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SISE · domain

Architecture And Deployment

This domain covers how Cisco ISE nodes are deployed and how personas are distributed across an enterprise. Expect questions on standalone versus distributed deployments, PSN, PAN, and MnT persona roles, node registration and promotion, and how RADIUS and logging traffic are handled across nodes and load balancers.

27 questions9 easy11 medium7 hard

Focused practice

Practice Architecture And Deployment questions

Scored sessions drawing only from this domain — pick a length below.

What this domain covers

What to know about Architecture And Deployment

Be able to map ISE personas to nodes, describe standalone versus distributed deployment, and explain how RADIUS and logging traffic flow. The key point: a new appliance is Standalone, and MnT logging is Primary-collected with Secondary replication.

Identifying the default Standalone persona of a freshly installed Cisco ISE appliance

Choosing load balancer behavior and session persistence for RADIUS traffic to PSNs

Explaining Primary versus Secondary MnT log collection and replication relationships

Distinguishing PAN, PSN, and MnT persona responsibilities in a distributed deployment

Watch out for

Common Architecture And Deployment exam traps

  • ▸Assuming a new ISE appliance already runs a distributed persona; it defaults to Standalone until personas are enabled and nodes registered.
  • ▸Load balancing RADIUS without session persistence or source IP affinity, causing authentication requests and accounting to land on different PSNs.
  • ▸Believing Secondary MnT independently collects logs; Primary MnT is the collector and replicates to Secondary for redundancy and reporting.

Question index

All Architecture And Deployment questions (27)

Click any question to see the full explanation, or start a practice session above.

1

When designing an ISE deployment across WAN links, what is the primary recommendation regarding MnT nodes?

Hard
2

In a distributed environment, if the Primary PAN goes offline, what happens to the Secondary PAN?

Medium
3

What is the default persona of a newly installed Cisco ISE appliance before any configuration changes?

Easy
4

When configuring a load balancer for a group of PSNs, what is the best practice for handling RADIUS traffic?

Hard
5

A network engineer is deploying Cisco ISE in a distributed architecture. The engineer needs to ensure that the deployment can scale to handle a large number of concurrent authentication requests. Which factor primarily determines the number of PSNs required?

Medium
6

When adding a secondary PAN, what is the consequence if the time synchronization (NTP) differs significantly between nodes?

Medium
7

You are configuring a new ISE node for your deployment. What is the correct sequence to join a secondary node to the existing deployment?

Medium
8

Which specific ISE process is responsible for managing the communication between the PAN and PSNs?

Hard
9

What is the purpose of the 'PAN' role in a deployment?

Medium
10

When decommissioning an ISE node, what is the correct order of steps?

Medium
11

What is the function of the 'PassiveID' feature in a distributed ISE deployment?

Medium
12

A security architect is designing a Cisco ISE deployment for a large enterprise with 20,000 endpoints. The design must ensure that RADIUS authentication and authorization continue even if the Primary PAN and Secondary PAN both become unreachable. The architect is evaluating the roles and services that must be enabled on the PSNs to support this requirement. Which two statements correctly describe the behavior or configuration needed to meet this goal? (Choose two.)

Hard
13

Which TWO functions are performed by the Monitoring and Troubleshooting (MnT) persona?

Easy
14

Which THREE features are configured at the node level in the ISE Administration console?

Hard
15

A customer is planning a large campus deployment with 50,000 concurrent endpoints. Which persona should be dedicated to handle the authentication load to ensure high performance?

Easy
16

You are deploying a distributed ISE architecture and need to ensure that the Policy Administration Node (PAN) maintains configuration integrity. Which mechanism is used to synchronize configuration changes from the Primary PAN to all secondary nodes?

Medium
17

How do you verify the current licensing status and consumption on your ISE deployment?

Easy
18

Which THREE resources are monitored via the ISE dashboard to ensure deployment health?

Medium
19

A network administrator is preparing to add a new Cisco ISE node to an existing distributed deployment. The new node will serve as a PSN in a remote branch office. Before registering the node, the administrator must ensure that the node meets the prerequisites for joining the deployment. Which prerequisite is required for the new node to successfully register with the Primary PAN?

Easy
20

When configuring a secondary MnT node, what is the 'Primary' versus 'Secondary' relationship regarding log collection?

Medium
21

Which menu path is used to view the status of all nodes in an ISE deployment?

Easy
22

Which of the following describes the 'Standalone' deployment model?

Easy
23

Which service is required to be enabled on a PSN to allow it to receive RADIUS requests from network access devices?

Easy
24

If a PSN loses connectivity to the PAN, what happens to existing user sessions?

Hard
25

Which license type is required to enable advanced profiling and posture services on Cisco ISE?

Easy
26

Which THREE factors influence the decision to use multiple PSNs in a deployment?

Medium
27

You are troubleshooting a PSN that is not receiving configuration updates. Which log file on the PSN would provide the most insight into the configuration sync process?

Hard

Frequently asked questions

What does the Architecture And Deployment domain cover on the SISE exam?
Be able to map ISE personas to nodes, describe standalone versus distributed deployment, and explain how RADIUS and logging traffic flow. The key point: a new appliance is Standalone, and MnT logging is Primary-collected with Secondary replication.
How many questions are in this domain?
This page lists all 27 Architecture And Deployment questions in the SISE question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
What is the best way to practise this domain?
Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
Can I practise only Architecture And Deployment questions?
Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.
Cisco Implementing and Configuring Cisco Identity Services Engine (SISE, 300-715, CCNP Security) (SISE) Architecture And Deployment Practice Questions