On January 17, Cisco announced the revision of the CCNA Data Center certification track from version 1.0 to 6.0 that includes an update to both DCICN and DCICT exams and corresponding Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (DCICN) and Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT) courses. Through April 11, 2017, candidates can choose to take either version of the exams based on their unique situation. The last day to take the test for the existing 640-911 DCICN v1.0 and 640-916 DCICT v1.0 exams is April 11, 2017. After that date, the 200-150 DCICN and 200-155 DCICT are the only required exams you must pass to achieve the CCNA Data Center title.

Existing exams and training	New exams and training
640-911 DCICN Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (DCICN) v1.0	200-150 DCICN Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (DCICN) v6.0
640-916 DCICT Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT) v1.0	200-155 DCICT Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT) v6.0

The updated CCNA Data Center certification validates skills needed to configure and operate essential data center solutions and technologies: networking; server, network and storage virtualization; storage concepts and protocols; unified computing; and policy-driven infrastructure. The updated curriculum also better reflects the job roles and tasks required in jobs typically held by data center-focused IT professionals with up to three years of relevant job experience.

 

Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (DCICN) v6.0 training and 200-150 DCICN exam overview

The 640-911 DCICN exam will be replaced by the 200-150 DCICN exam and you can gain the required knowledge for passing it by attending the new Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (DCICN) v6.0 course.

200-150 DCICN exam overview

The new 200-150 DCICN exam consists of 5 domains.

DCICN exam domains comparison

640-911 DCICN Exam		200-150 DCICN Exam
1.0 Describe How a Network Works	15%	1.0 Data Center Physical Infrastructure	15%
2.0 Configure, Verify and Troubleshoot a Switch with VLANs and Interswitch Communications Using Nexus	21%	2.0 Basic Data Center Networking Concepts	23%
3.0 Implement an IP Addressing Scheme and IP Services to Meet Network Requirements in a Medium-Size Enterprise Branch Office Network Using Nexus	12%	3.0 Advanced Data Center Networking Concepts	23%
4.0 Configure, Verify, and Troubleshoot Basic Router Operation and Routing on Cisco Devices Using Nexus	52%	4.0 Basic Data Center Storage	19%
		5.0 Advanced Data Center Storage	20%

Key topics removed in the 200-150 DCICN exam:

• Removed the product-specific elements, such as Nexus, and instead increased the focus on skills and technologies
• Removed the Ethernet low-level functionality and added operational roles of data center devices; for example, use cases to deploy various types of physical devices
• Removed the Cisco IOS router topics
• Removed the specifications of platform components as in boot process procedures, passwords, and diagnostics.

Key topics added or changed in the 200-150 DCICN exam:

• Increased breadth of data center networking concepts, including First Hop Redundancy Protocols (FHRP), data center networking architectures such as spine-and-leaf designs, unicast and multicast, and authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) concepts and filtering
• Additional focus on high-availability switching concepts, port channel, virtual Port Channel (vPC), and control plane and data plane separation
• Increased data center storage concepts including Fiber Channel operations and design, IP storage protocols, and moved storage topics from DCICT into DCICN
• Added a basic understanding of Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)

Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (DCICN) v6.0 training overview

The course focuses on the following topics:

• Data center networking concepts and technologies
• Data center storage networking
• Data center physical infrastructure.

The training also provides extensive time on highly immersive, hands-on lab exercises, especially in the following areas: 

• Configuration:
  • Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), and Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP)
  • Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) and secure remote administration
  • Virtual SANs (VSANs)
  • Zoning
• Basic Usage:
  • Cisco UCS Manager GUI
  • Fabric login (FLOG) and Fiber Channel name server (FCNS).

See the Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (DCICN) v6.0 course page for detailed description, available dates, and pricing.

 

Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT) v6.0 training and 200-155 DCICT exam overview

The 640-916 DCICT exam will be replaced by the 200-155 DCICT exam and you can gain the required knowledge for passing it by attending the new Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT) v6.0 course.

200-155 DCICT exam overview

The new 200-155 DCICT exam consists of 5 domains.

DCICT exam domains comparison

640-916 DCICT exam		200-155 DCICT exam
1.0 Cisco Data Center Fundamentals Concepts	30%	1.0 Unified Computing	25%
2.0 Data Center Unified Fabric	20%	2.0 Network Virtualization	17%
3.0 Storage Networking	18%	3.0 Cisco Data Center Networking Technologies	26%
4.0 Data Center Virtualization	14%	4.0 Automation and Orchestration	15%
5.0 Unified Computing	17%	5.0 Application Centric Infrastructure	17%
6.0 Data Center Network Services	1%

Key topics Removed or moved:

• Removed the Cisco Data Center Fundamentals topics, including SAN
• Removed the network design models
• Moved and expanded Storage Networking, including SAN, Fiber Channel, and IP Storage topics into 200-150 DCICN
• Removed Network Services topics such as load balancers, Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE), and Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS).

Key topics added:

• Expanded the virtualization of the computer and network
• Overlay and underlay as well as control plane and data plane
• Basics of cloud computing
• Automation and orchestration of data center infrastructure, including Cisco UCS Director basic functions
• Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI), including the architecture of an ACI environment, the policy-driven application deployment model, and the ACI logical model.

Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT) v6.0 training overview

The DCICT v6.0 training provides extensive time on highly immersive, hands-on lab exercises, especially in the following areas:

• Unified Computing
  • UCS Manager GUI
  • Local role-based access control (RBAC)
  • Pools
  • Service Profile Template
• Data center technologies
  • Fabric Extender (FEX)
  • vPC
  • Fabric Path
• Automation and orchestration
  • Nexus and UCS APIs
  • UCS Director.

See the Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT) v6.0 course page for detailed description, available dates, and pricing.

 

More information

Feel free to contact us if you would like to know more about the new CCNA Data Center certifications or if you need help with exam preparations.

Additional information is also available from the following sources:

• Cisco’s Official CCNA Data Center page
• Cisco Data Center Certification At-a-Glance
• CCNA Data Center v1.0 to v6.0 Exam Highlights
• CCNA Data Center FAQs

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