Best Packet Pushers Team Podcasts (2025)

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NAN098: Democratizing the Learning Environment for Network Engineers 52:33

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3h ago52:33

52:33

Democratizing the learning environment is a passion for Deepak Ahuja. So much so, he founded CloudMyLab, a company that provides hands-on, cloud-based labs and networking environments. His goal is to offer an affordable lab-as-a-service for two groups of people: network engineers seeking certifications, and network engineers and automators that nee…

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TCG056: Network Automation Reality Check with Ivan Pepelnjak 1:10:51

1h ago1:10:51

1:10:51

In this unplanned and unfiltered conversation, we dive deep into network automation realities with Ivan Pepelnjak, networking’s long standing and independent voice from ipSpace.net. We explore why automation projects fail, dissect the tooling landscape (Ansible vs. Terraform vs. Python), and discuss the cultural barriers preventing enterprises from…

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PP075: Kernel Vs. User Mode In Endpoint Security Software 43:39

23h ago43:39

43:39

Microsoft is rethinking allowing endpoint security software to run in the Windows kernel (including third-party and Microsoft’s own endpoint security software). While there are benefits to running security software in the kernel, there are also serious downsides (see the CrowdStrike outage). Dan Massameno joins JJ and Drew on Packet Protector to ta…

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HS110: Cryptocalypse Soon! The CRQCs Are Due Sooner Than We Thought 22:54

1d ago22:54

22:54

Google now estimates that the specs for a Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computer (CRQC), which can break conventional public key encryption in a useful amount of time, are lower than they had previously estimated…by 95%. Given the breadth and pace of advancement in quantum computing, this makes the advent of the CRQC likely to happen years... …

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NB539: Boom Times for Arista; SonicWall Offers $200K Firewall Warranty 31:03

2d ago31:03

31:03

Take a Network Break! We start with critical vulnerabilities in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center and Fortinet’s FortiSIEM. On the news front, SonicWall announces Gen8 firewalls plus a $200,000 warranty for customers that sign on to SonicWall’s Managed Protection Security Suite. IBM Cloud suffers its fourth major outage since May of this year…

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HN792: Understanding Agentic AI for Network Operations (Sponsored) 45:43

5d ago45:43

45:43

LLMs and AI-powered chatbots are becoming a regular feature of network operations tools and vendor product portfolios. Now the next iteration of AI in network ops and automation is likely to be agentic. On today’s Heavy Networking, sponsored by HPE Juniper Networking, we talk about what agentic AI actually means, how AI agents will accomplish... Re…

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TNO038: Building Things That People Will Use – ARPANET History with Jack Haverty 1:18:28

5d ago1:18:28

1:18:28

Building things for people to use has been our guest’s goal since entering university in the 1960s. Total Network Operations is delighted to welcome Jack Haverty, who’s been instrumental in ARPANET operations and innovation, the development of TCP, and more. He takes us through the history of the internet from the early days of ARPANET,... Read mor…

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IPB181: Answering Your IPv6 Questions 25:46

6d ago25:46

25:46

You’ve sent in questions and on today’s IPv6 Buzz episode Ed, Nick, and Tom answer them. Questions include using DHCPv6 versus SLAAC in a home network, IPv6 and email services, a NAT66 recap, and more. Stay tuned for full episodes coming up that cover Path MTU discovery and IPv6 and containers. Episode Links: Google IPv6... Read more »…

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N4N036: OSPF Area Types 1:08:51

6d ago1:08:51

1:08:51

Ethan and Holly bring you the last installment of the OSPF series discussing OSPF area types. They discuss why OSPF areas exist, do a quick recap of what OSPF areas actually are, and then introduce the different types of OSPF areas. Lastly, see if you can answer Ethan’s rapid-fire OSPF questions. Episode Transcript: This episode... Read more »…

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D2DO279: Herding the Agentic Geese 40:33

7d ago40:33

40:33

Developers Rizel Scarlett and Ian Douglas join Ned and Kyler to talk about building an AI agent. Rizel and Ian work at Block, where they’re part of a team building an agent called Goose. They talk about what the agent does, building challenges, observability, and more. They also dive into topics such as how using AI... Read more »…

