Cisco 300-415 Implementing SD-WAN Solutions (ENSDWI) Exam Dumps and Practice Test Questions Set 7 Q91-105
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Question 91
Which SD-WAN component distributes routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to 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. Its primary functions include forwarding traffic, enforcing locally applied policies, and maintaining secure IPsec tunnels. While vEdge executes the policies and routing instructions it receives, it does not distribute routing information, business intent policies, or encryption keys to other devices. Its role is operational execution at the branch, relying on centralized control-plane components to provide consistent and secure instructions. Without the distribution of routing and policy information from a control-plane component, vEdge routers cannot maintain consistent overlay behavior or establish secure communication with other sites.
vSmart Controller centralizes the SD-WAN control plane, distributing routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to branch devices. By acting as the control-plane hub, vSmart ensures consistent policy enforcement across all sites, enabling predictable network behavior and secure communication. vSmart receives configuration inputs from vManage NMS and propagates them to vEdge routers, ensuring that each device enforces the defined policies locally. This distribution of routing and policy information allows vEdge routers to establish IPsec tunnels, classify traffic based on application type, enforce service-level objectives, and follow business intent policies. The centralized distribution of encryption keys ensures that only authorized devices can communicate securely across the WAN overlay. Without vSmart, administrators would need to configure each device individually, increasing the risk of inconsistencies, operational errors, and security vulnerabilities. By managing routing, policy, and security centrally, vSmart supports scalability, reliability, and security in large SD-WAN deployments.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates initial device authentication, trust establishment, and controller discovery. While vBond ensures secure onboarding and NAT traversal for devices, it does not distribute routing information, business intent policies, or encryption keys. Its role is foundational, focusing on authentication and connectivity rather than ongoing control-plane intelligence. vBond enables devices to securely connect to vSmart and vManage, but it does not maintain or enforce policy distribution across the overlay.
vManage NMS provides centralized network management, policy configuration, and monitoring. While it defines business intent policies and deploys configurations to branch devices, it does not directly propagate routing information or encryption keys. Its primary function is operational management, visualization, and orchestration, while the control-plane intelligence is delivered by vSmart. Administrators rely on vManage to create policies, but the distribution and enforcement of these policies across the overlay is the responsibility of vSmart.
The correct choice is vSmart Controller because it distributes routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to branch devices. By centralizing control-plane functions, vSmart ensures secure, consistent, and scalable SD-WAN operations while enabling branch devices to enforce policies locally and maintain reliable, encrypted communication across the WAN overlay.
Question 92
Which SD-WAN feature isolates traffic for security and operational separation between departments or applications?
A) Dynamic Path Selection
B) VPN Segmentation
C) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
D) Application-Aware Routing
Answer: B) VPN Segmentation
Explanation:
Dynamic Path Selection continuously evaluates WAN links based on real-time metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss, rerouting traffic to maintain SLA compliance. While DPS ensures high availability and performance optimization, it does not isolate traffic by department or application. Its function is primarily operational, focused on path selection, failover, and performance maintenance. DPS relies on segmentation to ensure that isolated traffic can be independently managed while still benefiting from dynamic path optimization. Without segmentation, DPS would treat all traffic as a single pool, limiting the ability to enforce departmental or application-specific policies.
VPN Segmentation creates multiple virtual networks within the SD-WAN overlay, each with its own routing table, access control rules, and policy enforcement. This feature allows traffic from different departments or applications to be separated logically, ensuring operational independence and security boundaries. For example, finance, marketing, and guest traffic can exist in separate VPNs, each with distinct routing, SLA thresholds, and security policies. Segmentation prevents policy conflicts, enforces isolation, and allows administrators to control access between VPNs, supporting regulatory compliance and minimizing risk. By combining VPN Segmentation with Application-Aware Routing and SLA-based Performance Monitoring, administrators can ensure that critical applications are prioritized and isolated networks operate predictably without interference. Without segmentation, all traffic would share the same routing and policy context, increasing the risk of security breaches, misconfigurations, or performance degradation. Segmentation is critical for multi-tenant or departmental SD-WAN deployments, providing operational efficiency, enhanced security, and policy flexibility.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures link quality metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss to ensure WAN links meet defined thresholds. While SLA monitoring supports Dynamic Path Selection and prioritization, it does not provide logical isolation of traffic. Its role is informational, providing the data necessary to optimize performance but not operational separation.
