Cisco CCNA practice test: Try these 20 exam questions

The Cisco Certified Network Associate certification is foundational for individuals seeking to build a career in networking. The CCNA 200-301 exam assesses the test-taker's ability to handle common networking tasks and understand the underlying concepts. Candidates have 120 minutes to complete the exam.

Here is a breakdown of the exam domains and key subtopics, based on the official Cisco exam topics:

• Network fundamentals (20%).
• Network access (20%).
• IP connectivity (25%).
• IP services (10%).
• Security fundamentals (15%).
• Automation and programmability (10%).

Networking fundamentals include the different types of networks and the models that explain how they work, such as the OSI and TCP/IP models. This section also digs into IP addressing, subnetting and basic configuration.

The network access portion of the exam looks at virtual LAN (VLAN) configuration and troubleshooting, trunking protocols and wireless network security. Exam candidates should also be familiar with Layer 2 discovery protocols, wireless access components and Cisco wireless architecture.

IP connectivity is a crucial area that involves configuring and troubleshooting routing protocols, such as Open Shortest Path First (OSPF). The exam also explores basic Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) concepts, such as peering and troubleshooting, routing tables and static routing.

The IP services section of the 200-301 exam covers key applications that ride over IP networks, such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Domain Name System (DNS), Network Address Translation (NAT) and quality of service (QoS).

When completing the section on security fundamentals, exam candidates will demonstrate their knowledge of security threats, vulnerabilities and mitigation techniques. This portion of the exam also dives into access control lists (ACLs), wireless security protocols and authentication concepts.

Finally, the automation and programmability questions explore automation's effect on network management. Test-takers must demonstrate the ability to describe controller-based architectures, REST APIs and JSON-encoded data.

Ready to test your networking knowledge? Take the quiz below.

Editor's note: An editor used AI tools to aid in the generation of this quiz. Our expert editors always review and edit content before publishing.

Jennifer English is editorial director for Informa TechTarget's SearchNetworking, SearchCloudComputing, SearchITOperations and Network Computing sites.