- What the JNCIP-SP Credential Actually Is
- Where It Sits in the Juniper Service Provider Track
- Exam Snapshot: JN0-664 at a Glance
- The Seven Official Objective Headings
- Two Terminology Errors in the Official Overview
- Fee, Booking and Identity Rules
- Retakes, Validity and Renewal
- Who Should Pursue It and Who Hires For It
- Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Seven Domains
- Frequently Asked Questions
- JNCIP-SP is Juniper's professional-level Service Provider Routing and Switching certification, tested through the written JN0-664 exam on Junos OS 22.3.
- The exam has 65 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, delivered by Pearson VUE, with a published base fee of $400.
- An active JNCIS-SP is required; JNCIA-Junos is not the direct prerequisite.
- Seven official objective headings cover OSPF, IS-IS, BGP, CoS, IP Multicast, Layer 3 VPNs and Layer 2 VPNs, with no published weights.
What the JNCIP-SP Credential Actually Is
JNCIP-SP stands for Juniper Networks Certified Professional, Service Provider Routing and Switching. It is the professional tier of Juniper's service provider certification track, aimed at networking professionals who already work comfortably with Junos routing and switching and want to prove advanced knowledge of the protocols and services that run inside provider networks. The governing body is Juniper Networks, and current certification pages carry HPE Juniper Networking branding following the acquisition, though the credential name and the exam code remain the same.
The exam behind the credential is JN0-664, written against Junos OS 22.3. It is a written, English-language, multiple-choice examination. It is not the expert-level hands-on lab exam, and it should not be confused with course-access products or voucher assessments that share the JNCIP-SP name. If you want the shorter naming explanations, our pages on what JNCIP-SP stands for and the JNCIP-SP meaning cover the vocabulary, while this article focuses on what the credential tests and how the logistics work.
Where It Sits in the Juniper Service Provider Track
Juniper's certification tracks are layered. In the service provider track, the specialist level (JNCIS-SP) sits below the professional level (JNCIP-SP). The prerequisite for the professional credential is an active JNCIS-SP. That wording is deliberate: the certification must be current, not merely something you once held. JNCIA-Junos is not the direct prerequisite for JNCIP-SP, and specialist exam objectives are not the professional syllabus.
The certification program FAQs allow written exams to be taken in any order, but every prerequisite requirement must still be fulfilled and none is waived. Passing the JN0-664 exam does not by itself confer the credential if the prerequisite is missing. The credential overview does not state any additional mandatory education, work-experience hours, training hours or references. Recommended training exists but is optional. For a fuller breakdown, see our guide to JNCIP-SP requirements and eligibility.
| Item | JNCIS-SP (specialist) | JNCIP-SP (professional) |
|---|---|---|
| Role in the track | Prerequisite level | Advanced professional level |
| Prerequisite | See the specialist overview | Active JNCIS-SP |
| Exam focus | Specialist objectives; its own Junos version | JN0-664, Junos OS 22.3, seven objective headings |
| Exam style | Written | Written multiple choice, not a hands-on lab |
Exam Snapshot: JN0-664 at a Glance
- Questions: 65, multiple choice.
- Time: 90 minutes.
- Language: English.
- Delivery: Pearson VUE, either at a test center or through OnVUE remote proctoring, subject to availability, technical checks and identification requirements.
- Passing score: set statistically for the individual exam and reported to the candidate. There is no single published percentage you can memorize. Our JNCIP-SP passing score article explains what is and is not known.
- Version: JN0-664, Junos OS 22.3. The overview does not publish a separately dated blueprint year.
One distinction trips up many candidates. Juniper also publishes a voucher assessment test and a practice test page that quote a 70% threshold. Those thresholds belong to those separate products. They do not establish the live exam's passing score, question count or timer. The voucher assessment's 80-minute, three-attempt format and its 30-day voucher-use window are likewise unrelated to the 90-minute exam and to the certification's validity period.
The Seven Official Objective Headings
The official overview lists seven objective headings. No percentage weights are published, so you cannot responsibly say that one heading is "worth" more than another. Each heading mixes two layers of expectation: describing concepts and operation, and, given a scenario, demonstrating configuration or monitoring knowledge. Because the exam is written, those scenario items test what you know about configuring and monitoring, not live typing in a router. A deeper walk-through lives in our complete guide to all seven content areas.
