HP HPE6-A86 - HPE Network Switching Associate Exam

The correct answer is D. VSF stacking is supported within the same switch family members. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX VSF documentation states that a VSF stack supports combinations of models only within a supported switch family. For example, supported 6200 family models can stack with other supported 6200 family models, and supported 6300 family models can stack with other supported 6300 family models. The documentation also states that stacking is not supported across switch families. This means a VSF stack cannot mix unrelated platforms, such as chassis and fixed switches, or combine older AOS-S/Provision switches with AOS-CX switches in the same VSF stack. Option A is incorrect because VSF does not use proprietary backplane cabling; it uses supported Ethernet links, and the supported speeds depend on the switch family. Option B is incorrect because chassis and fixed platforms are not mixed in one VSF stack. Option C is incorrect because existing Provision/AOS-S switches cannot simply add CX switches as members in the same VSF stack.

The correct answer is D. CX 6300M in VSF. The requirement includes stacked switches, PoE+ ports, near-zero downtime, continuous packet forwarding, and highly available hardware. HPE Aruba Networking CX 6300M switches support PoE models and are part of the CX 6300 stackable switch family. HPE’s CX 6300 QuickSpecs describe high availability by design using VSF in-service software upgrades, with no downtime or restart when upgrading within the same major release, provided there is at least a two-member VSF stack. The CX 6300 family also supports modular and fixed models in a single stack and includes PoE-capable models. Option A is incorrect because the CX 8100 uses VSX rather than VSF stacking and is not the appropriate PoE+ access stack answer. Option B is less correct because the CX 6200F is stackable with VSF but does not provide the same high-availability feature set as CX 6300M. Option C is incorrect because the CX 8320 is a VSX-capable data center/core platform, not the best PoE+ stacked access solution.

The correct answer is D. SNMPv3. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX hardening documentation recommends using SNMPv3 instead of older SNMP versions because older SNMP versions are unauthenticated and unencrypted, with the community string transmitted in plaintext. The same guide states that SNMPv3 supports different users, authentication, and strong encryption. This makes SNMPv3 the secure protocol among the options. HTTP is not the best answer because standard HTTP does not encrypt management or web traffic; HTTPS would be the secure alternative. TFTP is not secure because it does not provide encryption or strong authentication for file transfers. Telnet is also not secure because it sends session traffic, including login information, in clear text; SSH is the secure alternative for CLI management. Therefore, from the listed protocols, only SNMPv3 provides security mechanisms appropriate for secure network management, including authenticated and encrypted communication.

The correct answer is D. CX 8400. The requirement asks for a chassis solution, 100G speeds to the aggregation layer, and a maximum size of 10U. HPE Aruba Networking describes the CX 8400 as a core and aggregation switch with line-rate 10GbE, 25GbE, 40GbE, and 100GbE connectivity in a compact 8-slot chassis. The installation guide also identifies the CX 8400 as an eight-slot chassis platform for core and aggregation switching. This satisfies both the 100G requirement and the physical-size requirement because 8U is below the 10U maximum. The CX 10000, CX 9300, and CX 8360 are fixed-form-factor platforms rather than chassis solutions, so they do not match the customer’s chassis requirement. Therefore, the best initial proposal from the listed options is the HPE Aruba Networking CX 8400.

The correct answer is D. If the ZTP operation detects that the switch configuration is different from the factory-default configuration, the ZTP operation ends. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX documentation explains that the ZTP process starts when the switch boots with the factory-default configuration. During the ZTP process, if the switch detects that its configuration is different from the factory-default configuration, the ZTP operation ends and the switch must be configured at the installation site. This directly addresses the customer’s concern: ZTP is intended for new or factory-default switches, and it should not overwrite or change switches that have already been manually configured or deployed. Option A is incorrect because the end condition is not based on a TFTP server detecting a serial-number configuration file. Option B is incorrect because being added to Central is not the stated stopping condition. Option C describes force provisioning, which can intentionally start provisioning behavior, but it does not address the concern about protecting already configured switches.

