Exam Profile: CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Lab Exam

Date: Oct 2, 2014

This article describes the new CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Lab Exam, including the objectives, preparation hints, and study resources.

The CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Lab exam is the culmination of successfully passing the written qualifying exam (400-101) and, within 18 months, making the first attempt at passing the Lab exam to obtain your CCIE numbers.

In 1999, I had the pleasure of taking my first CCIE Routing and Switching Lab exam. The technology sets were significantly different from today’s lab exam. We can sit and debate for hours about which exam was/is more difficult, but that won’t help anyone in preparing for their lab! The current CCIE Lab Exam represents a 20-plus year stretch of setting the de facto standard for the industry about what an expert-level certification entails.

The CCIE Routing and Switching exam series (Written and Lab) have recently been revised to v5.0. The exam covers 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. The only part that exists in the written exam but not the lab is Network Principles. The weighting of percentages also shifts from the written to the lab exam.

There is more than 20 years of “experience” in the CCIE lab development. Version 5 is a significant jump over previous versions in many different areas. These can all affect your approach to studying and certainly to the strategies you will use when taking the lab. Remember that anything is fair game, at least within the blueprint topics listed.

Exam Details

Types of Questions: The exam is presented in three separate sections: Troubleshooting, Diagnostics and Configuration.

The Troubleshooting section is presented as a form of trouble tickets on a preconfigured network. You need to isolate the problem within a large topology and identify and fix the issue at hand. There may be 30+ devices within the network topology and 10 to 12 trouble tickets to work with.

The Diagnostic section is presented as issues with a lot of exhibit (reading/reference) material and questions to isolate your thought process. There is no actual configuration during this section, merely actions of what you see, what you believe, and what you would do next.

The configuration section has instructions that generally follow the high-level blueprint outline, although may select any number of detail items within. If you have to sit the CCIE Lab more than once, your exams may be completely different from one another.

Number of Questions: The number will vary based on exams. It is not quite as relevant an issue as it used to be. The trouble tickets will still be 10 to 12 within a 2-hour period. Diagnostic questions will be fewer questions because you have 30 minutes. Configuration guidelines will also vary from exam to exam, but all are geared toward a “minimally qualified candidate” passing within 5.5 hours. In addition, there is a sliding window between Troubleshooting and Configuration of 30 minutes. So you can borrow time (either direction) if needed. The Diagnostic section will always be a 30-minutes fixed time period.
Passing Score: The passing score is 80%. In previous versions of the exam, that was a strict 80% on every section; however, in Version 5 of the CCIE Lab exam, that is treated as a weighted average passing score. This should cause candidates to relax a little knowing that if you come “that close” in Troubleshooting, you still have a chance to save the day in the Configuration section.

A new time limit was set on exam retakes.

# of Times Failed	Delay Until Next Attempt
1	30 days
2	90 days
3	90 days
4	90 days
5	180 days
6+	180 days

This new policy is designed to not only deal with some of the backlog in the CCIE Lab testing, but also to give candidates some required “back to the books” time between attempts. Brute force hacking is not a method to passing the CCIE Lab!

Time Limit: 8 hours total. Default split is 2 hours for Troubleshooting, 30 minutes for Diagnostics, and 5.5 hours for Configuration
Cost: $1,600.00 USD (Costs may vary due to exchange rates and local taxes [VAT/GST])
How to Register: http://www.cisco.com/go/ccie/

Strategy and Trouble Spots

Keep in mind that 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. Even more so than the written exam, with 8 fun-filled hours, you need to remain in control.

First, you get hit with Troubleshooting, which can be from 1.5 to 2.5 hours in length. (Two hours as the established target.) You will have roughly 10-ish trouble tickets to manage. It will be a large (30+ device) topology. So your time will be reviewing the ticket, quickly looking at the topology, and hazarding a starting point to look through the devices. Know your show commands! Show run may be helpful but likely will not magically solve things for you. Also remember that the results are based on FIXING a problem, not avoiding or removing it!

With the Diagnostic section, that is a fixed timeframe, so you have 30 minutes to read through things and determine your troubleshooting prowess and next-step information. Do not rush this because the time is fixed. Relax, gather your thoughts, and visualize what you would do if this were a real-world problem. Use this time to clear your brain as well. Even if you didn’t do as well as you liked in the Troubleshooting section, put it behind you. No distractions are needed.

