Top 46 CCNA Interview Questions and Answers

Shiksha Online
Updated on Oct 12, 2023 17:43 IST
Are you preparing for a CCNA interview? Check out these common CCNA interview
questions to help you ace your interview. From topics like VLANs and routing
protocols to subnetting and network security, these questions will test your
knowledge and readiness for a career in networking. Don’t miss this opportunity to
boost your chances of success!

If you want to succeed in your next CCNA interview, here is a carefully curated list of
CCNA interview questions and answers that will come in handy in your preparation. In
this blog, we have listed the 45 most frequently asked CCNA interview questions
that will help both the freshers and experienced candidates boost their interview

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preparation.

Top CCNA Interview Questions and Answers

The list of commonly asked interview-related CCNA questions and answers is given
below:

Q1. What is a ‘router’?

Ans. A router is a device that forwards data packets along with a network.

Q2. What is a ‘protocol’ in networking?

Ans. A protocol in networking is a set of invisible computer rules that enable two
devices to connect and transmit data to one another.

Q3. Dif f erentiate between a switch and a hub.

Ans. Switches are used at the data link layer, while hubs are used at the physical
layer.

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Q4. How many layers are there in an OSI ref erence model? Name
them.

Ans. There are 7 layers in an OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model.
They are:
Physical layer

Data link layer

Network layer

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 T ransport layer

Session layer

Presentation layer

Application layer

Q5. Explain the dif f erence between a ‘broadcast domain’ and a

‘collision domain’.

Ans. A broadcast domain is a logical division of a computer network in which all

nodes can reach others by broadcast at the data link layer.

A collision domain is a network section where data packets can collide with one
another when sent on a shared medium or through repeaters.

Q6. What is the size of an IP address?

Ans. 32 it for IPv4 and 128 bit for IPv6.

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Questions and Answers

Q7. What is a DLCI?

Ans. DLCI (Data Link Connection Identifiers) uniquely identifies each virtual circuit on
the network.

Q8. Name dif f erent types of networks.

Ans. There are two types of networks – 1) peer-to-peer and 2) server-based.

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blog – what is cisco certification?

Q9. What is the dif f erence between a ‘half -duplex’ and a ‘f ull-duplex’
system?

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Ans. In a half-duplex system, communication occurs in only one direction, while in a
full-duplex system, communication occurs in both directions.

Q10. What is PoE (Power over Ethernet)?

Ans. Power over Ethernet (PoE) refers to the technology allowing electric power
and data on Ethernet cabling.

Q11. Explain the use of ‘ping’ command.

Ans. Ping (Packet Internet Groper) is a computer network tool that tests whether a
particular host is reachable across an IP network.

Q12. Explain ‘round-trip time’.

Ans. Round-trip time , or round-trip delay, is the time required for a packet to travel
from a specific source to a specific destination and back again.

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Q13. What is the dif f erence between public and private IP?

Ans. Public IP is used across the internet, while private IP is used within the local
LAN.

Q14. What is the dif f erence between ‘cross cable’ and ‘straight
cable’?

Ans. Cross cables connect the same group of devices, while straight cables connect
different devices.

Q15. At which layer of OSI does f rame relay technology work?

Ans. At the data link layer.

Also, explore:

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Q16. What is the size of a Cisco ping packet?

Ans. The size of a Ping packet in Cisco by default is 100 bytes.

Q17. How many VTP modes are in a switch? Name them.

Ans. There are three types of VTP modes. They are – server, client, and
transparent.

Q18. Explain the dif f erence between static and dynamic IP

addressing.

Ans. Dynamic IP addresses can change every time a device connects to the internet.
Static IP addresses are reserved. They do not change with time.

Q19. What is a ‘subnet’?

Ans. Subnets are used in IP networks to optimize the performance of a network

because it reduces traffic by breaking a large network into smaller networks.

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Networking?

Q20. What does MTU stand f or? What is the def ault size?

Ans. MT U stands for the maximum transmission unit. The default MTU size is 1500
bytes.

Q21. When does network congestion occur?

Ans. Network congestion happens when applications send more data than the
network devices like routers and switches can accommodate. This is a common

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occurrence when many users try using the same bandwidth.

Q22. What is the LLC sublayer, and what is its f unction?

Ans. LLC is an abbreviation for Logical Link Control and offers application developers
optional services. These options include providing flow control to the network layer
using stop/start codes. It also corrects an error in the network.

Q23. What is BootP?

Ans. BootP or Boot Program is a protocol for booting diskless workstations in a

network. These diskless workstations use BootP to determine their and a server’s IP
addresses.

Q24. What is 100BaseFX?