Application-Aware Routing identifies and classifies traffic based on application type and enforces business intent policies. While AAR ensures traffic prioritization and aligns network behavior with business objectives, it does not independently create isolated networks or separate routing domains. AAR relies on segmentation to maintain isolated environments for different departments or applications.
The correct choice is VPN Segmentation because it isolates traffic for security and operational separation between departments or applications. By providing logical networks with independent policies, routing, and access control, VPN Segmentation ensures secure, predictable, and compliant SD-WAN operations, supporting multi-tenant and departmental network requirements.
Question 93
Which SD-WAN component provides a centralized interface for monitoring, configuration deployment, and policy management?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: D) vManage NMS
Explanation:
vEdge Router executes data-plane operations, forwarding traffic, enforcing locally applied policies, and maintaining secure IPsec tunnels. While it generates local telemetry, it does not provide a centralized interface for administrators to monitor the network, deploy configurations, or manage policies. Its role is operational execution at branch sites, relying on management and control-plane components to receive instructions and ensure consistent overlay behavior. Without centralized management, vEdge routers would require manual configuration, leading to operational inefficiencies and potential inconsistencies in policy enforcement.
vSmart Controller centralizes control-plane functions, distributing routing information, encryption keys, and business intent policies to branch devices. While vSmart ensures consistent policy enforcement and secure communication, it does not provide a user-friendly interface for administrators to monitor network health or deploy configurations. Its function is control-plane intelligence and policy propagation rather than centralized operational management. Administrators rely on vManage for visualizing network performance and managing the overlay.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates initial device authentication, trust establishment, and controller discovery. While critical for onboarding devices and enabling secure connections, vBond does not provide centralized monitoring, configuration deployment, or policy management. Its role is foundational, focused on security and connectivity rather than operational administration.
vManage NMS provides a centralized interface for network monitoring, configuration deployment, and policy management across the SD-WAN overlay. Administrators can define business intent policies, configure branch devices, monitor WAN links, and view historical performance trends from a single interface. vManage integrates with vSmart for policy distribution and with vEdge for local enforcement, enabling consistent and scalable network management. It provides dashboards, reports, and alerts to simplify operational oversight and ensure SLA compliance. By centralizing these functions, vManage reduces operational complexity, ensures consistency, and enhances visibility across the entire SD-WAN deployment. Without vManage, administrators would need to rely on disparate tools or manual device access, increasing the risk of misconfigurations and operational inefficiencies.
The correct choice is vManage NMS because it provides a centralized interface for monitoring, configuration deployment, and policy management. By unifying these capabilities, vManage enables administrators to maintain consistent policies, optimize network performance, and manage large-scale SD-WAN deployments efficiently.
Question 94
Which SD-WAN feature uses real-time telemetry to select the best-performing WAN path for specific applications?
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 maintain security and operational separation. While it ensures that traffic from different departments or applications follows independent policies and routing, it does not select WAN paths based on performance metrics. Its function is primarily operational and security-focused, allowing administrators to control access and enforce policies independently for each logical network. Segmentation works alongside features like Dynamic Path Selection to ensure isolated traffic also follows optimal paths, but segmentation alone cannot perform real-time WAN path selection. Without segmentation, all traffic would share the same policy context, potentially causing conflicts or performance issues when combined with path selection.
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates multiple WAN links in real time using metrics such as latency, jitter, packet loss, and bandwidth availability. It leverages telemetry from SLA-based Performance Monitoring and other sources to determine the best-performing path for specific applications. By continuously monitoring link performance, DPS can reroute traffic to ensure that critical applications maintain predictable performance, even during periods of congestion or link degradation. DPS integrates with Application-Aware Routing to prioritize business-critical applications, ensuring that they follow the optimal path while less critical traffic may be rerouted differently. Additionally, DPS supports failover and failback mechanisms, automatically switching traffic back to the preferred primary path when performance improves. This reduces operational complexity, ensures high availability, and optimizes WAN resource utilization. Without DPS, path selection would be static or manual, increasing the risk of performance degradation and SLA violations. By leveraging real-time telemetry, DPS enables automated, intelligent routing decisions that align with business intent and application requirements.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring provides the real-time telemetry necessary for DPS to make informed routing decisions. While it measures latency, jitter, packet loss, and other performance metrics, it does not reroute traffic or select WAN paths. Its function is analytical, providing the data required for automated features like DPS and for administrators to evaluate network performance over time. SLA monitoring supports path selection but cannot independently optimize traffic flow.
