Cisco 300-415 Implementing SD-WAN Solutions (ENSDWI) Exam Dumps and Practice Test Questions Set 6 Q76-90
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Question 76
Which SD-WAN feature allows prioritization of critical applications over less important traffic during network congestion?
A) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
B) Dynamic Path Selection
C) VPN Segmentation
D) Application-Aware Routing
Answer: D) Application-Aware Routing
Explanation:
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link performance metrics, such as latency, jitter, and packet loss, to ensure that service-level agreements are maintained. While SLA monitoring provides essential data for network optimization, it does not itself prioritize traffic or enforce business intent. Its role is primarily telemetry and alerting; administrators or other features must use the collected data to make traffic-handling decisions. SLA monitoring serves as input for Dynamic Path Selection and Application-Aware Routing, but does not independently manage traffic prioritization.
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates WAN links based on real-time performance metrics and reroutes traffic to the best-performing path to maintain SLA compliance. While DPS ensures applications are sent over optimal paths, it does not classify traffic by criticality or business priority. DPS focuses on path selection rather than determining which applications are more important during periods of congestion. DPS relies on Application-Aware Routing to understand which traffic is high priority and integrates SLA data to select the best link for that traffic.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate logical networks for security and operational separation. While segmentation ensures independent policy enforcement across departments or applications, it does not inherently prioritize one type of application over another during congestion. Segmentation provides isolation, not prioritization, and works in conjunction with other features to maintain performance and security.
Application-Aware Routing identifies and classifies traffic based on application type and business intent policies, enabling critical applications to receive higher priority during congestion or link degradation. AAR uses deep packet inspection to detect applications and aligns traffic with SLA thresholds and business priorities. By integrating with Dynamic Path Selection, AAR ensures that high-priority traffic, such as VoIP, ERP, or video conferencing, follows the best-performing path, while less critical traffic is deprioritized. This ensures predictable application performance and aligns traffic handling with organizational objectives. AAR is essential for maintaining user experience for critical applications during network stress and enables administrators to enforce business-driven policies across the SD-WAN overlay. Without AAR, prioritization would be arbitrary or dependent solely on link metrics, potentially impacting important business functions.
The correct choice is Application-Aware Routing because it allows prioritization of critical applications over less important traffic during network congestion. By classifying applications, enforcing business intent, and integrating with path selection mechanisms, AAR ensures predictable performance, optimized resource usage, and alignment with organizational priorities. It is critical for effective traffic management in SD-WAN environments.
Question 77
Which SD-WAN component maintains secure IPsec tunnels for encrypted data traffic between branch locations?
A) vSmart Controller
B) vEdge Router
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: B) vEdge Router
Explanation:
vSmart Controller manages the control plane, distributing routing information, business policies, and encryption keys to vEdge routers. While vSmart ensures secure key distribution and consistent policy enforcement, it does not directly handle data-plane encryption or maintain IPsec tunnels. Its function is centralized intelligence and control-plane operations, leaving the execution of encryption and tunnel management to the branch devices. vSmart’s role is critical for security coordination but not for direct tunnel maintenance.
vEdge Router is the data-plane device responsible for forwarding traffic and establishing secure IPsec tunnels between branch sites. It uses encryption keys received from vSmart controllers to secure traffic, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of data traversing the WAN overlay. vEdge routers apply business intent policies, enforce application prioritization, and manage VPN segmentation while securing the data plane. They are the operational endpoints of IPsec tunnels, performing encryption locally to protect sensitive enterprise traffic. By maintaining these tunnels, vEdge routers provide end-to-end security, allowing secure communication between branch offices, data centers, and cloud environments. vEdge routers also dynamically select the best paths for traffic based on performance metrics while maintaining encryption, ensuring secure and efficient delivery of business-critical applications. Without vEdge routers managing these tunnels, data would traverse WAN links without encryption, compromising security and potentially violating regulatory requirements.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates secure onboarding, authentication, and initial trust establishment between devices and controllers. While critical for connecting devices securely to the SD-WAN overlay, vBond does not maintain IPsec tunnels or encrypt data traffic. Its function is limited to onboarding, authentication, and secure controller discovery during device provisioning.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, policy configuration, and network monitoring. While it allows administrators to define encryption policies and monitor tunnel status, vManage does not directly perform encryption or maintain IPsec tunnels. Its role is operational oversight and policy orchestration rather than executing secure data-plane communication.