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PP074: News Roundup – Microsoft Dumps Digital Escorts; Palo Alto Bundles Billions Aboard CyberArk 42:35

8d ago42:35

42:35

Packet Protector goes global for today’s security news roundup. Microsoft discontinues a program in which engineers in China supported the US Department of Defense’s cloud infrastructure (with the help of US ‘digital escorts’), Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC fires several employees over allegations of attempted theft of sensitive tech, an Arizona woman g…

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HW058: Wi-Co Wi-Fi Conferences with Peter Mackenzie 28:43

8d ago28:43

28:43

Technical conferences are an excellent avenue for building community. Guest Peter Mackenzie talks about his love for conferences and how they’ve helped him in his career. In fact, Conferences helped him so much started one in Europe called Wi-Co. It has grown to include North America so that more wireless practitioners can join in the... Read more …

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NB538: AI Copilot To Help Steer HPE SASE; SoftBank Will Test 5G Airships 57:56

9d ago57:56

57:56

Take a Network Break! We start with follow-up on post-quantum support in firewalls and DPDK, then highlight a command injection vulnerability in Ruckus SmartZone software. In tech news, Broadcom rolls out the Jericho4 ASIC to help scale AI across multiple data centers, InfoBlox beefs up DNS protection to spot malicious domains faster, and HPE annou…

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Tech Bytes: How Lightyear Makes ISP Management Painless (Sponsored) 16:07

9d ago16:07

16:07

Telecom and ISP lifecycle management can be tedious and opaque. On today’s Tech Bytes, we talk with sponsor Lightyear about its SaaS-based platform that handles telecom and ISP procurement, tracks installations and inventory, manages billing, and more. We talk about the pain points that Lightyear can solve, the components of the platform, and how L…

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HN791: Should You Build or Buy Your Automation Platform? 55:32

12d ago55:32

55:32

Perhaps the biggest question around adopting network automation is whether you should build a solution using open source tools and a lot of coding glue, or buy a network automation platform from a vendor and construct your automation solution on top of that. Either way has tradeoffs. Network engineer Lee Harper joins Heavy Networking to... Read mor…

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TCG055: Building Developer-First Identity Solutions with Brian Pontarelli 50:13

14d ago50:13

50:13

Today we explore how to build sustainable tech companies with Brian Pontarelli, Founder of FusionAuth. Brian shares his path from early programming on an Apple IIe to creating innovative solutions in the complex world of customer identity and access management (CIAM). Brian argues that single-tenancy and local development capabilities are crucial f…

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NAN097: Automating Optical Networks 1:05:54

14d ago1:05:54

1:05:54

Optical networks are an essential component of networking, but don’t get much attention. Today we shine a spotlight on the intersection of optical networks and the software that automates them. Our guest is Michal Pecek, consultant and teacher in optical communication, whose work has transformed organizations including Google and Alcatel-Lucent (no…

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PP073: Identify Yourself: Authentication From SAML to FIDO2 40:06

15d ago40:06

40:06

From SAML to OAuth to FIDO2 to passwordless promises, we unpack what’s working—and what’s broken—in the world of identity and authentication. Today on the Packet Protector podcast, we’re joined by the always thoughtful and occasionally provocative Wolf Goerlich, former Duo advisor, and now a practicing CISO in the public sector. We also talk about …

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HS109: Is AI a Purchase or a Hire? 31:58

15d ago31:58

31:58

Is adding AI to your environment a software purchase? Or is it more like hiring an employee? Heavy Strategy’s John Burke and Johna Johnson debate whether AI should be treated as just another application you buy and use, or be handled like an employee you’re bringing on staff (complete with background and reference checks, training... Read more »…

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NB537: Palo Alto Networks IDs New Market With $25 Billion CyberArk Buy; Intel to Shed Networking Biz 34:54

16d ago34:54

34:54

Take a Network Break! Guest opinionator Tom Hollingsworth joins Johna Johnson to opine on the latest tech news. On the vulnerability front, several versions of BentoML are open to a server side request forgery. Looking at tech news, Intel will spin out its networking and edge group as it continues cost-cutting, Palo Alto Networks makes... Read more…

