11 12 2011

The Cisco CCDE written exam topic areas listed are general guidelines for the type of content that is likely to appear on the exam. Please note, however, that other relevant or related topic areas may also appear on the CCDE written exam.

Exam Sections and Sub-task Objectives

1.00

Layer 2 control plane

1.01

Describe fast convergence techniques and mechanisms

1.01.1

Down detection

1.01.2

Interface dampening

1.02

Describe loop detection and mitigation    protocols

1.02.1

Spanning tree types

1.02.2

Spanning tree tuning techniques

1.03

Describe mechanisms that are available for creating    loop-free topologies

1.03.1

REP

1.03.2

Multipath

1.03.3

Switch clustering

1.03.4

Flex links

1.03.5

Loop detection and mitigation

1.04

Describe the impact of transport mechanisms    and their interaction with routing protocols over different types of links

1.05

Describe multicast routing concepts

1.06

Describe the impact of fault isolation and    resiliency on network design

1.06.1

Fault isolation

1.06.2

Fate sharing

1.06.3

Redundancy

1.06.4

Virtualization

1.06.5

Segmentation

2.00

Layer 3 control plane

2.01

Describe route aggregation concepts and    techniques

2.01.1

Purpose of route aggregation

2.01.2

When to leak routes/avoid suboptimal routing

2.01.3

Determining aggregation location and    techniques

2.02

Describe the theory and application of network    topology layering

2.02.1

Layers and their purposes in various    environments

2.03

Describe the theory and application of network    topology abstraction

2.03.1

Purpose of link state topology summarization

2.03.2

Use of link state topology summarization

2.04

Describe the impact of fault isolation and    resiliency on network design or network reliability

2.04.1

Fault isolation

2.04.2

Fate sharing

2.04.3

Redundancy

2.05

Describe metric-based traffic flow and    modification

2.05.1

Metrics to modify traffic flow

2.05.2

Third-party next hop

2.06

Describe fast convergence techniques and    mechanisms

2.06.1

Protocol timers

2.06.2

Loop-free alternates

2.07

Describe factors affecting convergence

2.07.1

Recursion

2.07.2

Microloops

2.07.3

Transport

2.08

Describe unicast routing protocol operation    (OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, BGP, and RIP) in relation to network design

2.08.1

Neighbor relationships

2.08.2

Loop-free paths

2.08.3

Flooding domains and stubs

2.08.4

iBGP scalability

2.09

Analyze operational costs and complexity

2.09.1

Routing policy

2.09.2

Redistribution methods

2.10

Describe the interaction between routing    protocols and topologies

2.11

Describe generic routing and addressing    concepts

2.11.1

Policy-based routing

2.11.2

NAT

2.11.3

Subnetting

2.11.4

RIB-FIB relationships

2.12

Describe multicast routing concepts

2.12.1

General multicast concepts

2.12.2

Source specific

2.12.3

MSDP/anycast

2.12.4

PIM

2.12.5

mVPN

2.13

Describe IPv6 concepts and operation

2.13.1

     General IPv6 concepts

2.13.2

     IPv6 security

2.13.3

     IPv6 transition techniques

3.00

Network virtualization

3.01

Describe Layer 2 and Layer 3 tunneling    technologies

3.01.1

Tunneling for security

3.01.2

Tunneling for network extension

3.01.3

Tunneling for resiliency

3.01.4

Tunneling for protocol integration

3.01.5

Tunneling for traffic optimization

3.02

Analyze the implementation of tunneling

3.02.1

Tunneling technology selection

3.02.2

Tunneling endpoint selection

3.02.3

Tunneling parameter optimization of    end-user applications

3.02.4

Effects of tunneling on routing

3.02.5

Routing protocol selection and tuning    for tunnels

4.00

Design considerations

4.01

Analyze various Quality of Service (QoS)    performance metrics

4.01.1

Application requirements

4.01.2

Performance metrics

4.02

Describe types of QoS techniques

4.02.1

Classification and marking

4.02.2

Shaping

4.02.3

Policing

4.02.4

Queuing

4.03

Identify QoS strategies based on customer requirements

4.03.1

DiffServ

4.03.2

IntServ

4.04

Identify network management requirements

4.05

Identify network application reporting    requirements

4.06

Describe technologies, tools, and protocols    used for network management

4.07

Describe the reference models and processes    used in network management, such as FCAPS, ITIL, and TOGAF

4.08

Describe best practices for protecting network    infrastructure

4.08.1

Secure administrative access

4.08.2

Control plane protection

4.09

Describe best practices for protecting network services

4.09.1

Deep packet inspection

4.09.2

Data plane protection

4.10

Describe tools and technologies for identity    management

4.11

Describe tools and technologies for 802.11    wireless deployment

4.12

Describe tools and technologies for optical    deployment

4.13

Describe tools and technologies for SAN fabric    deployment

CCDE, topics

ARCH Exam Topics v2.1 (Blueprint) 640-553 IINS Exam Topics (Blueprint)