Switching Exam for CCNP

[DanielBowen]

Does anybody know the makeup of the CCNP switching exam?

I have been studying for two months now and have the exam booked for three weeks but am a bit confused as to what type of questions I will be asked and to what the difficulty will be. I am studying from the BCMSN and study guide from Cisco Press, but I took a practise exam from mcmcse.com and was asked questions that were not even covered.

If anybody could clear up the type of questions there will be that would be a great help,

Thanks,

Daniel

 

[UNIX72]

Hey DanielBowen get very familiar with the OSPF,EIGRP, and BGP commands and terminology.

 

[DanielBowen]

CCNP switching exam, not routing.

Thanks for help anyway !

 

[UNIX72]

Sorry about that the info you do need is STP, trunking, vlans, switch modes. If you have access to a catalyst 5000 switch that will help.

 

[wybnormal]

You had better know the differences in setting a SET based switch and an IOS based switch and even the subtle differents between the IOS switches. Spanning Tree is your new friend and know it well. Get the timers down. Get the idea of campus design down.. know VLANs well.. the differences in tagging, encapsulation, how many bytes used for 802.1Q and ISL and so forth. What is CST and PVST(+) and how do they talk to each other. Know MLS well...

A good help is the ExamCram for Switching ..

MikeS
"Diplomacy; the art of saying 'nice doggie' till you can find a rock" Wynn Catlin

 

[DanielBowen]

Thanks very much !

Does anybody know if it will cover any questions regarding hardware such as ASICs etc?

I am comfortable with the rest !

Thanks again,

Daniel

 

[niilante]

Get practise exams at

http://www.boson.com,

they are very similar to the real thing.

 

[CiscoGuy33]

DanielBowen,

I always start with what Cisco has posted and I check it often - things are added and changed often.

I am working on the Switching exam now. Using Cisco Press, Sybex, and CBT Nuggets as well as some other test software I got on Ebay

From

http://www.cisco.com

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Exam Description

BCMSN is a qualifying exam for the Cisco Certified Network Professional CCNP® as well as the Cisco Certified Design Professional CCDP® certifications. The BCMSN exam (642-811) will test materials covered under the new Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks (BCMSN) CCNP course. The exam will certify that the successful candidate has important knowledge and skills necessary to build scalable multilayer switched networks; create and deploy a global intranet, and implement basic troubleshooting techniques in environments that use Cisco multilayer switches for client hosts and services. The exam covers topics on switching technology, implementation and operation, planning and design, and troubleshooting.

Exam Topics

The following information provides general guidelines for the content likely to be included on this exam. However, other related topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam.


Technology
• Describe the Enterprise Composite Model used for designing networks and explain how it addresses enterprise network needs for performance, scalability and availability
• Describe the physical, data-link and network layer technologies used in a switched network, and identify when to use each
• Explain the role of switches in the various modules of the Enterprise Composite Model (Campus Infrastructure, Server Farm, Enterprise Edge, Network Management)
• Explain the function of the Switching Database Manager [specifically Content Addressable Memory (CAM) and Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM)] within a Catalyst switch
• Describe the features and operation of VLANs on a switched network
• Describe the features of the VLAN trunking protocols including 802.1Q, ISL (emphasis on 802.1Q) and dynmic trunking protocol
• Describe the features and operation of 802.1Q Tunneling (802.1QinQ) within a service provider network
• Describe the operation and purpose of managed VLAN services
• Describe how VTP versions 1 and 2 operate including domains, modes, advertisements, and pruning
• Explain the operation and purpose of the Spanning-Tree Protocol (STP) on a switched network
• Identify the specific types of Cisco route switch processors, and provide implementation details
• List and describe the operation of the key components required to implement interVLAN routing
• Explain the types of redundancy in a multilayer switched network including hardware and software redundancy
• Explain how IP multicast operates on a multilayer switched network, including PIM, CGMP and IGMP
• Describe the quality issues with voice traffic on a switched data network, including jitter and delay
• Describe the QoS solutions that address voice quality issues
• Describe the features and operation of network analysis modules on Catalyst switches to improve network traffic management
• Describe Transparent LAN Services and how they are implemented in a service provider network


Implementation and Operation
• Convert CatOS to native IOS on Catalyst switches and manage native IOS images according to best practices
• Configure access ports for static and multi-VLAN memebership
• Configure and verify 802.1Q trunks
• Configure and verify ISL trunks
• Configure VTP domains in server, client and transparent modes
• Enable Spanning Tree on ports and VLANs
• Configure Spanning Tree parameters including: port priority, VLAN priority, root bridge, BPDU guard, PortFast and UplinkFast
• Implement IP technology on a switched network with auxiliary VLANs
• Configure and verify router redundancy using HSRP, VRRP, GLBP, SRM, and SLB
• Configure QoS features on multilayer switched networks to provide optimal quality and bandwidth utilization for applications and data
• Configure Fast EtherChannel and Gigabit EtherChannel to increase bandwidth for interswitch connections


Planning and Design
• Compare end-to-end and local VLANs, determine when to use each
• Design a VLAN configuration with VTP to work for a given specific scenario
• Select multilayer switching architectures, given specific multilayer switching needs
• Describe the general design models when implementing IP telephony in a switched network environment
• Plan QoS implementation within a multilayer switched network


Troubleshooting
• Troubleshoot common VLAN problems on a switched network
• Tune and troubleshoot spanning-tree protocol on a multilayer switched network to enhance network performance, prevent network loops, and minimize downtime
• Identify interVLAN routing performance and scalability issues, and propose solutions
• Verify and troubleshoot interVLAN routing on a switched network
• Identify QoS implementation issues at the network access layer
• Identify QoS implementation issues at the network distribution and core layers



E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +