The final stretch: adding a GitLab CI/CD pipeline, wiring an LLM into the lab through MCP, and discovering that the lite NX-OS image can't actually run BGP EVPN.
I built a tool that deploys a full VXLAN/EVPN data center fabric from a single YAML file. Four Nexus 9000v switches, two VRFs, two overlay networks. This is not a tutorial. This is a war story.
What happens when your VMware license expires and you try to run Cisco Nexus Dashboard and CML on Proxmox instead? Broken interface names, a wizard that forgets everything, and a weekend of initrd surgery.
Why network teams struggle with VXLAN EVPN automation and how a hands-on workshop helps bridge the gap between GUI clicks and infrastructure as code.
How a Cisco Live lab scenario turned into a full microservices platform for managing Splunk webhooks with LLM-enhanced ServiceNow ticket creation.
How we combined CML, Splunk, and a Model Context Protocol server to validate network changes before they hit production.
Five critical fixes for xRDP over VPN tunnels: TCP buffer exhaustion, MTU black holes, keepalive timing, session persistence, and XFCE corruption. Packaged into automation.
After USB boot failures, a dying NAS, and counterfeit drives from China, my entire Proxmox cluster was at risk. Here's how Cloud PBS turned a potential catastrophe into a few hours of restore time.
MCP servers are everywhere, but security is underestimated. Learn how to implement transport encryption, RBAC, audit logging, and credential protection for production AI tooling.
How I built and open-sourced a Model Context Protocol server that enables Claude AI to automate Cisco Nexus Dashboard operations - from architecture to GitHub release.
