CCNP Infrastructure Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A network engineer is configuring a pair of Cisco Catalyst 9300 switches in a StackWise stack. The engineer wants to ensure that a single switch failure does not cause the entire stack to lose its control plane. Which StackWise cabling topology should be used?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Connect the switches in a full-ring topology using two StackWise cables between each adjacent switch.. The correct answer is to connect the switches in a full-ring topology using two StackWise cables between each adjacent switch. This provides redundant paths for stack control and data traffic, ensuring that a single cable or switch failure does not cause the entire stack to lose its control plane. Other topologies either do not provide redundancy or are not supported by StackWise.

Answer

Connect all switches to a central master switch using one cable per switch in a star topology.

Answer

Daisy-chain the stack ports in a single ring using only one cable between each switch.

Answer

Use a single StackWise cable to connect the first switch to the last switch, and leave the middle switches unconnected.

Question 2

A network engineer is configuring a pair of Cisco Catalyst 9300 switches in a StackWise stack. The engineer wants to ensure that a single switch failure does not cause the entire stack to lose its control plane. Which StackWise cabling topology should be used?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Ensure that the switches are running the same Cisco IOS XE software version and have matching licenses.. StackWise Virtual requires both switches to run identical Cisco IOS XE software versions and have compatible licenses. Even with correct domain ID and physical connections, a software mismatch will prevent the stack from forming. Ensuring software parity is a fundamental prerequisite for a successful StackWise Virtual configuration.

Answer

Verify that the SVL link is using fiber optic cables and not copper cables.

Answer

Confirm that the StackWise Virtual domain ID is unique and does not conflict with any other stack in the network.

Answer

Verify that the StackWise Virtual link is configured as a trunk carrying all VLANs.

Question 3

A network engineer is configuring a new Cisco IOS router that will run OSPFv2. The router must be able to form adjacencies with its directly connected neighbors and must also allow remote networks to be reachable through it. The engineer issues the following commands: router ospf 1, network 10.0.0.0 0.0.0.255 area 0, and network 192.168.1.0 0.0.0.255 area 1. However, the router is not forming an adjacency with a neighbor on the 10.0.0.0/24 interface. Which action is the most likely cause of the problem?

Accepted Answer

The interface on the 10.0.0.0/24 network is passive, preventing OSPF hello packets.. OSPF adjacency formation requires that interfaces are not passive and that hello packets can be exchanged. The network commands are correctly configured with wildcard masks, and the process ID and router ID do not need to match or be explicitly set. The most likely cause is that the interface facing the neighbor is passive, which stops OSPF hellos and prevents the adjacency from forming.

Answer

The OSPF router ID is not explicitly configured, so the router cannot form adjacencies.

Answer

The OSPF process ID is set to 1, but the neighbor is using process ID 2.

Answer

The network commands are using wildcard masks, but OSPF requires subnet masks.

Question 4

A network engineer is implementing OSPFv3 in an IPv6 network. The engineer wants to enable OSPFv3 on an interface and ensure that the interface participates in OSPF area 0. Which command is required to enable OSPFv3 on an interface in Cisco IOS?

Accepted Answer

ipv6 ospf 1 area 0. The correct command to enable OSPFv3 on an interface is ipv6 ospf process-id area area-id. This command is entered in interface configuration mode and activates OSPFv3 for that interface. It is a key difference from OSPFv2, which uses network statements under router configuration.

Answer

ospfv3 1 ipv6 area 0

Answer

router ospfv3 1 then address-family ipv6 unicast

Answer

ipv6 router ospf 1 then network 2001:db8::/64 area 0

Question 5

A network engineer is implementing a first-hop redundancy protocol on a pair of switches. The requirement is to have one switch actively forward traffic for the virtual IP while the other switch stands by, and to allow the standby switch to take over if the active switch fails. Which protocol should be used to meet these requirements?

