Implementing Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) Free Practice Test — 30 Questions

Question 1

Anya, a network engineer responsible for a large campus network, is experiencing degraded voice quality during periods of high network utilization. Analysis indicates that the primary bottleneck is the shared WAN link connecting to the internet. She needs to implement a solution that guarantees a minimum bandwidth and preferential treatment for VoIP traffic while allowing other traffic types to utilize remaining bandwidth, adhering to the principle of least disruption. Which combination of Cisco IOS QoS features, when configured on the WAN egress interface, would best address Anya\'s requirement for prioritizing real-time voice traffic?

Accepted Answer

A policy-map utilizing the `priority` command for the voice traffic class and the `bandwidth` command for bulk data traffic classes.

Question 2

Anya, a network architect at a large manufacturing firm, is leading an initiative to modernize their aging enterprise network. The existing infrastructure, built on a rigid three-tier hierarchical model with OSPF for routing and VLANs for segmentation, is struggling to accommodate the influx of diverse IoT devices and the increasing demand for high-bandwidth data analytics. Anya needs to propose a new network fabric architecture that offers enhanced scalability, granular policy enforcement, and simplified management, all while minimizing disruption during the transition. After extensive research and evaluation of various overlay technologies, she decides to implement a VXLAN-based overlay with an EVPN control plane. What fundamental benefit does the EVPN control plane provide in this specific scenario that directly addresses the firm\'s modernization goals?

Accepted Answer

It dynamically distributes MAC and IP reachability information across the fabric, enabling efficient endpoint communication without relying on broadcast-based ARP resolution across the entire underlay.

Question 3

Anya, a network engineer for a multinational corporation, is responsible for enhancing the Quality of Service (QoS) across their enterprise network. The network carries a significant volume of voice over IP (VoIP) calls, video conferencing, and essential business applications. Anya\'s primary objective is to guarantee a superior experience for real-time communications by minimizing jitter and latency, while simultaneously ensuring that high-priority business data traffic receives consistent and adequate bandwidth, preventing it from being unduly impacted by less critical network activities. Considering the diverse traffic profiles and the need for robust prioritization, which QoS implementation strategy would most effectively address these dual requirements?

Accepted Answer

Implement a hierarchical QoS policy that utilizes strict priority queuing for voice traffic, weighted fair queuing for critical business data, and a default class for best-effort traffic.

Question 4

Anya, a network administrator for a rapidly growing e-commerce platform, observes a significant degradation in application response times during peak operational hours. Users are reporting slow access to critical services. Anya\'s immediate inclination is to provision additional upstream bandwidth to the affected data center segment, believing the issue is purely a capacity constraint.

Which behavioral competency, when applied to Anya\'s situation, would most effectively guide her towards a more robust and sustainable resolution, moving beyond her initial reactive approach?

Accepted Answer

Adaptability and Flexibility

Question 5

Anya, a network engineer responsible for a large corporate campus network, is implementing a new policy to ensure uninterrupted voice communications even during peak network utilization. The policy mandates that all Voice over IP (VoIP) packets must receive preferential treatment, experiencing minimal delay and jitter, while bulk file transfer traffic should be managed to prevent it from overwhelming the network. Anya needs to select the most appropriate Cisco IOS QoS mechanism that combines traffic classification, marking, and differentiated queuing to achieve this goal, ensuring that voice traffic is serviced before other traffic types when congestion arises.

Accepted Answer

Low Latency Queuing (LLQ)

Question 6

An enterprise network is structured with several VLANs, including a marketing department (VLAN 10.1.2.0/24), a development team (VLAN 10.1.3.0/24), and a finance department (VLAN 10.1.4.0/24). A critical web application server farm is located in VLAN 10.1.1.0/24. The marketing team requires access to the web server for content management via HTTP/HTTPS. The development team needs to connect to a specific application port (TCP 8080) on the web server for testing. The finance department must be prevented from accessing any services on the web server, and the web server\'s database port (TCP 3306) should only be accessible from authorized application servers (not detailed in this segment). Which of the following access control list (ACL) configurations, applied at the server farm\'s ingress gateway, best balances security and operational requirements?

