Nokia NRS II Lab Exam

Exam name: Nokia NRS II Lab Exam

Exam number: NRSII4A0

Mandatory prerequisites: 

•  Nokia IS-IS Routing Protocol (4A0-112) or Nokia OSPF Routing Protocol (4A0-113)
•  Nokia Border Gateway Protocol Fundamentals for Services (4A0-114)
•  Nokia Multiprotocol Label Switching (4A0-103)
•  Nokia Services Architecture (4A0-104)

Candidates can also meet the eligibility requirements by passing one of the following composite exams that combine the exams listed above:

• Nokia NRS II Composite Exam: IS-IS version (4A0-C03)
• Nokia NRS II Composite Exam: OSPF version (4A0-C04)

Exam duration: 3.5 Hours

Number of questions: Practical Exam

Language: English

Price: €650

Candidates can prepare for the lab exam by attending one of the following workshops:

• Nokia NRS II Lab Workshop - Version A (OSPF)
• Nokia NRS II Lab Workshop - Version B (IS-IS)

Candidates can also prepare by taking the following instructor-led hands-on courses:

• Nokia IS-IS Routing Protocol or Nokia OSPF Routing Protocol
• Nokia Border Gateway Protocol Fundamentals for Services
• Nokia Multiprotocol Label Switching
• Nokia Services Architecture

Alternatively, candidates can choose to self-study by purchasing the course materials and lab guides associated with the courses mentioned above and purchasing lab time from our My SR Learning Labs service to complete the labs from the courses.

Purchase course materials Purchase My SR Learning Labs

Credit toward certification:

Nokia Network Routing Specialist II (NRS II) Certification

What to expect with the Nokia Network Routing Specialist II (NRS II) Lab Exam

The Nokia NRS II Lab Exam is a three-and-a-half-hour practical exam that tests a candidate's ability to configure basic services and the supporting technologies on the Nokia 7750 Service Router (SR).

To register for the Nokia NRS II Lab Exam, candidates must have passed the following four prerequisite written exams:

•  Nokia IS-IS Routing Protocol (4A0-112) or Nokia OSPF Routing Protocol (4A0-113)
•  Nokia Border Gateway Protocol Fundamentals for Services (4A0-114)
•  Nokia Multiprotocol Label Switching (4A0-103)
•  Nokia Services Architecture (4A0-104)

Candidates can also meet the eligibility requirements by passing one of the following composite exams that combines the exams listed above:

• Nokia NRS II Composite Exam: IS-IS version (4A0-C03)
• Nokia NRS II Composite Exam: OSPF version (4A0-C04)

Exam topics

Exam topics are summarized in the sections below. Candidates should be able to configure and verify all topics and features; however, it is possible that not all topics will be covered in the exam. In the routing protocol section, candidates can choose either IS-IS or OSPF to complete the exam.

Candidates can choose between using classic CLI or MD-CLI to configure labs in the exam.
 

1. Network Fundamentals

    1.1 Networking concepts

• TCP/IP and OSI protocol layering and encapsulation
• IP and Layer 3
  • IPv4 address structure
  • IPv6 address structure
• IP packet forwarding and the route table
• Equal-cost multipath routing (ECMP)
• Policies for route redistribution and route filtering
• The Nokia Service Router (SR) product architecture and the command line interface (CLI)

2. Routing Protocols

    2.1 IP routing basics

• IPv4 and IPv6 routing protocol functions and operation
• Static and default routes
• Bidirectional forwarding detection (BFD)

    2.2 Interior Routing Protocols (IRP)

• Link-state protocols (OSPFv2, OSPFv3, or IS-IS)
  • Protocol operation for IPv4 and IPv6 routing 
• OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 (for OSPF track)
  • Areas and topologies
  • Link state advertisements
  • Route advertisement behavior in different area types
• IS-IS for IPv4 and IPv6 (for IS-IS track)
  • Areas and topologies 
  • Link state advertisements (LS PDUs) 
  • Native and multi-topology calculation of shortest-path IPv6 routes

3. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)

