The world of load balancing, to put it lightly, is a strange world indeed. It involves a combination of skills that many don’t yet have. It’s a combination of networking (Ethernet, TCP/IP), Layer 7 application protocols (HTTP, HTTPS), encryption, and a little bit of application development thrown in (either through the web app itself, or through ADC features like iRules).
And load balancing isn’t the only world where these multiple worlds collide. The emerging market of WAN optimization (with products like Cisco’s WAAS, Riverbed, Bluecoat, and others) also works in multiple realms, from Layer 2 all the way to Layer 7. Cisco routers are now ISRs, involving everything from routing to call termination. Specialization is being redefined.
Someone with a combination of skillsets is still somewhat rare, but that’s changing. More and more, it’s getting tougher to be just a Layer 2-3 specialty, or just a Layer 7 specialty. It’s not a lack of smarts as to why people don’t have a combination of these skills, it’s that these career tracks have, for the most part, been very separate from each other. I came about it fairly accidentally.  So what’s the solution?
Be a perpetual n00b.
Being a n00b is tougher than it sounds. For starters, n00b is perhaps the highest pejorative in the nerd realm. In an industry where knowledge and skill are the currencies of choice, acknowledging a lack of such can be difficult.
And learning, while thrilling at times and eventually rewarding, can also be unpleasant.  It requires time, practice, and determination. There can be many moments of frustration with progress-free time spent on plateaus of learning.  And then there’s the always present aversion to “looking stupid”. Outside of comedy, no one wants to look stupid, especially not knowledge workers. But looking stupid and embracing your inner n00b is just an essential part of the process.
In the past few years, I’ve been doing a lot of teaching/instruction, but I’ve also been getting instruction as well. From routing to flying a plane, I’ve been constantly learning. I think one helps the other, and vice versa.
Technology is always changing. An ace in one aspect technology will typically see their skill-set becoming less relevant over time.  Sure, you can make a good living on an aging skill-set (mainframe operators are still in high demand because of their rarity), but the options become more limited.
Dare to be stupid, embrace your inner n00b, and keep on learning.
Brilliant post! I know how you feel but from a different angle. I’ve gone through the L2/L3 security field to now consulting on devices that contain a little bit of everything from WAN acceleration to load balancing (your type as well as link load balancing) and a whole bunch of other multi-layer processing. Great for not stagnating and I love it but sometimes it’s difficult to feel like you’re on top of the ‘expert’ rating you give yourself only a few months earlier.
I’m glad someone else finds it both challenging and exciting at the same time.
Yup, that describes how I have been operating for the last 14 years or so! My role (Sales Engineer), is really another name for Jack-of-all-Trades/Master-of-None.
But for me this is the number one appeal of the job. Having to struggle everyday to keep up with the things I should have at least a passing knowledge of.
The load balancing space as you have pointed out is particularly “good” for this encompasing so many different areas.
Nick