This 350-701 practice question tests your understanding of network security. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A university is deploying 802.1X authentication for wired access using Cisco ISE. The network consists of Cisco Catalyst switches. The authentication is working for most users, but some users in a specific building are experiencing frequent authentication failures, especially during peak hours. The switches in that building are configured with RADIUS settings pointing to ISE. ISE logs show that authentication requests are being sent but sometimes time out. The network team suspects that the issue is related to RADIUS server load balancing, as the ISE deployment includes two nodes in a distributed model. What is the most likely cause of the timeouts?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The ISE nodes are not configured for load balancing, causing one node to be overwhelmed.
Option D is correct because the symptoms—intermittent timeouts during peak hours in a specific building—point to a load-balancing issue. In a distributed ISE deployment, if the switches are not configured with multiple RADIUS server entries or if ISE nodes are not properly load-balanced (e.g., using a single primary server or missing secondary server configuration), one node can become overwhelmed with authentication requests, leading to timeouts. The fact that authentication works for most users but fails during peak hours in one building strongly suggests that the switches in that building are sending all requests to a single ISE node that cannot handle the load.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
The RADIUS shared secret is misconfigured on some switches.
Why it's wrong here
Shared secret misconfiguration would cause authentication failures consistently, not just during peak hours.
✗
The switches are not configured with the correct VLAN assignments.
Why it's wrong here
VLAN assignment issues would cause failures after authentication, not timeouts during authentication.
✗
The switches are using the wrong RADIUS accounting port.
Why it's wrong here
Wrong accounting port would affect accounting, not authentication.
✓
The ISE nodes are not configured for load balancing, causing one node to be overwhelmed.
Why this is correct
Without load balancing, all requests may go to one node, causing overload and timeouts during peak times.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the distinction between authentication failures caused by misconfiguration (e.g., shared secret, VLAN) versus performance-related timeouts due to load balancing, tempting candidates to pick a configuration error when the real issue is capacity or distribution.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cisco ISE supports load balancing via RADIUS server groups on the switch, where multiple ISE nodes are listed as primary, secondary, and tertiary servers. The switch uses a round-robin or failover algorithm based on RFC 2865. During peak hours, if only one ISE node is configured as the RADIUS server on the switches in that building, that node can exceed its session or processing capacity, causing timeouts. A proper deployment would distribute authentication requests across multiple ISE nodes using either switch-level server groups or a load balancer in front of ISE.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A help-desk technician troubleshoots why a newly connected PC cannot reach shared printers on the same floor. The cable is good, the switch port is active, but the PC is in VLAN 20 and the printers are in VLAN 10. The uplink trunk only allows VLAN 10. A trunk being up does not mean every VLAN crosses it.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Network Security — This question tests Network Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The ISE nodes are not configured for load balancing, causing one node to be overwhelmed. — Option D is correct because the symptoms—intermittent timeouts during peak hours in a specific building—point to a load-balancing issue. In a distributed ISE deployment, if the switches are not configured with multiple RADIUS server entries or if ISE nodes are not properly load-balanced (e.g., using a single primary server or missing secondary server configuration), one node can become overwhelmed with authentication requests, leading to timeouts. The fact that authentication works for most users but fails during peak hours in one building strongly suggests that the switches in that building are sending all requests to a single ISE node that cannot handle the load.
What should I do if I get this 350-701 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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