Exam Profile: CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Written Exam (400-101)

Date: Aug 26, 2014

This article describes the Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Written Exam (400-101), including the objectives, preparation hints, and study resources.

The 400-101 exam is the qualification exam for the Routing and Switching CCIE Track’s Lab exam. After you have passed 400-101 (or 350-101 if still within your initial 18-month testing window), you can schedule your CCIE R&S Lab exam to become a fully qualified CCIE!

The CCIE Routing and Switching exam series (Written and Lab) have recently been revised to v5.0. The exam covers Network Principles, Layer 2 Technologies, Layer 3 Technologies, VPN Technologies, Infrastructure Security, and Infrastructure Services. There are many details within each of those broad topic areas, and of course, being an expert-level exam, the level of detail can be extreme!

Exam Details

Types of Questions: A mix of traditional Multiple Choice (single and multiple answers). You may find drag-and-drop type questions as well as scenario-based questions where a scenario or topology is presented and you need to answer a series of questions based on the exhibit.
Number of Questions: 90 to 110 depending on specifics of the pool selected.
Passing Score: Essentially Pass/Fail. The passing score is set by statistical analysis and may be changed periodically. The overall score will be reported on a scale from 300-1000.

Candidates must wait 5 days on failed exams for a retake. Passing candidates must wait at least 108 days before being allowed to retake the same exam.

Time Limit: 120 minutes

Cost: $400.00 USD (Costs may vary due to exchange rates and local taxes [VAT/GST])

How to Register: http://www.vue.com/cisco/

Strategy and Trouble Spots

Keep in mind, this IS an expert-level exam. So there are certain expectations of a candidate’s preparedness that are made by test creators. You need to start with time management. This is a helpful skill in the lab exam, too, but for different reasons.

You have approximately 90 and 110 questions to answer, depending on the pool selected for you. You have the same 120 minutes to answer all questions, so roughly one minute per question.

Following are a couple ground rules. You are not allowed to go BACK (or Previous) in questions. You can move only forward to the NEXT question. So that being said, there is no sense in stressing out over what you have previously answered. Stress will only bring you down further and affect your ability to think clearly on the rest of the exam! Concentrate on the here and now. Treat each question as if is the only one that you have to answer! Just do it within roughly a minute!

Now, again, if a question takes longer than a minute (some questions have more detail to review), don’t worry about it. There will be other questions you can answer within 10 seconds (or less)! The bottom line though is to attempt to not get stressed out about what you have already answered. You need to tell yourself that ahead of time!

Consider taking a break or three during the exam so that you sit for no longer than 30 minutes at a time staring at the computer screen. It doesn’t have to be long. Perhaps just standing up and stretching. Perhaps putting your head down on the desk. (Try to resist the urge of banging repeatedly!) Either way will be a brief distraction from staring at the computer screen and may well clear your head!

Preparation Hints

From an overall preparation and strategy point of view, it is important to look at the VAST overlap between the CCIEv5 Written Blueprint and Lab Blueprint. This is not a coincidence. This means that your preparation should keep that in mind. Prepare for both exams at the same time.

A good study plan involves a mixture of modalities (methods of information input) such as reading, watching videos, taking courses, and doing hands-on work. The hands-on part is obviously more critical to the Lab Exam preparation, but if your Written Exam question contains output from a show command that you have never heard of, it may become difficult to answer.

In Experiential Learning, the adage of See One, Do One, Teach One may well help in preparation for these exams. They are expert-level exams, and although you will be taking your test individually, I would recommend having a study partner or study group to maximize your efficiency of studying. Although you don’t need to be a formal classroom instructor to teach, the idea of presenting a subject to others is equally valuable. It may take that pressure/exposure to realize whether you truly know a subject.

The current CCNA and CCNP exams are also valuable to study. Although not at the same level of detail, they do pretty much follow the same subject matter.

Recommended Study Resources

Although not required for certification, the current CCNA and CCNP certifications can be valuable for information in smaller doses. I would recommend studying them.

