350-601 Practice Exam 4 — 20 Questions

Question 1

During a network upgrade, an engineer applies a new OSPF configuration on a Nexus 9000 spine. After the change, several leaf switches lose connectivity to each other. The engineer examines the logs and sees OSPF adjacency flapping. What is the most likely cause?

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

Accepted Answer

Duplicate router IDs.. Duplicate router IDs cause OSPF adjacency flapping because OSPF uses the Router ID (RID) to uniquely identify each router in the OSPF domain. When two routers share the same RID, they reject each other's Hello packets, leading to repeated adjacency resets. In a Nexus 9000 spine-leaf topology, this often occurs when the spine's RID is accidentally configured to match an existing leaf's RID, disrupting the entire fabric's OSPF convergence.

Answer

OSPF hello timer mismatch.

Answer

MTU mismatch on the fabric links.

Answer

Incorrect area configuration.

Question 2

Which TWO statements correctly describe the difference between synchronous and asynchronous replication?

Accepted Answer

Asynchronous replication has lower impact on application performance. Synchronous replication has zero RPO but can impact performance due to latency, while asynchronous replication has a lower performance impact but may have some data loss (nonzero RPO).

Answer

Asynchronous replication requires dedicated links

Answer

Synchronous replication is more tolerant of high latency links

Answer

Asynchronous replication guarantees zero data loss

Question 3

Match each Cisco data center automation tool to its primary use.

Accepted Answer

Intersight: Cloud-based management platform. Automation tools streamline data center operations. UCS Manager handles server management, ACI automates network policy, Intersight offers cloud management, and Nexus Dashboard provides monitoring. The distractors swap these roles.

Answer

UCS Manager: Automates network policy management

Answer

ACI: Manages Cisco UCS blade and rack servers

Question 4

An engineer is designing a Layer 3 network for a data center using OSPF. The core switches are connected to aggregation switches. To optimize convergence, which OSPF network type should be used on the links between core and aggregation?

Accepted Answer

point-to-point. In a data center spine-leaf architecture, the links between core (spine) and aggregation (leaf) switches are typically point-to-point Layer 3 links. Configuring OSPF network type point-to-point (option D) on these interfaces eliminates the need for DR/BDR election, reduces hello and dead timers (default 10s/40s vs 30s/120s for broadcast), and allows faster convergence because OSPF immediately forms a neighbor adjacency without waiting for election delays.

Answer

broadcast

Answer

non-broadcast

Answer

point-to-multipoint

Question 5

Arrange the steps to configure a port-channel (LAG) on a Cisco Nexus switch.

Accepted Answer

Step 1: Create the port-channel interface. Step 2: Configure the port-channel interface (e.g., switchport mode). Step 3: Assign physical interfaces to the port-channel using the channel-group command. Step 4: Verify the port-channel status.. Port-channel creation involves interface creation, mode setting, member addition, and verification.

Answer

Step 1: Assign physical interfaces to the port-channel using the channel-group command. Step 2: Create the port-channel interface. Step 3: Configure the port-channel interface. Step 4: Verify the port-channel status.

Answer

Step 1: Configure the port-channel interface. Step 2: Create the port-channel interface. Step 3: Assign physical interfaces to the port-channel. Step 4: Verify the port-channel status.

Answer

Step 1: Verify the port-channel status. Step 2: Create the port-channel interface. Step 3: Configure the port-channel interface. Step 4: Assign physical interfaces to the port-channel.

Question 6

A data center switch has multiple access ports configured with spanning-tree portfast. A new server is connected to one of these ports and immediately causes a network loop. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The port is not configured with BPDUguard.. Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) PortFast immediately transitions a port to the forwarding state, bypassing the listening and learning phases. However, PortFast alone does not protect against loops if a rogue device (like a server) inadvertently connects two switch ports or sends BPDUs. BPDUguard must be explicitly configured on the port to disable it upon receiving any BPDU, preventing a loop. Without BPDUguard, the switch will process the BPDU and may re-enter STP convergence, potentially causing a loop if the server is misconfigured or bridging traffic.

Answer

The portfast feature is disabled by default on the switch.

Answer

The server sends BPDUs.

Answer

The switch is running MSTP instead of PVST+.

Question 7

Which TWO of the following are benefits of using Smart Zoning in Cisco MDS switches?

Accepted Answer

Reduces number of zone objects. Smart Zoning reduces the number of zone objects by automatically grouping initiator-target pairs into a single zone entry, rather than requiring a separate zone for each pair. This minimizes the size of the zone database and reduces the processing overhead on the switch during fabric reconfigurations.

