CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD)

The CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD) examination is designed to enhance and develop your knowledge of enterprise design including advanced addressing and routing solutions, advanced enterprise campus networks, WAN, security services, network services, and SDA. This certification will be a great addition to your career.

Target Audience

The course will bring the best out in those candidates who are working in below mentioned profiles:

• Network design engineers
• Network engineers
• System administrators

Exam Prerequisites

There are few skills that are required beforehand to become CCNP Enterprise certificate holder. These are:

• Basic network fundamentals and building simple LANs
• Basic IP addressing and subnets
• Routing and switching fundamentals
• Basic wireless networking concepts and terminology

Exam Overview

The total time allotted for CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD) examination is 90 minutes. The exam can contain various questions types that can be Multiple-Choice Single Answer, Multiple-Choice Multiple Answer & Drag and Drop Fill-in-the-Blank & Testlet. However, for passing scores, Cisco does not publish exam passing scores because exam questions and passing scores are subject to change without notice. The cost of the exam is $300 USD and the exam is valid for three years. Also, you can give this examination in English and Japanese.

Exam Registration

For registering you are required to follow the steps below:

• Create an account on Pearson VUE. If you already have an account on Pearson VUE, then login to the account.
• Select Proctored Exams and enter the exam number, 300-420 ENSLD
• Follow the prompts to register and make the payment.

For more information, click on CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD) FAQ

Course Outline

Advanced Addressing and Routing Solutions: 25%

• Create structured addressing plans for IPv4 and IPv6
  • Create stable, secure, and scalable routing designs for IS-IS, EIGRP, OSPF, and BGP (Cisco Reference: IS-IS Overview and Basic Configuration, Designing Scalable OSPF Design)
  • Address families (Cisco Reference: OSPFv3 Address Families)
  • Basic route filtering
  • Attributes for path preference Route reflectors (Cisco Reference: BGP Diverse Path Using a Diverse-Path Route Reflector)
  • Load sharing (Cisco Reference: Configuring a Load-Balancing Scheme)
  • Determine IPv6 migration strategies
    • Overlay (tunneling) (Cisco Reference: Implementing Tunneling for IPv6)
    • Native (dual-stacking) (Cisco Reference: Dual Stack Network)
    • Boundaries (IPv4/IPv6 translations)

Advanced Enterprise Campus Networks: 25%

• Design campus networks for high availability
  • First Hop Redundancy Protocols (Cisco Reference: Campus Network for High Availability Design Guide, First Hop Redundancy Protocol (FHRP))
  • Platform abstraction techniques
  • Graceful restart (Cisco Reference: BGP Graceful Restart per Neighbor)
  • BFD (Cisco Reference: Bidirectional Forwarding Detection)
• Design campus Layer 2 infrastructures
  • STP scalability
  • Fast convergence
  • Loop-free technologies (Cisco Reference: Campus Network for High Availability Design Guide)
  • PoE and WoL
• Design multicampus Layer 3 infrastructures (Cisco Reference: Multilayer Campus Architecture and Design Principles and Design Principles)
  • Convergence and Load sharing
  • Route summarization and Route filtering
  • VRFs, Optimal topologies, and Redistribution
• Describe SD-Access Architecture (underlay, overlay, control and data plane, automation, wireless, and security) (Cisco Reference: Software-Defined Access 1.0)
• Describe SD-Access fabric design considerations for wired and wireless access (overlay, fabric design, control plan design, border design, segmentation, virtual networks, scalability, over the top and fabric for wireless, multicast) (Cisco Reference: Cisco SD-Access Solution Design Guide (CVD))

WAN for Enterprise Networks: 20%

• Compare WAN connectivity options
  • Layer 2 VPN (Cisco Reference: Layer 2 WAN)
  • MPLS Layer 3 VPN (Cisco Reference: Layer 3 MPLS)
  • Metro Ethernet (Cisco Reference: Ethernet Access for Next Generation Metro and Wide Area Networks)
  • DWDM (Cisco Reference: Introduction to DWDM)
  • 4G/5G
  • SD-WAN customer edge
• Design site-to-site VPN
  • Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN) (Cisco Reference: Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN))
  • Layer 2 VPN
  • MPLS Layer 3 VPN (Cisco Reference: Implementing MPLS Layer 3 VPNs)
  • IPsec
  • Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) (Cisco Reference: Configuring VPNs Using an IPSec Tunnel and Generic Routing Encapsulation)
  • Group Encrypted Transport VPN (GET VPN) (Cisco Reference: Group Encrypted Transport VPN (GETVPN))

• Design high availability for enterprise WAN (Cisco Reference: DESIGNING AND MANAGING HIGH AVAILABILITY IP NETWORKS)
  • Single-homed
  • Multihomed
  • Backup connectivity
  • Failover
• Describe Cisco SD-WAN Architecture (orchestration plane, management plane, control plane, data plane, on-boarding and provisioning, security) (Cisco Reference: Cisco SD-WAN Design Guide)
• Describe Cisco SD-WAN design considerations (control plane design, overlay design, LAN design, high availability, redundancy, scalability, security design, QoS and multicast overSD-WAN fabric) (Cisco Reference: Cisco SD-WAN Design Guide)

