Composite Exam (642-891)

The Composite exam (642-891) is the quickest way for currently certified Cisco Certified Network Professionals (CCNP?) and Cisco Certified Design Professionals (CCDP?) to obtain recertification. The exam tests skills and knowledge pertaining to the Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI) and Building Cisco Managed Switched Networks (BCMSN) courses. Composite may be taken to recertify CCNP and CCDP certifications; it may also be taken in place of the BSCI and BCMSN exams required for CCNP and CCDP certifications. Candidates must successfully pass both routing and switching subsections of the Composite exam to successfully pass the exam.

The following information provides general guidelines for the content likely to be included on the Cisco Composite Exam. However, other related topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam.

Describe the Enterprise Composite Model used for designing networks and explain how it addresses enterprise network needs for performance, scalability, and availability

Describe the physical, data-link and network layer technologies used in a switched network, and identify when to use each

Explain the role of switches in the various modules of the Enterprise Composite Model (Campus Infrastructure, Server Farm, Enterprise Edge, Network Management)

Explain the function of the Switching Database Manager [specifically Content Addressable Memory (CAM) and Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM)] within a Catalyst switch

Describe the features and operation of VLANs on a switched network

Describe the features of the VLAN trunking protocols including 802.1Q, ISL (emphasis on 802.1Q), and dynamic trunking protocol

Describe the features and operation of 802.1Q Tunneling (802.1QinQ) within a service provider network

Describe the operation and purpose of managed VLAN services

Describe how VTP versions 1 and 2 operate including domains, modes, advertisements, and pruning

Explain the function of the Switching Database Manager [specifically Content Addressable Memory (CAM) and Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM)] within a Catalyst switch

Explain the operation and purpose of the Spanning-Tree Protocol (STP) on a switched network

Identify the specific types of Cisco route switch processors, and provide implementation details

List and describe the operation of the key components required to implement interVLAN routing

Explain the types of redundancy in a multilayer switched network including hardware and software redundancy

Explain how IP multicast operates on a multilayer switched network, including PIM, CGM, and IGMP

Describe the quality issues with voice traffic on a switched data network, including jitter and delay

Describe the QoS solutions that address voice quality issues

Describe the features and operation of network analysis modules on Catalyst switches to improve network traffic management

Describe Transparent LAN Services and how they are implemented in a service provider network

List the key information routers need to route data

Describe classful and classless routing protocols

Describe link-state router protocol operation

Compare classful and classless routing protocols

Compare distance vector and link state routing protocols

Describe concepts relating to extending IP addresses and the use of VLSMs to extend IP addresses

Describe the features and operation of EIGRP

Describe the features and operation of single area OSPF

Describe the features and operation of multi-area OSPF

Explain basic OSI terminology and network layer protocols used in OSI

Identify similarities and differences between Integrated IS-IS and OSPF

List the types of IS-IS routers and their role in IS-IS area design

Describe the hierarchical structure of IS-IS areas

Describe the concept of establishing adjacencies

Describe the features and operation of BGP

Explain how BGP policy-based routing functions within an autonomous system

Explain the use of redistribution between BGP and Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs)

Convert CatOS to native IOS on Catalyst switches and manage native IOS images according to best practices

Configure access ports for static and multi-VLAN membership

Configure and verify 802.1Q trunks

Configure and verify ISL trunks

Configure VTP domains in server, client, and transparent modes

Enable Spanning Tree on ports and VLANs

Configure Spanning Tree parameters including: port priority, VLAN priority, root bridge, BPDU guard, PortFast amd UplinkFast

Implement IP telephony on a switched network with auxiliary VLANs

Configure and verify router redundancy using HSRP, VRRP, GLBP, SRM, and SLB

Configure QoS features on multilayer switched networks to provide optimal quality and bandwidth utilization for applications and data

Configure Fast EtherChannel and Gigabit EtherChannel to incease bandwidth for interswitch connections

Given a set of network requirements, identify the steps to configure an Enhanced IGRP environment and verify proper operation (within described guidelines) of your routers

Given an addressing scheme and other laboratory parameters, identify the steps to configure a single-area OSPF environment and verify proper operation (within described guidelines) of your routers

Given an addressing scheme and other laboratory parameters, identify the steps to configure a multiple area OSPF environment and verify proper operation (within described guidelines) of your routers

Given an addressing scheme and other laboratory parameters, identify the steps to configure Cisco routers for proper Integrated IS-IS operation

Identify the steps to select and configure the different ways to control routing update traffic

Identify the steps to configure route redistribution in a network

Identify the steps to configure policy-based routing using route maps

Given a set of network requirements, identify the steps to configure a BGP environment and verify proper operation (within described guidelines) of your routers

Compare end-to-end and local VLANs, and determine when to use each

Design a VLAN configuration with VTP to work for a given specific scenario

Select multilayer switching architectures, given specific multilayer switching needs

Describe the general design models when implementing IP telephony in a switched network environment

Plan QoS implemention within a multilayer switched network

Describe the three-layer hierarchical design model and explain the function of each layer: Access, Distribution and Core

Given specific requirements, choose the correct routing protocol to meet the requirements

Identify the correct IP addressing scheme, including features of IPv6

Describe the concepts relating to route summarization and apply them to hypothetical scenarios

Troubleshoot common VLAN problems on a switched network

Tune and troubleshoot spanning-tree protocol on a multilayer switched network to enhance network performance, prevent network loops, and minimize downtime

Identify interVLAN routing performance and scalability issues, and propose solutions

Verify and troubleshoot interVLAN routing on a switched network

Identify QoS implementation issues at the network access layer

Identify QoS implementation issues at the network distribution and core layers

Identify the steps to verify OSPF operation in a single area

Identify the steps to verify OSPF operation in multiple areas

Identify verification methods which ensure proper operation of Integrated IS-IS on Cisco routers

Resolve path selection problems that result in a redistributed network

Identify the steps to verify route redistribution

Describe the scalability problems associated with internal BGP

Interpret the output of various show and debug commands to determine the cause of route selection errors and configuration problems

Identify the steps to verify Enhanced IGRP operation

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