Cisco 300-415 Implementing SD-WAN Solutions (ENSDWI) Exam Dumps and Practice Test Questions Set 5 Q61-75
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Question 61
Which SD-WAN feature ensures that traffic is rerouted when a primary WAN link degrades or fails?
A) VPN Segmentation
B) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
C) Dynamic Path Selection
D) Application-Aware Routing
Answer: C) Dynamic Path Selection
Explanation:
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into logical networks to enforce security, operational separation, and independent routing policies. While segmentation ensures that traffic from different departments or applications is separated, it does not automatically reroute traffic when a primary WAN link fails or degrades. Its focus is on providing logical boundaries and enforcing security policies, not optimizing traffic paths or maintaining continuous application performance. Segmentation works alongside features like DPS to ensure secure, isolated paths, but cannot independently maintain connectivity during link failure.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link quality metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss to ensure that links meet service-level agreements. While SLA monitoring provides the data necessary to make informed path selection decisions, it does not actively reroute traffic. Its function is monitoring and reporting, providing administrators and automated features like Dynamic Path Selection with the intelligence needed to respond to WAN degradation or outages. SLA monitoring serves as the informational foundation, but without a path-selection mechanism, traffic cannot be dynamically rerouted.
Dynamic Path Selection continuously evaluates multiple WAN links using real-time performance metrics, including latency, jitter, and packet loss. When a primary link fails or falls below predefined SLA thresholds, DPS automatically reroutes traffic over an alternative link that meets performance requirements. This ensures high availability, predictable application performance, and business continuity even during network disruptions. DPS integrates with SLA-based monitoring to receive continuous telemetry and with Application-Aware Routing to prioritize critical traffic while rerouting. It also supports failback, returning traffic to the primary path once it meets the desired performance criteria. By automating path selection and rerouting, DPS reduces operational complexity, ensures SLA compliance, and maintains user experience without requiring manual intervention. In multi-link WAN environments, DPS is critical for maximizing link utilization and ensuring resilience against link failures, packet loss, or latency spikes.
Application-Aware Routing identifies, classifies, and prioritizes traffic based on application type and business intent policies. While AAR ensures that critical applications are prioritized and follow optimal paths, it does not independently reroute traffic due to WAN link degradation. AAR relies on Dynamic Path Selection and SLA monitoring to make intelligent routing adjustments, focusing on traffic classification and policy enforcement rather than failover.
The correct choice is Dynamic Path Selection because it automatically reroutes traffic when a primary WAN link degrades or fails. By leveraging real-time performance metrics and integrating with SLA monitoring and application-aware routing, DPS ensures continuous application availability, optimizes WAN resource utilization, and provides business continuity. It is a fundamental feature of SD-WAN that maintains predictable application performance, resilience, and operational efficiency across distributed sites.
Question 62
Which SD-WAN component distributes routing information, business policies, and encryption keys to all branch routers?
A) vEdge Router
B) vManage NMS
C) vSmart Controller
D) vBond Orchestrator
Answer: C) vSmart Controller
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device responsible for forwarding traffic, enforcing policies, and maintaining encrypted tunnels. While vEdge implements the routing information, policies, and encryption keys it receives, it does not originate or distribute these elements to other devices. Its function is operational execution at branch sites, relying on centralized control-plane components to provide intelligence, policy definitions, and secure key distribution.
vManage NMS is the centralized management system for policy creation, configuration deployment, and network monitoring. While it defines business intent policies, enforces VPN segmentation, and monitors network health, vManage does not actively distribute routing information or encryption keys to vEdge routers. Instead, it communicates with vSmart controllers, which propagate the control-plane instructions to the data-plane devices. vManage serves as the operational and management interface, but does not function as a control-plane distributor.
vSmart Controller is the SD-WAN control-plane component that centralizes intelligence and propagates critical overlay information to all branch routers. It distributes routing information to ensure a consistent overlay topology, propagates business policies so that each device enforces organizational intent, and delivers encryption keys required for secure IPsec tunnels. vSmart integrates with SLA-based monitoring, Dynamic Path Selection, and Application-Aware Routing to optimize traffic delivery, enforce priority rules, and maintain secure communication across the overlay. By centralizing these functions, vSmart enables scalable deployments, ensures consistency across thousands of branch sites, and maintains secure and reliable connectivity. Without vSmart, devices would not have consistent routing information, encryption keys, or policy enforcement, resulting in fragmented network behavior and potential security vulnerabilities. vSmart separates control-plane intelligence from the data-plane execution handled by vEdge, allowing large-scale SD-WAN networks to operate efficiently, maintain high performance, and enforce consistent policies globally.
vBond Orchestrator authenticates devices, establishes initial trust, and facilitates secure discovery of controllers. While vBond is critical during the onboarding process, it does not distribute routing information, policies, or encryption keys to branch routers. Its function is limited to ensuring secure device authentication and enabling connectivity to vSmart and vManage components.