The correct choice is the vEdge Router because it maintains secure IPsec tunnels for encrypted data traffic between branch locations. By handling encryption locally, vEdge ensures end-to-end confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of data, protects business-critical applications, and supports secure communication across the SD-WAN overlay.
Question 78
Which SD-WAN feature uses deep packet inspection to classify and prioritize application traffic?
A) Dynamic Path Selection
B) VPN Segmentation
C) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
D) Application-Aware Routing
Answer: D) Application-Aware Routing
Explanation:
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates multiple WAN links based on real-time performance metrics and selects the optimal path to maintain SLA compliance. While DPS can route application traffic over the best-performing links, it does not use deep packet inspection to identify or classify traffic by application type. Its focus is on path optimization, failover, and ensuring reliable delivery rather than understanding the content or priority of the traffic itself. DPS relies on Application-Aware Routing to provide intelligence about application criticality when making path-selection decisions.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into logical networks for operational separation and security. Segmentation ensures that policies and routing are applied independently within each VPN, but it does not perform traffic classification or prioritization based on application content. Its purpose is isolation and security, rather than performance optimization or policy-driven application handling.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link quality metrics, including latency, jitter, and packet loss. SLA monitoring provides telemetry and alerts to inform other features, but does not perform traffic classification or apply prioritization rules. Its function is informational, supplying the data necessary for features like Dynamic Path Selection and Application-Aware Routing to operate effectively. SLA monitoring supports decision-making but does not directly influence traffic behavior based on application content.
Application-Aware Routing uses deep packet inspection to identify applications in real time, classifying traffic based on type and business intent policies. Once classified, AAR can prioritize critical applications, enforce SLA requirements, and steer traffic along optimal paths determined by Dynamic Path Selection. This ensures that high-priority business applications such as VoIP, ERP, or video conferencing maintain performance even during network congestion or link degradation. By integrating DPI, policy enforcement, and traffic steering, AAR aligns network behavior with organizational priorities, enhances user experience, and maximizes the efficiency of WAN resources. Without AAR, traffic would be routed purely based on link performance without regard to business-critical applications, potentially impacting service quality and productivity.
The correct choice is Application-Aware Routing because it uses deep packet inspection to classify and prioritize application traffic. By detecting application types, enforcing business intent, and integrating with path selection mechanisms, AAR ensures predictable performance, policy compliance, and efficient WAN utilization in SD-WAN deployments.
Question 79
Which SD-WAN component provides initial trust and facilitates secure connectivity for devices behind NAT or firewalls?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: C) vBond Orchestrator
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device deployed at branch, data center, or cloud locations. It forwards traffic, enforces business intent policies, and establishes IPsec tunnels. While vEdge participates in the onboarding process by initiating communication with controllers, it does not authenticate devices or provide trust during initial connectivity. Its primary role is operational execution once trust has been established by other control-plane components. vEdge routers depend on vBond to enable secure onboarding and connectivity for devices behind NAT or firewalls, highlighting that their operational effectiveness relies on the foundational trust established by vBond.
vSmart Controller manages the SD-WAN control plane, distributing routing information, business policies, and encryption keys. While vSmart ensures secure communication across the overlay, it assumes that devices are already authenticated and connected. It does not directly facilitate initial trust or provide connectivity for devices behind NAT. Its role is centralized intelligence distribution and policy enforcement rather than onboarding or authentication, which makes it dependent on vBond for enabling initial secure connections to the overlay.
vBond Orchestrator acts as the initial trust anchor for SD-WAN deployments. It authenticates devices using certificates, establishes secure communication channels, and assists devices in discovering vSmart controllers and vManage NMS. vBond is essential for allowing devices behind NAT or firewalls to securely connect to the overlay, handling NAT traversal and ensuring that only authorized devices join the network. By providing this initial trust and connectivity, vBond enables scalable deployments, allowing thousands of branch devices to securely join the overlay without manual configuration. It ensures that devices receive routing information, policies, and encryption keys only after trust is verified, maintaining the security and integrity of the network. Without vBond, devices behind NAT or firewalls could not join the overlay securely, potentially leaving the network exposed to unauthorized access or misconfigurations. vBond simplifies onboarding, enhances security, and is the foundation for the secure operation of the SD-WAN environment.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, configuration deployment, and monitoring. While it allows administrators to configure policies, deploy devices, and visualize network performance, vManage does not handle authentication or initial trust for devices. Its role begins after devices have securely joined the overlay, relying on vBond and vSmart for establishing connectivity and distributing intelligence.
