Arista ACE Specialist - Data Center study plan

Arista ACE Specialist - Data Center · Give each week a clear focus.

8 weeks · About 6 hours per week

Week 1

Data Center Networking Fundamentals & Arista EOS Configuration and Operations

Diagram a spine-leaf fabric from memory, labeling underlay/overlay boundaries and control-plane vs data-plane paths
Compare L2 versus L3 leaf designs and write down three tradeoffs of each for east-west traffic
Define VXLAN encapsulation fields and explain how a VTEP learns remote MAC-to-VTEP bindings
Install and initialize an Arista cEOS or vEOS lab node and verify management reachability

A one-page labeled fabric diagram plus a working lab topology with at least two leaf nodes and one spine node passing traffic

Week 2

Configure MLAG between two leaf switches and validate a dual-homed host stays reachable during a peer-link failure
Explain EVPN route types 1-5 and identify which type carries MAC/IP advertisement
Trace a packet from a dual-homed server through MLAG and VXLAN to a remote host and document each forwarding decision
List common MLAG misconfigurations and the show commands that expose each

A failure-injection log showing MLAG peer-link and member-link failures with observed convergence behavior and the show commands used

Week 3

Navigate EOS CLI modes and configure interfaces, VLANs, and SVIs on lab switches
Build and apply ACLs and verify hit counters increment as expected
Configure BGP underlay peering with an address-family and confirm adjacencies reach Established
Use show running-config, show ip bgp summary, and show interfaces to audit a device state
Write a short config-diff procedure for safely rolling back a change

A device configuration bundle (interfaces, VLANs, ACLs, BGP) that passes a self-written verification checklist of at least 10 checks

Week 4

Configure EVPN-VXLAN overlay with BGP EVPN and verify remote MAC learning with show commands
Inject an underlay routing failure and diagnose it from symptom to root cause within 15 minutes
Compare OSPF, IS-IS, and eBGP underlay options and justify a choice for a given fabric size
Document a troubleshooting decision tree for overlay reachability failures

A timed troubleshooting exercise write-up: symptom, hypotheses, commands, root cause, and fix for two injected faults

Week 5

Explain CloudVision architecture, including the CVP cluster, telemetry collectors, and change-control workflow
Onboard a lab switch to CloudVision and confirm streaming telemetry appears
Create a configlet and push it through a change-control approval flow
Compare CloudVision Studios and configlets and identify when each is appropriate

A CloudVision change-control record showing an approved configlet deployment with before/after compliance state

Week 6

Write a Python script using pyeapi or eAPI to retrieve and parse interface state from multiple devices
Use CloudVision tags and device inventory to target a config push to a subset of switches
Automate a compliance check that flags devices drifting from a baseline
Explain idempotency and design a repeatable provisioning workflow

A working automation script that inventories at least three devices, checks a baseline, and reports drift in machine-readable output

Week 7

Design a multi-tier or multi-pod fabric and justify routing, MLAG, and EVPN choices against stated requirements
Perform capacity and failure-domain analysis for a proposed design
Troubleshoot a simulated asymmetric routing or MTU issue across a VXLAN tunnel
Review QoS and buffer considerations for lossless or high-throughput workloads

A design document with topology diagram, requirement traceability, failure-domain analysis, and two worked troubleshooting scenarios

Week 8

Complete a timed 60-question mixed-domain practice set and score each domain separately
Re-study the two weakest domains based on practice results
Re-run the week 4 and week 7 troubleshooting scenarios without notes
Build a one-page command and concept cheat sheet from memory and verify it against documentation

A scored practice exam report with per-domain breakdown and a remediation list of no more than five weak areas

Week 2: Can explain VXLAN and MLAG forwarding end-to-end and has a working multi-node lab with recorded failure tests

Week 4: Can configure and verify an EVPN-VXLAN overlay and diagnose an injected underlay fault within 15 minutes

Week 6: Has onboarded a device to CloudVision and produced a working automation script that reports configuration drift

Week 8: Scores at least 80% overall on a timed mixed-domain practice exam with no domain below 70%