Accepted Answer

Permit TCP 80, 443 from 10.1.2.0/24 to 10.1.1.0/24; Permit TCP 8080 from 10.1.3.0/24 to 10.1.1.0/24; Deny TCP 3306 from 10.1.4.0/24 to 10.1.1.0/24; Permit IP any any; Deny IP any any

Question 7

Anya, a network engineer for a global financial firm, is troubleshooting a suboptimal routing path between two critical branch offices. Both branches utilize OSPF for inter-branch routing within a single OSPF area. While OSPF adjacencies are established and Link State Databases (LSBs) are synchronized, traffic is consistently taking a longer, higher-latency route to reach specific subnets in the remote branch. Anya has verified that multiple equal-cost paths exist between the branches, and the issue appears to be related to how OSPF is selecting the preferred path when faced with these identical metric values. Considering the underlying principles of OSPF path selection and the information contained within various LSA types, what is the most probable cause for this persistent suboptimal routing, and what fundamental OSPF mechanism dictates the choice in such scenarios?

Accepted Answer

The OSPF SPF algorithm's tie-breaking mechanism, which may default to a path based on router IDs when multiple equal-cost paths are present, influencing the selection of the least optimal route.

Question 8

Consider a Cisco Catalyst 9300 series switch configured for Layer 3 operations, actively participating in an EIGRP autonomous system. The switch has a directly connected interface configured with the IP address 10.10.10.1/24. This same network, 10.10.10.0/24, is also advertised by an adjacent EIGRP router. If the adjacency with this EIGRP neighbor on the 10.10.10.0/24 subnet is lost due to a physical link failure, what will be the switch\'s primary routing decision for traffic destined to the 10.10.10.0/24 network?

Accepted Answer

The switch will continue to use its directly connected interface for the 10.10.10.0/24 network, as this is the most optimal path.

Question 9

Anya, a senior network engineer, is leading a critical project to transition a company\'s entire data center infrastructure to a hybrid cloud environment. The current network relies on established, on-premises hardware with manual configurations and predictable performance characteristics. The target environment necessitates adopting advanced Software-Defined Networking (SDN) principles, automated provisioning, and policy-based network segmentation, introducing a significant level of technological and operational ambiguity. Anya\'s team, composed of engineers with deep expertise in the legacy systems, expresses apprehension about the unfamiliar technologies and the potential for unforeseen operational challenges. Anya must navigate this transition, ensuring both technical success and team buy-in. Which behavioral competency is most critical for Anya to effectively manage this complex and evolving project?

Accepted Answer

Adaptability and Flexibility

Question 10

Anya, a senior network engineer, is tasked with resolving intermittent voice quality degradation impacting critical business operations across a multi-site enterprise network. Her initial diagnostic efforts, focusing on individual router interface statistics and port-level errors, have yielded no definitive cause. The problem appears to manifest unpredictably, affecting different user groups and locations at various times, creating a significant degree of ambiguity. Anya must now demonstrate a critical behavioral competency to effectively address this evolving situation. Which of the following best reflects the essential competency Anya needs to exhibit to move beyond her current diagnostic impasse and achieve resolution?

Accepted Answer

Pivoting her troubleshooting strategy by adopting a top-down, application-aware analysis to identify potential bottlenecks or misconfigurations in the VoIP signaling and media paths, while concurrently managing stakeholder expectations through transparent communication about the ongoing investigation.

Question 11

A network architect is tasked with introducing a next-generation dynamic routing protocol across a sprawling enterprise network that has recently undergone a significant infrastructure overhaul, impacting multiple data centers and campus locations. The primary objectives are to enhance network convergence speed, improve scalability to accommodate future growth, and optimize traffic engineering capabilities. However, the existing network relies heavily on a mix of legacy and current protocols, and critical business applications have stringent uptime requirements. Which implementation strategy best balances risk mitigation with the achievement of these technical objectives, demonstrating adaptability and a systematic problem-solving approach?

Accepted Answer

A phased deployment approach, beginning with a comprehensive simulation in a lab environment that mirrors production, followed by a pilot rollout in a controlled, non-critical segment, and then a gradual expansion to the rest of the network with continuous validation at each stage.

Question 12

Anya, a network engineer, is investigating intermittent connectivity issues within a multi-protocol routed network. She observes that while EIGRP is the primary routing protocol for internal routing, certain traffic flows are consistently taking a less optimal path that appears to be advertised by an OSPF domain. Despite EIGRP typically having a lower administrative distance, the routing tables on the edge routers indicate that OSPF-learned routes are being installed and preferred for specific destination prefixes. This behavior is causing performance degradation for critical applications. Which of the following configuration scenarios is the most probable reason for OSPF routes being favored over EIGRP routes to the same destinations in this enterprise environment?