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HN790: From Rule-Based to Goal-Based: Rethinking Autonomous AI Operations (Sponsored) 57:45

19d ago57:45

57:45

On Heavy Networking today, AI operations for networking. That is, how do we delegate some amount of responsibility for network operations to artificial intelligence? Cisco is our sponsor, and our guests are Omar Sultan, Director for Product Management of Automation and AI; and Javier Antich, Chief Mad Scientist for AI (yes, that’s his title!). We t…

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TNO037: The Next Era of Network Management and Operations 46:31

19d ago46:31

46:31

What’s the next era of network management and operations? Total Network Operations talks to Mahesh Jethanandani, Area Director(AD) for all of Operations and Management (OPS) at IETF and Distinguished Engineer at Arrcus. Mahesh describes a workshop from December of 2024 that sought to investigate the past, present, and future of network management a…

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IPB180: IPv6 Basics – Deployment 31:39

20d ago31:39

31:39

We’re continuing our IPv6 Basics series discussing on this episode deployment. We’ll help you sort out why you should deploy IPv6, things to consider before starting a deployment, and what approach you should take such as “inside out” vs. “outside in” and when you should deploy IPv6. Lastly we explain why you should seek out... Read more »…

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N4N035: Well Actually . . . Listener Comments and Corrections 46:35

20d ago46:35

46:35

We ask listeners for follow up and you’ve sent it in. On today’s show we respond to listener comments and corrections on tunneling, the link aggregation control protocol, link aggregation in general, and DHCP options. We also talk about the network engineering certification journey. If you’ve got a “Well, actually” or any other follow up,... Read m…

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D2DO278: The Future of HashiCorp Inside IBM 40:10

21d ago40:10

40:10

On today’s show, we talk to Armon Dadgar, co-founder and CTO of HashiCorp regarding HashiCorp’s future within IBM. We start with a quick recap of IBM’s acquisition of HashiCorp and then move on to the challenges of bringing a small, young tech company into a huge corporation that makes lots of its revenue on legacy... Read more »…

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PP072: Mobile Device Threat Management 47:13

22d ago47:13

47:13

Mobile devices blur the boundaries between personal and work devices and are packed with sensitive information, making them popular targets for malware, spyware, and data collection. On today’s Packet Protector we dig into strategies for managing threats to mobile devices with guest Akili Akridge. Akili started his career pulling burner phones off …

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HW057: Orb – A New Tool for Monitoring Internet Connectivity 26:04

22d ago26:04

26:04

Orb is an intelligent app and platform designed to help consumers understand and improve their internet connectivity. Orb continuously monitors networks to give a complete picture of true internet experience, beyond just peak speed. Today’s guest, Doug Suttles, CEO and co-founder of Orb, explains exactly what Orb does, including speed, responsivene…

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NB536: Fortinet FortiOS Goes Post-Quantum; Intel Scales Back Global Projects 27:43

23d ago27:43

27:43

Take a Network Break! In our Red Alert section we note that memory safety bugs bug Firefox and Thunderbird, and on-prem SharePoint instances are under attack. In tech news, Fortinet adds support for Post Quantum Cryptography in FortiOS, Cato Networks integrates Azure Virtual WANs to its SASE offering, and we weigh the pros and cons... Read more »…

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HN789: How a Global Payments Processor Automates Firewall Changes at Scale 48:25

26d ago48:25

48:25

Adyen is a global payments processor whose primary business is providing payment services for merchants, retailers, and venues, as well as online payments. On today’s Heavy Networking we talk about a firewall automation project the company has undertaken. With dozens of change requests coming in every day that need to touch network and host firewal…

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TNO036: Bridging Networking and Security with Auvik (Sponsored) 57:28

26d ago57:28

57:28

Auvik is network management software that lets users monitor, manage, and troubleshoot their networks. On today’s sponsored episode we talk with Doug Murray, CEO; and John Harden, Director of Strategy & Technology Evangelism, both from Auvik, about the challenges facing today’s network operators. We look at the rise of the IT generalist, workloads …