The correct choice is vBond Orchestrator because it provides initial trust and facilitates secure connectivity for devices behind NAT or firewalls. By authenticating devices, handling NAT traversal, and enabling controller discovery, vBond ensures a secure and scalable SD-WAN deployment. It is essential for onboarding devices, maintaining network integrity, and establishing the foundational trust required for secure operations.
Question 80
Which SD-WAN feature measures latency, jitter, and packet loss to ensure application performance meets defined service-level agreements?
A) Dynamic Path Selection
B) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
C) Application-Aware Routing
D) VPN Segmentation
Answer: B) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
Explanation:
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates multiple WAN links to select the path that provides optimal application performance. While DPS relies on performance metrics to reroute traffic, it does not measure latency, jitter, or packet loss on its own. DPS acts on data collected by SLA-based Performance Monitoring and other telemetry sources, executing path selection based on thresholds and business intent policies. Without SLA monitoring, DPS would lack the necessary data to make informed routing decisions. DPS ensures traffic follows the best-performing path but depends entirely on performance measurements for its operation.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring continuously measures WAN link performance metrics, including latency, jitter, and packet loss. By comparing these metrics against predefined thresholds for specific applications or traffic classes, SLA monitoring ensures that network links meet service-level agreements. It generates alerts when performance falls below expectations, enabling administrators or automated systems to take corrective actions. SLA monitoring integrates with Dynamic Path Selection to inform rerouting decisions, and with Application-Aware Routing to prioritize critical traffic based on real-time link quality. Historical performance data collected by SLA monitoring allows trend analysis, capacity planning, and identification of recurring network issues. SLA monitoring ensures predictable application performance, maintains user experience, and supports business continuity by detecting and reporting deviations from expected service levels. It acts as the foundation for proactive network management, enabling administrators to optimize WAN utilization, maintain high availability, and enforce organizational policies.
Application-Aware Routing identifies, classifies, and prioritizes traffic based on application type and business intent policies. While AAR ensures that critical applications receive preferential treatment and follow optimal paths, it does not independently measure latency, jitter, or packet loss. It relies on SLA monitoring to provide these performance metrics and uses them in conjunction with path selection decisions. AAR’s function is application intelligence and policy enforcement rather than performance measurement.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate logical networks for operational or security purposes. While segmentation supports independent policy enforcement and can aid in SLA compliance, it does not measure WAN performance metrics or generate alerts. Its purpose is logical and operational separation rather than application performance monitoring.
The correct choice is SLA-based Performance Monitoring because it measures latency, jitter, and packet loss to ensure application performance meets defined service-level agreements. By continuously tracking WAN link quality, generating alerts, and providing historical data for analysis, SLA monitoring enables proactive management, reliable traffic delivery, and predictable application behavior. It is critical for maintaining SLA compliance and supporting optimized SD-WAN operations.
Question 81
Which SD-WAN component executes business intent policies locally at branch sites and enforces application-level prioritization?
A) vSmart Controller
B) vEdge Router
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: B) vEdge Router
Explanation:
vSmart Controller centralizes the control plane, distributing routing information, encryption keys, and business intent policies to branch devices. While vSmart ensures consistent policy definitions and overlay-wide intelligence, it does not execute policies locally. Its role is to provide the instructions, while enforcement occurs at the branch site through data-plane devices. vSmart maintains control-plane operations and overlay consistency but relies on vEdge routers to apply policies in real time.
vEdge Router is the data-plane device responsible for applying business intent policies locally at branch sites. It enforces application-level prioritization, manages VPN segmentation, and establishes secure IPsec tunnels. By executing policies locally, vEdge ensures predictable application performance, SLA compliance, and efficient use of WAN resources. It classifies traffic based on Application-Aware Routing, selects optimal paths using Dynamic Path Selection, and maintains security through encryption keys distributed by vSmart. Local enforcement allows policies to be applied immediately, reducing latency and ensuring branch-specific requirements are met. vEdge’s ability to enforce policies locally also supports scalability, enabling thousands of branch devices to operate consistently without centralized bottlenecks. Without local execution, policy enforcement would be delayed, potentially affecting user experience, application performance, and network reliability. vEdge integrates all SD-WAN features at the branch, translating control-plane instructions into operational decisions that maintain business intent.
vBond Orchestrator handles initial device authentication and trust establishment. While essential for secure onboarding, it does not execute policies or manage application traffic at branch sites. Its function is limited to facilitating secure connectivity to controllers.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, configuration deployment, and monitoring. While administrators define policies and visualize network performance through vManage, it does not enforce these policies locally. Its role is operational management rather than real-time policy execution at the edge.
