Algorithms & Data Structures 2
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Understands basic algorithm complexity O(n), O(log n) and can evaluate the performance of simple network operations. Knows the basics of sorting and searching in the context of log processing.
Applies algorithmic complexity knowledge to optimize network tasks — shortest path finding (Dijkstra), load balancing. Evaluates the impact of algorithms on packet processing latency.
Evaluates algorithmic complexity of team solutions and guides optimization of critical network paths. Conducts architectural reviews focused on traffic processing algorithm scalability.
Researches and introduces advanced algorithms for next-generation network systems — segment routing, intent-based networking. Publishes results and builds expertise within the organization.
Knows main data structures (arrays, lists, hash tables) and understands their applicability in network tasks. Can choose an appropriate structure for storing routes or switching tables.
Confidently uses trees, graphs and priority queues for modeling network topologies and routing algorithms. Optimizes data structures for specific packet processing scenarios.
Defines data structure usage standards in the team's network services. Introduces optimal approaches for working with routing tables and DNS caches at the platform architecture level.
Shapes data structure selection and evolution strategy for scalable network infrastructure. Researches new approaches like DPDK-compatible structures and promotes them across the organization.
Caching 1
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Knows Redis basics — data types, basic GET/SET/TTL commands. Understands why caching is useful in network systems — accelerating DNS responses, storing device statuses.
Uses Redis for caching network data — SNMP polling results, device configurations, ACL lists. Configures TTL and eviction policies for network scenarios.
Defines caching strategy for the team's network platform — what to cache, which TTLs to use, when to invalidate. Ensures cache consistency during frequent changes.
Shapes distributed caching architecture for the organization's network infrastructure. Optimizes caching strategies to minimize latency in control-plane operations.
CI/CD 1
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Understands basic GitHub Actions for network infrastructure: running network configuration validation pipelines, reading CI logs for infrastructure-as-code test failures, understanding workflow triggers for network change automation. Follows team conventions for network CI/CD pipeline usage.
Creates CI pipelines for testing network configurations — syntax validation, Ansible dry-run, Terraform plan validation. Configures matrix strategies for testing across different platforms.
Standardizes CI/CD practices for the entire network team. Introduces reusable workflows, GitOps approach to configuration management and automatic rollback upon anomaly detection.
Defines continuous delivery strategy for the organization's network infrastructure. Integrates CI/CD with monitoring systems, fosters Infrastructure-as-Code culture in the network division.
Concurrency & Parallelism 2
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Understands the concept of asynchrony and its importance when interacting with multiple network devices. Uses basic async/await constructs for parallel device polling.
Implements async scenarios for mass network equipment management — parallel configuration collection, simultaneous updates of hundreds of devices. Manages concurrency through semaphores.
Standardizes async programming approaches in the team's network services. Defines timeout handling patterns, retry policies and graceful degradation for network operations.
Shapes architectural principles for asynchronous interaction with network infrastructure. Researches and introduces approaches like reactive streams for real-time network telemetry processing.
Understands the concept of threads and processes, knows basic concurrency problems. Recognizes why multithreading is needed for parallel SNMP polling of network devices.
Uses multithreading to accelerate network operations — parallel port scanning, simultaneous data collection from multiple devices. Correctly handles race conditions.
Defines multithreading standards for the team's network services. Reviews concurrent code, prevents deadlocks and ensures predictable performance.
Shapes concurrent processing architectural principles for the organization's network platform. Researches actor models and CSP for next-generation high-performance network systems.
DNS & Networking 2
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Knows basic load balancing concepts for network engineering and can apply them in typical tasks. Uses standard tools and follows established team practices. Understands when and why this approach is used.
Confidently applies load balancing for network engineering in non-standard tasks. Independently selects the optimal approach and tools. Analyzes trade-offs and proposes improvements to existing solutions.
Establishes load balancing standards for the network engineering team and makes architectural decisions. Defines the technical roadmap incorporating this skill. Mentors senior engineers and influences practices of adjacent teams.
