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Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Network Fundamentals Syllabus

The Network Fundamentals syllabus for Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) in full: 5 chapters, 18 topics and 43 sub-topics, every one listed below, plus 52 Network Fundamentals flashcards with answers.

5Chapters
18Topics
43Sub-topics
52Flashcards

Network Fundamentals syllabus: all 5 chapters

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics.

  1. Networking Concepts and Models

     4 topics
    • Role and function of network components
      • Routers
      • Layer 2 and Layer 3 switches
      • Next-generation firewalls and IPS
      • Access points, WLCs, and endpoints
      • Servers, PoE, and power over Ethernet basics
    • OSI and TCP/IP reference models
      • Seven OSI layers and their functions
      • TCP/IP layer mapping
      • Encapsulation and de-encapsulation (PDUs)
    • Network topology architectures
      • Two-tier and three-tier hierarchical design
      • Spine-leaf data center fabric
      • WAN, SOHO, and small office designs
      • On-premises vs cloud architectures
    • Characterizing network types and traffic

  2. Physical Interfaces and Cabling

     3 topics
    • Copper and fiber media selection
      • Single-mode vs multimode fiber
      • Copper categories and distance limits
      • Choosing media for a given scenario
    • Connection types and transceivers
      • Ethernet shared media vs point-to-point
      • Straight-through vs crossover cabling
    • Interface and cable troubleshooting
      • Collisions and late collisions
      • Duplex and speed mismatches
      • Errors, runts, giants, and CRC

  3. IPv4 Addressing and Subnetting

     4 topics
    • IPv4 address structure and classes
      • Network, host, and broadcast portions
      • Private vs public address ranges
    • Subnetting and VLSM
      • Subnet masks and prefix notation
      • Calculating subnets and host counts
      • Variable-length subnet masking
    • Address conservation techniques
      • Need for private addressing and NAT
    • Verifying IPv4 connectivity and configuration

  4. IPv6 Addressing

     4 topics
    • IPv6 address format and compression
      • Hextet notation and zero compression rules
      • Prefix and interface ID structure
    • IPv6 address types
      • Global unicast and unique local
      • Link-local addresses
      • Multicast and anycast
    • IPv6 address assignment
      • SLAAC and EUI-64
      • Stateful and stateless DHCPv6
      • Static configuration
    • Verifying IPv6 addressing and neighbors

  5. Wireless Fundamentals and Virtualization

     3 topics
    • Wireless principles
      • Nonoverlapping 2.4 GHz channels (1, 6, 11)
      • 5 GHz channels and channel width
      • SSID, RF, and encryption basics
    • Virtualization fundamentals
      • Server virtualization and hypervisors
      • Containers
      • Virtual networks (VRFs concept)
    • Switching concepts
      • MAC address learning and aging
      • Frame switching and flooding
      • Frame forwarding and the MAC table

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Network Fundamentals flashcards — 52 questions with answers

  1. What is the primary function of a router in a network?

    A router operates at Layer 3 (Network) to forward packets between different IP networks/subnets, determining the best path using a routing table and providing connectivity between LANs and WANs.

  2. What is the primary function of a Layer 2 switch?

    A switch forwards frames within a LAN based on destination MAC addresses, building a MAC address table, segmenting collision domains (one per port), and forwarding within a single broadcast domain.

  3. What is the function of a firewall in a network?

    A firewall controls and filters traffic between network segments based on a security policy (rules on addresses, ports, protocols, and state), enforcing a boundary between trusted and untrusted networks.

  4. What does a Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) do?

    A WLC centrally manages multiple lightweight access points (LWAPs), handling configuration, RF management, client authentication, roaming, and policy enforcement, typically using the CAPWAP protocol.

  5. What is the function of an access point (AP)?

    An AP connects wireless clients to a wired network, acting as a bridge between the 802.11 wireless medium and the wired LAN at Layer 2.

  6. List the 7 layers of the OSI model from Layer 7 to Layer 1.

    Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data Link, Physical (mnemonic: All People Seem To Need Data Processing).

  7. What are the Protocol Data Units (PDUs) at the Transport, Network, and Data Link layers?

    Transport = Segment (TCP) / Datagram (UDP); Network = Packet; Data Link = Frame; Physical = Bits.

  8. What are the 4 layers of the TCP/IP model and how do they map to OSI?

    Application (OSI 5-7), Transport (OSI 4), Internet (OSI 3), Network Access/Link (OSI 1-2).

  9. Compare TCP and UDP.

    TCP is connection-oriented, reliable, uses sequencing, acknowledgments, and flow control (3-way handshake); UDP is connectionless, unreliable, low-overhead, and fast with no guaranteed delivery.

  10. What is encapsulation in the OSI model?

    The process of adding protocol header (and trailer) information at each layer as data moves down the stack from application to physical; de-encapsulation reverses it on the receiving side.