The correct choice is vEdge Router because it executes business intent policies locally at branch sites and enforces application-level prioritization. By applying policies in real time, managing traffic flows, and ensuring SLA compliance, vEdge routers provide operational efficiency, predictability, and secure SD-WAN operations across distributed sites.
Question 82
Which SD-WAN feature allows traffic to automatically switch to an alternate WAN link when the primary path fails or degrades?
A) VPN Segmentation
B) Dynamic Path Selection
C) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
D) Application-Aware Routing
Answer: B) Dynamic Path Selection
Explanation:
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate logical networks to enforce security, operational separation, and independent policy rules. While segmentation ensures that traffic from different departments or applications remains separate, it does not provide automatic failover or rerouting when a primary WAN link fails or degrades. Segmentation focuses on operational and security isolation rather than performance optimization or dynamic path switching. It supports other SD-WAN features but cannot independently reroute traffic during link issues.
Dynamic Path Selection continuously monitors the performance of WAN links using real-time metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss provided by SLA-based Performance Monitoring. When the primary link does not meet predefined thresholds or experiences degradation, DPS automatically switches traffic to an alternate link that meets SLA requirements. This ensures predictable application performance, maintains high availability, and reduces disruption during network events. DPS integrates with Application-Aware Routing to ensure that critical applications follow the optimal path based on business intent while deprioritizing non-critical traffic during congestion. Additionally, DPS supports failback, returning traffic to the preferred primary path when performance improves, ensuring efficient use of network resources. By automating link selection, DPS reduces operational complexity, mitigates human error, and ensures consistent delivery of business-critical applications. This feature is essential in SD-WAN deployments to maintain SLA compliance, user experience, and reliability across diverse WAN connections.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures link quality and generates alerts when metrics such as latency, jitter, or packet loss exceed defined thresholds. While it provides the necessary telemetry for DPS to make routing decisions, SLA monitoring does not itself reroute traffic. Its function is primarily informational, enabling administrators or automated systems like DPS to react based on observed link performance. SLA monitoring supports failover decisions but does not perform the execution of path switching.
Application-Aware Routing classifies and prioritizes traffic based on application type and business intent policies. While AAR ensures that high-priority applications are steered over the best-performing path, it does not directly switch traffic between WAN links when a path fails. AAR relies on DPS and SLA monitoring to determine which path is most suitable, using its application classification intelligence to prioritize traffic. Its function is focused on policy enforcement and application prioritization rather than failover execution.
The correct choice is Dynamic Path Selection because it allows traffic to automatically switch to an alternate WAN link when the primary path fails or degrades. By continuously evaluating link performance, integrating SLA metrics, and working with application-aware policies, DPS ensures high availability, predictable performance, and optimal utilization of WAN resources in SD-WAN deployments.
Question 83
Which SD-WAN component centralizes the control plane and ensures consistent policy distribution across all branch devices?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: B) vSmart Controller
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device deployed at branch, data center, or cloud locations. It executes traffic forwarding, enforces policies locally, and establishes secure IPsec tunnels. While vEdge routers receive routing instructions, encryption keys, and policies from the control plane, they do not centralize policy distribution or control-plane intelligence. Their role is operational execution, relying on centralized components to provide consistent routing and policy definitions across the network.
vSmart Controller centralizes the SD-WAN control plane, distributing routing information, encryption keys, and business intent policies to all branch devices. By acting as the control-plane hub, vSmart ensures that policies are consistently applied across the entire SD-WAN overlay. It receives configuration inputs from vManage NMS and propagates them to vEdge routers, maintaining alignment between policy definitions and operational enforcement. vSmart also facilitates secure communication by distributing encryption keys and managing secure tunnels between devices. Centralized control allows for scalable deployments, consistent application of business intent, and predictable network behavior. By separating the control plane from the data plane, vSmart enables efficient traffic management and policy enforcement at the branch level while maintaining consistency across the overlay. Without vSmart, policies would need to be manually configured on each device, risking inconsistencies and operational errors, reducing scalability, and potentially compromising security or SLA compliance.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates initial device authentication and secure onboarding. While it is essential for establishing trust and enabling devices to connect to the overlay, it does not centralize policy distribution or manage the control plane. vBond’s function is limited to authentication, NAT traversal, and initial connectivity, ensuring devices can securely discover controllers.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, configuration deployment, and monitoring. While it defines policies and orchestrates configurations for deployment, it does not directly distribute routing information or maintain the overlay control plane. Its role is operational management, providing a user interface and dashboards, while the control-plane intelligence is executed through vSmart controllers.
