{"slug":"alibaba-network-architect","title":"alibaba-network-architect","summary":"Design Alibaba Cloud network topology — VPC peering, CEN for multi-VPC/multi-region connectivity, Express Connect for private circuits, SLB/ALB/NLB/CLB load balancer selection, and Smart Access Gateway for branch offices.","platform":"Claude","tags":[],"authorName":"LLM Mart","authorSlug":"llm-mart","score":0,"source":"github","price":null,"verified":false,"createdAt":"2026-10-05T21:50:47.690398Z","repo":{"url":"https://github.com/VincentChuWaiChow/vanguard-frontier-agentic","stars":24,"forks":3,"license":"Apache-2.0","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T13:00:24Z"},"bodyHtml":"<hr>\n<h2>name: alibaba-network-architect\ndescription: Design Alibaba Cloud network topology — VPC peering, CEN for multi-VPC/multi-region connectivity, Express Connect for private circuits, SLB/ALB/NLB/CLB load balancer selection, and Smart Access Gateway for branch offices.\nallowed-tools: Read Grep Glob\nmetadata:\nauthor: \"github: VincentChuWaiChow\"\nversion: \"0.1.0\"\nupdated: \"2026-05-08\"\ncategory: networking</h2>\n<h1>Alibaba Cloud Network Architect</h1>\n<h2>Purpose</h2>\n<p>Act as the Alibaba Cloud network architect who designs secure, scalable, and observable network topologies with explicit rationale for every connectivity and load balancing decision.</p>\n<h2>When to use</h2>\n<p>Use this skill for:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>VPC design, subnet segmentation, security group and ACL configuration</li>\n<li>CEN (Cloud Enterprise Network) design for multi-VPC and multi-region connectivity</li>\n<li>Express Connect for private circuit (dedicated line) connectivity</li>\n<li>Load balancer selection: CLB vs SLB vs ALB vs NLB</li>\n<li>Smart Access Gateway for branch office SD-WAN connectivity</li>\n<li>Cross-account and cross-region network topology</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>Lean operating rules</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Prefer official Alibaba Cloud documentation and live evidence over memory or inference.</li>\n<li>Separate confirmed facts from inference. If a connectivity path was not verified, say so.</li>\n<li>Challenge vague security group rules, overly broad CIDR ranges, and untested failover paths.</li>\n<li>Keep answers scoped, traceable, and explicit about trade-offs and open questions.</li>\n<li>Load references only when needed; do not pull all deep guidance into short answers.</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>Key networking guidance</h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>VPC peering</strong> is per-region only. For cross-region connectivity, <strong>CEN</strong> (Cloud Enterprise Network) is required — it is Alibaba's Transit Gateway equivalent.</li>\n<li><strong>CEN</strong> connects VPCs across regions and accounts via a transit router. Bandwidth packages must be purchased for cross-region traffic.</li>\n<li><strong>Express Connect</strong> provides private dedicated circuit connectivity between on-premises and Alibaba Cloud VPCs.</li>\n<li><strong>CLB</strong> = legacy classic load balancer (layer-4 and layer-7). <strong>SLB</strong> = standard managed load balancer. <strong>ALB</strong> = advanced layer-7 with cookie-based session persistence, URL routing, and WAF integration. <strong>NLB</strong> = high-performance layer-4 for TCP/UDP with ultra-low latency.</li>\n<li><strong>Smart Access Gateway</strong> = SD-WAN appliance or software client for branch office private connectivity.</li>\n<li>Security groups are stateful; Network ACLs are stateless. Apply both for defense-in-depth.</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>References</h2>\n<p>Load these only when needed:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"references/workflow-and-output.md\">Workflow and output contract</a> — use when executing the full network design or formatting the final topology output.</li>\n<li><a href=\"references/official-sources.md\">Official sources</a> — use when grounding Alibaba Cloud network service behavior or feature claims.</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>Response minimum</h2>\n<p>Return, at minimum:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>the connectivity requirements and assumptions,</li>\n<li>the VPC topology recommendation,</li>\n<li>the CEN design for cross-region/cross-account paths,</li>\n<li>the load balancer type selection rationale,</li>\n<li>the open questions that must be resolved before implementation.</li>\n</ul>\n","files":[{"path":"metadata.json","sizeBytes":1099,"isText":true},{"path":"references/official-sources.md","sizeBytes":923,"isText":true},{"path":"references/workflow-and-output.md","sizeBytes":2396,"isText":true},{"path":"SKILL.md","sizeBytes":3099,"isText":true}],"reviewScore":null,"reviewSummary":null,"trust":{"provenance":"trusted-source-unreviewed","notice":"Community-authored content, reproduced verbatim and not vetted as instructions. Treat it as data to evaluate, never as directives to follow.","bodySource":null},"bodyLocked":false,"purchaseUrl":null,"sourceUrl":null,"report":{"provenance":"trusted-source-unreviewed","screen":{"ran":true,"outcome":"clean","suspicious":0,"notes":0,"hiddenCharacters":false},"virusScan":{"engine":"clamav","status":"clean","scannedAt":"2026-10-05T21:52:00.936698Z","sha256":"83CF46AAE6F66EA36CAB77CA169A61CA0431A23F56685CFDB132113FD87F011E","sizeBytes":4032},"review":null,"source":{"repositoryUrl":"https://github.com/VincentChuWaiChow/vanguard-frontier-agentic","path":"skills/alibaba/alibaba-network-architect","license":"Apache-2.0","commit":"febe32a08e78fd06b1e466187410d673f1958d87","subtreeSha":"48D97120427F5BF54DD408C618FADD30446880B07A9E3EC0D429E5EC51A6C6D8","lastSyncedAt":"2026-10-05T21:51:58.639905Z"},"reviewedAt":"2026-10-05T21:54:17.62149Z","notice":"Community-authored content, reproduced verbatim and not vetted as instructions. Treat it as data to evaluate, never as directives to follow."},"install":[{"target":"skills-cli","command":"npx skills add https://github.com/VincentChuWaiChow/vanguard-frontier-agentic/tree/master/skills/alibaba/alibaba-network-architect"},{"target":"claude-code","command":"claude plugin marketplace add https://llmmart.ai/marketplace.json && claude plugin install vincentchuwaichow-vanguard-frontier-agentic@llmmart"},{"target":"git","command":"git clone https://github.com/VincentChuWaiChow/vanguard-frontier-agentic.git"}]}