JNCIP-ENT study plan
JNCIP-ENT · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs)
Configure and verify OSPFv2 areas, stub/NSSA area types, and virtual links in a three-router lab topology.
Tune OSPF cost, hello/dead timers, and reference bandwidth, then document how each change alters the SPF tree.
Configure OSPFv3 for IPv4 and IPv6 address families and compare its behavior against OSPFv2.
Apply LSA type filtering and summarization at ABRs and ASBRs and record which LSAs remain in each area's database.
Your checkpoint
A written lab report with show ospf database and route-table captures proving correct area design, summarization, and stub/NSSA behavior.
Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs)
Configure IS-IS levels, wide metrics, and multi-topology for IPv4 and IPv6, then verify adjacency formation.
Tune IS-IS hello, LSP, and SPF timers and explain the effect on convergence.
Compare OSPF and IS-IS scaling behavior and select the appropriate IGP for a given design scenario.
Configure authentication for OSPF and IS-IS and verify that mismatched keys break adjacencies.
Your checkpoint
A side-by-side configuration matrix of OSPF and IS-IS covering areas/levels, metrics, authentication, and convergence timers, validated in the lab.
BGP
Establish iBGP and eBGP sessions, then verify next-hop behavior across multihop and route-reflector designs.
Configure and verify route reflection with clusters and explain the originator and cluster-list attributes.
Implement BGP route selection by manipulating local preference, MED, AS-path, and origin in a controlled order-of-precedence test.
Configure prefix lists, route maps, and maximum-prefix limits to filter and protect sessions.
Configure BGP communities and apply them to influence policy across a two-AS topology.
Your checkpoint
A documented best-path decision table showing which attribute decided each of at least six competing routes, with configuration excerpts.
IP Multicast
Configure PIM sparse mode with a static and dynamic RP and verify shared-tree and shortest-path-tree transitions.
Configure IGMP and IGMP snooping and verify group membership and pruning behavior.
Configure SSM with IGMPv3 and test channel subscription on a receiver.
Verify multicast forwarding with mroutes and explain the RPF check when the unicast and multicast topologies differ.
Your checkpoint
A multicast lab workbook containing mroute output for ASM and SSM flows, including one deliberately failed RPF scenario with the fix.
Ethernet Switching and Spanning Tree & Layer 2 Authentication and Access Control
Configure RSTP, MSTP, and VSTP and verify root election, port roles, and topology-change propagation.
Implement BPDU protection, loop protection, root guard, and edge-port settings and test each failure mode.
Configure 802.1X with a RADIUS server, including dynamic VLAN assignment and MAC RADIUS fallback.
Configure MAC limiting, DHCP snooping, dynamic ARP inspection, and captive-portal or persistent-MAC authentication.
Verify storm control and port-security behavior under generated traffic.
Your checkpoint
A hardening checklist with lab evidence for each spanning-tree protection feature and each access-control method implemented.
IP Telephony Features & Class of service (CoS)
Configure LLDP-MED and PoE on access ports to support voice endpoints and verify power negotiation.
Configure voice VLAN, priority tagging, and trusted CoS behavior for SIP and RTP traffic.
Build a CoS classification and scheduling policy using behavior aggregates, classifiers, and schedulers, then verify with queue counters.
Configure and test congestion management with weighted round-robin and strict-high priority queues.
Configure policers and shapers and measure the resulting throughput and drop behavior.
Your checkpoint
A CoS design document mapping voice, signaling, and data traffic to forwarding classes, with before-and-after queue statistics from the lab.
EVPN
Configure an EVPN-VXLAN fabric with an EVPN control plane and verify MAC and IP learning over the overlay.
Configure EVPN multihoming with Ethernet segment identifiers and verify designated-forwarder election.
Configure EVPN Type-5 route advertisements for data-center interconnect and verify symmetric IRB routing.
Tune EVPN route targets, VNI-to-VLAN mappings, and duplicate-MAC protection.
Your checkpoint
An EVPN fabric diagram annotated with route types, VNIs, route targets, and ESI assignments, backed by evpn database output from the lab.
Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs) & BGP & IP Multicast & Ethernet Switching and Spanning Tree & Layer 2 Authentication and Access Control & IP Telephony Features & Class of service (CoS) & EVPN
Complete at least 120 timed practice questions weighted across all eight domains and log every miss by domain.
Reconfigure the two weakest domains from scratch without notes to confirm retention.
Review all lab deliverable documents and close any gaps found in configuration or verification steps.
Write a one-page troubleshooting flow per major domain covering the first five verification commands to run.
Your checkpoint
A scored practice-exam summary with per-domain accuracy percentages and a remediation list for any domain below 75 percent.
Milestones
Week 2: Can configure and verify a multi-area OSPF and a multi-level IS-IS network from a blank topology in under 45 minutes each without reference material.
Week 4: Can predict the BGP best path before checking the route table in at least five of six scenarios, and can explain an RPF failure from mroute output alone.
Week 6: Can deploy 802.1X with dynamic VLAN assignment and a complete CoS policy on a single switch without notes, verifying both with operational commands.
Week 7: Can build a working EVPN-VXLAN fabric with multihoming and verify Type-2 and Type-5 routes end to end.
Week 8: Scores 80 percent or higher on the timed practice set with no single domain below 75 percent.