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Exam Information
Official specifications published by Juniper
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Skills this practice test covers
- Decide which cloud deployment and service model suits a described workload.
- Explain how NFV and an SDN controller move network functions into software.
- Choose between VXLAN, EVPN with VXLAN, MPLS over GRE or UDP, and GENEVE for an overlay.
- Run virtual machines with KVM and QEMU, and containers with Docker, on Linux.
- Launch instances, write Heat templates and apply security groups in OpenStack.
- Work with Kubernetes Pods, Deployments, Services and namespaces, and with OpenShift workloads.
Explore related topics
JN0-214 exam content
7 domains · 21 topics · 236 of 243 questions sorted by domain
Cloud Fundamentals36 questions
This domain covers the vocabulary of cloud computing: public, private and hybrid deployment models, and the infrastructure, platform and software service models. It also introduces cloud-native design, where an application is built from microservices and managed by automation tools.
Skills tested
- Match a business need to a public, private or hybrid cloud deployment.
- Decide what the customer manages and what the provider manages in IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.
- Explain how an application built from microservices differs from one large application.
- Describe the role of automation tools such as Ansible and of infrastructure as code.
Questions by topic
- Identify the concepts or functionalities of cloud service models10
- Identify the concepts or functionalities of cloud deployment models9
- Identify the concepts or functionalities of cloud computing7
- Identify cloud-native architectures and automation concepts10
Cloud Infrastructure (NFV and SDN)44 questions
NFV runs network functions such as firewalls and routers as software on standard servers. SDN separates the control plane from the data plane, so that a central controller can program the network. Together they explain how a cloud network is built in software.
Skills tested
- Identify the parts of the ETSI NFV architecture, including VNFs and the MANO orchestration layer.
- Explain how a virtual network function (VNF) such as a virtual firewall is deployed and chained with others.
- Describe what an SDN controller does and how it talks to the devices it controls.
- Compare SDN-based solutions, such as Juniper Contrail, with traditional networking.
Questions by topic
- Identify SDN architecture and controller functions18
- Identify NFV architecture components and concepts18
- Identify SDN-based networking solutions8
Network Virtualization34 questions
Cloud networks have two layers: the underlay is the physical IP network, and the overlay is the set of virtual networks tunneled across it. This domain asks which encapsulation an overlay uses, and why.
Skills tested
- Tell underlay and overlay networks apart in a data center design.
- Explain how VXLAN carries Ethernet frames inside UDP, marked with a VXLAN network identifier (VNI).
- Explain why EVPN is used as a BGP-based control plane for VXLAN.
- Compare MPLS over GRE, MPLS over UDP and GENEVE encapsulation.
Questions by topic
- Identify encapsulation technologies including MPLS over GRE/MPLS over UDP/VXLAN/EVPN with VXLAN/GENEVE25
- Identify underlay and overlay network concepts9
Cloud Virtualization35 questions
This domain covers the software that runs cloud workloads: the Linux kernel, hypervisors, KVM with QEMU, and Docker containers. Candidates should know how a virtual machine and a container differ, and how each one is created.
Skills tested
- Tell a Type 1 (bare-metal) hypervisor from a Type 2 (hosted) one.
- Explain how KVM and QEMU work together to run virtual machines on Linux.
- Create a virtual machine and manage it through its life cycle.
- Pull an image, run a container and manage it with the Docker CLI.
- Explain kernel space and user space, and why containers share the host kernel.
Questions by topic
- Identify Docker container creation and management concepts12
- Identify Linux architecture and hypervisor types8
- Identify KVM/QEMU concepts and operations14
- Identify NFV architecture components and concepts1
Cloud Orchestration - OpenStack35 questions
OpenStack turns a pool of servers into a private cloud. Candidates should know its core services, launch and manage instances, automate deployments with Heat templates written in YAML, and control traffic with Neutron networks and security groups.
Skills tested
- Name the core OpenStack services: Nova, Neutron, Glance, Cinder and Keystone.
- Launch an instance from an image and a flavor in the Horizon dashboard.
- Read and write a basic Heat template in YAML.
- Control instance traffic with security group rules and floating IPs.
Questions by topic
- Identify OpenStack fundamentals and VM management concepts17
- Identify HEAT templates in YAML for automation11
- Identify OpenStack networking concepts7
Cloud Orchestration - Kubernetes33 questions
Kubernetes runs containers across a cluster and keeps them in the desired state. Candidates work with its API objects, with namespaces, and with Container Network Interface (CNI) plug-ins, which connect pods to the network.
Skills tested
- Explain what Pods, ReplicaSets, Deployments and Services each do.
- Choose a Service type such as ClusterIP or LoadBalancer for an application.
- Use namespaces to keep teams or applications apart in one cluster.
- Explain what a CNI plug-in such as Calico or Flannel does for pod networking.
- Inspect cluster objects with basic kubectl commands.
Questions by topic
- Identify API Objects (Pods, ReplicaSets, Deployments, Services)18
- Identify Namespaces and CNI plug-ins8
- Identify container management concepts in Kubernetes7
Cloud Orchestration - OpenShift19 questions
OpenShift is Red Hat's Kubernetes platform. This domain covers creating, managing and monitoring workloads through the oc command line and the web console, and the node and network types of an OpenShift cluster.
Skills tested
- Create and monitor a workload from the developer perspective of the web console.
