The Art of Network Engineering
The Art of Network Engineering blends technical insight with real-world stories from engineers, innovators, and IT pros. From data centers on cruise ships to rockets in space, we explore the people, tools, and trends shaping the future of networking, while keeping it authentic, practical, and human. We tell the human stories behind network engineering so every engineer feels seen, supported, and inspired to grow in a rapidly changing industry. For more information, check out https://linktr.ee/artofneteng
Episodes
What does a network engineer actually make in 2025–2026? How do you ask for a raise without making it weird? And what's the single biggest thing holding your career back? We recorded this one live.
This episode comes straight from the PA Network User Group 2026 Spring Career Day — a standing-room-only event organized by USNUA in the Philadelphia area. Five talks. Five perspectives. All of it relevant to where yo...
What if the biggest problem in networking is that we’re solving the wrong one?
In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy and Lexie sit down with Radia Perlman, one of the most influential figures in networking history and the inventor of Spanning Tree Protocol.
This conversation goes far beyond protocols and configurations. Radia shares how networking evolved, through constraints, tradeoffs, and human de...
In this episode, Andy sits down with Gregory Grimes to unpack the world of Wi-Fi 7 and what it means for network engineers.
If wireless has ever felt like magic compared to the predictability of route/switch, this conversation is for you. Andy and Greg walk through the evolution of wireless networking, from the early days of 802.11 to the latest innovations in Wi-Fi 7, including wider channels, better spectrum use, r...
“AI Won’t Replace You, But Someone Using AI Might”
AI is everywhere; stickers, marketing, hype. Network engineers are understandably skeptical.
In this episode, Andy Lapteff is joined by longtime friend of the show John Capobianco (now Head of AI & DevRel at Itencho) and Mike Bushong for a practical, optimistic “ABCs of AI” discussion designed for working network engineers.
We start with a blunt reality: automation...
What does “mission-critical networking” really mean?
At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it’s not about uptime SLAs or dashboard metrics; it’s about supporting the research and care that helps save children’s lives.
In this episode, we sit down with Remington Loose and Josh Morris to explore the architecture, scale, and responsibility behind one of the most meaningful networks in the world.
We dig into:
- How re...
Erika Dietrick (aka “Erika the Dev”) is back on the show, and she’s days away from a major life change (welcome, Baby Dev). In this follow-up conversation, we dig into the thing that keeps coming up in network engineering careers: programming is no longer a “nice-to-have.”
Erika breaks down her free YouTube course designed specifically for network engineers: Level 1 is “programmatic thinking” (the mindset +...
We've all worked on those technical projects that felt doomed from the start.
In this episode, we're joined by Eyvonne Sharp and Mike Bushong to dig into what actually derails technical projects, and why the root cause is usually people, not packets.
We unpack:
- Why 80–90% of project failures aren’t technical
- What “executive sponsorship” is supposed to mean (and why most teams...
Recorded on-site in Austin, Texas, at AutoCon 4 (Network Automation Forum), Andy sits down with Colin Doyle to talk about the human side of technical communication and why it matters more than ever in technical careers.
They dig into practical speaking advice for engineers: how to slow down without losing authority, why “dead air” feels scarier than it is, how to stop relying on scripts, and how to structure a talk s...
Most network engineers know BGP, OSPF, and maybe EIGRP, but far fewer have hands-on experience with ISIS. In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff sits down with Russ White and Mike Bushong for a deep, opinionated, and refreshingly honest discussion about routing protocol design in modern data centers.
We explore why BGP has become the default hammer for every networking nail, what we...
In this special on-location episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff sits down in person with Kevin Myers for a conversation that pulls no punches.
Kevin brings decades of service provider and whitebox experience to the table as the two dive deep into one of networking’s most complex decisions: how to choose the right vendor to build your network.
From Cisco to whitebox, from enterpr...
Andy sits down with longtime friend William Collins to unpack three big themes shaping modern NetOps.
First: the AWS US-East-1 outage and the myth that “cloud = resiliency by default.” They explore blast radius, hidden regional dependencies, cost trade-offs (active/active vs. DR), and why resiliency is engineered, not purchased.
Next: how public speaking accelerates a technical career (without live-demo heartbreak)....
Network engineers don’t tune into corporate all-hands because they’re “lazy,” they tune out because the message often isn’t for them. In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff sits down with longtime industry leaders Scott Robohn and Mike Bushong to unpack the disconnect between engineering teams and executive communications, and how to fix it.
They talk about:
- Why engineers roll their eyes a...
Blue Origin’s Lexie Cooper is back! We riff on New Glenn’s first launch and what “vehicle #2” means for launch cadence, where to watch from Florida without getting arrested, and why streaming your learning, even when it’s awkward, is a cheat code for growth.
Andy shares his live Python study saga (and a friendly dust-up with Jeff about “just code it”), while Lexie takes us down to Layer 1: PHYs, link pulse...
Learning Python as a network engineer can feel confusing, frustrating, and let’s be honest, pretty dry at times. But Andy and Jeff are diving in together to make it real, relatable, and (hopefully) a little more fun.
In this episode, they pick up where the last Python Party left off: exploring variables, strings, methods like .title() and .strip(), and why whitespace can break your scripts. Along the way, t...
We’re kicking off a brand-new “Python Study Sessions” series—learn right alongside host Andy Lapteff as he starts from absolute basics and builds momentum one concept at a time. In this first session, Andy walks through the installation of Python, setting up VS Code, running “Hello, world,” and getting comfortable with the Python REPL. Then we dive into fundamentals you’ll use everywhere: variables, print(), syntax ...
BGP isn’t just “the internet’s protocol”—it’s the most flexible policy engine in networking. In this episode of The Art of Network Engineering, Andy Lapteff and Jeff Clark sit down with Kevin Myers (aka StubArea51) to unpack Border Gateway Protocol from the ground up: why BGP replaced EGP, how policy differs from IGP topology, and where iBGP shines inside modern enterprises.
You’ll hear practical patterns for BGP com...
What happens when a farm kid with a knack for taking things apart discovers computers? Meet Tom Lawrence, the tech polymath behind Lawrence Systems and a YouTube channel with over 375,000 subscribers. In this engaging conversation, Tom reveals how his curiosity-driven journey from 1990s Linux enthusiast to MSP owner and content creator was fueled by a simple philosophy: lead with value.
Tom's approach ...
From refinancing a car to attend Novell School to founding one of networking's most influential podcasts, Ethan Banks shares his remarkable journey through the evolution of network engineering with raw honesty and deep insight.
In this captivating conversation, Ethan takes us back to the mid-90s when networks ran on a patchwork of protocols like IPX, DeckNet, and AppleTalk, before the industry consolid...
Ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes of a tech podcast? From planning to publishing, this episode lifts the veil on the entire content creation process that powers The Art of Network Engineering.
The journey begins with planning—far from simply hitting record and talking, successful episodes require thoughtful topic selection, guest coordination, and scheduling. We reveal how project manageme...
Have you ever wondered what happens when the networks we build leave Earth's atmosphere? In this mind-expanding conversation with Lexi Cooper, Network Integration Engineer at Blue Origin, we explore the extraordinary world of rocket networking and witness firsthand the emotional impact of watching your work launch into orbit.
Lexi's journey defies conventional career paths—from hating her previous...
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