Move packets across the fabric
Apply routing, vPC and VXLAN EVPN, understand ACI, and trace unicast, multicast and broadcast packet flow.
Partners and press
Overview
A data center is more than switches. This exam covers the servers and storage too.
The Professional data center credential: the DCCOR core exam, then one concentration exam, with no prerequisites listed. DCCOR splits its weight evenly between network and compute at 25% each, with Fibre Channel and UCS beside VXLAN EVPN and ACI. Concentrations cover design, troubleshooting, ACI, automation or the newer AI infrastructure exam, and it lasts three years.
13Modules
120Minutes
3Years valid
7Roles
What it tests
Learn all the way down.
Learn all the way down.
Perform when it matters.
Run the compute
Implement Cisco UCS rack servers and blade chassis, explain UCS-X in Intersight Managed Mode, and manage firmware updates.
Connect the storage
Implement Fibre Channel, describe NFS and iSCSI storage, and plan software updates around their impact.
Script and protect
Use scripting and orchestration tools, evaluate AI-enabling network technology, and apply security across network, compute and storage.
Course outline
From a pair of leaf switches
From a pair of leaf switches
to a fabric that carries the business.
We design this course ourselves. Cisco runs the exam and issues the credential, and LUNARTECH is independent of Cisco.
Data centers are built around how traffic moves. You compare the older tiered design with spine-leaf, learn why east-west traffic reshaped it, and see how compute, storage and network teams share one design.
- Three-tier and spine-leaf designs compared
- East-west and north-south traffic
- Oversubscription and scale
- Failure domains and redundancy
- Where compute, storage and network meet
You build A spine-leaf design for a mid-size data center with capacity noted per tier.
Everything in the fabric sits on switching and routing basics. You review VLANs, spanning tree and the routing protocols used in data centers, with first-hop redundancy and multicast for the services that need them.
- VLANs and spanning tree in a data center
- OSPF and BGP as underlay protocols
- First-hop redundancy
- Multicast: IGMP and PIM
- Layer 3 gateways and where they live
- Verifying routing and switching state
You build A routed underlay for a small fabric, with verified adjacencies and reachability.
Redundant links must be used, not blocked. You bundle links with LACP, pair switches in a vPC domain so servers connect to both, and learn the consistency rules and failure behavior that keep a vPC stable.
- LACP port channels
- The vPC domain, peer link and keepalive
- vPC consistency checks
- Orphan ports and their pitfalls
- Failure scenarios and recovery order
- Verifying a vPC
You build A vPC pair with a dual-attached server and a documented failure test.
VXLAN EVPN stretches Layer 2 and Layer 3 services across a routed fabric. You learn how VTEPs, VNIs and BGP EVPN routes work, and how an anycast gateway and tenant VRFs serve many workloads.
- Why overlays exist
- VTEPs, VNIs and encapsulation
- BGP EVPN route types and what they carry
- Distributed anycast gateway
- Multi-tenancy with VRFs
- Reading EVPN tables to verify a fabric
You build A small VXLAN EVPN fabric with two tenants, verified through its route tables.
ACI manages the fabric as a policy system. You learn the controller and fabric roles, model tenants, VRFs, bridge domains and endpoint groups, and write contracts that decide which groups may talk.
- Controller and fabric roles
- Tenants, VRFs and bridge domains
- Endpoint groups and application profiles
- Contracts, subjects and filters
- Access policies for physical connections
- Reading faults and health scores
You build An ACI tenant with two application tiers and a contract between them.
Troubleshooting begins with knowing the path. You trace unicast, multicast and broadcast traffic through a VXLAN EVPN fabric and an ACI fabric, and use monitoring tools to confirm what really happened.
- Unicast flow inside a fabric
- Broadcast and unknown unicast handling
- Multicast in the overlay
- Traffic leaving the fabric
- Monitoring and capturing fabric traffic
- Locating a drop along the path
You build A packet flow diagram for each traffic type, checked against live show output.
Servers are part of the design, not an afterthought. You implement UCS rack servers and blade chassis, understand how fabric connectivity reaches them, and use pools, policies and profiles to make configuration repeatable.
- UCS components and how they connect
- Rack servers and blade chassis compared
- Pools, policies and templates
- Service profiles and stateless computing
- Server connectivity to the fabric
- Monitoring server health
You build A service profile template that brings new servers up identically.
Modern compute is managed from the cloud. You explain UCS-X and Intersight Managed Mode, plan and apply firmware updates with care for running workloads, and protect configuration with backups.
- UCS-X architecture
- Intersight Managed Mode and how it differs
- Domain and server profiles
- Firmware update planning and sequencing
- Configuration backup and restore
- Reading inventory and compliance reports
You build A firmware update plan for a UCS domain with rollback and backup steps.
Block storage still depends on Fibre Channel in many data centers. You configure VSANs, zones and logins, understand how servers and arrays find each other, and see where FCoE and NPV fit.
- Fibre Channel basics and naming
- VSANs and fabric logins
- Zoning and zone sets
- NPV and NPIV
- FCoE and converged links
- Verifying and troubleshooting the fabric
You build A zoned Fibre Channel fabric connecting two servers to a storage array.
File and block storage also run over IP. You describe NFS and iSCSI, what they need from the network, and how software and EPLD updates on switches affect storage traffic so maintenance never surprises a database.
- NFS and its network requirements
- iSCSI initiators, targets and multipathing
- Separating storage traffic on the network
- Software upgrades and their traffic impact
- EPLD updates and when they need a reload
- Planning a maintenance window for storage
You build A maintenance plan that sequences switch updates around live storage traffic.
