76 free Cisco 300-610 DCID practice questions from the CertStash pack of 306, each with the correct answer and a full explanation. The rule is the same for every exam: ten free on the product page, 76 free here, all 306 in the pack, and each step includes the one before it.
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Question 1
What is an advantage of using OTV as compared to VPLS for data center redundancy?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. uses a proactive MAC advertisement
OTV uses proactive MAC advertisement, meaning MAC addresses are learned and advertised before traffic flows, which enables efficient forwarding across overlay networks. This is fundamentally different from VPLS which relies on reactive MAC learning. Proactive MAC advertisement allows OTV to optimize traffic paths and avoid flooding, making it superior for data center redundancy scenarios.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Loop prevention on point-to-point links is not a specific OTV advantage over VPLS; both protocols handle this.
- B. Head-end replication is a feature of some multicast protocols but not a distinguishing characteristic of OTV over VPLS.
- D. Full-mesh connectivity is a characteristic of both OTV and VPLS overlay networks, not unique to OTV.
Question 2
Which multicast rendezvous point redundancy mode is valid for Bidirectional PIM?
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Correct answer: B. Phantom RP
Bidirectional PIM cannot use Anycast RP or MSDP because it builds shared trees without source registration. RP redundancy for Bidir-PIM is achieved with Phantom RP, where the RP address is an unused address on a subnet advertised with different prefix lengths by two routers, so routing picks the backup if the primary fails.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Embedded RP is an IPv6 method for encoding the RP address in the group address and does not provide redundancy.
- C. MSDP shares active source information between PIM-SM RPs and has no role in Bidir-PIM, which has no source registration.
- D. PIM Anycast RP relies on source registration between RPs, which Bidir-PIM does not use.
Question 3
An engineer deploys LISP VM mobility. Which feature is configured on the interfaces that have VM mobility enabled?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. proxy ARP
Proxy ARP is configured on interfaces with LISP VM mobility enabled. Proxy ARP allows the LISP infrastructure to respond to ARP requests on behalf of mobile VMs, enabling seamless mobility by intercepting ARP queries and providing the appropriate responses without requiring the VM to send gratuitous ARP messages.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. IP redirects are not related to LISP VM mobility configuration.
- B. Flow control is a link-layer feature unrelated to LISP VM mobility.
- D. HSRP is a first-hop redundancy protocol, not a component of LISP VM mobility.
Question 4
What are two advantages of using Cisco vPC over traditional access layer designs? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C, D. no spanning-tree blocked ports; uses all available uplink bandwidth
vPC (Virtual Port Channel) eliminates blocked ports by allowing both uplinks to forward traffic simultaneously, and enables full utilization of all available uplink bandwidth. Traditional spanning-tree designs result in blocked ports to prevent loops, but vPC's control mechanisms allow active-active forwarding across both peer links without creating loops.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. vPC does not support Layer 3 port channels; it operates at Layer 2.
- B. vPC does not disable spanning-tree; spanning-tree still runs but with vPC-specific adjustments to prevent loops.
- E. vPC maintains a dual control plane through the vPC peer link, not a single control plane.
Question 5
What is a design consideration when implementing FSPF?
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Correct answer: A. Routes are based on the domain ID.
FSPF (Fabric Shortest Path First) is the Fibre Channel routing protocol that bases routing decisions on domain IDs. Each switch in a Fibre Channel fabric is assigned a domain ID, and FSPF uses these identifiers along with link costs to calculate the shortest path through the fabric topology.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. FSPF is a link-state protocol, not distance vector.
- C. FSPF runs on E Ports (inter-switch links) and domain controllers, not F Ports (which connect to end devices).
- D. FSPF operates at the fabric level across multiple chassis, not on a per-chassis basis.
Question 6
Which two features are provided by deploying an OOB management network in a Cisco Nexus data center? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, D. Layer 3 path for monitoring purposes; Layer 3 path for vPC keepalive packets
An out-of-band management network provides a Layer 3 path for monitoring and management purposes, separate from production data traffic. Additionally, it provides a Layer 3 path for vPC keepalive packets, which are critical for maintaining vPC peer synchronization and preventing split-brain scenarios. The OOB network ensures management and control traffic remains independent of production data paths.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Server traffic uses the in-band data network, not the out-of-band management network.
- C. The vPC peer link is a dedicated Layer 2 link between vPC peers for data and control synchronization, not provided by the OOB management network.
- E. Server traffic is carried over in-band production networks, not OOB management paths.
Question 7
The management of the Cisco Nexus switches is provided over an isolated put-of-band network. The VDC feature is configured on the Cisco Nexus core switches. How is out-of-band management access provided for each VDC?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Each VDC has a unique out-of-band IP address from the same IP subnet.
Each VDC has a unique out-of-band IP address from the same IP subnet. This allows each VDC to have independent management access over the isolated out-of-band network while maintaining logical separation. All VDCs share the physical out-of-band management port but are identified by their unique IP addresses within the same management subnet.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Each VDC requires a unique IP address for independent management access and identification.
- B. VDCs do not have dedicated physical out-of-band ports; they share the management port but use unique IP addresses.
- D. VDCs use unique IP addresses from the same subnet, not different subnets, to simplify management network design.
Question 8
Which two configurations allow for routing traffic between two VDCs? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, B. Connect the VDCs to an external Layer 3 device; Cross-connect the ports between the VDCs.
Traffic can be routed between two VDCs by connecting them to an external Layer 3 device, which acts as a gateway between the separate VDC routing domains. Alternatively, cross-connecting ports between VDCs allows direct Layer 2 or Layer 3 communication. VDCs are logically isolated, so external routing infrastructure or direct physical connections are required for inter-VDC communication.
Why the other options are wrong
- C. VRF-aware software infrastructure interfaces are not a standard method for inter-VDC routing on Nexus switches.
- D. Policy maps cannot route traffic between VDCs; they operate within a single VDC's context.
- E. Interfaces in one VDC cannot be directly accessed by another VDC due to logical isolation; external routing is required.
Question 9
Which protocol prevents fiber failures from causing a Layer 2 loop in a dark fiber DCI?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. UDLD
UDLD (Unidirectional Link Detection) is specifically designed to detect and prevent unidirectional link failures on fiber connections that could cause Layer 2 loops. In a dark fiber DCI environment where there is no intermediate switching, UDLD operates at the data link layer to verify bidirectional communication and disable ports if unidirectional failures are detected, preventing loops that could propagate across the interconnect.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. BFD operates at Layer 3 and is used for fast failure detection in routing, not for preventing Layer 2 loops from fiber failures.
- C. MCP (Cisco proprietary protocol) is not a standard mechanism for preventing Layer 2 loops in dark fiber scenarios.
- D. LLDP is a discovery protocol used to advertise device information and does not prevent Layer 2 loops.
Question 10
What are two characteristics of VRF-Lite on the Cisco NX-OS platform? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C, D. Overlapping IP addresses are permitted on different VRFs; Interfaces that belong to VRFs can be physical or logical.
VRF-Lite on Cisco NX-OS allows logical separation of network instances. Each interface belongs to exactly one VRF, and VRF membership can be applied to both physical interfaces (such as Ethernet ports) and logical interfaces (such as subinterfaces, port-channels, and SVIs). Overlapping IP addresses are permitted across different VRFs since each VRF maintains its own independent routing table. Physical and logical interfaces can both be assigned to VRFs, providing flexible network segmentation.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Each Layer 3 interface can only belong to a single VRF at any given time; an interface cannot be a member of multiple VRFs simultaneously.
- B. VRF-Lite is a Layer 3 routing feature; Layer 2 interfaces cannot be assigned to VRFs as VRFs only segment Layer 3 routing domains.
- E. VRF-Lite on NX-OS does not inherently support MPLS; MPLS functionality requires separate configuration and is not a characteristic of VRF-Lite itself.
Question 11
Which technology enables Layer 2 extension between remote data center sites?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. OTV
OTV (Overlay Transport Virtualization) is the technology specifically designed to extend Layer 2 connectivity between remote data center sites. It encapsulates Ethernet frames and transports them across the IP network (dark fiber or IP WAN), enabling seamless Layer 2 extension while maintaining separate routing domains and providing advantages such as traffic localization and fault isolation.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. FCIP (Fibre Channel over IP) is designed for extending Fibre Channel storage networks, not general Layer 2 Ethernet switching.