The correct choice is vSmart Controller because it distributes routing information, business policies, and encryption keys to all branch routers. By centralizing control-plane intelligence and securely propagating critical overlay information, vSmart ensures consistent policy enforcement, secure communication, predictable application performance, and scalability across the SD-WAN deployment. It is essential for maintaining operational efficiency, reliability, and secure data delivery across distributed sites.
Question 63
Which SD-WAN feature monitors link performance metrics to enforce service-level agreements?
A) Application-Aware Routing
B) Dynamic Path Selection
C) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
D) VPN Segmentation
Answer: C) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
Explanation:
Application-Aware Routing identifies and classifies traffic based on application type and business intent policies. While AAR leverages performance metrics for traffic prioritization and routing, it does not independently monitor WAN link performance or enforce SLAs. Its primary function is application classification and policy-driven traffic steering rather than continuous performance measurement. AAR works in coordination with SLA monitoring to ensure that critical applications follow optimal paths, but without SLA monitoring, AAR would lack the real-time metrics needed for SLA enforcement.
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates multiple WAN links in real time and selects the best path for traffic based on performance metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. While DPS relies on metrics for decision-making and path selection, it does not independently collect telemetry data or measure performance against service-level agreements. DPS depends on SLA-based Performance Monitoring to supply accurate link metrics, which it then uses to reroute traffic and maintain application performance. DPS is an execution feature, whereas SLA monitoring provides the foundational intelligence required for enforcement.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring is specifically designed to measure WAN link performance metrics, including latency, jitter, and packet loss. It enables administrators to define SLA thresholds for applications or traffic classes and generates alerts when metrics fall outside acceptable ranges. SLA monitoring provides historical reporting, real-time telemetry, and integration with features like Dynamic Path Selection and Application-Aware Routing. This integration ensures that critical applications maintain required performance levels and that traffic is dynamically optimized based on measured link quality. SLA monitoring acts as the foundation for maintaining predictable application performance, enabling proactive network management, and ensuring compliance with business intent policies. It supports multi-link WAN optimization, detects congestion or link degradation, and allows administrators to take corrective actions or rely on automated path-selection mechanisms.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into multiple logical networks to enforce security and operational separation. While segmentation can assign policies to specific VPNs, it does not measure performance metrics or enforce service-level agreements. Its primary role is security, isolation, and operational management rather than performance monitoring or SLA enforcement.
The correct choice is SLA-based Performance Monitoring because it monitors link performance metrics to enforce service-level agreements. By continuously measuring latency, jitter, and packet loss, integrating with traffic optimization and routing features, and providing alerts and historical insights, SLA monitoring ensures that applications meet their performance objectives. It is essential for maintaining predictable service levels, supporting dynamic traffic steering, and enabling proactive SD-WAN operations across distributed enterprise networks.
Question 64
Which SD-WAN feature ensures that traffic follows paths that meet predefined latency, jitter, and packet loss requirements?
A) Application-Aware Routing
B) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
C) VPN Segmentation
D) Dynamic Path Selection
Answer: D) Dynamic Path Selection
Explanation:
Application-Aware Routing classifies and prioritizes traffic based on application type and business intent policies. While it can steer traffic based on application importance, it does not independently ensure that traffic follows paths that meet specific latency, jitter, or packet loss requirements. AAR relies on metrics from SLA-based Performance Monitoring and path evaluation from Dynamic Path Selection to make informed routing decisions. Its primary function is to enforce policy-based prioritization rather than perform performance-based path selection.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures latency, jitter, and packet loss on WAN links. It provides critical telemetry and generates alerts when service-level objectives are not met. While SLA monitoring defines thresholds and tracks link performance, it does not actively reroute traffic. Its purpose is measurement, analysis, and reporting. SLA monitoring supplies data that Dynamic Path Selection and Application-Aware Routing use to make real-time traffic steering decisions, but without an execution mechanism like DPS, traffic cannot be dynamically rerouted to maintain SLA compliance.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate virtual networks for security, operational separation, and independent policy enforcement. While segmentation ensures that traffic from different departments or applications is logically separated, it does not monitor or enforce WAN performance criteria. Segmentation focuses on security, access control, and operational management rather than ensuring traffic follows paths that meet specific latency or packet loss requirements. It works alongside features like DPS and SLA monitoring, but does not independently optimize path selection based on network performance.
