The NAF Reference Framework gives network automation a shared vocabulary of six building blocks. Here’s how to use it to evaluate your stack and identify gaps.
Stop Picking Tools, Start Picking Functions: The NAF Framework
Network automation, infrastructure, and the tools that make it work.
The 85% Problem: Licklider’s 1960 Vision and the AI Moment We’re Living In
In 1960, J.C.R. Licklider described a future where humans and computers think together as partners. Sixty-six years later, AI coding assistants and LLMs are fulfilling that vision, but not in the way most people assume.
CLI Over HTTPS Part 4: Where Do We Go from Here?
A decision framework for choosing SSH direct, an edge proxy, or native HTTPS for network automation. Plus what the industry needs to build next.
CLI Over HTTPS Part 3: The Proxy Pattern
Most network devices don’t speak HTTPS natively. The practical solution: move SSH to the edge and talk HTTPS (or QUIC) over the WAN. Here’s the proxy, the tunnel, and the measured proof.
CLI Over HTTPS Part 2: Proving It
I built clibench, a dual-protocol device emulator in Go, to measure SSH vs HTTPS CLI performance at realistic latencies. Here’s the architecture, the code, and the numbers.
CLI Over HTTPS Part 1: The Protocol Tax
SSH-based network automation is slow at scale. Not because of the devices, but because of the protocol. Here’s what the SSH handshake actually costs and why HTTPS is a faster transport for CLI commands.
What Actually Happens When You SSH Into a Router
You type ssh router1 and a prompt appears. Between those two events, dozens of packets cross the wire across three protocol layers. Here’s what’s actually happening, and why it matters for automation.