ACP Network Infrastructure & Design Flashcards

What is the purpose of OSPF in an Aruba campus network?

Answer: To provide dynamic interior gateway routing between network segments

OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) is a link-state IGP used in Aruba networks to dynamically calculate optimal routing paths and provide fast convergence.

What is the purpose of Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) in switched networks?

Answer: To prevent Layer 2 loops by blocking redundant paths in a switched network

STP prevents Layer 2 broadcast storms by detecting redundant paths in switched networks and placing redundant ports in a blocking state.

What is ECMP, and how does it benefit Aruba network designs?

Answer: Equal Cost Multi-Path — it load-balances traffic across multiple equal-cost routes simultaneously

ECMP (Equal Cost Multi-Path) allows routers to distribute traffic across multiple paths with identical routing costs, increasing throughput and providing redundancy.

What is the role of VRF (Virtual Routing and Forwarding) in Aruba network segmentation?

Answer: To create separate virtual routing tables on a single physical device, isolating traffic between segments

VRF creates multiple independent routing table instances on a single router or Layer 3 switch, enabling traffic isolation without requiring separate physical hardware.

In an Aruba data center fabric design, what is the role of leaf switches?

Answer: They connect servers and endpoints, upinking to spine switches in a leaf-spine topology

In a leaf-spine topology, leaf switches connect directly to servers and endpoints, while all leaf switches uplink to every spine switch for uniform latency.

What is the purpose of BGP in an enterprise Aruba network connecting to multiple ISPs?

Answer: BGP enables dynamic exchange of routing information between the enterprise edge and external ISP networks

BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is the standard exterior gateway protocol used to exchange routing information between enterprise edge routers and ISP autonomous systems.