The CCNP Enterprise book almost everyone buys first now spends about 110 pages on wireless that the core exam no longer tests. Cisco moved ENCOR 350-401 to v1.2 in March 2026 and pulled wireless out into its own CCNP Wireless track, yet the second-edition ENCOR Official Cert Guide is still the newest one Cisco Press sells. It is still the right book. You just need to know which chapters to skip and what to add.
This guide ranks seven CCNP books: the Official Cert Guides for ENCOR, ENARSI and ENSLD, the Cisco Press SD-WAN book for ENSDWI, two automation books for the expanded AI and automation domain, and a lab book. If you are still on the associate level, start with our CCNA 200-301 book picks instead. Every edition, page count and price below was checked against the Cisco exam pages, the publishers and Amazon’s live catalog in October 2026.
Pick a CCNP book in one minute
CCNP Enterprise takes two exams: ENCOR as the core and one concentration of your choice. So you need one core book plus one book for the concentration you pick, and nearly everyone should start here:
- Best for ENCOR: CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core ENCOR 350-401 Official Cert Guide, 2nd Edition
- Best for ENARSI: ENARSI 300-410 Official Cert Guide, 2nd Edition
- Best for ENSLD: ENSLD 300-420 Official Cert Guide, 2nd Edition
- Best for ENSDWI: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, 2nd Edition
- Best for Python practice: Hands-On Cisco Automation with Python
- Best hands-on practice: 101 Labs: Cisco CCNP Enterprise
Network Programmability and Automation, the seventh pick, is for readers who want automation as a career skill rather than one exam domain. On a tight budget, buy the ENCOR guide and the guide for your concentration, then spend the rest on lab time.
Check what changed in ENCOR v1.2
ENCOR v1.2 dropped every wireless topic and renamed its last domain Automation and Artificial Intelligence. Cisco announced the split in August 2025: a new CCNP Wireless certification with its own core exam (350-101 WLCOR) and the two wireless design and implementation exams moved over from CCNP Enterprise, with first testing on March 19, 2026. The same announcement says the Enterprise core exam no longer covers wireless concepts, and the v1.2 exam topics list confirms it. Here are the current ENCOR weights:
| ENCOR v1.2 domain | Weight | Where the 2nd edition guide covers it |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 Architecture | 15% | Ch 22 and 23 (design, SD-Access, SD-WAN), Ch 14 QoS |
| 2.0 Virtualization | 10% | Ch 6 VRF, Ch 16 GRE, IPsec, LISP and VXLAN, Ch 27 |
| 3.0 Infrastructure | 30% | Parts I to IV (switching, routing, multicast, IP services) |
| 4.0 Network Assurance | 10% | Ch 24 Network Assurance; NETCONF and RESTCONF (topic 4.6) in Ch 28 |
| 5.0 Security | 20% | Part VIII (Ch 25 and 26) |
| 6.0 Automation and Artificial Intelligence | 15% | Ch 28 and 29 (no AI topics in the table of contents) |
That table leaves two gaps. Part VI (chapters 17 to 21, roughly pages 510 to 621) is all wireless, so skip it unless you plan to take the wireless track too. The new AI wording is the other gap, and it is thin in any book printed in 2023: topic 4.5 now asks how Cisco Catalyst Center (formerly DNA Center) applies configuration and monitoring “using traditional and AI-powered workflows”, and the book’s table of contents still calls the product DNA Center. The Cisco exam topics page and the Catalyst Center documentation fill that gap better than another book would.
Cisco Press handles minor blueprint changes with free PDF updates on the companion site for registered owners, and saves a new edition for major changes. When we checked, Amazon listed no third edition of the ENCOR guide, including among Cisco Press preorders running into 2027. Register the book after you buy it and download whatever update chapter is posted for v1.2.
Compare the CCNP books side by side
Page counts and dates come from Amazon’s catalog and prices are what Amazon showed when we checked, so treat them as a guide. Start with the column that names each exam code:
| Book | Exam | Published | Pages | Price when checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENCOR Official Cert Guide, 2nd Ed | 350-401 core | Nov 2023 | 1,072 | ~$58 (list $79.99) |
| ENARSI Official Cert Guide, 2nd Ed | 300-410 | Nov 2023 | 1,104 | ~$83 |
| ENSLD Official Cert Guide, 2nd Ed | 300-420 | Jan 2024 | 544 | ~$75 |
| Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, 2nd Ed | 300-415 | Oct 2024 | 704 | ~$74 (list $79.99) |
| Hands-On Cisco Automation with Python | Python practice (part of ENCOR domain 6) | Apr 2026 | 416 | ~$40 |
| Network Programmability and Automation, 2nd Ed | None (career) | Sep 2023 | 825 | ~$46 (list $59.99) |
| 101 Labs: Cisco CCNP Enterprise | ENCOR and ENARSI labs | Jul 2020 | 822 | ~$49 |
We picked from established publishers only, skipped the self-published titles that fill Amazon’s ENCOR search, and left out books that are only on preorder. Each pick is either the official Cisco Press guide for a current exam or a book that covers a weighted part of one. This is a buyer’s guide built from tables of contents, publisher descriptions and live catalog data, not a set of full read-throughs.
1. CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core ENCOR 350-401 Official Cert Guide, 2nd Edition
Buy this one for ENCOR, because nothing else on sale from a major publisher covers ENCOR at this depth. Brad Edgeworth, Ramiro Garza Rios, Jason Gooley and Dave Hucaby wrote it, and Cisco Press calls it the only self-study resource Cisco approves for ENCOR.
Its 1,072 pages are organized by technology rather than by exam domain, so the infrastructure chapters (spanning tree, EtherChannel, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, multicast, QoS, IP services) take up most of the book, which matches the 30% infrastructure weight. The companion site adds more than 200 practice questions, a study planner and about 90 minutes of video. Chapter 31 is an exam-updates chapter, which is where Cisco Press posts its blueprint changes for registered owners.
Age is its weakness. Read chapters 17 to 21 only if you also want CCNP Wireless, and plan to cover the AI-powered Catalyst Center topics from Cisco’s documentation, since the book predates both. Around $58 when we checked, list $79.99. Check the current price on Amazon.
2. CCNP Enterprise Advanced Routing ENARSI 300-410 Official Cert Guide, 2nd Edition
ENARSI is a common concentration choice because it extends the routing you already study for ENCOR, and this guide by Raymond Lacoste and Brad Edgeworth is built around troubleshooting. ENARSI itself is still at v1.1, so unlike the ENCOR book, nothing in this one has aged out of the blueprint.
Almost every protocol gets two chapters: one that explains it and one that breaks it on purpose. EIGRP, OSPFv2, OSPFv3 and BGP each come with trouble tickets, followed by route maps, redistribution, VRF and MPLS Layer 3 VPNs, DMVPN with IPsec, ACL and prefix-list problems, and infrastructure security such as uRPF, CoPP and IPv6 first-hop security. That troubleshooting style is the reason to buy it, because ENARSI rewards diagnosing a broken network over reciting configuration.
Leave it on the shelf until ENCOR is done if routing protocols are still new to you, since it assumes the ENCOR material. Also note the Amazon listing was a third-party seller with a lead time when we checked, so compare offers. Around $83 when we checked. Check the current price on Amazon.
3. CCNP Enterprise Design ENSLD 300-420 Official Cert Guide, 2nd Edition
Pick ENSLD if you design networks more than you configure them, and pick this guide because it’s the only major-publisher ENSLD book we found. Anthony Bruno and Steve Jordan cover addressing and routing design, campus design, WAN design, network services and automation, which lines up with the five ENSLD areas Cisco lists. ENSLD is still at v1.1.
At 544 pages it is half the length of the ENCOR and ENARSI guides, because design questions test judgment about trade-offs rather than command output. It opens with IPv4 and IPv6 address planning (VLSM, summarization, private addressing and NAT guidelines), which is the part most candidates underestimate. The companion site adds more than 200 practice questions and flash cards.
Not the right concentration if you want a hands-on routing credential, and it will not help with the ENCOR troubleshooting items. Around $75 when we checked. Check the current price on Amazon.
4. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN: Design, Deploy and Secure Your WAN, 2nd Edition
For the ENSDWI 300-415 concentration, Cisco Press says this is the only self-study resource approved by Cisco, even though it does not carry the Official Cert Guide name. Cisco Press published the second edition, by Anastasiya Volkova, Osvaldo Salazar Tovar, Constantin Mohorea and Dustin Schuemann, in October 2024, and it stays useful on the job long after you pass ENSDWI.
The 704 pages follow a deployment from the components outward, and each chapter ends with review questions. The parts you will use most:
- Control, data, management and orchestration planes
- Onboarding with configuration groups as well as templates
- Design and migration from an existing WAN
- Policy, including Enhanced App Aware Routing
- Security and segmentation
- New chapters on Cloud OnRamp, monitoring and troubleshooting
Since ENCOR’s architecture domain expects you to explain Catalyst SD-WAN control and data planes, the early chapters help with the core exam as well, not just with ENSDWI.
Cisco Press says the book covers all ENSDWI exam topics as of publication, but the current ENSDWI blueprint is v1.2, so check the companion site for updates before you rely on it alone. It is also more than you need if SD-WAN is not your concentration. Around $74 when we checked, list $79.99. Check the current price on Amazon.
5. Hands-On Cisco Automation with Python
ENCOR’s automation domain carries 15% of the weight, and the ENCOR guide gives it two chapters. Rick Graziani and Adrian Iliesiu’s April 2026 book is not written for ENCOR and never mentions it, but it is the most practical way we found to get comfortable with the Python side of that domain, because you write working scripts against Cisco IOS instead of reading about them.
You work through three parts: Netmiko, NAPALM and Nornir. You start by sending commands and configuration over SSH with Netmiko, move to structured data (JSON and Python dictionaries) with NAPALM, then run tasks across many devices with Nornir. Interpreting basic Python and constructing valid JSON-encoded files are both named ENCOR v1.2 topics, and the scripts here make both routine.
