More Software Engineering Radio episodes
Published 26 Feb 2026
Duration: 01:05:02
Building and scaling on-premises cloud infrastructure is plagued by hardware and firmware issues, legacy component limitations, and operational complexity.
Bryan Cantrill, the co-founder and CTO of Oxide Computer company, speaks with host Jeremy Jung about challenges in deploying hardware on-premises at s...
The podcast examines the difficulties of constructing and expanding on-premises cloud infrastructure, focusing on how abstraction of hardware by software developers can lead to complex problems, as exemplified by Samsung's acquisition of Joyant for its cloud capabilities. Key challenges include hardware and firmware issues such as severe input/output latency caused by faulty Toshiba drives, illustrating the difficulty of managing large-scale integrated systems. It also addresses limitations in legacy server components, like Baseboard Management Controllers (BMCs), which present operational and security issues due to outdated, closed-source designs. The discussion contrasts the relative simplicity of public cloud platforms like AWS with the complexity of on-premises deployments, emphasizing the need for full control and integration across all system layers. Additionally, the importance of scalable control planes, the challenges of using JavaScript in large-scale systems, and the shift toward more reliable programming languages like Rust are explored, along with the advantages of using open-source tools in the development of modern cloud infrastructure.
10 Jun 2026 Jure Leskovec on Relational Graph and Foundational Models
Predictive modeling faces challenges with AI's limitations in structured data, prompting solutions like graph databases and relational deep learning with attention mechanisms to enhance accuracy, scalability, and real-time updates for enterprise applications.
3 Jun 2026 Dave Airlie on Linux Kernel Maintenance
The Linux kernel, the largest global software project, uses a hierarchical maintainer system with 80,150 contributors managing subsystems like DRM through public review, structured development cycles, and evolving practices to address scalability, quality, and integration challenges.
27 May 2026 Dwayne McDaniel on the Engineering Challenges of Secrets Management
Managing secrets like credentials and API keys in software development risks leaks causing supply chain attacks (e.g., PyPy, Clot, Cisco) due to secrets sprawl, plaintext storage, and misuse, prompting solutions like time-bound credentials, decentralized systems, vault tools (e.g., HashiCorp Vault), and strategies such as credential rotation and encrypted storage amid over 28.65 million hard-coded secrets in GitHub in 2025.
20 May 2026 Rob Moffat on Risk-First Software Development
Recommended: Risk identification and management is a forgotten art
Software development prioritizes risk management through frameworks like test-driven development and agile, addressing hidden risks, AI deployment challenges, open-source dependencies, and organizational prioritization to balance innovation with safeguards.
13 May 2026 SE Radio 720: Martin Dilger on Understanding Eventsourcing
Recommended: Useful Architectural Pattern.
Event sourcing is a system design approach that records changes as sequential events to ensure historical traceability, uses event modeling for aligning systems with human workflows, contrasts with CRUD architectures, and emphasizes slice-based design, event streams, and practical applications like legacy modernization and workflow simplification.