SPCNI: Cisco CCNP SPCNI (300-540)
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Exam Resources
Official learning paths, exam details, skills measured, and community resources to supplement your study.
About the SPCNI Exam
Design and operate service-provider cloud infrastructure — NFV, cloud interconnect, resilient NFVI, security, assurance, and VNF optimization
The 300-540 SPCNI (Designing and Implementing Cisco Service Provider Cloud Network Infrastructure) is a CCNP Service Provider concentration exam. It validates your ability to work across virtualized architecture and NFV; carrier-neutral facilities and cloud interconnect; NFVI-specific high availability; infrastructure and NFVI security; and service assurance and optimization. The exam includes Cisco and standards-based technologies such as NSO, OpenStack, NETCONF, RESTCONF, YANG, gNMI/gRPC, EVPN-VXLAN, MPLS and Segment Routing handoffs, IPsec, uRPF, RTBH, BGP FlowSpec, MACsec, telemetry, IPFIX, SR-PM, SR-IOV, DPDK, and VPP. Passing SPCNI earns the Cisco Certified Specialist - Service Provider Cloud Network Infrastructure certification and, with the SPCOR 350-501 core exam, can satisfy the concentration requirement for CCNP Service Provider. Original practice questions. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sourced from Cisco Systems certification exams.
Who Should Take This Exam?
SPCNI is designed for service-provider cloud network architects, NFV engineers, cloud interconnect engineers, network automation engineers, and operations engineers who design, implement, or troubleshoot virtualized network infrastructure. There is no formal prerequisite to sit the exam, but practical experience with service-provider routing, data-center interconnect, virtualization, APIs, telemetry, and high-availability design helps a lot.
Typical study time: 6-10 weeks of focused study
Exam Quick Facts
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Exam Code | 300-540 SPCNI |
| Title | Designing and Implementing Cisco Service Provider Cloud Network Infrastructure |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Questions | Cisco does not publish an exact question count for SPCNI 300-540 |
| Pass Score | Cisco does not publish the SPCNI 300-540 cut score |
| Cost | $300 USD |
| Provider | Pearson VUE |
| Validity | 3 years |
| Question Types | Multiple choice, Multiple response, Drag-and-drop, Simulation |
Exam Domains & Weights
The SPCNI exam covers 5 domains. Focus your study time based on the official weights below.
| Domain | Weight | Practice Qs |
|---|---|---|
| Virtualized Architecture | 25% | 63 |
| Cloud Interconnect | 25% | 62 |
| High Availability | 20% | 50 |
| Security | 15% | 38 |
| Service Assurance and Optimization | 15% | 37 |
| Total | 100% | 250 |
Study tip: Virtualized Architecture and Cloud Interconnect make up half the exam. Start with the boundaries Cisco expects you to keep straight: NFV vs VNF vs NFVI vs VIM; NSO orchestration vs device interfaces; carrier-neutral underlay vs SD-WAN overlay; private transport vs encryption; and DCI stitching vs a generic L2 extension.
Practice Exam — 250 Questions
Prepare for SPCNI with our 250-question practice exam covering all 5 official domains. Every question is an original service-provider cloud scenario with detailed explanations and maps to the SPCNI v1.0 objectives.
What you get:
- ✓ Exam simulation mode with timer
- ✓ Spaced repetition for weak areas
- ✓ Detailed explanations for every question
- ✓ Progress tracking across domains
- ✓ 20 free questions — no account needed
Cisco Certification Path
Cisco certifications progress from Entry and Associate to Professional and Expert levels. CCNP Service Provider requires the SPCOR 350-501 core exam plus one concentration — SPCNI 300-540 is the concentration focused on service-provider cloud and virtualized network infrastructure.
Related Cisco Certifications
If you’re studying for SPCNI, you might also be interested in:
- SPCOR: Cisco CCNP Service Provider Core (350-501) — the core exam that pairs with SPCNI
- DCCOR: Cisco CCNP Data Center Core (350-601) — data-center networking, compute, storage, automation, and security
- DCACI: Implementing Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (300-620) — Cisco ACI implementation and operations
- AUTOCOR: Cisco Network Automation Systems (350-901) — network automation architecture, APIs, orchestration, and operations
- ENAUTO: Cisco Enterprise Network Automation (300-435) — model-driven programmability and enterprise automation
Study Tips
- Start with the two 25% domains — together they account for half the blueprint
- Keep the NFV roles separate — NFVI, VIM, VNFM, NFVO, VNF, NSO, and OpenStack are related but not interchangeable
- Study interconnect as a boundary problem — carrier-neutral facilities, cloud-provider attachment, DCI gateways, and encrypted overlays solve different needs
- Think in failure domains — VNF placement alone does not remove shared compute, vNIC, uplink, ToR, state, or control-plane dependencies
- Separate protocol depth from the SPCNI decision — use EVPN, MPLS/SR, uRPF, FlowSpec, and telemetry as evidence in a cloud-infrastructure design or diagnosis
- Simulate exam conditions — use timed Exam Mode after you are comfortable explaining why every distractor is wrong