Network Engineering Specialist – Cisco ACI

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Job Requirements:

Preferred qualifications :

Education:

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
Cisco certifications : CCIE Datacenter, Enterprise , CCNP Data Center ACI specialization preferred.

Technical Expertise:

10 to 15 years of experience in Cisco Network technologies , with at least 3+ years focused on Cisco ACI.
Deep knowledge of Cisco ACI components and concepts, including:
Fabric Architecture: Spine-Leaf topology, Fabric Discovery, and Fabric Access Policies.
Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC): Clustering, APIs (REST, XML, JSON), and GUI management.
Endpoint Groups (EPGs), Contracts, and Filters: Policy-based connectivity and segmentation.
Tenant Model: VRFs, Bridge Domains, and Layer 2/3 connectivity across multiple tenants.
ACI Multi-Site and Multi-Pod deployments.
Integration with L4-L7 services (e.g., firewalls, load balancers) using Service Graphs.
Expertise in ACI troubleshooting: Health Scores, Service Graphs, and CLI/APIC diagnostics.
Experience with Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insight for monitoring and managing ACI environments effectively.

VXLAN and EVPN Expertise:

VXLAN Fabric Architecture: Understanding of VXLAN encapsulation for scalable Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks.
MP-BGP EVPN (Ethernet VPN): Control plane for VXLAN, providing seamless Layer 2 extension and optimized Layer 3 routing.
Interoperability between ACI and non-ACI environments using VXLAN/EVPN.

BGP and OSPF Routing Expertise:

In-depth knowledge of BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) for managing external and internal routing policies.
Experience with BGP peering, route filtering, and path selection in complex ACI and datacenter environments.
Expertise in OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) for building dynamic Layer 3 routing in underlay networks.
Integration of BGP and OSPF within ACI fabric to manage hybrid cloud and multi-pod deployments.

Solution Architecture : (Nice-to-Have only )

Solution-level understanding of Cisco ACI interoperability with:
Firewalls (e.g., Palo Alto, Checkpoint , Fortinet).
Load Balancers (e.g., F5 GTM, LTM, ASM).
Micro-Segmentation solutions and policy enforcement.
IPAM, DNS, and DHCP systems.
Added advantage for candidates with hands-on experience integrating ACI with these solutions, though a willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies is acceptable.
Experience with Ansible, Python scripting, and ACI REST APIs for automation.
Knowledge of ACI App Center integrations and customization of ACI apps.
Experience with integrating ACI with multicloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP).

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