- B. GRE (Generic Routing Encapsulation) is a basic tunneling protocol primarily used at Layer 3 and does not provide the same Layer 2 extension and control plane capabilities as OTV.
- C. DMVPN (Dynamic Multipoint VPN) is a VPN technology for enterprise networks and does not provide Layer 2 extension between data centers.
Question 12
Which Ethernet to Cisco Fabric Interconnect connectivity configuration is supported when FCoE is implemented?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. vPC that has unified uplinks
Virtual Port Channel (vPC) with unified uplinks is the supported Ethernet-to-Cisco Fabric Interconnect connectivity configuration when FCoE is implemented. vPC provides redundancy and load balancing while unified uplinks carry both Ethernet and FCoE traffic, meeting the requirements for converged network deployments.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. VSS (Virtual Switching System) is not the recommended or supported configuration for FCoE with Fabric Interconnects.
- B. Mixing Ethernet and unified ports on the same port channel creates conflicts and is not supported for FCoE.
- D. Cross-connections with pinning do not provide the required redundancy and failover capabilities for FCoE deployments.
Question 13
A cloud service provider is managing day-2 operations of over 200 blade servers installed in the Cisco UCS environment. This pool of network resources is providing virtual networks to their customers. To successfully operate this environment, frequent changes to vNICs and other operational policies are required across multiple UCS domains. The operations team must streamline these repetitive tasks. Which orchestration tool must be used to meet this requirement?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Cisco UCS Director
Cisco UCS Director is the orchestration platform purpose-built for managing large-scale UCS environments with multiple domains. It specializes in automating repetitive operational tasks, including vNIC and policy changes across numerous servers and multiple UCS domains. UCS Director provides workflow automation, task scheduling, and bulk configuration management that enables the operations team to efficiently handle frequent changes across 200+ blade servers without manual intervention on each device. The other options lack the UCS-specific orchestration capabilities needed for this scale of management.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Cisco ACI Multisite Orchestrator manages ACI fabrics, not UCS environments.
- B. Cisco DNA Center is for network device management and automation, not UCS-specific orchestration.
- D. Cisco UCS Manager is the management interface for individual domains, not a cross-domain orchestration platform.
Question 14
When planning to deploy a load-balancing service as a managed node, which ACI configuration must be included?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Layer 4 to Layer 7 device package
When deploying a load-balancing service as a managed node in ACI, a Layer 4 to Layer 7 device package must be configured. This package integrates the load-balancing device into the ACI fabric and enables policy-based service insertion and traffic steering to the load balancer, allowing ACI to manage and orchestrate the service as a fabric component.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. BGP ECMP is a routing protocol feature for load distribution and is not required for configuring a managed load-balancing service in ACI.
- C. Inline load-balancing device configuration is not the standard ACI terminology; the Layer 4-7 device package is the correct configuration requirement.
- D. ITD (Intelligent Traffic Director) is a Cisco feature used for load-balancing decisions but is not the ACI-specific configuration required for managed service deployment.
Question 15
Which feature must be configured to connect a classical Ethernet network to a data center network so that the data center network appears to be one large switch.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. VPC+
FabricPath makes the data center fabric behave like one large switch, and vPC+ is the feature used to attach classical Ethernet devices to it. With vPC+, the pair of FabricPath edge switches presents a single emulated switch ID, so the classical Ethernet side sees one logical switch.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. UDLD only detects unidirectional links and does not connect classical Ethernet into a fabric.
- C. EVPN is a control plane for VXLAN or MPLS overlays and is not the feature that attaches classical Ethernet to a FabricPath fabric.
- D. OSPF is a Layer 3 routing protocol and does not make the network appear as one switch.
Question 16
An engineer is experiencing performance issues on a Cisco UCS blade server. The B-Series blade server contains four CPUs, most of which are idle. The engineer notices that the CPU is suffering from too many requests sent by the NIC. Additionally, the number of queues appears to be insufficient and only a single CPU is processing the network traffic. Which policy must be used to alleviate these issues?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Ethernet adapter
The Ethernet adapter policy controls queue configuration for network adapters in Cisco UCS blade servers. When a single CPU is overwhelmed by NIC requests while other CPUs remain idle, increasing the number of Ethernet adapter queues through this policy distributes network traffic processing across multiple CPUs, alleviating the performance bottleneck caused by insufficient queues.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. LAN connectivity policy defines network connectivity parameters but not NIC queue configuration.
- B. Dynamic vNIC connection manages vNIC attachment states, not queue allocation for traffic distribution.
- D. vNIC placement determines vNIC to physical NIC mapping but does not address queue configuration for CPU load distribution.
Question 17
Which two statements describe Ethernet switching mode on Cisco UCS 6100 Series Fabric Interconnects? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, C. STP runs on the uplink ports of each VLAN, as defined by PVSTP+; The STP parameter configuration is unsupported.
On Cisco UCS 6100 Series Fabric Interconnects operating in Ethernet switching mode, Spanning Tree Protocol runs on the uplink ports of each VLAN using PVSTP+ (Per VLAN Spanning Tree Plus), providing per-VLAN loop prevention at the edge. Additionally, STP parameter configuration is explicitly unsupported on the UCS platform; administrators cannot modify STP parameters as the system manages these settings automatically for consistency and reliability.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. MSTP (Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol) is not used on UCS 6100 Fabric Interconnects; the platform uses PVSTP+.
- D. STP parameter configuration is unsupported on UCS, making this statement incorrect.
- E. STP runs only on uplink ports for inter-switch communication; it does not run on server-facing ports, which would be unnecessary and potentially problematic.
Question 18
An end user is experiencing network latency when accessing a database in a disaster recovery site. The monitoring team concluded that the database was writing simultaneously to the storage arrays on the primary and disaster recovery sites. Which design resolves this issue?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. asynchronous replication between data centers
Asynchronous replication eliminates the latency issue by allowing the primary site database to commit writes immediately without waiting for acknowledgment from the disaster recovery site. The secondary site is updated after the fact, avoiding the simultaneous write delay that causes network latency. This provides acceptable recovery objectives while maintaining responsive database performance.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Synchronous replication requires waiting for both sites to acknowledge writes before committing, causing the exact latency problem being experienced.
- C. FCoE tunneling is a transport mechanism for Fibre Channel over Ethernet and does not address the replication synchronization issue.
- D. FCIP tunneling provides transport for Fibre Channel over IP but does not resolve the latency caused by synchronous write operations.
Question 19
Which pools are used when a vNIC template is created in Cisco UCS Manager?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. MAC
When a vNIC template is created in Cisco UCS Manager, it uses MAC address pools to assign unique MAC addresses to virtual network interfaces. MAC pools ensure that each vNIC receives a consistent and unique MAC address from the organization's MAC address space.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. WWPN pools are used for vHBA templates, not vNIC templates.
- B. UUID pools are used for server identities, not vNIC configuration.
- D. IP pools are used at higher layers but are not directly associated with vNIC template creation in UCS Manager.
Question 20
An engineer is implementing a storage area network where an NPV is used. The engineer notices that the servers in a storage farm are experiencing heavy traffic contention. The engineer needs to migrate traffic from heavily loaded server interfaces to interfaces with less load. When the new links are deployed, the existing traffic is not rebalanced as expected. Which feature must be used to meet these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. disruptive load balancing
Disruptive load balancing enables traffic rebalancing across new links in NPV environments by allowing WWNN (World Wide Node Name) to physical port remapping, which forces traffic migration to less congested interfaces. This feature allows existing connections to be moved to newly deployed links with better availability rather than requiring only new connections to use the new paths.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. NPIV (N-Port ID Virtualization) provides multiple fabric logins per physical port but does not enable traffic rebalancing across existing connections.
- B. Multiple VSAN support allows traffic segmentation but does not address load rebalancing from congested to newly deployed interfaces.
- C. DPVM is not a recognized Cisco SAN feature for load balancing.
Question 21
An engineer must design a Cisco HyperFlex solution to support a virtualized environment in a single data center location. The design must consider these customer requirements: • a large-scale cluster with eight or more nodes • distributed high-performance file system for virtualized servers • high fault tolerance to multiple node failures Which action meets these objectives?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Enable logical availability zones.