Consider the following books for reference:

CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Official Cert Guide Library, 5th Edition (contains Volume 1 and Volume 2), by Narbik Kocharians, Peter Paluch, and Terry Vinson
Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1 (2nd Edition), by Jeff Doyle and Jennifer Carroll
Routing TCP/IP, Volume 2, by Jeff Doyle and Jennifer Carroll

Exam Objectives

The exam is closed book and no outside reference materials are allowed. The following topics are general guidelines for the content that is likely to be included on the practical exam. However, other related topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam. To better reflect the contents of the exam and for clarity purposes, the following guidelines may change at any time without notice.

The following list provides general guidelines for the content most likely to be included on the exam. In any given exam, it may not contain questions representative of each subpoint. They are all possible, however.

1.0 Network Principles - 10%

1.1 Network theory

1.1.a Describe basic software architecture differences between IOS and IOS XE

1.1.a (i) Control plane and Forwarding plane
1.1.a (ii) Impact to troubleshooting and performances
1.1.a (iii) Excluding specific platform's architecture

1.1.b Identify Cisco express forwarding concepts

1.1.b (i) RIB, FIB, LFIB, Adjacency table
1.1.b (ii) Load balancing Hash
1.1.b (iii) Polarization concept and avoidance

1.1.c Explain general network challenges

1.1.c (i) Unicast flooding
1.1.c (ii) Out of order packets
1.1.c (iii) Asymmetric routing
1.1.c (iv) Impact of micro burst

1.1.d Explain IP operations

1.1.d (i) ICMP unreachable, redirect
1.1.d (ii) IPv4 options, IPv6 extension headers
1.1.d (iii) IPv4 and IPv6 fragmentation
1.1.d (iv) TTL
1.1.d (v) IP MTU

1.1.e Explain TCP operations

1.1.e (i) IPv4 and IPv6 PMTU
1.1.e (ii) MSS
1.1.e (iii) Latency
1.1.e (iv) Windowing
1.1.e (v) Bandwidth delay product
1.1.e (vi) Global synchronization
1.1.e (vii) Options

1.1.f Explain UDP operations

1.1.f (i) Starvation
1.1.f (ii) Latency
1.1.f (iii) RTP/RTCP concepts

1.2 Network implementation and operation

1.2.a Evaluate proposed changes to a network

1.2.a (i) Changes to routing protocol parameters
1.2.a (ii) Migrate parts of a network to IPv6
1.2.a (iii) Routing protocol migration
1.2.a (iv) Adding multicast support
1.2.a (v) Migrate spanning tree protocol
1.2.a (vi) Evaluate impact of new traffic on existing QoS design

1.3 Network troubleshooting

1.3.a Use IOS troubleshooting tools

1.3.a (i) Debug, conditional debug
1.3.a (ii) Ping, traceroute with extended options
1.3.a (iii) Embedded packet capture
1.3.a (iv) Performance monitor

1.3.b Apply troubleshooting methodologies

1.3.b (i) Diagnose the root cause of networking issue
(analyze symptoms, identify and describe root cause)
1.3.b (ii) Design and implement valid solutions according to constraints
1.3.b (iii) Verify and monitor resolution

1.3.c Interpret packet capture

1.3.c (i) Using Wireshark trace analyzer
1.3.c (ii) Using IOS embedded packet capture

2.0 Layer 2 Technologies - 15%

2.1 LAN switching technologies

2.1.a Implement and troubleshoot switch administration

2.1.a (i) Managing MAC address table
2.1.a (ii) errDisable recovery
2.1.a (iii) L2 MTU

2.1.b Implement and troubleshoot Layer 2 protocols

2.1.b (i) CDP, LLDP
2.1.b (ii) UDLD

2.1.c Implement and troubleshoot VLAN

2.1.c (i) Access ports
2.1.c (ii) VLAN database
2.1.c (iii) Normal, extended VLAN, voice VLAN

2.1.d Implement and troubleshoot trunking

2.1.d (i) VTPv1, VTPv2, VTPv3, VTP pruning
2.1.d (ii) dot1Q
2.1.d (iii) Native VLAN
2.1.d (iv) Manual pruning

