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Exam Review

Key Facts: ACE-Specialist Exam

~60

Exam Questions

Arista / Pearson VUE

70%

Passing Score

Arista

90 min

Exam Duration

Arista

$250

Exam Fee

Arista

3 years

Validity

Arista

4 tracks

Specializations

DC/Campus/CV/Routing

The ACE-S exam has ~60 questions in 90 minutes with 70% pass threshold. Tracks: Data Center, Campus, CloudVision, Routing. Key topics: EVPN-VXLAN (Types 2/3/5, anycast gateway, symmetric IRB), MLAG, advanced BGP/OSPF, leaf-spine fabrics, RoCEv2/PFC/ECN for AI, CloudVision basics. Recommended prep: complete ACE-Associate first. Certification valid 3 years. Exam fee $250 USD. Delivered via Pearson VUE.

Sample ACE-Specialist Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to review concepts for the ACE-Specialist exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1In an EVPN-VXLAN fabric, which BGP address family carries MAC and IP host reachability information?
A.ipv4 unicast
B.l2vpn evpn
C.vpnv4
D.ipv6 labeled-unicast
Explanation: EVPN uses the BGP 'l2vpn evpn' address family (AFI=25, SAFI=70) to distribute MAC/IP bindings, VTEP information, IP prefixes, and multicast membership. The EVPN NLRI is encoded as route types 1-5 (plus others). The underlay uses 'ipv4 unicast' to provide VTEP loopback reachability.
2Which EVPN route type advertises MAC/IP bindings learned on a local VTEP?
A.Type 1 (Ethernet Auto-Discovery)
B.Type 2 (MAC/IP Advertisement)
C.Type 3 (Inclusive Multicast)
D.Type 5 (IP Prefix)
Explanation: EVPN Type 2 routes advertise MAC addresses (and optionally their associated IP via ARP/ND snooping) bound to a specific EVPN Ethernet Segment and L2VNI. Type 3 handles BUM (broadcast/unknown-unicast/multicast) flood tree membership. Type 5 carries IP prefixes for inter-subnet routing. Type 1 supports multihoming auto-discovery.
3Which EVPN route type is used to advertise IP prefixes (subnets) between VTEPs for inter-subnet routing in symmetric IRB?
A.Type 2
B.Type 3
C.Type 4
D.Type 5
Explanation: EVPN Type 5 (IP Prefix route) carries subnet prefixes associated with an L3VNI (IP-VRF). In symmetric IRB, Type 5 advertises summary routes between VTEPs, and the destination VTEP performs the final route lookup into the destination L2VNI. Type 2 is per-host MAC/IP, Type 3 is BUM, Type 4 is ES (Ethernet Segment) route.
4What is a VTEP in VXLAN terminology?
A.A routing protocol
B.A VXLAN Tunnel End Point — the device that encaps/decaps VXLAN traffic
C.A specific VLAN ID
D.A kind of BFD session
Explanation: A VTEP (VXLAN Tunnel End Point) is the network device (typically a leaf switch or software vswitch) that encapsulates Ethernet frames into VXLAN (UDP 4789) for transport across an IP underlay and decapsulates them at the far end. On Arista, VTEPs are identified by a loopback IP advertised via BGP EVPN.
5What is the VXLAN UDP destination port?
A.4700
B.4789
C.8472
D.6081
Explanation: VXLAN uses UDP destination port 4789 (IANA-assigned). Some older implementations used 8472 before IANA standardization. 6081 is the Geneve overlay port; 4700 is unassigned. Source UDP port is typically a hash of the inner 5-tuple for ECMP spreading.
6In EVPN-VXLAN, what does 'anycast gateway' provide?
A.Single point of failure for routing
B.Every leaf presents the same gateway IP and MAC, so a VM's default gateway works anywhere it moves
C.One gateway per spine
D.Encryption for BUM traffic
Explanation: Anycast gateway configures every leaf VTEP with identical SVI IP and MAC for a given subnet. A VM sends ARP for its gateway and gets a reply from the local leaf — fast, no cross-fabric traffic for gateway lookup. Workload mobility: a VM can move to any rack without changing its gateway ARP cache.
7Which L3VNI approach is used in EVPN symmetric IRB?
A.No L3VNI is used
B.A dedicated L3VNI per tenant VRF for transit between VTEPs
C.The L2VNI is also used for routing
D.L3VNI is only optional
Explanation: In symmetric IRB, each tenant VRF has a dedicated L3VNI used as the transit VNI between VTEPs for routed (inter-subnet) traffic. The ingress VTEP routes into the L3VNI, the egress VTEP routes out into the target L2VNI. This is 'symmetric' because both VTEPs do a lookup.
8Which BGP feature is commonly used on spine switches to avoid the N^2 full-mesh requirement of iBGP?
A.Route reflectors
B.Graceful restart
C.Confederations
D.BGP flowspec
Explanation: In iBGP fabrics, every iBGP speaker must have a session with every other iBGP speaker (full mesh) — a route reflector breaks this by re-advertising routes learned from one client to other clients. In leaf-spine designs, spines act as route reflectors for leaf clients. Confederations achieve a similar goal differently.
9What does MLAG stand for and why is it used on Arista pairs?
A.Multi-Link Aggregation Group — a STP replacement
B.Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation — lets two switches appear as one LACP peer
C.MPLS-Label Access Gateway — a VPN feature
D.Managed LAG — a QoS tag
Explanation: MLAG allows two Arista switches configured as an MLAG pair to act as a single logical LACP peer. A downstream switch or server aggregates links to both physical chassis, getting active/active capacity without STP blocking. Traffic between the pair uses a peer-link; a keepalive (peer-address) prevents split-brain.
10On an Arista MLAG pair, what is the purpose of the peer-address keepalive?
A.Carries data traffic
B.Detects peer liveness independent of the peer-link to avoid split-brain
C.Distributes MAC tables
D.Handles BGP sessions
Explanation: The peer-address (configured as a separate reachability check, often via management VRF) detects whether the MLAG peer is alive when the peer-link is down. If peer-link is down but peer-address still responds, we know it's a link-only failure — one side becomes MLAG secondary and disables dual-homed links to prevent split-brain.

