Expert Level Knowledge and Experience
Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching
Certifies the skills required of expert-level network engineers to plan, operate and troubleshoot complex, converged network infrastructure.
Requirements for Certification
There are no formal prerequisites for CCIE certification. Other professional certifications or training courses are not required. Instead, candidates must first pass a written qualification exam and then the corresponding hands-on lab exam. You are expected to have an in-depth understanding of the topics in the exam blueprints and strongly encouraged to have three to five years of job experience before attempting certification. You can review the exam preparation materials included on this page for more information.
Step One: CCIE Routing and Switching Written Exam
You must pass the two-hour, written qualification exam which covers networking concepts and some equipment commands before you are eligible to schedule the lab exam.
CCIE Routing and Switching Written Exam #350-001, v4.0
The CCIE R&S written exam is a two-hour qualification exam with 90-110 questions taken online at a Cisco authorized Pearson VUE testing center. The questions are a combination of multiple choice and more complex, interactive items that assess technical knowledge on topics such as IP, IP routing, bridging and switch-related technologies, and some equipment commands. The exam is closed book and no outside reference materials are allowed.
Step Two: CCIE Routing and Switching Lab Exam
The eight-hour lab exam tests your ability to configure actual equipment and troubleshoot the network in a timed test situation. You must make an initial attempt of the CCIE lab exam within 18 months of passing the CCIE written exam. If you do not pass the lab exam within three years of passing the written exam, you must retake the written exam before being allowed to attempt the lab exam again.