2.1.e Implement and troubleshoot EtherChannel

2.1.e (i) LACP, PAgP, manual
2.1.e (ii) Layer 2, Layer 3
2.1.e (iii) Load-balancing
2.1.e (iv) EtherChannel misconfiguration guard

2.1.f Implement and troubleshoot spanning tree

2.1.f (i) PVST+/RPVST+/MST
2.1.f (ii) Switch priority, port priority, path cost, STP timers
2.1.f (iii) Port fast, BPDUguard, BPDUfilter
2.1.f (iv) Loopguard, rootguard

2.1.g Implement and troubleshoot other LAN switching technologies

2.1.g (i) SPAN, RSPAN, ERSPAN

2.1.h Describe chassis virtualization and aggregation technologies

2.1.h (i) Multichassis
2.1.h (ii) VSS concepts
2.1.h (iii) Alternative to STP
2.1.h (iv) Stackwise
2.1.h (v) Excluding specific platform implementation

2.1.i Describe spanning-tree concepts

2.1.i (i) Compatibility between MST and RSTP
2.1.i (ii) STP dispute, STP bridge assurance

2.2 Layer 2 multicast

2.2.a Implement and troubleshoot IGMP

2.2.a (i) IGMPv1, IGMPv2, IGMPv3
2.2.a (ii) IGMP snooping
2.2.a (iii) IGMP querier
2.2.a (iv) IGMP filter
2.2.a (v) IGMP proxy

2.2.b Explain MLD
2.2.c Explain PIM snooping

2.3 Layer 2 WAN circuit technologies

2.3.a Implement and troubleshoot HDLC
2.3.b Implement and troubleshoot PPP

2.3.b (i) Authentication (PAP, CHAP)
2.3.b (ii) PPPoE
2.3.b (iii) MLPPP

2.3.c Describe WAN rate-based ethernet circuits

2.3.c (i) Metro and WAN Ethernet topologies
2.3.c (ii) Use of rate-limited WAN ethernet services

3.0 Layer 3 Technologies - 40%

3.1 Addressing technologies

3.1.a Identify, implement and troubleshoot IPv4 addressing and subnetting

3.1.a (i) Address types, VLSM
3.1.a (ii) ARP

3.1.b Identify, implement, and troubleshoot IPv6 addressing and subnetting

3.1.b (i) Unicast, multicast
3.1.b (ii) EUI-64
3.1.b (iii) ND, RS/RA
3.1.b (iv) Autoconfig/SLAAC, temporary addresses (RFC4941)
3.1.b (v) Global prefix configuration feature
3.1.b (vi) DHCP protocol operations
3.1.b (vii) SLAAC/DHCPv6 interaction
3.1.b (viii) Stateful, stateless DHCPv6
3.1.b (ix) DHCPv6 prefix delegation

3.2 Layer 3 multicast

3.2.a Troubleshoot reverse path forwarding

3.2.a (i) RPF failure
3.2.a (ii) RPF failure with tunnel interface

3.2.b Implement and troubleshoot IPv4 protocol independent multicast

3.2.b (i) PIM dense mode, sparse mode, sparse-dense mode
3.2.b (ii) Static RP, auto-RP, BSR
3.2.b (iii) Bidirectional PIM
3.2.b (iv) Source-specific multicast
3.2.b (v) Group to RP mapping
3.2.b (vi) Multicast boundary

3.2.c Implement and troubleshoot multicast source discovery protocol

3.2.c (i) Intradomain MSDP (anycast RP)
3.2.c (ii) SA filter

3.2.d Describe IPv6 multicast

3.2.d (i) IPv6 multicast addresses
3.2.d (ii) PIMv6

3.3 Fundamental routing concepts

3.3.a Implement and troubleshoot static routing
3.3.b Implement and troubleshoot default routing
3.3.c Compare routing protocol types

3.3.c (i) Distance vector
3.3.c (ii) Link state
3.3.c (iii) Path vector

3.3.d Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot administrative distance
3.3.e Implement and troubleshoot passive interface
3.3.f Implement and troubleshoot VRF lite
3.3.g Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot filtering with any routing protocol
3.3.h Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot redistribution between any routing protocol
3.3.i Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot manual and auto summarization with any routing protocol
3.3.j Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot policy-based routing
3.3.k Identify and troubleshoot suboptimal routing
3.3.l Implement and troubleshoot bidirectional forwarding detection
3.3.m Implement and troubleshoot loop prevention mechanisms

