Thanks to HP, I am here at Interop in Las Vegas. I’ve had the chance to walk the exhibit hall and sit in on some sessions. While there’s a ton of things I am interested in and want to comment on, I simply want to touch on a quote I heard yesterday in a panel discussion regarding data center LAN design. It comes from Doug Gourlay of Arista.
“Think. Be an engineer. Don’t be a vendor slave.”
That comment needs to be burned into the mind of every networking professional out there. Interop is about a bunch of different vendors coming together to show off their product lines. Guess what? They all have different ideas about how to get things done. That’s okay. In fact, I want a difference of opinion. If you only go to one vendor to solve your technology problems, you’re probably doing it wrong.