Ans. 100BaseFX is a version of Fast Ethernet that uses fibre optic cable as the main
transmission medium for wiring campus backbones. 100 stands for data speed in
Mbps.

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Training the Right Choice for Networking Professionals?

Q25. What is HDLC?

Ans. HDLC stands f or High-Level Data-Link Control protocol. It is a popular ISO-standard,

bit-oriented Data Link layer protocol f or transmitting data. It is applicable f or both point-to-
point and point-to-multipoint communications.

HDLC organizes data into f rames that allow the devices to control the data f low. T he f rame
is transmitted via the network to the destination that verif ies its successf ul arrival.

Some of the benef its of HDLC are:

Supports both half and f ull-duplex communication.

Of f ers f ull data transparency.

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 Of f ers f lexibility, reliability, and ef f iciency of operation f or synchronous data
communication.

Supports both synchronous and asynchronous communication.

Q26. Explain VLAN.

Ans. It is the abbreviation for Virtual Local Area Network. It provides data link
connectivity for a subnet.

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Q27. What are the benef its of using VLANs?

Ans. There are three primary benefits of using VLANs, which include –

Security, reduced number of trunk links

Reduced costs

Allows creating collision domains other than physical locations

Q28. What is latency?

Ans. It is the time a data packet takes to move from one designated point to
another.

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Q29. Can you tell me which is the second layer of an OSI layer
model?

Ans. The data link layer is the second layer of an OSI model.

Q30. What is BOOTP?

Ans. It is the short form of Bootstrap Protocol. BOOTP is a computer networking

protocol used in IP networks for automatically assigning an IP address to network
devices from a configuration server.

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Q31. Tell me the easiest way to conf igure a router remotely.

Ans. The most popular and easy way to configure a router remotely is using Cisco
AutoInstall Procedure. However, it should ensure the router is connected to the
WAN or LAN.

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Q32. What is Route Poisoning?

Ans. Route Poisoning is making a route unreachable by inserting a table entry of 16

into it. This is done to prevent the problems of inconsistent updates on a route.

Q33. Name dif f erent types of passwords that can be used to secure
a CISCO router.

Ans. 5 types of passwords can be used to secure a CISCO router, and these are –

Console

Aux

VT Y

Enable password

Enable secret

Q34. Why should we use network segmentation to manage a large

network?

Ans. Segmenting a network helps to ease network traffic and ensures that users
receive high bandwidth at all times. This translates to better performance, especially
for a growing network.

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questions and answers blog.

Q35. Which IP address is used f or the loopback address and why?

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Ans. 127.0.0.1 is used f or the loopback address. A loopback address is a special IP address
that a network administrator uses to treat the local machine as a remote machine. It is also
used f or local testing. Any traf f ic sent by a computer program on the loopback network is
addressed to the same computer.

Q36. In the case of RIP, what route entry will be assigned to a dead
or invalid route?

Ans. 16 hops will be assigned to a dead or invalid route in case of RIP.

Q37. Explain the dif f erent memories used in a CISCO router.

Ans. T he f ollowing are the dif f erent memories used in a CISCO router:

NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory) – It stores the startup conf iguration f ile.

DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) – It stores the conf iguration f ile being
executed.

ROM (Read Only Memory) – T he bootstrap sof tware runs and maintains instructions f or
POST diagnostics.

Flash Memory – It stores the Cisco IOS.

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Q38. What is the dif f erence between User Mode f rom Privileged
Mode?

Ans. T he dif f erences between User Mode f rom Privileged Mode are:

User Mode Privileged Mode

It is used f or the regular task while using a Cisco Of f ers a lot of options, including
router. those available in User mode.

It lets you view system inf ormation, connect to It allows users to make router
remote devices, check the router’s status, and conf igurations, such as tests and
more. debugging.

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Q39. What is CDP? Explains its f unctions.

Ans. CDP stands f or Cisco Discovery Protocol. It is a Layer 2 proprietary protocol that runs
on Cisco devices, including routers and switches. T his protocol collects inf ormation about
directly connected neighbouring devices.

It discovers the nearby devices, identif ies how they are conf igured, and enables the systems
to learn about each other by using dif f erent network-layer protocols. CDP simplif ies the
process of keeping an up-to-date inventory of Cisco network devices.

T he CDP f inds out the f ollowing inf ormation:

iOS version running on Cisco devices

IP addresses

T he hardware platf orm of devices

Interf ace details

Hostname

VT P domain

Duplex setting

Native VLAN

Q40. How does TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) dif f er f rom

UDP (User Datagram Protocol)?