Domain 1: OSPF
Concepts and operation of OSPFv2 and OSPFv3.
- Area types and operations; LSA flooding across multiple areas
- Designated and backup designated router operation; the SPF algorithm
- Metrics, including external metric types
- Route summarization and restriction; virtual links; OSPFv2 versus OSPFv3
- Scenario knowledge: single-area and multi-area configuration and monitoring, including OSPF routing policy
Domain 2: IS-IS
Areas, levels and how link-state information propagates.
- Areas/levels and their operations; flooding of link-state PDUs through a multi-area network
- Designated intermediate system operation; the SPF algorithm
- Metrics, including wide metrics
- Route summarization and route leaking
- Scenario knowledge: single-area and multi-area configuration and monitoring, including IS-IS routing policy
Domain 3: BGP
The broadest routing heading in terms of named subtopics.
- Route-selection process and next-hop resolution
- Attributes, communities and regular expressions
- Multipath, multihop, load balancing and advanced options
- Route damping, flowspec and multiprotocol BGP
- BGP scaling through route reflection, described separately
- Scenario knowledge: configuration and monitoring, including BGP routing policy
Domain 4: Class of Service (CoS)
How Junos OS devices process and prioritize traffic.
- CoS processing on Junos OS devices and the header fields involved
- Forwarding classes, classification and packet loss priority
- Policers, schedulers, drop profiles and rewrite rules
- Scenario knowledge: CoS configuration and monitoring
Domain 5: IP Multicast
Group communication from addressing through policy.
- Multicast addressing and traffic flow; any-source versus source-specific multicast
- RPF concept and operation; IGMP
- PIM dense and sparse mode; rendezvous point concept, operation, discovery and election
- SSM requirements, benefits and address ranges; Anycast RP
- Scenario knowledge: IGMP and PIM configuration and monitoring, including SSM and multicast routing policy
Domain 6: Layer 3 VPNs
Provider-edge VPN architecture and its supporting constructs.
- Control and data-plane flow; full-mesh versus hub-and-spoke topologies
- VPN-IPv4 addressing, route distinguishers, route targets and route distribution
- Site of origin, sham links and VRF table-label
- Next-generation multicast VPNs and their control/data flow; scaling; IPv6 Layer 3 VPNs; Internet access options
- Carrier-of-carriers and inter-provider VPN models, described separately
- Scenario knowledge: configuration and monitoring of Layer 3 VPN components
Domain 7: Layer 2 VPNs
Four distinct technology branches, each described on its own terms.
- BGP Layer 2 VPNs: forwarding tables, connection mapping, NLRI, route distinguishers and targets, scaling
- LDP Layer 2 circuits: virtual-circuit label, autodiscovery, Layer 2 interworking
- VPLS: BGP and LDP label distribution, route targets, multihoming, site IDs
- EVPN: MAC learning and distribution, multihoming, BGP EVPN label distribution
- Scenario knowledge: configuration, monitoring or troubleshooting for BGP Layer 2 VPNs, LDP Layer 2 circuits, EVPNs and VPLS
Key Takeaway
Do not build a study plan from invented percentages. Seven headings, no published weights: the safe approach is to cover every nested bullet above and spend extra time on the areas where your own practice results are weakest.
Two Terminology Errors in the Official Overview
The pinned official overview contains two expansions that conflict with Juniper's own technical documentation. Candidates who memorize them literally will learn the wrong vocabulary, so it is worth flagging both.
- IS-IS LSPs: the overview expands the abbreviation as "Label-switched path." In IS-IS, the flooded objects are link-state PDUs, as Juniper's IS-IS overview documentation states. The objective is about how link-state information floods across a multi-area IS-IS network, not about MPLS label-switched paths.
- PIM: the overview expands it as "Physical Interface Module." In multicast, PIM is Protocol Independent Multicast, as Juniper's PIM overview documentation states. The objective concerns PIM dense and sparse modes.
Fee, Booking and Identity Rules
The published USD examination fee is $400 per examination, plus applicable taxes, per the General Certification Program FAQs. No member versus non-member price distinction is published. Final regional checkout totals, tax amounts and any candidate-specific voucher discounts are not published in a single place, so confirm the total at checkout. Course charges and voucher-assessment settings are separate from the exam fee and should not be added to or substituted for it. Our certification cost breakdown goes into the budgeting side.
