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EIGRP revision notes

Network Monitoring and Management
Apr 05

Network engineer job interview technical questions..

Categories:
Job Interview, Misc
by pp2

I thought to make a list of technical interview questionsquestions based on networking and security area - routing & switching, firewalls, loadbalancers, TCP/IP, DNS and troubleshooting steps. I will add more questions on firewalls, load-balancers etc when I get time to gather all my notes,
hopefully very soon.
Routing/Switching questions:
Make yourself aware on below routing protocols:
EIGRP
OSPF
BGP
MPLS
What is Feasible successor:
To be considered a feasible successor, the Advertised distance must be less than the Feasible distance of the successor. (AD < FD)
What does the EIGRP stuck in active message mean?
When EIGRP returns a stuck in active (SIA) message, it means that it has not received a reply to a query. An EIGRP neighbour (or
neighbours) have not replied to the query for that route.
When the SIA occurs, the router clears the neighbour that did not reply to the query.
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Why do you not see OSPF neighbours as FULL/DR or FULL/BDR on serial link?
This is normal. On point-to-point and point-to-multipoint networks, there are no designated routers (DRs) or backup designated routers
(BDRs).
What is multicast address for EIGRP and OSPF hello packets:
EIGRP 224.0.0.10
OSPF for all the routers 224.0.0.5
OSPF initial multicast only for DR and BDR 224.0.0.6
What is type-1 and type-2 LSAs in OSPF?
Type-1 LSAs are router LSAs and are generated by each router for the area to which the router belongs.
Type-2 LSAs are network LSAs and are generated by the DR and BDR.
OSPF network types:
Broadcast, multi-access networks: Ehternet, token ring. Single mode operation.
Point-to-point : T1 CAS, ISDN BRI/PRI, single operation mode, no DR/BDR.
Non-broadcast multi-access(NBMA) networks: Frame realy, ATM, MPLS. Five modes of operation.
Which port is being used by BGP protocol?
port TCP 179.
What is the Path/link cost for below links?
10 Mbps 100
100 Mbps 19
1 BGPS 4
Administrative distance of various routing protocols:
Connected 0
Static 1
eBGP/ BGP 20
EIGRP 90
OSPF 110
IS-IS- 115
RIP 120
iBGP 200
Unknown 255
Port numbers:
Telnet 23
DNS 53
SSH 22
FTP 21 (FTP data- 20, FTP control 21)
SMTP 25
Whois 43
SFTP 115
SNMP 161
BGP 179
LDAP 389
DHCP client- 546
DHCP Server 547
POP3 110
TACACS and TACACS+ port:
UDP/TCP 49
What is STP? (Spanning tree protocol)
It is loop prevention mechanism. It main purpose is to dynamically maintain a loop-free network. It does this by sending out BPDUs,
discovering any loops in the topology, and blocking one or more redundant links.
Some basic questions:
Explain TCP/IP 3-way handshake. (Easy but important question)
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Syn, Syn-ACK, ACK

(more explaination, check at here)

What is BID?
It is 8-byte field that is composed of the bridges 6-byte MAC address and a 2-byte bridge priority.
What are the spanning tree states?
Below four are spanning-tree states: 1. Blocking 2.Listening 3.Learning 4. Forwarding.
How many /24 subnets in /27 subnets?
2^3 = 8. .. 8 Subnets.
What is mac address:
It is a 48 bit address burned into a network interface card.
First 3 octets 24 bits known as OUI (org unique identifier) - Manufacture/vendor identification
What is ehternet normal MTU size ? And what about MPLS MTU size?
1500 bytes is the MTU for an Ethernet frame. MPLS MTU is 1520.
What is the demarcation point?
The demark is the point where the CPE ends and the local loop begins. It is the meeting point of service providers responsibility and clients
responsibility.
What is the difference between SVCs and PVCs ?
SVCs(switched virtual circuits) are dynamically established when data needs to be transferred and that are terminated when data
transmission is complete.
SVCs states: 1. Call setup 2.data transfer 3.Idle and 4. Call termination.
PVCs(permanent virtual circuits) are permanently setup virtual circuits that operates in two states: Idle and data transfer.
What is split horizon?
The rule of split horizon is that is it never useful to send information about a route back in the direction from which the original update came.
What is convergence?
Convergence is when all routers have consistent knowledge and correct routing tables.
What is route poisoning?
With route poisoning, when a distance vector routing protocol notices that a route is no longer valid, the route is advertised with an infinite
matric, signifying that the route is bad.
What is DLCI ?
A DLCI is a number that identifies the logical circuit between the router and the frame relay switch. It is the frame realy layer 2 address.
Local significance only.
What is the committed information rate(CIR) ?
The CIR is the committed information rate by the service providers, in bits per second, at which data will be transferred. The service provider
sends any data in excess of this rate if its network has capacity at that time.
More to come
Here are some more questions:
What is STP? (Spanning tree protocol)
It is loop prevention mechanism. It main purpose is to dynamically maintain a loop-free network. It does this by sending out BPDUs, discovering
any loops in the topology, and blocking one or more redundant links.

