FastNetMon was pleased to join RONOG 11 in Bucharest, bringing together the Romanian network operator community for a full day of technical talks, discussions and networking.
Our Bucharest-based colleague Virgil Truică joined network operators, engineers, infrastructure providers and security professionals from Romania and further afield at the Radisson Blu Hotel.
RONOG has grown into an important meeting point for the networking community in the region, and once again the agenda reflected the breadth of challenges facing operators today — from DDoS and BGP to AI infrastructure, optical networking, peering and automation.
A morning of DDoS, infrastructure and network security
The opening plenary covered several topics particularly close to us at FastNetMon.
Alexandru Tolgyi from ZET.net presented “Stopping DDoS at the Door,” while Massimiliano Stucchi from Team Cymru introduced a collection of no-cost community network tools. The morning also included sessions on open data, EVPN and infrastructure architecture.
After the first networking break, Virgil chaired the late-morning plenary, guiding a varied session that moved from the impact of AI on the technical workforce and digital infrastructure to some very familiar territory for anyone following the current DDoS landscape.
Chase Clowser from Recorded Future presented research into modern DDoS botnets using publicly available cryptocurrency blockchains as command-and-control infrastructure — another example of how the infrastructure and techniques behind DDoS attacks continue to evolve.
The session then moved into optical networking, with Thomas Weible from Flexoptix looking at flexible DWDM network design for 1.6T, before Olena Lutsenko from RETN discussed where traffic is heading next and the infrastructure required to support growing AI workloads in Romania.
It made for an interesting mix of security, infrastructure and capacity planning — different subjects on the surface, but all closely connected when it comes to building networks that can continue to perform reliably as traffic patterns and threats change.
From optical networks to BGP and peering
The afternoon kept the technical variety going.
Sessions covered continuous optical monitoring, the changing value of IP addresses, AI infrastructure and connectivity in Central and Eastern Europe, and the practical considerations behind 400G optical networking.
One presentation we particularly enjoyed seeing on the agenda came from Ștefan Alexandru Cezar Mincu of the Networking & Cybersecurity Club at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” High School, sharing how a networking club developed into hands-on Internet experience. It was great to see the next generation of network engineers represented alongside experienced operators and industry speakers.
The closing plenary brought things back to some of the fundamentals of operating the Internet. Livio Morina from PeeringDB discussed building an effective network profile, Andrian Visnevschi from IT Care looked at the state of BGP policy automation, and Gianluca Sironi from Naquadria gave attendees a closer look at Internet traffic in Romania.
That breadth is a big part of what makes network operator group meetings worthwhile. You can start the day discussing DDoS mitigation and EVPN, move through optical infrastructure and AI traffic, and finish with BGP and peering — while hearing directly from people working with these technologies in production.
Thank you, RONOG
A big thank you to the RONOG team and InterLAN, as well as the programme committee, speakers, sponsors and everyone else who helped make RONOG 11 happen. The official programme continued beyond the talks with an evening networking party, giving the community more time to catch up after a packed day of sessions.
And, of course, thank you to everyone who caught up with Virgil during the event and shared their experiences and challenges. The conversations around DDoS detection and mitigation, network security, traffic visibility and day-to-day network operations are always one of the most valuable parts of these meetings.
It was great to see familiar faces, make new connections and once again be part of Romania’s network operator community.
Until the next RONOG — we hope our network paths cross again soon!
Event: RONOG 11
Date: September 29, 2026
Location: Radisson Blu Hotel, Bucharest, Romaniafaces and making new connections.
Event: RONOG 11
Date: September 29, 2026
Location: Radisson Blu Bucharest Hotel, Calea Victoriei 63-81, Bucharest 010065, Romania
See our social media for event photos!