Dynamic Path Selection continuously evaluates multiple WAN links against performance metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. When a link does not meet predefined SLA thresholds, DPS automatically reroutes traffic over alternative paths that satisfy the performance requirements. This ensures high availability, predictable application delivery, and adherence to business intent policies. DPS integrates with SLA monitoring to receive real-time performance data and with Application-Aware Routing to prioritize critical applications during path selection. It also supports failback, returning traffic to the original path once performance metrics improve. By automating path selection based on SLA criteria, DPS reduces operational complexity, maintains user experience, and ensures optimal utilization of available WAN resources. It is a critical feature in SD-WAN for ensuring that traffic meets business-defined service objectives while leveraging multiple WAN connections effectively.
The correct choice is Dynamic Path Selection because it ensures that traffic follows paths that meet predefined latency, jitter, and packet loss requirements. By integrating SLA-based telemetry and application-aware prioritization, DPS guarantees predictable application performance, high availability, and efficient WAN resource utilization. It plays a central role in enforcing business intent policies and maintaining end-to-end service quality across SD-WAN deployments.
Question 65
Which SD-WAN component is responsible for centralizing the overlay control plane and distributing routing and policy information to branch devices?
A) vEdge Router
B) vManage NMS
C) vSmart Controller
D) vBond Orchestrator
Answer: C) vSmart Controller
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device deployed at branch sites, data centers, or cloud locations. It forwards traffic, enforces policies received from controllers, and establishes IPsec tunnels with other devices. While vEdge executes routing, security, and business intent policies, it does not centralize control-plane intelligence or distribute routing and policy information. Its role is operational execution at the edge, relying on centralized control-plane components for consistency and intelligence.
vManage NMS is the centralized management and orchestration system for SD-WAN. Administrators use vManage to define policies, monitor network health, and deploy configurations. While it creates business intent policies and manages device configurations, vManage does not serve as the overlay control plane or directly distribute routing information to branch devices. Its role is operational management, visibility, and orchestration rather than control-plane intelligence.
vSmart Controller is the control-plane component responsible for centralizing overlay intelligence. It distributes routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to all vEdge routers, ensuring a consistent overlay network topology. vSmart integrates with SLA monitoring, Dynamic Path Selection, and Application-Aware Routing to optimize traffic, enforce priorities, and maintain secure communication across the network. By centralizing policy and routing decisions, vSmart allows large-scale SD-WAN deployments to maintain operational efficiency, policy consistency, and secure connectivity. Without vSmart, devices would lack a unified control plane, resulting in inconsistent routing, fragmented policy enforcement, and potential security gaps. vSmart separates the control plane from the data plane, allowing vEdge routers to focus on forwarding traffic while executing centrally defined policies.
vBond Orchestrator authenticates devices during onboarding, establishes trust, and facilitates secure controller discovery. While vBond is critical for allowing devices to join the overlay securely, it does not centralize the control plane or distribute routing and policy information. Its function is limited to authentication, secure discovery, and initial connectivity facilitation.
The correct choice is vSmart Controller because it centralizes the overlay control plane and distributes routing and policy information to branch devices. By providing consistent routing, secure key propagation, and policy enforcement across all sites, vSmart ensures predictable application delivery, scalable operations, and secure SD-WAN deployments. It is the cornerstone of control-plane intelligence, enabling efficient and reliable overlay network management.
Question 66
Which SD-WAN feature identifies and classifies traffic for priority handling based on business requirements?
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 WAN link performance in real time and reroutes traffic to maintain SLA compliance. While DPS can influence which path is chosen for application traffic, it does not classify traffic according to type or business requirements. Its function is focused on path optimization, failover, and ensuring that traffic uses the best available WAN links based on latency, jitter, and packet loss metrics, not on traffic classification or prioritization. DPS relies on features like Application-Aware Routing to determine which traffic requires preferential treatment.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link quality, including latency, jitter, and packet loss, and generates alerts when performance thresholds are violated. While SLA monitoring provides essential data for optimizing paths and ensuring service-level compliance, it does not perform traffic classification or enforce priority based on business requirements. Its function is primarily informational and telemetry-driven, serving as input for DPS and AAR rather than executing traffic prioritization.
