Free Practice Questions for Cisco 500-490 Exam

 Cisco SD-Access is a solution within Cisco DNA, which is built on intent-based networking principles. Cisco SD-Access provides visibility-based, automated end-to-end segmentation to separate user, device, and application traffic without redesigning the underlying physical network1. Cisco SD-Access also enables programmable overlays that allow network virtualization across the campus,branch, data center, and cloud2. Cisco SD-Access has two main components: the fabric and the policy3.

The fabric is the network overlay that consists of interconnected nodes that provide a consistent and scalable way of delivering network services and functions. The fabric nodes are classified into four types: edge nodes, border nodes, control plane nodes, and intermediate nodes. The edge nodes are the access switches or wireless controllers that connect to the end devices. The border nodes are the routers or switches that connect the fabric to external networks, such as the Internet, WAN, or data center. The control plane nodes are the routers or switches that maintain the mapping between the endpoint identifiers and the network locators. The intermediate nodes are the routers or switches that provide transit services within the fabric3.

The policy is the network configuration that defines the network behavior and outcomes, based on the business intent and requirements. The policy is composed of three elements: the endpoint groups, the contracts, and the virtual networks. The endpoint groups are the logical containers that group the endpoints based on their attributes, such as user identity, device type, or application. The contracts are the rules that specify the allowed interactions between the endpoint groups, such as the protocols, ports, and quality of service. The virtual networks are the logical partitions that isolate the endpoint groups and contracts from each other, based on the network scope and security3.

Cisco SD-Access addresses the following challenges and benefits:

It simplifies the network design and management, as it reduces the complexity and variability of the network elements and interfaces.

It enhances the network security and compliance, as it enforces granular and dynamic policies based on the endpoint identity and context, rather than the network topology and IP addresses.

It improves the network performance and user experience, as it optimizes the network path, load balancing, and traffic engineering based on the network conditions and application requirements.

It enables the network agility and scalability, as it supports the rapid deployment and integration of new devices, applications, and services, without affecting the existing network operations.

References:

Cisco Software-Defined Access - Cisco Software-Defined Access Solution Overview

What Is Software-Defined Access? - SD-Access - Cisco

Cisco SD-Access Architecture Overview

 The vBond orchestrator is an SD-WAN router responsible for authenticating and orchestratingconnectivity between the vSmart controllers and SD-WAN routers. It is the sole device in the network that requires a public IP address for all SD-WAN devices to connect to it. The vBond orchestrator has three major functions:

Controller discovery: The vBond orchestrator acts as the initial point of contact for all SD-WAN components that join the network. It authenticates the devices using pre-installed credentials and assigns them to a vSmart controller. The vBond orchestrator also provides the IP addresses of the vSmart controllers and the vManage NMS to the SD-WAN routers.

NAT traversal: The vBond orchestrator facilitates the establishment of secure DTLS or TLS tunnels between the SD-WAN components that are behind NAT devices. The vBond orchestrator acts as a rendezvous point for the NATed devices and helps them exchange their public IP addresses and port numbers. The vBond orchestrator also performs NAT keepalive and hole punching to maintain the NAT bindings and prevent the NAT devices from timing out the sessions.

Certificate management: The vBond orchestrator acts as the certificate authority (CA) for the SD-WAN network. It generates and signs the certificates for the SD-WAN components and distributes them to the devices. The certificates are used to authenticate the devices and encrypt the control and data plane traffic.

References:

Cisco SD-WAN Architecture Overview

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Getting Started Guide

New Training: Identify Cisco SD-WAN Components

According to the Cisco SD-WAN vEdge Routers Data Sheet1, the Cisco vEdge 5000 router is the only model that offers 20 Gbps of encrypted throughput. The vEdge 5000 router delivers highly secure site-to-site data connectivity to large enterprises, offers interface modularity, and supports up to 4 Network Interface Modules (NIMs)2. The other models of vEdge routers have lower encrypted throughput capacities, as shown in Table 6 of the Ordering Guide for SD-WAN3. The vEdge 1000 router has a maximum encrypted throughput of 1 Gbps, the vEdge 2000 router has a maximum encrypted throughput of 5 Gbps, and the vEdge 100 router has a maximum encrypted throughput of 100 Mbps3.

