200-901 Practice Test 45 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A network automation engineer uses Ansible to manage a group of Cisco IOS XE devices. The playbook fails with 'unreachable' for some devices. Which TWO actions should the engineer take to troubleshoot the connectivity?

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

Accepted Answer

Use the 'ios_command' module to test connectivity.. The 'ios_command' module can be used to verify basic connectivity by sending a simple command (e.g., 'show version') to the device. If the module returns a response, it confirms that Ansible can reach the device and that the credentials are valid, isolating the issue to the specific task or playbook logic rather than connectivity.

Answer

Increase the timeout value in the playbook.

Answer

Ignore the unreachable devices and proceed.

Answer

Check if SNMP is enabled on the devices.

Question 2

A developer is troubleshooting an API call to Cisco SD-WAN vManage. The request fails with HTTP 400 status and the response body: '{"error": "Bad Request", "details": "Invalid JSON: unexpected token at position 42"}'. Which tool or technique should the developer use to quickly identify the syntax error?

Accepted Answer

Use a JSON validator to check the request body.. The HTTP 400 status code indicates a client-side error, and the response body explicitly states 'Invalid JSON: unexpected token at position 42'. This means the request body contains malformed JSON. A JSON validator (e.g., jsonlint.com, jq, or a library like `json.loads()` in Python) will parse the JSON and pinpoint the exact syntax error (e.g., a missing comma, extra brace, or unescaped quote) at the specified position, allowing the developer to fix the request body quickly.

Answer

Increase the timeout value for the HTTP request.

Answer

Check the API key validity in the header.

Answer

Review the API documentation for required fields.

Question 3

A developer is integrating a monitoring application with Cisco Meraki API to retrieve network health data. The application needs to ensure it doesn't exceed the API rate limit of 5 requests per second. What is the best practice for handling this limitation?

Accepted Answer

Implement exponential backoff and retry after receiving a 429 status code.. The Cisco Meraki API returns HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests) when the rate limit of 5 requests per second is exceeded. Implementing exponential backoff—where the application waits progressively longer intervals between retries—is the standard best practice for handling rate limits gracefully, as it reduces server load and increases the chance of successful retries without overwhelming the API.

Answer

Increase the rate limit by contacting Cisco support.

Answer

Use a single API key for all requests to reduce overhead.

Answer

Send all requests in a loop without delay to complete quickly.

Question 4

A network developer wants to quickly prototype an application that interacts with a Cisco Catalyst 9000 switch using REST APIs. What is the most appropriate resource to use?

Accepted Answer

Cisco DevNet Sandbox. Cisco DevNet Sandbox provides free, cloud-hosted lab environments with pre-configured Cisco Catalyst 9000 switches that expose REST APIs (e.g., RESTCONF over HTTPS). This allows a developer to quickly prototype and test applications without needing physical hardware or complex setup, making it the most appropriate resource for rapid prototyping.

Answer

Cisco DNA Center

Answer

Cisco Unified Communications Manager

Answer

Cisco Prime Infrastructure

Question 5

An engineer needs to automate the backup of configuration files from multiple Cisco IOS devices to a central server. Which protocol is most appropriate for pushing configurations from the devices to the server?

Accepted Answer

SCP. SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) is the most appropriate choice because it provides encrypted, authenticated file transfers over SSH, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of Cisco IOS configuration backups. It is natively supported on Cisco IOS devices and allows secure push operations to a central server without requiring additional software.

Answer

TFTP

Answer

FTP

Answer

HTTP

Question 6

The exhibit shows a JSON response from a Cisco NX-OS API query for interface status. What is the operational state of interface Ethernet1/1?

Accepted Answer

down. The JSON response shows the interface Ethernet1/1 with an 'operState' value of 'down'. In Cisco NX-OS, the 'operState' field directly reflects the operational status of the interface, which is determined by Layer 1 and Layer 2 conditions such as cable connectivity, signal detection, and protocol state. Since the value is 'down', the interface is not passing traffic, making option B correct.

Answer

unknown

Answer

admin-down

Answer

up

Question 7

A network engineer is designing a data center network with leaf-spine topology. The requirement is to minimize latency and maximize bandwidth for east-west traffic. Which type of links should be used between leaf and spine switches?

Accepted Answer

Multiple parallel links with ECMP routing. In a leaf-spine topology, east-west traffic (server-to-server) must traverse the spine switches. Using multiple parallel links with Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing allows all links to be active simultaneously, maximizing bandwidth and minimizing latency by load-balancing traffic across all available paths. ECMP leverages Layer 3 routing (e.g., OSPF or BGP) to forward packets over multiple equal-cost paths, which is ideal for the non-blocking, high-throughput design of leaf-spine architectures.

