DevCentral Top5 12/12/2008

Wow it's been a busy month! Travel, holidays, and so much great content coursing through DevCentral it could make your head spin. I'll do my best, as always, to guide you through the massive amounts of cool stuff and pick out a few of the gems for you to dig into. This week's Top5 is action-packed, with F5/Geeky goodness bursting from every seam, so make sure you check out each of the items below. That said, here's this week's Top5:

F5 ARX and Data Domain - Reduced Expense, Streamlined Storage

http://devcentral.f5.com/s/weblogs/dmacvittie/archive/2008/12/11/f5-arx-and-data-domain---reduced-expense-streamlined-storage.aspx

Don recently got a chance to chat with some of the folks over at Data Domain about what they're doing, and how F5 and Data Domain work together to better your world. While he wanted to bring me, the team, and all of you along, he figured that MIGHT be cumbersome. Instead he turned this chat into a cool, listenable piece along with slides for further clarification, then tossed the whole thing up on DevCentral.  I definitely recommend taking a look at this one to learn about the F5 / Data Domain story and how it might help solve the problems you're facing today in the storage world. This one is doubly cool since this is a new-ish partnership, so I wanted to be sure everyone gets the chance to take a peek.

9 ways to use network-side scripting to architect faster, scalable, more secure applications

http://devcentral.f5.com/s/weblogs/macvittie/archive/2008/12/11/9-ways-to-use-network-side-scripting-to-architect-faster-scalable.aspx

Having been there to hear Lori and that geek she was with present this material the first time, I can vouch for the fact that there's some cool stuff in here. Take a look as Lori walks you through some of the cool things that you can do with network-side scripting, iRules for those not hip to the nomenclature in the title, to improve your applications performance and reliability.  Ranging from things you've likely heard of before, but may not have seen implemented in code, to things that very well may be new to you, this one's got it all.  Even cooler: the code for each is included right along with the explanations so this one works for geeks and sales folks alike. Nice one!

Investigating the LTM TCP Profile: Congestion Control Algorithms

http://devcentral.f5.com/s/Default.aspx?tabid=63&articleType=ArticleView&articleId=295

Mr. Rahm, the newest DC Core member is setting a sizzling example of just how to make a name for yourself with cool, interesting, no-nonsense Tech Tips that the technical community is likely to really dig.  Continuing in the awesome "Investigating the LTM TCP Profile" series, Jason digs into different Congestion Control Algorithms, what they do, why they're there, and what you can do to tune them. This one is definitely for those that like to turn knobs, press buttons and flip switches to induce all kinds of cool changes in their traffic. Dig into the details behind the options and settings in this awesome walk-through.

Managing The System Boot Location with iControl

http://devcentral.f5.com/s/Default.aspx?tabid=63&articleType=ArticleView&articleId=293

Detailing yet another cool iControl example is our own Joe Pruitt. Joe walks us through the ways in which you can configure the boot location of your F5 device via iControl. This can allow for some pretty cool flexibility and manageability, which is always a good thing. Complete with the detailed examples we're used to from Joe's iControl tips, this one won't let you down if you're looking for code. Whether you've been looking for just one more reason to start using iControl or you're a seasoned veteran this one's sure to please.

20 Lines or Less #17

http://devcentral.f5.com/s/weblogs/cwalker/archive/2008/12/11/20-lines-or-less-17.aspx

Coming at you with three more cool examples of what iRules can do in just a few scant lines of code is this week's 20LoL. At number 17 in the series we're well past 50 iRules but there's lots more to come. This week I dug into the awesome Top50 iRules doc to bring three particularly cool examples to the forefront. With any luck the entire thing will be available on DevCentral soon, but until then, here's an appetizer to hold you over.

There's your Top5 for the week, I hope you enjoyed it! As always, all feedback and suggestions are welcome, so feel free to drop me a line.

Thanks,

#Colin