- Manage projects and applications with the oc command-line tool.
- Identify node types, including provisioner and control plane nodes.
- Name the network types an installation uses: routable, provisioning and management.
Questions by topic
- Identify node types (provisioner and control plane)7
- Identify workload creation, management, and monitoring concepts12
Requirements
- No formal prerequisites: anyone can book the exam.
- Recommended: networking fundamentals, such as IP addressing and routing.
- Recommended: hands-on time with Linux, hypervisors and containers.
About the JN0-214 exam
JNCIA-Cloud is Juniper's associate-level certification in cloud networking, and JN0-214 is the exam that earns it. The exam checks how the networks of a cloud are built and run: deployment and service models, network functions virtualization (NFV), software-defined networking (SDN), overlay tunnels and orchestration. Most of its objectives cover open-source platforms such as OpenStack, Kubernetes, OpenShift and Linux KVM rather than Juniper hardware.
In the PlanetCert practice test, NFV and SDN carry the most questions, and encapsulation questions make up most of network virtualization. OpenStack, Kubernetes and OpenShift use different names for similar ideas, such as an OpenStack project and a Kubernetes namespace, and Brainy AI Assistant can set those names side by side. Every answer is explained, which helps most with lookalike encapsulations such as VXLAN, GENEVE and MPLS over GRE. Study mode suits the three orchestration domains, and a timed run then mixes all seven domains.
How to earn the certification
- Earns
- Juniper Networks Certified Associate - Cloud (JNCIA-Cloud)Associate
JNCIA-Cloud stays valid for three years. Passing the current version of the exam renews it.
How to prepare for JN0-214
- 1
Build a one-machine cloud lab
Install Linux with KVM on one machine, then add Docker and a small Kubernetes cluster. DevStack gives a quick OpenStack install for practising the OpenStack objectives.
- 2
Compare encapsulation headers side by side
Make a one-page table of VXLAN, EVPN with VXLAN, MPLS over GRE, MPLS over UDP and GENEVE: what each carries, how it is transported and which control plane it uses. Encapsulation is the largest single topic in the practice test.
- 3
Give NFV and SDN the most time
NFV and SDN carry the most weight in the syllabus. Learn the ETSI NFV architecture and what an SDN controller does, then link both to the overlays from the previous step.
- 4
Run one workload on each orchestrator
Create an instance from a Heat template in OpenStack, a Deployment with a Service in Kubernetes, and an application in OpenShift. Note how each platform names projects, networks and templates.
- 5
Finish with JN0-214 timed runs
Work through the practice test domain by domain in study mode, then take timed runs. Juniper's free official practice exam makes a useful final check.
Start a timed JN0-214run
Juniper's free Open Learning course for JNCIA-Cloud is self-paced and follows the exam objectives. The instructor-led course is Juniper Cloud Fundamentals (JCF).
Who JN0-214 is for
- Network engineers who now support virtual machines, containers and cloud platforms.
- Linux administrators who manage hypervisors or Kubernetes clusters in their data center.
- DevOps engineers who deploy applications on OpenStack, Kubernetes or OpenShift.
- IT professionals who want an associate-level start in cloud networking.
Typical job titles: Cloud network engineer · Cloud infrastructure engineer · Network automation engineer · DevOps engineer · Cloud solutions architect
JN0-214 glossary
19 terms from the exam objectives and the vendor's official material, each defined in a sentence.
- CNI (Container Network Interface)
- The standard plug-in interface that connects Kubernetes pods to the network. Calico and Flannel are examples of CNI plug-ins.
- EVPN
- Ethernet VPN: a BGP-based control plane that shares MAC and IP address information between the ends of VXLAN tunnels.
- GENEVE
- Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation: an overlay format with a flexible header that can carry extra metadata.
- Heat
- The OpenStack orchestration service, which builds a whole stack of resources from a template written in YAML.
- Hybrid Cloud
- A setup that combines a private cloud with one or more public clouds and moves workloads or data between them.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- A service model where the provider supplies virtual servers, storage and networks, and the customer manages everything above them.
- KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
- A Linux kernel module that lets Linux act as a hypervisor, using hardware support such as Intel VT-x and AMD-V.
- Namespaces
- Virtual partitions inside one Kubernetes cluster that keep the objects of different teams or applications apart.
- Network Functions Virtualization (NFV)
- Running network functions such as routers and firewalls as software on standard servers instead of dedicated hardware.
- Neutron
- The OpenStack networking service, which creates networks, subnets, routers and security groups for instances.
- Overlay
- A virtual network built on top of the underlay by wrapping traffic in tunnels between hosts.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS)
- A service model where the provider also runs the operating system and runtime, so the customer deploys only code.
- Pods
- The smallest units Kubernetes runs: one or more containers that share storage and a network address.
- QEMU
- An emulator that supplies the virtual hardware, such as disks and network cards, for the virtual machines that KVM runs.
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- A service model where the customer uses a finished application over the internet, such as email or office software.
- Software-Defined Networking (SDN)
- A design that moves network decisions into a central controller, which then programs the switches and routers.
- Underlay
- The physical IP network of switches and routers that carries all the virtual networks above it.
- Virtual Network Functions (VNFs)
- The software network functions, such as a virtual router or firewall, that NFV deploys and manages.
- VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN)
- An encapsulation that carries Ethernet frames inside UDP packets, so a Layer 2 network can stretch across an IP underlay.