This 200-901 practice question tests your understanding of infrastructure and automation. 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 team uses Chef to manage network device configurations. Which component of Chef is responsible for storing configuration policy and distributing it to nodes?
Knife
Why wrong: Knife is a CLI tool to interact with Chef Server.
Chef Server
The central server stores and distributes policy.
Chef Client
Why wrong: Chef Client runs on nodes to apply configuration.
Supermarket
Why wrong: Supermarket is for sharing cookbooks.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Chef Server
The Chef Server is the central hub that stores configuration policies (cookbooks, roles, environments, data bags) and distributes them to nodes via a REST API. When a Chef Client runs on a node, it authenticates with the Chef Server and downloads the relevant policy to converge the node to the desired state. This makes the Chef Server the authoritative source of configuration policy in a Chef architecture.
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.
Knife
Why it's wrong here
Knife is a CLI tool to interact with Chef Server.
Chef Server
Why this is correct
The central server stores and distributes policy.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Chef Client
Why it's wrong here
Chef Client runs on nodes to apply configuration.
Supermarket
Why it's wrong here
Supermarket is for sharing cookbooks.
Common exam traps
Cisco often tests the distinction between the Chef Server (policy storage/distribution) and the Chef Client (policy execution), tempting candidates to confuse the agent with the central repository.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, the Chef Server uses a PostgreSQL database to store all policy objects and a Solr-based search index for fast queries. Nodes authenticate using signed API requests (HMAC-SHA256) over HTTPS, ensuring that only authorized clients can retrieve policy. In a real-world scenario, if the Chef Server goes down, nodes cannot fetch updated policies, though they can still converge using cached copies from their local run-lists.
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
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
Infrastructure and Automation — This question tests Infrastructure and Automation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Chef Server — The Chef Server is the central hub that stores configuration policies (cookbooks, roles, environments, data bags) and distributes them to nodes via a REST API. When a Chef Client runs on a node, it authenticates with the Chef Server and downloads the relevant policy to converge the node to the desired state. This makes the Chef Server the authoritative source of configuration policy in a Chef architecture.
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
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