ENCOR 350-401 v1.2 — 20 Weeks
Study Plan
INE Cisco U OCG CML Labs Boson ExSim Daily Quiz
Phase 1 Foundations + Layer 2
W1
Finish Foundations + Network Architecture ● now
INE Complete Foundations section (71% → 100%)
Cisco U Finish Examining Cisco Enterprise Network Architecture
Cisco U Cloud Service Models & Connectivity
OCG Ch. 1 — Packet Forwarding & CEF
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Architecture topic
W2
Layer 2 — STP, RSTP, MST
INE Enterprise & Campus LAN Switching Fundamentals
INE Rapid Spanning Tree and MST
INE Securing the Spanning Tree
Cisco U Building Redundant Switched Topology
OCG Ch. 2-3 — STP, RSTP, MST
Lab STP root election + BPDU guard in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Spanning Tree topic
W3
Layer 2 — EtherChannel, VLANs, Trunking
Cisco U Implementing Layer 2 Port Aggregation
OCG Ch. 4-5 — EtherChannel, VLANs, 802.1Q
Lab EtherChannel LACP + PAgP in CML
Lab 802.1Q trunking troubleshooting
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Layer 2 topic
W4
QoS Fundamentals
INE Understanding Enterprise Network Quality of Service (QoS)
Cisco U Introducing QoS
OCG Ch. 12 — QoS
Lab MQC policy with DSCP marking in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — QoS topic
Phase 2 Layer 3 Infrastructure
W5
EIGRP — Named Mode + Advanced
INE Deploying EIGRP in Enterprise Networks
Cisco U Explaining EIGRP
OCG Ch. 8-9 — EIGRP named mode, metrics, load balancing
Lab EIGRP named mode + unequal load balancing in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — EIGRP topic
W6
OSPF — Single Area + Multi-Area
INE Implementing & Troubleshooting OSPF
Cisco U Implementing OSPF
OCG Ch. 6-7 — OSPFv2/v3, area types, LSAs
Lab OSPF multi-area with summarization in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — OSPF topic
W7
OSPF — Advanced + Filtering
Cisco U Optimizing OSPF
OCG Ch. 7 — OSPF path selection, filtering, passive interface
Lab OSPF route filtering + summarization deep dive
Lab OSPFv3 dual-stack in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — OSPF topic
W8
BGP Fundamentals
INE BGP for the Enterprise
Cisco U Exploring EBGP
OCG Ch. 10-11 — eBGP, iBGP, attributes, path selection
Lab eBGP + iBGP peering in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — BGP topic
W9
Route Redistribution + Policy-Based Routing
INE Fundamentals of Policy-Based Routing
OCG Ch. 13 — Route redistribution, PBR
Cisco U Exploring Multicast Protocols
Lab Redistribution between OSPF + EIGRP in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Infrastructure topic
Phase 3 Virtualization + Architecture
W10
Virtualization — VRF, GRE, IPsec
INE Virtualization Fundamentals
INE IP Traffic Tunneling from GRE to IPsec
OCG Ch. 16 — VRF-lite, GRE, IPsec
Lab VRF-lite + GRE tunnel in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Virtualization topic
W11
LISP + VXLAN Concepts
OCG Ch. 17 — LISP, VXLAN overlay concepts
INE SD-Access section (LISP/VXLAN underpinning)
Cisco U Understanding Cisco Software Defined Access (SD-Access)
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Virtualization topic
W12
SD-WAN + SD-Access Architecture
INE Understanding Cisco Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN)
Cisco U Understanding Cisco Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN)
OCG Ch. 14-15 — SD-WAN, SD-Access, DNA Center
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Architecture topic
Phase 4 Security
W13
AAA — TACACS+ + RADIUS + 802.1X
INE Enterprise Network Security Principles
Cisco U Implementing Infrastructure Security
OCG Ch. 18 — AAA, TACACS+, RADIUS, 802.1X
Lab TACACS+ auth against your homelab TACACS server
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Security topic
W14
ACLs + CoPP + Device Access Control
INE Understanding Cisco Device Access Control
INE Access Lists Beyond the Basic and Extended
OCG Ch. 19-20 — ACLs, CoPP, uRPF
Lab CoPP policy + extended ACLs in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Security topic
W15
Control Plane Protection + Hardening
INE Understanding Control Plane Protection
OCG Ch. 21 — Device hardening, secure management
Lab SSH hardening + AAA on all CML routers
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Security topic
Phase 5 Network Services + Assurance
W16
FHRP + NAT + NTP
INE Gateway Redundancy With FHRP
INE Essentials of Network Address Translation (NAT)
INE Time Synchronization with Network Time Protocols
Cisco U Implementing NAT + FHRP modules
OCG Ch. 25 — HSRP, VRRP, NAT, NTP
Lab HSRP active/standby in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Network Services topic
W17
Network Assurance — SNMP, Syslog, NetFlow, IP SLA
INE Network Monitoring With SNMP & SYSLOG
INE Traffic Analysis with Netflow
INE Network Mirroring with SPAN/RSPAN/ERSPAN
INE Measuring Network Performance with IP SLA
OCG Ch. 26 — SNMP, syslog, NetFlow, IP SLA, SPAN
Lab IP SLA tracking + SPAN session in CML
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Assurance topic
Phase 6 Automation + AI
W18
Python + APIs + RESTCONF + NETCONF
INE Network Automation Foundation
INE Fundamentals of Network Automation Using Python
INE Using APIs
Cisco U Discovering Basics of Python + Network Programmability
OCG Ch. 22-23 — Python, netmiko, requests, RESTCONF, NETCONF
Lab Python script to pull interface status from CML router
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Automation topic
W19
Ansible + YANG + EEM + Orchestration
INE Embedded Event Manager (EEM)
INE Understanding Orchestration Tools
OCG Ch. 24 — Ansible, YANG, JSON, data models
Lab Ansible playbook to configure CML router
Cisco U Introducing Network Programmability Protocols
Practice Daily CCNP quiz — Automation topic
Phase 7 Final Review + Practice Exams
W20
Full Review + Boson ExSim + Exam
INE CCNP Enterprise ENCOR Practice Labs
INE ENCOR Final Exam Preparation
Practice Boson ExSim — 3 full practice exams, review weak domains
Practice Daily CCNP quiz every day this week
Light review only final 2 days — no new topics
Pass ENCOR 350-401 ✓