350-601 Network Practice Question
An engineer configures vPC on a pair of Nexus switches. The vPC peer-keepalive link fails, but the vPC peer-link remains operational. What is the expected behavior?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that the peer-keepalive is the primary mechanism for loop prevention, when in fact the peer-link is critical for control-plane sync and the peer-keepalive only acts as a backup heartbeat for dual-active detection.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The vPC domain remains operational with both switches forwarding traffic.
When the vPC peer-keepalive link fails but the peer-link remains up, the vPC domain continues to operate normally because the peer-link is used for control-plane synchronization and data-plane forwarding. The peer-keepalive is only a secondary heartbeat to detect a dual-active scenario when the peer-link is down. Since the peer-link is still functional, both switches can exchange vPC consistency parameters and forward traffic without risk of loops.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Both switches suspend all vPC member ports to avoid loops.
Why it's wrong here
Suspension occurs only if the peer-link fails and keepalive is lost.
- ✗
The primary switch reloads to prevent a split-brain scenario.
Why it's wrong here
No reload occurs; keepalive failure alone doesn't trigger split-brain if peer-link is up.
- ✓
The vPC domain remains operational with both switches forwarding traffic.
Why this is correct
Keepalive is not critical if peer-link is up; domain stays up.
- ✗
The secondary switch suspends its vPC member ports.
Why it's wrong here
Secondary suspension occurs only when both peer-link and keepalive fail.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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