PCNSA Decryption and Monitoring Practice Question
Exhibit
admin@PA-5050> show system info | match uptime Uptime: 12 days, 4 hours, 23 minutes admin@PA-5050> show running resource-monitor Resource Monitor: Data Plane CPU: 78% Data Plane Memory: 82% Session Utilization: 95% Session Capacity: 1000000 Active Sessions: 950000 SSL/TLS Proxy Sessions: 5000 Decryption Policy Matches: 12000
Refer to the exhibit. A network administrator notices that SSL decryption performance has degraded. Based on the exhibit, which factor is most likely contributing to the performance issue?
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
✓
The decryption policy matches (12000) are high relative to the number of SSL/TLS proxy sessions (5000), indicating many sessions are being decrypted but then possibly dropped or not fully processed.
The exhibit shows 12000 decryption policy matches but only 5000 SSL/TLS proxy sessions, indicating that many sessions matched the decryption policy but were not fully decrypted (e.g., due to unsupported ciphers or certificate issues), leading to wasted processing and degraded performance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The firewall has been running for too long without a reboot.
Why it's wrong here
The uptime of 12 days is not excessive and should not cause performance degradation.
- ✗
The session utilization is at 95%, nearing the capacity limit, but decryption sessions are only a small fraction.
Why it's wrong here
Session utilization is high but decryption sessions are only 5000 out of 950000 total, so it's not the direct cause.
- ✓
The decryption policy matches (12000) are high relative to the number of SSL/TLS proxy sessions (5000), indicating many sessions are being decrypted but then possibly dropped or not fully processed.
Why this is correct
A high number of decryption policy matches compared to actual proxy sessions suggests that many decrypted sessions are not being fully proxied, which can cause inefficiency and performance degradation.
- ✗
The data plane CPU and memory are both high, indicating resource exhaustion.
Why it's wrong here
While CPU and memory are elevated, they are not at critical levels (above 90%).
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCNSA practice question is part of Courseiva's free Palo Alto Networks 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 PCNSA exam.