Logical Availability Zones (LAZs) distribute the cluster across multiple fault domains, providing protection against multiple simultaneous node failures within a single data center. This feature enables high fault tolerance in large clusters (eight or more nodes) by ensuring data redundancy across physically isolated zones, maintaining the distributed high-performance file system requirements.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Data destaging and deduplication optimize storage efficiency but do not directly address fault tolerance to multiple node failures.
- B. Replication factor of four requires excessive storage overhead and is not the recommended approach for fault tolerance in single-site deployments.
- D. Multiple datastores address storage organization but do not inherently provide protection against multiple node failures.
Question 22
A network architect designs a high-availability architecture for the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects that are installed in a data center. The architecture must support clustering and redundancy. Which architecture meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. dual connections from port L1 to L1 and one connection from port L2 to L2 with Ethernet cables
High-availability clustering of Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects requires dual connections from one interconnect's port L1 to the other interconnect's port L2, plus one additional connection from the second interconnect's port L2 back to the first interconnect's port L1. These connections must use Ethernet cables and cross-connect to properly form a stable cluster topology that supports both redundancy and clustering without creating loop conditions.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Twinax cables are for short-distance direct attachments, not inter-chassis Fabric Interconnect connections, and L1-to-L1 topology is incorrect.
- B. Twinax cables cannot be reliably used for inter-chassis Fabric Interconnect connections.
- C. The dual L1-to-L2 with single L2-to-L1 topology creates an asymmetrical configuration that doesn't properly support stable clustering.
Question 23
Which authentication software natively runs within the CLI of Cisco NX-OS devices?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Python
Python natively runs within the CLI of Cisco NX-OS devices through the Python interpreter that is embedded in NX-OS, allowing users to write and execute Python scripts directly within the device CLI environment for automation and configuration tasks.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Ansible is an external orchestration tool that communicates with NX-OS devices remotely, not a native CLI component.
- C. Puppet is an external configuration management tool, not native to NX-OS CLI.
- D. Chef is an external infrastructure automation tool, not native to NX-OS CLI.
Question 24
A network administrator must create a redundant vHBA for the mission-critical virtual machines (VMs) installed on a Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect blade server. The VMs access multiple datastores using VSAN55 and VSAN95. The datastore on which the VMs are hosted must be accessible if any of the uplinks goes offline. Which action meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Attach VSAN55 to vHBA1 and VSAN95 to vHBA2.
To ensure datastore accessibility if any uplink goes offline, each VSAN must be attached to separate vHBAs. By attaching VSAN55 to vHBA1 and VSAN95 to vHBA2, you create path diversity such that if one uplink fails, the alternate vHBA can maintain connectivity to the datastores. This provides true redundancy at the vHBA level rather than relying on failover mechanisms.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Assigning both VSANs to both vHBAs does not create the same level of redundancy and may not provide failover protection across uplinks.
- C. Failover configuration requires both VSANs on the same vHBA, which does not provide the required redundancy for uplink failures.
- D. Load-balancing distributes traffic but does not guarantee datastore accessibility if an uplink fails, failing the mission-critical requirement.
Question 25
A data center uses Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switch and contains two tenants, tenant A and tenant B. • Tenant A uses IP addresses in the 10.2.30.41/24 to 10.2.30.64/24 range. • Tenant B uses IP addresses in the 10.2.30.120/24 to 10.2.30.192/24 range. The engineer must implement a solution that: • Isolates the traffic for each tenant as separate routing data and control planes. • Physically partitions the Cisco Nexus device into separate multiple logical devices with separate management, failure domain isolation, and resource management. Which two technologies meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, E. VDC; VRF
Virtual Device Contexts (VDC) on Cisco Nexus 7000 physically partition the switch into separate logical devices with independent management planes, failure domains, and resource allocation, meeting the requirement for physical partitioning. Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) provides logical isolation of routing and control planes, allowing separate routing tables for each tenant. Together, VDC and VRF satisfy both the requirement for separate routing/control planes and physical partitioning of the device across tenants A and B.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. vPC (virtual Port Channel) is a link aggregation technology for redundancy and does not provide tenant isolation or logical partitioning.
- C. VXLAN is an overlay network technology and does not provide device-level physical partitioning or management plane isolation required here.
- D. VLAN provides only Layer 2 segmentation and does not isolate routing planes or provide physical device partitioning.
Question 26
Which two configuration methods can be used to deploy QoS to Cisco MDS Series switches? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, C. zone-based QoS; VSAN-based QoS
Cisco MDS Series switches support two primary QoS configuration methods: zone-based QoS, which applies policies to specific zones within the fabric, and VSAN-based QoS, which applies policies at the VSAN level to manage traffic across virtual SANs. These are the standard deployment approaches for QoS in MDS environments.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Multiple QoS policies matching individual devices is not a standard MDS QoS deployment method.
- D. FCoE VLAN-based QoS applies to FCoE environments and is not a primary MDS QoS configuration method.
- E. Multiple QoS policies matching multiple devices is not a recognized MDS QoS deployment method.
Question 27
An engineer manages hundreds of Cisco Nexus 3000 Series and 9000 Series Switches that are installed at several data centers and wants to use one of the built-in automation tools of the Cisco NX-OS Guest Shell to automate daily activities. The engineer requires a tool that uses imperative language, has extensive library support, and is object-oriented. Which automation tool should be used to meet these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Python
Python is the automation tool built into Cisco NX-OS Guest Shell that meets all stated requirements: it uses imperative language, has extensive library support through its robust standard library and third-party packages, and is fully object-oriented. Python enables comprehensive automation of daily activities on Nexus switches across multiple data centers.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Bash is a shell scripting language that is procedural rather than object-oriented and has more limited library support compared to Python.
- C. Perl, while having extensive libraries, is not the primary built-in automation tool in NX-OS Guest Shell and is less commonly used for this purpose.
- D. YAML is a data serialization language, not an imperative programming language suitable for automation logic.
Question 28
An engineer must interconnect two geographically separated data centers. The service provider offers a Layer 2 Metro Ethernet link. The strict security policy requires that the information that is shared between two sites must be sent encrypted. The application deployed between two sites requires a line-rate throughput regardless of the packet size and speed. Which solution meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. MACsec
MACsec is the solution that provides encryption at Layer 2 for Metro Ethernet links while maintaining line-rate throughput regardless of packet size. Operating at the MAC layer, MACsec encrypts frames transparently without requiring upper-layer protocol modifications and delivers wire-speed performance without the processing overhead that Layer 3 encryption solutions incur.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. L2TPv2 is deprecated and does not provide the line-rate performance required for Layer 2 Metro Ethernet services.
- B. IPsec operates at Layer 3 and introduces packet size overhead and processing delays that prevent line-rate throughput across all packet sizes.
- D. L2TPv3 adds tunneling overhead and does not guarantee line-rate performance regardless of packet size.
Question 29
What are two functions of a Network Services Orchestrator in an NFV environment? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, D. It operates at the resource-facing services layer and provides overall lifecycle management at the network service level; It provides a standards-based northbound interface for transparent integration with systems that operate at the customer-facing services layer.
A Network Services Orchestrator operates at the resource-facing services layer and provides overall lifecycle management at the network service level, handling the instantiation and management of network services. It also provides a standards-based northbound interface for transparent integration with systems that operate at the customer-facing services layer, enabling communication with higher-level management systems.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. The northbound interface integrates with customer-facing services, not resource-facing services.
- C. The NSO uses northbound interfaces toward customer-facing systems, not southbound interfaces.
- E. The NSO operates at the resource-facing services layer, not the customer-facing services layer.
Question 30
An engineer is operating data center environment that hosts data-intensive financial applications. The applications are mostly processing HTTP/HTTPS data with large data segments, which results in a CPU contention due to the significant network processing. Which set of Ethernet adapter policies must be selected to resolve the issue?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Receive Checksum Offload field set to Enabled TCP Segmentation Offload field set to Enabled Transmit Queues field: 128 Ring Size field: 64
For CPU-intensive HTTP/HTTPS processing with large data segments, enabling both Receive Checksum Offload and TCP Segmentation Offload significantly reduces CPU burden by offloading these computationally expensive operations to the network adapter hardware. Higher transmit queue counts (128) and smaller ring sizes (64) optimize buffer management for large segment handling, allowing the CPU to focus on application processing rather than network stack operations.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Disabling both checksum and TSO offload forces the CPU to handle these operations, directly causing the CPU contention issue.