Ans. T he dif f erence between T CP and UDP are:

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 T CP (T ransmission Control Protocol) UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

It is a connection-oriented protocol. It is a connectionless protocol.

It sends the data without checking

T he connection should be established bef ore the
whether the system is ready to
data is transmitted over the network.
receive it.

Delivery of data to the destination router is

It doesn’t guarantee the delivery of
guaranteed. T he server will request the lost part if
data to the destination.
the connection is lost during transf erring f iles.

T he message will be delivered in the order it is T he message may not be delivered

sent. in the same order.

It doesn’t support broadcasting. It supports broadcasting.

Data is read as a stream. When one packet ends, Data Packets are transmitted
another begins. individually.

T he header size is 20 bytes. T he header size is 8 bytes.

UDP is f aster and more ef f icient

It is slower than UDP
than T CP

T his protocol is mainly used where a secure T his protocol is used when f ast
communication process is required. Example: web communication is required. Example:
browsing and e-mail. VoIP, video, and music streaming.

Q41. What are the dif f erent classes of IP addresses? Mention their
ranges.

Ans. There are five classes of IP address:

Class Range

A 1-126

B 127-191

C 192-223

D 224-239

E 240-254

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Q42. How to choose DR in OSPF?

Ans. Below are the different ways to choose DR in OSPF:

Highest priority

Highest router ID

Highest IP address

Q43. Which command is used if router IOS is stuck?

Ans. If router IOS is stuck, we use the Ctrl+Shift+F6 and X commands.

Q44. Explain the types of routes available in routers.

Ans. There are three types of routing including dynamic routing, default routing and
static routing. These are as follows:
Static route is also known as non-adaptive route. It is either directly conf igured on active
interf ace of router or it is added to routing table by administrator.

Def ault route is conf igured to send all packets towards single router. It does not matter if
it belongs to a specif ic network. Such nodes are used when the network deals with single
exit point.

Dynamic route is also known as adaptive route, it makes automatic adjustments of routes
as per current state of route on routing table. It uses routing protocols f or f inding
network destinations.

Q45. What is LAN switching? What are its benef its?

Ans. LAN Switching is a f orm of packet switching used in Local Area Networks. It is a vital
component of most networks and helps improve LAN’s overall ef f iciency and address the
existing bandwidth issues. It enables multiple users to communicate directly with each other.
LAN switching creates a system of simultaneous, point-to-point connections between pairs
of devices. It provides a collision-f ree network and high-speed networking.

T he f ollowing are the benef its of LAN Switching:

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 Increased network scalability

Improved bandwidth perf ormance

Multiple simultaneous connections

Reduced congestion and transmission delay

No single point of f ailure

Full-duplex data transmission

Improved manageability and security

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Q46. Explain the terms Unicast, Multicast, Broadcast

Ans. In all these three terms, ‘cast’ ref ers to transmitting data packets f rom the client to the
recipient over the communication channel.

1. Unicast (One-t o-One):

It is a one-to-one communication technique in which data communication occurs between a

single sender and a single recipient in the network.

Examples of Unicast are:

Browsing a website. T he web server is the sender, and your computer is the receiver.

Downloading a f ile f rom an FT P Server. FT P Server is the sender, and your computer is
the receiver.

2. Broadcast (One-t o-All):

It specif ies one to all communication. Data communication takes place among all the devices
available in the network. T he data is sent f rom one computer once and a copy of that data
will be f orwarded to all the connected devices. T wo types of Broadcast are Limited
Broadcasting and Direct Broadcasting.

Example of Broadcast:

T elevision networks f or video and audio distribution.

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3. Mult icast (One-t o-Many):

Multicast specif ies one to group or one to many communication. In Multicast, one or more
senders and one or more recipients participate in data transf er. IP multicast traf f ic is sent to
a group and only members of that group receive the Multicast traf f ic. It uses IGMP (Internet
Group Management Protocol) protocol to identif y the group.

Examples of Multicast:

Sending an e-mail to a particular mailing group.

So, these are some of the most important CCNA interview questions. We hope this
blog will help you ace your next CCNA interview.

FAQs

Is CCNA a good career?

Why should I pursue CCNA certif ication?

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What are the job roles available af ter completing CCNA certif ication?

Can I get a job with just a CCNA?

Which CCNA certif ication course should I choose to get into this f ield?

What is the salary of a CCNA certif ied prof essional in India?

What are the top companies hiring CCNA certif ied prof essionals?

What are the roles and responsibilities of a CCNA certif ied prof essional?

What is the scope of CCNA in India?

What are the top industries hiring CCNA certif ied prof essionals?

What are the prerequisites f or a CCNA certif ication?

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