Application-Aware Routing identifies and classifies traffic based on application type and business intent policies defined by administrators. It ensures that critical applications, such as VoIP, ERP, or video conferencing, are prioritized over less important traffic. AAR leverages deep packet inspection (DPI) to detect applications and integrates with SLA monitoring and Dynamic Path Selection to make intelligent routing decisions. By steering traffic based on business priorities, AAR ensures predictable performance, optimizes WAN resource utilization, and enforces organizational policies. It also supports SLA compliance by ensuring that high-priority applications receive optimal path selection while deprioritizing non-critical traffic during congestion or network degradation. AAR plays a critical role in aligning network behavior with business intent, providing granular control over application performance, and enhancing user experience across the SD-WAN overlay.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into logical networks for security and operational separation. While segmentation may facilitate policy enforcement and access control, it does not classify or prioritize traffic based on application type or business requirements. Segmentation ensures secure separation but lacks the intelligence for traffic classification or policy-driven prioritization.
The correct choice is Application-Aware Routing because it identifies and classifies traffic for priority handling based on business requirements. By integrating with SLA monitoring and Dynamic Path Selection, AAR ensures that critical applications maintain high performance, follow optimal paths, and comply with organizational policies. It is essential for delivering predictable, policy-driven application performance and supporting enterprise business objectives in SD-WAN deployments.
Question 67
Which SD-WAN component enables administrators to monitor network health, receive alerts, and view historical performance trends?
A) vEdge Router
B) vManage NMS
C) vSmart Controller
D) vBond Orchestrator
Answer: B) vManage NMS
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device responsible for forwarding traffic, enforcing policies, and establishing IPsec tunnels between sites. While it generates telemetry data such as link utilization, traffic statistics, and performance metrics, it does not provide a centralized platform for monitoring, alerting, or viewing historical trends. vEdge routers are operational devices that execute control-plane instructions received from controllers. They rely on management systems to aggregate, analyze, and present data in a manner that allows administrators to track network health over time and respond to SLA violations or performance issues.
vManage NMS is the centralized management and orchestration system for Cisco SD-WAN. It collects telemetry from vEdge routers, vSmart controllers, and overlay components to provide a single-pane-of-glass view of network health. Administrators can view WAN link performance, device status, VPN traffic, application-level statistics, and SLA compliance metrics. vManage also generates alerts for SLA violations, link degradation, or policy misconfigurations, enabling proactive troubleshooting. Historical performance data allows trend analysis to identify recurring issues, optimize WAN utilization, and plan capacity expansion. Through dashboards, charts, and reporting tools, vManage provides insights into the operational state of the SD-WAN overlay, supports troubleshooting, and facilitates informed decision-making. It integrates with other SD-WAN components to deliver actionable intelligence while enabling administrators to configure policies, deploy software updates, and monitor network performance in a centralized manner.
vSmart Controller manages the control plane, distributing routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to vEdge routers. While it ensures consistent overlay topology and policy enforcement, it does not provide operational dashboards, alerting systems, or historical performance views. vSmart focuses on distributing intelligence to the data plane and maintaining secure and optimized routing. It is a critical control-plane component, but it lacks the centralized monitoring and operational visibility that vManage provides.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates secure onboarding of new devices, establishes trust, and assists with controller discovery. While essential for initial device authentication and secure overlay connectivity, vBond does not provide monitoring, alerting, or historical performance analysis. Its role is limited to authentication and initial network access rather than ongoing operational management.
The correct choice is vManage NMS because it enables administrators to monitor network health, receive alerts, and view historical performance trends. By consolidating telemetry from all SD-WAN components, providing dashboards, and supporting alerting and trend analysis, vManage ensures operational efficiency, SLA compliance, and proactive network management. It allows administrators to maintain end-to-end visibility, optimize network performance, and make informed decisions, making it indispensable for SD-WAN operations.
Question 68
Which SD-WAN feature evaluates multiple WAN links and selects the path that provides the best application performance?
A) Application-Aware Routing
B) VPN Segmentation
C) Dynamic Path Selection
D) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
Answer: C) Dynamic Path Selection
Explanation:
Application-Aware Routing identifies, classifies, and prioritizes traffic based on application type and business intent policies. While AAR can influence which applications receive priority on the network, it does not independently evaluate multiple WAN links to determine which path provides the best performance. AAR relies on features like Dynamic Path Selection to execute path selection decisions, using its classification and prioritization intelligence to ensure business-critical applications receive optimal delivery. Its main function is traffic classification and policy enforcement rather than path optimization.