When you get to the Configuration section, again, time management is important. It is geared to be a 5.5-hour exam section. You may have anywhere from 5 to 6 hours depending on how your Troubleshooting portion went! The baseline configuration is already done, so you are adding things in. Read the entire exam first! Before you type ANYTHING! Get the network in your head, as well as a plan for how to get through things. There is no prescribed order of attack, so if the first task on paper is something you don’t know very well.... Well.... Don’t do it! No sense starting out hurting!

Do things you know first. Do things you think you know second. Do things you don’t know as well last. Again, there will be a large topology to play with. This should be easier to isolate issues than in previous versions of the CCIE R&S Lab exam. Use this to your advantage, and think through each task and what the effect will be.

Use your show and/or debug commands to test AS YOU GO. Do NOT wait until there is only 15 minutes left to discover you have a basic routing issue that causes your entire lab to not function. (Or you’ll be back! ☺)

Also, when something isn’t working correctly, set a time limit on your troubleshooting: 10‒15 minutes tops. Then move on to something else and come back to it. Stepping away, taking a break, and clearing your mind will work wonders on your ability to see basic problems and fix them. Take breaks as well! Quick ones, but a meaningful respite from staring at the screen hour after hour!

Grading is results-based, so your testing step-by-step will be valuable in obtaining your points.

Preparation Hints

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

A good study plan will involve 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 even 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 IOS documentation on Cisco.com will be available to you during the exam. I would highly recommend using this as part of your studying because quickly finding the material is important in your time management. With this in mind, as you study, one good method for the documentation is to take an entire lab that you have already done (so you know the answers already), and pretend that you don’t know any of the answers and have to look things up.

This can force you to look things up and become familiar with the docs. Because you’ve already completed whatever lab you are working on, and know the answers, you will know when you finally find the right section of the docs that you would need. This will be a slow method, so it may be frustrating, but it is valuable time spent.

Use the newly expanded blueprint as a technology checklist in your studying. Keep a notebook to track your progress and new and exciting things you have learned in your studies. Take time to transpose your notebook into a computer file. It is important to keep a written log and a tech-based one. (For example, don’t take notes on your iPad!) The method of repetition and different parts of your brain that are engaged in each of these can help cement the information in your head. And if your handwriting is anything like mine, you won’t be able to read it for long anyway!

When starting, learn technology by technology. THEN look at putting things together and studying the interaction. There is no race. When I was preparing for my first CCIE, it took the better part of a year, and with enough hours to rival that of a full-time job. (Of course, it was on top of my full-time job that I had to work things in!)

Recommended Study Resources

I recommend 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

Internet Routing Architectures, 2^nd Edition by Sam Halabi

Additional things to look at and participate in:

Cisco Cisco Learning Network and the many forums inside

Cisco Ask the Expert forum discussions

Cisco IOS Documentation online, as you’ll see in the lab

For proper training for CCIE, look at

The Cisco 360 Learning Program as the authorized CCIE training

CBT Nuggets for technology-based learning and demonstrations of the entire blueprint

IPexpert CCIE R&S Bootcamp and training

INE CCIE R&S Bootcamp and training

Exam Objectives

The exam has tight security 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 every subpoint. They are all possible, however.

1.0 Layer2 Technologies 20%

1.1 LAN switching technologies

1.1.a Implement and troubleshoot switch administration
- 1.1.a [i] Managing MAC address table
- 1.1.a [ii] errdisable recovery
- 1.1.a [iii] L2 MTU
1.1.b Implement and troubleshoot Layer 2 protocols
- 1.1.b [i] CDP, LLDP
- 1.1.b [ii] UDLD
1.1.c Implement and troubleshoot VLAN
- 1.1.c [i] Access ports
- 1.1.c [ii] VLAN database
- 1.1.c [iii] Normal, extended VLAN, voice VLAN
1.1.d Implement and troubleshoot trunking
- 1.1.d [i] VTPv1, VTPv2, VTPv3, VTP pruning
- 1.1.d [ii] dot1Q
- 1.1.d [iii] Native VLAN
- 1.1.d [iv] Manual pruning
1.1.e Implement and troubleshoot etherchannel

1.1.e [i] LACP, PAgP, manual
1.1.e [ii] Layer 2, Layer 3
1.1.e [iii] Load-balancing
1.1.e [iv] etherchannel misconfiguration guard

