This intermediate learning path on Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is tailored for network professionals who are ready to move beyond the basics and develop a deeper, more practical understanding of OSPF in enterprise networks. The path explores key deployment and optimization techniques including route redistribution between OSPF and other protocols, effective route summarization at ABRs and ASBRs, and implementing route filtering to control routing information flow. It also covers OSPF area types in detail, including standard stub areas, totally stubby areas, and Not-So-Stubby Areas (NSSA), with guidance on when and how to use each to simplify routing and improve scalability. Throughout, the learning path emphasizes best practices, common design mistakes to avoid, and hands-on configuration strategies to help learners confidently apply OSPF in complex, real-world environments.

Learn the basics about network security and how next-generation firewalls (NGFW) fits into a secure environment. Establish baseline knowledge around the Cisco Secure Firewall to better understand the tools and techniques used to secure the most important part of your networks. You will have the opportunity to explore these concepts, tools, and practices through this NGFW Learning Path. So Let's jump in!

Previously, the Cisco day 2 operations suite of MSO, NAE, NIR, and NIA ran separately on computing as a .ova in vSphere or on the APIC as an application. The architecture never allowed for sharing data between the apps or correlations with errors and telemetry views of packet loss. With the roadmap moving, we had applications and a shared data lake for all applications to draw from and correlate between application errors, changes to the policy, and deep flow telemetry, all visual as an epoch. For all the applications to run and have sharable databases, Cisco NEXUS Dashboard (ND) was created. The ND platform allows all the Cisco Day 2 apps and third-party applications to run on a single appliance. Secondly, the ND has to be an expandable CPU and storage-intensive platform; today, the platform can scale with 3 master nodes and 4 worker nodes with the apps and their data residing on the ND cluster. As ND matures, more ND servers can join the cluster, and they can be separated regionally if within TTL requirements to distribute applications and provide DR strategies.

Explore Cisco's XDR allowing it's users to correlate data across several vendors and vectors providing a wholistic view of ones environment. Throughout this learning path and corresponding lab you will learn the fundamentals of the Cisco XDR components and tools that allow SOC analysts visibility and context into advanced threats! We will take you through an introduction and operation of the XDR console as well as automation. Let's get started!