CCIE Data Center and Training Exam Preparation
Notes and Practice
CCIE Data Center v3.1 Exam Preparation Notes & Practice
Below is a comprehensive study guide for the CCIE Data Center v3.1 Practical
Exam, covering exam structure, blueprint domains, virtualization strategies, and
practice questions with detailed rationales. All answers are verified and aligned
with the official Cisco exam topics .
PART 1: EXAM OVERVIEW
CCIE Data Center v3.1 Practical Exam Details
| Feature | Detail |
|:|:|
| Exam Name | CCIE Data Center v3.1 Practical Exam |
| Duration | 8 hours (hands-on lab) |
| Format | Closed book; no outside reference materials allowed |
| Prerequisite | Pass CCIE Data Center Written Exam (350-601 DCCOR) |
| Certification | CCIE Data Center (expert-level) |
1
, DCCOR 350-601 Core Exam Details
| Feature | Detail |
|:|:|
| Exam Number | 350-601 DCCOR |
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Number of Questions | 90-110 |
| Passing Score | Variable (750- approx.) |
PART 2: EXAM BLUEPRINT & TOPIC WEIGHTS
CCIE Data Center v3.1 Practical Exam – Topic Breakdown
| Domain | Weight |
|:|:|
| 1.0 Data Center L2/L3 Connectivity | 20% |
| 2.0 Data Center Fabric Infrastructure | 15% |
| 3.0 Data Center Fabric Connectivity | 15% |
| 4.0 Data Center Compute | 15% |
2
,| 5.0 Data Center Storage Protocol & Features | 10% |
| 6.0 Data Center Security & Network Services | 10% |
| 7.0 Data Center Automation & Orchestration | 15% |
PART 3: DETAILED TOPIC COVERAGE
Domain 1.0 – Data Center L2/L3 Connectivity (20%)
| Subtopic | Details |
|:|:|
| 1.1 Layer 2 technologies | Link aggregation (vPC, PortChannel),
tagging/trunking, static path binding, Spanning Tree (PVST, Rapid PVST, MST) |
| 1.2 Routing protocols and features | OSPF (v2/v3): authentication, adjacencies,
network types, area types, LSA types, route aggregation, redistribution; ISIS:
adjacencies, single area, single topology, network types, levels, router types; BGP:
path selection, external/internal peering, route reflection, route server, peer
templates, multi-hop EBGP, aggregation, redistribution, local-AS; BFD; FHRP
(HSRP, VRRP) |
| 1.3 Multicast protocols | PIM (Sparse mode, BiDir, static RP, BSR, Auto-RP,
phantom RP, Anycast RP using MSDP); IGMP (v2, v3, snooping, querier) |
Domain 2.0 – Data Center Fabric Infrastructure (15%)
3
, | Subtopic | Details |
|:|:|
| 2.1 Physical fabric components | Fabric discovery, controllers, switches, multi-tier
architecture |
| 2.2 ACI policies | Access policies, fabric policies, multi-tenancy |
| 2.3 Overlay policies | Tenants, application profiles, EPGs, ESGs, networking
(VRFs, bridge domains), security (contracts, filters, vzAny) |
| 2.4 Fabric monitoring | Faults, events, health indicators, audit logs |
| 2.5 Virtual networking | vSphere VDS with/without VMM integration |
Domain 3.0 – Data Center Fabric Connectivity (15%)
| Subtopic | Details |
|:|:|
| 3.1 Overlay fabrics | ACI, VXLAN EVPN |
| 3.2 External connectivity | VRF Lite, OSPF, BGP |
Domain 4.0 – Data Center Compute (15%)
| Subtopic | Details |
|:|:|
| 4.1 UCS compute | Fabric Interconnects, service profiles, blade and rack servers,
virtual hosts, SAN connectivity |
4
Notes and Practice
CCIE Data Center v3.1 Exam Preparation Notes & Practice
Below is a comprehensive study guide for the CCIE Data Center v3.1 Practical
Exam, covering exam structure, blueprint domains, virtualization strategies, and
practice questions with detailed rationales. All answers are verified and aligned
with the official Cisco exam topics .
PART 1: EXAM OVERVIEW
CCIE Data Center v3.1 Practical Exam Details
| Feature | Detail |
|:|:|
| Exam Name | CCIE Data Center v3.1 Practical Exam |
| Duration | 8 hours (hands-on lab) |
| Format | Closed book; no outside reference materials allowed |
| Prerequisite | Pass CCIE Data Center Written Exam (350-601 DCCOR) |
| Certification | CCIE Data Center (expert-level) |
1
, DCCOR 350-601 Core Exam Details
| Feature | Detail |
|:|:|
| Exam Number | 350-601 DCCOR |
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Number of Questions | 90-110 |
| Passing Score | Variable (750- approx.) |
PART 2: EXAM BLUEPRINT & TOPIC WEIGHTS
CCIE Data Center v3.1 Practical Exam – Topic Breakdown
| Domain | Weight |
|:|:|
| 1.0 Data Center L2/L3 Connectivity | 20% |
| 2.0 Data Center Fabric Infrastructure | 15% |
| 3.0 Data Center Fabric Connectivity | 15% |
| 4.0 Data Center Compute | 15% |
2
,| 5.0 Data Center Storage Protocol & Features | 10% |
| 6.0 Data Center Security & Network Services | 10% |
| 7.0 Data Center Automation & Orchestration | 15% |
PART 3: DETAILED TOPIC COVERAGE
Domain 1.0 – Data Center L2/L3 Connectivity (20%)
| Subtopic | Details |
|:|:|
| 1.1 Layer 2 technologies | Link aggregation (vPC, PortChannel),
tagging/trunking, static path binding, Spanning Tree (PVST, Rapid PVST, MST) |
| 1.2 Routing protocols and features | OSPF (v2/v3): authentication, adjacencies,
network types, area types, LSA types, route aggregation, redistribution; ISIS:
adjacencies, single area, single topology, network types, levels, router types; BGP:
path selection, external/internal peering, route reflection, route server, peer
templates, multi-hop EBGP, aggregation, redistribution, local-AS; BFD; FHRP
(HSRP, VRRP) |
| 1.3 Multicast protocols | PIM (Sparse mode, BiDir, static RP, BSR, Auto-RP,
phantom RP, Anycast RP using MSDP); IGMP (v2, v3, snooping, querier) |
Domain 2.0 – Data Center Fabric Infrastructure (15%)
3
, | Subtopic | Details |
|:|:|
| 2.1 Physical fabric components | Fabric discovery, controllers, switches, multi-tier
architecture |
| 2.2 ACI policies | Access policies, fabric policies, multi-tenancy |
| 2.3 Overlay policies | Tenants, application profiles, EPGs, ESGs, networking
(VRFs, bridge domains), security (contracts, filters, vzAny) |
| 2.4 Fabric monitoring | Faults, events, health indicators, audit logs |
| 2.5 Virtual networking | vSphere VDS with/without VMM integration |
Domain 3.0 – Data Center Fabric Connectivity (15%)
| Subtopic | Details |
|:|:|
| 3.1 Overlay fabrics | ACI, VXLAN EVPN |
| 3.2 External connectivity | VRF Lite, OSPF, BGP |
Domain 4.0 – Data Center Compute (15%)
| Subtopic | Details |
|:|:|
| 4.1 UCS compute | Fabric Interconnects, service profiles, blade and rack servers,
virtual hosts, SAN connectivity |
4