  11. Describe a star (hub-and-spoke) topology.

    All devices connect to a central node (switch/hub). It is easy to manage and a single link failure isolates only one device, but failure of the central node takes down the whole network.

  12. What characterizes a full-mesh topology and how many links does it need?

    Every device connects directly to every other device, providing maximum redundancy. Number of links = n(n-1)/2 for n devices.

  13. What is a three-tier (core, distribution, access) hierarchical network design?

    Access layer connects end devices; Distribution layer aggregates access switches and applies policy/routing; Core layer provides high-speed backbone switching between distribution blocks.

  14. What is a collapsed core (two-tier) design?

    A design that combines the core and distribution layers into a single layer, used in smaller networks to reduce cost and complexity while keeping a separate access layer.

  15. What is a spine-leaf topology and where is it used?

    A two-tier data center fabric where every leaf switch connects to every spine switch (but leaves/spines don't interconnect among themselves), giving predictable low latency and consistent hop count for east-west traffic.

  16. Define LAN, WAN, and MAN.

    LAN: high-speed network over a small area (building/campus); WAN: connects networks over large geographic distances, often via service providers; MAN: spans a city/metropolitan area.

  17. What is north-south vs east-west traffic?

    North-south traffic flows between clients and servers across the network edge (in/out of the data center); east-west traffic flows server-to-server within the data center.

  18. Compare copper UTP and fiber-optic cabling.

    Copper UTP is cheaper, easy to terminate, but limited to ~100m and susceptible to EMI; fiber supports much longer distances and higher bandwidth, immune to EMI, but costs more and is harder to splice.

  19. What is the maximum cable length for Ethernet over copper UTP (e.g., Cat5e/Cat6)?

    100 meters (with up to 90m of solid horizontal cabling plus 10m of patch cords).

  20. Compare single-mode fiber (SMF) and multimode fiber (MMF).

    SMF has a small ~9µm core, uses a laser, and supports very long distances (km to tens of km); MMF has a larger ~50/62.5µm core, uses LED/VCSEL, costs less, but is limited to shorter distances (hundreds of meters).

Show the other 32 Network Fundamentals flashcards

  1. What is the difference between a straight-through and a crossover Ethernet cable?

    Straight-through connects unlike devices (PC-to-switch, switch-to-router); crossover connects like devices (switch-to-switch, PC-to-PC). Modern devices with Auto-MDIX negotiate this automatically.

  2. What does an SFP transceiver do and what is its benefit?

    A Small Form-factor Pluggable is a hot-swappable module inserted into a switch/router port that converts electrical signals to optical (or copper), allowing flexible media/distance choices on the same port.

  3. Name three common interface errors and what a high number of them indicates.

    CRC errors (often duplex mismatch or bad cabling/EMI), Input/Output errors (media/hardware issues), and Late collisions (duplex mismatch on half-duplex links).

  4. What does a duplex mismatch cause and how do you spot it?

    One side full-duplex, other half-duplex; causes late collisions, CRC errors, slow performance. Verified with 'show interfaces' showing high collisions/CRCs and mismatched duplex settings.

  5. What are the 5 IPv4 address classes and their leading bits/first-octet ranges?

    Class A: 0xxx, 1-126; Class B: 10xx, 128-191; Class C: 110x, 192-223; Class D (multicast): 1110, 224-239; Class E (experimental): 1111, 240-255.

  6. What are the default subnet masks for Class A, B, and C?

    Class A = 255.0.0.0 (/8); Class B = 255.255.0.0 (/16); Class C = 255.255.255.0 (/24).

  7. List the RFC 1918 private IPv4 address ranges.

    10.0.0.0/8 (10.0.0.0–10.255.255.255), 172.16.0.0/12 (172.16.0.0–172.31.255.255), and 192.168.0.0/16 (192.168.0.0–192.168.255.255).

  8. What is the formula for the number of usable hosts in an IPv4 subnet?

    Usable hosts = 2^h − 2, where h is the number of host bits (subtracting the network and broadcast addresses).

  9. How many subnets and hosts result from borrowing bits with mask /26?

    /26 = 255.255.255.192, host bits = 6, so 2^6 − 2 = 62 usable hosts per subnet, with block size 64 (subnets at .0, .64, .128, .192).

  10. For the address 192.168.1.100/26, what is the network and broadcast address?

    Block size 64, so network = 192.168.1.64, broadcast = 192.168.1.127, usable range 192.168.1.65–192.168.1.126.

  11. What is VLSM and why is it used?

    Variable Length Subnet Masking allows different subnet mask lengths within the same network, sizing each subnet to its host requirement (e.g., /30 for point-to-point links) to conserve address space.

  12. What mask is used for point-to-point links to conserve addresses, and how many hosts does it give?

    /30 (255.255.255.252) provides 2^2 − 2 = 2 usable hosts, ideal for router-to-router serial/WAN links.