Application-Aware Routing classifies traffic and enforces business intent policies by prioritizing critical applications. While AAR determines which applications require higher priority and integrates with DPS for path selection, it does not independently select the best-performing WAN path. Its primary role is application classification and policy enforcement rather than path optimization.
The correct choice is Dynamic Path Selection because it uses real-time telemetry to select the best-performing WAN path for specific applications. By integrating with SLA-based Performance Monitoring and Application-Aware Routing, DPS ensures predictable performance, automated failover, and optimal utilization of network resources, enabling efficient and reliable SD-WAN operations.
Question 95
Which SD-WAN component is responsible for establishing and maintaining IPsec tunnels for encrypted data traffic?
A) vSmart Controller
B) vBond Orchestrator
C) vEdge Router
D) vManage NMS
Answer: C) vEdge Router
Explanation:
vSmart Controller centralizes the control plane, distributing routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to branch devices. While it plays a critical role in providing the necessary keys and policy instructions for secure communication, it does not establish or maintain IPsec tunnels itself. Its function is control-plane intelligence, ensuring that vEdge routers have the necessary information to implement encryption and enforce policies at the branch level. Without vEdge routers executing these instructions, the network would lack data-plane security and cannot transmit encrypted traffic.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates initial device authentication, trust establishment, and controller discovery. While it is essential for secure onboarding and NAT traversal, it does not encrypt traffic or maintain IPsec tunnels. vBond ensures that devices can securely join the overlay and communicate with controllers, but actual encryption and data-plane forwarding are performed by vEdge routers. Its role is foundational for security but does not involve ongoing tunnel maintenance or encryption operations.
vEdge Router is the data-plane device responsible for establishing and maintaining IPsec tunnels between branch sites, data centers, and cloud endpoints. It uses encryption keys received from vSmart controllers to secure all data-plane traffic, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity. vEdge routers apply business intent policies, enforce SLA-based rules, and route traffic through encrypted tunnels, allowing secure communication across the WAN overlay. They also support dynamic path selection and application-aware routing while maintaining encryption, ensuring both performance and security. Without vEdge routers managing IPsec tunnels, sensitive data would traverse the WAN unencrypted, exposing the organization to potential security breaches. vEdge routers perform local encryption and decryption, integrate with control-plane instructions, and maintain high availability and reliability of secure paths. This makes them essential for secure SD-WAN operations.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, policy configuration, and monitoring. While it defines encryption policies and monitors tunnel status, it does not directly maintain IPsec tunnels or encrypt traffic. Its function is operational oversight, providing administrators with tools to configure and monitor devices but not executing data-plane encryption or tunnel maintenance.
The correct choice is vEdge Router because it is responsible for establishing and maintaining IPsec tunnels for encrypted data traffic. By handling encryption locally, applying policies, and integrating with the control plane, vEdge ensures secure, reliable, and high-performance communication across the SD-WAN overlay.
Question 96
Which SD-WAN feature classifies traffic and prioritizes business-critical applications based on defined policies?
A) Dynamic Path Selection
B) Application-Aware Routing
C) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
D) VPN Segmentation
Answer: B) Application-Aware Routing
Explanation:
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates WAN links in real time based on latency, jitter, packet loss, and bandwidth availability, rerouting traffic to maintain SLA compliance. While DPS ensures traffic follows the best-performing path, it does not classify applications or enforce prioritization based on business intent policies. DPS depends on Application-Aware Routing to identify which traffic is critical and should be prioritized. Its role is operational path selection rather than policy-driven application classification, making it complementary to AAR rather than a replacement. Without AAR, DPS may route traffic efficiently but cannot guarantee that high-priority applications maintain performance during congestion.
