SD-WAN-Engineer Dumps with Practice Exam Questions Answers

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

The CloudBlade platform is a distinguishing architectural component of the Prisma SD-WAN solution. It is not a physical piece of hardware, nor is it software that runs directly on the branch ION device's CPU.

Instead, the CloudBlade platform is a cloud-based API integration layer hosted by Palo Alto Networks. It functions as an intelligent broker or "translator" between the Prisma SD-WAN Controller and external third-party services (such as Prisma Access, Amazon Web Services, Azure, ServiceNow, or Zscaler).

When an administrator configures the Prisma Access CloudBlade, for example, they input their API credentials and intent (e.g., "Connect all US branches to US West"). The CloudBlade engine then:

Communicates with the Prisma Access API to provision the remote IPSec termination nodes (Security Processing Nodes).

Translates this configuration into specific instruction sets for the Prisma SD-WAN Controller.

The Controller then pushes the necessary VPN tunnel configurations, IKE parameters, and routing rules to the relevant ION devices.

This architecture eliminates the need for manual IPSec configuration on every branch device. It ensures that if the third-party service changes its IP addresses or settings, the CloudBlade can detect the change via API and automatically update the branch fleet, maintaining connectivity without manual administrator intervention.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

The ION 9000 is the flagship high-performance hardware model designed for large Data Centers and Campus Cores.

10GbE Connectivity (C): The defining hardware differentiator for the ION 9000 is its inclusion of multiple 10 Gigabit Ethernet (SFP+) interfaces. This allows it to interconnect with Data Center core switches at 10Gbps speeds, supporting the multi-gigabit aggregate throughput required for hub sites aggregating traffic from hundreds of branches.

ION 3000: The ION 3000 is a branch-tier device limited to 1 Gigabit Ethernet (copper/SFP) interfaces.

Bypass Pairs (B): Both models (and others like ION 2000/7000) support Bypass Pairs.

LTE/PoE (A/D): These are typically features of smaller branch/edge models (like ION 1200), not the high-end DC concentrators.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

The Flow Browser and App Response Time metrics in Prisma SD-WAN are critical tools for isolating the fault domain—determining whether a problem lies in the "Network" or the "Application."

Network Transfer Time (NTT) / Round Trip Time (RTT): These metrics measure the time it takes for packets to traverse the network (WAN/LAN) and for acknowledgments to return. A low NTT (e.g., <50ms) confirms that the network pipes (SD-WAN overlay, Underlay circuits) are healthy and transporting packets quickly.

Server Response Time (SRT): This metric specifically measures the time between the server receiving a request and the server sending the first byte of the response. It essentially measures the "processing time" of the backend server.

In the scenario described, the network metrics (NTT/RTT) are excellent, effectively ruling out WAN congestion, packet loss, or latency (Option A and C). However, the Server Response Time (SRT) is very high (500ms). This signature is a definitive indicator that the network delivered the request instantly, but the application server took a long time to process it. This points the troubleshooting effort toward the server infrastructure (e.g., a slow SQL query, an overloaded web server, or lack of compute resources) rather than the SD-WAN environment.

In Prisma SD-WAN, application performance is monitored through distinct metrics that separate network health from application health. The provided graph displays Network Transfer Time (NTT) in blue and Server Response Time (SRT) in orange. NTT measures the round-trip time of packets traversing the WAN fabric, while SRT measures the time elapsed from when the server receives a request to when it sends the first response packet.

Analysis of the telemetry data shows that the NTT (blue line) remains consistently low and stable, generally staying below 100 milliseconds throughout the capture period. This indicates that the SD-WAN path and underlying network circuits are not the source of the latency. Conversely, the SRT (orange line) exhibits significant and erratic spikes, reaching as high as 450 to 475 milliseconds. These spikes occur while the network latency (NTT) remains flat.

Because the latency increases are isolated to the SRT metric, the root cause is confirmed to be on the Application Server side. This pattern typically suggests that the server is struggling with resource exhaustion, high CPU utilization, or database query delays during peak processing times. For a real-time application, these SRT spikes translate directly to jitter and "lag" for the end-user. By distinguishing between these two metrics, Prisma SD-WAN allows network administrators to prove that the network is performing within SLA and shift the troubleshooting focus to the application or server management teams, significantly reducing mean time to innocence (MTTI).

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

In Prisma SD-WAN (CloudGenix), Zone-Based Firewall (ZBFW) policies rely on the device's ability to map an IP address to a User-ID to enforce identity-based rules. The key to this question is understanding where the mapping exists and which direction the policy attributes (Source User vs. Destination User) apply to.

1. Mapping Location (Branch-1): The prompt states that Branch-1 has the user-to-IP mapping for User-1. For the most effective and scalable security enforcement, policies should be applied at the source (ingress) device where the traffic originates and where the user identity is known. This prevents unauthorized traffic from consuming WAN bandwidth only to be dropped at the destination. Therefore, the Branch-1 ION is the correct enforcement point for User-1's traffic.

2. Source vs. Destination User:

User-1 is the Source: In all scenarios, User-1 is the initiator of the traffic. Therefore, the security rule must match on Source User-ID.

Options C and D are incorrect because they suggest using Destination User-ID based rules to control User-1. Destination User-ID rules are used when the target of the traffic is a known user (e.g., VoIP calls to a specific user's phone), not when filtering based on the sender. Furthermore, relying on the DC or Branch-2 ION to enforce policies for User-1 would require the propagation of User-ID mappings across the overlay, whereas local enforcement at Branch-1 is the standard architectural model.

3. Valid Use Cases (A and B):

Option A (SaaS/Internet): The Branch-1 ION acts as the internet gateway. It can use the local mapping (IP-1 = User-1) to allow or deny access to specific SaaS applications (Direct Internet Access) based on the user's identity (e.g., "Allow Marketing Group to access Social Media").

Option B (Internal Segmentation): The Branch-1 ION can enforce policies for traffic moving between local zones (e.g., from a "Users" VLAN to a "Servers" VLAN within the branch). Since the ION routes this traffic and holds the mapping, it can enforce Source User-ID policies to secure local private applications.