1.1.f Implement and troubleshoot spanning tree
- 1.1.f [i] PVST+/RPVST+/MST
- 1.1.f [ii] Switch priority, port priority, path cost, STP timers
- 1.1.f [iii] Port fast, BPDUguard, BPDUfilter
- 1.1.f [iv] Loopguard, rootguard
1.1.g Implement and troubleshoot other LAN switching technologies
- 1.1.g [i] SPAN, RSPAN, ERSPAN

1.2 Layer 2 Multicast

1.2.a Implement and troubleshoot IGMP
- 1.2.a [I] IGMPv1, IGMPv2, IGMPv3
- 1.2.a [ii] IGMP snooping
- 1.2.a [iii] IGMP querier
- 1.2.a [iv] IGMP filter
- 1.2.a [v] IGMP proxy

1.3 Layer 2 WAN circuit technologies

1.3.a Implement and troubleshoot HDLC
1.3.b Implement and troubleshoot PPP
- 1.3.b [i] Authentication [PAP, CHAP]
- 1.3.b [ii] PPPoE
- 1.3.b [iii] MLPPP

1.4 Troubleshooting Layer 2 technologies

1.4.a Use IOS troubleshooting tools
- 1.4.a [i] debug, conditional debug
- 1.4.a [ii] ping, traceroute with extended options
- 1.4.a [iii] Embedded packet capture
1.4.b Apply troubleshooting methodologies
- 1.4.b [i] Diagnose the root cause of networking issue [analyze symptoms, identify and describe root cause]
- 1.4.b [ii] Design and implement valid solutions according to constraints
- 1.4.b [iii] Verify and monitor resolution
1.4.c Interpret packet capture
- 1.4.c [i] Using wireshark trace analyzer
- 1.4.c [ii] Using IOS embedded packet capture

2.0 Layer3 Technologies 40%

2.1 Addressing technologies

2.1.a Identify, implement, and troubleshoot IPv4 addressing and subnetting
- 2.1.a [i] Address types, VLSM
- 2.1.a [ii] ARP
2.1.b Identify, implement, and troubleshoot IPv6 addressing and subnetting
- 2.1.b [i] Unicast, multicast
- 2.1.b [ii] EUI-64
- 2.1.b [iii] ND, RS/RA
- 2.1.b [iv] Autoconfig/SLAAC temporary addresses [RFC4941]
- 2.1.b [v] Global prefix configuration feature

2.2 Layer 3 Multicast

2.2.a Troubleshoot reverse path forwarding
- 2.2.a [i] RPF failure
- 2.2.a[ii] RPF failure with tunnel interface
2.2.b Implement and troubleshoot IPv4 protocol-independent multicast
- 2.2.b [i] PIM dense mode, sparse mode, sparse-dense mode
- 2.2.b [ii] Static RP, auto-RP, BSR
- 2.2.b [iii] Bidirectional PIM
- 2.2.b [iv] Source-specific multicast
- 2.2.b [v] Group to RP mapping
- 2.2.b [vi] Multicast boundary
2.2.c Implement and troubleshoot multicast source discovery protocol
- 2.2.c.[i] Intradomain MSDP [anycast RP]
- 2.2.c.[ii] SA filter

2.3 Fundamental routing concepts

2.3.a Implement and troubleshoot static routing
2.3.b Implement and troubleshoot default routing
2.3.c Compare routing protocol types
- 2.3.c [i] Distance vector
- 2.3.c [ii] Link state
- 2.3.c [iii] Path vector
2.3.d Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot administrative distance
2.3.e Implement and troubleshoot passive interface
2.3.f Implement and troubleshoot VRF lite
2.3.g Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot filtering with any routing protocol
2.3.h Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot redistribution between any routing protocol
2.3.i Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot manual and autosummarization with any routing protocol
2.3.j Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot policy-based routing
2.3.k Identify and troubleshoot suboptimal routing
2.3.l Implement and troubleshoot bidirectional forwarding detection
2.3.m Implement and troubleshoot loop prevention mechanisms
- 2.3.m [i] Route tagging, filtering
- 2.3.m [ii] Split horizon
- 2.3.m [iii] Route poisoning
2.3.n Implement and troubleshoot routing protocol authentication
- 2.3.n [i] MD5
- 2.3.n [ii] key-chain
- 2.3.n [iii] EIGRP HMAC SHA2-256bit
- 2.3.n [iv] OSPFv2 SHA1-196bit
- 2.3.n [v] OSPFv3 IPsec authentication