- B. While it enables Receive Checksum Offload, disabling TSO leaves significant CPU overhead for segmentation operations on large data segments.
- D. Disabling Receive Checksum Offload leaves the CPU responsible for checksum validation, contradicting the optimization goal for this workload.
Question 31
Which factor determines the choice of platform designing a Cisco HyperFlex infrastructure to support computer-aided design applications?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. GPU support
Computer-aided design (CAD) applications demand significant GPU processing power for rendering complex 3D models, real-time visualization, and computational tasks. GPU support is the critical factor that determines whether a HyperFlex platform can effectively handle CAD workloads, making it the primary design consideration for this use case.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Network speed is important but not the determining factor for CAD application support.
- C. Storage capacity is a supporting factor but does not directly address CAD performance requirements.
- D. Processor count matters, but GPU capabilities are more critical for CAD workload acceleration.
Question 32
A network engineer is using a Cisco UCS environment connected to a Fibre Channel storage array. The Cisco UCS environment must be connected to an existing SAN network, and several Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switches must be added to increase storage density. The solution must not exhaust the SAN network from the list of available domain IDs after connecting. Also, most of the SAN traffic must be mapped from the Cisco UCS blades to a specific group of the fabric interconnect ports. Which two features must be deployed to meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B, C. end host mode; static PIN grouping
Two separate requirements need two features. First, the UCS domain must join the existing SAN without using up Fibre Channel domain IDs. Running the fabric interconnects in FC end-host mode (NPV mode) makes them log in to the upstream MDS switches as N-port proxies rather than as FC switches, so they do not consume a domain ID; the upstream MDS switches only need NPIV enabled to accept the multiple logins. Second, most SAN traffic from the blades must go through a specific group of fabric interconnect ports. That is done with a SAN pin group: the administrator statically pins vHBAs to a defined set of FC uplink ports instead of letting the fabric interconnect choose an uplink dynamically.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Dynamic port pinning lets the fabric interconnect pick the uplink automatically, which is the opposite of forcing traffic onto a specific group of ports.
- D. N-Port ID virtualization is enabled on the upstream MDS switch so it can accept multiple logins from the fabric interconnects. It is a supporting setting on the core side; the domain ID saving comes from end-host (NPV) mode on the fabric interconnects, and NPIV does nothing to steer blade traffic to specific uplinks.
- E. Priority flow control is a Data Center Bridging feature for lossless Ethernet (FCoE) traffic classes; it has nothing to do with domain IDs or uplink pinning.
Question 33
Which two types of service profile templates does Cisco UCS support? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, C. initial; updating
Cisco UCS offers initial and updating service profile templates. Profiles created from an initial template are not changed when the template is edited, while profiles bound to an updating template automatically inherit any change made to the template.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Permanent is not a Cisco UCS service profile template type.
- D. Temporary is not a Cisco UCS service profile template type.
- E. Connected is not a Cisco UCS service profile template type.
Question 34
A SAN fabric is built between a pair of Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switches. The requirement is for the ISL to use the VSAN ID to forward traffic from multiple VSANs across the same physical link. Additionally, the Fibre Channel trace feature must be supported. Which ISL interface parameters are required to meet these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. switchport mode TE switchport mode trunk
ISL interfaces on Cisco MDS 9000 switches require 'switchport mode TE' (Trunking Enhanced) to support multiple VSANs over a single physical link, and 'switchport mode trunk' to enable VSAN tagging for traffic forwarding. Mode TE inherently supports Fibre Channel trace functionality, making this the correct configuration for the stated requirements.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Including 'vsan' as a separate parameter is redundant; the trunk mode already enables VSAN multiplexing without this additional syntax.
- C. Mode E (Enhanced) is not the correct trunking mode for ISL; TE (Trunking Enhanced) is required for proper ISL operation.
- D. Mode E is incorrect for ISL configuration, and the trunk vsan combination is not the standard approach for MDS ISL setup.
Question 35
Which two configurations are available by using a service profile template in Cisco UCS Manager? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, C. number of vHBAs; UUID assignment
Service profile templates in Cisco UCS Manager allow configuration of the number of vHBAs (virtual Host Bus Adapters) for Fibre Channel connectivity and UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) assignment for server identity. These are core template configurations that define server connectivity and identification parameters.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. ARP entries are network protocol configurations, not typically configured within UCS service profile templates.
- D. VXLAN membership is a network overlay configuration not managed through UCS service profile templates.
- E. Target server specification is not a template configuration; templates are applied to servers, not targeted at them.
Question 36
A company runs mission-critical infrastructure in a single data center. Due to business growth, it plans to open more data centers in the coming years. A network engineer is asked to recommend a network technology for data center interconnection that allows scalability and seamless VM mobility while providing maximum security and fault isolation between data centers. Which technology must be used to meet these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. OTV
Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV) is designed specifically for data center interconnection, providing Layer 2 connectivity across geographically dispersed data centers while maintaining maximum security and fault isolation. OTV enables seamless VM mobility between sites and scales efficiently as new data centers are added to the infrastructure.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. TrustSec provides identity-based access control but is not a data center interconnection technology.
- C. CloudSec is not a standard Cisco technology for data center interconnection.
- D. UDLD (Unidirectional Link Detection) is a link verification protocol, not a data center interconnection solution.
Question 37
An engineer is designing a Multichassis EtherChannel topology in which two switches must appear as a single device to a third downstream switch? Which two technologies meet this requirement? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B, C. VSS; vPC
VSS (Virtual Switching System) and vPC (virtual Port Channel) are both technologies that allow two physical switches to appear as a single logical device to downstream equipment. VSS creates a single virtual switch from two Catalyst switches, while vPC allows multiple links from a single device to be port-channeled across two separate switches simultaneously.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. HSRP provides gateway redundancy but does not make two switches appear as a single device to downstream equipment.
- D. 802.1q is a VLAN tagging standard and does not address multichassis EtherChannel requirements.
- E. FEX (Fabric Extender) extends fabric interconnect ports but does not make two switches appear as a single device in a multichassis topology.
Question 38
An engineer must build a VXLAN flood-and-learn network. The customer requires the solution to be based on the IETF documented practice in RFC 7348. The solution must use broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast (BUM) and include the efficient BUM and short BUM replication modes that use only shared trees. Which technology meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Bidirectional PIM
Bidirectional PIM (BIDIR-PIM) is the technology that supports efficient BUM (broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast) replication using only shared trees, as documented in RFC 7348 for VXLAN flood-and-learn networks. BIDIR-PIM allows both sources and receivers to use shared trees without requiring source-specific trees, making it ideal for BUM traffic that lacks a single identifiable source.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. MVPN is used for multicast VPN services but does not specifically address VXLAN BUM replication as defined in RFC 7348.
- B. PIM sparse mode requires source-specific trees and rendezvous points, which is less efficient for BUM replication than bidirectional mode.
- C. PIM SSM (Source Specific Multicast) is source-centric and does not support the shared-tree-only requirement for efficient BUM handling.
Question 39
A customer requires a tool to manage Cisco network hardware. The solution must use secure communication using a secure network protocol, support the use of declarative language to manage the state of resources, and periodically pull changes to the controlled nodes. Which tool meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Puppet
Puppet uses secure communication (SSH), supports declarative language for defining desired resource state, and pulls changes to controlled nodes periodically through its agent-based pull model. This aligns with the requirements for managing Cisco network hardware. Ansible uses push model, SaltStack's primary model is push-based, and Nornir is a task execution framework rather than a full management platform.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Ansible uses a push model where the control node initiates connections, not a pull model where nodes retrieve changes.
- B. SaltStack primarily uses a push model for command execution, not the periodic pull model described.
- D. Nornir is a Python framework for automating tasks but does not provide the declarative state management or periodic pull model required.
