologies and Best Practices
October 16, 2012
Systematic approaches to storage capacity planning that prevent both over-provisioning waste and under-provisioning crises
Disaster Recovery Planning for Storage Infrastructure
September 18, 2012
Building effective disaster recovery strategies for storage systems with practical guidance on RPO, RTO, and implementation
Storage Security: Protecting Data at the Infrastructure Level
August 21, 2012
Essential security practices for storage networks and infrastructure to protect against unauthorized access and data breaches
LUN Provisioning Strategies: Thick vs. Thin and Beyond
July 25, 2012
Understanding different LUN provisioning approaches and their impact on capacity management and performance
NoSQL Storage Patterns and Architecture
June 19, 2012
Understanding NoSQL database storage architectures and how they differ from traditional relational databases
Storage Considerations for Hadoop and Big Data Workloads
May 22, 2012
Understanding the unique storage requirements of Hadoop and how they differ from traditional enterprise storage
Building Scalable Data Center Network Fabrics
April 24, 2012
Design principles and architectures for building modern data center fabrics that scale to meet growing demands
VMware Storage Best Practices: Lessons from the Field
March 19, 2012
Practical best practices for designing and optimizing storage infrastructure for VMware environments
Flash Storage Architecture: Understanding SSDs and Their Impact
February 14, 2012
Deep dive into flash storage technology, architecture, and how SSDs are changing storage design patterns
Storage Industry Trends to Watch in 2012
January 17, 2012
Key trends shaping the storage industry this year, from flash adoption to cloud integration
2011
Troubleshooting Storage Networks: A Systematic Approach
December 20, 2011
Methodologies and techniques for diagnosing and resolving complex storage network issues
High Availability Design Patterns for Storage Infrastructure
November 8, 2011
Architectural patterns and best practices for building highly available storage systems that survive component failures
Storage Migration Strategies: Moving Data Without Downtime
October 12, 2011
Techniques and best practices for migrating storage infrastructure without impacting running applications
Network Protocol Optimization: Getting Every Bit of Performance
September 27, 2011
Deep dive into network protocol optimization techniques for maximizing storage network performance
Distributed Storage Systems: Lessons from Google and Beyond
August 23, 2011
Exploring the principles behind distributed storage systems like GFS and their influence on modern storage architecture
Cloud Storage: A New Paradigm Emerging
July 19, 2011
Understanding the emerging cloud storage landscape and what it means for enterprise storage architecture
Evolution of Data Center Network Architecture
June 14, 2011
How modern data centers are evolving from traditional three-tier designs to more scalable and efficient architectures
SAN Performance Optimization: Beyond the Basics
May 17, 2011
Advanced techniques for optimizing SAN performance and troubleshooting common bottlenecks in storage networks
Storage Virtualization: Abstracting the Physical Layer
April 22, 2011
Understanding storage virtualization techniques and how they enable flexibility and efficiency in modern data centers
iSCSI: Storage Networking for the Rest of Us
March 18, 2011
Why iSCSI has become the practical choice for mid-market storage networking and when it makes sense over Fibre Channel
FCoE: The Promise of Converged Networking
February 20, 2011
Exploring Fibre Channel over Ethernet and the vision of unified fabric in modern data centers
Understanding Fibre Channel: The Backbone of Enterprise Storage
January 15, 2011
A deep dive into Fibre Channel technology and why it remains the gold standard for enterprise storage networking