easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
200-901 Practice Question: A developer is integrating a monitoring…
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?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that rate limits can be bypassed by technical tricks like using a single API key or sending requests faster, when the correct approach is to respect the 429 response with exponential backoff.
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
✓
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 analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the rate limit by contacting Cisco support.
Why it's wrong here
Rate limits are fixed and not adjustable per request; contacting support is not a viable solution.
- ✗
Use a single API key for all requests to reduce overhead.
Why it's wrong here
Using one API key does not change the per-key rate limit; it may even increase the chance of hitting the limit.
- ✓
Implement exponential backoff and retry after receiving a 429 status code.
Why this is correct
Exponential backoff is the standard technique to handle rate limits, gradually increasing wait time between retries.
- ✗
Send all requests in a loop without delay to complete quickly.
Why it's wrong here
Sending requests as fast as possible will exceed the rate limit and cause throttling, potentially blocking the API key.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This 200-901 question is part of Courseiva's 989-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-901 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 200-901 exam.