Application-Aware Routing identifies traffic based on application type using deep packet inspection and enforces policies defined by administrators. It ensures business-critical applications, such as VoIP, ERP, or video conferencing, receive higher priority, appropriate bandwidth, and optimal routing paths. AAR integrates with SLA-based Performance Monitoring to evaluate link quality and with Dynamic Path Selection to steer critical traffic over the best-performing path. By enforcing policies locally at branch sites through vEdge routers, AAR guarantees that business intent is executed effectively, maintaining predictable application performance. This feature enables organizations to align network behavior with operational priorities, ensuring critical applications remain functional even during congestion or WAN link degradation. Without AAR, traffic prioritization would rely solely on path performance or static QoS settings, potentially impacting critical applications.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures latency, jitter, packet loss, and link quality, providing metrics for path selection and policy enforcement. While it informs AAR and DPS, SLA monitoring does not classify applications or prioritize traffic independently. Its function is informational, enabling other features to enforce policies rather than directly managing application-level prioritization.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate logical networks for security and operational separation. While segmentation supports independent policy enforcement, it does not classify traffic or prioritize applications based on business intent. Its primary purpose is operational isolation and security rather than application-level policy enforcement.
The correct choice is Application-Aware Routing because it classifies traffic and prioritizes business-critical applications based on defined policies. By integrating with path selection and SLA monitoring, AAR ensures predictable performance, alignment with business objectives, and efficient utilization of WAN resources, making it essential for effective SD-WAN deployments.
Question 97
Which SD-WAN component handles NAT traversal and ensures devices behind firewalls can securely connect to controllers?
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 locally applied policies, and maintain secure IPsec tunnels. While vEdge initiates connections to controllers and participates in NAT traversal, it does not manage or coordinate NAT traversal for the broader SD-WAN network. Its function is operational execution at the branch, relying on centralized components like vBond to facilitate secure initial connectivity and trust establishment. Without support from vBond, devices behind firewalls or NAT would struggle to discover controllers, compromising the scalability and security of the overlay.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates initial device authentication, trust establishment, and NAT traversal, ensuring devices behind firewalls or private networks can securely connect to vSmart controllers and vManage NMS. vBond acts as the initial trust anchor, authenticating devices with certificates and enabling secure overlay connections. It negotiates NAT traversal and helps devices locate controllers, allowing seamless onboarding even in complex network environments. By managing NAT traversal centrally, vBond eliminates the need for manual firewall adjustments at branch sites and ensures secure communication channels from day one. It enables scalable SD-WAN deployments, allowing hundreds or thousands of branch devices to securely connect without individual configuration. Without vBond, devices behind NAT could not reliably join the overlay, leaving the network vulnerable to unauthorized access or misconfigurations. Its role is foundational, ensuring trust, secure connectivity, and controller discovery before ongoing policy enforcement and data-plane operations occur.
vSmart Controller centralizes control-plane functions, distributing routing information, policies, and encryption keys to branch devices. While essential for overlay intelligence and secure communication, vSmart assumes devices have already been authenticated and securely connected. It does not handle NAT traversal or initial trust establishment, relying on vBond to enable devices behind firewalls to reach the control plane. vSmart focuses on distributing intelligence and enforcing policies rather than foundational connectivity.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, configuration deployment, and monitoring. While it allows administrators to define policies, visualize network performance, and deploy configurations, it does not facilitate NAT traversal or secure onboarding. vManage relies on vBond to ensure devices are connected to the overlay and can communicate securely with controllers. Its function is operational management rather than initial connectivity.
The correct choice is vBond Orchestrator because it handles NAT traversal and ensures devices behind firewalls can securely connect to controllers. By authenticating devices, establishing trust, and enabling discovery of vSmart and vManage, vBond provides secure, scalable, and seamless onboarding, forming the foundation for reliable SD-WAN deployment and secure communication across the overlay.
Question 98
Which SD-WAN feature provides alerts and notifications when WAN link performance falls below defined thresholds?
