Nokia NRS II Composite (OSPF) study plan

Diagram the OSPFv2 packet header and list the five packet types with their purposes and typical direction (unicast/multicast).

Trace the neighbor state machine from Down to Full, naming the event or packet that triggers each transition.

Identify the fields of the Hello packet that must match for adjacency formation and explain the effect of each mismatch.

Map each LSA type (1 through 5, plus 7) to its originating router and the area scope in which it is flooded.

Build a one-page table of Nokia SR OS show commands that display neighbor state and link-state database contents.

Describe the structure of a Router LSA and explain how stub, transit, and point-to-point links are encoded.

Explain how the SPF algorithm uses the link-state database to build the shortest-path tree, and list the tie-breakers used when multiple equal-cost paths exist.

Calculate the OSPF cost for a given interface from reference bandwidth and interface bandwidth, and adjust the reference bandwidth on SR OS.

Compare intra-area, inter-area, and external route preference and the order in which OSPF selects a path when multiple route types are available.

Configure and verify ECMP for OSPF on Nokia SR OS, including the maximum number of paths parameter.

Configure a stub area, a not-so-stubby area (NSSA), and a virtual link on Nokia SR OS using the classic CLI, and verify each with show commands.

Explain the purpose and restrictions of each area type, including which LSAs are allowed or blocked.

Describe how redistribution into OSPF works on SR OS, including route policy, metric type (Type 1 vs Type 2), and the role of the ASBR.

Configure OSPFv3 on SR OS and list the key differences from OSPFv2 (link-local addressing, LSA types, authentication via IPsec).

Use the SR OS command line to display the OSPF configuration and confirm that area and interface parameters match the design.

Configure OSPF authentication (simple password, MD5, and SHA) on SR OS interfaces and verify that mismatched authentication prevents adjacency.

Explain how OSPFv3 uses IPsec for authentication and how this differs from OSPFv2 authentication.

Describe area protection mechanisms such as stub/NSSA filtering and the use of prefix lists to limit inter-area or external prefixes.

Troubleshoot a simulated authentication failure by interpreting SR OS log and show command output.

List the security risks of OSPF and the SR OS features that mitigate them (authentication, passive interfaces, max-metric router-lsa).

Explain the OSPF fast reroute mechanisms available on SR OS, including LFA and TI-LFA, and the conditions under which each provides protection.

Describe the SPF timers and exponential backoff behavior on SR OS and how they affect convergence after a topology change.

Use SR OS show commands to verify that a backup path is installed and to display the repair path for a protected prefix.

Interpret OSPF log events and debug output to identify the cause of a flapping adjacency.

Given a set of show command outputs, determine whether a neighbor is stuck in ExStart/Exchange and identify the likely MTU or MTU-ignore issue.

Build a personal command reference of at least 20 SR OS show commands for OSPF, grouped by task (neighbors, database, routes, statistics, troubleshooting).

Practice reading show router ospf neighbor output and mapping each field to the neighbor state machine.

Use show router ospf database to reconstruct the topology of a small network from LSA contents alone.

Identify and resolve common adjacency problems (area mismatch, hello/dead timer mismatch, network type mismatch) using only show commands.

Review the interaction between area types and route summarization, including inter-area prefix summarization and external route summarization.

Re-derive the SPF calculation for a network with multiple areas and verify the result against SR OS routing table output.

Explain how virtual links affect the link-state database and the SPF tree, and when they are required.

Solve at least five practice problems that require predicting the routing table from a given LSA set.

Complete a timed full-length practice exam under test conditions and score it against the domain weightings.

Review every missed question and write a one-sentence explanation of the correct concept.

Revisit the two lowest-scoring domains and redo the relevant hands-on configuration or show-command exercise.

Recite the key facts for each domain from memory using only your summary sheets as a prompt.