350-601 Network Practice Question
In a spine-leaf architecture, the oversubscription ratio between leaf switches and spine switches is 3:1. Each leaf has 48 x 10G server ports and 4 x 40G uplinks to the spine. What is the oversubscription ratio at the leaf level?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between per-port bandwidth and total bandwidth, and the trap here is that candidates might incorrectly calculate the ratio by comparing the number of ports (48:4 = 12:1) instead of the aggregate bandwidth, or they might misinterpret the given 3:1 spine-leaf ratio as the leaf-level ratio without performing the calculation.
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
✓
3:1
The oversubscription ratio at the leaf level is calculated by comparing the total bandwidth of the server-facing ports to the total bandwidth of the uplink ports. Each leaf has 48 x 10G server ports (480 Gbps) and 4 x 40G uplinks (160 Gbps). The ratio is 480:160, which simplifies to 3:1. This matches the given spine-leaf oversubscription ratio, confirming that the leaf-level ratio is 3:1.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
1:1
Why it's wrong here
This would require equal server and uplink bandwidth.
- ✗
4:1
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect calculation.
- ✗
2:1
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect calculation.
- ✓
3:1
Why this is correct
480/160 = 3:1.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 350-601 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 350-601 exam.