Fortinet FCSS_SDW_AR-7.6 - FCSS - SD-WAN 7.6 Architect

In the exhibits, port2 is already assigned to the SD-WAN zone named Test. An interface can only belong to a single SD-WAN zone, so before you can add both port1 and port2 into the new SD-WAN zone Underlay, you must first delete the SD-WAN Zone Test to free port2.

In the SD-WAN GUI, the absence of members in a zone is visually represented, and the Fortinet guide confirms:

"If a zone such as overlay-factories contains no members, it will be displayed as empty in the SD-WAN GUI. This may occur when the zone is reserved for future expansion, or if members have been temporarily removed for maintenance or reconfiguration. Traffic cannot be steered via an empty zone until at least one SD-WAN member is added."

Such visual cues help operators quickly assess configuration status and readiness.

The hub must send additional paths to spokes (set additional-path send).

The hub must treat each spoke as a route-reflector client so spoke routes are reflected to other spokes.

The hub must specify how many additional paths to advertise (set adv-additional-path ).

Your requirements map to two key MSSP goals described in the FCSS SD-WAN 7.6 blueprint patterns:

Delegate as much administration and management as possible to the MSSPThis is best achieved when the hub security and SD-WAN control point is located on the MSSP premises, because the MSSP can centrally operate the core enforcement and overlay control. Both option B (dedicated hub at MSSP) and option D (shared hub at MSSP with customer isolation) meet this requirement.

Each site must maintain direct internet access (DIA) and be secure, with significant site-to-site trafficIn Fortinet SD-WAN MSSP designs, spokes can still use local breakout for DIA while also building secure overlays for inter-site traffic. Placing the hub at the MSSP enables centralized security services and scalable inter-site connectivity management while preserving DIA where required. Options B and D support this operating model.

Why the other options do not best match:

A includes a dedicated hub on the customer premises, which reduces how much the MSSP can centralize and operate from its own environment, so it does not maximize delegation.

C places both hub and spokes on the customer premises. While the MSSP can manage using a dedicated ADOM, this blueprint does not align as strongly with “delegate installation and management” to the MSSP as the designs where the hub is hosted and operated from the MSSP premises.

Therefore, the two MSSP deployment blueprints that address your requirements are B and D.

Traffic steering in Fortinet SD-WAN is based on defined rules and the corresponding outgoing interfaces. The exhibit (not shown here) would indicate that the traffic from the LAN subnet 10.0.1.0/24 to the server 10.2.5.254 is matched by SD-WAN rule 3 and sent out via the HUB1-VPN3 interface.

In FortiOS (including FortiOS 7.6), FortiGate follows a strict and well-defined route lookup order when determining how to forward traffic. This order is critical for understanding SD-WAN behavior and is explicitly referenced in the FCSS SD-WAN curriculum.

The correct lookup sequence is:

Policy routes (Policy-Based Routing)Policy routes are evaluated first. If traffic matches a policy route, FortiGate immediately forwards the traffic according to that policy and bypasses all other routing mechanisms.

Internet Service Database (ISDB) routesIf no policy route matches, FortiGate checks ISDB routes. These routes match traffic based on Internet Services rather than destination IP prefixes.

SD-WAN rulesIf neither a policy route nor an ISDB route matches, FortiGate evaluates SD-WAN rules to determine the outgoing interface based on the configured SD-WAN strategy.

Routing table (connected, static, and dynamic routes such as BGP)If no SD-WAN rule matches, FortiGate performs a normal routing table lookup.

FIB (Forwarding Information Base)The FIB is used to forward the packet based on the selected route.

DropIf no valid route exists, the packet is dropped.

Among the options provided, only Option D correctly reflects the beginning of this sequence by placing policy routes first, followed by ISDB routes, then SD-WAN rules, and finally static routes (representing the routing table).

Therefore, the correct answer is D.

The use of SLA targets is specific to certain SD-WAN strategies. The "Lowest Cost (SLA)" and "Maximize Bandwidth (SLA)" strategies are explicitly designed to use the configured SLA targets to make routing decisions. The "Best Quality" strategy uses performance metrics but does not necessarily require or reference SLA targets in the same way, while "Manual" does not use metrics at all for path selection.

This is a core function of SD-WAN rules with SLA targets. The purpose of configuring an SLA target with specific thresholds for latency, jitter, and packet loss is to define what is considered "acceptable" performance for an application. SD-WAN rules then use these targets to check if the members (interfaces) meet these requirements before a flow is steered over them, ensuring that a preferred path still offers a good user experience.

FortiGate allows for a single SD-WAN rule to reference multiple, different performance SLAs. This is crucial for complex deployments where a single SD-WAN rule needs to handle traffic for multiple applications that have distinct performance requirements. For example, a single rule might direct VoIP traffic based on one performance SLA with strict latency/jitter targets, while simultaneously handling general web traffic using another performance SLA with more lenient requirements.

The command shown in the exhibit is:

diagnose sys sdwan service 4 3

This command displays the runtime state of SD-WAN rule ID 3 on the device. The output explicitly shows:

Service(3) which confirms the SD-WAN rule being evaluated is rule number 3

Members(9) which indicates that nine SD-WAN members are associated with this rule

The listed members include multiple IPsec tunnel interfaces such as HUB1-VPN1, HUB1-VPN2, HUB1-VPN3, HUB2-VPN1, HUB2-VPN2, and HUB2-VPN3, which is characteristic of a spoke device connecting to multiple hubs in a hub-and-spoke ADVPN topology, as defined in the FCSS SD-WAN 7.6 architecture.

Option B is incorrect because, although members are listed under different interfaces, the output does not indicate SD-WAN zones. Zones are shown only in configuration output, not in this diagnostic command.

Option C is incorrect because this is not a hub device. The presence of multiple hub tunnels as SD-WAN members indicates a spoke role. Additionally, the output does not confirm the number of established ADVPN shortcuts.

Option D is incorrect because the output clearly references SD-WAN rule 3, not rule 4, and it does not state that exactly three shortcut tunnels are allowed.

Therefore, the correct conclusion is that this is a spoke device and SD-WAN rule 3 is configured with nine members, which matches option A.