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Cisco ENCOR 350-401 study materials
Cisco ENCOR 350-401 study resources

Cisco ENCOR 350-401 cheat sheet

Cisco ENCOR 350-401 · Keep the key ideas within reach.

Quick reference

Architecture

  • Two-tier (collapsed core): core and distribution combined; access connects directly to the core/distribution pair. Three-tier adds a separate distribution layer for policy and summarization.

  • Cisco hierarchical model layers: access (endpoint attachment, PoE, port security), distribution (routing boundaries, policy, ACLs, route summarization), core (fast transport, no packet manipulation).

  • Fabric design: SD-Access uses LISP for control plane (endpoint-to-location mapping), VXLAN for data plane encapsulation, and IS-IS as the underlay routing protocol.

  • SD-WAN: vSmart controller distributes control-plane policy via OMP; vBond handles authentication/NAT traversal and orchestration; vManage is management plane.

  • Cisco AP modes: local (normal, CAPWAP to WLC), FlexConnect (local switching, WAN survivable), monitor, sniffer, rogue detector, bridge, SE-connect.

  • CAPWAP uses UDP 5246 (control) and UDP 5247 (data). FlexConnect local switching keeps client data at the AP; central switching tunnels it to the WLC.

  • Cloud service models: IaaS (compute/storage), PaaS (runtime/platform), SaaS (application). Deployment: private, public, hybrid, community.

  • High availability: SSO (stateful switchover) keeps control plane and data plane state; NSF (nonstop forwarding) keeps forwarding during control-plane restart.

  • PoE standards: 802.3af (15.4 W at PSE), 802.3at/PoE+ (30 W), 802.3bt Type 3 (60 W) and Type 4 (90 W).

Quick reference

Automation

  • NETCONF uses SSH (port 830) with XML data; operations: get, get-config, edit-config, copy-config, delete-config, lock, unlock, commit.

  • RESTCONF maps YANG models to HTTP methods: GET (read), POST (create), PUT (replace), PATCH (merge), DELETE. Data is JSON or XML.

  • YANG is the data modeling language for NETCONF/RESTCONF; a model defines the configuration and state tree, types, and constraints.

  • Data formats: JSON (key-value, braces), XML (tags), YAML (indentation-based, used by Ansible). gRPC/protobuf is used for high-performance telemetry.

  • Ansible: agentless, YAML playbooks, push model over SSH; idempotent modules. Puppet/Chef use agents and pull model with manifests/recipes.

  • Python: requests library for REST; json module for parsing; netmiko/paramiko for SSH-based CLI automation; ncclient for NETCONF.

  • Cisco SD-WAN vManage exposes a REST API; DNA Center uses intent-based APIs with token authentication (X-Auth-Token).

  • Git tracks configuration and code changes; commit, branch, merge, and pull request workflows support version control of network automation.

  • CI/CD pipeline for network automation: commit triggers lint/test, then deploy via Ansible or Python; rollback relies on version control.