Data centers are managed by code and increasingly built for AI. You script with Python and APIs, compare automation and orchestration tools, and describe the high-bandwidth, lossless network features that AI workloads need.
- Python and APIs on Nexus devices
- Configuration management with Ansible
- Orchestration compared with automation
- Infrastructure as code for the data center
- Network requirements of AI workloads
- Lossless Ethernet and RDMA at a high level
You build An automation script that audits a set of switches against a standard.
A data center is only as secure as its weakest layer. You apply role-based access, segmentation and policy on the network, harden compute, and secure storage access with zoning and masking.
- Role-based access control and AAA
- Network segmentation and contracts
- Control plane protection on switches
- Compute hardening and management access
- Storage access control: zoning and masking
- Securing management networks
You build A layered security plan covering network, compute and storage, with owners for each control.
Design a data center from the bottom up. You choose the fabric, size compute and storage, plan automation and security, and write an operations plan that covers updates and failure.
- Gathering requirements and constraints
- Choosing the fabric and compute platform
- Planning storage connectivity
- Planning security and automation
- Writing the operations and update plan
You build A full data center design document with diagrams, a bill of parts and an operations plan.
Issued by
Certifying body · Independent of LUNARTECH
Cisco
Cisco designs and sells much of the networking equipment the internet runs on. It runs this program itself and publishes the topics for every exam. Professional and Expert credentials last three years. LUNARTECH is independent of Cisco.
How you get there
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Top-tier roles go to people who can do the work.
Here’s how you get there.
Know where you start.
Cisco lists no prerequisites and states no recommended experience. You pair the core exam with one concentration exam of your choice.
Work through the course.
Thirteen modules, designed by LUNARTECH, at your own pace.
Sit it with Cisco.
Cisco runs the exam and issues the credential, so you register and book directly with them.
Support
Support at every stage.
Support at every stage.
You won’t be working through this alone.
Before you start
Try it first.
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While you learn
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Any time
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Write to info@lunartech.ai at any point, from your trial onwards. If your employer is funding you, we’ll set it up with them directly.
All the way through
A schedule that fits around your life.
Your own paceFrom anywhereAt any hour
After the last lesson
Stay in the network.
Your alumni network stays with you: ongoing support, opportunities and industry insight.
Career support
Career support, past the last lesson. Coaching, a sharper resume, real interview preparation and the people to know.
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Strong portfolio
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Personalized refinement, so what you send says what you can actually do.
Interview preparation
Preparation for the questions that decide it, so you walk in ready.
Network and search
Connections with industry leaders, and an alumni network that stays with you.
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Certificate of completion
Your Name
CCNP Data Center course
LUNARTECH RISE Academy
Pricing
This course comes with the membership.
This course comes with the membership.
So does everything else.
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In practice
Seven roles.
Seven roles.
One credential across them all.
No single job owns it. Here’s where each role leans hardest, and where its work ends up.
- 01Network
- 02Compute
- 03Storage
- 04Automation, AI
- 05Security
-
A fabric fails where the overlay meets the underlay. DCCOR tests both sides.
Network, Automation, AI
Enterprise data centers, Cloud and colocation
-
AI racks mix switches, servers and storage. This exam covers all three.
Network, Compute, Automation, AI
AI and GPU clusters, Enterprise data centers
-
A storage fabric is unforgiving of loss. Fibre Channel knowledge still matters.
Storage, Security
Enterprise data centers, Financial services
-
One change touches network, compute and storage at once. DCCOR covers all three together.
Network, Compute, Storage
Enterprise data centers, Cloud and colocation
-
Private clouds run on the same racks you plan around. Automation keeps them repeatable.
Compute, Automation, AI
Cloud and colocation, AI and GPU clusters
-
Segmentation in the fabric limits where a breach spreads. Security design is part of the core.
Security, Network
Financial services, Enterprise data centers
-
A data center plan weighs network, compute and storage. The design concentration tests that weighing.
Network, Compute, Storage
Enterprise data centers, Financial services
- Enterprise data centers
- Cloud and colocation
- AI and GPU clusters
- Financial services
Network Engineer
A fabric fails where the overlay meets the underlay. DCCOR tests both sides.
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Updated November 2026.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Need help? These answers cover most of what people ask before they start.
No. Cisco issues it. LUNARTECH is independent of Cisco, and its names and marks belong to it. When you finish a course of ours, you earn a LUNARTECH certificate of completion for that course.
No. We design this course ourselves, around what the exam covers. Cisco has no part in it, and you still register and book the exam directly with Cisco.
120 minutes, core + one concentration, in English.
Cisco lists no prerequisites and states no recommended experience. You pair the core exam with one concentration exam of your choice.
3 years. Renew with Continuing Education credits or retake exams before they expire.
DCID design, DCIT troubleshooting, DCACI ACI, DCNAUTO automation and DCAI AI infrastructure. Each earns its own Cisco specialist certification as well.
We last reviewed it on 5 November 2026, from Cisco’s own pages. Details change, so check the official page before you book.
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The course
Build the skills behind CCNP Data Center.
Show you can run a data center from the fabric to the server. Start with a free trial, or enroll in a plan and work through the course at your own pace. Cisco runs the exam and issues the credential.
LUNARTECH is independent of the vendors and certifying bodies listed here. Their names, exam titles and marks belong to them, exams are run by them, and credentials are issued by them. Reviewed 5 November 2026. Catalogues change often, so confirm the details on the official page before you book.