3.3.m (i) Route tagging, filtering
3.3.m (ii) Split horizon
3.3.m (iii) Route poisoning

3.3.n Implement and troubleshoot routing protocol authentication

3.3.n (i) MD5
3.3.n (ii) Key-chain
3.3.n (iii) EIGRP HMAC SHA2-256bit
3.3.n (iv) OSPFv2 SHA1-196bit
3.3.n (v) OSPFv3 IPsec authentication

3.4 RIP (v2 and v6)

3.4.a Implement and troubleshoot RIPv2
3.4.b Describe RIPv6 (RIPng)

3.5 EIGRP (for IPv4 and IPv6)

3.5.a Describe packet types

3.5.a (i) Packet types (hello, query, update, and such)
3.5.a (ii) Route types (internal, external)

3.5.b Implement and troubleshoot neighbor relationship

3.5.b (i) Multicast, unicast EIGRP peering
3.5.b (ii) OTP point-to-point peering
3.5.b (iii) OTP route-reflector peering
3.5.b (iv) OTP multiple service providers scenario

3.5.c Implement and troubleshoot loop-free path selection

3.5.c (i) RD, FD, FC, successor, feasible successor
3.5.c (ii) Classic metric
3.5.c (iii) Wide metric

3.5.d Implement and troubleshoot operations

3.5.d (i) General operations
3.5.d (ii) Topology table, update, query, active, passive
3.5.d (iii) Stuck in active
3.5.d (iv) Graceful shutdown

3.5.e Implement and troubleshoot EIGRP stub

3.5.e (i) Stub
3.5.e (ii) Leak-map

3.5.f Implement and troubleshoot load-balancing

3.5.f (i) equal-cost
3.5.f (ii) unequal-cost
3.5.f (iii) add-path

3.5.g Implement EIGRP (multi-address) named mode

3.5.g (i) Types of families
3.5.g (ii) IPv4 address-family
3.5.g (iii) IPv6 address-family

3.5.h Implement, troubleshoot, and optimize EIGRP convergence and scalability

3.5.h (i) Describe fast convergence requirements
3.5.h (ii) Control query boundaries
3.5.h (iii) IP FRR/fast reroute (single hop)
3.5.h (iv) Summary leak-map
3.5.h (v) Summary metric

3.6OSPF (v2 and v3)

3.6.a Describe packet types

3.6.a (i) LSA types (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9)
3.6.a (ii) Route types (N1, N2, E1, E2)

3.6.b Implement and troubleshoot neighbor relationship
3.6.c Implement and troubleshoot OSPFv3 address-family support

3.6.c (i) IPv4 address-family
3.6.c (ii) IPv6 address-family

3.6.d Implement and troubleshoot network types, area types, and router types

3.6.d (i) Point-to-point, multipoint, broadcast, nonbroadcast
3.6.d (ii) LSA types, area type: backbone, normal, transit, stub, NSSA, totally stub
3.6.d (iii) Internal router, ABR, ASBR
3.6.d (iv) Virtual link

3.6.e Implement and troubleshoot path preference
3.6.f Implement and troubleshoot operations

3.6.f (i) General operations
3.6.f (ii) Graceful shutdown
3.6.f (iii) GTSM (Generic TTL Security Mechanism)

3.6.g Implement, troubleshoot, and optimize OSPF convergence and scalability

3.6.g (i) Metrics
3.6.g (ii) LSA throttling, SPF tuning, fast hello
3.6.g (iii) LSA propagation control (area types, ISPF)
3.6.g (iv) IP FRR/fast reroute (single hop)
3.6.g (v) LFA/loop-free alternative (multihop)
3.6.g (vi) OSPFv3 prefix suppression

3.7BGP

3.7.a Describe, implement, and troubleshoot peer relationships

3.7.a (i) Peer-group, template
3.7.a (ii) Active, passive
3.7.a (iii) States, timers
3.7.a (iv) Dynamic neighbors