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TL017: From the Mailbag: Yes and No, and Mid-Year Evaluations 31:46

27d ago31:46

31:46

Laura Santamaria opens the listener mailbag to answer questions, including how to say yes or no to leadership opportunities without tanking your career or trashing your work-life balance. She also explores the mid-year review process and offers tips for successful self-evaluation and paths to self-growth. Episode Links: The Line Between Management …

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N4N034: OSPF Network Types 43:10

27d ago43:10

43:10

Ethan and Holly continue their OSPF journey this week with OSPF Network Types. They discuss the two main OSPF network types used today: the broadcast and point to point networks. They also explain designated routers, backup designated routers, and when those are used and why. Lastly they discuss some soft skills – knowing your vendor... Read more »…

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TCG054: Framing Up the Future of Infrastructure-as-Code and User Experience with Cory O’Daniel 1:01:56

28d ago1:01:56

1:01:56

How is Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) evolving? How does user experience fit in? Today on The Cloud Gambit, Cory O’Daniel, Co-Founder & CEO of Massdriver, lends his experience as a coder, architect, and founder to help us answer these questions. Cory also discusses what it was like building and funding a startup in the 2021-2022 market, the... Read m…

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NAN096: NautobotGPT – An AI Assistant for Network Automation 55:35

28d ago55:35

55:35

NautobotGPT is a new AI assistant for Nautobot that helps engineers with network automation, answers questions, recommends tooling, and delivers working code. We discuss the user experience of NautobotGPT with Matthew Schwen, Associate Director of Network Automation at Humana, CoFounder and CTO of PortalCX; and Brad Haas, VP of Professional Service…

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PP071: SSE Vendor Test Results; Can HPE and Juniper Get Along? 46:20

29d ago46:20

46:20

CyberRatings, a non-profit that performs independent testing of security products and services, has released the results of comparative tests it conducted on Secure Service Edge, or SSE, services. Tested vendors include Cisco, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Skyhigh Security, Versa Networks, and Zscaler. We look at what was tested and how…

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HS108: Keeping the (IT) House Clean to Avoid the Plague 23:55

29d ago23:55

23:55

Whether it’s CNAME records pointing to dead endpoints or abandoned cloud storage buckets still mentioned in the makefile or Chef recipe, seemingly innocuous bits of infrastructure that don’t get cleaned up can turn into serious security threats. (Both of these examples are taken from real-life attacks, BTW). When and how and who within IT should...…

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NB535: Tomahawk Ultra Chops Congestion; Denmark Invests for Quantum Advantages 51:38

30d ago51:38

51:38

Take a Network Break! We begin with a listener question about a paper critiquing Shor’s Algorithm and quantum computing, and touch on a remote code execution vulnerability in Riverbed SteelCentral NetProfiler / NetExpress 10.8.7. We discuss a Cloudflare BGP misconfiguration that caused the Internet to hiccup, Broadcom’s new Tomahawk Ultra ASIC aime…

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Tech Bytes: How Is SD-WAN Driving SASE Success (Sponsored) 20:46

30d ago20:46

20:46

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast, sponsored by Palo Alto Networks, we examine how SASE is being adopted and deployed by enterprise customers. What does this integration of networking and security mean for the teams that need to operate this solution? We talk with Palo Alto Networks about SASE as a transformative technology for networking... Read mor…

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TNO035: Network Engineer and Content Creator – A Career Journey with Kevin Nanns 56:10

1M ago56:10

56:10

Kevin Nanns is today’s guest on Total Network Operations. Kevin describes his “Wizard of Oz” moment when he discovered the world of networking. He talks about how he came up through the ranks working a help desk and then in a NOC, and his climb up the certification ladder. We also discuss how AI is... Read more »…

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HN788: Behind Megaport’s Network Automation Platform (Sponsored) 51:50

1M ago51:50

51:50

We have a network automation discussion for you today from sponsor Megaport. At the AutoCon3 conference earlier this year, Luke Gollan presented on a complex network automation project migrating Megaport’s API-driven software defined network from a legacy VXC overlay to an EVPN framework. This helped improve scalability, but was fraught with practi…