Question 40
A network engineer must design a data center network with four Cisco Nexus 7706 switches. The switches will be installed in primary and secondary data centers in vPC domains. The two data centers must be connected via Layer 2 links and provide the maximum throughput, redundancy, and avoid port-blocking spanning-tree design. Which deployment model meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. dual-sided dual vPC
Dual-sided dual vPC deployment maximizes throughput and redundancy by establishing vPC domains in both the primary and secondary data centers, with dual (redundant) inter-datacenter links connecting them. This design avoids spanning-tree port-blocking by fully utilizing all available links between sites while maintaining vPC consistency and active/active forwarding. Single-sided deployments waste capacity, and single vPC configurations reduce redundancy.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Dual-sided single vPC underutilizes redundancy by only having one vPC domain active.
- B. Single-sided dual vPC leaves one data center without vPC benefits and reduces overall redundancy.
- D. Single-sided single vPC provides minimal redundancy and does not meet maximum throughput or redundancy requirements.
Question 41
A network consultant must design a high availability interconnection of a clustered Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect toward two upstream Layer 2 switches. The Ethernet interconnection must use all redundant links and have no impact on the STP domain size. Which connectivity solution must be used?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect in end host mode with dual uplinks distributed evenly to the upstream switches
End host mode with dual uplinks allows the Fabric Interconnects to use all redundant links without impacting the STP domain size. End host mode prevents the UCS fabric from generating BPDU frames or participating in STP, treating the interconnects as end devices rather than switches. This preserves the upstream STP topology while providing redundancy through the dual uplinks.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Switch mode with dual uplinks would cause the UCS fabric to participate in STP, expanding the STP domain size.
- B. Switch mode will impact the STP domain size regardless of link configuration.
- C. End host mode with a single uplink per switch wastes redundancy and doesn't utilize all available links.
Question 42
A network engineer is designing a Cisco Hyperflex infrastructure. The infrastructure will be connected to an external SAN fiber channel array and must support Microsoft clustering. Which storage connectivity method must be used to meet these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. raw device mapping
Raw device mapping (RDM) allows virtual machines in Hyperflex infrastructure to access external SAN storage devices directly at the block level, providing the persistent storage capabilities required by Microsoft clustering solutions. RDM enables cluster-aware shared storage access without file system abstraction, meeting the requirement for external Fibre Channel SAN array connectivity.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) encapsulates Fibre Channel over Ethernet networks but is not the standard method for external SAN connectivity in Hyperflex.
- B. iSCSI provides block storage over IP networks and is not typically used for external Fibre Channel array connectivity.
- D. Server Message Block (SMB) is a file-sharing protocol and does not provide the block-level storage access required for Microsoft clustering with external SAN arrays.
Question 43
A company has added a new FCoE storage array to increase the performance of datastore access for end users. This storage array is directly connected to the Cisco Nexus 5672UP switches using four 10G port-channel interfaces. After deployment, the end users fail to access the datastore compared to the older solution. A network engineer verified the port-channel interface and finds that the congestion occurs when PFC frames are generated at the FCoE ingress interface. Which action must be taken to resolve the congestion issue?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Increase the queuing buffer in the port-channel interface connected to the storage array.
When PFC (Priority Flow Control) frames are generated at the ingress FCoE interface, they cause back-pressure that leads to congestion on the port-channel. Increasing the queuing buffer on the port-channel interface connected to the storage array provides additional buffering capacity to absorb PFC frames and prevents drops during congestion events, resolving the performance issue.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Reserving bandwidth does not address the root cause of PFC frame-induced congestion and buffer exhaustion.
- B. Enabling FCoE class in QoS alone does not solve the buffer congestion issue caused by PFC frames.
- D. Adding an additional FCoE VLAN does not address the fundamental queuing buffer limitation causing congestion.
Question 44
A network architect proposes a distinct Fibre Channel fabric to be used for a Cisco UCS blade server that hosts critical applications. Which action should be implemented for the Fibre Channel traffic from the vHBA of this server to pass through the I/O Module in the Cisco UCS chassis to a specified uplink Fibre Channel port?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Include a SAN pin group in the vHBA policy.
A SAN pin group in the vHBA policy specifies which uplink Fibre Channel ports traffic from a vHBA should traverse through the I/O Module. This pinning mechanism ensures Fibre Channel traffic from the blade server's vHBA is directed to the specified fabric uplink ports, meeting the requirement for traffic to pass through designated Fibre Channel uplinks.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. QoS policies control traffic prioritization and bandwidth, not traffic path selection or port pinning.
- B. Fibre Channel adapter policies configure adapter behavior and features but do not control traffic routing to specific uplink ports.
- C. Persistent Binding relates to vHBA configuration state persistence, not traffic routing to specific uplink ports.
Question 45
A network architect designs the iSCSI-based storage area network solution. The iSCSI datastore must be designed with high availability, minimal downtime, and no single point of failure. The requirement is to fail over I/O to alternate paths based on SCSI sense codes without reliance on network failures. Which feature must be deployed to meet these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. iSCSI multipath
iSCSI multipath is the feature that enables failover to alternate paths based on SCSI sense codes without waiting for network failure detection. This provides proactive failover capability, eliminating single points of failure and achieving high availability with minimal downtime as required for the SAN design.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Hardware-based flow control manages data transmission rates but does not provide multipath failover capability.
- B. Port security restricts access to switch ports but does not enable path failover or high availability for I/O operations.
- D. NIC teaming provides link aggregation and failover at the network interface level but does not offer SCSI sense code-based failover for storage paths.
Question 46
An engineer needs an orchestration and monitoring tool that should be used for managing the storage networks and VXLAN fabrics. The tool should also allow support built-in dashboard and real-time health summary for managed devices. Which tool meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Cisco DCNM
Cisco DCNM (Data Center Network Manager) is purpose-built for managing storage networks and VXLAN fabrics in data center environments. It provides built-in dashboards and real-time health summaries for managed devices, making it the ideal choice for this requirement. Intersight is for broader UCS management, Ansible is a general automation tool, and Puppet is a configuration management tool.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Cisco Intersight is designed for UCS and hybrid cloud management, not specifically for storage networks and VXLAN fabric management.
- B. Ansible is a general-purpose automation tool without specialized features for storage network and VXLAN fabric orchestration and monitoring.
- C. Puppet is a configuration management tool focused on agent-based node configuration, not network orchestration and monitoring.
Question 47
An engineer is designing a Cisco Nexus 7000 Series disaster recovery site using the data center interconnect solution to provide gateway redundancy and needs to ensure that devices use gateways in their own data centers. Which design approach should be used to accomplish this goal?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. FHRP localized to its own data center
FHRP (First Hop Redundancy Protocol) localized to each data center ensures that devices within a data center use gateway resources that remain local to that site. This prevents unnecessary traffic traversal across the data center interconnect and provides optimal routing by ensuring devices prefer gateways in their own data center during normal operation.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. CFS is for cluster services and does not control gateway selection behavior.
- B. vPC is for link aggregation and redundancy, not for controlling which gateway devices prefer in their local data center.
- D. STP handles loop prevention but does not directly control gateway selection based on data center location.
Question 48
A company needs a solution to virtualize their legacy desktop computers. The solution must be highly resilient and able to withstand the loss of a data center site. Each compute node requires a minimum of 20 disk drives. Which solution meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. virtual desktop infrastructure solution installed in multiple data centers that are close to the end users solution based on Cisco HX240 compute nodes
A VDI solution deployed across multiple data centers provides high resilience and can withstand loss of a single data center site. HyperFlex HX240 nodes support the minimum 20 disk drives requirement for performance and redundancy in a VDI environment spread geographically. This meets both the resilience requirement and the disk capacity needs while enabling users to connect to nearby data centers.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Thin client solutions with RDP rely on centralized servers and don't provide resilience against data center loss.
- B. A single data center site cannot withstand the loss of that same data center site, failing the resilience requirement.
- D. Dedicated VMs per hypervisor in a centralized data center lacks the multi-site resilience required and doesn't protect against site failure.
Question 49
The end users report issues with datastore reachability between the newly installed virtual machines (VMs) and the storage array. The VMs are deployed on a Cisco C-Series server, directly connected with Cisco Nexus 5672UP switches over FCoE VLAN. The data traffic on VLAN 99, which is designated as a native VLAN, reaches its default gateway, but FCoE VLAN 99 fails to access the datastore. Which action resolves the problem?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Implement FCoE traffic on VLAN 10 and data traffic on VLAN 99.
