Pass CCNP Data Center Exams Easily

Certification Introduction

CCNP Data Center is a certification by Cisco for the technology architects and Design Engineers to gain professional training and skills in installation, configuration and management of Data Centers. It is an up to date training program by Cisco to train professionals according to their job roles in the Data Center management field.

Related Exams

Since Cisco Certified Design Professional certification exam is a professional level exam to provide expertise to manage large data center networks. There are other related professional exams available by Cisco for the candidates which are given below.

• CCNP routing and switching, a professional level exam to enhance candidate's professional expertise routing and switching domain of large scale networks.
• CCNP collaboration, a professional level exam to verify candidate's skills in the field of Audio/Video Collaboration Systems.
• CCNP Security, A professional level certification to cater the current security threats using Cisco provided solutions and security products.
• CCNP Service Provider, A professional level certification to train IT experts to design and mange large scale Service Provision networks.

Certification Objectives

CCNP Data center certification is aimed to train and test an IT expert in the field of Data Center design, configuration, management and Troubleshooting. The certification is focused on designing issues of large data center networks.

Certification Format

To get the CCNP Data Center Certification candidate has to pass four exam mentioned below or has to pass the two alternative troubleshooting exams. The required exams for CCNP Data Center are mentioned below:

• The first required exam is 642-999 DCUCI. It is based on the course of implementation of Cisco Data Center Unified Computing concepts. The exam verifies candidate's knowledge of setting up a computing environment and provision of storage resources and backups, and virtual environment implementation details.
• The 2^nd required exam is 642-997 DCUCFI. It is based on implementation of Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric. The exam verifies candidate's skills of managing Cisco data Center Unified Fabric infrastructure.
• The 3^rd exam is 642-998 DCUCD. It is based on the course of Design of Cisco Data Center Unified Computing. The exam tests candidate's skills to design Cisco Data Center Unified Computing environment and manage security and performance issues during the operation.
• The 4^th exam is 642-996 DCUFD. It is based on the course of design on Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric. The exam aims to verify candidate skills for design of Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric e.g. Topology, Routing Protocols, Network Traffic control and security issues.

OR

• The 1^st exam code is 642-035 DCUCT. It is based on the troubleshooting details of Cisco Data Center Unified Computing. The objective of this exam is to test the troubleshooting abilities in a data center environment e.g. connectivity issues, memory issues, drivers, BIOS and Adapter issues etc.
• The 2^nd exam code is 642-980 DCUFT. It is based on the troubleshooting details of Cisco Data Center Unified Computing. The exam focuses on verifying candidate's ability to troubleshoot Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric based environment. Issues like convergent I/O, Storage, and Connectivity etc are included in the exam.

Certification Information

Re Certification

CCNP Data Center is valid for three years. Candidate can recertify during this period to extend the certification expiry. For recertification candidate has to clear one of the following exam during recertification period.

• Clear any type of current Associate level exam except ICND1.
• Clear any up to date professional (642-XXX) or any professional level (300-XXX) exam.
• Clear any recent CCIE exam
• Clear any recent CCDE written or lab exam
• Clear any Cisco certified Architect exam or CCAr board for extension of lower certifications.

Passing a higher level certification exam automatically extends lower certifications expiration dates.

Pre requisite

The pre requisite certifications for CCNP Data Center exam are provided below:

• Any current or valid CCNA Data Center certification.

OR

• Any current or valid Cisco CCIE certification.

Skills and Benefits

The individuals having CCNP Data Center certification are capable to implement Cisco Unified Computing System. The CCNP Data Center is designed for professionals having 3 to 5 years of working experience in Data Center domain to get professional excellence in the field to pursue for higher level Cisco Certifications e.g. CCIE Data Center.

What's next?

CCNP Data Center is a professional level certification in the Data Center domain. After scoring the CCNP certification candidate can pursue to expert level certification in Data Center domain mentioned below:

• CCIE Data Center, an expert level certification for the data center professionals to enhance their abilities to manage extensible data center operations and troubleshooting operations.