Shapes load balancing strategy for network engineering at the organizational level. Defines best practices and influences technology choices beyond their own team. Is a recognized expert in this area.
Knows basic VPN and network isolation concepts for network engineering and can apply them in typical tasks. Uses standard tools and follows established team practices. Understands when and why this approach is used.
Confidently applies VPN and network isolation for network engineering in non-standard tasks. Independently selects the optimal approach and tools. Analyzes trade-offs and proposes improvements to existing solutions.
Establishes VPN and network isolation standards for the network engineering team and makes architectural decisions. Defines the technical roadmap incorporating this skill. Mentors senior engineers and influences practices of adjacent teams.
Shapes VPN and network isolation strategy for network engineering at the organizational level. Defines best practices and influences technology choices beyond their own team. Is a recognized expert in this area.
Infrastructure Security 1
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Knows basic network security concepts for network engineering and can apply them in typical tasks. Uses standard tools and follows established team practices. Understands when and why this approach is used.
Confidently applies network security for network engineering in non-standard tasks. Independently selects the optimal approach and tools. Analyzes trade-offs and proposes improvements to existing solutions.
Establishes network security standards for the network engineering team and makes architectural decisions. Defines the technical roadmap incorporating this skill. Mentors senior engineers and influences practices of adjacent teams.
Shapes network security strategy for network engineering at the organizational level. Defines best practices and influences technology choices beyond their own team. Is a recognized expert in this area.
Network Infrastructure 1
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Understands why network automation is needed and knows the main tools (Ansible, NAPALM, Netmiko). Can write a simple Ansible playbook for a network device.
Automates network tasks with Ansible network modules. Uses NAPALM for multi-vendor management. Writes Python scripts for network data collection.
Defines Network as Code strategy for the organization. Manages the transition from manual to automated network operations. Introduces GitOps for network configuration.
Shapes the network automation platform for the organization. Researches intent-based networking and AI/ML for network operations. Influences NetDevOps culture.
Network Protocols 3
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Knows basic BGP and OSPF routing principles, understands the difference between IGP and EGP protocols. Can read routing tables, traceroute output and understand next-hop decisions.
Configures BGP peering sessions and OSPF areas in enterprise networks. Implements route filtering, community tagging and route policy. Troubleshoots routing problems with tcpdump and BGP looking glass.
Defines routing strategy for the entire datacenter network. Makes decisions on BGP design, peering policy and prefix filtering. Manages the network team.
Shapes network architecture for the organization. Researches SD-WAN, SASE and modern routing approaches. Influences network engineering industry standards.
Understands DNS hierarchy: root servers, TLD, authoritative, recursive resolvers. Knows main record types (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SRV). Can perform dig/nslookup queries.
Configures authoritative DNS servers (BIND, PowerDNS). Implements split-horizon DNS. Diagnoses DNS problems and understands TTL, negative caching.
Defines DNS architecture for the organization. Makes decisions on DNS providers (Route53, Cloudflare). Manages DNS operations. This skill is critically important for successful performance in the role.
Shapes DNS strategy for the platform. Researches modern DNS: DNS over HTTPS/TLS, DNSSEC adoption. Influences the organization's DNS standards.
Deeply understands the TCP/IP stack: ethernet framing, IP routing, TCP three-way handshake, flow control, congestion control. Can read packet captures in Wireshark.
Analyzes and optimizes TCP performance: MTU tuning, window scaling, Nagle algorithm, TCP BBR congestion control. Troubleshoots network latency with tcpdump and network analysis tools.
Defines network standards and SLAs for the platform. Makes architectural decisions on transport protocol (TCP vs QUIC). Manages network capacity planning.
Shapes transport strategy for the platform. Researches QUIC/HTTP3 adoption and modern transport innovations. Influences the organization's network architecture.
