I have been managing legacy Cisco switches for years using CLI, but my company is moving toward SD-WAN and DNA Center. I am worried about the learning curve for software-defined networking. What are the most critical foundational concepts I need to master to stay relevant in this automated environment?
3 answers
The shift toward Cisco SD-WAN and DNA Center is less about losing your CLI skills and more about shifting to a centralized "intent-based" mindset. You need to focus heavily on understanding the separation of the control plane and data plane. Start by mastering the vBond, vSmart, and vManage controllers, as these handle the orchestration that you used to do manually. Learning how templates work is vital because they replace individual device configurations. Don’t ignore Python basics either, as APIs are the backbone of how DNA Center communicates with your infrastructure today.
Does the transition to SD-WAN mean that my existing CCNA and CCNP routing and switching knowledge becomes obsolete, or do those core protocols like BGP and OSPF still play a major role in the underlay?
Start by setting up a lab in Cisco Modeling Labs (CML). Hands-on practice with the vManage dashboard is the best way to understand how policies are pushed to edge devices without typing code.
I totally agree with Linda. Using CML or even DevNet sandboxes is a lifesaver. It allows you to break things in a virtual environment before touching the production SD-WAN fabric, which is very helpful.
Michael, your core routing knowledge is actually more important than ever. While the SD-WAN fabric automates the overlay, you still need to configure and troubleshoot the underlay using BGP and OSPF to ensure the controllers can talk to each other. Without a solid routing foundation, you won't be able to fix the transport issues when the automation fails to establish a tunnel.