    3.1 Basic MPLS concepts

• Forwarding equivalence classes
• Labels and label stacks
• Label distribution and label bindings 
• Label switched paths (LSPs)
• MPLS packet forwarding

    3.2 RSVP-TE

• Protocol operation
• Traffic-engineered and constraint-based LSPs
• LSP resiliency
  • Secondary paths
  • Fast reroute
  • Ensuring path diversity with admin groups and shared risk link groups (SRLG)

    3.3 LDP

• Protocol operation
• Signaling
• Link LDP and Targeted LDP sessions

4. Services Architecture 

• Concept of Service Distribution Point (SDP)
• SDP using GRE transport tunnel
• SDP using MPLS transport tunnel
  • LDP LSP as transport tunnel
  • RSVP-TE LSP as transport tunnel 
• SDP signaling 
• Ping and trace in SDP

5. L2/L3 Services

    5.1 Epipe (Ethernet VPWS)

• Epipe control/data plane
• Epipe pseudowire signaling
• Implementing and troubleshooting Epipe 
• MTU issues
• Handling of VLAN tags
• VC type

    5.2 Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS)

• VPLS control/data plane
  • VPLS label signaling
  • VPLS encapsulation
  • VPLS data forwarding
• Implementing VPLS
  • Using mesh SDPs
  • SAP encapsulation

    5.3 Internet Enhanced Services (IES)

• Creation of IES
• IES interface (IP addressing, port encapsulation)
• Routing protocol on IES interface

    5.4 Virtual Private Routed Networks (VPRN)

• VPRN control/data plane
  • MP-BGP
  • VPRN encapsulation
  • VPRN data forwarding 
• Implementing VPRN
  • Full mesh VPRN topology
  • SAP encapsulation
  • 6VPE for IPv6 VPRN

    5.5 Service inter-operation

• VPLS spoke-termination to a layer-3 IES service
• Routed VPLS bound to a layer-3 interface
• VPLS inter-op with Epipe services

    5.6 Mirroring services

• Local mirroring
• Remote mirroring

Exam notes and tips

During the exam, you will be allowed to access soft copies of the product manuals only as reference material, if necessary. The product manuals will be accessible from the PC used to access the exam equipment. No other notes or textbooks or reference materials are allowed during the exam. Electronic devices, including cell phones, are not allowed into the examination room. For on-site lab exams, candidates will be provided with pen and paper. No pen and paper are allowed for virtual lab exams. 

The exam pass mark is 80 percent. Candidates must complete some parts of the exam correctly, in order to obtain full marks in later parts of the exam. The candidate must have an adequate level of hands-on experience to maintain a reasonable pace during the exam so that all required tasks can be completed within the allotted time.

Listed below are some tips to help candidates successfully prepare for and pass the Nokia NRS II Lab Exam:

1. Ensure that you completely understand and are familiar with the student manuals and labs of the prerequisite courses in the NRS II certification. This will help you to become more comfortable with the lab exam material. Review the exam preparation tab for more details.
2. For each exam scenario, a recommended time and mark allocation are provided to help you manage your time.
3. If you are unclear about anything in the exam, ask the proctor for clarification. The exam proctor will attempt to clarify anything that may be ambiguous. Do not expect the proctor to provide other information during or after the exam.
4. Be sure to allow yourself some time to verify the correct operation of your solution.
5. Save your configuration often. Your exam mark will be based on your final configuration.
6. Relax and read each question very carefully. Be thorough in your solution but remember to pace yourself appropriately.

Lab exams are delivered virtually or at select Nokia locations.  To take the exam virtually, you must meet the system requirements below, or you can visit our lab exam registration page to view available locations for in-person delivery.

Virtual system requirements:

• A webcam
• A microphone
• A single monitor (only one monitor is allowed)
• Minimum 4 Mbps end-to-end internet connection (a wired network connection is preferred)
• Windows 10.0
• Microsoft Edge 11.0
• 60 GB of free hard disk space
• 12 GB of RAM (6GB dedicated allocated memory for VMPlayer)Administrative privileges on the PC
• Hardware virtualization support at CPU level on the PC (Intel VTx)