Nelara/Advisory & Enablement/Academy/Network Engineering

Nelara Network Engineering Academy

Learn networking.
Think like an engineer.

A practical L2/L3 learning path built around the real engineering cycle: understand the protocol, configure the network, verify the result, break it deliberately, troubleshoot it and explain the root cause.

Start with Foundations Explore Engineering Labs

Progressive tracks

Core modules

Troubleshooting labs

Network EngineeringL2 & L3 practical engineering pathway

01 · Shared Foundation

Build the mental model first.

The foundation is designed for engineers who need to understand what the network is doing before changing a configuration.

Know

Understand the protocol, packet behavior and enterprise purpose.

Verify

Use show commands, counters and packet evidence to prove behavior.

Troubleshoot

Move from symptom to root cause using controlled tests.

Network Engineering Mindset

How L2/L3 engineers reason about connectivity, dependencies, evidence and root cause.

OSI & TCP/IP

Use the models as troubleshooting tools rather than memorized theory.

Ethernet & Frames

MAC addresses, frame structure, broadcast domains and switching decisions.

IPv4 & Subnetting

Addressing, masks, CIDR, summarization and practical subnet design.

ARP & ICMP

Understand neighbor discovery, gateways, ping and packet-path evidence.

TCP, UDP & Ports

Transport behavior, sessions, ports and common application symptoms.

DNS & DHCP

DORA, leases, relay, name resolution and failure isolation.

The Packet Journey

Trace a packet from endpoint to gateway, routed hop and destination.

Verification Toolkit

Build a repeatable command-first workflow for evidence collection.

Troubleshooting Method

Isolate, test, prove and document the root cause.

02 · L2 Engineering

Become strong at the switching layer.

Move beyond VLAN definitions into topology behavior, convergence, redundancy and production-style fault isolation.

Switching Fundamentals

MAC learning, forwarding, flooding, CAM tables and unknown unicast behavior.

VLAN Architecture

Broadcast domains, access ports, VLAN design and segmentation.

802.1Q Trunking

Tagged frames, native VLAN, allowed VLANs and trunk verification.

STP & RSTP

Root bridge, port roles, convergence and loop prevention.

STP Troubleshooting

Find root bridge, blocked paths, inconsistent VLANs and topology faults.

EtherChannel & LACP

Link bundling, negotiation, consistency and failure behavior.

Inter-VLAN Routing

SVIs, router-on-a-stick and the L2-to-L3 boundary.

HSRP / VRRP

First-hop redundancy and gateway availability fundamentals.

DHCP Relay & Campus Services

Forward client broadcasts across routed boundaries.

L2 Troubleshooting Masterclass

Use structured evidence to solve production-style switching incidents.

03 · L3 Engineering

Think in routes, paths and policy.

Progress from deterministic static routing to OSPF, EIGRP, BGP and controlled multi-protocol redistribution.

Routing Fundamentals

RIB, FIB, next hop, administrative distance and longest-prefix match.

Static & Floating Routes

Deterministic paths, backup paths and failure testing.

OSPF Fundamentals

Neighbors, LSDB, areas, SPF and route installation.

OSPF Troubleshooting

Neighbor states, timers, MTU, authentication, area and interface faults.

EIGRP Fundamentals

Neighbors, topology, feasible paths and metric behavior.

BGP Fundamentals

Peering, attributes, path selection and enterprise edge concepts.

Summarization & Filtering

Control routing information with summaries, prefix lists and route maps.

Route Redistribution

Move routes between protocols while controlling loops and metrics.

Enterprise Edge

Combine internal routing, BGP and policy at the Internet/partner boundary.

L3 Troubleshooting Masterclass

Trace failures across multiple routing domains and protocols.

L3 Capstone

7 Routing Labs

Continue into the existing routing lab progression from static routing through enterprise-edge and full multi-protocol redistribution scenarios.

Open Routing Labs

04 · Engineering Labs

Build. Verify. Break. Troubleshoot.

Labs deliberately introduce faults so learners practice evidence-driven troubleshooting instead of configuration memorization.

VLAN & Trunk Investigation

Build a two-switch campus segment, then diagnose an access/trunk mismatch.

STP Root Bridge Challenge

Stabilize a redundant topology and prove the forwarding path.

EtherChannel Failure Lab

Recover an LACP bundle with inconsistent member configuration.

L2/L3

Inter-VLAN Connectivity

Restore communication between user VLANs and their default gateways.

OSPF Neighbor Down

Diagnose area, subnet, MTU and interface-level adjacency faults.

Static Failover

Implement and test a floating static route during primary-path failure.

Multi-Protocol Redistribution

Control OSPF/EIGRP/BGP route exchange without creating routing loops.

L2/L3

Broken Enterprise Network

Solve an end-to-end incident using only symptoms, show commands and packet evidence.

Verification command sets

L2 evidence

show vlan briefshow interfaces trunkshow mac address-tableshow spanning-tree

L3 evidence

show ip interface briefshow ip routeshow arpshow ip protocols

OSPF evidence

show ip ospf neighborshow ip ospf interface briefshow ip ospf databaseshow ip route ospf

BGP evidence

show ip bgp summaryshow ip bgpshow ip route bgpshow ip bgp neighbors

Packet-level thinking

Every major topic should answer one question: what happens to the frame or packet next?

Endpoint → ARP → Ethernet → switch

VLAN → trunk → SVI → default gateway

Routing table → next hop → new L2 frame

TCP → port → session → application

05 · Assessment & Capability

Measure engineering capability, not memory.

Assessment combines knowledge, configuration, troubleshooting, design and explanation so learners demonstrate job-ready behavior.

20%

Knowledge

Concepts and protocol behavior

20%

Configuration

Build the required state

30%

Troubleshooting

Find the injected fault

20%

Design

Choose a resilient architecture

10%

Explain

Defend the root cause and fix

Foundation Ready

Can explain packet flow, addressing and the evidence needed to isolate common failures.

L2 Engineer Ready

Can build and troubleshoot VLAN, trunk, STP, EtherChannel and gateway redundancy scenarios.

L3 Engineer Ready

Can troubleshoot routing protocols, control route exchange and reason across multi-protocol paths.

Nelara Learning Philosophy

From command memorization to engineering judgment.

The learning path is intentionally practical: every technology is tied to an enterprise reason, a configuration, a verification method, a failure mode and a troubleshooting decision.

1Understand the design

2Predict the packet path

3Configure the change

4Verify with evidence

5Break it safely

6Troubleshoot the root cause

7Explain the result

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Learn networking.Think like an engineer.