What are the best ways to contribute to network engineer communities?

BGP EVPN (Border Gateway Protocol Ethernet VPN) combined with VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) and GPO (Group Policy Option) is a powerful technology stack that enhances data center networks by providing scalable, efficient, and policy-driven networking solutions. BGP EVPN: A protocol that uses BGP for control plane signaling to distribute MAC and IP address information (Unified L2 and L3 traffic) across the fabric. VXLAN: An encapsulation protocol that extends Layer 2 or 3 networks over Layer 3 any kind of underlay, allowing for a large number of isolated tenant networks in a scalable manner. GPO (Group Policy Option): Adds policy-based control to VXLAN, enabling granular traffic management, Microsegment & enforcement of security policies.

There are some effective ways to contribute to network engineer communities: 1. Mentoring and supporting newcomers and less experienced in the filed. Providing guidance and assistance to others can help building stronger and more supportive community. 2. Attending events and conferences related to the field can help connecting with professionals and stay updated on developments. 3. Creating and sharing resources such as tutorials and guides can help other network engineers. 4. Participating in discussions and engage with other professionals can help foster a sense of community and collaboration. 5. Contribute to open-source projects related to the field can help improve tools and technologies used by network engineers.

In today’s network architecture, the team strategically uses LISP (Locator/ID Separation Protocol) LISP, a key component of Cisco's Software-Defined Access (SDA) and Cisco Catalyst Center, is implemented in the Campus LAN to leverage its scalability and mobility advantages. By decoupling device identity from location, LISP uses EID (Endpoint Identifier) and RLOC (Routing Locator) mappings to efficiently manage a large number of endpoints and ensure seamless connectivity as users move around the campus. It operates with a pull-based routing mechanism, dynamically retrieving routing information as needed, which simplifies IP address management and supports multi-homing. #CiscoSDA #LISP #BGP #CampusLAN #LAN #AI #Automation

In DC Routing temrs COOP (Council of Oracle Protocol) in Cisco ACI and BGP in DC Fabric offer robust solutions for managing data center environments, each excelling in different aspects. COOP, central to ACI, uses a push mechanism to efficiently distribute endpoint information, ensuring learning and consistent policy enforcement critical for high-density, highly dynamic environments. While BGP, supports complex routing policies and extensive network reach, making it ideal for multi-tenant data centers and large-scale deployments. Both provide essential features to optimize data center performance, with COOP focusing on streamlined control within the ACI framework and BGP offering widespread interoperability and policy control. #DC #ACI #BGP

One thing I have done on this subject is to also use it to your advantage. You can get to know a subject by reading about it and doing it practically. However, trying to teach and explain it to someone else (your audience) reinforces the concepts in your head as you need to explain it in a way that makes others understand. It also can serve as a personal knowledge base as you can’t remember everything, if you create videos on concepts and designs, you can refer to them if you need them in the future.

Providing mentorship to university students or graduates by sharing your experience of real life applications of networking principles and Technologies. This can be through giving talks or writing blogs on what we do at work. Openly share knowledge with interested members of the network community