Network Design, Deployment, and SD-WAN Flashcards

What is the primary Meraki SD-WAN feature that allows administrators to define preferred WAN paths for specific applications based on performance?

Answer: SD-WAN policies with performance classes

Meraki SD-WAN performance classes allow administrators to define latency, jitter, and loss thresholds and automatically route specific application traffic to the best-performing WAN link.

In a Meraki SD-WAN deployment, what is the role of the 'Hub' site in an Auto VPN topology?

Answer: It serves as a central aggregation point that spoke sites connect to for VPN and shared resource access

The Hub site in Meraki Auto VPN serves as the central termination point for spoke-to-hub VPN tunnels, enabling spokes to access data center resources and shared services through the hub.

When designing a Meraki network for 500 branch sites, what architectural approach does Cisco recommend for efficient management?

Answer: Use a template network (configuration template) applied to all branch networks

Meraki configuration templates allow administrators to define a master configuration applied to multiple branch networks, ensuring consistency and dramatically simplifying large-scale deployments.

What Meraki feature enables branch sites to send internet-bound traffic directly to the internet rather than backhauling it through a hub data center?

Answer: Local internet breakout configured via SD-WAN traffic policies

Meraki SD-WAN supports local internet breakout by configuring SD-WAN policies to route internet traffic directly out of the local WAN interface rather than through the Auto VPN tunnel to the hub.

Which Meraki licensing model component is required for all managed devices to communicate with the Meraki cloud?

Answer: A valid Meraki license for the specific product line

All Meraki hardware requires an active license for the device to be managed through the cloud; without a valid license the device will eventually lose management functionality.

In Meraki SD-WAN design, what is 'WAN load balancing' and how does it differ from failover?

Answer: Load balancing distributes active traffic across both WAN links simultaneously, while failover only uses the secondary link when the primary fails

WAN load balancing actively distributes flow-level traffic across both uplinks to maximize available bandwidth, while failover keeps the secondary link idle until the primary fails.