3.7.b Implement and troubleshoot IBGP and EBGP

3.7.b (i) EBGP, IBGP
3.7.b (ii) 4 bytes AS number
3.7.b (iii) Private AS

3.7.c Explain attributes and best-path selection
3.7.d Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot routing policies

3.7.d (i) Attribute manipulation
3.7.d (ii) Conditional advertisement
3.7.d (iii) Outbound route filtering
3.7.d (iv) Communities, extended communities
3.7.d (v) Multihoming

3.7.e Implement and troubleshoot scalability

3.7.e (i) Route-reflector, cluster
3.7.e (ii) Confederations
3.7.e (iii) Aggregation, AS set

3.7.f Implement and troubleshoot multiprotocol BGP

3.7.f (i) IPv4, IPv6, VPN address-family

3.7.g Implement and troubleshoot AS path manipulations

3.7.g (i) Local AS, allow AS in, remove private AS
3.7.g (ii) Prepend
3.7.g (iii) Regexp

3.7.h Implement and troubleshoot other features

3.7.h (i) Multipath
3.7.h (ii) BGP synchronization
3.7.h (iii) Soft reconfiguration, route refresh

3.7.i Describe BGP fast convergence features

3.7.i (i) Prefix independent convergence
3.7.i (ii) Add-path
3.7.i (iii) Next-hop address tracking

3.8ISIS (for IPv4 and IPv6)

3.8.a Describe basic ISIS network

3.8.a (i) Single area, single topology

3.8.b Describe neighbor relationship
3.8.c Describe network types, levels and router types

3.8.c (i) NSAP addressing
3.8.c (ii) Point-to-point, broadcast

3.8.d Describe operations
3.8.e Describe optimization features

3.8.e (i) Metrics, wide metric

4.0 VPN Technologies - 15%

4.1Tunneling

4.1.a Implement and troubleshoot MPLS operations

4.1.a (i) Label stack, LSR, LSP
4.1.a (ii) LDP
4.1.a (iii) MPLS ping, MPLS traceroute

4.1.b Implement and troubleshoot basic MPLS L3VPN

4.1.b (i) L3VPN, CE, PE, P
4.1.b (ii) Extranet (route leaking)

4.1.c Implement and troubleshoot encapsulation

4.1.c (i) GRE
4.1.c (ii) Dynamic GRE
4.1.c (iii) LISP encapsulation principles supporting EIGRP OTP

4.1.d Implement and troubleshoot DMVPN (single hub)

4.1.d (i) NHRP
4.1.d (ii) DMVPN with IPsec using preshared key
4.1.d (iii) QoS profile
4.1.d (iv) Preclassify

4.1.e Describe IPv6 tunneling techniques

4.1.e (i) 6in4, 6to4
4.1.e (ii) ISATAP
4.1.e (iii) 6RD
4.1.e (iv) 6PE/6VPE

4.1.g Describe basic Layer 2 VPN - wireline

4.1.g (i) L2TPv3 general principals
4.1.g (ii) ATOM general principals

4.1.h Describe basic L2VPN - LAN services

4.1.h (i) MPLS-VPLS general principals
4.1.h (ii) OTV general principals

4.2Encryption

4.2.a Implement and troubleshoot IPsec with preshared key

4.2.a (i) IPv4 site to IPv4 site
4.2.a (ii) IPv6 in IPv4 tunnels
4.2.a (iii) Virtual tunneling Interface (VTI)

4.2.b Describe GET VPN

5.0 Infrastructure Security - 5%

5.1Device security

5.1.a Implement and troubleshoot IOS AAA using local database
5.1.b Implement and troubleshoot device access control

5.1.b (i) Lines (VTY, AUX, console)
5.1.b (ii) SNMP
5.1.b (iii) Management plane protection
5.1.b (iv) Password encryption

5.1.c Implement and troubleshoot control plane policing
5.1.d Describe device security using IOS AAA with TACACS+ and RADIUS

5.1.d (i) AAA with TACACS+ and RADIUS
5.1.d (ii) Local privilege authorization fallback

