Top Essential 50 CCNA Interview Questions and Answers 2024

Last Update: October 1, 2024 Post Views: 1503

Check out these frequently asked 50 CCNA interview questions along with answers that will help you to prepare for the exam.

1. What is a VLAN?

Answer: A VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) is a logical grouping of devices within a network, regardless of  their physical location. It allows for the segmentation and isolation of broadcast domains.

2. What is the purpose of a router?

Answer: Routers link different computer networks by forwarding data packets. In the OSI model, it belongs to  the network layer.

3. What is the difference between a hub, a switch, and a router?

Answer: Hub: Operates at the physical layer and simply broadcasts data to all connected devices. Switch:

Operates at the data link layer, filters, and forwards data based on MAC addresses. Router: Operates at the  network layer, and forwards data between different networks based on IP addresses.

4. What is OSPF?

Answer: OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) is a dynamic routing protocol used to exchange routing information  between routers within an autonomous system.

5. What is the purpose of NAT?

Answer: NAT (Network Address Translation) is used to map private IP addresses to a single public IP  address, allowing multiple devices within a private network to share a single public IP for internet access.

6. Explain the difference between TCP and UDP.

Answer: TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is connection-oriented, provides reliable and ordered delivery of  data. UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is connectionless, provides faster but unreliable delivery of data.

7. What is ARP? 

Answer: ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is used to map a known IP address to a MAC address in a local

network. 

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8. What is the purpose of the OSI model?

Answer: The OSI (Open Systems interconnection) model is a conceptual framework that standardizes the  functions of a telecommunication or computing system into seven abstraction layers.

9. What is a subnet mask?

Answer: An IP address is divided into network and host portions by a subnet mask, which is a 32-bit number.

It identifies a host's IP address and the network's address.

10. Explain the concept of a default gateway.

Answer: A default gateway is a router on a network that serves as an entry and exit point for data packets  traveling between different networks.

11. What is a broadcast storm?

Answer: A broadcast storm occurs when a network system is overwhelmed with continuous broadcast or  multicast traffic, degrading network performance.

12. What is STP (Spanning Tree Protocol)?

Answer: A bridged Ethernet local area network is guaranteed to maintain a loop-free topology by using STP.

13. What is the purpose of DHCP?

Answer: DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is used to dynamically assign IP addresses and other

network configuration information to devices on a network.

14. Explain the difference between a collision domain and a broadcast domain.

Collision Domain: The set of devices on a network segment where collisions can occur. Broadcast Domain:

The set of all devices that receive broadcast frames originating from any device within the group.

15. What is HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol)? 

Answer: HSRP is a Cisco proprietary redundancy protocol that provides high network availability by allowing  two or more routers to work together in order to represent a single IP address for a particular network.

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16. What is the purpose of the TCP three-way handshake?

Answer: To establish a reliable connection between two devices, the three-way handshake is used. It involves  SYN, SYN-ACK, and ACK packets to synchronize sequence numbers.

17. What is the purpose of ACL (Access Control List)?

Answer: An ACL is a set of rules applied to a router interface to control the traffic entering or exiting a  network.

18. What is Layer 3 Switch

Answer: A Layer 3 switch is basically a switch that can perform routing functions in addition to switching

19. What is VTP (VLAN Trunking Protocol)?

Answer: VTP is a Cisco proprietary protocol used to manage VLAN configurations across a network of  switches.

20. What is the purpose of the ping command?

Answer: An Internet Protocol (IP) network uses the ping command to determine if a host is reachable and to.  measure the round-trip time of messages sent from a source host to a destination host.

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21. What is the role of ARP in a network?

Answer: ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is used to map an IP address to a MAC address in a local  network.

22. Explain the concept of a MAC address.

Answer: A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface card  (NIC) for communications at the data link layer of a network segment.

23. What is the purpose of the traceroute command?

Answer: The traceroute command is used to trace the route that packets take to reach a destination, showing  the IP addresses of routers along the way.

24. What is the purpose of the 802.1Q standard?

Answer: The 802.10 standard defines a protocol for carrying VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) information  over Ethernet networks.

25. What is the purpose of the BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)?

Answer: The BGP protocol is a standardized exterior gateway protocol for exchanging routing and  reachability information between autonomous systems (ASes).

26. What is DHCP snooping?

Answer: DHCP snooping is a security feature that filters and regulates DHCP traffic within a network by  monitoring and controlling the responses from DHCP servers.