Accepted Answer

VRRPv3. VRRPv3 is an open-standard first-hop redundancy protocol that supports active/standby operation, making it suitable for multi-vendor environments. It allows a virtual IP to be shared, with one master forwarding traffic and backups ready to take over. HSRPv2 is Cisco-proprietary, and GLBP provides load balancing rather than strict active/standby.

Answer

STP

Answer

HSRPv2

Answer

GLBP

Question 6

A network engineer is designing a VXLAN EVPN fabric using Cisco Nexus 9000 switches. The requirement is to provide Layer 2 extension across the fabric while ensuring that broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast traffic is optimally forwarded only to interested leaf switches. Which control-plane mechanism should be used to achieve this?

Accepted Answer

Enable EVPN with Integrated Routing and Bridging (IRB) and use the EVPN control plane for MAC and ARP learning.. EVPN with Integrated Routing and Bridging leverages BGP EVPN to distribute MAC and IP reachability, enabling remote MAC learning and ARP suppression. This allows leaf switches to signal interest in specific VNIs, so BUM traffic is forwarded only to leaf switches that have hosts in that VNI. It also provides optimal routing between subnets across the fabric, meeting the design requirement for efficient Layer 2 extension.

Answer

Use a multicast group in the underlay and map VLANs to VNIs statically.

Answer

Configure static VXLAN tunnels between all leaf switches and disable dynamic MAC learning.

Answer

Use OSPF as the underlay routing protocol and enable PIM sparse mode for VXLAN multicast replication.

Question 7

A network engineer is implementing VXLAN with BGP EVPN on Cisco Nexus switches. The engineer needs to configure the underlay network to support VXLAN traffic. Which routing protocol is recommended for the underlay in a VXLAN EVPN fabric?

Accepted Answer

eBGP with point-to-point links. The recommended underlay routing protocol for VXLAN EVPN fabrics is eBGP. It provides a scalable, standards-based solution that integrates seamlessly with the BGP EVPN control plane used in the overlay. eBGP with point-to-point links allows for efficient routing and fast convergence, making it ideal for large data center deployments. Other protocols like OSPF, IS-IS, or EIGRP can be used but are not the primary recommendation.

Answer

IS-IS with point-to-point links

Answer

OSPFv2 with point-to-point links

Answer

EIGRP with point-to-point links

Question 8

A network engineer is deploying a new branch office with a single Cisco IOS router acting as the DHCP server for the 10.10.10.0/24 subnet. The router must not assign the first 20 addresses to clients because they are statically assigned to printers and servers. Which configuration should the engineer apply to the DHCP pool?

Accepted Answer

ip dhcp excluded-address 10.10.10.1 10.10.10.20. The ip dhcp excluded-address command with a start and end address prevents the router from leasing those addresses. Reserving 10.10.10.1 through 10.10.10.20 ensures statically assigned printers and servers are not offered to clients. The DHCP pool itself still defines the full subnet, and dynamic assignments begin after the excluded range.

Answer

ip dhcp pool BRANCH; network 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0; default-router 10.10.10.1; lease 0 0 20

Answer

ip dhcp excluded-address 10.10.10.1 10.10.10.19

Answer

ip dhcp pool BRANCH; network 10.10.10.21 255.255.255.0

Question 9

A network engineer is deploying Cisco SD-Access and has just finished creating a fabric site. The engineer needs to configure the underlay network using an IGP that supports flexible addressing and fast convergence. Which routing protocol should be selected as the recommended underlay routing protocol for the SD-Access fabric?

Accepted Answer

OSPF. The recommended underlay routing protocol for Cisco SD-Access is OSPF, with BGP as an alternative in some designs. OSPF provides the scalability, fast convergence, and hierarchical structure needed for a fabric underlay. Using OSPF ensures that all fabric nodes can reach the control plane nodes and that the fabric operates reliably.

Answer

IS-IS

Answer

RIP version 2

Answer

EIGRP

Question 10

A network administrator needs to configure a Cisco IOS switch port to only allow a single MAC address and to shut down if a different MAC address is seen. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

switchport port-security violation shutdown. The requirement is to allow only one MAC address and shut down the port if a different MAC is seen. Configuring the port security violation action as shutdown achieves the shutdown behavior. The default maximum number of secure MAC addresses is 1, so this command alone meets the requirement. The other options either do not enforce shutdown or are unrelated.

