Question 20
A modular enterprise chassis needs subsecond control-plane continuity during a supervisor failure without resetting every interface. The initial change is: Use platform-supported stateful switchover with synchronized standby-supervisor state and compatible software. Which continuing control most directly prevents a recurrence of the documented problem: A supervisor switchover causes a full reboot and routing reconvergence rather than a stateful transition.
- Monitor supervisor redundancy state and software version compatibility before maintenance.
- Test gateway failure and restore events, tracking preemption and uplink reachability separately.
- Preserve distribution-to-core dual homing and avoid making the core terminate ordinary end-user access ports.
- Audit port maps and rack power diversity, not just the number of interface descriptions marked backup.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:The continuing protective control is: Monitor supervisor redundancy state and software version compatibility before maintenance. This addresses the underlying failure mechanism: the standby supervisor is not in the required ready/synchronized state for SSO. The corresponding operational check is: inspect standby readiness and verify routes and interfaces remain operational through a supported switchover test.
Incorrect Answers
B:That control reduces a separate risk: The LAN uses the failed router's physical gateway address instead of a protected FHRP virtual gateway. For the described design, the recurring risk arises from: the standby supervisor is not in the required ready/synchronized state for SSO. The specific required safeguard is: monitor supervisor redundancy state and software version compatibility before maintenance.
C:That control reduces a separate risk: The intended core transit tier was omitted, producing accidental distribution-to-distribution dependence. For the described design, the recurring risk arises from: the standby supervisor is not in the required ready/synchronized state for SSO. The specific required safeguard is: monitor supervisor redundancy state and software version compatibility before maintenance.
D:That control reduces a separate risk: The redundant cabling did not remove the common upstream hardware failure domain. For the described design, the recurring risk arises from: the standby supervisor is not in the required ready/synchronized state for SSO. The specific required safeguard is: monitor supervisor redundancy state and software version compatibility before maintenance.
Question 21
A cloud-connected branch still has IPv4-only legacy clients, while newly deployed dual-stack applications and devices need native IPv6 reachability. The dual-stack cloud application also retains its IPv4 listener for legacy users. The incident evidence is: IPv4-only clients work, but IPv6-capable hosts fail to reach the dual-stack cloud service over IPv6. Which targeted configuration or design change best addresses the failure?
- Use a three-tier access, distribution and core architecture to separate campus aggregation from backbone transit.
- Connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing.
- Deploy a supported FHRP virtual gateway with correctly coordinated member roles and interface reachability.
- Plan dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing and forwarding through all relevant native paths, preserving IPv4 delivery for legacy clients and IPv6 routes for dual-stack peers.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:The required correction is: Plan dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing and forwarding through all relevant native paths, preserving IPv4 delivery for legacy clients and IPv6 routes for dual-stack peers. The underlying failure mechanism is: IPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic. Verify success by carrying out this direct test: test the legacy IPv4-only client against the cloud IPv4 listener and a dual-stack peer against the application IPv6 listener.
Incorrect Answers
A:Using a three-tier access, distribution and core architecture to separate campus aggregation from backbone transit would not plan dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing.
B:Connecting each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing would not plan dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing.
C:Deploying a supported FHRP virtual gateway with correctly coordinated member roles and interface reachability would not plan dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing.
Question 22
A cloud-connected branch still has IPv4-only legacy clients, while newly deployed dual-stack applications and devices need native IPv6 reachability. The dual-stack cloud application also retains its IPv4 listener for legacy users. The proposed remedy is: Plan dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing and forwarding through all relevant native paths, preserving IPv4 delivery for legacy clients and IPv6 routes for dual-stack peers. Which observation would most directly confirm that remedy works as intended?
- Check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link.
- Test the legacy IPv4-only client against the cloud IPv4 listener and a dual-stack peer against the application IPv6 listener.
- Trace a packet from an access VLAN through its distribution block to a redundant core path without crossing an unrelated access switch.
- Observe the virtual gateway ownership move and successful client traffic when the active gateway loses LAN reachability.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:The decisive acceptance observation is: Test the legacy IPv4-only client against the cloud IPv4 listener and a dual-stack peer against the application IPv6 listener. This tests the working mechanism, while the original incident was: iPv4-only clients work, but IPv6-capable hosts fail to reach the dual-stack cloud service over IPv6.
Incorrect Answers
A:This test measures a different behavior: Check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link. It does not establish the target outcome. For the documented fault, the direct acceptance test is: test the legacy IPv4-only client against the cloud IPv4 listener and a dual-stack peer against the application IPv6 listener.
