Cisco Certified Network Associate (200-301 CCNA)

Role and function of network components (routers, switches, firewalls, access points, controllers, endpoints, servers, PoE). Network topology architectures (two-tier, three-tier, spine-leaf, WAN, SOHO, on-premise and cloud). Physical interface and cabling types (single-mode fiber, multimode fiber, copper). Interface and cable issues. TCP vs UDP. IPv4 addressing and subnetting. Private IPv4 addressing. IPv6 addressing and prefix. IPv6 address types (unicast, anycast, multicast, modified EUI-64). IP parameters for Client OS. Wireless principles (nonoverlapping Wi-Fi channels, SSID, RF, encryption). Virtualization fundamentals (server virtualization, containers, VRFs). Switching concepts (MAC learning and aging, frame switching, frame flooding, MAC address table).

Configure and verify VLANs (normal range) spanning multiple switches, access ports (data and voice), default VLAN. Interswitch connectivity (trunk ports, 802.1Q, native VLAN). Layer 2 discovery protocols (CDP, LLDP). EtherChannel (LACP). Rapid PVST+ Spanning Tree Protocol (root port, root bridge, port states, PortFast). Cisco Wireless Architectures and AP modes. Physical infrastructure connections of WLAN components (AP, WLC, access/trunk ports, LAG). AP and WLC management access (Telnet, SSH, HTTP, HTTPS, console, TACACS+/RADIUS). Wireless LAN GUI configuration for client connectivity.

Components of routing table (routing protocol code, prefix, network mask, next hop, administrative distance, metric, gateway of last resort). Router forwarding decision (longest prefix match, administrative distance, routing protocol metric). Configure and verify IPv4 and IPv6 static routing (default route, network route, host route, floating static). Configure and verify single area OSPFv2 (neighbor adjacencies, point-to-point, broadcast DR/BDR selection, router ID). First hop redundancy protocols.

Configure and verify inside source NAT using static and pools. Configure and verify NTP operating in client and server mode. Role of DHCP and DNS within the network. Function of SNMP in network operations. Syslog features including facilities and levels. Configure and verify DHCP client and relay. Forwarding per-hop behavior (PHB) for QoS (classification, marking, queuing, congestion, policing, shaping). Configure network devices for remote access using SSH. Capabilities and function of TFTP/FTP in the network.

Key security concepts (threats, vulnerabilities, exploits, mitigation techniques). Security program elements (user awareness, training, physical access control). Configure and verify device access control using local passwords. Security password policies (management, complexity, multifactor authentication, certificates, biometrics). IPsec remote access and site-to-site VPNs. Configure and verify access control lists. Configure and verify Layer 2 security features (DHCP snooping, dynamic ARP inspection, port security). Authentication, authorization, and accounting concepts. Wireless security protocols (WPA, WPA2, WPA3). Configure and verify WLAN within the GUI using WPA2 PSK.

How automation impacts network management. Traditional networks vs controller-based networking. Controller-based software defined architecture (overlay, underlay, fabric). Separation of control plane and data plane. Northbound and Southbound APIs. Traditional campus device management vs Cisco DNA Center enabled device management. Characteristics of REST-based APIs (CRUD, HTTP verbs, data encoding). Configuration management mechanisms (Puppet, Chef, Ansible). Components of JSON-encoded data.