Before a core network can provide route services and traffic engineering, it must first establish basic transport connectivity between its nodes. In this course, you will learn how interior routing protocols are used to establish dynamic routing within the core, how MPLS technology is used to enhance packet transport across the underlay, and how Segment Routing is changing the way we think about transport paths. In each module you will watch a brief video describing the underlying technology and then walk through a hands-on lab to dive deeper into the relevant protocols and configurations that make underlay routing work.

This learning path on foundational Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) provides a comprehensive introduction and deep dive into the core aspects of BGP, the backbone of the internet's routing architecture. It starts by explaining the basics of BGP, including its purpose, operation, and fundamental concepts such as Autonomous Systems (AS), BGP sessions, and the BGP routing table. The series progresses to cover more advanced topics, such as BGP path selection, route advertisement, and the implementation of various BGP attributes like Local Preference, AS Path, and MED. Through practical examples, configurations, and troubleshooting scenarios, viewers gain a thorough understanding of how BGP facilitates global data exchange and the techniques network engineers use to optimize and secure BGP networks. The series aims to equip network professionals with the knowledge needed to manage and optimize BGP in real-world environments, emphasizing best practices and common pitfalls.

This Learning Path is designed to Discover and Experience Cisco (Viptela) SD-WAN. The lab environment that supports this Learning Path is virtual and dedicated to each individual consumer.

Cisco ACI is a policy-driven CLOS or Spine/Leaf based switching fabric utilizing layer 3 ECMP routing in the underlay and VXLAN encapsulation in the overlay to transport layer two and layer three traffic East/West across the fabric and North/South in and out of the fabric. ACI consists of the Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC), a centralized controller that manages all aspects of the ACI fabric. The leaf switches are ToR switches that provide connectivity between servers and external networks, and the spine switches are Layer 3 switches that provide ECMP high-bandwidth connectivity between leaf switches. An ACI fabric can be expanded East/West by adding leafs, cabling to the spines, and registering them. ACI was designed to operate as "One Big Switch" (like a chassis-based NEXUS 7K) with the controllers acting like the Supervisors, the spines as fabric modules, and leafs acting as blades. We can decouple these elements from the chassis and place them anywhere in the data center by taking this approach. The leafs (blades) can be placed anywhere in the data center, so you are not limited to a chassis.

Previously, the Cisco day 2 operations suite of MSO, NAE, NIR, and NIA ran separately on computing as a .ova in vSphere or on the APIC as an application. The architecture never allowed for sharing data between the apps or correlations with errors and telemetry views of packet loss. With the roadmap moving, we had applications and a shared data lake for all applications to draw from and correlate between application errors, changes to the policy, and deep flow telemetry, all visual as an epoch. For all the applications to run and have sharable databases, Cisco NEXUS Dashboard (ND) was created. The ND platform allows all the Cisco Day 2 apps and third-party applications to run on a single appliance. Secondly, the ND has to be an expandable CPU and storage-intensive platform; today, the platform can scale with 3 master nodes and 4 worker nodes with the apps and their data residing on the ND cluster. As ND matures, more ND servers can join the cluster, and they can be separated regionally if within TTL requirements to distribute applications and provide DR strategies.

Cisco has been at the forefront of developing a suite of standalone tools for data center networking, collectively known as the Day 2 Operations Suite. Recently, Cisco has initiated the integration of these tools into a unified interface called NEXUS Dashboard, providing a consolidated view and shared data repositories for enhanced application correlation. This Learning path is designed specifically for those administrators that need to perform and manage the day to day upkeep of the NEXUS Dashboard product. The learning path will include videos, article and a hands on lab going over what a typical admin would need to setup on NEXUS Dashboard. We will cover whats new with NEXUS Dashboard 3.2, creating routes for the management and data networks, creating syslog server, remote NFS and SFTP storage, creating backups, and upgrading the version. We will also go through remote authentication with radius, creating users and roles, and Intersight configuration. Finally we will bring up 2 ACI simulators and onboard the ACI fabrics to the NEXUS Dashboard platform.

Data Center Network Manager (DCNM), now superseded by Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC), is Cisco's version of an EVPN fabric controller. DCNM, or NDFC, has three essential primary components. Spines that act like physical aggregation points for all of the leaves. Leaves provide endpoint aggregation and link to the spine. The last essential component is the controller, which in the case of DCNM is a single device or HA pair, and for NDFC, it is a Nexus Dashboard cluster with a loaded NDFC application. In most cases, DCNM or NDFC will utilize OSPF for the underlay and VXLAN EVPN with MP-BGP as the overlay on Nexus 9000 switches. These fabric controllers are easier to use than similar fabric technologies on smaller to medium size networks, as most variables work out of the box without needing to change them. To what is known in the industry as a point and click your way to happiness.

The Cisco Layer 2 Fundamentals Learning Path focuses on key networking concepts including VLANs, Trunks, CDP, LLDP, and UDLD. It starts with understanding how VLANs segment networks for better security and performance, followed by learning how trunk links enable communication between VLANs. You'll explore CDP and LLDP to discover network devices and topologies, and finally dive into UDLD for preventing unidirectional link failures. This path equips you with essential skills to manage, secure, and troubleshoot Layer 2 networks, providing a strong foundation for more advanced networking topics.

The Cisco ACI: Tenant & Fabric Connectivity learning path is the second part of our ACI fundamentals training, following the "Cisco ACI Fabric Initialization and Hypervisor Connectivity" path. This path covers two key areas: 1) Fabric Infrastructure configurations, which involve physical fabric setup, including vPCs, VLANs, loop prevention, underlay BGP protocol, etc. 2) Tenant Configurations, defining logical constructs like application profiles, bridge domains, and EPGs. In this Learning Path, students will learn to create Tenants, Application Profiles, Bridge domains, and EPGs, by using objects for connectivity within a physical ACI fabric. They will also discover how to connect Layers 2 and 3 to external networks and explore methods for segmentation using contracts and filters to support both Inter-EPG and Intra-EPG segmentation.

Learn the basics about network security and how next-generation firewalls (NGFW) fits into a secure environment. Establish baseline knowledge around the Cisco Secure Firewall to better understand the tools and techniques used to secure the most important part of your networks. You will have the opportunity to explore these concepts, tools, and practices through this NGFW Learning Path. So Let's jump in!

SD-Routing is a new capability offered by Cisco, in an attempt to simplify and overcome the challenges of traditional routing deployments. This capability enables autonomous (non-SD-WAN) routing devices to be managed through the Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, unifying autonomous and SD-WAN devices into a single platform, unlocking many of the tools and features previously only offered to SD-WAN devices, such as device lifecycle management, DIA (Direct Internet Access), Cloud-onRamp, and troubleshooting tools. Enroll to gain practical skills in onboarding traditional routing devices into SD-WAN Manager, and become proficient in leveraging SD-Routing's benefits for simplified network management and enhanced operational agility. Start your SD-Routing journey today!

This learning module aims to provide learners with a comprehensive understanding of the various practical use cases, features and technologies, embedded within Cisco switches and wireless technologies for developing end-to-end solutions. The course will cover different scenarios and upcoming trends where Cisco switches and wireless technologies can be integrated into advanced solutions that can benefit various businesses and organizations to achieve their desired business outcomes.