C:This test measures a different behavior: Trace a packet from an access VLAN through its distribution block to a redundant core path without crossing an unrelated access switch. It does not establish the target outcome. For the documented fault, the direct acceptance test is: test the legacy IPv4-only client against the cloud IPv4 listener and a dual-stack peer against the application IPv6 listener.
D:This test measures a different behavior: Observe the virtual gateway ownership move and successful client traffic when the active gateway loses LAN reachability. It does not establish the target outcome. For the documented fault, the direct acceptance test is: test the legacy IPv4-only client against the cloud IPv4 listener and a dual-stack peer against the application IPv6 listener.
Question 23
A cloud-connected branch still has IPv4-only legacy clients, while newly deployed dual-stack applications and devices need native IPv6 reachability. The dual-stack cloud application also retains its IPv4 listener for legacy users. During troubleshooting: IPv4-only clients work, but IPv6-capable hosts fail to reach the dual-stack cloud service over IPv6. Which underlying cause best explains the recorded behavior?
- The LAN uses the failed router's physical gateway address instead of a protected FHRP virtual gateway.
- The intended core transit tier was omitted, producing accidental distribution-to-distribution dependence.
- IPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic.
- The leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:The actual technical cause is: IPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic. It specifically explains the observation: iPv4-only clients work, but IPv6-capable hosts fail to reach the dual-stack cloud service over IPv6. The correcting configuration is: plan dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing and forwarding through all relevant native paths, preserving IPv4 delivery for legacy clients and IPv6 routes for dual-stack peers.
Incorrect Answers
A:That diagnosis is supported by a different symptom: Clients retain a reachable physical switch but cannot reach their default gateway after the active router fails. Here the recorded observation is: iPv4-only clients work, but IPv6-capable hosts fail to reach the dual-stack cloud service over IPv6. The applicable cause is: iPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic.
B:That diagnosis is supported by a different symptom: A new distribution block must transit another distribution switch to reach remote buildings. Here the recorded observation is: iPv4-only clients work, but IPv6-capable hosts fail to reach the dual-stack cloud service over IPv6. The applicable cause is: iPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic.
D:That diagnosis is supported by a different symptom: A fabric leaf isolates attached workloads whenever its sole spine-facing physical uplink fails. Here the recorded observation is: iPv4-only clients work, but IPv6-capable hosts fail to reach the dual-stack cloud service over IPv6. The applicable cause is: iPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic.
Question 24
A cloud-connected branch still has IPv4-only legacy clients, while newly deployed dual-stack applications and devices need native IPv6 reachability. The dual-stack cloud application also retains its IPv4 listener for legacy users. The initial change is: Plan dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing and forwarding through all relevant native paths, preserving IPv4 delivery for legacy clients and IPv6 routes for dual-stack peers. Which continuing control most directly prevents a recurrence of the documented problem: IPv4-only clients work, but IPv6-capable hosts fail to reach the dual-stack cloud service over IPv6.
- Preserve distribution-to-core dual homing and avoid making the core terminate ordinary end-user access ports.
- Validate IPv4 and IPv6 reachability and security policies independently after routing or cloud network changes.
- Test gateway failure and restore events, tracking preemption and uplink reachability separately.
- Verify all leaves have the required spine adjacencies and symmetric route reachability.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:The continuing protective control is: Validate IPv4 and IPv6 reachability and security policies independently after routing or cloud network changes. This addresses the underlying failure mechanism: iPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic. The corresponding operational check is: test the legacy IPv4-only client against the cloud IPv4 listener and a dual-stack peer against the application IPv6 listener.
Incorrect Answers
A:That control reduces a separate risk: The intended core transit tier was omitted, producing accidental distribution-to-distribution dependence. For the described design, the recurring risk arises from: iPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic. The specific required safeguard is: validate IPv4 and IPv6 reachability and security policies independently after routing or cloud network changes.
C:That control reduces a separate risk: The LAN uses the failed router's physical gateway address instead of a protected FHRP virtual gateway. For the described design, the recurring risk arises from: iPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic. The specific required safeguard is: validate IPv4 and IPv6 reachability and security policies independently after routing or cloud network changes.
D:That control reduces a separate risk: The leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks. For the described design, the recurring risk arises from: iPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic. The specific required safeguard is: validate IPv4 and IPv6 reachability and security policies independently after routing or cloud network changes.
