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IT Certifications · 300-420 ENSLD

Cisco Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks Exam Practice Test

The Cisco Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks Exam (300-420 ENSLD) concerns enterprise network architecture and design decisions. Its practice bank samples scenarios involving campus segmentation, IPv4 subnet sizing, route aggregation, wireless controller placement, WAN path selection, and traffic visibility. These topics require translating connectivity, scale, and operational needs into suitable network designs.

Exam overview

Exam providerCisco
Exam code300-420 ENSLD
CategoryIT Certifications

About the Cisco Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks Exam

Enterprise design work involves choosing where to place Layer 3 gateways, how to structure routing between network regions, and how to preserve separation while enabling approved communication. The sampled questions also address carrying multiple routing tables across a shared core, selecting application-aware WAN paths, and exporting flow records to inform capacity planning. Wireless scenarios ask candidates to consider access-point scale, client mobility, and centralized controller deployments. Other design tasks include planning variable-length IPv4 subnets and synchronizing device clocks so logs can be correlated during investigations. The practice vocabulary emphasizes evaluating how topology and services meet stated requirements, rather than configuring a single device in isolation. Learners can use these scenarios to check whether they can recognize the design purpose of technologies such as VRF, flow export, and network time synchronization.

Sample Practice Questions

Review a selection from this exam's published US Practice Tests practice bank.

Question 1

A network team wants to reduce the risk that a compromised user workstation can directly reach sensitive server networks. Which design approach most directly supports this objective?

  1. AApply access-control policy at the boundary between user and server segments
  2. BIncrease the maximum Ethernet frame size
  3. CUse identical access permissions for every endpoint
  4. DDisable logging on the distribution layer
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Segmentation combined with policy enforcement at the boundary can restrict which sources communicate with sensitive destinations. The rules should follow least-privilege requirements and be maintained as applications change.

Question 2

A campus design needs to carry several isolated tenant routing tables across a shared provider core while allowing controlled communication between selected tenants. Which technology is designed for this purpose?

  1. AVRF-based routing with route-target import and export policies
  2. BA single global routing table with interface ACLs only
  3. CEtherChannel between the tenant edge routers
  4. DA spanning-tree instance per tenant
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) instances maintain separate routing tables. In designs such as MPLS L3VPN, route targets control which VPN routes are imported or exported, enabling deliberate route sharing while preserving separation elsewhere.

Question 3

A network design needs to identify which applications and traffic flows are using a WAN link so that capacity planning can be based on observed traffic patterns. Which technology is commonly used to export flow-level traffic records?

  1. ANetFlow or a compatible flow-export mechanism
  2. BSpanning Tree Protocol
  3. CAddress Resolution Protocol
  4. DFirst-hop redundancy protocol
Show answerCorrect answer: A

NetFlow and compatible flow-export technologies summarize traffic flows, such as endpoints, protocol, and byte or packet counts, for analysis and capacity planning. The other options address Layer 2 loop prevention, address resolution, or gateway availability.

Question 4

A design team wants to divide an IPv4 network into smaller subnets so that each subnet has enough addresses for its expected hosts without wasting large blocks. Which addressing technique best supports this objective?

  1. AVariable-length subnet masking
  2. BAnycast addressing
  3. CPort address translation
  4. DLink-local addressing
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Variable-length subnet masking (VLSM) allows different subnet sizes to be allocated according to host requirements, improving address utilization. Anycast describes address use by multiple nodes, NAT translates addresses, and link-local addressing is limited to a local link.

Question 5

A branch has two independent WAN providers and the design goal is to steer selected application traffic onto the link best suited to its performance needs. Which capability most directly supports application-aware path selection?

  1. APolicy-based routing using only the destination subnet
  2. BSD-WAN application-aware routing based on policy and path measurements
  3. CStatic default routing with equal administrative distance
  4. DSpanning tree with per-VLAN root selection
Show answerCorrect answer: B

SD-WAN application-aware routing can identify application classes and use policy together with measured path characteristics, such as loss, latency, or jitter, to select an appropriate WAN path. The other choices do not provide this combination of application classification and dynamic path evaluation.

Question 6

A design must support a large number of wireless access points across several buildings while keeping client mobility manageable. Which design concern is most relevant when selecting the wireless architecture?

  1. AThe number and placement of radio coverage cells, including overlap and interference
  2. BThe quantity of IPv4 routes in the wired core only
  3. CThe use of a single fixed channel for every access point
  4. DThe elimination of authentication for roaming clients
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Wireless architecture must account for coverage, cell overlap, channel reuse, and interference across the deployment. These radio-frequency factors affect both client connectivity and roaming behavior.

Question 7

A campus design requires users on different IP subnets to communicate through a redundant pair of distribution switches. Where should the Layer 3 default gateways and inter-subnet routing be placed in a common multilayer campus design?

  1. AOn the access switches, with the distribution switches operating only as Layer 2 bridges
  2. BOn the distribution switches, which provide Layer 3 interfaces and routing between subnets
  3. COn an external firewall, with all campus switches operating only at Layer 2
  4. DOn the WAN edge routers, which route traffic between campus VLANs
Show answerCorrect answer: B

In a common multilayer campus design, distribution switches provide the Layer 3 boundary for access-layer subnets. They host the subnet gateways and route between those subnets, while the access layer commonly provides Layer 2 connectivity to endpoints.

How to use this practice test

Access is free, and the session draws up to 20 random questions from the 50-question bank. Answer each scenario by identifying the design choice that best fits its stated requirement, then review the results shown after the session. Use missed questions to pinpoint concepts that need further work, such as segmentation, route summarization, or WAN path selection.

Preparation tips

  • For segmentation scenarios, distinguish user-to-server access controls from VRF-based separation of routing tables across a shared core.
  • Practice calculating variable-length IPv4 subnets from host requirements, then check that address blocks are allocated without overlap or unnecessary waste.
  • Compare campus gateway placement at the distribution layer with centralized wireless-controller designs, including the effects on routing and client traffic paths.
  • Review how route summarization reduces advertised prefixes, and identify when contiguous network prefixes can be represented by a broader route.
  • Relate flow-record exports and network time synchronization to capacity analysis and reliable event-log correlation, respectively.
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