VPN Segmentation isolates traffic into separate virtual networks for security, operational separation, and independent policy enforcement. Segmentation allows organizations to enforce policies for specific departments, applications, or user groups, but does not evaluate WAN link performance or select the optimal path. Its purpose is logical separation and security rather than performance optimization. While segmentation can work in conjunction with DPS and AAR to ensure traffic follows appropriate paths within segregated networks, it does not independently determine the best-performing link.
Dynamic Path Selection continuously monitors multiple WAN links using real-time performance metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. It evaluates these metrics against predefined SLA thresholds to determine which link provides the best application performance. When a link fails to meet the SLA or experiences degradation, DPS automatically reroutes traffic over an alternate path that satisfies performance requirements. DPS integrates with SLA-based Performance Monitoring to receive real-time telemetry and with Application-Aware Routing to prioritize critical applications during path selection. It also supports failback, returning traffic to the preferred path once performance improves. By automating link evaluation and rerouting, DPS ensures high availability, predictable application delivery, and optimal WAN resource utilization. It reduces the need for manual intervention, mitigates the impact of network congestion, and maintains service-level objectives for business-critical applications.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link quality and generates alerts for violations, but does not independently reroute traffic or select the best path. SLA monitoring provides the necessary data for Dynamic Path Selection to make intelligent routing decisions, but functions primarily as a telemetry and reporting tool. It is informational rather than an execution mechanism for path optimization.
The correct choice is Dynamic Path Selection because it evaluates multiple WAN links and selects the path that provides the best application performance. By integrating SLA monitoring and application-aware routing, DPS ensures traffic follows the optimal path based on real-time conditions, maintaining predictable performance, high availability, and business-aligned service delivery.
Question 69
Which SD-WAN component enforces business intent policies and applies them locally at branch sites?
A) vManage NMS
B) vEdge Router
C) vSmart Controller
D) vBond Orchestrator
Answer: B) vEdge Router
Explanation:
vManage NMS provides centralized management, policy creation, configuration deployment, and network monitoring. While it defines business intent policies and orchestrates their deployment, it does not enforce them locally at branch sites. vManage relies on the data-plane devices to execute the policies it distributes through the control-plane infrastructure. Its role is operational and administrative, focusing on configuration, visibility, and centralized management rather than executing traffic enforcement at the edge.
vEdge Router is the data-plane device deployed at branch sites, data centers, or cloud locations. It receives business intent policies, routing instructions, and encryption keys from the vSmart controller and enforces them locally. vEdge routers classify traffic based on policies, implement application-aware routing, enforce quality-of-service rules, manage VPN segmentation, and maintain secure IPsec tunnels. By applying policies locally, vEdge ensures predictable application performance, SLA compliance, and adherence to organizational objectives at the branch level. It also performs traffic prioritization, dynamic path selection execution, and VPN isolation, integrating policy enforcement with real-time WAN link performance. Local enforcement is essential for SD-WAN scalability, allowing centralized policies to be consistently applied across distributed sites without relying on real-time decision-making from the central management platform. vEdge routers are the operational backbone of policy execution, translating control-plane decisions into actionable traffic handling at the edge.
vSmart Controller manages the control plane, distributing routing information, business policies, and encryption keys to branch devices. While it defines policies and provides the intelligence required for enforcement, it does not directly apply these policies at branch sites. vSmart ensures policy consistency across the overlay but relies on vEdge routers to execute enforcement locally.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates secure device onboarding, authentication, and controller discovery. While critical for establishing trust and connectivity, it does not enforce business intent policies or handle traffic forwarding. Its function is limited to authentication and secure overlay access during device provisioning.
The correct choice is vEdge Router because it enforces business intent policies and applies them locally at branch sites. By executing policies, managing traffic flows, and ensuring SLA compliance, vEdge routers provide operational efficiency, predictability, and security at the edge. They are essential for translating centrally defined business intent into actionable and enforceable decisions at each branch, enabling scalable, reliable, and policy-driven SD-WAN deployments.
Question 70
Which SD-WAN feature integrates with SLA-based Performance Monitoring to automatically reroute traffic during link degradation?