2.4 RIP v2

2.4.a Implement and troubleshoot RIPv2

2.5 EIGRP [for IPv4 and IPv6]

2.5.a Describe packet types
2.5.b Implement and troubleshoot neighbor relationship
- 2.5.b [i] Multicast, unicast EIGRP peering
2.5.c Implement and troubleshoot loop-free path selection
- 2.5.c [i] RD, FD, FC, successor, feasible successor
- 2.5.c [ii] Classic metric
- 2.5.c [iii] Wide metric
2.5.d Implement and troubleshoot operations
- 2.5.d [i] General operations
- 2.5.d [ii] Topology table, update, query, active, passive
- 2.5.d [iii] Stuck in active
- 2.5.d [iv] Graceful shutdown
2.5.e Implement and troubleshoot EIGRP stub
- 2.5.e [i] stub
- 2.5.e [ii] leak-map
2.5.f Implement and troubleshoot load-balancing
- 2.5.f [i] equal-cost
- 2.5.f [ii] unequal-cost
- 2.5.f [iii] add-path
2.5.g Implement EIGRP [multi-address] named mode
- 2.5.g [i] Types of families
- 2.5.g [ii] IPv4 address family
- 2.5.g [iii] IPv6 address family
2.5.h Implement, troubleshoot, and optimize EIGRP convergence and scalability
- 2.5.h [i] Describe fast convergence requirements
- 2.5.h [ii] Control query boundaries
- 2.5.h [iii] IP FRR/fast reroute (single hop)
- 2.5.h [iv] Summary leak-map
- 2.5.h [v] Summary metric

2.6 OSPF [v2 and v3]

2.6.a Describe packet types
- 2.6.a [i] LSA types (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9)
- 2.6.a [ii] Route types (N1, N2, E1, E2)
2.6.b Implement and troubleshoot neighbor relationship
2.6.c Implement and troubleshoot OSPFv3 address-family support
- 2.6.c [i] IPv4 address family
- 2.6.c [ii] IPv6 address family
2.6.d Implement and troubleshoot network types, area types, and router types
- 2.6.d [i] Point-to-point, multipoint, broadcast, nonbroadcast
- 2.6.d [ii] LSA types, area types: backbone, normal, transit, stub, NSSA, totally stub
- 2.6.d [iii] Internal router, ABR, ASBR
- 2.6.d [iv] Virtual link
2.6.e Implement and troubleshoot path preference
2.6.f Implement and troubleshoot operations
- 2.6.f [i] General operations
- 2.6.f [ii] Graceful shutdown
- 2.6.f [iii] GTSM (generic TTL security mechanism)
2.6.g Implement, troubleshoot, and optimize OSPF convergence and scalability
- 2.6.g [i] Metrics
- 2.6.g [ii] LSA throttling, SPF tuning, fast hello
- 2.6.g [iii] LSA propagation control (area types, ISPF)
- 2.6.g [iv] IP FR/fast reroute (single hop)
- 2.6.g [v] LFA/loop-free alternative (multihop)
- 2.6.g [vi] OSPFv3 prefix suppression

2.7 BGP

2.7.a Describe, implement, and troubleshoot peer relationships
- 2.7.a [i] Peer-group, template
- 2.7.a [ii] Active, passive
- 2.7.a [iii] States, timers
- 2.7.a [iv] Dynamic neighbors
2.7.b Implement and troubleshoot IBGP and EBGP
- 2.7.b [i] EBGP, IBGP
- 2.7.b [ii] 4 bytes AS number
- 2.7.b [iii] Private AS
2.7.c Explain attributes and best-path selection
2.7.d Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot routing policies
- 2.7.d [i] Attribute manipulation
- 2.7.d [ii] Conditional advertisement
- 2.7.d [iii] Outbound route filtering
- 2.7.d [iv] Communities, extended communities
- 2.7.d [v] Multihoming
2.7.e Implement and troubleshoot scalability
- 2.7.e [i] Route-reflector, cluster
- 2.7.e [ii] Confederations
- 2.7.e [iii] Aggregation, AS set
2.7.f Implement and troubleshoot multiprotocol BGP
- 2.7.f [i] IPv4, IPv6, VPN address family
2.7.g Implement and troubleshoot AS path manipulations
- 2.7.g [i] Local AS, allow AS in, remove private AS
- 2.7.g [ii] Prepend
- 2.7.g [iii] Regexp
2.7.h Implement and troubleshoot other features
- 2.7.h [i] Multipath
- 2.7.h [ii] BGP synchronization
- 2.7.h [iii] Soft reconfiguration, route refresh