Answer

Multiple links with VSS

Answer

Single link with LACP

Answer

Single link with STP

Question 8

A network administrator is configuring SNMPv3 on a router for secure monitoring. Which combination of parameters is required to ensure authentication and encryption?

Accepted Answer

SNMPv3 with authPriv. SNMPv3 with authPriv is the correct combination because it enables both authentication (via HMAC-MD5 or HMAC-SHA) and encryption (via DES or AES) to ensure secure monitoring. The authPriv security level provides message integrity, origin authentication, and data confidentiality, meeting the requirement for both authentication and encryption.

Answer

SNMPv3 with noAuthNoPriv

Answer

SNMPv3 with authNoPriv

Answer

SNMPv2c with a complex community string

Question 9

A DevOps team wants to version control their network configurations. Which tool should they use?

Accepted Answer

Git. Git is a distributed version control system that tracks changes in source code and configuration files, making it the ideal tool for version controlling network configurations. Unlike configuration management tools, Git provides commit history, branching, and rollback capabilities specifically designed for version control.

Answer

Puppet

Answer

Jenkins

Answer

Docker

Question 10

Which THREE statements about NETCONF are correct?

Accepted Answer

NETCONF uses SSH as the transport protocol.. NETCONF uses SSH as its transport protocol, as specified in RFC 6242. This provides a secure, encrypted channel for network device management, which is a fundamental requirement for production environments.

Answer

NETCONF uses HTTP as the transport protocol.

Answer

The <get-config> operation retrieves both configuration and state data.

Question 11

Which wireless standard is commonly known as Wi-Fi 6 and operates in both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands?

Accepted Answer

802.11ax. 802.11ax, marketed as Wi-Fi 6, is the correct answer because it is the only standard among the options that operates in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and introduces OFDMA, 1024-QAM, and improved MU-MIMO for higher efficiency and throughput. Wi-Fi 6 is backward compatible with previous standards but requires compatible clients to leverage its full capabilities.

Answer

802.11g

Answer

802.11n

Answer

802.11ac

Question 12

When making API calls to Cisco Meraki Dashboard, what header must be included for authentication?

Accepted Answer

X-Cisco-Meraki-API-Key: <key>. Cisco Meraki Dashboard API uses a custom header for authentication rather than standard HTTP authentication schemes. The header `X-Cisco-Meraki-API-Key` must be included with the API key as its value. This is explicitly documented in the Meraki API reference and is required for all API requests to authenticate the caller.

Answer

Authorization: Basic <base64>

Answer

Authorization: Bearer <token>

Answer

Api-Key: <key>

Question 13

Refer to the exhibit. What will be the result of running this Ansible playbook against the 'switches' group?

Accepted Answer

VLAN 10 will be created if it does not already exist. The playbook uses the `cisco.ios.ios_vlans` module with `state: merged`. In Ansible's `ios_vlans` module, the `merged` state ensures the VLAN configuration is present on the device. If VLAN 10 does not exist, it will be created with the specified parameters (`vlan_id 10` and `name 'voice'`). The `merged` state does not delete VLANs; it only adds or updates to match the desired state. Therefore, VLAN 10 will be created if it does not already exist.

Answer

VLAN 10 will be deleted

Answer

VLAN 10 will be modified to have the name 'voice'

Answer

The playbook will only show the running configuration of VLAN 10

Question 14

A developer wants to automate the configuration of multiple Cisco IOS-XE devices using Ansible. Which protocol should be used to ensure secure and idempotent configuration updates?

Accepted Answer

SSH. SSH (Secure Shell) is the correct protocol because it provides encrypted, authenticated remote access to Cisco IOS-XE devices, which is essential for secure automation. Ansible uses SSH to connect to network devices and execute configuration commands idempotently by comparing the desired state (defined in playbooks) against the current device state, ensuring only necessary changes are applied without duplication or disruption.

Answer

Telnet

Answer

SNMP

Answer

HTTP

Question 15

A company is deploying a new application that requires low-latency communication between servers in the same data center. The network team is designing a leaf-spine architecture. What is the primary advantage of this topology over a traditional three-tier design?

Accepted Answer

Consistent low latency and high bandwidth between any two devices.. In a leaf-spine architecture, every leaf switch connects to every spine switch, creating a full-mesh topology. This ensures that any server-to-server path traverses exactly one leaf and one spine switch, providing consistent, predictable low latency and high bandwidth regardless of which servers communicate. This is the primary advantage over a traditional three-tier design, where traffic may need to traverse multiple aggregation and core layers, introducing variable latency and potential bottlenecks.

Answer

Simpler redundancy with fewer layers.

Answer

Easier to deploy with less cabling.

Answer

Reduced number of required switch ports.