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Technical articles

Cisco networks —what matters now.

Articles from daily work on Cisco networks: regulation, technology and operations — researched, dated and with sources on the record. No product marketing, no invented metrics.

Latest article

Cyber Vision as a data source: OT visibility that keeps working

Zones that ISE and the firewall enforce; baseline differences as a change watch; inventory and risk scores for evidence: what the Cyber Vision API provides — and what to connect it to.

Read the article
Published
27 August 2026
Reading time
5 min
Topic
OT Security

All articles

Network Automation27 August 2026

Ansible on IOS XE: changes you can read before they run

Merged, replaced, overridden: how resource modules turn commands into state, why no run starts without a dry run and a diff — and which states run without any device at all.

6 min read

Network Automation27 August 2026

NetBox as the source of truth: the intended state comes first

Automation needs one instance that says what should be true. Why NetBox holds the intended state instead of importing the live one, the order to fill it, and the handover to Ansible.

9 min read

Cisco Catalyst Center26 August 2026

Catalyst Center is an API with a UI — not the other way round

Intent, events, integration: three API directions that make Catalyst Center more than a dashboard. And the division of labour with NetBox and Ansible that keeps two automations from fighting each other.

6 min read

Cisco Meraki26 August 2026

Meraki or Catalyst: the question has moved

Cloud monitoring for Catalyst stopped working on 31 March 2026, and migrating into Meraki management mode resets the switch. Why the decision now falls earlier than it used to.

6 min read

Cisco Meraki26 August 2026

Meraki across many sites: what templates actually do

One template per site type, claiming by order claim key, exceptions named rather than collected: the parts of a Meraki rollout that are expensive to correct afterwards.

7 min read

Cisco Meraki26 August 2026

Meraki licensing: Co-Term vs Subscription — which model fits?

Co-termination averages every term onto one shared date, subscription licenses per network. What that means in a branch estate — and why the two models behave fundamentally differently at expiry.

13 min read

Small Business3 August 2026

The copper network is being retired: what that means for your business line

Your line will be migrated to fibre at some point. Which conditions apply, how much notice you get, and which devices in the building are affected.

5 min read

Security & Access2 August 2026

After the NIS2 deadline: what network segmentation has to prove

The grace period has passed, the duty has not. How a flat network becomes a defensible zone architecture — and which artefacts carry the proof.

9 min read

Small Business1 August 2026

NIS2 may not apply to you — but it does to your largest customer

You are not in scope for NIS2, but your customer is — and passes the duty on contractually. Which six areas get asked about, and what counts as evidence.

5 min read

Network Automation31 July 2026

From 398 to 47 days: what short TLS certificates set off in a network

First 200, then 100, from 2029 47 days: why shorter certificate lifetimes are mainly a network operations problem — and which places break first.

6 min read

Small Business30 July 2026

What cyber insurers demand — and why half of it sits in the network

MFA, tested backups, separation between client and server networks: what insurers demand in 2026 and which of those points are network work.

5 min read

OT Security28 July 2026

CRA reporting is in force: how OT operators can respond.

The reporting duty is in force. How operators can assess vendor advisories and respond using inventories, zones and controlled communication paths.

7 min read

Cisco Meraki27 July 2026

Guest wireless: operator liability is gone — the duties are not

Operator liability is abolished, information and data protection duties remain. What a guest network needs technically and legally — and what it explicitly does not need.

6 min read

Security & Access24 July 2026

When the controller is the door: the lesson of the SD-WAN year 2026

Two maximum-severity flaws in SD-WAN management, actively exploited, with a three-day deadline. What that means for reachability, patch windows and evidence on the control plane.

5 min read

Small Business23 July 2026

The network grew with you: seven signs it is time for a plan

No network grows to a plan. Seven symptoms showing the limit has been reached — and the order in which to tidy a grown network without stopping it.

5 min read

Network Automation21 July 2026

AgenticOps without illusions: what a network needs before agents work in it

Cloud Control, AI Canvas, a purpose-built network model: what was actually announced in 2026 — and the four foundations without which an agent is only faster at being wrong.

7 min read

Enterprise Networks20 July 2026

Buying senior capacity without giving up the customer relationship

The project is there, the senior engineer is not. Which models exist for bought-in engineering capacity, what has to be contractually settled, and which three mistakes cost the customer relationship.

5 min read

Cisco Catalyst Center17 July 2026

Which Cisco IOS XE release you should run — and why “the latest” is the wrong rule

Only every third IOS XE train is long-lived, and maintenance and security support end at different times. How to choose the version you can actually plan against.

6 min read

Network Automation16 July 2026

How to tell that a network project is genuinely finished

“It works” is not an acceptance criterion. Six artefacts a network project must leave behind so operations continue without its builder — and the questions to ask first.

5 min read

Enterprise Networks14 July 2026

Post-quantum in the network: what is available today and what to prepare now

RFC 9370 on ASA since 9.19, ML-KEM announced for late 2026: the dependable state of post-quantum migration in network infrastructure — and why the crypto inventory precedes any product upgrade.

7 min read

Enterprise Networks10 July 2026

Catalyst 9350 licensing: separating the mandatory term from perpetual OS rights

A mandatory three-year term does not cause local switching functions to expire: Cisco separates perpetual OS rights from support and platform services on the C9350.

4 min read

Cisco Meraki7 July 2026

Wi-Fi 7 in Europe: why 320 MHz stays a data sheet figure for now

Europe has earmarked the upper 6 GHz band for mobile. Why Wi-Fi 7 is still the right call — if you plan it around 160 MHz and MLO instead of 320 MHz.

9 min read

Security & Access3 July 2026

802.1X on the wired port: the identity layer segmentation depends on

The network port as a control point: how a wired 802.1X rollout runs, why it starts in monitor mode, and which devices set the schedule.

6 min read

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