I want to share my experience studying for and passing the CCNP Enterprise Core (also known as CCNP ENCOR 350-401). In my opinion this is the most complete certification in the Cisco portfolio.
Passing this exam is necessary to obtain a professional-level CCNP certification, but it’s not sufficient. You need to pass this exam and one specialization exam such as the ENARSI, ENSLD, ENCC, and so on. Additionally, you must pass this exam to qualify for the CCIE.
About The Certification
The CCNP Enterprise Core certification focuses on the design, implementation, and troubleshooting of enterprise networks, with an obvious emphasis on Cisco products and services.
This is considered a professional-level certification. In my case, I passed after 8 months of preparation, dedicating about 2 hours per day. Consistency, a lot of hands-on labs, and having the best study materials are key, as it’s not just about obtaining the certification but being able to apply the acquired skills to solve real-world issues.
The Cisco CCNP ENCOR exam consists of approximately 102-120 multiple-choice, multiple-answer questions. It also includes practical labs where you have to demonstrate competency by configuring devices or fixing issues or deciding the most optimum way to do something. The exam is 120 minutes long. To pass, you must earn a score of at least 825 out of 1000. I think not all the questions are score equally.
The official blueprint can be found here:
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/encor-exam-topics
The blueprint includes a wide range of different topics, starting from traditional routing and switching and quickly moving to more advanced topics such as SD-WAN/LAN, Wireless, security, and so on.
Prerequisites
There are no requirements to take this exam. You don’t have to have other certifications. The only requirement is spending $400 to pay the exam fee.
However, I highly recommend you have a CCNA certification or equivalent knowledge. I also recommend starting the CCNP after you have a few years of real-world work experience. The amount of knowledge from different areas required for the CCNP can be overwhelming for someone who just entered networking. Also, from an employer perspective, there is no value to a CCNP if you have no prior experience.
In my case, I’ve worked as a network engineer at big companies for some years, giving me a practical view of production networks. I assume that most of the audience for this blog will be in a similar situation. However, be prepared to learn about topics you may have never heard of. In my case it was SD-Access.
Preparation & Resources
Now, let’s talk about the learning resources I used. There is no one resource that covers everything you need, so be prepared to use multiple tools. The most relevant ones for me were:
Video
I benefit from being shown how to do something for the first time before applying it. A pillar of my training has been https://ine.com/. Let’s be honest; it’s not cheap, but I can guarantee that the $749 per year is a very good investment if you can afford it.
It offers a massive amount of material, including videos and labs that simulate scenarios to reinforce the lessons.
The amount of content can be overwhelming, so be sure to filter the content depending on the topics on which you want to go deep. Sometimes I found it a little messy because some topics are duplicated in different sections. You should spend some time with different instructors to find the ones that best fit your learning styles.
Books
CCNP Enterprise Core ENCOR 350-401 2nd edition
I always use the official guide as a reference for the exam. I should note that for this certification, a revised version of the guide has been published, correcting numerous errors from the first edition. I used the guide as a reference for the exam content, but it’s not enough. You’ll want to use other sources to delve into each topic. In my case, I used the official guide as a content index; after reading each chapter I went through the INE videos and labs.
31 Days Before Your CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core Exam: A Day-by-day Review Guide for the CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core ENCOR 350-401 Certification Exam
I found this very valuable in the weeks before the exam. It’s useful for reviewing what you think you know but have forgotten before going into the exam. It helps to not overestimate what you know review your materials before the big day.
Labs
Cisco Modeling Labs
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/cloud-systems-management/modeling-labs/index.html#~licensing
There are free lab alternatives, but in my case, time is money so I decided to buy Cisco’s packaged solution as opposed to EVE-NG or GNS3. Thanks to this platform, you can simulate scenarios very quickly, with no need to spend time troubleshooting issues that can appear on other platforms.
There are different flavors of the software depending on the scale you want. A significant advantage is that all the images are included completely legally and you have support from Cisco if you purchase the premium license.
In my case, I deployed an instance of CML on AWS, allowing me to deploy all the topologies that my imagination allows (and the RAM limit of the VM). You can deploy it in a server or even in your laptop, but know that this will not allow you to deploy topologies with several devices.
Exam Prep
https://www.boson.com/practice-exam/350-401-ENCOR-cisco-ccnp-practice-exam
I found the Boson exam simulations very useful. They helped to make sure I had the knowledge needed to tackle the exam with confidence. They have both theoretical questions and practical scenarios with a level of difficulty very similar (or even higher) to what you find in the exam.
Exam Day
You have to schedule the exam with PearsonVUE. Then you have the option to do it in an examination center or online at your home.
If you opt for the online option, ensure that your PC and Internet connection are reliable enough, and that you can prevent anyone from entering your room during the exam.
I faced some technical difficulties in the practical exercises, as my keyboard was in Spanish and the device consoles was in English. To be honest, I didn’t find the Pearson support very useful, but I found a workaround by copying and pasting from the chatbox.
The exam itself requires A LOT of reading; it’s easy to miss some small detail in the scenario that hides the hint towards the correct answer, so you need to read each question with focus. Pay close attention to the evidence they provide for the questions, and remember, in Cisco exams, once you answer a question, you can’t go back.
Next Steps
My next goal is to complete the CCNP certification. Spoiler: I’ve chosen to pursue the new ENCC track (Designing and Implementing Cloud Connectivity Specialists Certification) that was introduced a few months ago:
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/encc-exam-topics
I’m touching the content superficially as there isn’t too much material available for study at the moment. If it takes too long for training material to be created, I will go for the ENARSI specialization, which is the traditional way and one of the most challenging exams.
Final Thoughts
All of us involved in IT live in an environment where new technology, new methodologies, or simply new terms to refer to the same thing emerge every day. However, everything new still derives from fundamental principles and technologies. That’s why it’s crucial to understand and train in foundational knowledge to develop a solid base on which to build everything else.
It’s been said that the future of networking-related jobs will evolve towards automation… but how can we automate something we don’t understand?
Cisco certifications are positioned as the reference for training and certifying fundamental network knowledge. It’s true that with the latest updates to the content, there is a certain tendency towards proprietary Cisco products instead of standard concepts. However, in my opinion these certifications still remain the reference. That’s why I decided to embark on this training path.
Keep an eye on the blog for the next chapter.
About Antonio Bermejo:I'm an IT professional with experience in on-prem and cloud environments, skilled in network design and implementation for data center and campus infrastructure. I problem solve by applying the devops philosophy to the network field.
