Network Automation Workflow with Git and Ansible: Practical Guide for Data Center Engineers

Network automation becomes useful when it removes repetitive risk, not when it creates a second uncontrolled way to break the fabric. A realistic starting point for a small data center team is simple: use Git as the source of truth for intended changes, Ansible to render and push configuration, and a repeatable verification checklist before and after each change.

This guide uses a concrete scenario: an 8-leaf / 2-spine EVPN/VXLAN fabric that supports virtualization, backup, storage and a small AI/GPU rack. The team needs to add new application networks frequently, but every manual VLAN/VNI change touches multiple switches and is easy to mistype.

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Cisco Configuration Backup to TFTP: Practical IOS Guide

Cisco configuration backup to TFTP is a simple way to keep router or switch configs available for recovery. This updated note preserves the original archive/kron example and adds practical checks for safer operations.

What this backup configuration does

The example below sends the running configuration to a TFTP server every night at 1:00. It also triggers a backup when an engineer saves the configuration with write memory.

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