The issue arises because FCoE traffic and data traffic cannot coexist on the same native VLAN. FCoE requires dedicated VLAN assignment separate from standard Ethernet data traffic. By implementing FCoE on VLAN 10 and keeping data traffic on VLAN 99, the two traffic types are properly isolated, allowing FCoE frames to reach the datastore without conflict.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Spanning-tree port type edge configurations do not address the root cause of VLAN traffic separation for FCoE and data.
- C. VSAN database configuration is necessary but insufficient; the core issue is that FCoE and data traffic share the native VLAN.
- D. While separation is conceptually needed, this option does not specify the actual solution of using different VLANs for FCoE versus data traffic.
Question 50
Which two methods mitigate congestion in a SAN network? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, D. Configure ER_RDY to allow splitting of each ISL between switches into separate virtual links; Configure the port monitor to allow categorization of a specific device as slow.
Configuring ER_RDY (Extended Response Ready) allows splitting of ISLs into separate virtual links to distribute traffic and prevent bottlenecks. Using the port-monitor command enables detection of slow drain devices that consume buffer credits, allowing administrators to identify and address congestion sources. These two methods directly address congestion by improving link utilization and identifying problematic devices.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Port-monitor is used to detect slow devices, but the port monitor itself does not categorize devices; detection occurs through analysis.
- C. Port channels do not enable individual buffer-to-buffer credits; they aggregate bandwidth between switches.
- E. Configuring R_RDY for flow control is a basic FC mechanism, not a specific congestion mitigation technique.
Question 51
A Cisco UCS chassis with several blade servers, a pair of IOMs, and a pair of Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects are installed in a data center. Which two high-availability architectures are recommended between the IOMs and fabric interconnects? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, B. One, two, four and eight links are supported to be used between each IOM and fabric interconnect; IOM A is connected to the fabric interconnect that is acting as fabric A, and IOM B is connected to the fabric interconnect that is acting as fabric B.
Option A specifies that one to eight links are supported between each IOM and fabric interconnect, providing granular control over redundancy and throughput. Option B describes the proper fabric topology where IOM A connects to Fabric A and IOM B connects to Fabric B, establishing a structured high-availability architecture that prevents single points of failure and ensures balanced distribution of traffic.
Why the other options are wrong
- C. While technically similar to A, the phrasing of any combination without the specific valid link counts is less precise in the architectural context.
- D. Nonclustered fabric interconnects contradict the recommended HA architecture, which requires clustered fabric interconnects for unified management.
- E. While cross-connect links provide additional availability, straight-through connections alone are sufficient for the recommended two-fabric architecture without requiring both types.
Question 52
A network engineer must select a high availability feature for their data center. The solution must ensure network resilience, reduce network instability for Layer 3 routing protocols, and meet these requirements: • The device must notify its neighbors when the control plane is undergoing a restart. • The solution must suppress routing flaps in case of stateful switchovers. Which solution must be implemented?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. NSF
NSF (Non-Stop Forwarding) combined with graceful restart capabilities allows a device to notify neighbors when its control plane is restarting, enabling stateful switchovers that suppress routing flaps and maintain forwarding during control plane restarts. This directly addresses both requirements: neighbor notification of control plane restart and suppression of routing instability during stateful switchovers.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. BFD (Bidirectional Forwarding Detection) detects failures quickly but does not provide control plane restart notifications or suppress flaps during stateful switchovers.
- B. HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol) provides gateway redundancy but does not address control plane restart notifications or routing protocol stability.
- D. ISSU (In-Service Software Upgrade) allows software updates without traffic disruption but is not designed to suppress routing flaps or notify neighbors during control plane events.
Question 53
An engineer manages a multi-organization Cisco UCS fabric and requires a solution to streamline the daily operational tasks of creating service profile templates. The operations team is unfamiliar with programming languages and must have a solution that is written in an easy-to-read and declarative manner. The operations team also requires the tool to be flexible enough to support the creation of custom modules. The development team is familiar with the Python programming language and can develop these custom modules for the operations team. Which tool meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Ansible
Ansible meets all requirements: it uses YAML, which is declarative and easy-to-read for operations teams unfamiliar with programming languages, and it supports custom module development in Python, which aligns with the development team's expertise. Ansible is agentless and widely used for multi-vendor infrastructure orchestration including Cisco UCS.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. CFEngine requires knowledge of its proprietary policy language and is less suited for teams seeking Python-based customization.
- C. Chef uses Ruby for custom modules, not Python, which conflicts with the development team's stated familiarity.
- D. Puppet uses its own declarative language and relies on Ruby for extensions, not Python, making it misaligned with the team's technical skills.
Question 54
An engineer is building a data center network with VXLAN EVPN. The requirement is to use multicast for the broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast replication. Which two VNI to multicast group mapping methods must be used to meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B, C. one VNI to one multicast group; many VNI to one multicast group
In VXLAN EVPN deployments using multicast for BUM (broadcast, unknown unicast, multicast) replication, two primary mapping strategies are used. One VNI to one multicast group (option B) provides a dedicated multicast group per VNI, ensuring traffic isolation and efficient replication. Many VNI to one multicast group (option C) allows multiple VNIs to share a single multicast group, reducing multicast overhead in the underlay network. Both approaches are valid and commonly deployed depending on scalability and resource requirements.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Many NVE to one multicast group does not address VNI-to-multicast mapping and is not a standard VXLAN EVPN methodology.
- D. One NVE to many multicast groups is not a valid VXLAN EVPN construct; NVEs do not map to multicast groups in this manner.
- E. Many VNI to many multicast groups is not a standard mapping method and would create unnecessary complexity without clear benefit.
Question 55
An engineer is expanding an existing iSCSI environment and must choose an addressing scheme. When checking one of the devices, the engineer discovers this target device naming used: {prefix}.2019-01.com.acme123:00.ffd0cb21.bcb392817521 Which addressing scheme was used in the environment?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. iSCSI Qualified Name
The naming format {prefix}.2019-01.com.acme123:00.ffd0cb21.bcb392817521 follows the iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) structure, which includes a date-based naming authority (2019-01), reverse domain notation (com.acme123), and a unique identifier (ffd0cb21.bcb392817521). IQN is the standard naming scheme for iSCSI targets and initiators.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Network Address Authority uses a different format based on IEEE OUI, not the date-based and domain notation shown.
- B. Extended Unique Identifier (EUI) is a 64 or 128-bit address format used in Fibre Channel, not this textual format.
- D. Fibre Channel ID is a 24-bit address format used in Fibre Channel networks, not an iSCSI naming scheme.
Question 56
An engineer must connect an existing Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect to an IP-based storage array. The connection must be a port channel made directly between the fabric interconnect expansion module and the storage array. The engineer must also consider that the environment is running FCoE for storage and uses QoS to prioritize traffic. Which port type should be used to meet these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. appliance
An appliance port is designed to connect directly to IP-based storage arrays and other appliances without routing through the normal uplink architecture. Appliance ports support port channels directly between the fabric interconnect and external devices like storage arrays, and they support both FCoE and traditional Ethernet with QoS prioritization. This port type enables deterministic, direct connectivity to the storage array while maintaining FCoE traffic classification and QoS enforcement for prioritization of storage and network traffic.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Network ports connect servers to the fabric, not storage arrays directly.
- B. Uplink ports connect to upstream switches and the network core, not directly to storage.
- C. Server ports connect to blade servers and rack servers, not storage arrays.
Question 57
An engineer is implementing a Cisco UCS environment. The system must aggregate all vNICs into a single policy and consistently enforce node disassociation across the cluster. Which two UCS policies meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, E. scrub policy; LAN connectivity policy
A scrub policy (A) aggregates vNIC configuration into a single, centralized policy framework that can be consistently applied across service profiles. A LAN connectivity policy (E) defines vNIC settings and ensures consistent node disassociation behavior across the cluster by centralizing network connectivity rules. Together, these two policies enable administrators to enforce uniform vNIC configuration and disassociation behavior across multiple servers in the cluster, eliminating inconsistencies and enabling streamlined management of network policies at scale.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. vNIC policy is not a standard UCS policy type; vNIC configuration is handled through LAN connectivity policies.