2.8 Troubleshooting Layer 3 technologies

2.8.a Use IOS troubleshooting tools
- 2.8.a [i] debug, conditional debug
- 2.8.a [ii] ping, traceroute with extended options
- 2.8.a [iii] Embedded packet capture
2.8.b Apply troubleshooting methodologies
- 2.8.b [i] Diagnose the root cause of networking issue (analyze symptoms, identify and describe root cause)
- 2.8.b [ii] Design and implement valid solutions according to constraints
- 2.8.b [iii] Verify and monitor resolution
2.8.c Interpret packet capture
- 2.8.c [i] Using wireshark trace analyzer
- 2.8.c [ii] Using IOS embedded packet capture

3.0 VPN Technologies 20%

3.1 Tunneling

3.1.a Implement and troubleshoot MPLS operations
- 3.1.a [i] Label stack, LSR, LSP
- 3.1.a [ii] LDP
- 3.1.a [iii] MPLS ping, MPLS traceroute
3.1.b Implement and troubleshoot basic MPLS L3VPN
- 3.1.b [i] L3VPN, CE, PE, P
- 3.1.b [ii] Extranet (route leaking)
3.1.c Implement and troubleshoot encapsulation
- 3.1.c [i] GRE
- 3.1.c [ii] Dynamic GRE
3.1.d Implement and troubleshoot DMVPN (single hub)
- 3.1.d [i] NHRP
- 3.1.d [ii] DMVPN with IPsec using preshared key
- 3.1.d [iii] QoS profile
- 3.1.d [iv] Preclassify

3.2 Encryption

3.2.a Implement and troubleshoot IPsec with preshared key
- 3.2.a [i] IPv4 site to IPv4 site
- 3.2.a [ii] IPv6 in IPv4 tunnels
- 3.2.a [iii] Virtual tunneling interface [VTI]

3.3 Troubleshooting VPN technologies

3.3.a Use IOS troubleshooting tools
- 3.3.a [i] debug, conditional debug
- 3.3.a [ii] ping, traceroute with extended options
- 3.3.a [iii] Embedded packet capture
3.3.b Apply troubleshooting methodologies
- 3.3.b [i] Diagnose the root cause of networking issue (analyze symptoms, identify and describe root cause)
- 3.3.b [ii] Design and implement valid solutions according to constraints
- 3.3.b [iii] Verify and monitor resolution
3.3.c Interpret packet capture
- 3.3.c [i] Using wireshark trace analyzer
- 3.3.c [ii] Using IOS embedded packet capture

4.0 Infrastructure Security 5%

4.1 Device security

4.1.a Implement and troubleshoot IOS AAA using local database
4.1.b Implement and troubleshoot device access control
- 4.1.b [i] Lines (VTY, AUX, console)
- 4.1.b [ii] SNMP
- 4.1.b [iii] Management plane protection
- 4.1.b [iv] Password encryption
4.1.c Implement and troubleshoot control plane policing

4.2 Network security

4.2.a Implement and troubleshoot switch security features
- 4.2.a [i] VACL, PACL
- 4.2.a [ii] Stormcontrol
- 4.2.a [iii] DHCP snooping
- 4.2.a [iv] IP source-guard
- 4.2.a [v] Dynamic ARP inspection
- 4.2.a [vi] Port-security
- 4.2.a [vii] Private VLAN
4.2.b Implement and troubleshoot router security features
- 4.2.b [i] IPv4 access control lists (standard, extended, time-based)
- 4.2.b [ii] IPv6 traffic filter
- 4.2.b [iii] Unicast reverse path forwarding
4.2.c Implement and troubleshoot IPv6 first hop security
- 4.2.c [i] RA guard
- 4.2.c [ii] DHCP guard
- 4.2.c [iii] Binding table
- 4.2.c [iv] Device tracking
- 4.2.c [v] ND inspection/snooping
- 4.2.c [vi] Source guard
- 4.2.c [vii] PACL