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 reroutes traffic across WAN links based on real-time performance metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. While DPS ensures traffic follows the best-performing path, it does not generate alerts or notifications when a link underperforms. DPS relies on SLA-based Performance Monitoring to provide the necessary telemetry for informed path selection. Without SLA monitoring, DPS would lack the contextual data to determine which links meet performance thresholds, potentially resulting in suboptimal routing decisions. Its primary function is operational path optimization rather than monitoring and alerting.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring continuously measures WAN link metrics, including latency, jitter, packet loss, and availability. When a link fails to meet predefined thresholds for a specific application or traffic class, SLA monitoring generates alerts and notifications for administrators. This allows proactive intervention, troubleshooting, or automated rerouting through features like Dynamic Path Selection. SLA monitoring also provides historical data, enabling trend analysis to identify recurring network issues, capacity planning, and verification of service-level agreements. By integrating with other SD-WAN features such as Application-Aware Routing, SLA monitoring ensures that critical applications receive the performance they require and that alerts are triggered when service expectations are not met. Without SLA monitoring, administrators would have no automated mechanism to detect link degradation or verify that applications meet defined SLOs, making network management reactive and less reliable. It is a foundational feature for operational oversight, ensuring predictable WAN performance, maintaining high availability, and supporting organizational priorities.
Application-Aware Routing classifies traffic and enforces business intent policies by prioritizing critical applications. While AAR works with DPS and SLA monitoring to ensure high-priority traffic receives optimal paths, it does not independently generate alerts for underperforming links. Its function is application prioritization and policy enforcement rather than monitoring WAN performance and notifying administrators.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate logical networks for security and operational separation. While segmentation ensures operational independence and policy isolation for different departments or applications, it does not monitor WAN link quality or trigger alerts. Its function is logical separation rather than performance measurement or notification.
The correct choice is SLA-based Performance Monitoring because it provides alerts and notifications when the WAN link performance falls below defined thresholds. By measuring link quality, generating notifications, and integrating with path selection and application prioritization, SLA monitoring enables proactive management, ensures SLA compliance, and supports predictable SD-WAN operations across distributed sites.
Question 99
Which SD-WAN component enforces business intent policies locally at branch sites?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: A) vEdge Router
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device responsible for executing traffic forwarding, applying business intent policies, establishing secure IPsec tunnels, and maintaining SLA compliance at branch locations. By enforcing policies locally, vEdge ensures predictable application performance and adherence to defined organizational priorities. Traffic is classified based on Application-Aware Routing, routed over optimal paths using Dynamic Path Selection, and encrypted using keys distributed by vSmart controllers. Local enforcement ensures immediate policy application, reducing latency and enabling branch-specific control without relying on central components for real-time decisions. vEdge routers integrate with vManage for policy deployment but perform enforcement independently, which is critical for scalability and consistent performance across thousands of branches. Without vEdge, policies would only exist centrally, and enforcement would be delayed, risking SLA violations, inconsistent application behavior, and potential security exposure.
vSmart Controller centralizes control-plane intelligence, distributing routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys. While it ensures consistent policy distribution across the overlay, it does not enforce policies locally at branch sites. Its role is control-plane management, relying on vEdge routers to translate instructions into operational enforcement. Without vEdge executing policies, vSmart’s instructions would not affect data-plane traffic.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates initial device authentication, trust establishment, and controller discovery. While critical for onboarding and secure connectivity, vBond does not enforce business intent policies. Its function is foundational, focused on authentication and secure overlay initiation, not operational traffic management or policy enforcement.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, monitoring, and policy definition. While administrators define policies in vManage, it does not enforce them locally. vManage relies on vEdge routers to apply the policies at branch locations in real time, ensuring traffic is handled according to business intent.
The correct choice is vEdge Router because it enforces business intent policies locally at branch sites. By applying policies, managing traffic flows, and integrating with control-plane instructions, vEdge ensures predictable application performance, SLA compliance, and secure SD-WAN operations across distributed locations.
Question 100
Which SD-WAN feature ensures high availability by automatically switching traffic to alternate WAN links when the primary path fails?
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 it allows traffic from different departments or applications to follow independent routing and policy rules, it does not provide automatic failover or rerouting when the primary WAN path fails. Its primary function is operational and security isolation, ensuring that different segments can enforce policies independently. Segmentation works alongside features like Dynamic Path Selection, which performs the actual failover and path switching, but segmentation itself cannot maintain high availability. Without segmentation, all traffic would share the same overlay, potentially causing conflicts or performance degradation during failover events.