Accepted Answer

The administrative distance for OSPF routes has been manually adjusted to a value lower than the default administrative distance for EIGRP.

Question 13

Anya, a senior network engineer, is alerted to severe performance degradation affecting a critical customer-facing e-commerce platform. Initial diagnostics reveal intermittent packet loss and high latency on key data paths. Further investigation points to a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) peering session with an upstream provider that is repeatedly flapping, causing suboptimal route selection and impacting application responsiveness. The business has mandated zero tolerance for application downtime. What is the most effective strategy for Anya to employ in this situation to ensure immediate service restoration and address the underlying issue?

Accepted Answer

Implement a pre-defined route-map to temporarily influence BGP path selection, directing traffic away from the unstable peering, while simultaneously initiating a deep-dive investigation into the physical and logical causes of the BGP session instability with the upstream provider.

Question 14

During a critical business period, Anya, a network administrator for a multinational corporation, observes a significant degradation in VoIP call quality across their primary branch office. Network monitoring tools indicate a sharp increase in latency and packet loss, particularly affecting the voice traffic. The internal routing infrastructure predominantly relies on OSPF. Considering the nature of OSPF and the symptoms described, what is the most likely underlying network behavior contributing to this performance issue?

Accepted Answer

Frequent re-calculation of the Shortest Path First (SPF) tree due to unstable link states, leading to temporary routing inefficiencies and increased router processing.

Question 15

Anya, a network engineer at a financial services firm, is troubleshooting intermittent voice call quality issues and video conferencing disruptions during periods of high network utilization. The current QoS implementation, which primarily relies on basic access control lists for classification, is proving insufficient. Anya needs to devise a strategy that not only prioritizes real-time traffic but also manages overall network bandwidth more effectively to prevent service degradation. She is evaluating different QoS mechanisms to implement. Which combination of QoS features would best address the observed problems by providing robust prioritization and congestion management for voice and video traffic while maintaining reasonable service for other traffic types?

Accepted Answer

Class-based weighted fair queuing (CBWFQ) for voice, DiffServ Aware QoS (DS-QoS) for video, and traffic shaping on egress interfaces for all traffic.

Question 16

Anya, a senior network engineer at a high-frequency trading firm, is investigating reports of sporadic connectivity disruptions affecting their primary trading application. The network comprises Cisco Catalyst 9300 switches and ISR 4000 series routers, utilizing EIGRP for internal routing. User complaints indicate that while most services remain available, the trading application experiences brief periods of unresponsiveness, coinciding with what logs describe as EIGRP neighbor state changes between several core routers. Anya\'s initial packet captures show a pattern of EIGRP Hello packets being sent but not consistently acknowledged within the expected hold-down timer intervals, leading to neighbor resets. Considering the critical nature of the trading application and the observed routing protocol behavior, what underlying network characteristic is most likely contributing to these intermittent disruptions?

Accepted Answer

Inconsistent EIGRP hold-down timers leading to premature neighbor resets during periods of elevated network latency.

Question 17

A network administrator is tasked with implementing a secure communication channel between a newly established branch office and the main corporate headquarters. The primary requirements are to ensure that all data transmitted between the two locations is encrypted to maintain confidentiality, that the data has not been tampered with during transit, and that the origin of the data can be reliably authenticated. The solution must be robust enough to handle diverse network traffic types and operate over the public internet. Which network security protocol, when implemented in its most suitable mode for this scenario, best meets these stringent requirements?

Accepted Answer

IPsec in tunnel mode

Question 18

An organization\'s network engineering team, led by Anya, is actively deploying a new Quality of Service (QoS) policy aimed at enhancing real-time application performance. Suddenly, a critical, non-negotiable regulatory mandate is issued, requiring immediate implementation of enhanced data logging and auditing across all network infrastructure to comply with stringent new privacy laws. The team is currently at a stage where significant configuration for QoS has been completed but not fully rolled out. What primary behavioral competency must Anya demonstrate to effectively navigate this abrupt shift in project focus and ensure both compliance and minimal disruption to ongoing initiatives?

Accepted Answer

Adaptability and Flexibility

Question 19

Anya, a network administrator for a growing e-commerce firm, deployed a new Quality of Service (QoS) policy across the enterprise WAN to manage bandwidth utilization. Shortly after implementation, users began reporting intermittent disruptions to their Voice over IP (VoIP) communications, including dropped calls and audio artifacts. Analysis of network device logs indicates significant packet loss and increased jitter on congested WAN links, but the overall bandwidth utilization appears to be within expected limits. Anya suspects the QoS policy, while intended to improve traffic flow, may be inadvertently impacting real-time traffic.