The correct choice is vSmart Controller because it centralizes the control plane and ensures consistent policy distribution across all branch devices. By managing routing, encryption, and policy distribution from a central location, vSmart provides scalable, secure, and consistent SD-WAN operations while enabling predictable network behavior and reliable application delivery.
Question 84
Which SD-WAN feature allows administrators to view historical WAN performance trends and identify recurring network issues?
A) vEdge Router
B) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
C) Dynamic Path Selection
D) Application-Aware Routing
Answer: B) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
Explanation:
vEdge Router executes traffic forwarding, enforces policies, and maintains secure IPsec tunnels. While it collects telemetry and monitors local link performance, it does not provide a centralized interface for historical data visualization or trend analysis. Its function is operational execution, delivering real-time enforcement of policies at branch locations. Administrators rely on centralized monitoring tools to aggregate and analyze performance data from multiple vEdge devices over time.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring continuously collects metrics such as latency, jitter, packet loss, and link utilization across the WAN. By storing this telemetry, SLA monitoring allows administrators to view historical trends, evaluate recurring performance issues, and plan capacity or configuration changes. Historical analysis is critical for identifying patterns that may indicate underperforming links, persistent congestion, or misconfigured network policies. SLA monitoring also enables administrators to validate whether business intent policies and application-level SLAs are being met consistently over time. By integrating with Dynamic Path Selection, administrators can correlate path changes with SLA compliance, ensuring that automated rerouting decisions maintain predictable application performance. Historical SLA data also supports compliance reporting, troubleshooting, and proactive network optimization, allowing organizations to maintain a reliable, high-performing SD-WAN overlay. Without SLA-based Performance Monitoring, administrators would lack visibility into long-term performance trends, making it difficult to identify recurring issues or optimize the WAN effectively.
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates real-time link performance and reroutes traffic to maintain SLA compliance. While it relies on SLA monitoring data to make informed decisions, DPS does not provide historical trend analysis or insight into recurring network issues. Its function is execution-based, focusing on operational path selection rather than long-term performance reporting.
Application-Aware Routing identifies and classifies traffic, enforcing business intent policies and prioritizing critical applications. While AAR ensures predictable application performance and integrates with DPS and SLA monitoring, it does not provide historical performance analysis or trend reporting. Its primary role is traffic classification and policy enforcement rather than WAN performance analytics.
The correct choice is SLA-based Performance Monitoring because it allows administrators to view historical WAN performance trends and identify recurring network issues. By collecting and analyzing metrics over time, SLA monitoring enables proactive troubleshooting, performance optimization, and verification of SLA compliance. It is essential for maintaining predictable application delivery, efficient WAN utilization, and informed decision-making in SD-WAN deployments.
Question 85
Which SD-WAN component allows administrators to define business intent policies and deploy them across branch devices?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vManage NMS
D) vBond Orchestrator
Answer: C) vManage NMS
Explanation:
vEdge Router is a data-plane device that executes traffic forwarding, enforces locally applied policies, and maintains secure IPsec tunnels. While it enforces policies, it does not provide an interface for defining or deploying policies across multiple devices. Its function is operational, translating instructions from the control plane and management system into local actions. vEdge relies on centralized tools to receive configurations and policies, but it does not create or distribute them. Without vEdge enforcing these policies, the SD-WAN overlay would lack execution at the branch, but vEdge alone cannot define or manage business intent policies.
vSmart Controller centralizes the control plane, distributing routing information, encryption keys, and policies to branch devices. While vSmart ensures consistent policy enforcement and propagates business intent policies received from management systems, it does not provide an administrative interface for defining or deploying these policies. Its role is control-plane intelligence and execution distribution rather than management and orchestration. vSmart relies on vManage for policy creation and updates, ensuring that centralized definitions are consistently applied.
