Module 4
Automation and Programmability
What changes when configuration stops being typed - the planes, the controller, the API, and the architectures built on top.
In this module
- Separate the control plane from the data plane
- Compare a traditional network with a controller-based one, honestly
- Read a REST response and a JSON document
- Explain what declaring state buys over scripting steps
- Place SD-WAN, VXLAN, zero trust and SASE against the problems they solve
Activities
Automation, controllers and the two planes
Where decisions are made, against where packets are moved.
REST APIs and the data they carry
Methods, response codes, and reading JSON.
Describing infrastructure instead of configuring it
Declarative state, idempotence, and infrastructure as code.
SDN, SD-WAN, overlays and zero trust
Four terms, and the specific limitation each one answers.
Knowledge check - automation and modern architectures
Seven questions on planes, controllers, APIs, JSON and designs.
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Curriculum topics
Each topic page lists every lesson, quiz and hands-on lab that covers it, plus how it maps onto the CCNA and Network+ blueprints.