Overview
Your complete guide to The network architect
Data centre networks with spine-leaf, VXLAN and EVPN, wide area networks, MPLS and SD-WAN, the cloud at scale, then design from requirements and numbers in a capstone, and the senior's road with a one-year plan.
Non-technical and technical learners alike. Every part opens two ways in: a plain path built on an analogy for someone starting from zero, and a detailed path for someone who knows the basics and wants depth.
An animation, then what you need before you start, then the idea with code you run, then a worked example, then review cards and "test your understanding" questions.
Do not leave a part before you can answer its questions without guessing. Reading alone proves nothing.
Pick a topic
A look at The network architect
You move from running networks to designing them: the data centre, then branches and the WAN, then the cloud, then you write a full design and defend it, and choose your road after it.
| Part | Topic | You learn |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The data centre network: spine-leaf, VXLAN and EVPN | East-west traffic, the Clos design, ECMP, a routed BGP underlay, VXLAN, VNI and VTEP, EVPN and its route types, the anycast gateway, the oversubscription ratio |
| 2 | The wide area network: MPLS, SD-WAN and SASE | Label switching, the MPLS header, L3VPN with VRF, RD and RT, SD-WAN with its overlay and controller, application-aware path selection and SLAs, zero-touch provisioning, SASE and SSE |
| 3 | Cloud networking at scale: hub and spoke and hybrid links | An overlap-free address plan, peering and why it is not transitive, the hub (Transit Gateway, Virtual WAN), a central inspection network, VPN versus Direct Connect and ExpressRoute, hybrid DNS, private endpoints, cost, network as code |
| 4 | Network design and availability: the capstone | Gathering requirements, tiers and the collapsed core, availability in series and in parallel, failure domains, capacity planning, HLD and LLD documents, change management and rollback plans, the capstone |
| 5 | The senior's road: roles, certificates and a one-year plan | Senior roles, CCNP Enterprise with its core exam and concentration, CCIE and its lab, cloud and automation certificates, visible expertise, a 12-month plan |
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