Cisco CCNA 200-301 Exam Blueprint and Topic Guide

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering all domains, core definitions, and technical parameters of the Cisco CCNA Exam v1.0 (200-301) syllabus.

Power over Ethernet (PoE)

A network technology defined in the exam blueprint under network components that allows electrical power to pass alongside data on twisted-pair Ethernet cabling to power devices like access points and VoIP phones.

Spine-Leaf Architecture

A data center network topology architecture where access switches (leafs) connect directly to every core switch (spine), facilitating predictable, low-latency east-west traffic.

Single-Mode Fiber vs. Multimode Fiber

Physical cabling types compared in Domain 1.0; single-mode fiber features a smaller core transmitting light over long distances, whereas multimode fiber uses a larger core suited for shorter reach connections.

Modified EUI-64

An IPv6 address generation process that derives an interface identifier from a 48-bit MAC address by inserting 0xFFFE into the middle and flipping the universal/local bit.

Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF)

An IP routing virtualization technology that allows multiple instances of a routing table to coexist on the same router at the same time.

MAC Learning and Aging

The process by which a Layer 2 switch inspects source MAC addresses of incoming frames to populate its MAC address table and removes entries that have not been seen for a specified time period.

Frame Flooding

The switching action of forwarding a frame out of all ports within the same VLAN except the port on which it was received, occurring when the destination MAC address is unknown, broadcast, or multicast.

IEEE 802.1Q

The standard encapsulation protocol used to carry traffic from multiple VLANs across interswitch trunk links by inserting a 4-byte tag into the Ethernet frame header.

Native VLAN

The designated VLAN on an 802.1Q trunk port that carries untagged Ethernet traffic.

Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP)

An open-standard protocol used to dynamically combine multiple physical switch ports into a single logical link known as an EtherChannel.

Rapid PVST+

A Cisco proprietary Spanning Tree Protocol implementation that runs an independent instance of IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree for each configured VLAN.

PortFast

A spanning tree feature that immediately places an access port connected to an end station into the forwarding state, bypassing the listening and learning states.

Administrative Distance

A value used by routers to rate the trustworthiness of routing information from different routing sources; lower administrative distance values are preferred over higher ones.

Longest Prefix Match

The default forwarding decision rule used by a router to select the routing table entry with the most specific subnet mask that matches the packet's destination IP address.

Floating Static Route

A static route configured with a higher administrative distance than the primary dynamic or static route, serving as an automatic backup path if the primary route fails.

Single Area OSPFv2

An open standard, link-state routing protocol for IPv4 that forms neighbor adjacencies, elects a DR/BDR on broadcast networks, and operates within an autonomous system area using Router IDs.

First Hop Redundancy Protocols (FHRP)

A class of protocols designed to provide default gateway redundancy for end hosts by allowing multiple physical routers to share a single virtual IP and MAC address.

IP Services (Domain 4.0)

The CCNA exam topic weighting 10% that covers inside source NAT, NTP client/server modes, DHCP, DNS, SNMP, syslog, QoS per-hop behaviors, and SSH access.

Per-Hop Behavior (PHB)

The specific forwarding and treatment characteristics assigned to a packet by a network hop within Quality of Service (QoS), including classification, marking, queuing, congestion, policing, and shaping.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

An application-layer protocol used in network operations to exchange management information and monitor health, performance, and status across network devices.

Security Fundamentals (Domain 5.0)

The CCNA exam topic weighting 15% that tests threats, vulnerabilities, access control lists, Layer 2 security, AAA concepts, and wireless security protocols.

Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI)

A Layer 2 security feature that validates Address Resolution Protocol packets against the DHCP snooping binding database to prevent ARP poisoning and spoofing attacks.

DHCP Snooping

A Layer 2 security feature that filters invalid DHCP messages from untrusted ports and creates a binding table linking IP addresses, MAC addresses, and switch ports.

Port Security

A Layer 2 feature that restricts port access to authorized MAC addresses and takes action (such as shutdown or restrict) if an unauthorized MAC address is detected.

AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting)

A security framework where Authentication verifies user identity, Authorization determines allowed resources and permissions, and Accounting tracks user activities and consumption.

Automation and Programmability (Domain 6.0)

The CCNA exam topic weighting 10% covering network automation impacts, software-defined architecture, Cisco DNA Center, REST APIs, JSON data, and configuration management tools.

Overlay and Underlay Networks

Components of software-defined fabric architecture; the underlay is the physical network forwarding IP packets, while the overlay is a virtualized network running encapsulated traffic on top of the underlay.

Northbound and Southbound APIs

Application programming interfaces in SDN architectures; Southbound APIs communicate between the controller and physical network elements, while Northbound APIs communicate between the controller and higher-level applications.

Puppet, Chef, and Ansible

Configuration management mechanisms highlighted in Domain 6.0 used to automate the deployment, provisioning, and ongoing management of network and server devices.

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)

A human-readable, lightweight data-interchange format organized into key-value pairs and arrays, commonly utilized for payloads in REST-based network automation APIs.