References:

1: Cisco SD-WAN vEdge Routers Data Sheet 2: vEdge 5000 Router 3: Ordering Guide for SD-WAN

1. vEdge-100: 100Mbps AES-256 throughput, with five fixed 10/100/1000 Mbps ports. Comes in three different flavors: ● vEdge 100b: Ethernet only ● vEdge 100m: Ethernet and integrated 2G/3G/4G modem ● vEdge 100wm: Ethernet and integrated 2G/3G/4G modem + Wireless LAN 2. vEdge-1000: 1 Gbps AES-256 throughput, with 8 ports of fixed GE SFP 3. vEdge-2000: 10 Gbps AES-256 throughput, with 2 Pluggable Interface Modules 4. vEdge-5000: 20 Gbps AES-256 throughput, with 4 Network Interface Modules

 The current time in enterprise networking history is characterized by the rapid pace of change in the network technologies, architectures, and services. Some of the factors that contribute to this change are:

The increasing demand for network performance, scalability, reliability, security, and agility from the business and end users.

The emergence of new network paradigms, such as software-defined networking (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV), cloud networking, and intent-based networking (IBN).

The proliferation of network devices, applications, and data sources, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile devices, cloud services, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI).

The evolution of network standards, protocols, and best practices, such as IPv6, 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Ethernet, and network automation.

These factors create new opportunities and challenges for enterprise network designers, engineers, and administrators, who need to keep up with the latest trends and innovations, and adapt their network solutions to the changing business and technical requirements.

References:

Cisco Enterprise Network Architecture and Design, https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/design-zone/networking-design-guides/enterprise-networking-design.html 1 : Enterprise Networking Explained: Types, Concepts & Trends, https://www.bmc.com/blogs/enterprise-networking/ 2 : What is enterprise networking?, https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/network-layer/enterprise-networking/ 3 : Enterprise WAN – A Brief History,https://blogs.juniper.net/en-us/enterprise-cloud-and-transformation/enterprise-wan-a-brief-history 4

If you are looking at a strategic win with a customer and the customer wants to examine Cisco ISE for longer than a few weeks, you should provide them with a downloadable POV kit. A POV kit is a proof of value kit that contains a pre-configured virtual machine of Cisco ISE with licenses, sample data, and documentation. A POV kit allows the customer to quickly and easily deploy and test Cisco ISE in their own environment, without requiring any hardware or installation. A POV kit can help the customer to evaluate the features and benefits of Cisco ISE,such as identity-based access control, device profiling, posture assessment, guest management, and threat mitigation12.

The other options are not suitable for a customer who wants to examine Cisco ISE for longer than a few weeks. Pointing them to our dCloud demo library, giving them our ISE YouTube videos, or giving them some of our flash files that can be played on any browser are good ways to introduce Cisco ISE to the customer, but they do not provide a hands-on experience or a realistic scenario of how Cisco ISE works in their network. Setting them up with a dCloud account or an account on a Cisco UCS server that hosts ISE are also possible ways to provide a demo or a trial of Cisco ISE, but they may have limitations on the duration, availability, scalability, or customization of the environment. A POV kit gives the customer more flexibility and control over their evaluation of Cisco ISE.

References :=

Solved: ISE PoV licenses - Cisco Community

Cisco Endpoint Security Analytics (CESA) Built on Splunk Quickstart POV Kit & Deployment Guide - Cisco Community

While scheduling a session you can choose to Extend the session longer than 5 days by checking this check box. An initial session scheduled shorter than 5 days can later be extended up to the 5-day total. To extend an active session longer than 5 days, submit a session extension request. https://dcloud-cms.cisco.com/help/sched_demo#:~:text=An%20initial%20session%20scheduled%20shorter,submit%20a%20session%20extension%20request....pov kits https://community.cisco.com/t5/security-knowledge-base/product-proof-of-value-pov/ta-p/3633986/redirect_from_archived_page/true

Cisco ISE is a policy decision point that enables enterprises to ensure compliance, enhance infrastructure security, and streamline service operations. Some features and benefits of Cisco ISE include1:

Zero trust across the network: ISE allows only trusted users and devices access to resources on your network. It also uses intel to automatically identify, classify and profile devices.

Policy and lifecycle management: ISE simplifies the delivery of consistent, highly secure access control across wired, wireless, and VPN connections. It also allows users to add and manage their own devices through self-service portals.

Remote management and deployment: ISE supports cloud-based deployment and management, as well as integration with other Cisco products and third-party solutions.

Site survivability: ISE provides local authentication and authorization services for remote sites, even when the connection to the central ISE server is lost.

Visibility of all devices and their users: ISE can provide data about when a specific device connected to the network, what type of device it is, who is using it, what applications are running on it, and where it is located.

Among these features, two statements are true regarding Cisco ISE:

ISE plays a critical role in SD-Access: SD-Access is a network architecture that uses software-defined networking (SDN) principles to create a secure, scalable, and consistent network fabric. ISE is the policy engine that defines and enforces the network segmentation and access policies for SD-Access2.