4.3 Troubleshooting infrastructure security

4.3.a Use IOS troubleshooting tools
- 4.3.a [i] debug, conditional debug
- 4.3.a [ii] ping, traceroute with extended options
- 4.3.a [iii] Embedded packet capture
4.3.b Apply troubleshooting methodologies
- 4.3.b [i] Diagnose the root cause of networking issue (analyze symptoms, identify and describe root cause)
- 4.3.b [ii] Design and implement valid solutions according to constraints
- 4.3.b [iii] Verify and monitor resolution
4.3.c Interpret packet capture
- 4.3.c [i] Using wireshark trace analyzer
- 4.3.c [ii] Using IOS embedded packet capture

5.0 Infrastructure Services 15%

5.1 System management

5.1.a Implement and troubleshoot device management
- 5.1.a [i] Console and VTY
- 5.1.a [ii] telnet, HTTP, HTTPS, SSH, SCP
- 5.1.a [iii] [T]FTP
5.1.b Implement and troubleshoot SNMP
- 5.1.b [i] v2c, v3
5.1.c Implement and troubleshoot logging
- 5.1.c [i] Local logging, syslog, debug, conditional debug
- 5.1.c [ii] Timestamp

5.2 Quality of service

5.2.a Implement and troubleshoot end-to-end QoS
- 5.2.a [i] CoS and DSCP mapping
5.2.b Implement, optimize, and troubleshoot QoS using MQC
- 5.2.b [i] Classification
- 5.2.b [ii] Network-based application recognition [NBAR]
- 5.2.b [iii] Marking using IP precedence, DSCP, CoS, ECN
- 5.2.b [iv] Policing, shaping
- 5.2.b [v] Congestion management (queuing)
- 5.2.b [vi] HQoS, subrate Ethernet link
- 5.2.b [vii] Congestion avoidance [WRED]

5.3 Network services

5.3.a Implement and troubleshoot first-hop redundancy protocols
- 5.3.a [i] HSRP, GLBP, VRRP
- 5.3.a [ii] Redundancy using IPv6 RS/RA
5.3.b Implement and troubleshoot network time protocol
- 5.3.b [i] NTP master, client, version 3, version 4
- 5.3.b [ii] NTP authentication
5.3.c Implement and troubleshoot IPv4 and IPv6 DHCP
- 5.3.c [i] DHCP client, IOS DHCP server, DHCP relay
- 5.3.c [ii] DHCP options
- 5.3.c [iii] DHCP protocol operations
- 5.3.c [iv] SLAAC/DHCPv6 interaction
- 5.3.c [v] Stateful, stateless DHCPv6
- 5.3.c [vi] DHCPv6 prefix delegation
5.3.d Implement and troubleshoot IPv4 network address translation
- 5.3.d [i] Static NAT, dynamic NAT, policy-based NAT, PAT
- 5.3.d [ii] NAT ALG

5.4 Network optimization

5.4.a Implement and troubleshoot IP SLA
- 5.4.a [i] ICMP, UDP, jitter, VoIP
5.4.b Implement and troubleshoot tracking object
- 5.4.b [i] Tracking object, tracking list
- 5.4.b [ii] Tracking different entities [for example, interfaces, routes, IPSLA, and such]
5.4.c Implement and troubleshoot netflow
- 5.4.c [i] Netflow v5, v9
- 5.4.c [ii] Local retrieval
- 5.4.c [iii] Export (configuration only)
5.4.d Implement and troubleshoot embedded event manager
- 5.4.d [i] EEM policy using applet

5.5 Troubleshooting infrastructure services

5.5.a Use IOS troubleshooting tools
- 5.5.a [i] debug, conditional debug
- 5.5.a [ii] ping, traceroute with extended options
- 5.5.a [iii] Embedded packet capture
5.5.b Apply troubleshooting methodologies
- 5.5.b [i] Diagnose the root cause of networking issue (analyze symptoms, identify and describe root cause)
- 5.5.b [ii] Design and implement valid solutions according to constraints
- 5.5.b [iii] Verify and monitor resolution
5.5.c Interpret packet capture
- 5.5.c [i] Using wireshark trace analyzer
- 5.5.c [ii] Using IOS embedded packet capture