Cisco Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks for Field Engineers (ENDESIGN) Exam Practice Test
The Cisco Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks for Field Engineers (ENDESIGN) practice page focuses on enterprise network architecture decisions. Its question bank samples routing between enterprise and external networks, branch access to cloud applications, OSPF area design, endpoint admission, service continuity, segmentation, and leaf-and-spine fabrics.
Exam overview
About the Cisco Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks for Field Engineers (END… Exam
Design scenarios call for matching network behavior to business and operational needs. Routing questions address BGP policy attributes and filtering approved prefixes at external boundaries; campus topics include VLAN-based broadcast separation and IEEE 802.1Q tagging across switch links. Other scenarios examine OSPF area choices, identity-based access decisions at the edge, and resilient application reachability during a site outage. Branch connectivity questions consider local internet breakout for cloud-hosted applications, while fabric questions distinguish leaf and spine roles. Administrative access control is also represented. Together, these examples exercise architecture judgment: identifying the relevant control point, predicting the effect of a design choice, and balancing policy, isolation, availability, and scalability. They are practice-bank signals, not a confirmed list of official exam objectives.
Sample Practice Questions
Review a selection from this exam's published US Practice Tests practice bank.
A network architect is designing routing between an enterprise and multiple external networks. The design must support policy-based selection of routes using attributes such as path information and local preference. Which routing protocol is most suited to this role?
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Correct answer: ABGP is commonly used for interdomain routing and offers policy controls through path attributes and route-policy mechanisms. The other choices are not interdomain routing protocols: RIP is a distance-vector routing protocol, LLDP discovers neighbors, and LACP negotiates link aggregation.
A branch office needs reliable access to a cloud-hosted business application. The application is reached through the public internet, and the design should avoid sending that traffic through headquarters when local breakout is appropriate. What design approach most directly supports this goal?
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Correct answer: ALocal internet breakout allows eligible traffic to reach cloud services directly from the branch, potentially reducing latency and central-link load. Security policy and application requirements should determine which traffic is eligible.
A design uses OSPF across multiple areas. Which area-design practice can help limit the spread of topology information and improve scalability?
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Correct answer: BOSPF uses Area 0 as its backbone, and nonbackbone areas are normally connected to it. This hierarchy helps organize the routing domain and contain some topology information within areas.
A design must ensure that a newly connected endpoint is evaluated before it receives normal network access. Which capability most directly supports identity-based admission decisions at the network edge?
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Correct answer: ANetwork access control can use endpoint or user authentication and policy checks to determine the access an endpoint receives. The resulting policy may allow, restrict, or deny network access according to organizational rules.
A business application needs to remain reachable through a site outage. Which design approach most directly improves service continuity?
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Correct answer: AA separate failure domain with replicated or otherwise available application dependencies can allow service to continue after a site-level failure. Failover must be tested, including data consistency and client access behavior.
An enterprise uses centralized network management and wants to reduce the risk of unauthorized administrative access to devices. Which practice is most appropriate?
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Correct answer: ACentralized authentication and role-based authorization improve accountability and limit privileges, while encrypted management protocols protect credentials and commands in transit. Management access should also be restricted to trusted paths.
During a network redesign, several teams request separate broadcast domains for distinct user groups. Which design element is commonly used to create Layer 2 broadcast-domain separation?
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Correct answer: AVLANs partition a switched Layer 2 network into separate broadcast domains. Communication between VLANs generally requires Layer 3 routing and can be governed by appropriate security policies.
How to use this practice test
Access is free. Each session presents up to 20 random questions from the 50-question bank and displays results when you finish. Use the scenarios to check how you apply routing policy, segmentation, access control, and resilience concepts, then revisit missed decisions and the underlying design rationale.
Preparation tips
- Compare BGP path attributes such as AS-path information and local preference, and practice selecting route-policy controls for outbound advertisements.
- Sketch OSPF multi-area designs and explain how area boundaries affect topology-information propagation and scalability.
- Trace a branch user's path to a cloud application; identify when local internet breakout avoids unnecessary headquarters backhaul.
- Distinguish VLAN separation from 802.1Q tagging, and map each to its role in broadcast-domain isolation or carrying multiple VLANs over a trunk.
- For endpoint admission and administrative access scenarios, identify the network edge or management control point that enforces the intended access decision.