Answer

switchport port-security mac-address sticky

Answer

switchport port-security aging time 1

Answer

switchport port-security maximum 1

Question 11

A network administrator is configuring a Cisco IOS router to authenticate OSPF neighbors using MD5. The administrator wants to ensure that the key is not sent in plaintext and that the key can be changed without disrupting existing adjacencies. Which configuration meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

ip ospf message-digest-key 1 md5 cisco123 under the interface. The correct answer is to configure an MD5 key using the ip ospf message-digest-key command. This ensures the key is hashed and not sent in plaintext. Additionally, by supporting multiple key IDs, it allows for key rotation without disrupting OSPF adjacencies. The other options either use plaintext authentication or only enable authentication without configuring a key.

Answer

area 0 authentication message-digest under router ospf

Answer

ip ospf authentication-key cisco123 under the interface

Answer

ip ospf authentication message-digest under the interface

Question 12

A network engineer is configuring a switch to authenticate users via 802.1X. The authentication server is a Cisco ISC. The engineer wants to ensure that if the authentication server becomes unreachable, authenticated users remain connected. Which feature should be configured?

Accepted Answer

Critical Authentication (Critical VLAN). Critical Authentication is the feature that places a port into a critical VLAN when the RADIUS server is unreachable, allowing authenticated users to maintain connectivity. AAA override, MAB, and CoA do not provide this fallback capability, making Critical Authentication the correct choice.

Answer

MAC Authentication Bypass (MAB)

Answer

Change of Authorization (CoA)

Answer

Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) override

Question 13

A network engineer is deploying a new Cisco Catalyst switch stack using StackWise technology. The engineer wants to ensure that the stack operates with high availability and that the stack master election is deterministic. Which two statements about StackWise master election and stack operation are true? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

The stack master election can be influenced by setting the priority of a switch to a higher value, with 15 being the highest priority.. StackWise master election is determined by priority values (1-15, with 15 highest) and then by highest MAC address if priorities tie. The stack uses a ring topology for redundancy; if a cable fails, the stack remains operational but with reduced bandwidth. These two statements accurately describe StackWise operation. The other statements contain common misconceptions about MAC address comparison, reload behavior, and the distribution of routing functions.

Answer

If the stack master fails, a new master is elected from the remaining stack members, and all switches reload to elect the new master.

Answer

The stack master is elected based on the highest priority value; if priorities are equal, the switch with the lowest MAC address becomes master.

Answer

The stack master is responsible for all routing decisions, while stack members only perform Layer 2 switching.

Question 14

A network engineer is configuring a switch stack using Cisco StackWise technology. The engineer wants to ensure that the stack operates correctly and provides redundancy. Which two statements are true regarding StackWise operation? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

If the stack master fails, a standby switch automatically takes over to maintain stack operation.. The correct statements are that the stack master is elected based on priority and MAC address and can be manually configured, and that a standby switch automatically takes over if the master fails. These two directly describe StackWise redundancy and operation.

Answer

StackWise supports up to eight switches in a single stack, providing high port density.

Answer

StackWise uses a ring topology for data and control traffic, providing redundancy in the stack cabling.

Answer

All switches in a StackWise stack must run the same Cisco IOS version and feature set.

Question 15

A network engineer is configuring OSPF on a multi-access network segment. The engineer wants to reduce the number of adjacencies and ensure that only one router floods LSAs to other routers on the segment. Which two OSPF router roles are involved in this design? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Designated Router (DR). On OSPF multi-access networks, the DR and BDR are elected to reduce the number of adjacencies and manage LSA flooding. All other routers form full adjacencies only with the DR and BDR, while the DR floods network LSAs to all. This design minimizes overhead and ensures redundancy if the DR fails.

Answer

Internal Router

Answer

Autonomous System Boundary Router (ASBR)

Answer

Area Border Router (ABR)