An Do Nguyen's Blog – In my OSI reference model, there is layer 8 and 9

The Risks of Outdated Software and Hardware in Network Environments

July 10, 2023 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

Introduction: In today’s fast-paced digital world, staying ahead in the realm of networking is crucial for businesses to ensure optimal performance, security, and efficiency. However, the risks associated with outdated software and hardware can pose significant challenges that need to be addressed. In this white paper, we will explore the potential risks and their implications, highlighting the importance of staying current in the ever-evolving landscape of networking. 1. Security Vulnerabilities: Protecting Your Network Fortress Outdated software that is not regularly…

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3 Reasons Why

July 25, 2021 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

Background When I was a network designer, I believe network security was a burden and it seem to stall my projects. Security requirements were forced upon my designs, and I spent most of my time getting exemptions. As the industry became more digitalised and I gain enterprise architecture experience. I realise the importance of network security to a organisation. It is so important that, 31 percent of cyber attacks has led to a personel getting dismissed. Therefore, it is concerning…

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SD-WAN Evolution

January 19, 2021 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

EVO I The first evolution of SD-WAN (Software-defined Wide Area Network) was to enable customer to migrate from MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) to commodity internet. In Australia, we have different viable carriage options such as business grade nbn (National Broadband Network) and LTE (Long Term Evolution). MPLS has been around for more than 25 years however the cost for leased line is still substantially high. The main reason for this, MPLS comes with Service-level Agreements while internet is best effort…

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Top Of Mind For FY20

August 11, 2019 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

As another financial year ends, I would like to take some time to reflect and understand what was top of mind for customers around me. I find the following 5 topics below were common themes and will continue to take mind share into the next few years. Multi-Cloud Strategy I remember when people were looking up what cloud meant. Then there was a full transition to double down on public cloud. Some organisation even mandate all projects be cloud first….

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reCCIE

July 15, 2019 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

I can’t believe it has been 4 years since I obtained my CCIE. As time goes by and the industry keeps evolving, it is slowly becoming a fond memory. However every 2 years, I face a fork in the road, to renew or not to renew? So let’s begin by asking, should you renew? Well, personally I renewed the last two times because I am still heavily involved in the Cisco ecosystem. In addition, I have also considered joining a…

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CiscoLive Melbourne To The Max

March 19, 2018 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

Background Another year, another CiscoLive in Melbourne. This is third time lucky for me. When i joined Cisco, I dreamt of attending CiscoLive. To my surprise, it was not open to everyone and as a staff member, I had to perform duties to get my golden ticket. So in 2016, I presented a breakout session. In 2017, I attended as a customer and this year I ran the automation demo at the DNA hero stand. In this blog post, I…

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Active-Active DCs Networking Problem

January 7, 2018 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

Problem One interesting problem I was asked to solve from a networking aspect was: How to build an Active-Active DCs (Data Centers)? How do we ensure the ingress and egress traffic flows use the most efficient path especially around host mobility? Background Why would an organisation want Active-Active DCs? From a business point of view, we want to run everything hot and maximise our return on investment. Why should we have resources idling by for an off-chance that our…

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EVPN On Nokia 7450 Notes Part 2

December 10, 2017 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

Following from this blog post. Scenario 2: Single-active Multi-homing I updated LAG 60 to be active-standby. This required multi-homing option under ESI to change from all-active to single-active. Also LAG configuration need to be different between PE1 and PE2 as stated in the extract below from Nokia guide “LAYER 2 SERVICES AND EVPN GUIDE: VLL, VPLS, PBB, AND EVPN RELEASE 14.0.R4” I originally performed the POC without changing LAG configurations between PE1 and PE2. I observe CE1 will forward traffic to non…

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EVPN On Nokia 7450 Notes Part 1

November 19, 2017 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

Background I discovered that Nokia’s road map for MC-LAG does not include active/active. After discussion with Nokia, they suggest EVPN was the best solution to introduce this capability. So after my research on EVPN it was time to POC it. This post assume basic knowledge of EVPN. If you would like to review EVPN, this blog post is a great starting point. Scenario 1: All-active Multi-homing In the above topology, PE1 and PE2 will be part of an EVPN-VPLS. LAG…

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Automating Ourselves Out Of A Job

October 30, 2017 An Do Nguyen Comments 0 Comment

Due to my previous experience in DevOps, I sometime get dragged into conversations on “automating ourselves out of a job”. This blog post will highlight my opinions on this subject. Why? When I observe a company discuss DevOps and automation for the first time. It usually starts off with a business leader excitedly claim that “insert peer company name” was able to solve some outage from hours to minutes due to automation. Or they claim a fault was resolved…

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