It’s aimed at CCNA-level and early-career engineers, so skip it if you already script against IOS daily. NETCONF, RESTCONF and YANG, which ENCOR does test, get only a few pages in its closing chapter, so lean on the ENCOR guide for those. Around $40 when we checked. Check the current price on Amazon.
6. Network Programmability and Automation, 2nd Edition
Pick this one if you want automation to be a career skill, not just one exam domain. Matt Oswalt, Christian Adell, Scott S. Lowe and Jason Edelman cover Python and Go, data formats and models (JSON, XML, YAML, Protobuf and YANG), Jinja templates, APIs, Git, Docker and Kubernetes, and automation with Ansible, Nornir and Terraform.
New in the second edition: network development environments, cloud, Go and a reference architecture for network automation. It overlaps several ENCOR v1.2 automation topics, including YANG, APIs and agentless orchestration tools, and it goes much further than ENCOR does. Our network automation book guide compares it with the other titles in that space.
It is not an exam book, so do not buy it as ENCOR prep on its own. The 825 pages assume you’ll install tools and work through examples, and the Amazon listing showed limited stock when we checked. Around $46 when we checked, list $59.99. Check the current price on Amazon.
7. 101 Labs: Cisco CCNP Enterprise
Reading the guides will not get you through ENCOR or ENARSI on its own, because both exams test configuration and troubleshooting. Paul Browning and Farai Tafa’s lab book gives you a step-by-step lab for each topic, with downloadable solutions to check your work against.
Topics run through BGP, EIGRP and OSPF for IPv4 and IPv6, redistribution, router and switch security, NAT, DHCP, SNMP, NTP, first-hop redundancy and GRE, plus 15 troubleshooting labs. You’ll need somewhere to run them, and a mini PC for GNS3 or EVE-NG handles a CCNP topology comfortably. Our CCNA lab walkthroughs show the same approach at the associate level.
The Amazon listing says the labs are compatible with ENCOR v1.2 and ENARSI v1.1, but the 822-page paperback still carries a July 2020 catalog date, so treat that as the publisher’s claim. The listing’s “over 1,800 pages” matches the Kindle edition, not this paperback. Around $49 when we checked. Check the current price on Amazon.
Skip these older CCNP books
Several CCNP Enterprise titles still sell new on Amazon but predate both the second-edition guides and ENCOR v1.2. We left these out:
- The first-edition ENCOR (2019) and ENARSI (2020) Official Cert Guides
- The Sybex CCNP Enterprise Certification Study Guide (2020); a second edition aimed at ENCOR v1.2 was listed for preorder for January 2027 when we checked
- 31 Days Before Your CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core Exam (2020)
- The ENCOR 350-401 Exam Cram (2022)
Used copies of the first editions are cheap, which is the trap. They teach the original ENCOR blueprint, so you would pay for the wireless chapters and miss what changed since. If budget is the issue, buy the second-edition ENCOR guide and use free material for the rest.
Plan for the CCNP Wireless split
Wireless engineers now have their own path. CCNP Wireless needs the 350-101 WLCOR core exam plus either 300-110 WLSD or 300-120 WLSI. Cisco describes those two concentrations as the wireless exams that used to sit under CCNP Enterprise. When we checked, no major publisher had a WLCOR book on Amazon, only self-published titles. The closest Cisco Press book on sale when we checked was the ENWLSD and ENWLSI Official Cert Guide, 2nd Edition from January 2024. It was written for the old 300-425 and 300-430 exam codes, so check it against the WLSD and WLSI v1.2 topics before you buy, and watch Cisco Press for WLCOR titles. The listing showed a third-party seller with a lead time when we checked.
If you’re taking both tracks, the wireless chapters in the ENCOR guide become useful again as a WLCOR primer. Otherwise, treat them as background reading.
Match books to your CCNP concentration
Every CCNP Enterprise candidate buys the ENCOR guide, so the real decision is the concentration. Cisco currently lists six for CCNP Enterprise, and this is the book to pair with the core guide for each:
| Concentration | Current version | Book to pair with ENCOR |
|---|---|---|
| 300-410 ENARSI (advanced routing) | v1.1 | ENARSI Official Cert Guide, 2nd Ed, plus 101 Labs |
| 300-415 ENSDWI (SD-WAN) | v1.2 | Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, 2nd Ed |
| 300-420 ENSLD (design) | v1.1 | ENSLD Official Cert Guide, 2nd Ed |
| 300-435 ENAUTO (automation) | v2.0 | No major-publisher book; Network Programmability and Automation plus Cisco DevNet material |
| 300-440 ENCC (cloud connectivity) | v1.0 | No dedicated book; use Cisco’s exam topics |
| 300-445 ENNA (network assurance) | v1.0 | No dedicated book; use Cisco’s exam topics |
ENARSI remains the safest choice if you’re unsure, because it reuses the most ENCOR material and its second-edition guide still matches the blueprint. Take ENCOR first while the core topics are fresh, then the concentration. If your weak spot is OSPF itself rather than ENCOR, our OSPF concepts explainer and the network architectures overview are a quicker refresher than a 1,000-page guide. Our Network+ book picks cover the vendor-neutral side if you want it.