- Identity match: the policies require your legal name to match your government-issued photo and signature identification and your CertMetrics and Pearson VUE accounts. Fix mismatches before exam day, not at the check-in desk.
- Remote delivery: OnVUE testing depends on availability, technical checks and identification requirements.
- Results: immediate results are provisional pending security validation. Valid results appear in CertMetrics within three business days under the published policy.
- Scheduling: see our page on exam dates and scheduling for how booking windows work in practice.
Retakes, Validity and Renewal
The written-exam retake rules are specific:
- No waiting period after a first failure.
- 14 calendar days after a second or subsequent failure, starting the day after the failed attempt.
- At least 18 months before repeating an exam you have already passed.
The credential is valid for three years. To renew, you can pass an eligible current examination, complete a specified qualifying course before expiry, or obtain a higher-level certification in the same track. Qualifying higher-level activity also renews lower active same-track credentials and active associate certifications. The reviewed policy publishes no universal CEU, CPE or CDU quota. If a certification expires, you restart the track, which for JNCIP-SP means the prerequisite chain matters again.
Who Should Pursue It and Who Hires For It
The target audience is network engineers who already hold the specialist credential and work with, or want to work with, provider-grade Junos deployments: core and edge routing, MPLS-based VPN services, multicast delivery and traffic prioritization. The subject matter maps to the work done at carriers, internet service providers, managed-services companies and large enterprises that run their own backbone with Junos devices. Typical roles include network engineer, senior network engineer, network architect and operations or escalation engineer in these environments.
On the pay question, no reliable salary figure restricted to JNCIP-SP holders was verified, and generic network-engineer pay or combined-JNCIP data should not be relabeled as a JNCIP-SP number. Our salary guide, jobs page and return-on-investment analysis discuss how to evaluate the credential qualitatively. Likewise, no verified pass rate is published, a point covered in the pass rate article.
Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Seven Domains
Juniper lists three recommended training courses on the overview: Advanced Junos Service Provider Routing, Junos Layer 2 VPNs and Junos Layer 3 VPNs. They are optional, and attendance does not guarantee a pass. Course hours are not exam duration. The sequence below is one reasonable ordering based on dependency between topics, not an official plan. The full study guide and training overview expand on resources.
OSPF, then IS-IS
- Cover area types, LSA flooding, DR/BDR election and metrics first, since IS-IS levels and leaking are easier once OSPF area logic is solid
- Compare OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 side by side, then IS-IS wide metrics and route leaking
BGP
- Work through route selection, next-hop resolution, communities and policy before the advanced options
- Finish with route reflection, flowspec and multiprotocol BGP, because the VPN domains depend on them
CoS and IP Multicast
- CoS is a common weak spot for learners: trace a packet from classification to scheduling to rewrite
- For multicast, master RPF and RP behavior before SSM and Anycast RP
Layer 3 VPNs, then Layer 2 VPNs
- Route distinguishers, route targets and the VRF table label first; then MVPN, sham links and carrier-of-carriers
- Keep BGP Layer 2 VPNs, LDP circuits, VPLS and EVPN in separate mental buckets, comparing their label distribution and multihoming approaches
For practice, use independently written questions that test understanding rather than recalled exam content. Our JNCIP-SP practice tests are built for knowledge preparation and are not issuer questions or an official mock exam. A one-page refresher is available in the cheat sheet, and you can start a timed session from the main practice test site once you have covered each domain once.
Frequently Asked Questions
It certifies advanced knowledge of Junos service provider routing and switching: OSPF, IS-IS, BGP, CoS, IP multicast, Layer 3 VPNs and Layer 2 VPNs, as tested by the written JN0-664 exam on Junos OS 22.3.
No. JN0-664 is a written, English-language, multiple-choice exam with 65 questions in 90 minutes. Scenario items test configuration and monitoring knowledge, and Layer 2 VPN objectives also name troubleshooting knowledge, but there is no live router lab.
An active JNCIS-SP. JNCIA-Junos is not the direct prerequisite, and the credential overview states no extra mandatory work-experience or training hours.
The published base fee is $400 per examination plus applicable taxes. Final checkout totals and any candidate-specific voucher discounts vary, so confirm the amount during registration with Pearson VUE.
Three years. You can renew by passing an eligible current exam, completing a specified qualifying course before expiry, or earning a higher-level certification in the same track. An expired certification means restarting the track.