Network Services: 20%

• Select appropriate QoS strategies to meet customer requirements (DiffServ, IntServ) (Cisco Reference: Overview of DiffServ for Quality of Service, DiffServ — The Scalable End-to-End QoS Model)
• Design end-to-end QoS policies Cisco Reference: Quality of Service Design Overview, Quality of Service Design Overview)
  • Classification and marking
  • Shaping
  • Policing
  • Queuing
• Design network management techniques
  • In-band vs. out-of-band (Cisco Reference: Cisco SAFE Reference Guide)
  • Segmented management networks
  • Prioritizing network management traffic
• Describe multicast routing concepts (source trees, shared trees, RPF, rendezvous points) (Cisco Reference: IP Multicast Technology Overview)
• Design multicast services (SSM, PIM bidirectional, MSDP) (Cisco Reference: Configuring SSM, Interdomain Multicast Solutions Using SSM, Interdomain Multicast Solutions Using MSDP)

Automation: 10%

• Choose the correct YANG data model set based on requirements (Cisco Reference: YANG Infrastructure)
• Differentiate between IETF, Openconfig, and Cisco native YANG models (Cisco Reference: About OpenConfig YANG, Configure NETCONF/YANG)
• Differentiate between NETCONF and RESTCONF (Cisco Reference: Cisco NETCONF and REST Device Management API, RESTCONF Protocol)
• Describe the impact of model-driven telemetry on the network (Cisco Reference: Model-Driven Telemetry)
  • Periodic publication
  • On-change publication
• Compare dial-in and dial-out approaches to model-driven telemetry (Cisco Reference: Core Components of Model-driven Telemetry Streaming)

Exam Policies

There are various policies to which the candidate is required to adhere to. Cisco includes various exam policies to help candidates understand the terms and procedures for the certification exam. Also, it is advised to check the policies beforehand to avoid any kind of confusion. Some of them are:

Exam Retake Policy

The candidate has to wait for five calendar days, beginning the day after the failed attempt. However, once passed, a candidate must wait for a minimum of 180 days before taking the same exam with an identical exam number.

Exam Reschedule Policy

Candidates who want to reschedule their online proctored exam must contact Pearson VUE or access an online Pearson VUE account to reschedule the exam up until the scheduled start time of your appointment. However, failure to reschedule before your appointment time or failure to appear for your appointment will result in the forfeiture of your exam fee.

Cancellation Policy

To cancel the online proctored exam candidates must contact Pearson VUE or access your online Pearson VUE account to cancel your exam up until the scheduled start time of your appointment. However, failure to cancel before your appointment time or failure to appear for your appointment will result in the forfeiture of your exam fee. 

Preparatory Guide for CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD)

You are now aware of all the information and requirements for CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD) examination. The next step to success is your exam preparation. To help you out with it, our experts have provided you with Preparatory Guide for CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD) examination. Let’s get started.

Refer the Exam Guide

Before preparing for an examination, it is important to know the course outline and guide. Also, Cisco also provides the complete course guide on its official website.  Since it is the most authentic site to provide any information regarding the CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD) exam. After you’ve gone through the basic exam details. It’s time to hit the exam guide. For your assistance we have also provided you with the exam objectives:

• Advanced Addressing and Routing Solutions (25%)
• Advanced Enterprise Campus Networks (25%)
• WAN for Enterprise Networks (20%)
• Network Services (20%)
• Automation (10%)

Learning Resources

Official Cisco Training

Cisco provides an official training course to help candidates prepare for the CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD) examination. The Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks (ENSLD) training helps you in developing the skills and knowledge which you need to design an enterprise network. This course serves as a deep dive into enterprise network design and expands on the topics covered in the Implementing and Operating Cisco® Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) v1.0 course. Also, you will learn security for networks, cloud and content, endpoint protection, secure network access, visibility, and enforcement.

Private Group Training

Cisco offers Private group training that brings the Cisco classroom experience anywhere, whether it’s an office, or to an offsite location of your choice. Also, this can deliver any Cisco course in this format, from certification classes to the latest technology and business transformation training. Moreover, Private group training is a convenient, cost-effective choice for groups with many people who all need the same training. 

Reference Books

Books are man’s best friend. Along with preparation guidance, you will need books and study material. We are here to help you. Below are the books for CCNP Enterprise (300-420 ENSLD):

• CCNP Enterprise Design ENSLD 300-420 Official Cert Guide: Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks (Certification Guide) by Anthony Bruno, Steve Jordan

Join Study groups

Joining study groups is a good way to get yourself fully involved with the certification exam you applied for. There is no harm in being a part of a healthy discussion. Also, these groups contain both beginners as well as professionals. Also, you can ask any query related to the exam or you can talk about the exam without any hesitation. Moreover, here you can start any discussion about the issue related to the exam or any query. By doing so, you will get the best possible answer to your query.

Practice Tests

It is very important to practice what you have learned so that you are in a position to analyze your practice, by practicing you will be able to improve your answering skills that will result in saving a lot of time. Moreover, the best way to start doing practice tests is after completing one full topic as this will work as a revision part for you. So, start your preparation now!