Network Automation & Intro to SDN

Question 1

What are some benefits of network automation?

Answer 1

• Human error is reduces
• Scalability
• Troubleshooting made easier
• Network-wide policy compliance ensured
• Operating expense reduced by reducing required man-hours for tasks

Question 2

The various functions of network devices can be logically divided up into 3 planes:

Answer 2

• Data plane
• Control plane
• Management plane

Question 3

NAT is part of the ____ plane

Answer 3

Data plane

Question 4

Switch 802.1q VLAN tagging is part of the _____ plane

Answer 4

Data plane

Question 5

A router forwarding a message along the best path is part of the _____ plane

Answer 5

Data plane

Question 6

All tasks involved in forwarding user data/traffic from one interface to another are part of the _____ plane

Answer 6

Data plane

Question 7

Functions that influence the data plane are a part of the ____ plane

Answer 7

Control plane

Question 8

OSPF is part of the _____ plane

Answer 8

Control plane

Question 9

STP is part of the ____ plane

Answer 9

Control plane

Question 10

In traditional networking, the data plane and the control plane are both ______

Answer 10

Distributed.

Each device has its own data plane and its own control plane

Question 11

Explain why in traditional networking, the data plane and the control plane are both distributed.

Answer 11

Each device has its own control and data plane. They are ‘distributed’ throughout the network. Each device has its own ARP table, etc..

Question 12

Protocols that are used to manage devices are part of the ______ plane

Answer 12

Management plane

Question 13

Syslog is part of the _____ plane

Answer 13

Management plane

Question 14

SNMP is part of the _____ plane

Answer 14

Management plane

Question 15

NTP is part of the _____ plane

Answer 15

Management plane

Question 16

Instead of a CPU, the data plane is typically managed by a _______

Answer 16

ASIC

Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

Question 17

Why is data plane traffic generally handled by ASICs now?

Answer 17

ASICs are specifically designed for lookup and forwarding operations, so they are faster than a general purpose device CPU

Question 18

SDN is an approach to networking that centralizes the ____ plane into an application called a ______

Answer 18

control plane, controller

Question 19

SDN can also be called ____ or _____

Answer 19

Software-Defined Architecture, Controller-Based Networking

Question 20

T/F: How much the control plane is centralized can vary greatly depending upon implementation

Answer 20

T

Question 21

Communication from the SDN controller to the network devices is done via the _____

Answer 21

Southbound Interface (SBI)

Question 22

NETCONF is an example of a ____

Answer 22

SBI (Southbound Interface)

Question 23

Admin interaction with the controller is done via the _____

Answer 23

Northbound Interface (NBI)

Question 24

The ____ allows network admins to interact with the controller, access data it gathers about the network, program it, and make changed in the network

Answer 24

NBI

Question 25

The NBI allows what?

Answer 25

network admins to interact with the controller, access data it gathers about the network, program it, and make changed in the network

Question 26

The SBI allows what?

Answer 26

The controller to interact with the network devices that it manages the control plane of

Question 27

A _____ is used on the controller as an interface for apps to interact with it

Answer 27

REST API

Question 28

What does REST stand for (REST API)?

Answer 28

Representational State Transfer

Question 29

When an app interacts with an SDN controller, it receives data in a ______

Answer 29

A structured format such as JSON or XML

Question 30

T/F: Networking tasks can be automated in traditional network architectures in addition to software defined networking

Answer 30

T

Question 31

T/F: Networking tasks can't be automated in traditional network architectures due to outdated software

Answer 31

F SDN controllers just make automation easier, but doing automation in a traditional network is quite possible

Question 32

Which of the following are SBIs? a) REST b) NETCONF c) OpenFlow d) OpFlex

Answer 32

b) NETCONF c) OpenFlow d) OpFlex

Question 33

Which of the following network functions would you expect to be centralized in SDN? a) Calculating routes b) Forwarding packets c) Translating source IP addresses of packets d) Denying packets via an ACL

Answer 33

a) Calculating routes

Question 34

What is the purpose of the SBI in SDN architecture? a) To facilitate data exchange between users b) To facilitate data exchange between the controller and apps c) To facilitate data exchange between the controller and network devices d) To facilitate data exchange between controllers

Answer 34

c) To facilitate data exchange between the controller and network devices

Question 35

Which of the logical planes of networking does NTP's function fit in? a) Control plane b) Management plane c) Data plane d) Forwarding plane

Answer 35

b) Management plane

Question 36

JSON, XML, and YAML are all ____ languages

Answer 36

Data Serialization

Question 37

Data serialization is the process of:

Answer 37

Converting data into a standardized format that can be reconstructed later. Allows data to be communicated between applications in a way both applications understand

Question 38

JSON is standardized in RFC ____

Answer 38

RFC 8259

Question 39

A JSON object is also sometimes called a:

Answer 39

Dictionary

Question 40

What is the general format of XML

Answer 40

value

Question 41

Ansible uses the data serialization language ______

Answer 41

YAML

Question 42

YAML is used in the network automation tool _____

Answer 42

Ansible

Question 43

Is whitespace significant in YAML?

Answer 43

Yes

Question 44

YAML files start with:

Answer 44

---

Question 45

YAML lists are indicated by:

Answer 45

-

Question 46

YAML key value pairs are represented as:

Answer 46

key:value

Question 47

In which of the following data serialization languages is white space significant? a) JSON b) YAML c) XML d) All of the above

Answer 47

b) YAML

Question 48

Which of the following data serialization languages formats key-value pairs like this? value a) JSON b) YAML c) XML d) All of the above

Answer 48

c) XML

Question 49

Which of the following is not a valid JSON data type? a) Object b) String c) Number d) Boolean e) Key f) Array g) Null

Answer 49

e) Key

Question 50

Examine the JSON-formatted data. Which of the following statements is true? ``` { "interface": "GigabitEthernet1/1", "is_up": true, "ipaddress": "192.168.1.1", "netmask": "255.255.255.0", "speed": 1000, } ``` a) It is valid JSON data b) A curly bracket is missing c) There are too many commas d) There are too many colons

Answer 50

c) There are too many commas The last entry in the object doesn't need a comma