5.2Network security

5.2.a Implement and troubleshoot switch security features

5.2.a (i) VACL, PACL
5.2.a (ii) Stormcontrol
5.2.a (iii) DHCP snooping
5.2.a (iv) IP source-guard
5.2.a (v) Dynamic ARP inspection
5.2.a (vi) port-security
5.2.a (vii) Private VLAN

5.2.b Implement and troubleshoot router security features

5.2.b (i) IPv4 access control lists (standard, extended, time-based)
5.2.b (ii) IPv6 traffic filter
5.2.b (iii) Unicast reverse path forwarding

5.2.c Implement and troubleshoot IPv6 first-hop security

5.2.c (i) RA guard
5.2.c (ii) DHCP guard
5.2.c (iii) Binding table
5.2.c (iv) Device tracking
5.2.c (v) ND inspection/snooping
5.2.c (vii) Source guard
5.2.c (viii) PACL

5.2.d Describe 802.1x

5.2.d (i) 802.1x, EAP, RADIUS
5.2.d (ii) MAC authentication bypass

6.0 Infrastructure Services - 15%

6.1 System management

6.1.a Implement and troubleshoot device management

6.1.a (i) Console and VTY
6.1.a (ii) Telnet, HTTP, HTTPS, SSH, SCP
6.1.a (iii)(T) FTPd

6.1.b Implement and troubleshoot SNMP

6.1.b (i)v2c, v3

6.1.c Implement and troubleshoot logging

6.1.c (i) Local logging, syslog, debug, conditional debug
6.1.c (ii) Timestamp

6.2 Quality of service

6.2.a Implement and troubleshoot end-to-end QoS

6.2.a (i) CoS and DSCP mapping

6.2.b Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot QoS using MQC

6.2.b (i) Classification
6.2.b (ii) Network-based application recognition (NBAR)
6.2.b (iii) Marking using IP precedence, DSCP, CoS, ECN
6.2.b (iv) Policing, shaping
6.2.b (v) Congestion management (queuing)
6.2.b (vi) HQoS, subrate Ethernet link
6.2.b (vii) Congestion avoidance (WRED)

6.2.c Describe layer 2 QoS

6.2.c (i) Queuing, scheduling
6.2.c (ii) Classification, marking

6.3 Network services

6.3.a Implement and troubleshoot first-hop redundancy protocols

6.3.a (i) HSRP, GLBP, VRRP
6.3.a (ii) Redundancy using IPv6 RS/RA

6.3.b Implement and troubleshoot network time protocol

6.3.b (i) NTP master, client, version 3, version 4
6.3.b (ii) NTP Authentication

6.3.c Implement and troubleshoot IPv4 and IPv6 DHCP

6.3.c (i) DHCP client, IOS DHCP server, DHCP relay
6.3.c (ii) DHCP options
6.3.c (iii) DHCP protocol operations
6.3.c (iv) SLAAC/DHCPv6 interaction
6.3.c (v) Stateful, stateless DHCPv6
6.3.c (vi) DHCPv6 prefix delegation

6.3.d Implement and troubleshoot IPv4 network address translation

6.3.d (i) Static NAT, dynamic NAT, policy-based NAT, PAT
6.3.d (ii) NAT ALG

6.3.e Describe IPv6 network address translation

6.3.e (i) NAT64
6.3.e (ii) NPTv6

6.4 Network optimization

6.4.a Implement and troubleshoot IP SLA

6.4.a (i) ICMP, UDP, Jitter, VoIP

6.4.b Implement and troubleshoot tracking object

6.4.b (i) Tracking object, tracking list
6.4.b (ii) Tracking different entities (e.g. interfaces, routes, IPSLA, and such)

6.4.c Implement and troubleshoot netflow

6.4.c (i) Netflow v5, v9
6.4.c (ii) Local retrieval
6.4.c (iii) Export (configuration only)

6.4.d Implement and troubleshoot embedded event manager

6.4.d (i) EEM policy using applet

6.4.e Identify performance routing (PfR)

6.4.e (i) Basic load balancing
6.4.e (ii) Voice optimization