351-080 exam is recognized as CCIE Data Center Written Beta Exam. This exam is one of the pre-requisites for the aspirants who are looking for CCIE certification. To attain the certification passing the following two exams are vital.
CCIE Data Center Written Exam (2 hours)
CCIE Data Center Lab Exam (8 hours)

CCIE exam will be available for candidate from September 2012 (written exam) and October. 2012 (lab exam). A beta variant of this exam will be made available for testing and scheduling at all worldwide Pearson VUE testing centers from 1st may 2012 till June 15th 2012. This beta exam will also be available at Cisco Live San Diego Event from June 10th to June 14th 2012.
Objectives and Concept
Following are the products tested in this exam.
Cisco Catalyst 3750
MDS 9222i
Nexus 7709, 5548, 2232, 1000v, and UCS
Cisco Application Control Engine Appliances
Ideal Aspirants
This certification is an ideal credential for any Data Center Specialist. These individuals usually design, implement, operate, administer, and troubleshoot complex data center networks in their routine work. This exam is also intended for IT Professionals with job roles such as Data Center Implementation Engineers, Design Engineers, and Pre-sale Engineers. Although there is no pre-requisite for this exam but it is recommended and anticipated that a candidate holds at least 3 to 5 years of hands-on experience prior to attempting this exam.
Course Outline
Following topics are exact as described in Cisco Blueprints for course syllabus. It is strongly recommended that aspirant must have extensive familiarity and proficiency in every topic of this list.
Cisco Data Center InfrastructureNX-OS
Explain NX-OS features
Design and Instigate NX-OS Layer 2 and Layer 3 functionality
Explain Multicast
Explain basic NX-OS Security features
Instigate NX-OS high availability features
Instigate NX-OS management

Cisco Storage Networking
Explain Standard-based SAN Protocols
Instigate Fiber Channel Protocols features
Instigate IP Storage based solution
Design and describe NX-OS Unified Fabric features
Design high availability features in a standalone server environment
Instigate SAN management

Cisco Data Center Virtualization
Instigate Data Center Virtualization with Nexus1000v

Cisco Unified Computing
Unified Computing System components and architecture
Explain LAN connectivity in a Cisco Unified Computing environment
Explain Implement SAN connectivity in a Cisco Unified Computing environment
Explain Cisco Unified Computing Server resources
Explain role-based Access Control Management Groups
Cisco Unified Computing troubleshooting and maintenance

Cisco Application Networking ServicesANS
Data center application high availability and load balancing
Global load balancing
Questionnaire
Questionnaire contains 90 to 110 items. Time duration for exam is 2 hours. Overall scoring and passing score scale is between 300 1000.This course is available in English language.
Certification Validity Period
This certificate is valid for two-year period after that nominee will have to take re-certification exam to stay up to date. Please visit the following link for more information on recertification process.
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/ccie/recert/index.html
Registration Process
PearsonVUE Testing Centers organize these exams. PearsonVUE Testing Centers are located in 165 different cities of Canada, United States of America, North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific and around the world.
Please contact PearsonVUE for further details on this exam. Following links will help you locate nearest Pearson VUE testing center.
http://www.pearsonVUE.com/vtclocater
Preparation Tips
Cisco offers extensive training material for all candidates. Following are recommended courses offered by Cisco learning Partner.
Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Implementation (DCUCI)
Implementing Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric (DCUFI)
Implementing the Cisco Nexus 1000V (DCNX1K)
Implementing the Cisco Nexus 5000 and 2000 (DCNX5K)
Implementing the Cisco Nexus 7000 (DCNX7K)
Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Troubleshooting (DCUCTS)
Implementing Cisco Storage Networking Solutions (ICSNS)
Implementing Cisco Advanced Storage Networking Solutions (IASNS)
Implementing Cisco Data Center Application Services (DCASI)

Contact your nearest Cisco Authorized Learning Center for additional information regarding classes and scheduling.