VNX100 Versa Certified SD-WAN Associate Questions and Answers

Versa Analytics and Versa Director support REST APIs, which allow integration with third-party applications and systems. The REST APIs provided by these components enable automation and programmability for various network management and analytics functions. Versa Controller and Versa CPE are not referenced in the provided documents as supporting REST APIs directly, although they interact with Versa Director, which does.​

The Versa Secure SD-WAN Head-end consists of the Versa Controller, Versa Director, and Versa Analytics. However, when referring to headend nodes as components, the Versa Director and Versa Analytics are part of it. The Versa Controller, while an integral part of the SD-WAN control plane, is not listed under 'Headend Node' in the provided documentation. The Versa Director and Versa Analytics work in conjunction to manage a network of VOS devices, with the Director being the provisioning and management application and Analytics providing the analytics engine. Versa Gateway is not mentioned as part of the head-end components in the context provided.​

In the context of Versa SD-WAN, Class of Service (CoS) refers to mechanisms within the network that manage traffic prioritization and resource allocation. CoS is essential for ensuring that critical business applications receive the necessary bandwidth and low-latency treatment they require to function effectively.

A.Remarking: Remarking is a process that manipulates the Class of Service bits (in the IP header's DSCP field) or Layer 2 CoS fields (in the VLAN tag's priority code point - PCP). By remarking these fields based on Layer 3 (IP), Layer 4 (TCP/UDP ports), and Layer 7 (application identification) details, the network can differentiate and prioritize traffic. This ensures that critical applications, such as voice and video, are given higher priority over less time-sensitive data.

C.Queuing: Queuing mechanisms within Versa SD-WAN determine how packets are treated as they are processed through the network. Various queues can be assigned different priorities and weights to control the order in which packets are sent out through the network interface. High-priority queues might be reserved for voice traffic to reduce latency, while lower-priority queues could be used for bulk data transfers that are less sensitive to delays.

When a customer has a single Versa Analytics cluster deployed in a data center with the Versa Director and Versa Controller nodes distributed between the data center and disaster recovery sites, and the data center goes down for one day, logging and reporting will be lost during the one-day downtime (D). Versa Analytics plays a crucial role in collecting, processing, and presenting data for monitoring and reporting purposes. Its deployment in a single data center without active redundancy means that its failure or unavailability directly impacts the network's ability to perform logging and generate reports. However, the SD-WAN CPE live monitoring (A), the deployment of new SD-WAN CPE (B), and the reachability between SD-WAN CPE (C) could still be maintained through the remaining operational elements of the SD-WAN architecture, assuming that the Versa Director and Versa Controller can still manage the network despite the loss of analytics capabilities​​.

Site discovery within Versa Secure SD-WAN operates under the premise of dynamic and automated networking capabilities. The correct statement about site discovery is:

When a new site is provisioned, existing sites auto-discover the new site using MP-BGP (Answer D).In Versa SD-WAN, Multiprotocol Border Gateway Protocol (MP-BGP) is employed for dynamic routing information exchange, which includes the discovery of new sites. When a new site is added to the network, MP-BGP facilitates the automatic dissemination of routing information to other sites, thus enabling them to auto-discover the new site without manual reconfiguration.

• Option A suggests manual addition, which contradicts the automated capabilities of SD-WAN.
• Option B and C imply manual notifications or reconfigurations by Versa Director or Controller, which are not the primary methods for site discovery in an SD-WAN environment where automation via MP-BGP is preferred.

References:The response utilizes the operational mechanisms of Versa SD-WAN as described in Versa’s official documentation and typical behaviors of MP-BGP in dynamic network environments.

In a Versa Analytics cluster, the node personalities include Search and Analytics. These personalities reflect the different roles each node in the cluster plays. The Search nodes are responsible for ingesting and indexing data, enabling fast and efficient search operations, while the Analytics nodes are responsible for processing and analyzing data, providing insights and reports. This separation of duties is key to the operation of a Versa Analytics cluster, ensuring optimal performance and reliability of the analytics platform.