vManage NMS provides centralized network management and orchestration for Cisco SD-WAN. It allows administrators to define business intent policies, configure device settings, segment VPNs, and deploy configurations across branch devices in a single interface. vManage integrates with vSmart to ensure that policies are distributed consistently across the control plane, and with vEdge to enforce policies at the data plane. It provides monitoring dashboards, historical analytics, and alerting for SLA violations, enabling proactive network management. Administrators can create, update, or remove policies centrally, and vManage automatically ensures that these changes propagate to all relevant devices, maintaining policy consistency across the SD-WAN overlay. By centralizing configuration and orchestration, vManage simplifies large-scale deployments, reduces operational errors, and ensures alignment between business intent and network behavior. Without vManage, administrators would need to manually configure each branch device, leading to inconsistencies, inefficiencies, and potential misconfigurations.
vBond Orchestrator handles initial device authentication, trust establishment, and NAT traversal to connect devices securely to controllers. While it is essential for onboarding devices and enabling secure connectivity, it does not provide an administrative interface for defining or deploying business intent policies. Its function is foundational and security-focused rather than operational management or policy orchestration.
The correct choice is vManage NMS because it allows administrators to define business intent policies and deploy them across branch devices. By providing a centralized interface for policy creation, configuration deployment, and monitoring, vManage ensures consistency, scalability, and operational efficiency across the SD-WAN overlay. It bridges the gap between business objectives and network enforcement, enabling predictable performance and alignment with organizational priorities.
Question 86
Which SD-WAN feature ensures that traffic from different departments or applications follows separate routing and policy rules?
A) Dynamic Path Selection
B) Application-Aware Routing
C) VPN Segmentation
D) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
Answer: C) VPN Segmentation
Explanation:
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates WAN links in real time and reroutes traffic based on performance metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. While DPS ensures that traffic follows the best path to meet SLA requirements, it does not inherently separate traffic based on departmental or application boundaries. DPS relies on other features like VPN Segmentation to maintain logical separation while executing path selection decisions. Its function is focused on performance optimization and failover rather than operational isolation or policy enforcement by department or application.
Application-Aware Routing classifies traffic based on application type and applies business intent policies to prioritize critical applications. While AAR ensures high-priority traffic is delivered efficiently and integrates with DPS for path selection, it does not isolate traffic into separate networks with independent routing and policy rules. AAR works within the context of segmentation to enforce policies per application, but it does not provide logical separation between departments or tenants by itself.
VPN Segmentation creates multiple virtual networks within the SD-WAN overlay, each with its own routing table, access control policies, and service-level objectives. By isolating traffic, VPN Segmentation ensures that different departments, applications, or tenants operate independently, with policies applied separately to each logical network. For example, finance, marketing, and guest traffic can be routed through separate VPNs, allowing administrators to enforce security, QoS, and routing rules uniquely for each segment. Segmentation prevents accidental policy conflicts, supports compliance requirements, and allows fine-grained control of traffic flows. It integrates with other SD-WAN features like AAR and DPS to ensure that isolated traffic is routed optimally while maintaining predictable performance. Without VPN Segmentation, all traffic would exist in a single flat overlay, making it difficult to apply differentiated policies, protect sensitive data, or ensure predictable behavior for critical applications.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link quality and generates alerts for violations. While it provides telemetry that informs DPS and AAR, SLA monitoring does not create logical separation or enforce independent routing and policy rules per department or application. Its role is measurement and reporting rather than operational enforcement or isolation.
The correct choice is VPN Segmentation because it ensures that traffic from different departments or applications follows separate routing and policy rules. By providing logical separation, independent routing tables, and dedicated policy enforcement, VPN Segmentation enables secure, predictable, and compliant SD-WAN deployments that meet organizational and regulatory requirements.
Question 87
Which SD-WAN component collects telemetry data from branch devices and provides a centralized view of network health?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: D) vManage NMS
Explanation:
vEdge Router collects local telemetry such as link utilization, CPU load, and packet statistics. While this data is critical for operational awareness at the branch level, vEdge alone does not provide a centralized view or aggregated analytics for administrators. Its telemetry must be collected and visualized through a centralized platform to provide actionable insights for the entire SD-WAN overlay. vEdge’s role is operational execution, relying on management systems to provide long-term visibility and reporting.