A) VPN Segmentation
B) Application-Aware Routing
C) Dynamic Path Selection
D) vManage NMS
Answer: C) Dynamic Path Selection
Explanation:
VPN Segmentation provides logical separation of traffic into independent virtual networks to enforce security and operational boundaries. While it isolates traffic and allows different policies per VPN, it does not monitor WAN link performance or reroute traffic when a link degrades. Its primary purpose is organizational and security separation rather than automated traffic optimization. Segmentation supports other SD-WAN features but cannot independently react to changing link conditions to maintain application performance.
Application-Aware Routing classifies traffic by application type and enforces business intent policies to prioritize critical applications. Although AAR works in conjunction with Dynamic Path Selection and SLA-based Performance Monitoring to optimize delivery, it does not independently reroute traffic when WAN link quality degrades. AAR relies on path-performance data provided by SLA monitoring and executed through DPS to ensure critical applications follow optimal paths. Its function is traffic classification and prioritization rather than link-aware failover.
Dynamic Path Selection continuously evaluates WAN links against performance metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss, which are provided by SLA-based Performance Monitoring. When a link fails to meet predefined thresholds, DPS automatically reroutes traffic to an alternate path that satisfies SLA requirements. This integration ensures that business-critical applications maintain high performance and user experience even when WAN links degrade or fail. DPS also supports failback, returning traffic to the preferred path when performance improves. By combining real-time telemetry from SLA monitoring and policy-driven routing decisions from Application-Aware Routing, DPS maintains predictable application delivery while optimizing network utilization. DPS reduces manual intervention, ensures SLA compliance, and maximizes WAN link efficiency. It plays a key role in high-availability SD-WAN deployments, enabling dynamic adaptation to changing network conditions, minimizing downtime, and maintaining continuity for critical services.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, monitoring, and configuration deployment for the SD-WAN environment. While it visualizes network health, collects telemetry, and supports policy creation, it does not autonomously reroute traffic in response to WAN degradation. vManage relies on DPS and SLA-based Performance Monitoring to execute real-time traffic adjustments. Its function is operational, providing visibility and centralized configuration rather than performing execution-level traffic rerouting.
The correct choice is Dynamic Path Selection because it integrates with SLA-based Performance Monitoring to automatically reroute traffic during link degradation. By continuously evaluating WAN link performance and executing policy-driven path selection, DPS ensures predictable application delivery, SLA compliance, and optimal utilization of WAN resources. It is essential for maintaining high availability, business continuity, and reliable SD-WAN operations.
Question 71
Which SD-WAN component provides secure device onboarding and establishes initial trust between devices and controllers?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: C) vBond Orchestrator
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device that forwards traffic, enforces business policies, and maintains IPsec tunnels. While vEdge participates in the onboarding process by providing credentials and establishing tunnels, it does not independently authenticate other devices or establish trust across the overlay. Its role is operational execution at the branch or site level, relying on control-plane components like vBond and vSmart for secure onboarding and policy enforcement.
vSmart Controller manages the control plane, distributing routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to vEdge routers. While vSmart enforces policies and provides secure key distribution, it does not handle the initial authentication of devices or the establishment of trust during the onboarding process. vSmart assumes that devices have already been authenticated and connected to the overlay.
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. By verifying the identity of devices and controllers, vBond ensures that only authorized devices can join the overlay network. It also assists with NAT traversal, enabling devices behind firewalls or in remote locations to securely connect to the network. Once onboarding is complete, vBond allows devices to receive policies, routing information, and encryption keys from vSmart controllers. Without vBond, devices would be unable to securely join the overlay, potentially compromising network security and integrity. This component is critical for scalable deployments, ensuring that large numbers of branch devices can securely connect and operate within the SD-WAN environment while maintaining a trusted overlay network.
vManage NMS provides centralized policy management, monitoring, and orchestration. While it defines business intent policies and visualizes device status, vManage does not perform authentication or establish initial trust between devices and controllers. Its function begins after devices are onboarded and connected to the network.
The correct choice is vBond Orchestrator because it provides secure device onboarding and establishes initial trust between devices and controllers. By verifying identities, enabling secure connectivity, and facilitating controller discovery, vBond ensures network integrity, secure operations, and scalable SD-WAN deployments. It is essential for maintaining a trusted and secure overlay network during initial device provisioning.
Question 72
Which SD-WAN feature isolates traffic into separate logical networks for security and operational management?
A) Application-Aware Routing
B) Dynamic Path Selection
C) VPN Segmentation
D) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
Answer: C) VPN Segmentation
Explanation:
Application-Aware Routing identifies and classifies traffic based on application type and business intent policies. While it can prioritize traffic and steer it over optimal paths, AAR does not inherently isolate traffic into separate logical networks. Its function is focused on traffic classification, prioritization, and policy enforcement based on application characteristics rather than operational or security separation. AAR may work alongside segmentation to route applications within specific VPNs, but it does not create the logical isolation itself.
