carrier-network-engineering

name: carrier-network-engineering description: > Carrier-grade network engineering skill covering configuration generation, troubleshooting, protocol design, and operational guidance for all major network vendors including MikroTik, Cisco (IOS/IOS-XE/NX-OS/IOS-XR), Juniper (JunOS), Nokia (SR OS), and Arista (EOS). Use this skill whenever the user asks about router/switch configurations, BGP/OSPF/MPLS/IS-IS routing, VLAN/VXLAN/VPLS/L2VPN/L3VPN design, VRRP/HSRP/GLBP redundancy, PPPoE/IPoE subscriber management, GPON/FTTH deployments, fixed wireless networks, carrier peering, firewall/ACL rules, QoS policies, SNMP/monitoring setup, network migrations, capacity planning, or any network infrastructure question — even if the user doesn't specify a vendor. Also trigger for troubleshooting commands, show/display/print command references, and config auditing. This is a core skill for a telecommunications consulting company.

Carrier Network Engineering

Expert-level network engineering assistance for carrier and enterprise networks.

Workflow

1. Identify the Context

When a network engineering request comes in, determine:

• Vendor(s): Which platform(s) are involved? If unspecified, ask or infer from context.
• Scope: Config generation, troubleshooting, design review, migration, or documentation?
• Protocol domain: Routing (BGP/OSPF/IS-IS), switching (VLAN/VPLS/VXLAN), access (PPPoE/IPoE/GPON), or a combination?
• Environment: Carrier/ISP, enterprise, or data centre?

2. Load Vendor Reference

Read the appropriate vendor reference file(s) before generating any configuration:

For multi-vendor scenarios (e.g. migration, interop, peering), read all relevant files.

Also read references/protocols.md for protocol-specific best practices that apply across vendors.

3. Generate Output

Depending on the task:

Configuration generation:

• Always produce complete, paste-ready config blocks — not fragments
• Include comments explaining each section
• Use the vendor's native CLI syntax exactly (no pseudo-config)
• Flag any values that need to be customised (use <PLACEHOLDER> format)
• If the config interacts with other devices, note what the peer side needs

Troubleshooting:

• Start with verification commands (show/display/print) to confirm current state
• Provide a logical diagnostic sequence, not a dump of every possible command
• Explain what each command output tells you and what to look for
• Suggest fixes with rollback-safe approaches where possible

Design review / migration:

• Identify risks before suggesting changes
• Provide a change plan with verification steps at each stage
• Include rollback procedures
• Consider traffic impact and maintenance windows

4. Output Format

Configs should be in fenced code blocks with the vendor name as the language tag:

# MikroTik configs use routeros

! Cisco IOS/IOS-XE configs use ios

# Juniper configs use junos

# Nokia SR OS configs use sros

! Arista EOS configs use eos

When producing config files, save them with appropriate extensions:

• MikroTik: .rsc
• Cisco: .cfg or .conf
• Juniper: .conf or .set (for set-style)
• Nokia: .cfg
• Arista: .cfg

Key Principles

Safety first: Never generate configs that could cause an outage without explicit warnings and rollback steps. Carrier networks carry live traffic — always think about impact.

Vendor accuracy: Each vendor has specific syntax, hierarchy, and commit models. Don't mix vendor syntaxes. If unsure about exact syntax for a specific software version, say so and provide what you're confident about.

Complete configs: Provide complete stanzas, not fragments. If configuring BGP, include the full router bgp block, not just the neighbor line. Context matters — the user needs to know where in the config hierarchy each block goes.

Operational awareness: Consider that configs need to be applied to live networks. Prefer approaches that minimise disruption — soft resets over hard resets, graceful shutdown before maintenance, commit confirmed where available.

Australian context: This skill primarily supports Australian carrier networks. Consider Australian-specific factors like NBN integration, ACMA regulations, numbering plans for VoIP, and common Australian carrier interconnect practices when relevant.

Protocol Quick Reference

When the request involves specific protocols, also read references/protocols.md for cross-vendor best practices on:

• BGP: iBGP/eBGP, route reflectors, communities, prefix filtering, RPKI
• OSPF/IS-IS: Area design, stub types, route summarisation, BFD
• MPLS: LDP, RSVP-TE, L2VPN/L3VPN, VPLS, segment routing
• Subscriber management: PPPoE, IPoE, RADIUS integration, CGNAT
• High availability: VRRP, HSRP, GLBP, BFD, graceful restart
• QoS: Traffic classification, policing, shaping, queuing strategies
• Security: ACLs, firewall filters, CoPP/control plane protection, uRPF
• Monitoring: SNMP, NetFlow/sFlow/IPFIX, streaming telemetry

Common Carrier Scenarios

These are the kinds of tasks this skill is built for:

• Configuring eBGP peering with upstream transit providers
• Setting up iBGP mesh or route reflector hierarchy
• MPLS L2VPN/L3VPN service provisioning
• PPPoE/IPoE subscriber termination and RADIUS integration
• VRRP/HSRP gateway redundancy
• VLAN trunking and service delivery over carrier ethernet
• GPON OLT/ONT provisioning
• Fixed wireless backhaul and CPE configuration
• Inter-carrier peering and traffic engineering
• Network migration between vendors (e.g. Cisco to Juniper)
• QoS policy design for voice/video/data prioritisation
• CGNAT deployment and port allocation
• Monitoring and alerting setup (LibreNMS, SNMP, syslog)
• Firewall rule design and control plane protection
• IPv6 deployment alongside existing IPv4 infrastructure