vSmart Controller distributes routing information, policies, and encryption keys to branch devices. It also collects some control-plane telemetry, such as neighbor relationships and route propagation statistics. While vSmart provides a partial view of the network, it is focused on control-plane intelligence and does not offer a full, centralized view of data-plane performance or network health over time. Its primary purpose is policy distribution and secure control-plane operation rather than centralized monitoring for administrators.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates secure onboarding, device authentication, and controller discovery. While it ensures devices can securely connect to the overlay, it does not collect or visualize telemetry data for network performance or health. Its function is foundational for trust and connectivity rather than operational monitoring or centralized visualization.
vManage NMS provides a centralized network management and orchestration platform that collects telemetry from vEdge routers, vSmart controllers, and other SD-WAN components. It aggregates data on WAN link performance, device health, VPN traffic, application metrics, and SLA compliance. Administrators can visualize network health through dashboards, graphs, and historical reports, and vManage generates alerts for SLA violations, performance degradation, or misconfigurations. By providing a single-pane-of-glass view, vManage enables proactive monitoring, trend analysis, troubleshooting, and operational optimization. It integrates with features like SLA-based Performance Monitoring and Application-Aware Routing to give administrators actionable insights while ensuring that policies are applied consistently and network performance is maintained. Without vManage, telemetry would be scattered across devices, making monitoring, trend analysis, and decision-making complex and inefficient.
The correct choice is vManage NMS because it collects telemetry data from branch devices and provides a centralized view of network health. By aggregating and visualizing operational data, vManage enables proactive monitoring, efficient troubleshooting, SLA compliance, and effective SD-WAN management across distributed locations.
Question 88
Which SD-WAN feature allows administrators to enforce service-level objectives for specific applications over WAN links?
A) Dynamic Path Selection
B) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
C) Application-Aware Routing
D) VPN Segmentation
Answer: C) Application-Aware Routing
Explanation:
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates multiple WAN links based on real-time metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss to determine the optimal path for traffic. While DPS ensures that traffic is routed over links that meet defined performance criteria, it does not independently enforce service-level objectives for specific applications. DPS depends on intelligence from SLA-based Performance Monitoring and Application-Aware Routing to prioritize traffic and align routing with application requirements. Its primary function is path selection and failover, not application-specific policy enforcement.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link quality and provides telemetry on latency, jitter, and packet loss. While SLA monitoring generates alerts when performance thresholds are violated and informs other features like DPS, it does not enforce policies or prioritize traffic per application. SLA monitoring provides data necessary for decision-making, but enforcement requires integration with other features such as Application-Aware Routing and Dynamic Path Selection. SLA monitoring is foundational for evaluating whether links can meet performance objectives but cannot directly enforce application-specific priorities.
Application-Aware Routing classifies traffic based on application type and applies business intent policies, allowing administrators to enforce service-level objectives (SLOs) for critical applications. By using deep packet inspection and business intent rules, AAR ensures that high-priority applications such as VoIP, ERP, or video conferencing receive the necessary bandwidth, follow optimal paths, and meet latency and jitter requirements. AAR integrates with SLA-based Performance Monitoring to evaluate link performance against defined SLOs, steering traffic dynamically to maintain compliance. Additionally, AAR works with Dynamic Path Selection to ensure that traffic meets performance objectives even during congestion or link degradation. By enforcing SLOs at the application level, AAR guarantees predictable performance, enhances user experience, and ensures alignment with organizational priorities. Without AAR, traffic would be routed based solely on link availability or classification, potentially causing critical applications to suffer performance degradation during network events.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate logical networks for security and operational separation. While segmentation supports independent policies and allows separate SLOs for different logical networks, it does not itself prioritize applications or enforce performance objectives per application. Its primary function is operational isolation and security rather than enforcing service-level objectives or managing application performance.
The correct choice is Application-Aware Routing because it allows administrators to enforce service-level objectives for specific applications over WAN links. By classifying traffic, prioritizing critical applications, and integrating with performance monitoring and path selection, AAR ensures that business-critical applications meet defined objectives, enabling predictable performance and alignment with organizational intent.
Question 89
Which SD-WAN component authenticates devices, establishes trust, and facilitates controller discovery during initial deployment?
