network-backbone-architect

Network Backbone Architect

When NOT to Use

REST/GraphQL, ESB, or enterprise application integration design → enterprise-integration-api-developer
Cloud Well-Architected, landing zone, and managed VPC/service selection → cloud-architect, enterprise-cloud-architect
Day-two cloud resource configuration (subnets, LB, managed VPN to cloud) → cloud-engineer
Cloud security guardrails, CSPM, and cloud IAM as primary deliverable → cloud-security-engineer
Host firewall, endpoint, and corporate security control catalog → information-security-engineer
OS patching, VM admin, and cloud instance operations → cloud-system-administrator
Terraform modules, CI/CD, and K8s platform delivery without backbone routing design → infrastructure-engineer
SLO programs, on-call, and incident response as the main task → site-reliability-engineer
Cross-domain system ADRs unrelated to routing → senior-system-architecture
Application throughput, caching, and horizontal scale without L3 design → high-concurrency-scalability
Event bus and messaging topology only → event-driven-architecture
OT/ICS segmentation, Purdue model, and plant protocols → scada-ics-cyber-security-specialist

Need	Skill
Cloud reference architecture and hybrid connectivity hooks	`cloud-architect`
Enterprise cloud governance and multi-BU landing zones	`enterprise-cloud-architect`
Implement cloud networking and managed connectivity	`cloud-engineer`
Cloud network security controls and posture	`cloud-security-engineer`
IaC, physical DC build, and platform delivery	`infrastructure-engineer`
Reliability engineering, SLOs, and production incidents	`site-reliability-engineer`
Enterprise system architecture across domains	`senior-system-architecture`
Application-scale concurrency and load distribution	`high-concurrency-scalability`
Async messaging and event-driven integration	`event-driven-architecture`

Clarify scale (sites, regions, carriers), traffic matrix, RTO/RPO for paths, and regulatory or sovereignty constraints.

See references/network_backbone_architect_scope.md.

Define core/distribution/edge roles, summarization boundaries, and IP/VLAN/VRF plan.

See references/topology_hierarchy_and_addressing.md.

Select IGP (OSPF, IS-IS) and BGP design—peering, communities, path selection, and filtering.

See references/routing_igp_bgp_and_policy.md.

Architect carrier services, underlay/overlay, hub-spoke vs full mesh, and SLA alignment.

See references/wan_mpls_sdwan_and_carriers.md.

Design data center interconnect, IX/transit/peering, and anycast or multi-homing at the edge.

See references/dci_peering_and_internet_edge.md.

Plan redundancy, BFD/FRR, backbone QoS, link sizing, change windows, and observability.

See references/resilience_qos_capacity_operations.md.

Backbone context — sites, traffic matrix, critical flows, and failure domains
Logical topology — hierarchy, VRFs, summarization points, and DCI attachment
Routing design — IGP areas/levels, BGP AS plan, policies, and community/tag semantics
WAN/SD-WAN architecture — underlay, overlay, hub roles, and carrier map
Internet edge brief — peering vs transit, IX placement, prefix origination, and filtering
Resilience and QoS matrix — ECMP, BFD, FRR, DSCP classes, and maintenance domains
Capacity model — link sizing assumptions, growth headroom, and trigger thresholds
Observability plan — flow telemetry, SNMP/telemetry targets, and backbone dashboards

Hierarchy before complexity — aggregate at core; keep edge policies simple
Explicit failure domains — maintenance windows and blast radius per region or plane
Policy at the edge — filter and tag at borders; keep core transit predictable
Measure before oversizing — size links from busy-hour matrices and growth, not peak anecdotes
Prefer L3 DCI — stretch L2 only with documented operational cost and risk
Document one-way doors — ASN allocation, summarization boundaries, and peering contracts