NVIDIA-Certified Professional - AI Networking (NCP-AIN)¶
Exam Overview¶
Validates deploying, configuring, managing and troubleshooting NVIDIA networking for AI data centers: Spectrum Ethernet, InfiniBand, Kubernetes integration and automation. NVIDIA's code for this exam is NCP-AIN; this guide called it "NCP-NET" until 2026-10-22.
Exam code: NCP-AIN
Duration: 2 hours
Questions: 70-75
Cost: $400 USD; NVIDIA says lab exercises are being added on November 1 (2026), when the price rises to $500
Level: Professional
Validity: 2 years from issuance
Prerequisites: 2-3 years of hands-on data center networking experience with NVIDIA hardware (recommended)
Passing score: Not published
Exam Blueprint¶
| Topic | Weight | Where in this guide |
|---|---|---|
| AI Data Center Design and Optimization | 5% | 04 Network topologies |
| NVIDIA Spectrum Networking | 30% | 02 Spectrum Ethernet, 03 RDMA and RoCE |
| NVIDIA InfiniBand Networking | 30% | 01 InfiniBand |
| Kubernetes Integration | 5% | Not covered in the notes yet |
| Troubleshooting Tools | 20% | 05 UFM |
| Automation and Configuration | 10% | 02 Spectrum Ethernet (Cumulus Linux, automation) |
Blueprint updated 2026-10-22 from NVIDIA's exam page (checked 2026-10-22). The notes below were written in May 2026 against an earlier domain list that NVIDIA no longer publishes, so they do not yet map one-to-one onto these topics; topics marked "not covered" need outside study.
Quick Links¶
- 📖 Official exam page - blueprint, price, registration
- NVIDIA Certification Program - Registration
- NVIDIA Networking Documentation - Networking guides
- UFM Documentation - Fabric management
- ConnectX Documentation - Network adapter guides
- Spectrum Documentation - Switch documentation
Career Benefits¶
Job Opportunities¶
- Network Engineer (AI/HPC)
- Data Center Network Architect
- InfiniBand Fabric Administrator
- HPC Network Specialist
- AI Infrastructure Engineer