Answer

Provides faster FLOGI processing

Answer

Eliminates the need for VSANs

Answer

Allows automatic LUN masking

Question 8

Order the steps to configure FCoE on a Cisco Nexus switch with NPV mode.

Accepted Answer

Enable feature fcoe, then configure the FCoE VLAN, then configure VSAN mapping, then enable NPV mode, then configure fabric login. FCoE requires feature fcoe, VSAN mapping, VLAN config, NPV mode, and fabric login.

Answer

Configure VSAN mapping, then enable feature fcoe, then configure the FCoE VLAN, then enable NPV mode, then configure fabric login

Answer

Enable NPV mode, then enable feature fcoe, then configure the FCoE VLAN, then configure VSAN mapping, then configure fabric login

Answer

Configure fabric login, then enable feature fcoe, then configure the FCoE VLAN, then configure VSAN mapping, then enable NPV mode

Question 9

An engineer is designing an ACI fabric and needs to provide connectivity to an external Layer 3 network. Which construct must be configured to achieve this?

Accepted Answer

L3Out. To connect an ACI fabric to an external Layer 3 network, you must configure an L3Out. An L3Out defines the external routed connectivity by associating a VRF with external interfaces, routing protocols (e.g., OSPF, BGP, EIGRP), and subnets that are advertised into or from the fabric. This construct allows ACI to exchange routes with the external Layer 3 domain.

Answer

VMM domain

Answer

EPG

Answer

VXLAN tunnel

Question 10

Sequence the steps for configuring OSPF on a Cisco Nexus switch in a data center fabric.

Accepted Answer

First, create the OSPF process with 'router ospf '. Second, configure the router ID with 'router-id '. Third, enable OSPF on interfaces using 'ip router ospf area '. Finally, verify with 'show ip ospf'.. OSPF configuration involves creating the process, setting router ID, enabling on interfaces, and verification.

Answer

First, configure the router ID before creating the OSPF process, then create the process, then enable on interfaces, then verify.

Answer

First, create the OSPF process, then enable OSPF on interfaces, then configure the router ID, then verify.

Answer

First, enable OSPF on interfaces, then create the OSPF process, then set router ID, then verify.

Question 11

An engineer notices that a UCS server with a service profile using a QoS policy for FC traffic experiences excessive latency during heavy workloads. The Fibre Channel fabric is configured for lossless operation. Which design issue is most likely causing the latency?

Accepted Answer

The QoS policy for FC traffic does not allocate enough buffer for the no-drop class.. The excessive latency during heavy workloads in a lossless Fibre Channel fabric is most likely due to insufficient buffer allocation for the no-drop class in the QoS policy. In UCS, the no-drop class (typically class-fcoe) must have adequate buffer space to prevent frame drops that trigger retransmissions and latency. Without enough buffer, the switch cannot absorb bursts, leading to congestion and increased latency even though the fabric is lossless.

Answer

The MTU on the Ethernet uplink from the FI is set to 1500 bytes.

Answer

Fibre Channel buffer-to-buffer credit recovery is disabled on the upstream switch.

Answer

The vHBA is configured for 16 Gbps but the upstream switch port is 8 Gbps.

Question 12

An engineer is troubleshooting a SAN performance issue. The show interface counters command shows high output discard counts on a particular Fibre Channel interface. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

Insufficient buffer credits on the transmitting port.. High output discard counts on a Fibre Channel interface indicate that the transmitting port is attempting to send frames faster than the receiving port can accept them. This is most commonly caused by insufficient buffer credits on the transmitting port, which limits the number of frames that can be in flight before an acknowledgment is required. When buffer credits are exhausted, frames are discarded at the transmit side, leading to output discards.

Answer

High CRC errors on the link.

Answer

Insufficient bandwidth due to latency.

Answer

Mismatched zone configurations.

Question 13

Refer to the exhibit. A UCS domain shows a 'Major' NVRAM backup failure alarm in Intersight. What is the best immediate action?

Accepted Answer

Attempt a manual NVRAM configuration backup from the primary Fabric Interconnect to the secondary.. A 'Major' NVRAM backup failure alarm in Intersight indicates that the automatic periodic backup of the UCS domain's configuration from the primary Fabric Interconnect (FI) to the secondary FI has failed. The best immediate action is to attempt a manual NVRAM configuration backup from the primary FI to the secondary, as this directly addresses the backup failure without disrupting domain operations or requiring re-registration.

Answer

Perform a factory reset on both Fabric Interconnects.

Answer

Reboot the primary Fabric Interconnect.

Answer

Reclaim the UCS domain from Intersight and register again.

