The Cisco 300-101 certification exam is also known as Implementing Cisco IP Routing (ROUTE). This test is a perfect choice for IT professionals who want to prove their knowledge of routing technologies. Once you pass the 300-101 exam, you will be able to demonstrate that you are good in using IP addressing and routing in implementing Cisco routers that are connected to WANs, LANs, and IPv6.
Please note that this is only one of the three exams you will need to pass in order to receive the CCNP Routing and Switching certification. You will also have to pass SWITCH and TSHOOTtests, which are considered harder than Cisco 300-101. It is however recommended that you first pass ICND1 and ICND2 or CCNA exams and earn the CCNA R&S certificate before you start the Cisco CCNP R&S certification program.
The Cisco 300-101 certification test is mostly taken by network engineers and network technicians.
Exam Details:
Cisco 300-101 is an exam that contains around 50-60 questions and lasts for 2 hours. 120 minutes is plenty of time to answer each question. Take your time and carefully read all questions.
You should also read Cisco policies before you start the Cisco 300-101 certification exam. For instance, if you live in Iran or South Korea, you will not be allowed to take the test and receive the relevant certification, because Cisco is the US company, therefore, it must follow the US laws. According to these laws, the citizens of embargoed countries (such as Iran and South Korea) are not allowed to receive a certificate from any American companies.
There are also some prerequisites in terms of age, so if you are under 18, please make sure you read all policies before starting this Cisco program www.examsnap.com.
Exam Topics:
According to the Cisco website, the following topics will be included in the Cisco 300-101 exam:
- Layer 3 Technologies: this topic deals with identifying, configuring, and verifying IPv4 and IPv6 addressing and subnetting, as well as VRF lite and loop prevention mechanisms. It will also evaluate your skills on EIGRP and OSPF technologies. You can find a full list of topics included in Layer 3 technologies on the Cisco website. This section covers almost half of this exam (40%). Almost 24 questions (out of 60) on your test will come from this topic, so we advise you to pay special attention to it.
- Infrastructure Services: this topic will evaluate your knowledge of IPv4 Network Address Translation (NAT), Network Time Protocol (NTP), and SLA architecture. It covers 12 out of 60 questions.
- Network Principles: this topic deals with the fundamentals of IP operations, TCP operations, and UDP operations. It will also evaluate your ability to explain general network challenges such as asymmetric routing. This section covers 6 out of 60 exam questions.
- Layer 2 Technologies: this topic will evaluate your skills to configure and verify PPP and explain frame relay. It also covers 6 out of 60 questions.
- VPN Technologies: this topic also covers 10% (6 questions) of the test. It will show how good you are in configuring and verifying GRE.
- Infrastructure Security: this topic evaluates your knowledge of device access control and router security. It covers 10% of the test (6 questions).
You will have to read plenty of books and practice a lot if you want to be absolutely ready for this certification exam. According to other people’s experiences, it usually takes 6-8 months of learning (few hours a day) if you want to pass the test.
Preparation Hints:
Good news first: there are many e-courses available on the Cisco website and if you go through them, you will definitely be ready for your test. The bad news is that you will have to pay lots of money for them.
For instance, if you want to take e-courses for Network principles, you will have to pay $950. For tutorials covering Layer 3 technologies, you will have to pay $1150. So, more than $2000 for only two topics.
These e-courses are good and have many positive reviews, but they are very expensive for the student’s budget. Some of these training courses are free, so you should definitely go through these ones. Once you complete them, you can find some useful guides and e-books, such as the 300-101 official cert guide on Amazon.
This manual is very cheap (only $29) but it has great reviews and will help you improve your knowledge of Cisco routing systems. You should also buy one of the Questions and Answers e-books offered by the Exam-Labs website. This guide will cost you $40 but it has real examples of exam questions in VCE format. It also contains detailed explanation of each question.
If you prefer e-courses and practice tests, then you may also find some online platforms that provide these study materials but much cheaper than Cisco. One of such video courses is available on the PrepAway website. It costs only $25 and contains 91 lectures lasting more than 11 hours. Prepaway Exam Questions is considered the best practice test for dynamic exam preparation.
The best way to prepare for the Cisco 300-101 exam is to use various training resources. It’s not a very good idea to use only one resource (only an e-course or only a book). The more study materials you use, the more chances you will have to pass the test. This is what Cisco experts and teachers recommend. They clearly state that using a single book will never be enough to pass any Cisco exam.
Conclusion
Here is an interesting fact: according to CBT Nuggets, IT professionals who have the CCNP R&S certification earn on average $105,000! Some of the well-known companies that use this technology include Autodesk and Phillips. So, if your aim is to have a well-paid job and work for a reputable organization, then getting this Cisco credential can really help you.
Most people think that having tremendous amount of experience is sufficient for getting a promotion or higher salary, but unfortunately, this is not true. Even if you have experience, you will still need a certification. Having a Cisco certificate will show HR managers that you are interested in learning and that you have demonstrated certain skills. So, both experience and relevant credentials are very important when it comes to getting a better job or a better salary.