Technology

Heavy Networking

by Packet Pushers

Technology

About the show

Heavy Networking is an unabashedly nerdy dive into all things networking. Described by one listener as "verbal white papers," the weekly episodes feature network engineers, industry experts, and vendors sharing useful information to keep your professional knowledge sharp and your career growing. Hosts Ethan Banks & Drew Conry-Murray cut through the marketing spin to explore what works—and what doesn't—in networking today, while keeping an eye on what's ahead for the industry. On air since 2010, Heavy Networking is the flagship show of the Packet Pushers podcast network.

Latest episodes

Multipath Reliable Connection (MRC)

October 2, 2026 · 1 hr 7 min

Today’s show puts the “heavy” in Heavy Networking with a discussion about Multipath Reliable Connection (MRC). MRC is about getting an even distribution of RDMA traffic across equal cost multipath links in massive data centers, and doing…
From Network Engineer to Network Architect with Kevin Nanns

September 25, 2026 · 59 min

Drew and Ethan talk with Kevin Nanns about his journey from network engineer to network architect. Kevin shares his experience grappling with the shift in responsibilities, increased pressure, and communication and management challenges…
How Network Engineers Can Prepare for a Post-Quantum World

September 18, 2026 · 1 hr 13 min

Q-Day signals the public emergence of a cryptographically relevant quantum computer that can break public key encryption. The date of Q-Day is unknown but the tech industry is making preparations now. Bill Dockery joins Drew and guest host…
HPE Melds Apstra and Mist for Self-Driving Data Center Networks (Sponsored)

September 11, 2026 · 59 min

In this sponsored episode, Kyle Baxter and Sridhar Katere from HPE join Drew to talk about automating enterprise data center networks. They discuss how HPE integrates its Apstra and Mist products to bring AI ops and self-driving…
How to Make a Technology Buying Decision

September 4, 2026 · 51 min

When engineers look to buy new technology they tend to focus on features and functionality, but there’s more to it than that. Sian Morgan joins Drew and Ethan to discuss the best practices involved in making a good technology buying…
Why Flows, Packets, and DDI are All Critical for Operational Effectiveness (Sponsored)

August 28, 2026 · 56 min

If you think of BlueCat as just an IPAM or DDI company, think again. BlueCat acquired LiveAction in 2024, and since then, they’ve been working to integrate LiveAction’s network observability capabilities with the DDI portfolio. In this…
Meet Mr. Packets - Building Your Own Agentic AI Team Member

August 21, 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

What does it take to build your own AI agent that could help with day-to-day network tasks? Hank Preston, a Distinguished Architect at Cisco, asked himself that question. He developed a presentation that walks through all the elements one…
Agentic AI to Reduce MTTR

August 7, 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

Ethan Banks sits down with Eduard Dulharu live at AutoCon 5 to explore how agentic AI can be used to reduce Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR) for complex network environments. Eduard breaks down how these AI agents leverage deterministic…