About the ACE-Specialist Exam

The Arista Certified Engineer — Specialist (ACE-S) exam validates track-specific intermediate knowledge. Tracks include Data Center, Campus, CloudVision, and Routing. The exam covers EVPN-VXLAN (Type 2/3/5 routes, anycast gateway, L2VNI/L3VNI, VTEPs, MAC-VRF/IP-VRF), MLAG (peer-link, peer-address, ISSU), advanced BGP (route-reflectors, communities, multipath, unnumbered), OSPF areas/LSAs, leaf-spine design, RoCEv2 for AI fabrics, and CloudVision Portal overview.

Exam sponsor: Arista Networks / Pearson VUE. The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.

Questions

60 questions

Time Limit

90 minutes

Passing Score

70%

Exam / Certification Fees

$250

Exam sponsor website

Reported exam pass rate: ~70-80%. for well-prepared candidates (industry estimate) This describes exam candidates, not OpenExamPrep users or results from using our resources. Exam sponsor website

Fees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.

Our practice resources: topics covered

We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.

30%

EVPN-VXLAN

Type 1/2/3/4/5 routes, VTEPs, L2VNI/L3VNI, anycast gateway, MAC-VRF/IP-VRF, RD/RT, symmetric/asymmetric IRB, MAC mobility, ARP suppression

15%

MLAG

Peer-link and peer-address keepalive, MLAG domain-id, MLAG ISSU, config-sanity, dual-homed LAGs, split-brain prevention

20%

Advanced BGP

Route reflectors, confederations, communities, AS-path manipulation, multipath, BFD, graceful restart, BGP unnumbered, listen-range

10%

OSPF

Areas, LSA types (1-5, 7), stub/totally stubby/NSSA, fast hellos, area ranges, authentication

15%

AI/Storage Fabrics

RoCEv2, PFC (802.1Qbb), ECN, lossless Ethernet, deep-buffer platforms (7280R3/7800R3), LANZ microburst detection

10%

CloudVision Basics

CVP overview, TerminAttr streaming, NetDL basics, configlets, compliance, telemetry streaming with gNMI/OpenConfig

Preparing for the ACE-Specialist Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: 70%
  • Exam length: 60 questions
  • Time limit: 90 minutes
  • Exam / certification fees: $250 Official sources

Using Our Practice Resources

  • Work through all 100 available questions
  • Review every answer and explanation
  • Track weak areas and revisit them
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

ACE-Specialist: Suggested Study Strategy

1Know every EVPN route type (1-5) cold: what it carries, when it is used, which MAC/IP/prefix attributes it has
2Build a vEOS lab with 4 switches as leaf-spine + EVPN-VXLAN — this single exercise covers 40% of the exam
3Understand symmetric vs asymmetric IRB — the Type 5 + L3VNI pattern is a classic exam question
4MLAG details matter: peer-link, peer-address, domain-id, and why split-brain is dangerous
5RoCEv2 requires PFC + ECN — these terms ARE going to appear on your exam
6Use 'show bgp l2vpn evpn' and its route-type filters — great for practice verification
7CloudVision/TerminAttr isn't dominant but expect a few questions; know the high-level architecture

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Arista ACE-Specialist (ACE-S) exam?

The ACE-S is Arista's intermediate, track-specific certification. It validates deeper knowledge in one of the learning tracks (Data Center, Campus, CloudVision, Routing) and serves as the stepping stone from Associate to Professional. Passing both Operations and Engineering sub-track exams earns the Professional credential.

How many questions are on the ACE-S exam?

The ACE-S exam typically has ~60 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes with a 70% passing score. Topics depend on the track but cover EVPN-VXLAN, MLAG, advanced BGP/OSPF, leaf-spine design, RoCEv2 for AI fabrics, and CloudVision basics.

Should I pass ACE-A before taking ACE-S?

Arista recommends passing ACE-A first since the Specialist assumes Associate-level knowledge of EOS, CLI, and switching/routing fundamentals. While not strictly required, jumping to Specialist without the Associate foundation makes the exam significantly harder.

What tracks can I pick for ACE-S?

Current tracks are Data Center, Campus, CloudVision, and Routing. Pick the track that aligns with your job role. Data Center is the most popular track covering EVPN-VXLAN leaf-spine fabrics. Check arista.com/en/training/learning-paths/certifications for the current lineup.

How long is the ACE-Specialist certification valid?

Arista ACE certifications are valid for 3 years. Recertification is achieved by passing a current-year ACE exam at the Specialist level or higher. Passing an ACE-P automatically renews all underlying credentials for that track.

How should I prepare for the ACE-S exam?

Plan 50-80 hours of study. Complete the relevant Arista Academy track modules. Lab extensively with vEOS/cEOS-lab or containerlab — build EVPN-VXLAN fabrics, MLAG, BGP unnumbered, CloudVision demos. Complete 100+ practice questions and aim for 80%+ on realistic mocks.