  13. What is NAT and how does it conserve IPv4 addresses?

    Network Address Translation maps private internal IP addresses to public addresses, allowing many internal hosts to share fewer public IPs and conserving the global IPv4 space.

  14. What is PAT (NAT overload)?

    Port Address Translation maps multiple private IPs to a single public IP by tracking unique source port numbers, allowing many internal hosts to share one public address simultaneously.

  15. Which command verifies basic IPv4 connectivity and what does it use?

    'ping' tests reachability using ICMP echo request/reply messages between hosts.

  16. What does 'traceroute' (tracert) reveal and how?

    It displays the Layer 3 hop-by-hop path to a destination by sending packets with incrementing TTL values, eliciting ICMP Time Exceeded replies from each router along the path.

  17. Which Cisco command shows a quick summary of all interfaces with their IP and status?

    'show ip interface brief' — lists each interface, IP address, status, and protocol (line and protocol up/down).

  18. What is the length of an IPv6 address and how is it written?

    128 bits, written as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons (e.g., 2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001).

  19. State the two rules for compressing an IPv6 address.

    1) Omit leading zeros in each hextet; 2) Replace one contiguous string of all-zero hextets with a double colon (::), which may be used only once per address.

  20. Compress 2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:ff00:0042:8329.

    2001:db8::ff00:42:8329.

  21. What is the IPv6 global unicast address range and its typical structure?

    Global unicast addresses begin with 2000::/3 (2 or 3 as first digit). Structure: 48-bit global routing prefix + 16-bit subnet ID + 64-bit interface ID.

  22. What is an IPv6 link-local address and its prefix?

    A link-local address (FE80::/10) is automatically configured on every IPv6 interface, used only on the local link for neighbor discovery and next-hop, and is never routed.

  23. What is the IPv6 unique local address (ULA) range?

    FC00::/7 (commonly FD00::/8 in practice) — private addresses analogous to RFC 1918, not routable on the global internet.

  24. What IPv6 address types replace IPv4 broadcast, and what are the key multicast addresses?

    IPv6 has no broadcast; it uses multicast (FF00::/8). FF02::1 = all-nodes, FF02::2 = all-routers on the link.

  25. What are the three methods of IPv6 address assignment?

    SLAAC (Stateless Address Autoconfiguration using RA + prefix), Stateless DHCPv6 (SLAAC for address + DHCP for other info), and Stateful DHCPv6 (DHCP assigns address and config).

  26. What is EUI-64 and how is the interface ID formed?

    EUI-64 builds a 64-bit interface ID from a 48-bit MAC by splitting it, inserting FFFE in the middle, and flipping the 7th bit (U/L bit) of the first byte.

  27. Which protocol replaces ARP in IPv6 and what messages does it use?

    Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP), using ICMPv6 Neighbor Solicitation (NS) and Neighbor Advertisement (NA) messages to resolve link-layer addresses, plus Router Solicitation/Advertisement (RS/RA).

  28. Which command displays the IPv6 neighbor table (IPv6 equivalent of the ARP table)?

    'show ipv6 neighbors' — lists discovered IPv6 neighbors, their MAC addresses, and state.

  29. Compare the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless bands.

    2.4 GHz offers longer range and better wall penetration but fewer non-overlapping channels (1, 6, 11) and more interference; 5 GHz offers more channels and higher throughput but shorter range.

  30. What is an SSID and what is the difference between a BSS and an ESS?

    SSID is the network name. A BSS (Basic Service Set) is a single AP's coverage area; an ESS (Extended Service Set) is multiple BSSs with the same SSID joined by a distribution system for roaming.

  31. What is the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors in virtualization?

    Type 1 (bare-metal) runs directly on hardware (e.g., ESXi, Hyper-V) for better performance; Type 2 (hosted) runs on top of a host OS (e.g., VirtualBox, VMware Workstation).

  32. What is a switch's MAC address table and how does a switch handle an unknown unicast or broadcast frame?

    The MAC table maps MAC addresses to ports (learned from source addresses). Frames to an unknown unicast or to the broadcast address are flooded out all ports except the one received on.

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Network Fundamentals FAQ

What is in the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Network Fundamentals syllabus?

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Network Fundamentals is split into 5 chapters: Networking Concepts and Models, Physical Interfaces and Cabling, IPv4 Addressing and Subnetting, IPv6 Addressing and Wireless Fundamentals and Virtualization. Together they contain 18 topics and 43 sub-topics.

How many chapters are in Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Network Fundamentals?

5 chapters, containing 18 topics and 43 sub-topics. The largest chapter is Networking Concepts and Models, with 4 topics.

Are there flashcards for Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Network Fundamentals?

Yes — a 52-card Network Fundamentals deck, printed in full in the flashcards section of this page and available in the Examius app with spaced repetition. The free plan covers one exam of your choice, including its flashcards; Examius Pro, a one-time purchase, unlocks every other exam and deck.