Cisco 300-420 Certification Exam Syllabus

Cisco 300-420 certification syllabus and exam preparation guidePreparing for the Cisco Certified Specialist Enterprise Design (ENSLD) exam starts with knowing exactly what is assessed. This NWExam syllabus guide brings together the Cisco 300-420 exam details, syllabus topics, recommended training resources, and preparation references in one place, organized around the knowledge areas the certification tests, so you can plan your study with confidence.

A syllabus shows you what to study; effective preparation confirms you can understand and apply those topics when answering certification-style questions. Begin with the official Cisco objectives, documentation, and study materials, then use structured self-assessment and hands-on practice to identify knowledge gaps, reinforce weaker areas, and improve your readiness before attempting the Cisco 300-420 exam.

Cisco 300-420 Exam Summary and Key Details

Exam Name Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks
Exam Number 300-420 ENSLD
Exam Price $300 USD
Duration 90 minutes
Number of Questions 55-65
Passing Score Variable (750-850 / 1000 Approx.)
Recommended Training Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks | ENSLD
Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks 2.0
Exam Registration Pearson VUE
Sample Questions Cisco 300-420 Sample Questions
Practice Exam Cisco 300-420 Practice Exam

Cisco 300-420 Exam Syllabus Topics

Section Weight Objectives
Advanced Addressing and Routing Solutions 25% - Create structured addressing plans for IPv4 and IPv6
- Create stable, secure, and scalable routing designs for IS-IS
- Create stable, secure, and scalable routing designs for EIGRP
- Create stable, secure, and scalable routing designs for OSPF
- Create stable, secure, and scalable routing designs for BGP
  • Address families
  • Basic route filtering
  • Attributes for path preference
  • Route reflectors & confederations
  • Load sharing

- Determine IPv6 migration strategies

  • Overlay (tunneling)
  • Native (dual-stacking)
  • Boundaries (IPv4/IPv6 translations)
Advanced Enterprise Campus Networks 25% - Design campus networks for high availability
  • First Hop Redundancy Protocols
  • Platform abstraction techniques
  • Graceful restart, NSF, NSR
  • BFD

- Design campus Layer 2 infrastructures

  • STP scalability
  • Fast convergence
  • Loop-free technologies
  • PoE and WoL
  • Layer 2 security techniques such as STP security, port security, VACL

- Design multicampus Layer 3 infrastructures

  • Convergence
  • Load sharing
  • Route summarization
  • Route filtering
  • VRFs
  • Optimal topologies
  • Redistribution

- Describe SD-Access Architecture (underlay, overlay, control and data plane, automation, wireless, and security)
- Describe SD-Access fabric design considerations for wired and wireless access (overlay, fabric design, control plan design, border design, segmentation, virtual networks, scalability, over the top and fabric for wireless, multicast)

WAN for Enterprise Networks 20% - Describe WAN connectivity options for on-premises, hybrid, and cloud solutions
  • Layer 2 VPN
  • MPLS Layer 3 VPN
  • Metro Ethernet
  • DWDM
  • 4G/5G
  • SD-WAN customer edge

- Design site-to-site VPN for on-premises, hybrid, and cloud solutions

  • Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN)
  • Layer 2 VPN
  • MPLS Layer 3 VPN
  • IPsec
  • Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)
  • Group Encrypted Transport VPN (GET VPN)

- Design high availability for enterprise WAN for on-premises, hybrid, and cloud solutions

  • Single-homed
  • Multihomed
  • Backup connectivity
  • Failover

- Describe Cisco SD-WAN architecture (orchestration plane, management plane, control plane, data plane, on-boarding and provisioning, security)
- Describe Cisco SD-WAN design considerations (control plane design, overlay design, LAN design, high availability, redundancy, scalability, security design, QoS and multicast over SD-WAN fabric)

Network Services 20% - Select QoS strategies to meet customer requirements (DiffServ, IntServ)
- Design end-to-end QoS policies
  • Classification and marking
  • Shaping
  • Policing
  • Queuing

- Design network management techniques

  • In-band vs. out-of-band
  • Segmented management networks
  • Prioritizing network management traffic

- Describe multicast routing concepts (source trees, shared trees, RPF, rendezvous points)
- Design multicast services (SSM, PIM bidirectional, MSDP, service-reflection)

Automation and Artificial Intelligence 10% - Differentiate between IETF, OpenConfig, and Cisco YANG models
- Differentiate between NETCONF and RESTCONF
- Describe the impact of model-driven telemetry on the network
  • Periodic publication
  • On-change publication

- Describe GRPC and GNMI
- Describe cloud connectivity options such as direct connect, cloud on ramp, MPLS direct connect, and WAN integration
- Describe cloud-based services model in private, public, and hybrid deployments (Saas, PaaS, IaaS)

Understanding the Cisco ENSLD Certification Exam

Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks v1.1 (ENSLD 300-420) is a 90-minute exam associated with the CCNP Enterprise Certification. This exam certifies a candidate's knowledge of enterprise design including advanced addressing and routing solutions, advanced enterprise campus networks, WAN, security services, network services, and SDA. The course, Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks, helps candidates to prepare for this exam.

Use the syllabus objectives as the foundation of your study plan. Official Cisco training and documentation will help you build the required knowledge, while hands-on experience reinforces practical understanding. Once the core topics are covered, structured practice lets you evaluate your readiness, recognize areas that need further review, and become more comfortable working through exam-oriented questions in a timed environment. Practice exams should complement, not replace, official training, documentation, and hands-on learning.

For additional exam and preparation information, review the Cisco 300-420 certification FAQs. When you are ready to move from syllabus review to repeated timed practice, you can access the Premium Cisco 300-420 practice exam. For the latest certification requirements, policies, pricing, and vendor updates, always refer to the official Cisco 300-420 exam page.

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