What is Root guard and BPDU guard and where are those being used?
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Root guard: It is the mechanism to stop intruders to make their switch(compromised or their own) as a root in STP by enabling root guard on
root bridge switch ports. As soon as it received superior bpdu on root guard enabled ports it simply disable that port and put into inconsistent
mode until other switch stops sending superior bpdus.
BPDU guard: It stops portfast enabled ports to send bpdu. As an example if any of the port on switch is connected to user PC then it port-fast
might have been enabled on that port. It does mean switch knows that the port-fast port wont be connected to other switch it is not expecting
bpdu to be coming from that port. If PC(or application or users own switch) starts sending bpdu on that port, switch simple disable/shutdown
that port.
Commands to enable BPDU guard:
Spanning tree bpdu guard enable
Spanning tree portfast bpdu guard default

What is DHCP snooping?

DHCP snooping allows responses to only come from specific trusted ports. It saves network from man-in-middle attack.
DHCP rate limiting prevents pool exhaustion.
Command to enable dhcp snooping:
# ip dhcp snooping (stop accepting dhcp reply from all the ports)
# int fa0/0
# ip dhcp snooping trust (to make sure it accepts dhcp reply from specific port where dhcp server reply is connected)
Just an example,
You need to configure dhcp snooping trust ports on all three switches to let switch 1 use dhcp server.
SW1 >> SW2 >> SW3 >> DHCP server

Questions on VPN, firewalls and on F5 load-balancers will be updated soon.

Thanks, P

Tags: interview, job, networking, security, technical questions

About the author

pp2
Prashant has been working in IT networking for last 7 years and holding CCNP, JNCIA, F5, CCNA Security and ITILv3 certifications. He has
finished his Msc Computer Science from Uni of Greenwich, UK.
36 comments
Skip to comment form

1.
michael kors

September 11, 2012 at 11:04 am (UTC 0)

Reply
I simply added this feed to my bookmarks. I truly enjoy reading your posts. Thanks!

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2.
Joesph Hinke

October 9, 2012 at 2:41 am (UTC 0)

Reply
I simply want to tell you that Im beginner in networking and looking for new job. You really have a good ques list. Appreciate it for
revealing your web site.

3.
Michael

October 26, 2012 at 5:36 am (UTC 0)

Reply
thanks for sharing above questions, it indeed helping me in my preparation. Would be good if you can add more questions on firewall
checkpoint, DNS and F5.. thanks. Mike

4.
moncler

November 3, 2012 at 9:43 am (UTC 0)

Reply
thanks for sharing..looking forward.

5.
burberry

November 5, 2012 at 5:23 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
Nice Post! bookmarked it for further updates.

6.
candidate

November 6, 2012 at 2:36 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
wow its great post.. indeed helped me. thanks.

7.
varun

April 12, 2013 at 3:46 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
Hi Prashant
really a great post , infact they were some questions which were asked for me to
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1.
pp2

April 12, 2013 at 4:55 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
Glad to hear that it helped..

8.
kayne

May 8, 2013 at 8:38 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
How many /24 subnets in /27 subnets?
3 Three
could you pls explain
my maths makes it
/27 has a magic number of 32 so..
= 8 x 32 = 256 so
8 x /27 subnets available from a single /24
thanks

1.
pp2

May 8, 2013 at 10:01 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
You are correct its 8. This question is being asked in many interview Thanks Kayne for correcting me.!

