Cisco 500-490 Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks (ENDESIGN) exam Exam Practice Test

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

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 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

 The discovery process is a critical phase in the sales cycle, where the SE gathers information about the customer’s network environment, business goals, challenges, and needs. The discovery process helps the SE to understand the customer’s pain points, identify opportunities, and propose solutions that align with the customer’s objectives and address their problems. The discovery process also helps the SE to establish credibility, trust, and rapport with the customer, and to map Cisco innovation to the customer’s needs.

Some of the activities that should occur during the SE’s discovery process are:

Gathering information about the current state of the customer’s network environment. This includes collecting data about the network topology, devices, protocols, applications, performance, security, availability, scalability, and management. The SE can use various tools and methods to gather this information, such as interviews, questionnaires, surveys, audits, assessments, and network analysis tools. Gathering information about the current state helps the SE to understand the customer’s existing network capabilities, limitations, and gaps, and to benchmark the network against best practices and industry standards12

Mapping Cisco innovation to the customer’s needs. This involves identifying how Cisco products, solutions, and services can help the customer achieve their desired outcomes, address their challenges, and overcome their pain points. The SE can use various tools and methods to map Cisco innovation to the customer’s needs, such as value proposition, business case, return on investment (ROI) analysis, proof of value (POV), proof of concept (POC), and demonstrations. Mapping Cisco innovation to the customer’s needs helps the SE to show the value and benefits of Cisco solutions, differentiate Cisco from competitors, and influence the customer’s decision making34

References:

1: Cisco Discovery Service 2: Cisco Network Assessment Services 3: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Demos 4: Cisco Business Critical Services

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 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, 1 : Enterprise Networking Explained: Types, Concepts & Trends, 2 : What is enterprise networking?, 3 : Enterprise WAN – A Brief History, 4

Cisco ISE incorporated Cisco ACS (Cisco Secure Access Control System) between ISE releases 2.0 and 2.3. Cisco ACS was a network access policy platform that provided authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) services for network devices and users. Cisco ACS was discontinued in 2017 and replaced by Cisco ISE, which offers more advanced features and capabilities for identity-based network access control. Cisco ISE provides a migration tool that allows customers to migrate their data and configurations from Cisco ACS to Cisco ISE. The migration tool supports Cisco ACS versions 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, and 5.8 and Cisco ISE versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3.

References:

Cisco Secure Access Control System End-of-Life Announcement [Cisco Secure Access Control System]

Cisco Secure ACS to Cisco ISE Migration Tool [Cisco Identity Services Engine]

Cisco Identity Services Engine Administrator Guide, Release 2.3 - Cisco Secure ACS to Cisco ISE Migration [Cisco Identity Services Engine]

Cisco Identity Services Engine Administrator Guide, Release 2.3 - Manage Migration [Cisco Identity Services Engine]

[Cisco Identity Services Engine Migration Guide, Release 2.3 [Cisco Identity Services Engine]]

[Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks (ENDESIGN) Exam Topics [Cisco]]

[Cisco Validated Design Guides [Cisco]]

ISE 2.3 includes the final suite of capabilities designed to reach feature parity with Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS), allowing all existing ACS customers to migrate their deployment to ISE. New features include TACACS+-based device administration for IPv6, import and export capabilities for TACACS+-based command sets, policy export scheduling, IP range support in all octets, and more. See the ACS vs ISE Comparison for feature comparisons with every release of ISE

The three focus areas for reinventing the WAN are:

Secure Elastic Connectivity: This refers to the ability to provide secure and flexible connectivity to any application, anywhere, and anytime. Secure elastic connectivity enables the network to adapt to the changing business needs and user demands, while maintaining security and performance. Secure elastic connectivity leverages SD-WAN technologies, such as Cloud OnRamp, SASE, and ThousandEyes, to optimize the network path, encrypt the traffic, and monitor the end-to-end visibility across the WAN12.

Application Quality of Experience: This refers to the ability to ensure optimal and consistent user experience for any application, regardless of the network conditions. Application quality of experience uses SD-WAN technologies, such as vAnalytics, to measure and improve the application performance, availability, and reliability across the WAN3. Application quality of experience also uses intelligent policies and real-time analytics to prioritize the critical applications and steer the traffic to the best-performing path4.

Cloud First: This refers to the ability to embrace the cloud as the primary platform for delivering applications and services to the users. Cloud first enables the network to support the multicloud strategy and accelerate the cloud adoption. Cloud first leverages SD-WAN technologies, such as Cloud OnRamp, to simplify and automate the connectivity to the public cloud, SaaS, and cloud interconnect providers4. Cloud first also enables the network to operate as a cloud-native WAN overlay, using software-defined automation and orchestration tools5.

References:

Cisco SD-WAN Architecture Overview

SD-WAN and SASE: The new landscape of networking

Under the vAnalytics Hood: Enabling Total Network Visibility, Total Network Control

SD-WAN Capabilities - The New Landscape of Networking

Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN): the new landscape of networking

The 4 Focus areas for reinventing the WAN are:

• Secure Elastic Connectivity

• Cloud First

• Application Quality of Experience

• Agile Operations

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