HPE2-W09 HP Aruba Data Center Network Specialist Exam Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)

Deploying Aruba 83xx switches as core switches for very large three-tier data center networks is how you should position switches in the ArubaOS-CX portfolio for data center networks. The Aruba 83xx switches are designed for data center spine or core roles, and they provide high performance, scalability, and resiliency. They can support very large three-tier data center networks with up to 512 leaf switches using VSX2.

To reduce the amount of traffic sent over the ISL between Switch-1 and Switch-2, enable active forwarding on LAG 100 on both Switch-1 and Switch-2 is a correct explanation of how to control how core-to-access traffic is forwarded. Switch-1, Switch-2, and the router run OSPF on LAG 100, which is a Layer 3 LAG. Active forwarding is a feature that allows a switch to select one link as active and one link as standby for each direction of traffic in a LAG. Enabling active forwarding on LAG 100 on both Switch-1 and Switch-2 would reduce the amount of traffic sent over the ISL by sending traffic over only one link instead of both1.

The exhibit shows a network topology where Switch-1 and Switch-2 are part of a Virtual Switching Extension (VSX) fabric, and the router runs OSPF on LAG 100, which is a Layer 3 LAG. The question asks how to control how core-to-access traffic is forwarded, which means how the router chooses between the two links to Switch-1 and Switch-2. To force the router to use both links, ensuring that active gateway is enabled on LAG 100 on both Switch-1 and Switch-2 is not the correct solution. Active gateway is a feature that allows both VSX members to act as the default gateway for downstream devices, using a common virtual MAC address. Active gateway does not affect how upstream devices, such as the router, forward traffic to the VSX members1. To force the router to use both links, the correct solution is to configure equal-cost multi-path (ECMP) in OSPF on the router. ECMP is a feature that allows a router to load balance traffic across multiple paths with the same cost. ECMP can be configured using the maximum-paths command and specifying how many equal-cost paths the router should use2. Therefore, this does not correctly explain how to control how core-to-access traffic is forwarded.

A frame with destination MAC address, 00:50:56:15:16:28, arrives with a VLAN 10 tag on 1/1/1 on Switch-1. Switch-1 encapsulates the frame with VXLAN and an IP header destined to 192.168.1.2 is a correct explanation of how the switch handles the traffic. Switch-1, Switch-2, and Switch-3 are ArubaOS-CX switches that use VXLAN and EVPN to provide Layer 2 extension over Layer 3 networks. VXLAN is a feature that uses UDP encapsulation to tunnel Layer 2 frames over Layer 3 networks using VNIs. EVPN is a feature that uses BGP to advertise MAC and IP addresses of hosts connected to VTEPs. Switch-1 receives a frame with destination MAC address, 00:50:56:15:16:28, which belongs to VM-2 on Switch-3. Switch-1 learns from EVPN that VM-2 is reachable through VTEP 192.168.1.2, which is Switch-3’s loopback interface. Switch-1 encapsulates the frame with VXLAN and an IP header destined to 192.168.1.2 and sends it over the underlay network1.

You are not concerned about split brain issues in your environment, so you want the secondary member to keep its links up if the ISL fails is a use case for disabling split-recovery mode on ArubaOS-CX switches in a Virtual Switching Extension (VSX) fabric. VSX is a feature that provides active-active forwarding and redundancy for ArubaOS-CX switches. The ISL is the inter-switch link that connects two VSX nodes and carries data traffic. The split-recovery mode is a feature that prevents split-brain scenarios when both VSX nodes lose connectivity with each other but remain up. When split-recovery mode is disabled, if the ISL fails but both VSX nodes remain up,

ARP and ND Suppression are features of ArubaOS-CX that reduce the broadcast traffic on EVPN VXLAN networks1. ARP and ND Suppression enable the switch to reply to ARP and ND requests with information present in the local ARP and neighbor cache, instead of flooding them to all VTEPs1. This reduces the bandwidth consumption and improves the network performance1. When ARP-Suppression is enabled, the switch replies to ARP requests with information present in the local ARP Table2. Therefore, this statement about ARP and ND Suppression is true, and the correct answer is yes. For more information on ARP and ND Suppression, refer to the Aruba Data Center Network Specialist (ADCNS) certification datasheet3 and the EVPN VXLAN Guide for your switch model1.

VSX permits admins to select which features to synchronize between members while VSF requires manual configuration of identical features on each member of the VSF fabric is a way that Virtual Switching Extension (VSX) differs from Virtual Switching Framework (VSF). VSX is a feature that provides active-active forwarding and redundancy for ArubaOS-CX switches. VSF is a feature that provides active-standby forwarding and redundancy for legacy campus switches. VSX allows admins to select which features to synchronize between members using an opt-in model, while VSF requires manual configuration of identical features on each member using a commander-member model1.