1.
smit

March 23, 2014 at 9:39 am (UTC 0)

Reply
How many /27 subnets in a /24 subnet ? could be the correct question.
Thanks.

9.
Sudhir

September 1, 2013 at 8:05 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
These questions are really helpful, please add some more data and L3 switching related questions with answers.
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1.
pp2

September 4, 2013 at 1:04 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
sure, I will update when I get chance. Thanks.

10.
trilok chand

September 21, 2013 at 11:55 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
really helpful and refreshng knowledgei will b grateful 2 uif we get more collection ahead.thxxx

11.
anshu

October 11, 2013 at 5:48 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
thanks bro i think these questions are really helpfull to me

1.
pp2

October 14, 2013 at 8:53 pm (UTC 0)

Reply

12.
Madan

November 7, 2013 at 11:31 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
There is a mistake in the first question (feasible successor)..Its not the administrative distance. The advertised distance is less than the
feasible distance of the successor. (AD<FD).

13.
Madan

November 7, 2013 at 11:39 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
please correct this one..(1 BGPS 4)

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14.
Madan

November 7, 2013 at 11:42 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
I think its better to add HTTP 80 and HTTPS 443 port numbers also.
Thanks Bro,
Madan

15.
Madan

November 7, 2013 at 11:59 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
Good bro its very useful for the interviews..waiting for more questions.

16.
Aditya

December 17, 2013 at 10:13 am (UTC 0)

Reply
Hi prashant,
In the definition of feasible successor you have mentioned AD as administrative distance but i think it should be Advertise distance.

1.
pp2

December 18, 2013 at 1:26 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
Good spot Aditya ! updated now

17.
sushant

January 18, 2014 at 1:46 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
tnks for sharing these questions.

18.
xylus khan

January 20, 2014 at 7:45 am (UTC 0)

Reply
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hi boss your straight and forward answers help me to get the best way t answer the interviewer thanx once again

1.
pp2

January 25, 2014 at 10:11 am (UTC 0)

Reply
Thts great, glad to know that it helped you. Thanks for your comments.

19.
Samanmubasher

January 26, 2014 at 8:17 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
I have done ccna ccnp and now doing ccna voice but still i m unemployed.any suggestions for me?

1.
pp2

February 12, 2014 at 7:26 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
Just keep looking in a market, with having ccnp you surely will get a job soon. Have a faith! Sometimes it becomes difficult to find first
job without having experience but once you have couple of years working experience, you will see many opportunities coming to your
way! Good Luck!

20.
kishor

February 28, 2014 at 1:15 am (UTC 0)

Reply
Thanxx a lot for posting.nice one

21.
Vidhun

April 22, 2014 at 6:47 am (UTC 0)

Reply
Hi Prashant , Please differentiate the DHCP client/server port numbers for IPv6 and IPv4. It would be good if you add IPv4 DHCP port
number.

22.
Kira

May 3, 2014 at 2:16 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
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Nice post.. Ive just passed my ccna and now preparing for interviews.
Im a software analyst for embedded systems and decided to shift my career in networking,
And still trying to figure out which specific field in networking I might fit in that is somehow related to the previous job. I would like to ask
your advise?
Thanks!

23.
Nishant

May 18, 2014 at 6:08 am (UTC 0)

Reply
Hi Prashant,
First of all thanks for providing us such a valuable stuff, i have a query that i have done CCNA and CCNP (R&S) but now i want to move
towards SECURITY, please suggest me is that a good decision.

24.
kalpesh patil

May 26, 2014 at 8:33 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
Very useful note

25.
tom

June 2, 2014 at 8:39 am (UTC 0)

Reply
nice!! thanx!!

26.
Raj

June 25, 2014 at 7:24 am (UTC 0)

Reply
Very Useful information..

27.
pratap

July 2, 2014 at 7:11 am (UTC 0)

Reply
hi,I am degree in IT and i have 7.4 yrs of experiences in bss (o&m) engineer and now i am working in network engineer that to support in
Tech Lan/Wan. so how z my carrier will be strong.

28.
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raju

October 16, 2014 at 2:45 pm (UTC 0)

Reply
thank u somuch for sharing of this type of Questations & answers

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