Are you a network who is looking to advance your career? If yes, then you might be looking for high demand skills that can propel your career to next level and help you achieve your dream job. If that is the case, then you are at the right place. In this article, you will learn about seven reasons why a network engineer should master application delivery controller.
What is Application Delivery Controller?
We might tap on the icon and get into our favorite apps and use them to complete different tasks but did you know what make all this possible. It is the application delivery controller that is doing all the magic in the background. As the name suggest, Application Deliver Controllers are network of devices which ensures faster delivery of application to your devices by staying in the background. The network infrastructure needed to make all this possible is known as application delivery infrastructure.
1. Get a Competitive Edge
If you have recently graduated with an IT degree or entered the networking industry recently and don’t know about ADC, you are not alone. Most IT graduates and network engineers are unaware of this emerging technology because it is still a niche. This means that if you want to stay ahead of the curve and want to gain a competitive advantage in the job market, ADC is the hot skill you should learn. Yes, it might evolve overtime and might push you to your limits but in the effort you put in mastering it is worth it.
2. Apps Are Everywhere
Whether it is mobile app, web apps or desktop apps, they are everywhere and has made a huge impact on our daily lives. In fact, it has become an integral part of our lives and we rely on them to perform many of our daily tasks. As the demand for apps continues to soar, it will have a positive impact on the tech skills needed to design, implement and manage apps. That is why you should get hands on experience with ADC and ADI. If you think that it is a fad and the apps will soon become irrelevant then you are wrong. This is not going to happen anytime soon. In fact, app demand will continue to skyrocket in future.
3. Master OSI Stack
When you learn ADC, you can easily master OSI in the process. In fact, it becomes your playground especially if you have spent some time working with ADCs, What’s more, you can jump from one layer to another taking one step at a time towards become an OSI layer expert. That is not all, it also give you opportunity to learn many new technologies along the way. Whether it is authentication, firewalls, application security or infrastructure security, learning ADC can broaden your horizon and take you one step closer to your dream job.
4. ADC Dominate the App Stack
OSI layers are the basic building block of networks and ADC help you learn it thoroughly. You can do everything from routing to switching, network address translation to session management and everything in between, giving you a holistic skill set that few network engineers have. You can also learn some advanced technologies such as SSL offloading, best dedicated server management, application acceleration and data packet inspection which will help you in the long run. This will increase your chances of getting a job as most business prefers to hire candidates with a diverse skill set.
5. Layers
There are instances when you get bored and want to learn something new. OSI has seven layers which mean that if you get bored of one, you can jump to another and start learning that layers inside and out. It is like climbing a ladder one step at a time to reach the top. Every layer has something new to offer. If you love to try something exciting, you can try your hand at TCP/UDP protocol optimization and traffic shaping. If you are into network programming, shaping traffic behavior passing through ADC will surely bring a smile on your face. One thing is for certain there is so much to learn that you will never get bored.
6. Faster Apps
By harnessing the power of virtualization, ADC can do wonders. When you combine that with the ability to run multiple virtual ADC instances, you get a perfect combo. This makes it an ideal choice for Software Defined Networking and Application Delivery Networking. With user demanding an instantaneous response from their mobile apps, you don’t have any choice but to switch to faster, secure solution to deliver it to your target users. ADC fits the bill perfectly and ensures secure, faster delivery for both B2B and B2C apps.
7. Every Layer is Different
Not all OSI layers are equal. As mentioned before, your learning experience might vary from layer to layer. Some might seem more interesting than others, depending on your tastes. Some network engineers love application layer because it allows them to write network scripts, which enables ADC to perform innovative actions while other stays inside the transport layer and focus on routing. Irrespective of which layers you go at it first, it is important to master all of them one by one, as it will equip you with the skill to manage business networks efficiently.
Conclusion
In today’s competitive job market, you need to constantly update your resume with latest skills to stay competitive. For network engineers, the best way to do that is to master ADC. Once you start learning ADC, you unlock a world of opportunities while giving you exposure to latest and advanced technologies. All this adds value to your resume and increase your chances of getting hired. Keep learning ADC and become a network engineer that companies want to hire.
Which is the most compelling reason which might convince network engineer to learn application delivery controller? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.