Dynamic Path Selection continuously monitors WAN links using real-time metrics such as latency, jitter, packet loss, and bandwidth availability. When a primary path fails or degrades beyond acceptable thresholds, DPS automatically reroutes traffic to an alternate WAN link that meets SLA requirements. This ensures that critical applications maintain predictable performance and high availability even during network outages or congestion. DPS integrates with Application-Aware Routing to ensure that high-priority applications are routed over the optimal path while lower-priority traffic may use secondary links. It also supports failback, allowing traffic to return to the preferred primary path once it recovers. By automating path selection and failover, DPS reduces operational complexity, mitigates human error, and ensures efficient use of WAN resources. Without DPS, failover would require manual intervention or static configurations, potentially causing delays, SLA violations, and degraded application performance. This feature is essential for maintaining business continuity and predictable application delivery in SD-WAN environments.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring provides the telemetry necessary for Dynamic Path Selection by measuring latency, jitter, packet loss, and link utilization. While SLA monitoring informs decisions, it does not itself reroute traffic or enforce failover. Its role is primarily analytical, enabling administrators and DPS to act based on performance data. SLA monitoring supports high availability indirectly by providing visibility into link quality but cannot maintain availability independently.
Application-Aware Routing classifies and prioritizes traffic based on application type and business intent policies. While it ensures critical applications receive higher priority, it does not perform automatic failover or path switching. AAR works in conjunction with DPS to route prioritized traffic over the best-performing paths, but the actual failover mechanism is provided by Dynamic Path Selection.
The correct choice is Dynamic Path Selection because it ensures high availability by automatically switching traffic to alternate WAN links when the primary path fails. By integrating real-time telemetry, application prioritization, and failback mechanisms, DPS maintains predictable performance, reduces downtime, and optimizes WAN resource utilization in SD-WAN deployments.
Question 101
Which SD-WAN component provides a single-pane-of-glass view for monitoring device health, WAN performance, and application usage?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: D) vManage NMS
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device responsible for forwarding traffic, enforcing policies, and maintaining secure IPsec tunnels at branch locations. While it generates local telemetry on link performance, device health, and traffic statistics, it does not provide a centralized view or a single-pane-of-glass interface for administrators. Its role is operational execution, relying on centralized tools to aggregate telemetry and provide holistic visibility across multiple devices. Without vManage, administrators would need to collect data manually from each vEdge, making large-scale monitoring inefficient and error-prone.
vSmart Controller centralizes control-plane intelligence, distributing routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to branch devices. While it collects some control-plane statistics, such as route propagation and tunnel status, it does not provide a user-friendly interface for monitoring WAN performance, device health, or application usage across the overlay. vSmart focuses on ensuring consistent control-plane operations and policy distribution rather than providing centralized operational visibility.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates secure device onboarding, authentication, and controller discovery. While critical for establishing trust and enabling initial connectivity, vBond does not provide centralized monitoring or a consolidated interface for network health, traffic analysis, or application metrics. Its function is foundational, focused on secure overlay access, not operational oversight.
vManage NMS provides a centralized network management and orchestration platform, offering a single-pane-of-glass interface for monitoring device health, WAN performance, application usage, and policy compliance. Administrators can visualize real-time and historical metrics, configure devices, deploy policies, and receive alerts for SLA violations or performance degradation. vManage aggregates telemetry from vEdge routers, vSmart controllers, and other SD-WAN components to provide a unified view, enabling proactive troubleshooting, capacity planning, and operational efficiency. By centralizing monitoring, configuration, and policy deployment, vManage simplifies management of complex, distributed SD-WAN deployments while maintaining predictable application performance and SLA compliance. Without vManage, operators would lack holistic visibility, making it difficult to identify trends, detect recurring issues, or manage large-scale overlays effectively.
The correct choice is vManage NMS because it provides a single-pane-of-glass view for monitoring device health, WAN performance, and application usage. By aggregating telemetry and providing real-time dashboards, alerts, and analytics, vManage enables centralized, proactive management of SD-WAN networks, ensuring operational efficiency, SLA compliance, and predictable application delivery.
Question 102
Which SD-WAN feature uses business intent policies to determine how traffic is routed over multiple WAN links?
A) VPN Segmentation
B) Dynamic Path Selection
C) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
D) Application-Aware Routing
Answer: D) Application-Aware Routing
Explanation:
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate logical networks to provide security and operational separation. While segmentation ensures that traffic from different departments or applications can be independently managed, it does not determine routing based on business intent or application policies. Its role is policy isolation and operational separation, allowing administrators to define independent routing and access control rules per VPN. Segmentation works in conjunction with features like Application-Aware Routing to enforce policies, but it does not itself decide the optimal path for traffic based on business objectives.