ISE can provide data about when a specific device connected to the network: ISE uses a number of probes to collect attributes for all endpoints on the network, and pass them to the Profiler analyzer, where the known endpoints are classified according to their associated policies and identity groups. ISE can also provide historical data about the endpoint connections, such as the time, duration, location, and user of the connection3.

The other three statements are false regarding Cisco ISE:

The major business outcomes of ISE are enhanced user experience and secure VLAN segmentation: ISE provides more than just user experience and VLAN segmentation. It also delivers business outcomes such as improved network performance, reduced operational costs, increased security, and simplified compliance4.

An ISE deployment requires only a Cisco ISE network access control appliance: ISE can be deployed on different platforms, such as physical appliances, virtual machines, or cloud services. An ISE deployment also requires other components, such as network devices, endpoints, and external identity sources5.

Without integration with any other product, ISE can track the actual physical location of a wireless endpoint as it moves: ISE can provide the location information of an endpoint based on the network device that it is connected to, such as the switch port or the wireless access point. However, to track the actual physical location of a wireless endpoint as it moves, ISE needs to integrate with other products, such as Cisco DNA Center, Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX), or Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC)6.

References:

Cisco Content Hub - Cisco ISE Features1 : Cisco SD-Access Solution Design Guide (CVD) - Cisco2 : Cisco ISE Network Discovery3 : Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) - Cisco4 : Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardware Installation Guide,Release 2.7 - Cisco ISE Deployment [Cisco Identity Services Engine] - Cisco5 : Cisco Identity Services Engine Administrator Guide, Release 2.7 - Configure Location Mapping [Cisco Identity Services Engine] - Cisco6

Slide 5 & 7https://salesconnect.cisco.com/sc/s/learning-activity-from-plan?ltui__urlRecordId=a0c8c00000Kfw0EAAR <ui__urlRedirect=learning-activity-from-plan<ui__parentUrl=

Integrating Cisco Software-Defined Access (SD-Access) into an existing brownfield environment can be complex and risky, given the existing network's configurations and operations. Adopting a "one switch at a time" approach provides two significant advantages:

Involves the least risk of all approaches (Option C):This method minimizes the impact on the existing network because changes are applied incrementally rather than all at once. By limiting the scope of changes to one switch at a time, network administrators can carefully monitor the effects and address any issues immediately. This approach reduces the risk of widespread network disruptions, making it a safer option compared to more aggressive migration strategies.

Allows simplified roll back (Option D):If any issues arise during the integration of a single switch, it is easier to revert to the previous state without affecting the entire network. This rollback capability is critical in maintaining network stability and ensuring that the operations of the existing network continue uninterrupted. The granularity of changes and the ease of reverting them back to a known good state provide a safety net that is crucial in complex environments.

References:

Cisco SD-Access Deployment Guide

Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) Center User Guide

 The new operational paradigm is a way of designing, deploying, and managing networks that leverages the power of intent-based networking. Intent-based networking is a network architecture that aligns the network with the business goals and policies, and uses artificial intelligence and automation to translate the intent into network configurations and actions. The new operational paradigm requires three foundational elements:

Fabric: A fabric is a network topology that consists of interconnected nodes that provide a consistent and scalable way of delivering network services and functions. A fabric can span across multiple domains, such as campus, branch, data center, and cloud, and can support multiple protocols, such as IP, Ethernet, MPLS, and VXLAN. A fabric enables the network to operate as a single entity, rather than a collection of disparate devices and links. A fabric also simplifies the network design and management, as it reduces the complexity and variability of the network elements and interfaces.

Assurance: Assurance is the process of continuously monitoring, verifying, and optimizing the network performance and behavior, based on the defined intent and policies. Assurance uses telemetry, analytics, and machine learning to collect and process data from the network devices and applications, and to provide insights and recommendations for network optimization and troubleshooting. Assurance also enables the network to self-heal and self-optimize, by applying corrective actions and adjustments to the network configurations and policies, based on the feedback loop from the data and analytics.

Policy-based automated provisioning of network: Policy-based automated provisioning of network is the process of applying the intent and policies to the network devices and services, using automation and orchestration tools. Policy-based automated provisioning of network abstracts the network complexity and heterogeneity, and allows the network operators to define the network requirements and outcomes in a high-level and declarative way, rather than specifying the low-level and imperative commands and parameters. Policy-based automated provisioning of network also enables the network to be agile and adaptive, as it can dynamically adjust the network configurations and policies, based on the changing network conditions and business needs.

References:

Cisco Intent-Based Networking

Cisco Digital Network Architecture

Cisco Routed Optical Networking

Cisco Operational Insights: A New Way of Seeing Operations

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