200-901 Infrastructure and Automation Practice Question
An engineer needs to automate the deployment of a new VLAN across multiple switches. Which tool is best suited for this task?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between monitoring protocols (NetFlow, Syslog, SNMP) and automation tools (Ansible, Puppet, Chef), leading candidates to mistakenly choose SNMP because they recall it can write configurations, but they overlook its lack of idempotency and scalability for multi-switch VLAN deployment.
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
✓
Ansible
Ansible is the correct tool because it is an agentless automation platform that uses SSH to push configuration changes, such as VLAN deployment, to network devices. It allows engineers to define the desired state of VLANs in YAML playbooks and apply them consistently across multiple switches without manual intervention.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
NetFlow
Why it's wrong here
NetFlow exports metadata about IP flows traversing an interface for traffic analysis and accounting; it cannot modify device configuration. It is tempting because it is a widely deployed network protocol, but automating VLAN creation across switches requires a configuration management tool such as Ansible.
- ✗
Syslog
Why it's wrong here
Syslog transports and stores event and log messages from network devices; it has no mechanism to push configuration changes to switches. It is tempting because it is a standard network management protocol, but configuration automation across devices requires Ansible or a comparable tool that applies declarative changes.
- ✓
Ansible
Why this is correct
Ansible's agentless architecture pushes declarative configuration over SSH, letting a single playbook apply identical VLAN definitions across many switches simultaneously. This directly satisfies the stem's requirement to automate deployment across multiple devices, unlike manual CLI entry or per-device scripting, and needs no software installed on the switches themselves.
- ✗
SNMP
Why it's wrong here
SNMP supports monitoring and, via MIB writes, some device management, but it is not designed for orchestrating multi-device configuration deployments. It is tempting because it is a standard management protocol, yet automating a VLAN rollout across many switches requires Ansible-style declarative playbooks.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on 200-901
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. An engineer is tasked with automating the backup of running configurations from 50 routers. Which approach is most scalable?
medium- A.SSH manually to each router and copy config
- B.Schedule a cron job on each router to SCP config
- C.Use SNMP to capture config
- ✓ D.Use an Ansible playbook with ios_config backup
Why D: An Ansible playbook with the ios_config module's backup option is the most scalable approach because it uses a push-based automation model that can manage all 50 routers from a single control node, leveraging SSH for secure transport and idempotent configuration management without requiring any agent on the routers.
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.