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates WAN link performance in real time, rerouting traffic based on latency, jitter, packet loss, and bandwidth availability. While DPS ensures that traffic follows the best-performing link, it does not classify traffic by application or enforce business intent policies. It relies on Application-Aware Routing to identify which traffic should receive priority treatment and how it should be routed to align with business objectives. Without AAR, DPS would optimize paths without considering the criticality or business requirements of the applications, potentially leading to suboptimal performance for high-priority services.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures link quality metrics such as latency, jitter, packet loss, and availability. While it provides the data necessary for both DPS and AAR to make informed decisions, SLA monitoring does not itself classify traffic or enforce routing based on business intent. Its primary function is telemetry collection and alerting to ensure WAN links meet defined performance thresholds.
Application-Aware Routing classifies traffic based on application type, user-defined policies, and business intent rules. It determines how critical and non-critical traffic is routed across multiple WAN links, ensuring that high-priority applications receive optimal paths and sufficient resources, while lower-priority traffic may be routed differently. AAR integrates with SLA-based Performance Monitoring and Dynamic Path Selection to enforce these policies dynamically, guaranteeing predictable application performance even during congestion or link degradation. By using business intent policies, AAR ensures that the network aligns with organizational priorities, providing a consistent and efficient user experience. Without AAR, traffic routing decisions would be performance-based only, lacking alignment with business objectives, potentially causing critical applications to underperform during high-traffic periods.
The correct choice is Application-Aware Routing because it uses business intent policies to determine how traffic is routed over multiple WAN links. By classifying traffic, prioritizing critical applications, and integrating with performance monitoring and path selection, AAR ensures alignment with business objectives, predictable performance, and efficient use of WAN resources.
Question 103
Which SD-WAN component authenticates new devices using certificates before they join the overlay?
A) vEdge Router
B) vBond Orchestrator
C) vSmart Controller
D) vManage NMS
Answer: B) vBond Orchestrator
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device deployed at branch, data center, or cloud locations. It forwards traffic, enforces locally applied policies, and maintains IPsec tunnels. While vEdge initiates connections and participates in onboarding, it does not authenticate devices independently using certificates. Its role is operational execution after devices have been authenticated and securely connected. Without centralized authentication, the network could face security vulnerabilities, and vEdge would be unable to differentiate between authorized and unauthorized devices, potentially exposing the SD-WAN overlay to attacks. vEdge relies on other components to ensure that only trusted devices join the overlay.
vBond Orchestrator serves as the initial trust anchor in SD-WAN deployments, authenticating new devices using certificates before allowing them to join the overlay. It verifies device identity, establishes trust, and ensures that only authorized devices can participate in the SD-WAN network. vBond also facilitates NAT traversal and controller discovery, allowing devices behind firewalls or private networks to securely connect to vSmart controllers and vManage NMS. By authenticating devices centrally, vBond prevents unauthorized access, reduces the risk of misconfigurations, and ensures the security and integrity of the overlay. Without vBond, devices could attempt to join the overlay without verification, leading to potential breaches, policy inconsistencies, or operational disruptions. vBond’s role is foundational, providing a secure onboarding mechanism that enables scalable and reliable SD-WAN deployments.
vSmart Controller centralizes the control plane, distributing routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to branch devices. While vSmart ensures consistent policy enforcement and secure communication, it assumes devices have already been authenticated. It does not perform initial device authentication with certificates and relies on vBond to handle onboarding and trust establishment. Its role is policy distribution and control-plane intelligence rather than foundational security during onboarding.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, policy definition, and monitoring. While it allows administrators to define policies, view device status, and deploy configurations, it does not authenticate devices before they join the overlay. vManage relies on vBond for device verification and secure connectivity, ensuring that only trusted devices receive configuration and policy updates. Its role is operational management rather than initial device authentication.
The correct choice is vBond Orchestrator because it authenticates new devices using certificates before they join the overlay. By verifying device identity, establishing trust, and enabling secure connections to controllers, vBond ensures that only authorized devices can participate in the SD-WAN network, providing foundational security and operational reliability.