Question 25
A datacenter fabric requires predictable leaf-to-spine ECMP paths rather than sending east-west traffic through a single aggregation appliance. The incident evidence is: A fabric leaf isolates attached workloads whenever its sole spine-facing physical uplink fails. Which targeted configuration or design change best addresses the failure?
- Plan dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing and forwarding through all relevant native paths, preserving IPv4 delivery for legacy clients and IPv6 routes for dual-stack peers.
- Place uplinks across independent forwarding or chassis failure domains instead of assuming cable count equals redundancy.
- Connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing.
- Use a three-tier access, distribution and core architecture to separate campus aggregation from backbone transit.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:The required correction is: Connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing. The underlying failure mechanism is: The leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks. Verify success by carrying out this direct test: check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link.
Incorrect Answers
A:Planning dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 addressing would not connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing.
B:Placing uplinks across independent forwarding or chassis failure domains would not connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing.
D:Using a three-tier access, distribution and core architecture to separate campus aggregation from backbone transit would not connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing.
Question 26
A datacenter fabric requires predictable leaf-to-spine ECMP paths rather than sending east-west traffic through a single aggregation appliance. The proposed remedy is: Connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing. Which observation would most directly confirm that remedy works as intended?
- Inspect physical device and slot assignments and disable one forwarding component to check whether a second path survives.
- Test the legacy IPv4-only client against the cloud IPv4 listener and a dual-stack peer against the application IPv6 listener.
- Trace a packet from an access VLAN through its distribution block to a redundant core path without crossing an unrelated access switch.
- Check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:The decisive acceptance observation is: Check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link. This tests the working mechanism, while the original incident was: a fabric leaf isolates attached workloads whenever its sole spine-facing physical uplink fails.
Incorrect Answers
A:This test measures a different behavior: Inspect physical device and slot assignments and disable one forwarding component to check whether a second path survives. It does not establish the target outcome. For the documented fault, the direct acceptance test is: check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link.
B:This test measures a different behavior: Test the legacy IPv4-only client against the cloud IPv4 listener and a dual-stack peer against the application IPv6 listener. It does not establish the target outcome. For the documented fault, the direct acceptance test is: check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link.
C:This test measures a different behavior: Trace a packet from an access VLAN through its distribution block to a redundant core path without crossing an unrelated access switch. It does not establish the target outcome. For the documented fault, the direct acceptance test is: check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link.
Question 27
A datacenter fabric requires predictable leaf-to-spine ECMP paths rather than sending east-west traffic through a single aggregation appliance. During troubleshooting: A fabric leaf isolates attached workloads whenever its sole spine-facing physical uplink fails. Which underlying cause best explains the recorded behavior?
- The leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks.
- The intended core transit tier was omitted, producing accidental distribution-to-distribution dependence.
- The redundant cabling did not remove the common upstream hardware failure domain.
- IPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:The actual technical cause is: The leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks. It specifically explains the observation: a fabric leaf isolates attached workloads whenever its sole spine-facing physical uplink fails. The correcting configuration is: connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing.
Incorrect Answers
B:That diagnosis is supported by a different symptom: A new distribution block must transit another distribution switch to reach remote buildings. Here the recorded observation is: a fabric leaf isolates attached workloads whenever its sole spine-facing physical uplink fails. The applicable cause is: the leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks.
C:That diagnosis is supported by a different symptom: Both logical uplinks fail when a single supervisor/line-card component is removed. Here the recorded observation is: a fabric leaf isolates attached workloads whenever its sole spine-facing physical uplink fails. The applicable cause is: the leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks.
D:That diagnosis is supported by a different symptom: IPv4-only clients work, but IPv6-capable hosts fail to reach the dual-stack cloud service over IPv6. Here the recorded observation is: a fabric leaf isolates attached workloads whenever its sole spine-facing physical uplink fails. The applicable cause is: the leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks.
Question 28
A datacenter fabric requires predictable leaf-to-spine ECMP paths rather than sending east-west traffic through a single aggregation appliance. Select TWO complementary decisions: the direct technical remedy and a safeguard against recurrence. A verification-only step cannot substitute for either action.
- Validate IPv4 and IPv6 reachability and security policies independently after routing or cloud network changes.
- Use a three-tier access, distribution and core architecture to separate campus aggregation from backbone transit.
- Choose a two-tier collapsed-core design with redundant distribution uplinks instead of adding an unnecessary core layer.
- Connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing.
- Verify all leaves have the required spine adjacencies and symmetric route reachability.
Explanation
Correct Answers
D:The required correction is: Connect each leaf to multiple spines with routed equal-cost reachability and appropriate endpoint routing. The underlying failure mechanism is: The leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks. Verify success by carrying out this direct test: check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link.
E:The continuing protective control is: Verify all leaves have the required spine adjacencies and symmetric route reachability. This addresses the underlying failure mechanism: the leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks. The corresponding operational check is: check equal-cost FIB entries and forwarding under loss of one spine-facing link.
Incorrect Answers
A:That control reduces a separate risk: IPv6 addresses or routes are missing on at least one required hop; IPv4 reachability does not automatically deliver IPv6 traffic. For the described design, the recurring risk arises from: the leaf has a single spine failure domain instead of independent fabric uplinks. The specific required safeguard is: verify all leaves have the required spine adjacencies and symmetric route reachability.
B:A three-tier campus architecture is not the leaf-to-spine fabric needed for equal-cost datacenter paths.
C:Collapsed-core redundancy does not establish multiple routed spine paths from every leaf.
Question 29
Voice packets and bulk file transfers share one WAN queue; delay-sensitive packets must be classified before any priority scheduler can prioritize them. The incident evidence is: Voice traffic enters the default class even though a strict-priority queue exists. Which targeted configuration or design change best addresses the failure?
- Interpret the class bandwidth share and apply suitable class-based weighted fair queuing for the intended minimum service.
- Match trusted voice traffic into an appropriate QoS class and apply the intended service policy at the congested interface.
- Define a defensible QoS trust boundary that accepts trusted phone marking but reclassifies untrusted host traffic.
- Apply a suitable policer with explicit conform/exceed actions to the guest class at the intended interface.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:The required correction is: Match trusted voice traffic into an appropriate QoS class and apply the intended service policy at the congested interface. The underlying failure mechanism is: The QoS class match never identified the voice packets, so the priority action was never used. Verify success by carrying out this direct test: check class-map counters rise for the voice flow and verify queue service with simultaneous bulk traffic.
Incorrect Answers
A:Interpreting the class bandwidth share and applying suitable class-based weighted fair queuing for the intended minimum service would not match trusted voice traffic into an appropriate QoS class and apply the intended service policy at the congested interface.
C:Defining a defensible QoS trust boundary that accepts trusted phone marking but reclassifies untrusted host traffic would not match trusted voice traffic into an appropriate QoS class and apply the intended service policy at the congested interface.
D:Applying a suitable policer with explicit conform/exceed actions to the guest class at the intended interface would not match trusted voice traffic into an appropriate QoS class and apply the intended service policy at the congested interface.
Question 30
Voice packets and bulk file transfers share one WAN queue; delay-sensitive packets must be classified before any priority scheduler can prioritize them. The proposed remedy is: Match trusted voice traffic into an appropriate QoS class and apply the intended service policy at the congested interface. Which observation would most directly confirm that remedy works as intended?
- Capture DSCP values before and after ingress policies for both phone and desktop test flows.
- Check class-map counters rise for the voice flow and verify queue service with simultaneous bulk traffic.
- Compare conform/exceed counters and confirm out-of-profile packets follow the documented drop or remark action.
- Under congestion, verify transactional class service stays above its intended share without starving other classes.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:The decisive acceptance observation is: Check class-map counters rise for the voice flow and verify queue service with simultaneous bulk traffic. This tests the working mechanism, while the original incident was: voice traffic enters the default class even though a strict-priority queue exists.
Incorrect Answers
A:This test measures a different behavior: Capture DSCP values before and after ingress policies for both phone and desktop test flows. It does not establish the target outcome. For the documented fault, the direct acceptance test is: check class-map counters rise for the voice flow and verify queue service with simultaneous bulk traffic.
C:This test measures a different behavior: Compare conform/exceed counters and confirm out-of-profile packets follow the documented drop or remark action. It does not establish the target outcome. For the documented fault, the direct acceptance test is: check class-map counters rise for the voice flow and verify queue service with simultaneous bulk traffic.
D:This test measures a different behavior: Under congestion, verify transactional class service stays above its intended share without starving other classes. It does not establish the target outcome. For the documented fault, the direct acceptance test is: check class-map counters rise for the voice flow and verify queue service with simultaneous bulk traffic.
Implementing Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) (350-401) Practice Tests