Fortinet has changed the first-boot experience on newer FortiGate G-series appliances: before the firewall can be fully configured, it must be registered with FortiCare. On paper that sounds harmless. In the rack, with a fresh FortiGate-200G and no predefined WAN… Read moreFortiGate Forced FortiCare Registration: What Changed and How to Get a 200G Online
If you come from the Cisco world, Huawei WLAN HA can look a little unfamiliar at first. The good news: once you stop trying to force a “dedicated HA cable for everything” mindset onto it, the design gets a lot… Read moreHuawei AirEngine WLC HA with HSB: Keeping Active/Standby Simple
I ran into an issue on a Cisco 9800 WLC after upgrading to 17.12.6a with the standard install workflow. The installation itself completed successfully, but the controller did not boot cleanly on the first reload. What happened I started the… Read moreCisco 9800: Wrong Boot Variable After Upgrade to 17.12.6a
Purpose This note describes the multicast capability of Huawei SD-WAN, its functional principle, configuration concept, and constraints. The industry standard behind this feature is NGMVPN (Next Generation Multicast VPN) — Huawei refers to the SD-WAN implementation internally as “Multicast over… Read moreSD-WAN Multicast (NGMVPN)
Purpose This note describes the use of GRE tunnels in Huawei SD-WAN, their two primary use cases (connecting non-SD-WAN sites and IPv6 migration over IPv4 overlay), and the relevant constraints and configuration parameters. GRE in the SD-WAN Context GRE (Generic… Read moreSD-WAN GRE Tunnels and Layer 2 Connectivity
Purpose This note describes the conceptual structure of overlay/underlay, the available network topology models, VPN isolation, routing protocols, and CPE deployment modes in Huawei SD-WAN. Overlay vs. Underlay Underlay Network The underlay network is the physical network infrastructure on which… Read moreSD-WAN Topologies, Routing and Deployment Modes
Purpose This note explains the conceptual architecture of Huawei SD-WAN Solution, its layered structure, key components, acronyms, and typical deployment scenarios. Background and Motivation Enterprise WAN networks face four structural problems: Closed WAN architecture: Multi-cloud and multi-carrier connectivity is difficult… Read moreSD-WAN Solution – Overview, Architecture and Key Terms
Purpose This note summarizes the Huawei CPE device families used in the SD-WAN Solution, including their roles, characteristics, and typical use cases. CPE Roles in SD-WAN A CPE can take on different roles depending on configuration: Role Function Edge Gateway… Read moreSD-WAN CPE Devices – Huawei AR Series
Purpose This note describes the technical variants by which devices discover iMaster NCE-Campus and start the bootstrap / ZTP process. Focus: DHCP Option 148 DHCP Option 17 Registration Query Center PnP VLAN Email-based deployment USB-based deployment Cloud site deployment Fit… Read moreiMaster NCE-Campus – ZTP and Device Discovery
Purpose This note compares iMaster NCE-Campus and Cisco Catalyst Center in detail from the perspective of technical operations staff. Scope: This document focuses on Catalyst Center. ISE is referenced only where the functional boundary of Catalyst Center is reached. NAC… Read moreiMaster NCE-Campus vs Cisco Catalyst Center – Detailed Technical Comparison