- A
To re-mark voice traffic to a lower DSCP
Why wrong: Incorrect; re-marking is not the primary purpose.
- B
To drop excess voice traffic and prevent starvation of other queues
Correct; policing limits voice traffic in LLQ.
- C
To police the parent shape rate
Why wrong: Incorrect; policing is applied on the child policy, not parent.
- D
To buffer excess voice traffic
Why wrong: Incorrect; buffering is shaping, not policing.
Question 694 of 1,000
350-501 Automation and Quality of Services Practice Question
This 350-501 practice question tests your understanding of automation and quality of services. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
An SP engineer is configuring hierarchical QoS on a PE router. The parent policy shapes the traffic to 10 Mbps, and the child policy applies LLQ for voice and CBWFQ for data. What is the primary purpose of using policing within the LLQ child policy?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"primary"Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
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
✓
To drop excess voice traffic and prevent starvation of other queues
In hierarchical QoS (HQoS), the parent policy shapes the aggregate traffic to 10 Mbps, while the child policy applies LLQ for voice and CBWFQ for data. The primary purpose of policing within the LLQ child policy is to enforce a strict rate limit on voice traffic, dropping excess packets to prevent voice from consuming bandwidth beyond its allocated share. This prevents voice traffic from starving other queues (e.g., data) within the shaped parent rate, ensuring fairness and protecting other classes from congestion.
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.
- ✗
To re-mark voice traffic to a lower DSCP
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect; re-marking is not the primary purpose.
- ✓
To drop excess voice traffic and prevent starvation of other queues
Why this is correct
Correct; policing limits voice traffic in LLQ.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
To police the parent shape rate
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect; policing is applied on the child policy, not parent.
- ✗
To buffer excess voice traffic
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect; buffering is shaping, not policing.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the misconception that policing in a child policy is used to enforce the parent shape rate, but in reality, the parent shape rate is enforced by the shape command in the parent policy, while child policing controls per-class fairness within that shaped rate.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, LLQ uses a strict priority queue that can starve other queues if not policed; policing at the child level ensures that voice traffic does not exceed its configured bandwidth (e.g., using the 'police' command under the LLQ class), dropping packets that exceed the rate. In real-world scenarios, without this policing, a burst of voice traffic could consume all 10 Mbps of the parent shape, causing data queues to experience severe drops and application timeouts. Cisco's implementation of LLQ policing uses a token bucket to meter traffic, and when the bucket is exceeded, packets are dropped or marked down based on the configured action (e.g., drop or set-dscp-transmit).
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 practitioner preparing for the 350-501 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this 350-501 question test?
Automation and Quality of Services — This question tests Automation and Quality of Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: To drop excess voice traffic and prevent starvation of other queues — In hierarchical QoS (HQoS), the parent policy shapes the aggregate traffic to 10 Mbps, while the child policy applies LLQ for voice and CBWFQ for data. The primary purpose of policing within the LLQ child policy is to enforce a strict rate limit on voice traffic, dropping excess packets to prevent voice from consuming bandwidth beyond its allocated share. This prevents voice traffic from starving other queues (e.g., data) within the shaped parent rate, ensuring fairness and protecting other classes from congestion.
What should I do if I get this 350-501 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: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This 350-501 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 350-501 exam.
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