- C. Boot policy controls boot order and boot devices, not vNIC aggregation or disassociation.
- D. Firmware policy manages firmware versions, not vNIC configuration or node behavior.
Question 58
An engineer must deploy a Cisco HyperFlex system at two data centers. For redundancy reasons, the setup must achieve data protection in case of an entire site failure. The data must be available on both sites at all times to keep the recovery time objective to a minimum. Which Cisco HyperFlex deployment model meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. stretched cluster
A stretched cluster deployment synchronously replicates data across two geographically distributed sites, ensuring that data is immediately available at both locations. This architecture provides complete data protection against site failure while maintaining minimal recovery time objective by eliminating the need for recovery or resynchronization after a failure event.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. ROBO (Remote Office Branch Office) clusters are designed for small deployments and do not provide the same level of data availability and redundancy required.
- C. Edge clusters with four or more nodes are designed for edge computing scenarios, not multi-site data center redundancy with full data replication.
- D. Standard eight-node clusters operate within a single site and cannot provide protection against entire site failure.
Question 59
An engineer must choose the World Wide Port Name for the Cisco UCS Fibre Channel virtual host bus adapter. Which identifier must be used?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. 20:00:00:25:B5:97:c3:ac
World Wide Port Names (WWPN) for Fibre Channel virtual host bus adapters use the format starting with 20: followed by hexadecimal digits, forming a 16-character identifier. The option 20:00:00:25:B5:97:c3:ac follows this standard WWPN format used by Cisco UCS Fibre Channel vHBAs.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. The naa. prefix indicates a NAA (Network Address Authority) format used for SCSI identifiers, not Fibre Channel WWPNs.
- B. The fe80: prefix is an IPv6 link-local address format, not a Fibre Channel identifier.
- C. The iqn. prefix indicates an iSCSI Qualified Name format used for iSCSI targets, not Fibre Channel WWPNs.
Question 60
A network engineer is implementing Cisco UCS Manager with Cisco UCS Central integration. The company's strict security policies require that the logical profile of virtual network adapters and logical addressing assigned to Cisco UCS servers be managed by the Cisco UCS Manager. The users must also be prevented from being able to acknowledge pending activities in the Cisco UCS Manager. Which two profiles must be used to meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B, D. local service; restricted chassis
Local service profile restricts what activities a user can perform, preventing unauthorized actions like acknowledging pending activities. Restricted chassis profile allows management of virtual network adapter logical profiles and IP addressing while restricting certain operations, meeting the security requirement to prevent acknowledgment of pending activities while permitting network configuration management by Cisco UCS Manager.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Global maintenance profile provides elevated system-wide privileges rather than restrictions on specific activities.
- C. Local power profile manages power policies and settings, not user activity restrictions or network adapter management.
- E. Public network control profile does not provide the restriction mechanisms needed to prevent activity acknowledgment.
Question 61
Which address pool is used when a vHBA template is created?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. WWPN
When a vHBA template is created in Cisco UCS Manager, it uses WWPN (World Wide Port Name) pools to assign unique Fibre Channel identities to virtual host bus adapters. WWPN addresses identify vHBAs on the Fibre Channel storage network.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. MAC pools are used for vNIC templates, not vHBA templates.
- C. IP pools are not used for vHBA template configuration.
- D. UUID pools are used for server identities, not Fibre Channel interface configuration.
Question 62
An engineer is implementing a Cisco UCS environment The requirements for the solution are for the MAC addresses to be learned only on the server-facing ports. The use of the Spanning Tree Protocol must be avoided. Also, the engineer must have deterministic traffic handling from blades to uplink ports. Which two settings must be selected to meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, D. end-host mode; static pinning
End-host mode enables MAC address learning only on server-facing ports, eliminates spanning-tree protocol usage, and allows static pinning for deterministic port assignment of blades to uplink ports. End-host mode treats each blade as an end host rather than a switching device, providing deterministic traffic paths without STP. Static pinning ensures consistent blade-to-uplink mappings for predictable traffic handling. Dynamic pinning and switching mode are incompatible with deterministic traffic requirements, and NPIV is unrelated to these requirements.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Dynamic pinning assigns uplinks dynamically and does not provide deterministic traffic handling as required.
- C. NPIV mode is N-Port ID Virtualization for storage connectivity, not applicable to general blade-to-uplink traffic handling.
- E. Switching mode learns MACs on all ports including uplinks and requires spanning-tree, violating the requirements.
Question 63
What is an advantage of Cisco HyperFlex Edge as compared to Cisco HyperFlex Standard Clusters?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Cisco Intersight automatically creates an invisible cloud witness.
Cisco HyperFlex Edge clusters leverage Cisco Intersight to automatically create an invisible cloud witness, which helps resolve split-brain scenarios in two-node clusters without requiring a third physical node. This is a key advantage over Standard Clusters that require physical or software-based quorum witnesses.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. SEEPROM connectivity is a hardware feature, not a distinguishing characteristic of HyperFlex Edge versus Standard Clusters.
- C. Service profile portability is a UCS Manager feature applicable to both cluster types and is not specific to HyperFlex Edge.
- D. HyperFlex Edge does not inherently provide native container support through KVM; this is not a primary feature differentiating it from Standard Clusters.
Question 64
An engineer is designing a disaster recovery solution. In the event of a node failure, the solution should either direct all of the traffic to another node, or load-balance the traffic across the remaining nodes. Which solution should be implemented in the design?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. active/active
An active/active configuration meets the requirements by allowing traffic to be either directed to another node upon failure or load-balanced across all remaining nodes during normal operation. Both nodes actively process traffic simultaneously, providing both redundancy and load distribution for mission-critical workloads.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Cold standby keeps a backup node powered off, which does not support load-balancing or rapid failover.
- C. Active/passive keeps one node in standby, which can only direct traffic to the standby node but cannot load-balance across remaining nodes.
- D. Warm standby maintains a partially active backup, but cannot achieve the active load-balancing capability required.
Question 65
An engineer must design a solution based on Cisco Nexus 7709 Switches. The solution must connect test and development network segments and separate the enterprise applications from the production network. The network security team requires routing instances and the IP stack to be completely separated from each other and for traffic between the environments to undergo a deep packet inspection. The development team also requests the ability to allocate additional physical interfaces from the Cisco Nexus 7709 device in each environment. Which solution meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. 1. Assign a separate VDC for the testing and development environments. 2. Place a firewall between the VDCs.
Assigning separate VDCs for test/development and production environments provides completely isolated routing instances, IP stacks, and failure domains. Placing a firewall between the VDCs enables deep packet inspection of traffic between environments and enforces security policies. This architecture meets all requirements: complete separation of routing and IP stack, deep packet inspection capability, and allows each VDC to allocate independent physical interfaces from the Nexus 7709 chassis.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. VRF-only solutions provide logical routing separation but not physical partitioning, and ACLs alone cannot provide deep packet inspection.
- B. Multiple routing instances within a single VDC do not achieve complete IP stack separation or independent management domains.
- D. VRF separation does not provide the physical partitioning, complete IP stack isolation, or independent interface allocation required for true environment separation.
Question 66
Which type fields can an engineer use to identify an iSCSI participant? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C, E. port number; hostname
An engineer can use hostname and port number to identify an iSCSI participant. The hostname provides human-readable identification of the iSCSI node, while the port number specifies the particular iSCSI service endpoint on that node, allowing unique identification of iSCSI initiators and targets.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Type field is not used to identify individual iSCSI participants.
- B. Preshared key is a security credential, not an identification field for participants.
- D. Identifying tag is not a standard iSCSI field used for participant identification.
Question 67
An engineer must design a multitenant solution using Cisco 7709 switches. The solution must support separate routing instances, separate spanning tree domains, and separate firewalls for each tenant. Which solution meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. VDC
VDC (Virtual Device Context) on Cisco Nexus 7000 series provides complete logical separation including separate routing instances, spanning tree domains, and management domains. This allows each tenant to have isolated control planes and data planes with independent firewalls and routing protocols, making it the only solution that meets all three requirements simultaneously.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. vPC provides virtual port channel redundancy but does not create separate routing instances or spanning tree domains for multitenancy.
- C. CFS (Cisco Fabric Services) is used for cluster distribution and management, not for creating isolated tenant environments.