A) vEdge Router
B) vBond Orchestrator
C) vSmart Controller
D) vManage NMS
Answer: B) vBond Orchestrator
Explanation:
vEdge Router is deployed at branch, data center, or cloud locations to forward traffic, enforce policies, and maintain secure IPsec tunnels. While vEdge participates in onboarding by initiating connections to controllers, it does not authenticate devices, establish trust, or facilitate controller discovery independently. Its function is operational execution after trust and connectivity are established. vEdge relies on vBond to enable secure onboarding and controller discovery, which allows it to join the SD-WAN overlay safely. Without vBond, devices would not be able to securely connect to the control-plane infrastructure, limiting their ability to participate in the overlay network.
vBond Orchestrator serves as the initial trust anchor in SD-WAN deployments. It authenticates devices using certificates, establishes secure communication channels, and facilitates the discovery of vSmart controllers and vManage NMS. vBond ensures that only authorized devices join the overlay, maintaining network integrity and security. It also handles NAT traversal, enabling devices behind firewalls or private networks to securely connect to controllers. Once onboarding is complete, devices receive policies, routing information, and encryption keys from vSmart controllers. By centralizing trust and facilitating controller discovery, vBond enables scalable deployments and simplifies secure connectivity for large numbers of branch devices. Its function is foundational, providing authentication, trust establishment, and discovery while other components handle control-plane intelligence, policy enforcement, and operational execution. Without vBond, devices would be unable to securely join the overlay, potentially exposing the network to unauthorized access or misconfigurations.
vSmart Controller centralizes the control plane, distributing routing information, business policies, and encryption keys to devices. While vSmart plays a key role in overlay management and policy enforcement, it assumes that devices are already authenticated and connected to the overlay. It does not handle initial trust establishment or controller discovery, relying on vBond to facilitate these foundational processes. vSmart’s role is control-plane intelligence and policy distribution rather than initial onboarding or authentication.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, policy definition, and monitoring. While it allows administrators to define business intent policies and visualize network performance, it does not authenticate devices or facilitate controller discovery. vManage relies on vBond to onboard devices and ensure secure connections before policies are deployed and monitoring begins. Its function is operational management rather than foundational trust establishment.
The correct choice is vBond Orchestrator because it authenticates devices, establishes trust, and facilitates controller discovery during initial deployment. By providing secure onboarding, NAT traversal, and centralized trust management, vBond ensures that devices can safely join the overlay, maintain network integrity, and receive control-plane instructions for consistent SD-WAN operations.
Question 90
Which SD-WAN feature continuously evaluates WAN links and reroutes traffic when performance thresholds are not met?
A) VPN Segmentation
B) Dynamic Path Selection
C) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
D) Application-Aware Routing
Answer: B) Dynamic Path Selection
Explanation:
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate logical networks for security and operational separation. While segmentation ensures independent policy enforcement and predictable routing within each logical network, it does not reroute traffic based on WAN link performance. Its primary function is operational isolation and security rather than dynamic optimization of traffic paths. VPN Segmentation works alongside features like Dynamic Path Selection, but cannot independently adjust routing in response to link degradation or failure.
Dynamic Path Selection continuously monitors WAN links using real-time performance metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss provided by SLA-based Performance Monitoring. When a WAN link fails to meet predefined thresholds, DPS automatically reroutes traffic to an alternate path that satisfies SLA requirements, ensuring predictable application performance and high availability. DPS integrates with Application-Aware Routing to ensure that critical applications follow the best-performing path while lower-priority traffic may be rerouted differently. DPS also supports failback, returning traffic to the preferred primary path when performance improves. By automating path selection, DPS reduces operational complexity, mitigates human error, and ensures optimal use of WAN resources. Without DPS, rerouting decisions would need to be manual or rely solely on static configurations, which could impact performance and user experience. This feature is crucial for maintaining SLA compliance, minimizing downtime, and supporting business-critical applications in SD-WAN environments.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link quality metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. While it provides the data necessary for rerouting decisions, SLA monitoring does not execute traffic rerouting. Its function is informational and analytical, enabling administrators and automated systems like DPS to act based on observed link performance. SLA monitoring supports decision-making but does not perform the execution of path selection.
Application-Aware Routing classifies traffic and enforces business intent policies to prioritize critical applications. While AAR ensures important applications receive preferential treatment and integrates with DPS, it does not independently switch traffic between WAN links when thresholds are not met. AAR provides policy intelligence, but actual rerouting decisions are executed by Dynamic Path Selection.
The correct choice is Dynamic Path Selection because it continuously evaluates WAN links and reroutes traffic when performance thresholds are not met. By leveraging real-time telemetry and integrating with application intelligence, DPS ensures high availability, predictable performance, and optimal utilization of WAN resources in SD-WAN deployments.