Network Security 1
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Configures basic firewall rules with iptables/nftables and understands stateful vs stateless packet filtering. Creates simple ACLs for network segments.
Designs firewall rule sets for enterprise networks. Configures next-gen firewalls (Palo Alto, Fortinet) and WAF (Cloudflare/AWS WAF). Implements microsegmentation.
Defines firewall strategy and security policy for the organization. Makes decisions on next-gen firewall vendors. Manages the network security perimeter.
Shapes network security strategy. Researches AI-driven threat detection in NGFW. Influences security architecture standards. This skill is critically important for successful performance in the role.
Networking 1
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Knows the OSI/TCP-IP model and main protocols at each layer. Understands IP addressing, subnetting (CIDR), VLAN technologies. Can configure a basic network.
Configures enterprise networks: VLAN/VxLAN, STP/RSTP, LACP aggregation, QoS policy. Understands routing protocols at a practical level. Documents network topology.
Defines network strategy for the organization. Makes decisions on network vendors, technologies and architecture. Manages the network team.
Shapes network philosophy for the organization. Researches new networking paradigms (SDN, intent-based networking). Influences datacenter network design.
OOP & Design Patterns 2
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Knows basic design patterns — Singleton, Factory, Observer. Understands their application in the context of network applications for creating connections and handling events.
Applies Strategy, Adapter, Template Method patterns for working with heterogeneous network equipment. Uses Chain of Responsibility for processing network events and alerts.
Defines the pattern catalog for the team's network solutions. Conducts architectural decision reviews, ensuring correct pattern application and preventing over-engineering.
Develops and documents architectural patterns for the organization's network platforms. Creates reference implementations and builds a knowledge base of Network Automation patterns.
Understands basic OOP concepts — encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism. Applies them when writing Python scripts for network task automation and working with Netmiko/NAPALM.
Designs classes and hierarchies for network abstractions — devices, interfaces, protocols. Uses OOP patterns to create extensible libraries for working with heterogeneous equipment.
Defines OOP architectural patterns for the team's network platforms. Reviews class design, ensuring extensibility and testability of infrastructure automation modules.
Shapes object modeling standards for network infrastructure at the organizational level. Develops reference architectures for Network-as-Code platforms considering long-term evolution.
Prompt Engineering 1
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Uses ChatGPT/Claude to generate basic network configurations and explain protocols. Formulates simple prompts to obtain ACL, VLAN and routing templates.
Creates structured prompts for generating complex network configurations — BGP policies, QoS profiles, security rules. Iteratively refines results considering equipment context.
Defines AI tool usage standards for the network team. Creates prompt libraries for typical tasks, trains engineers on effective LLM interaction.
Shapes AI strategy for the organization's network operations. Researches LLM capabilities for intent-based networking and automated troubleshooting of network incidents.
Relational Databases 1
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Knows SQL basics and can execute basic queries against PostgreSQL to retrieve network infrastructure data — device lists, VLANs, IP addressing from IPAM/CMDB systems.
Designs PostgreSQL schemas for storing network inventory and configurations. Uses inet/cidr data types, creates indexes for fast search by IP ranges and subnets.
Defines network data storage strategy in PostgreSQL for the team — IPAM data models, CMDB, configuration repositories. Ensures high availability and performance.
Shapes the organization's network data storage architecture. Researches PostgreSQL integration with TimescaleDB for telemetry and defines standards for working with network data at scale.
REST API 1
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Understands basic REST API concepts for network management: device configuration APIs, monitoring system endpoints, network inventory API patterns. Follows team conventions for network device API interactions and automation.
Designs REST APIs for network services — VLAN management, interface monitoring, firewall rule configuration. Applies versioning, pagination and proper error handling.
Defines API strategy for the network platform — unified contracts, documentation standards, governance. Coordinates integration with vendor APIs and ensures backward compatibility.
Shapes the API-first approach vision for the entire organization's network infrastructure. Promotes OpenAPI standards for Network-as-Code and influences industry specification development.