Question 104
Which SD-WAN feature allows administrators to monitor WAN performance and take corrective actions if service levels are not met?
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 WAN links in real time based on latency, jitter, packet loss, and bandwidth utilization. While DPS reroutes traffic automatically when link performance degrades, it relies on data provided by SLA-based Performance Monitoring to make informed decisions. DPS itself does not measure link performance or generate alerts. Its function is operational path selection and failover, rather than monitoring WAN performance or triggering corrective actions independently. Without SLA monitoring, DPS would lack the necessary context to reroute traffic optimally, potentially causing suboptimal performance for critical applications.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring continuously measures WAN link metrics such as latency, jitter, packet loss, and availability. It provides administrators with insights into network performance and generates alerts when links fail to meet predefined service-level objectives. By monitoring WAN links in real time, SLA monitoring enables proactive troubleshooting, capacity planning, and performance optimization. It also integrates with Dynamic Path Selection to reroute traffic automatically when thresholds are violated and works with Application-Aware Routing to ensure critical applications maintain performance. SLA monitoring provides historical data for trend analysis and verification of service-level agreements. Without SLA monitoring, administrators would lack visibility into link quality, making it difficult to detect performance degradation, plan capacity, or ensure predictable application delivery. This feature is essential for maintaining high availability, SLA compliance, and business continuity in SD-WAN deployments.
Application-Aware Routing classifies traffic based on application type and enforces business intent policies to prioritize critical applications. While AAR works in conjunction with SLA monitoring and DPS to ensure application performance, it does not independently measure WAN link quality or trigger corrective actions when service levels are violated. Its primary function is application classification and policy enforcement.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate logical networks to provide security and operational separation. While segmentation supports independent policy enforcement and allows different departments or applications to operate in isolated environments, it does not monitor WAN link performance or take corrective actions. Its function is security and operational separation, not WAN performance management.
The correct choice is SLA-based Performance Monitoring because it allows administrators to monitor WAN performance and take corrective actions if service levels are not met. By measuring link quality, generating alerts, and integrating with path selection and application-aware routing, SLA monitoring ensures predictable application performance, proactive troubleshooting, and efficient SD-WAN operations.
Question 105
Which SD-WAN component centralizes policy definition, device configuration, and network monitoring for administrators?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: D) vManage NMS
Explanation:
vEdge Router executes traffic forwarding, enforces locally applied policies, and maintains secure IPsec tunnels. While it participates in applying configurations, it does not centralize policy definition, configuration deployment, or monitoring. Its role is operational execution at branch sites, relying on centralized components to provide instructions and ensure consistent overlay behavior. Without a central management platform, operators would need to manually configure each vEdge router, increasing the risk of misconfigurations and operational inefficiencies. vEdge cannot provide a holistic view of the network or aggregate monitoring data across all sites.
vSmart Controller centralizes the control plane, distributing routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to branch devices. While it ensures consistent policy enforcement, it does not provide a centralized interface for administrators to define policies, configure devices, or monitor network performance. Its primary function is control-plane intelligence and policy distribution rather than operational management and monitoring.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates initial device authentication, trust establishment, and controller discovery. While critical for onboarding devices and enabling secure connectivity, vBond does not define policies, deploy configurations, or provide a centralized monitoring interface. Its role is foundational, ensuring devices can securely join the overlay but not managing day-to-day network operations.
vManage NMS provides a centralized network management and orchestration platform that enables administrators to define business intent policies, configure branch devices, deploy updates, and monitor network health. It aggregates telemetry from vEdge routers and vSmart controllers to provide dashboards, reports, and alerts for WAN performance, device health, and application usage. Administrators can deploy configurations at scale, enforce consistent policies, and gain a single-pane-of-glass view of the entire SD-WAN overlay. vManage simplifies large-scale deployment, enhances operational efficiency, and ensures predictable application performance across distributed sites. Without vManage, centralized management and monitoring would be impossible, requiring manual intervention and increasing the risk of inconsistencies, SLA violations, and configuration errors.
The correct choice is vManage NMS because it centralizes policy definition, device configuration, and network monitoring for administrators. By providing a unified platform for orchestration, management, and visualization, vManage ensures scalable, consistent, and efficient SD-WAN operations across all branch, data center, and cloud locations.