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates multiple WAN links in real time to select the optimal path for traffic based on latency, jitter, and packet loss. While DPS ensures traffic follows the best-performing links and maintains SLA compliance, it does not provide security isolation or separate operational domains. Its function is path optimization and failover, not creating distinct networks or enforcing security boundaries between traffic flows.
VPN Segmentation allows the creation of multiple virtual networks within the SD-WAN overlay. Each VPN can have its own routing table, access control policies, and service-level objectives. By isolating traffic, VPN Segmentation ensures that different departments, applications, or user groups operate independently, with policies applied separately to each logical network. For example, finance traffic can be separated from marketing or guest networks, maintaining security and operational boundaries. Segmentation supports multi-tenant environments, regulatory compliance, and predictable application performance by enforcing isolated routing and policy rules. It also allows administrators to apply specific SLA requirements or security policies to each VPN without affecting others. VPN Segmentation integrates with other SD-WAN features such as Application-Aware Routing and Dynamic Path Selection to ensure that isolated networks follow optimal paths while maintaining compliance with organizational policies.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link performance and generates alerts when latency, jitter, or packet loss thresholds are violated. While SLA monitoring provides critical performance data that informs routing and traffic prioritization, it does not create logical separation or isolated networks. Its function is focused on measurement, telemetry, and reporting rather than operational or security isolation.
The correct choice is VPN Segmentation because it isolates traffic into separate logical networks for security and operational management. By creating distinct virtual networks, applying independent policies, and enforcing security boundaries, VPN Segmentation ensures organizational separation, predictable performance, and compliance with regulatory or operational requirements. It is a foundational SD-WAN feature for multi-tenant environments and secure network operations.
Question 73
Which SD-WAN component distributes encryption keys to branch devices for secure data-plane communication?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: B) vSmart Controller
Explanation:
vEdge Router is the data-plane device that forwards traffic, applies policies, and maintains IPsec tunnels between sites. While it uses encryption keys to secure communication, it does not generate or distribute keys to other devices. vEdge executes security locally based on keys provided by the control-plane components. Its role is operational execution rather than distribution of cryptographic materials. Without receiving keys from a centralized controller, vEdge routers could not establish secure tunnels with other sites, highlighting the importance of the control-plane key distribution function.
vSmart Controller centralizes the SD-WAN control plane, distributing routing information, business intent policies, and encryption keys to all branch devices. By providing encryption keys, vSmart ensures that vEdge routers can establish IPsec tunnels to protect data traffic across the WAN overlay. This key distribution is critical for secure communication, maintaining confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of data traversing the network. vSmart integrates with SLA-based monitoring and Dynamic Path Selection to ensure that secure tunnels also support performance-optimized paths. By centralizing encryption key management, vSmart enables scalable deployments, simplifies security administration, and ensures consistent application of cryptographic policies across all sites. It also ensures that only authorized devices can participate in encrypted communication, maintaining a trusted overlay network. vSmart’s key distribution function complements its policy distribution and routing intelligence, making it the control-plane hub for secure and efficient SD-WAN operation. Without vSmart, vEdge routers would be unable to securely communicate, potentially compromising network security.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates secure onboarding and initial device authentication. While it plays a critical role in establishing trust and enabling devices to discover vSmart controllers, it does not generate or distribute encryption keys for data-plane communication. Its function is limited to authentication, secure connectivity establishment, and NAT traversal, ensuring devices can join the overlay securely. vBond’s role is foundational but does not extend to ongoing secure data-plane operations.
vManage NMS provides centralized management, policy creation, configuration deployment, and network monitoring. While it defines policies that affect encryption and security settings, vManage does not directly distribute encryption keys to branch devices. Its role is operational, providing a management interface and visualizing network performance, rather than participating in control-plane cryptographic operations.
The correct choice is vSmart Controller because it distributes encryption keys to branch devices for secure data-plane communication. By centralizing key management, vSmart ensures secure IPsec tunnel establishment, consistent encryption policies, and scalable, trusted SD-WAN deployments. It enables branch devices to communicate securely across WAN links, maintain data integrity, and protect sensitive traffic from interception or tampering.
Question 74
Which SD-WAN feature ensures that different departments or applications operate in isolated logical networks?