VXLAN is a tunneling protocol that encapsulates layer 2 traffic over an IP network using VXLAN Network Identifiers (VNIs) to identify different layer 2 segments. VXLAN Tunnel Endpoints (VTEPs) are devices that perform the encapsulation and decapsulation of VXLAN packets. According to the exhibit, Switch-1 and Switch-2 are VTEPs that use VNI 10010 to map VLAN 10 traffic. Therefore, when Switch-1 receives a frame with destination MAC address 00:50:56:00:00:03 and VLAN 10 tag on interface 1/1/1, it should encapsulate the frame with a VXLAN header that contains VNI 10010 and send it as a unicast packet to Switch-2’s loopback address (10.1.1.2) over the IP network1. Switch-1 should not switch the frame out interface 1/1/2 without VXLAN, as this would violate the VNI mapping and cause layer 2 loops. Therefore, this is not how the switch handles the traffic. https://networklessons.com/cisco/ccnp-encor-350-401/introduction-to-virtual-extensible-lan-vxlan

The solution is incorrect because adding VRF B as the secondary VRF on VLAN interface 30 is not part of a valid setup for meeting these requirements. Adding VRF B as the secondary VRF on VLAN interface 30 would allow devices in VLAN 30 to communicate with devices in VRF B, but not vice versa. Therefore, adding VRF B as the secondary VRF on VLAN interface 30 is not sufficient for meeting these requirements.

https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/training-services/data-center-network-specialist/

ArubaOS-CX is a modern operating system for Aruba switches that provides automation, programmability, and analytics capabilities. The ArubaOS-CX Network Analytics Engine (NAE) is a built-in analytics framework for network assurance and remediation, that allows monitoring, troubleshooting, and proactive network management using scripts and agents1. The NAE does not help admins to manage multiple ArubaOS-CX switches together using familiar CLI commands. That is the function of the ArubaOS-CX Fabric Composer (AFC), which is a software-defined orchestration tool that simplifies data center fabric management. Therefore, this does not correctly describe the ArubaOS-CX architecture.

Agents do not collect data every minute and send the data to a centralized SNMP server in SNMP traps. NAE is a feature that provides network operators with distributed analytics for faster troubleshooting and resolution of network-impacting issues1. Agents are scripts that run on ArubaOS-CX switches and collect data from various sources, such as CLI commands, REST APIs, or syslog messages1. Agents can also define conditions and actions based on the collected data1. Agents do not send the data to a centralized SNMP server, but store it locally on the switch1. Agents can also send alerts to external systems, such as email servers or syslog servers, but not in SNMP traps1. The statement is false because it incorrectly describes how NAE agents work.

Virtual Switching Extension (VSX) is a high-availability technology that allows two ArubaOS-CX switches to operate as a single logical device. VSX Inter-Switch Link (ISL) is a link between the two VSX switches that is used for both data plane and control plane traffic. It is not recommended to reserve the ISL for control plane traffic only, as this would limit the benefits of VSX and create suboptimal traffic forwarding1. Therefore, this is not a valid guideline for establishing a VSX ISL between two ArubaOS-CX switches.

Aruba CX 6300 switches are an appropriate choice for leaf switches in a leaf-spine topology that uses Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) with Ethernet VPN (EVPN) is a correct positioning of ArubaOS-CX switches in the data center. The Aruba CX 6300 switches are designed for data center leaf roles, and they support advanced features such as VSX, EVPN, and PFC that enable high performance, scalability, and resiliency for data center networks1

MAC/IP advertisement routes advertise the MAC addresses that can be reached through the VTEP is a correct description of routing information advertised by a VXLAN Tunnel Endpoint (VTEP) that uses EVPN. EVPN is a feature that provides control plane learning and signaling for VXLAN networks. MAC/IP advertisement routes are one of the types of routes that EVPN uses to advertise MAC and IP addresses of hosts connected to VTEPs2.

Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) provides millions of IDs to scale for the needs of a multi-tenant environment is a way that a data center technology can help meet requirements for multi-tenancy. Multi-tenancy is the ability to provide logical separation and isolation of network resources for different tenants or customers on a shared physical infrastructure. VXLAN is a feature that provides Layer 2 extension over Layer

The show dcbx interface command shows the current DCBx status and the configuration of PFC, ETS, and application priority applied on the interface and the status of the TLVs received from the peer1. The Application Priority Map section shows the protocol, port/type and priority for both local and remote advertisements. Therefore, this is where you can see whether the connected converged network adapter (CNA) has accepted the application priorities advertised with DCBX. Reference: https://www.arubanetworks.com/techdocs/AOS-CX/AOSCX-CLI-Bank/cli_8400/Content/Chp_DCBx/DCBx_cmds/sho-dcb-int.htm

Switch-2 waits a period called the link-up delay before it enables Switched Virtual Interfaces (SVIs) on its VSX LAGs is a true statement about what happens when Switch-2 experiences a power failure while Switch-1 remains up and then recovers. Switch-1 and Switch-2 are ArubaOS-CX switches, which are part of a Virtual Switching Extension (VSX) fabric. VSX is a feature that provides active-active forwarding and redundancy for ArubaOS-CX switches. The link-up delay timer defines how long a VSX node waits before advertising link state changes to its peer node. This allows the node to synchronize its MAC forwarding, ARP, and routing tables with its peer node before sending or receiving traffic on the newly activated link1.

The solution is incorrect because enabling the REST interface in read-only mode is not a minimum requirement for setting up communications between the switch and NetEdit. NetEdit uses the REST interface to configure the switch, so it needs write access as well as read access. Therefore, enabling the REST interface in read-write mode is a minimum requirement for setting up communications between the switch and NetEdit.

Creating two ERPS instances for the ring and assigning different VLANs and different RPLs to each instance is part of a valid strategy for load sharing traffic across the links in an ERPS solution1. ERPS is a protocol that provides protection and recovery for Ethernet traffic in a ring topology1. It uses a RPL to block one of the links in the ring and prevent loops1. By creating two ERPS instances with different RPLs, you can use both links in the ring for different VLANs and achieve load sharing1.