JNCDS-DC study guide
JNCDS-DC · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The JNCDS-DC is a Juniper Networks data center design certification, and this page is an independent study resource for candidates preparing for it. Juniper's certification pages now sit within the HPE networking portfolio, alongside Juniper QFX Series Switches, Juniper PTX Series Routers, Juniper SRX Series Firewalls, and Apstra Data Center Director - the product families whose design concepts the credential is built around. The JNCDS-DC study guide has 5 sections and about 1,687 words.
01Data Center Architecture and Design Principles
Domain 1 - Data Center Architecture and Design Principles This domain tests whether you can turn business and workload requirements into a defensible physical and logical data center design. Expect questions on leaf-spine topology, oversubscription, redundancy, failure domains, and capacity planning rather than product SKU memorization.
354 words, about 2 min02Data Center Switching and Fabric Technologies
Domain 2 - Data Center Switching and Fabric Technologies This domain tests the Layer 2 and overlay building blocks used in Juniper data center fabrics: MC-LAG, EVPN multihoming (ESI-LAG), VXLAN, EVPN, Virtual Chassis, and the QFX switching portfolio. The exam expects you to choose the right multihoming mechanism and explain data-plane and control-plane behavior.
357 words, about 2 min03Data Center Routing and IP Fabric Design
Domain 3 - Data Center Routing and IP Fabric Design This domain tests the underlay and overlay routing design for a scalable IP fabric: addressing, BGP and IGP choice, ECMP, route reflection, and failure behavior. Juniper designs commonly use a Layer 3 leaf-spine underlay with BGP and an EVPN overlay.
362 words, about 2 min04Data Center Security and Network Services
Domain 4 - Data Center Security and Network Services This domain tests segmentation, policy enforcement, control-plane protection, and service insertion in the data center. Juniper questions often focus on stateless firewall filters, policers, security zones, and tenant isolation in EVPN fabrics.
313 words, about 2 min05Data Center Automation, Orchestration, and Management
Domain 5 - Data Center Automation, Orchestration, and Management This domain tests intent-based automation, configuration management, telemetry, and lifecycle operations for Juniper data center fabrics. Expect Apstra, Junos PyEZ, NETCONF/YANG, REST, ZTP, and streaming telemetry.
301 words, about 2 min