Question 14

An engineer is troubleshooting a DHCP issue in a data center VLAN. Clients are unable to obtain IP addresses from the DHCP server. The switch has DHCP snooping enabled on the VLAN, and the DHCP server is connected to a trusted port. The clients are on untrusted ports. Which additional security feature is most likely causing the problem if the DHCP server is on a different subnet and the switch is not configured as a DHCP relay?

Accepted Answer

DHCP snooping with no IP helper address configured. When the DHCP server resides on a different subnet and the switch lacks an IP helper address (ip helper-address) configuration, DHCP snooping will not forward the DHCP broadcast from the client to the server. DHCP snooping relies on the switch to relay DHCP packets across subnets; without the helper address, the broadcast is dropped at the VLAN interface, preventing clients from obtaining IP addresses.

Answer

Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI)

Answer

Control Plane Policing (CoPP) dropping DHCP packets

Answer

Port security with maximum MAC limit

Question 15

A UCS domain is configured with multiple service profile templates. An engineer wants to ensure that when a template is updated, all associated service profiles are automatically updated. Which property must be enabled in the template?

Accepted Answer

'Update on deployment'. The 'Update on deployment' property, when enabled in a service profile template, ensures that any changes made to the template are automatically applied to all associated service profiles during the next deployment or re-deployment. This is the correct mechanism in Cisco UCS Manager to propagate template updates to existing service profiles without manual intervention.

Answer

'Auto update'

Answer

'Enforce consistency'

Answer

'Synchronize to templates'

Question 16

A network engineer is configuring an ACI contract between an EPG and an external EPG. Which construct is used to permit traffic from the external EPG to the internal EPG?

Accepted Answer

The external EPG is the provider and the internal EPG is the consumer.. In Cisco ACI, the provider EPG exposes a contract, and the consumer EPG consumes it. To permit traffic from an external EPG to an internal EPG, the internal EPG must be the consumer (initiating the communication) and the external EPG must be the provider (offering the contract). This aligns with the default directionality of contracts, where the provider's filter rules allow inbound traffic from the consumer.

Answer

The internal EPG is the provider and the external EPG is the consumer.

Answer

Both EPGs are providers.

Answer

Both EPGs are consumers.

Question 17

A data center automation script uses Python's requests library to call the NX-API for a Nexus 9000 switch. The script works but returns HTTP 400. Which is a likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The request payload is malformed. HTTP 400 indicates a bad request, which in the context of NX-API typically means the JSON or XML payload sent to the switch does not conform to the expected schema. Common issues include missing required fields (e.g., 'ins_api' version, 'type', 'chunk', 'sid', 'input', 'outputformat'), incorrect JSON syntax, or invalid values for parameters like 'version' or 'type'. The requests library successfully delivered the HTTP request, but the NX-API rejected it due to malformed content.

Answer

The switch has no management IP

Answer

The script uses HTTP instead of HTTPS

Answer

The API is not enabled

Question 18

A server team reports that after connecting a new server to a switchport, the server can receive traffic but cannot send traffic. The port is configured with port security. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The port security violation mode is set to protect. When port security violation mode is set to 'protect', the switch drops traffic from unauthorized MAC addresses without generating a syslog message or incrementing the violation counter. In this scenario, the server can receive traffic because the switch still forwards broadcast and unknown unicast frames to the port, but the server's transmitted frames are silently dropped because the switch does not learn the server's MAC address or forward its frames. This matches the symptom of one-way communication where the server can receive but not send.

Answer

The port is in errdisable state

Answer

The port security maximum is set to 1 and another device is connected

Answer

The server MAC address is not in the allowed list

Question 19

A storage administrator needs to isolate traffic between two departments on the same Fibre Channel SAN infrastructure. Each department has its own storage array and hosts. Which technology should be used to create separate logical fabrics without additional hardware?

Accepted Answer

VSANs. VSANs (Virtual SANs) allow partitioning of a single physical Fibre Channel fabric into multiple isolated logical fabrics, similar to VLANs in Ethernet.

Answer

NPV

Answer

Zoning

Answer

PortChannels

Question 20

An organization is deploying UCS B-series blades in a 5108 chassis connected to Fabric Interconnects A and B. Each blade has two vNICs. How should the vNICs be connected to the fabric to ensure maximum redundancy and bandwidth?

Accepted Answer

vNIC0 to FI A, vNIC1 to FI B, both active-active. For redundancy, vNICs should be connected to separate fabric interconnects (A and B) and active-active failover is recommended.

Answer

vNIC0 to FI A, vNIC1 to FI A via different ports

Answer

vNIC0 to FI A, vNIC1 to FI B with active-standby

Answer

Both vNICs connected to Fabric Interconnect A with active-standby failover