What is the most appropriate initial diagnostic step to identify the root cause of the degraded VoIP performance?

Accepted Answer

Verify the classification and marking of VoIP traffic on egress interfaces of core routers.

Question 20

Anya, a network architect for a rapidly growing e-commerce firm, is facing significant challenges with the current network infrastructure. The manual configuration of routers and switches for new service deployments is time-consuming, leading to delays in launching critical business applications. Furthermore, the network\'s static nature makes it difficult to scale resources dynamically to meet fluctuating customer demand, impacting user experience during peak periods. Anya is tasked with proposing a strategic initiative to transform the network into a more agile, automated, and programmable environment. Which of the following initiatives would best achieve these objectives by addressing the root causes of the current limitations?

Accepted Answer

Deploy a centralized network controller that utilizes RESTful APIs for service orchestration and automated device configuration.

Question 21

A network administrator, Kai, is troubleshooting a degraded user experience for a critical video conferencing service deployed across a large enterprise campus. Users are reporting intermittent audio dropouts and visual artifacts during peak usage hours. Analysis of network telemetry indicates that the video conferencing traffic is experiencing significant jitter and occasional packet loss, particularly when traversing congested inter-building links. Kai\'s primary objective is to implement a Quality of Service (QoS) strategy that guarantees a low-latency, jitter-free path for the video conferencing traffic without completely starving other essential network services. Which QoS queuing mechanism would most effectively achieve this balance by providing strict priority for the video conferencing traffic while managing other traffic types efficiently?

Accepted Answer

Low Latency Queuing (LLQ)

Question 22

Anya, a senior network architect, is tasked with deploying a new zero-trust network access (ZTNA) solution across a large, multi-site enterprise. This initiative requires significant changes to existing firewall rules, user authentication mechanisms, and application access policies, all while ensuring minimal disruption to ongoing business operations. The project timeline is aggressive, and initial user feedback indicates some resistance due to unfamiliarity with the new access model. Anya must also ensure the solution complies with upcoming data privacy regulations that mandate stricter controls on sensitive information access. Which combination of behavioral and technical competencies is MOST critical for Anya to successfully navigate this complex deployment?

Accepted Answer

Adaptability and Flexibility, Leadership Potential, Communication Skills, Technical Problem-Solving, and Regulatory Compliance Understanding

Question 23

During a critical operational period for a global e-commerce platform, network engineers observe a sharp decline in transaction processing speeds, accompanied by intermittent connectivity failures for users in the European sector. Preliminary diagnostics indicate significant packet loss and increased latency on the core network segment connecting the primary data centers. The network administrator, Anya, begins a systematic troubleshooting process, starting with verifying physical cable integrity and optical signal strength on all inter-router links, then moving to check VLAN tagging and Spanning Tree Protocol convergence on the access and distribution layers. After these initial checks reveal no anomalies, Anya suspects a routing issue. She specifically investigates the dynamic routing protocol in use between the core routers. The observed symptoms are most directly attributable to an unstable OSPF adjacency between two key core routers, R1 and R2, which are advertising routes for the European subnet.

Which of the following would be the most probable underlying cause of the unstable OSPF adjacency, given the described symptoms and Anya\'s initial troubleshooting steps?

Accepted Answer

Mismatched OSPF hello and dead timers configured on the interfaces of R1 and R2 participating in the adjacency.

Question 24

Anya, a network engineer responsible for a multi-site enterprise network leveraging Cisco SD-WAN, is troubleshooting an intermittent connectivity problem affecting a specific user group. Standard physical layer checks and basic interface diagnostics have yielded no conclusive results. The issue manifests as sporadic packet loss and high latency for applications deemed critical by the business. Given the dynamic nature of SD-WAN traffic steering and policy enforcement, what is the most effective next step for Anya to diagnose the root cause?

Accepted Answer

Review the Cisco SD-WAN controller's configured policies, focusing on Application-Aware Routing (AAR) and Quality of Service (QoS) policies applied to the affected traffic and sites, to identify any misconfigurations or unintended behaviors.

