This 200-901 practice question tests your understanding of cisco platforms and development. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 DevOps team is building a CI/CD pipeline that configures Cisco NX-OS switches. They want to use model-driven telemetry to stream operational data. Which protocol should they use for on-change telemetry?
SSH
Why wrong: SSH is used for CLI access, not telemetry.
gRPC
gRPC is used for model-driven telemetry.
HTTP
Why wrong: HTTP is not typically used for streaming telemetry.
SNMP
Why wrong: SNMP is not suitable for model-driven telemetry.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
gRPC
gRPC (Google Remote Procedure Call) is the correct protocol for on-change telemetry on Cisco NX-OS because it supports a publish-subscribe model where the switch pushes data only when a monitored value changes, reducing bandwidth and CPU overhead. This is defined in the Cisco MDT (Model-Driven Telemetry) framework, which uses gRPC with Protobuf encoding for efficient streaming of YANG-modeled operational data.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
SSH
Why it's wrong here
SSH is used for CLI access, not telemetry.
gRPC
Why this is correct
gRPC is used for model-driven telemetry.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
HTTP
Why it's wrong here
HTTP is not typically used for streaming telemetry.
SNMP
Why it's wrong here
SNMP is not suitable for model-driven telemetry.
Common exam traps
Cisco often tests the distinction between push-based (gRPC) and pull-based (SNMP, HTTP) protocols, trapping candidates who confuse SNMP traps (which are event-driven but not model-driven) with true on-change telemetry.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, gRPC uses HTTP/2 as its transport, enabling multiplexed streams and server-side push, which is ideal for on-change telemetry. Cisco NX-OS implements gRPC with the 'telemetry' feature, where a subscription is created using a YANG path (e.g., 'Cisco-NX-OS-device:System/clock-items') and the switch pushes updates only when the value changes, using Protobuf or JSON encoding. In a real-world scenario, a DevOps team might use gRPC to stream interface counters or BGP state changes to a collector like Telegraf or Kafka, enabling immediate alerting without polling overhead.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the 200-901 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
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FAQ
Cisco Platforms and Development — This question tests Cisco Platforms and Development — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: gRPC — gRPC (Google Remote Procedure Call) is the correct protocol for on-change telemetry on Cisco NX-OS because it supports a publish-subscribe model where the switch pushes data only when a monitored value changes, reducing bandwidth and CPU overhead. This is defined in the Cisco MDT (Model-Driven Telemetry) framework, which uses gRPC with Protobuf encoding for efficient streaming of YANG-modeled operational data.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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