easyMultiple Choice
350-401 Practice Question: In Cisco SD-WAN, what is the default OMP hello…
In Cisco SD-WAN, what is the default OMP hello interval (in seconds) between a vEdge router and a vSmart controller?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between the OMP hello interval (10 seconds) and the OMP dead interval (60 seconds), and candidates frequently confuse the two or mistakenly apply BGP or OSPF default timers to OMP.
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
✓
10 seconds
The default OMP hello interval between a vEdge router and a vSmart controller in Cisco SD-WAN is 10 seconds. OMP (Overlay Management Protocol) uses these periodic hello messages to maintain adjacency and detect failures, with a default dead interval of 60 seconds (6 times the hello interval).
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
10 seconds
Why this is correct
The default OMP hello interval is 10 seconds. OMP peers (vSmart and vEdge/cEdge) exchange hello keepalives every 10 seconds over the DTLS/TLS control-plane tunnel to verify that the peer is alive and to maintain the session. This timer is the Cisco SD-WAN default and is not changed by any standard configuration, making 10 seconds the correct answer.
- ✗
30 seconds
Why it's wrong here
30 seconds is not the OMP hello default. While some routing protocols use a 30-second timer—for example, RIP sends full routing updates every 30 seconds—OMP uses a much shorter 10-second hello interval to enable rapid failure detection in the SD-WAN overlay. Selecting 30 seconds would incorrectly carry over a timer from a different protocol family.
- ✗
60 seconds
Why it's wrong here
60 seconds is not the OMP hello interval; it is the default keepalive interval for BGP, a path-vector protocol that OMP resembles in some ways. OMP is deliberately more aggressive, using a 10-second hello interval to achieve faster convergence and failure detection across the SD-WAN fabric. This option is wrong because it confuses OMP timers with BGP's standard 60-second keepalive.
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5 seconds
Why it's wrong here
5 seconds is not the default OMP hello interval. Although some routing protocols can be tuned to a 5-second hello for fast convergence—for instance, OSPF can be configured with a 5-second hello timer—OMP's default hello interval is fixed at 10 seconds. This option is not correct because OMP does not default to 5 seconds; it uses the standard 10-second interval.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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