CCNP ENCOR 350-401: Free Study Guides for the v1.2 Blueprint
ENCOR is the widest exam Cisco puts in front of a professional-level candidate, and most of the free material online is still written for the old blueprint. These guides are written for v1.2 - the version in force since 19 March 2026 - and skip the wireless content Cisco removed.
See which domains actually need your time
A complete ENCOR 350-401 practice exam on the v1.2 blueprint, with an explanation on every item and a personalized Exam Coach that names the concepts costing you marks. Create an account on the next screen and the code applies itself.
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The v1.2 domains, and where the marks are
Six top-level domains. Infrastructure is by far the heaviest and Security is the surprise for people coming straight from CCNA - together they are half the exam.
| Domain | Weight | Guides here |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 Architecture | ~15% | SD-WAN vs SD-Access |
| 2.0 Virtualization | ~10% | Coming soon |
| 3.0 Infrastructure | ~30% | LISP vs VXLAN |
| 4.0 Network Assurance | ~10% | Coming soon |
| 5.0 Security | ~20% | Coming soon |
| 6.0 Automation | ~15% | NETCONF vs RESTCONF vs gNMI |
Weights are approximate and follow the v1.2 blueprint published 19 March 2026.
Topic guides
What changed in ENCOR v1.2
Wireless removed, where it went, and what the exam now weights more heavily. Read this before you plan anything - it is the fastest way to stop studying material that no longer counts.
NETCONF vs RESTCONF vs gNMI
Three ways to program the same YANG model, and the transport, encoding and port differences the exam actually asks about. Includes where gNMI fits and why telemetry changes the answer.
CEF vs process switching vs fast switching
How a router actually forwards a packet - the FIB, the adjacency table, why they are separate, and what makes a packet get punted to the CPU.
LISP vs VXLAN in SD-Access
Control plane versus data plane - the distinction most explanations blur, and the one the exam turns into questions.
SD-WAN vs SD-Access
Two fabrics, two problems. vManage, vSmart, vBond and OMP on one side; the campus fabric on the other - and why candidates keep mixing up which components belong where.
Practice, plans and comparisons
CCNP ENCOR practice exam
A full-length 350-401 exam on the v1.2 blueprint, with explanations on every item and a coach that names your weak domains.
Am I ready for CCNP ENCOR?
A readiness rubric and a free test to run before you book a $400 sitting.
30-day ENCOR study plan
Week by week, weighted to the domains that carry the marks. Also a 7-day final prep plan if the date is closer.
Boson ExSim CCNP ENCOR: the alternative
ExSim-Max is a one-year licence at around $99. Side-by-side on question style, explanations and what a resit actually costs you.
Free ENCOR practice questions
Sample questions with explanations, no account needed. Also the free ebook if you want to read rather than test.
Six domains. Which two are actually costing you?
Reading a guide tells you how something works; a full exam tells you where the marks are leaking. This code unlocks a complete ENCOR 350-401 exam on the v1.2 blueprint - explanations on every item and a coach that ranks your weak concepts. It applies itself when you create the account.
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Three things worth knowing before you start
Half the exam is Infrastructure and Security
Infrastructure at ~30% and Security at ~20% carry half the marks between them. Candidates arriving from CCNA tend to be comfortable in the first and underprepared for the second - control-plane policing, MACsec, zero-trust segmentation and device hardening are not CCNA-depth topics. If you have limited time, that is where it goes.
Automation is not optional any more
At ~15%, Domain 6 is as heavy as Architecture. You do not need to be a programmer, but you do need to read a YANG-modelled payload, tell NETCONF from RESTCONF by transport and encoding, and recognise what a REST call is doing. That is a weekend of study for a lot of marks, and it is the domain people skip.
ENCOR is a core exam, not the whole certification
Passing 350-401 gives you Cisco Certified Specialist - Enterprise Core, and it is one half of CCNP Enterprise. You still need one concentration exam. It also counts as the written qualifier toward CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure, which is why some people sit it well before they intend to finish the professional track.
Ready for a full ENCOR practice exam?
The guides cover concepts one at a time. A full-length exam is what tells you whether the breadth has actually landed.
- Questions across all six v1.2 domains - and no wireless
- An explanation on every item, not just the ones you miss
- A personalized Exam Coach that names your weak concepts
- The first full exam is free - no credit card
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