In the event of a network outage, to verify the live status of the WAN links, Versa Director device monitoring dashboard and Versa Analytics sites availability dashboard are the tools to use.These components provide real-time visibility into the status and health of WAN links, allowing for rapid identification and troubleshooting of connectivity issues.​

URL-based Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP) is an approach where the URL of a Versa Operating System activation website is emailed to the installer at the customer site. The installer then connects a laptop to the Wi-Fi or LAN port of the Versa branch device, clicks on the URL, and completes the provisioning process. This method does not require a console connection and is one of the methods provided by Versa to provision and configure new VOS devices, making the process convenient and straightforward.​

To require users to justify their access to specific types of websites, such as social media sites, theCaptive Portal (Answer D)feature is used. This feature intercepts users' web requests, redirecting them to a portal where they must authenticate or provide justification for accessing the requested site. It is particularly useful in enforcing corporate policies and ensuring that access to certain types of sites is for legitimate business purposes.

References:The use of captive portals for controlling and monitoring access to web resources is a common practice in network administration, as outlined in Versa's configuration guidelines for secure network access and user authentication protocols.

In SD-WAN policy rules, two parts used to steer traffic are Schedules and Applications. Schedules allow administrators to define when certain policy rules should be active, effectively determining the timing for when traffic steering decisions should be applied. Applications, on the other hand, enable traffic steering decisions based on the type of application traffic being detected. This allows for more granular control and optimization of traffic flows based on application requirements and characteristics​​.

A Versa Analytics reporting view provides the capability to send reports by email, generate reports periodically, and create custom reports. This means administrators can set up automated report generation to be received at specific intervals, providing insights into the network's performance and security posture. These reports can be tailored to specific needs through custom report creation, ensuring relevant data is highlighted and presented as required.

To ensure that a new CPE deployment has the required version of the Versa Operating System:

• Select preferred software version to 20.2.2 in the Device Bind Data (Answer C): Device Bind Data in Versa Director is the correct place to specify the operating system version for CPE devices. This configuration ensures that when devices are bound to their respective templates and workflows, they automatically fetch and load the specified software version, which in this case is 20.2.2.

References:This procedure aligns with Versa's deployment guidelines which stipulate that device-specific settings such as operating system versions should be managed through device bind settings to ensure consistency and compliance with organizational standards. This is detailed in the Versa deployment manuals which emphasize the importance of precise configuration in device bind data to maintain software uniformity across deployed devices.

Versa SD-WAN headend components, which include the Versa Controller, Versa Director, and Versa Analytics, offer flexible deployment options. They can be deployed on bare metal servers, as virtual machines, or as a hybrid of both, depending on the scalability needs and the available infrastructure at the data center or cloud environment. This flexibility ensures that Versa SD-WAN can adapt to a variety of enterprise environments and deployment scenarios.​

Versa Director provides real-time monitoring capabilities for all services running in Versa CPE. It offers visibility into the live status, performance, and health of the services, which is crucial for proactive management and rapid troubleshooting of any issues that may arise in the network. This capability enables network administrators to closely monitor the functioning of various services within the CPE and take immediate action if any anomalies are detected​​.

C. Versa Analytics has built-in ping, traceroute, tcpdump, and speed test tools.Versa Analytics is equipped with built-in tools such as ping, traceroute, tcpdump, and speed test capabilities. These tools are essential for diagnosing and resolving network issues. They enable network operators to test connectivity, trace the path of packets across the network, capture traffic for analysis, and measure the bandwidth of network connections. Having these tools integrated within Versa Analytics simplifies the process of network diagnostics and ensures that network operators can efficiently manage and optimize network performance​​​​.

Versa Analytics has the capability to not only generate customized daily reports on bandwidth usage for all sites in the network but also to schedule these reports to be sent via email. This function allows administrators to receive reports without having to log into the Versa Analytics portal, streamlining the process and ensuring that they have the necessary information on a regular basis​​.