Question 25

A network administrator is tasked with managing congestion on a critical WAN link that carries both real-time financial transaction data and high-definition video conferencing streams. The financial data is extremely sensitive to latency and jitter, as even minor disruptions can impact transaction integrity. The video conferencing, while important for collaboration, can tolerate slightly more variability in delivery. The administrator needs to implement a queuing strategy that guarantees the financial data receives preferential treatment to maintain its performance characteristics, without completely starving the video conferencing traffic. Which queuing mechanism is most appropriate for this scenario?

Accepted Answer

Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ)

Question 26

Anya, a network engineer responsible for a critical enterprise network, observes significant performance issues impacting real-time communication services. During peak hours, VoIP calls experience choppy audio and video conferences suffer from frame drops. Analysis of network telemetry indicates that while overall bandwidth utilization is not consistently at maximum capacity, intermittent bursts of less critical data traffic are saturating link buffers, leading to increased latency and packet loss for priority applications. Anya is evaluating QoS strategies to mitigate these issues, aiming to guarantee a consistent experience for voice and video traffic without starving other network services.

Which QoS mechanism, when implemented correctly with appropriate traffic classification and marking, would most effectively address Anya\'s concerns by providing guaranteed low latency for real-time traffic during congestion events?

Accepted Answer

Low Latency Queuing (LLQ)

Question 27

Anya, a senior network engineer, is overseeing a critical network upgrade project for a financial services firm. The project timeline has been significantly compressed due to an impending regulatory audit that mandates enhanced data security and reduced latency for trading platforms. Simultaneously, a major branch office has reported severe degradation in VPN connectivity, impacting remote worker productivity. Anya must re-evaluate her team\'s task allocation and troubleshooting priorities. Which of the following approaches best demonstrates Anya\'s adaptability and flexibility in this high-pressure, ambiguous situation, while also showcasing leadership potential and problem-solving acumen?

Accepted Answer

Immediately reassigning the VPN troubleshooting team to focus solely on the trading platform latency issue, while delegating the VPN problem to a junior engineer with minimal oversight, and communicating a revised project plan to stakeholders that prioritizes the audit compliance.

Question 28

Anya, a network engineer, is tasked with deploying a new Quality of Service (QoS) policy across a multi-vendor enterprise network that includes a mix of Cisco Catalyst 9000 series switches and older Cisco ISR G2 routers. The primary goal is to prioritize real-time voice traffic and ensure predictable performance for critical business applications, while also managing bandwidth for large file transfers. During the initial rollout, Anya observes inconsistent prioritization, with some voice calls experiencing jitter and packet loss, and bulk data transfers occasionally saturating uplinks. The network documentation for the older ISR G2 routers is sparse, and their exact QoS feature set capabilities are not fully clear. Anya needs to adapt her strategy to achieve the desired outcomes despite these environmental challenges. Which combination of behavioral competencies is most critical for Anya to successfully navigate this situation and achieve the network performance objectives?

Accepted Answer

Adaptability and Flexibility, Problem-Solving Abilities, and Leadership Potential

Question 29

Anya, a network administrator for a growing enterprise, is tasked with deploying a new Quality of Service (QoS) policy across a network segment featuring a mix of Cisco ISR G2 routers and Catalyst 9000 series switches. The policy mandates preferential treatment for VoIP traffic, low latency for video conferencing, and guaranteed bandwidth for essential ERP systems. Anya needs to implement a classification and marking strategy that ensures consistent application of these policies across the diverse hardware, leveraging the capabilities of both older and newer Cisco platforms. Which of the following approaches would be most effective in achieving granular traffic control and ensuring proper prioritization throughout the network?

Accepted Answer

Classify traffic using access control lists (ACLs) and mark it with appropriate DiffServ Code Point (DSCP) values, enabling the use of Class-Based Weighted Fair Queuing (CBWFQ) on switches and routers.

Question 30

Anya, a senior network engineer, is orchestrating a complex network upgrade for a remote financial services branch. The project involves replacing aging infrastructure with Cisco SD-WAN solutions, aiming to enhance performance and security. During the initial phase, a critical routing loop emerges due to an unforeseen interaction between a legacy MPLS circuit and the new dynamic WAN edge policies, causing intermittent connectivity loss for several hours. Anya must quickly devise a strategy to stabilize the network while continuing the migration. Which combination of behavioral competencies is most crucial for Anya to effectively navigate this situation and ensure the project\'s eventual success?

Accepted Answer

Adaptability and Flexibility, Problem-Solving Abilities, and Crisis Management

Implementing Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) Free Practice Test — 30 Questions

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