Ben Piper - CCNP Enterprise Certification Study Guide

Ben Piper

Copyright 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

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I dedicate this book to the Lord Jesus Christ through Whom all things were created and in Whom all things hold together

Id like to thank the following people who helped create this CCNP Enterprise Certification Study Guide: Exam 350-401. A special thanks to Kenyon Brown, senior acquisitions editor, for the opportunity to write this book. Thanks to John Sleeva, project editor, for pushing me to meet my deadlines. His suggestions and edits helped make this book more user friendly. Thanks also go to Christine OConnor, production editor; Pete Gaughan, content enablement manager; and Louise Watson at Word One, proofreader. Jon Buhagiar reviewed the chapters and questions for technical accuracy. His comments guided by his expertise helped make this book more practical, accurate, and well rounded.

Ben Piper is a networking and cloud consultant who has authored multiple books including the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide: Associate SAA-C01 Exam, Second Edition (Sybex, 2019), AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Study Guide: Foundational CLF-C01 Exam (Sybex, 2019), and Learn Cisco Network Administration in a Month of Lunches (Manning, 2017). You can contact Ben by visiting his website https://benpiper.com.

Networking is uniquely challenging in that it's not a single technology, but a collection of interdependent technologies that every other aspect of IT depends on. Without networking, there are no connected applications and that means there are no IT employees. Even if you're not sure that you want networking to become your permanent career, becoming an expert at networking will open the doors for other in-demand areas of IT, including security, software development, and cloud computing.

In 2019, Cisco announced updates to its Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certification program. There are six professional level certifications to choose from:

• CCNP Enterprise
• CCNP Data Center
• CCNP Security
• CCNP Service Provider
• CCNP Collaboration
• Cisco Certified DevNet Professional

Each certification requires passing one core exam and one concentration exam. The core exam for the CCNP Enterprise certification is 350-401 ENCOR, Implementing Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies. The concentration exams let you focus on a specific specialty, such as routing, wireless, network design, automation, or software-defined networking (SDN). Regardless of the concentration exam you choose, you must pass the ENCOR exam to attain your CCNP Enterprise certification.

Many who attain the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) don't go on to pursue more advanced Cisco certifications. So why should you consider the CCNP Enterprise certification, and is it right for you? It may be right for you if

• You have a passion for networking.
• You want to set yourself apart as someone who has a passion for technology and isn't just in it for the money (although there is plenty of that!).
• You want to specialize in security, wireless, network automation, cloud, or software-defined networking.
• You enjoy tweaking the nerd knobs on individual technologies just to see what will happen.
• You love facing and overcoming the challenges of troubleshooting.

Before taking the CCNP ENCOR exam, there are a few things to keep in mind. There's no reason that you can't pass the exam the first time. To help you do that, I want to share with you some study tips that have helped me pass several Cisco certification exams on the first try. One of the neglected skills required on any Cisco exam is speed. Being able to troubleshoot a 10-router Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) topology is good. Taking 15 minutes to do it is not so good. I can't stress enough the importance of spending quality time with the command-line interface (CLI). You should spend at least 50 percent of your study time on configuring and troubleshooting a variety of topologies and technologies.