- D. VRF provides only routing instance separation and does not address spanning tree domain or firewall isolation requirements.
Question 68
What is the disadvantage of asynchronous storage replication as compared to synchronous storage replication in a disaster recovery design?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. potential data loss
Asynchronous storage replication introduces a recovery point objective (RPO) gap because data is replicated after a delay rather than in real-time. This delay creates a window where recent transactions exist on the primary but not the secondary site, resulting in potential data loss if the primary site fails before asynchronous replication completes.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Asynchronous replication typically improves application performance by reducing synchronous write latency, not reducing it.
- B. Distance limitations are actually an advantage of asynchronous replication, which tolerates greater latency than synchronous methods.
- C. Asynchronous replication does not impose specific backup requirements compared to synchronous replication.
Question 69
A company owns a large-scale compute infrastructure that consists of over 1000 servers and virtual machines. The operational complexity continues to grow with additional policies and servers added to the environment. An infrastructure engineer is looking for an automation tool to reduce the operational complexity of configuring complex infrastructure. Because of the strict security requirements, the tool must be agentless, use the secure shell for transport, and be extendable using existing Python modules. Which tool meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Ansible
Ansible meets all three requirements: it is agentless (uses SSH for communication without requiring agents on managed nodes), uses secure shell (SSH) as its transport protocol, and is highly extendable using Python modules. Puppet requires agents on nodes, SaltStack can operate in agent or agentless modes but is less commonly associated with pure agentless operation, and NSO is designed for service orchestration rather than general infrastructure automation.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Puppet requires agents to be installed on managed nodes, violating the agentless requirement.
- B. NSO (Cisco Network Services Orchestrator) is primarily for service orchestration and does not meet the agentless requirement.
- C. While SaltStack can be agentless, it does not use SSH as its primary transport protocol and is less suitable for this use case.
Question 70
A company has several data centers around the world that must be interconnected over Layer2. The service provider supports MPLS services to all the locations. The proposed solution must be vendor agnostic and scalable enough to support the rapid growth of the company. Which data center technology is recommended to achieve this goal?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. VXLAN EVPN
VXLAN EVPN is the industry-standard, vendor-agnostic solution for extending Layer 2 connectivity across multiple data centers over Layer 3 networks like MPLS. It provides scalability through EVPN control plane, supports rapid growth, and is not proprietary to any single vendor. OTV is Cisco-proprietary, FabricPath is Cisco-proprietary, and EoMPLS lacks the scalability and flexibility of VXLAN EVPN for modern data center interconnects.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. OTV is a Cisco proprietary technology, not vendor agnostic.
- C. FabricPath is a Cisco proprietary fabric technology not suitable for multi-datacenter scenarios.
- D. EoMPLS is less scalable and doesn't provide the same operational advantages as VXLAN EVPN for large distributed environments.
Question 71
An engineer must logically partition two Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches into two environments called Test_1 and Production_1. The environments must use only F2-Series line cards and be limited to a maximum of 265 port-channels. Which Cisco Nexus feature must be used?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. VDC
VDC (Virtual Device Context) on Cisco Nexus 7000 Series switches logically partitions a single physical switch into multiple independent virtual switches, each with separate control planes, line cards, TCAM, and resource limits. VDCs can be configured with specific line card types (F2-Series) and port-channel limits, making it the correct feature for creating Test_1 and Production_1 environments with resource isolation.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. vPC (virtual Port Channel) creates redundancy between two physical switches but does not logically partition a single switch or provide separate resource limits.
- C. vFC is not a standard Cisco Nexus feature for logical partitioning.
- D. VRF (Virtual Routing and Forwarding) partitions routing tables but does not separate line cards, TCAM, port-channel limits, or provide the level of isolation required here.
Question 72
Which Cisco HyperFlex feature provides virtual machine-level cost scaling for desktop virtualization growth?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. dedicated compute nodes
Dedicated compute nodes in HyperFlex provide virtual machine-level cost scaling for desktop virtualization growth by allowing organizations to add compute capacity independently from storage, enabling flexible scaling of virtual desktop infrastructure without over-provisioning storage resources.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. HyperFlex Edge support is a deployment variant but does not directly provide cost scaling for desktop virtualization.
- B. Encryption offload cards provide security functionality but do not address cost scaling for desktop virtualization growth.
- D. Fabric interconnects provide connectivity infrastructure but do not directly provide VM-level cost scaling capabilities.
Question 73
A customer needs to deploy a three-tier network architecture that will consist of web, app, and other business-critical applications. The solution will include Cisco UCS 6324 Fabric Interconnects managing B and C series servers. The fabric interconnects will be connected to the Cisco Nexus 7706 Series Switch for network access. A storage array will be directly connected to the UCS fabric interconnects. Which UCS deployment type must be used to meet these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. UCS interconnect in Ethernet end-host mode UCS interconnect in Fibre Channel switching mode Fabric Interconnects uplinked to the Nexus device using an LACP port-channel in active mode
This architecture requires end-host mode for Ethernet to support direct uplink connectivity to the Nexus 7706, and Fibre Channel switching mode to handle direct storage array connections through the fabric interconnects. End-host mode in Ethernet allows the fabric interconnects to forward traffic directly without VLAN domain preservation, appropriate for upstream Nexus connectivity. Fibre Channel switching mode enables the fabric interconnects to act as Fibre Channel switches for the directly attached storage array. LACP active mode is used for the port-channel to the Nexus to ensure proper negotiation of the dynamic link aggregation.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Ethernet switching mode would not properly support direct uplink to the Nexus device; end-host mode is required.
- B. While end-host mode is correct for Ethernet, Fibre Channel end-host mode cannot support direct storage connectivity.
- D. Ethernet switching mode is incorrect; end-host mode is required for this three-tier architecture with Nexus uplinks.
Question 74
Where does Cisco UCS handle Fibre Channel traffic failover?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. on the host, by using multipathing software
Cisco UCS handles Fibre Channel traffic failover through multipathing software running on the host operating system. The host's multipath driver detects path failures and automatically redirects traffic to alternate paths without requiring specific handling at the adapter or fabric interconnect level.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. The fabric interconnect does not handle FC failover in this manner; failover occurs at the host level.
- C. While VIC adapters support multiple paths, they do not perform failover decision-making in hardware.
- D. Failover is not handled in hardware on UCS VIC adapters; the host multipathing software is responsible.
Question 75
An engineer is implementing management access to a Cisco Nexus platform. The customer requires a solution that provides isolation between the data and control planes, in addition to management that uses encryption and authentication. The customer will manage the device using both IPv4 and IPv6. Which two components should be used to meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A, B. mgmt0 interface; SSH protocol
The mgmt0 interface provides isolation between data and control planes as required. SSH protocol provides encryption and authentication for secure management sessions. Together, these components enable secure management access over both IPv4 and IPv6 with the required isolation and security properties.
Why the other options are wrong
- C. SNMP does not provide the level of encryption and authentication equivalent to SSH for secure management.
- D. SVI interface operates on the control plane and does not provide isolation between data and control planes.
- E. Telnet protocol lacks encryption and authentication, failing to meet security requirements.
Question 76
An engineer wants to eliminate the manual process of checking the system hardware and firmware against a specified hardware compatibility tool. The tool must be able to manage an extensive list of devices including Cisco HyperFlex, MDS, and Nexus switches. The tool must manage hardware in multiple data centers so it should be deployed on public cloud infrastructure. Which tool meets these requirements?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Cisco Intersight
Cisco Intersight is the comprehensive platform designed to manage and monitor extensive lists of hardware including Cisco HyperFlex, MDS, and Nexus switches across multiple data centers. It is deployed as a cloud-based SaaS solution and provides hardware compatibility checks, firmware management, and unified visibility across diverse infrastructure without requiring on-premises deployment.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Cisco Tetration focuses on application network analytics and security visibility, not hardware compatibility management.
- B. Cisco Data Center Network Manager is primarily a network management tool for switches but is not cloud-deployed and does not encompass HyperFlex and MDS systems management.
- C. Cisco UCS Director manages UCS infrastructure but does not provide the breadth of hardware support for MDS switches and extensive multi-datacenter cloud deployment.
That was 76 of 306.
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