The correct matches are based on how SNMP monitoring works in an HPE Aruba Networking environment. A managed device is the network device being monitored, such as a switch, router, firewall, controller, or access point. HPE Aruba Networking documentation describes SNMP as a protocol used by network management systems to monitor network-attached devices. The SNMP agent is the software function on the managed device that collects local device information and communicates status, statistics, and configuration-related information to the management system. The SNMP manager is the network management system that queries devices, receives information, and may modify supported device parameters. The Management Information Base, or MIB, is the structured database of object identifiers used to represent device status, counters, statistics, and configuration information. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX monitoring documentation points administrators to the SNMP/MIB Guide for configuring SNMP so a device can be monitored from a network management system.

The correct matches are 802.3af for 15.4W, 802.3at for 30W, 802.3bt Type 3 for 60W, and 802.3bt Type 4 for 90W. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX PoE documentation explains that PoE powered devices are divided into different types and classes according to their power requirements. It identifies Type 1 as supplying a maximum of 15.4W from the power sourcing equipment, which corresponds to IEEE 802.3af. Type 2 supplies a maximum of 30W, which corresponds to IEEE 802.3at. Type 3 supplies a maximum of 60W and Type 4 supplies a maximum of 90W, both under IEEE 802.3bt. These values are important when selecting switch PoE capability for devices such as access points, cameras, sensors, phones, and other powered devices. The switch must have both the per-port PoE capability and enough total PoE power budget to support the connected devices.

The correct answer is C. The wrong subnet mask has been configured. The PC is configured with IP address 10.211.55.151 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0, which is a /24 network. However, the HPE Aruba Networking CX switch SVI for VLAN 55 is configured as 10.211.55.1/25. A /25 mask divides the 10.211.55.0/24 range into two subnets: 10.211.55.0–10.211.55.127 and 10.211.55.128–10.211.55.255. The switch gateway address 10.211.55.1/25 is in the first /25 subnet, while the PC address 10.211.55.151 is in the second /25 subnet. This means the PC and its configured default gateway are not actually in the same subnet from the switch’s perspective. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX CLI documentation shows IP addressing on interfaces using prefix-length notation, such as /25, which defines the subnet size. Option A is incorrect because the port is configured with no shutdown and no STP error state is shown. Option B is incorrect because an access port does not require VLAN tagging from the PC. Option D is incorrect because a PC normally uses a default gateway, not a static route, for Internet access.

The correct answer is B. A VLAN range can be created with the syntax vlan 100-110. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX documentation defines the VLAN creation command as vlan < VLAN-LIST > . The VLAN list can contain a single VLAN ID or multiple VLAN IDs separated by commas, dashes, or both. The documentation gives examples such as vlan 2-8,10, which creates VLANs 2 through 8 and VLAN 10. Therefore, vlan 100-110 is the correct AOS-CX syntax for creating a range of VLANs. Option A is incorrect because a colon is not the documented range separator for VLAN creation. Options C and D are incorrect because newly created VLANs are enabled by default. HPE Aruba documentation states that the VLAN is enabled by default and that the shutdown command is used to disable a VLAN. Therefore, no additional enable or no shutdown command is required after creating a VLAN.

The correct answer is D. When 10.1.251.2 is no longer in the routing table. The configuration shows two static default routes to the same destination, 0.0.0.0/0. The first route uses the default administrative distance, while the second route has a higher administrative distance of 10, making it a floating static route. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX documentation for static routing states that the distance option sets the administrative distance associated with a static route, with a default of 1 and a range of 1–255. Because lower administrative distance is preferred, the route through 10.1.251.2 remains active as long as it is valid in the routing table. The backup route through 10.1.252.2 becomes active only when the preferred route is removed or no longer installed. A remote upstream fiber break might not remove the directly reachable next hop from the routing table, which explains why failover did not occur. BFD tracking could improve failure detection, but the condition for this configured floating static route to take over is loss of the primary route from the routing table.