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IPB179: IPv6 DNS Gotchas 23:51

1M ago23:51

23:51

Let’s talk about common misconceptions regarding DNS and IPv6. We’ve heard these often enough that we felt we should talk through each one. We cover issues including what kind of DNS record types can be returned via IPv6 (and IPv4, too), more details on what really goes on with Happy Eyeballs, and combining A/AAAA records... Read more »…

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N4N033: OSPF Neighbor Formation and Timers 56:52

1M ago56:52

56:52

Our OSPF series continues with a look at OSPF neighbor formation and related timers. We talk about the five major packet types that carry information among OSPF routers, how OSPF routers become neighbors, how they negotiate link-state database exchanges, keep-alive messages, and how they negotiate designated and backup routers when multiple devices…

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D2DO277: AI Security Submissions at Curl Dev 35:10

1M ago35:10

35:10

Curl is a widely used open source tool and library for transferring data. On today’s Day Two DevOps we talk with curl creator Daniel Stenberg. Daniel gives us a brief history of curl and where it’s used (practically everywhere). We also discuss the impact of AI on curl. Open source projects are often starved for... Read more »…

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HW056: From Emergency Response to Instant Branch: HiveRadar’s Portable Edge 24:21

1M ago24:21

24:21

There’s lots of use cases for a portable edge devices that can provide compute and wireless connectivity: emergency response, a remote industrial site, an instant retail location, and so on. Heavy Wireless dives into HiveRadar’s instant edge in a box, which provides Intel NUCs, integrated switching, a wireless gateway, a PDU, support for G5 and... …

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PP070: News Roundup – Scattered Spider Bites MSPs, Microsoft Rethinks Kernel Access, North Koreans Seem Good at Their Illicit Jobs 44:03

1M ago44:03

44:03

There’s lots of juicy stories in our monthly security news roundup. The Scattered Spider hacking group makes effective use of social engineering to target MSPs, Microsoft pushes for better Windows resiliency by rethinking kernel access policies for third-party endpoint security software, and the US Justice Department files indictments against alleg…

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NB534: Arista Late to SD-WAN Party but Ready to Dance; CoreWeave Acquires GPUs, Gigawatts for $9 Billion 50:31

1M ago50:31

50:31

Take a Network Break! We start with listener follow-up on Arista market share in the enterprise, and then sound the alarm about a remote code execution vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager. On the news front, Arista buys VeloCloud to charge into the SD-WAN market, CoreWeave acquires a cryptominer to get access to GPUs and electricity... Read m…

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Tech Bytes: Build a Reliable DC Network With Nokia Validated Designs (Sponsored) 19:43

1M ago19:43

19:43

Today on the Tech Bytes podcast we explore NVDs, or Nokia Validated Designs, for enterprise data center networks. NVDs are developed to address a broad set of customer requirements and undergo extensive testing of hardware, software, and traffic. We talk with sponsor Nokia about its validation process, customer benefits, NVD use cases, technical de…

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NAN095: Certification Deep Dive – The New Cisco Automation Track 52:29

2M ago52:29

52:29

Cisco recently announced a major evolution to its certification roadmap: starting February 2026, the popular DevNet certifications will transition to a brand-new Automation track. Joining us today is Francois Caen, Product Manager at Cisco, also an expert in network automation and a recognized voice in the Cisco Learning and Certification Community…

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PP069: A Quantum Primer: It’s More Than Cracking Crypto 41:44

2M ago41:44

41:44

Quantum computing is here, and it’s being used for more than cracking encryption. On today’s Packet Protector we get a primer on quantum, how it differs from classical computing, its applications for difficult computing problems, why quantum will be the death of blockchain, and how to think about quantum risks. Our guest, Johna Johnson, is... Read …

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HS107: Your (Late) New Years Resolution: Follow Your (Amended) Strategy 32:18

2M ago32:18

32:18

Here we are, a bit more than halfway through the year. How’s your execution against your strategy going? Roiled by the economy? Disrupted by tariffs? Thrown off by staff retirements? If you built a proper technology strategy in the first place, driven by the business strategy, then no matter what is happening don’t ignore it,... Read more »…