27. Explain the purpose of the ARP cache.

Answer: The ARP cache is a table that maps IP addresses to MAC addresses in a local network. It is used to  store ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) information.

28. What is the purpose of the NAT/PAT?

Answer: NAT (Network Address Translation) and PAT (Port Address Translation) are used to map private IP  addresses to a public IP address, allowing multiple devices to share a single public IP for internet access.

29. What is the purpose of the subnetting?

Answer: Subnetting is the process of dividing a larger network into smaller, more manageable sub-networks  to improve performance and security.

30. What is the purpose of the VLAN trunking?

Answer: VLAN trunking allows the transmission of VLAN information between switches, enabling devices on d ifferent switches to be part of the same VLAN.

31. What is the purpose of the loopback address?

Answer: The loopback address (127.0.0.1) is used to test the network interface of a device. It allows a device  to send and receive data to itself for diagnostic purposes.

32. What is RSTP (Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol)?

Answer: RSTP is an enhancement of the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) that provides faster convergence in  the event of network topology changes.

33. What is EtherChannel?

Answer: Ether Channel Combine bandwidth of multiple physical ports into a single logical Port known as a  Port-channel The main purpose is to get more bandwidth and availability.

34. What is the purpose of the GRE tunnel?

Answer: GRE (Generic Routing Encapsulation) tunnels are used to encapsulate a wide variety of network layer  protocols into point-to-point connections.

35. What is the purpose of the ACL (Access Control List)?

Answer: An ACL is a set of rules used to filter network traffic and provide security by controlling access to  network resources.

36. What is the purpose of the HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol)?

Answer: HSRP is a Cisco proprietary protocol that provides high network availability by allowing two or more  routers to work together to represent a single IP address for a particular network.

37. What is the purpose of the subnet mask?

Answer: A subnet mask is used to divide an IP address into network and host portions, allowing for the  creation of sub-networks.

38. Explain the concept of the broadcast storm.

Answer: A broadcast storm occurs when a network is flooded with broadcast or multicast traffic, leading to  network congestion and performance degradation.

39. What is Routing? 

Answer: Routing is a process of establishing the routes that data packets take on their way to the  destination. itis a process of selecting a path across one or more networks to move a data packet from  source to destination.

40. What is the purpose of the VTP (VLAN Trunking Protocol)?

Answer: VTP is a Cisco proprietary protocol used to manage VLAN configurations across a network of  switches, simplifying VLAN administration.

41. What is the purpose of the STP (Spanning Tree Protocol)?

Answer: STP is a network protocol that prevents loops in Ethernet networks by blocking redundant paths,  ensuring a loop-free topology.

42. Explain the purpose of the NAT overload.

Answer: NAT overload, also known as PAT (Port Address Translation), allows multiple devices in a private  network to share a single public IP address by using different port numbers.

43. What is the purpose of the IPsec?

Answer: IPsec (Internet Protocol Security) is a suite of protocols used to secure Internet Protocol (IP)  communications by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet within a communication session.

44. What is the purpose of the subnetting?

Answer: Subnetting is the process of dividing a larger network into smaller sub-networks to improve  performance, security, and manageability.

45. What is the purpose of the VLAN pruning?

Answer: VLAN pruning is a feature that allows a switch to dynamically prune or remove unnecessary VLANS  from trunk links, reducing unnecessary traffic.

46. What is the purpose of the BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)?

Answer: BGP is a standardized exterior gateway protocol used to exchange routing and reachability  information between autonomous systems on the internet.

47. Explain the concept of the OSI model.

Answer: The OSI! model is a conceptual framework that standardizes the functions of a telecommunication or  ‘computing system into seven abstraction layers, from physical to application.

48. What is the purpose of the EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol)?

Answer: EIGRP is a Cisco proprietary routing protocol used to exchange routing information between routers  within an autonomous system, providing fast convergence and efficient use of bandwidth.

49. What is the purpose of the default gateway?

Answer: A default gateway is a router that is used when a device needs to communicate with a host on  another network, serving as the exit point for traffic.

50. Explain the purpose of the TCP/IP model. 

Answer: The TCP/IP model is a conceptual framework that standardizes the functions of a  telecommunication or computing system into four abstraction layers, from link to application. itis the basis  for the internet protocol suite.

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