Cisco

CCNP Data Center

Cisco Certified Network Professional Data Center

Professional 350-601 DCCOR (core required) + one concentration exam Content Available

Build and manage modern data centre infrastructure with Cisco Nexus, UCS, ACI, and automation.

Practice CCNP Data Center Questions Study Notes Exam Topics
Exam Code
350-601 DCCOR (core required) + one concentration exam
Duration
120 min (core) / 90 min (concentration)
Questions
90–110
Passing Score
825 / 1000
Validity
3 years
Exam Cost
$400 USD (core) + $300 USD (concentration)
Overview

About CCNP Data Center

The Cisco CCNP Data Center certification validates expertise in implementing and managing Cisco data centre infrastructure. It requires passing the 350-601 DCCOR core exam plus one concentration exam covering areas such as ACI, application infrastructure, automation, or data centre networking. The certification encompasses data centre switching (Cisco Nexus platforms), compute (Cisco UCS), storage networking (Fibre Channel, FCoE, iSCSI), application- centric infrastructure (ACI), and data centre automation using Ansible, Python, and NX-API. CCNP Data Center is targeted at data centre engineers, infrastructure architects, and administrators who design, implement, and manage modern DC environments including private cloud and hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) solutions.

Prerequisites
CCNA Data Center or CCNA (recommended) Understanding of network switching and routing fundamentals Familiarity with server virtualisation concepts Basic knowledge of storage networking (helpful but not required)
Exam Domains

What you need to know

5 domains, 56 objectives. Click a domain to expand its topics.

🌐
Network
Data centre switching, VLANs, vPC, FabricPath, VXLAN/EVPN, and Cisco ACI fabric fundamentals.
25%
  • Describe Cisco Nexus switch portfolio (Nexus 9000, 7000, 5000, 3000, 2000) and their use cases
  • Configure and verify VLANs and private VLANs on Nexus switches (NX-OS)
  • Configure and verify virtual Port Channel (vPC) including peer-link, peer-keepalive, and vPC domain
  • Describe FabricPath (IS-IS-based Layer 2 multipath) and its benefits over STP
  • Describe VXLAN concepts including VNI, VTEP, flood-and-learn, and BGP EVPN control plane
  • Configure and verify VXLAN BGP EVPN fabric on Nexus 9000 platforms
  • Describe the Cisco ACI architecture (APIC, spine, leaf) and object model
  • Configure and verify ACI tenants, VRFs, bridge domains, EPGs, and contracts
  • Describe ACI L4–L7 service insertion (service graphs) for firewalls and load balancers
  • Configure and verify OSPF and BGP in NX-OS for data centre underlay routing
  • Describe Multi-Site Orchestrator (MSO) for multi-pod and multi-site ACI deployments
  • Explain the role of ECMP and IP-ECMP in spine-leaf data centre fabrics
🖥️
Compute
Cisco UCS architecture, server profiles, service profile templates, HyperFlex, and UCS Manager.
25%
  • Describe the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) architecture (fabric interconnects, IOMs, blade/rack servers)
  • Explain the role of Fabric Interconnects (FI) in UCS and north/south connectivity
  • Configure and verify UCS service profiles (storage policies, network policies, firmware policies)
  • Describe the difference between bound and unbound (template-derived) service profiles
  • Configure and verify UCS service profile templates for rapid server provisioning
  • Describe Cisco HyperFlex architecture (HX Data Platform, all-flash vs hybrid, stretched cluster)
  • Configure and verify vNICs, vHBAs, and adapter policies in UCS Manager
  • Explain UCS hardware abstraction and stateless computing concepts
  • Describe UCS rack server integration (C-series) and Cisco IMC management
  • Configure and verify UCS system-wide policies (DNS, NTP, SNMP, syslog in UCSM)
  • Describe Cisco Intersight as a cloud-based management platform for UCS and HyperFlex
  • Explain firmware management in UCS (firmware upgrade packages, host firmware policies)
💾
Storage
Fibre Channel, FCoE, iSCSI, NFS, storage zoning, and Cisco MDS switches.
20%
  • Describe Fibre Channel (FC) concepts (FC-P5 layers, N_Port, F_Port, E_Port, login process)
  • Describe FC fabric services (FLOGI, PLOGI, FCNS, FSPF, principal switch election)
  • Configure and verify FC zoning on Cisco MDS switches (hard zoning, soft zoning, device alias)
  • Describe FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) and Converged Network Adapter (CNA) operation
  • Configure and verify FCoE on Cisco Nexus 5000/7000 (VFC interfaces, FCoE VLANs, FIP)
  • Describe iSCSI concepts and its use as a lower-cost alternative to FC
  • Configure and verify iSCSI on Cisco Nexus switches (iSCSI initiators, targets, iSNS)
  • Describe NFS (Network File System) versions 3 and 4 and their use in data centres
  • Describe Cisco MDS 9000 series features (NPV mode, NPIV, IVR, fabric binding)
  • Explain storage virtualisation concepts (thin provisioning, deduplication, compression)
  • Describe RAID levels (0, 1, 5, 6, 10) and their impact on performance and redundancy
  • Explain Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) for extending FC SANs across IP networks
🤖
Automation
Ansible for data centre, Terraform, Python with NX-API, and ACI REST API automation.
15%
  • Describe Ansible for data centre automation including inventory, playbooks, and Cisco NX-OS modules
  • Write and interpret Ansible playbooks for Nexus switch configuration management
  • Describe Terraform concepts (providers, resources, state management) for DC infrastructure
  • Configure and verify NX-API REST and NX-API CLI on Cisco Nexus switches
  • Write Python scripts using the Cisco NX-SDK and requests library to interact with NX-API
  • Describe the Cisco ACI REST API and the role of APIC as the central controller
  • Use Python or Postman to interact with the ACI REST API (tenant creation, EPG, contract)
  • Describe the role of model-driven programmability (YANG, NETCONF) in NX-OS
  • Describe Cisco NSO (Network Services Orchestrator) and its role in DC service automation
  • Interpret JSON and XML payloads returned from NX-API and ACI API calls
🔒
Security
Micro-segmentation with ACI contracts, Nexus security, and MACsec in data centre environments.
15%
  • Describe ACI micro-segmentation using EPG contracts and security policy enforcement
  • Configure and verify ACI contracts (filter, subject, provider/consumer relationship)
  • Configure and verify Nexus security features (DHCP snooping, DAI, IP Source Guard)
  • Configure and verify port security and 802.1X on Nexus access ports
  • Describe MACsec (IEEE 802.1AE) implementation in data centre environments
  • Configure and verify MACsec on Nexus 9000 using CKN/CAK pre-shared keys
  • Describe Cisco ACI external connectivity security (vzAny, contracts for L3Out)
  • Configure and verify control plane policing (CoPP) in NX-OS
  • Describe secure management access to Nexus switches (SSH, HTTPS, RBAC, TACACS+)
  • Explain the use of Tetration (Cisco Secure Workload) for workload micro-segmentation
Resources

Study & Practice

Practice CCNP Data Center Questions Official Cisco CCNP Data Center Page 350-601 DCCOR Exam Topics (Cisco) Official Cisco Exam Tutorial Official Cisco Certification Tracking Book your Official Cisco Certification Exam