Cisco ISE

A usable Cisco ISE 3.x lab on EVE-NG is absolutely worth building for CCIE Security, because ISE shows up in authentication, policy, TrustSec, and operational troubleshooting far more often than most candidates expect. According to Cisco’s ISE 3.3 Installation Guide (2026), the evaluation baseline is 4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, and 300 GB disk, but in real EVE-NG use most candidates should allocate 8 vCPU if they want the GUI, policy changes, and endpoint tests to feel responsive instead of miserable. ...

Cisco ISE combined with TrustSec is the most widely deployed zero trust network segmentation solution in enterprise environments today. It uses Scalable Group Tags (SGTs) to enforce identity-based access policies across switches, routers, and firewalls — replacing thousands of IP-based ACLs with a centralized policy matrix that follows users and devices wherever they connect. Key Takeaway: TrustSec SGT-based segmentation is the practical implementation of zero trust that enterprises are actually deploying in 2026, and mastering it is essential for both production network engineers and CCIE Security candidates. ...