A) Dynamic Path Selection
B) VPN Segmentation
C) SLA-based Performance Monitoring
D) Application-Aware Routing
Answer: B) VPN Segmentation
Explanation:
Dynamic Path Selection evaluates WAN link performance and automatically reroutes traffic over the best path to maintain SLA compliance. While DPS ensures high availability and optimized application performance, it does not isolate traffic into separate logical networks. DPS’s function is performance-driven path selection, relying on telemetry from SLA monitoring and classification from Application-Aware Routing, but it does not provide operational or security separation between departments or applications.
VPN Segmentation allows multiple virtual networks to coexist within the SD-WAN overlay, each with its own routing table, access policies, and performance objectives. By creating isolated VPNs, organizations can separate traffic from different departments, applications, or tenants, ensuring operational independence and security boundaries. For example, finance traffic can be isolated in one VPN, marketing traffic in another, and guest network traffic in a third VPN. Segmentation ensures that policies applied in one VPN do not affect traffic in another, supports regulatory compliance, and allows fine-grained control over routing and security enforcement. Each VPN can have independent SLA thresholds, QoS policies, and access restrictions. By isolating traffic, VPN Segmentation reduces the risk of unauthorized access, prevents accidental policy conflicts, and allows organizations to deploy multi-tenant or departmental networks securely. It also integrates with Application-Aware Routing and Dynamic Path Selection, allowing isolated traffic to follow optimal paths while maintaining SLA compliance and business intent enforcement.
SLA-based Performance Monitoring measures WAN link quality, including latency, jitter, and packet loss. While SLA monitoring provides real-time performance insights and alerts for degraded links, it does not isolate traffic or create independent networks. SLA monitoring’s role is informational and supports features like DPS and AAR by supplying critical metrics, but it does not provide operational or security separation.
Application-Aware Routing classifies traffic by application type and applies business intent policies for prioritization. Although AAR ensures critical applications receive optimal treatment and follow the best path, it does not independently create isolated logical networks for different departments or applications. It relies on VPN Segmentation to ensure that traffic remains logically separated while applying application-specific policies.
The correct choice is VPN Segmentation because it ensures that different departments or applications operate in isolated logical networks. By providing separate routing tables, policies, and operational boundaries, VPN Segmentation enhances security, supports compliance, and allows predictable, independent traffic handling within the SD-WAN overlay.
Question 75
Which SD-WAN component provides a single interface for administrators to configure policies, deploy devices, and monitor network health?
A) vEdge Router
B) vSmart Controller
C) vBond Orchestrator
D) vManage NMS
Answer: D) vManage NMS
Explanation:
vEdge Router is responsible for forwarding traffic, enforcing locally applied policies, and establishing secure IPsec tunnels. While it executes configurations deployed from centralized components, it does not provide a management interface for administrators to create policies, deploy devices, or monitor the overall network. Its role is operational execution at the edge, relying on the centralized management system for configuration, oversight, and orchestration.
vSmart Controller manages the control plane, distributing routing information, business policies, and encryption keys. While it centralizes control-plane intelligence and ensures consistent policy enforcement, it does not provide a user interface or administrative dashboards for configuring devices, monitoring performance, or visualizing network health. Its function is primarily control-plane intelligence distribution rather than direct administrative management.
vBond Orchestrator facilitates secure device onboarding, authentication, and controller discovery. While essential for ensuring devices securely join the overlay, it does not provide an administrative interface for configuring policies, deploying devices, or monitoring ongoing network performance. Its role is limited to initial onboarding and trust establishment.
vManage NMS is the centralized network management and orchestration system in Cisco SD-WAN. It provides a single interface for administrators to define business intent policies, deploy configurations to branch devices, monitor network performance, and visualize WAN link and application metrics. Administrators can configure VPN segmentation, application-aware routing, and SLA thresholds, and deploy devices without requiring direct access to each branch router. vManage also collects telemetry, generates alerts for SLA violations, provides historical performance reports, and supports troubleshooting operations. By centralizing these capabilities, vManage simplifies SD-WAN operations, ensures policy consistency, and enables proactive management of large-scale deployments. Its dashboards allow administrators to gain insights into device status, overlay health, and link performance in real time, providing operational efficiency and effective decision-making.
The correct choice is vManage NMS because it provides a single interface for administrators to configure policies, deploy devices, and monitor network health. By centralizing management, visualization, and orchestration, vManage ensures consistent policy enforcement, simplifies operational tasks, and enables efficient monitoring and troubleshooting across the entire SD-WAN deployment.