Free HPE6-A85 sample questions

Correct answer: Virtual Switching Extension (VSX)

VSX is supported on the Aruba CX 6400 (and CX 8xxx/9300/10000), while VSF stacking is not supported on the 6400. A VSX pair keeps two independent control planes, synchronizes MAC, ARP and STP state over the ISL, and presents multi-chassis LAGs, so dual-homed devices get active-active links that survive the failure of either switch. STP blocks redundant links (active-passive), and VRRP only provides first-hop gateway redundancy. VSX does not apply to CX 6300 switches; on 6300/6200 access switches the equivalent resiliency option is a VSF stack.

Correct answer: Campus AP mode with the forwarding mode set per SSID (tunnel for employees, bridge for guests)

In Campus AP (CAP) mode the AP is managed by an Aruba Mobility Controller/Gateway, and the forwarding mode is set per SSID in the virtual AP profile (`forward-mode {tunnel | bridge | split-tunnel | decrypt-tunnel}`). The employee SSID can use tunnel mode, so the AP sends that traffic in a GRE tunnel to the gateway for policy enforcement, while the guest SSID uses bridge mode and the AP forwards guest traffic directly onto the local wired network. (AOS 10 uses per-WLAN Tunnel or Bridge forwarding for the same result; its 'Mixed' mode means one WLAN whose clients are bridged or tunneled depending on the assigned VLAN.) Instant and standalone APs are not managed by a Mobility Gateway, and Spectrum Monitor is a non-serving analysis mode.

Correct answer: MAC Authentication as a fallback method

When a device does not have an 802.1X supplicant, it will not respond to the EAP requests from the switch, and dot1x authentication will time out. By configuring MAC Authentication as a fallback method, the switch will then attempt to authenticate the device using its MAC address against the RADIUS server. This is a common strategy for supporting devices like printers or IoT sensors on 802.1X-enabled ports.

Correct answer: interface vlan 20 ip address 10.20.0.1/24 no shutdown

On Aruba CX switches running AOS-CX, Switched Virtual Interfaces (SVIs) are configured using the `interface vlan ` command. The IP address is assigned using CIDR notation (`ip address 10.20.0.1/24`), and the interface is enabled with `no shutdown`. This creates the Layer 3 gateway for VLAN 20.

Correct answers: AirMatch; ClientMatch

AirMatch and ClientMatch are key Aruba technologies for high-density environments. AirMatch optimizes the RF environment by dynamically adjusting channels and power levels across all APs to minimize interference and maximize capacity. ClientMatch actively steers clients to the best possible AP and radio, preventing 'sticky client' issues and ensuring balanced load distribution. Air Slice provides QoS, and VIA is for VPN connectivity.

Correct answer: False

This statement is false. The function described—logical node-to-node addressing (IP addressing) and path determination (routing)—is the primary responsibility of the Network Layer (Layer 3). The Transport Layer (Layer 4) is responsible for process-to-process communication, segmentation, reliability (TCP), and flow control.

Correct answer: Connect each access switch to the two core switches using a multi-chassis LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol) bundle.

The best practice is to connect each access switch to both switches in the collapsed core using a multi-chassis LACP bundle (achieved with technologies like Aruba's VSX). This approach provides link and device redundancy while allowing both uplinks to be active simultaneously, doubling the available bandwidth and simplifying the Layer 2 topology by eliminating STP-blocked ports between the access and core layers.

Correct answer: Aruba Central

Aruba Central is Aruba's cloud-native management platform that provides all the listed features. It is specifically designed for unified management of APs, switches, and gateways across distributed locations. It offers zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), powerful template-based configuration, and AIOps for network insights and troubleshooting. NetEdit is for switch configuration automation, ClearPass is for network access control, and AirWave is an on-premises management solution.

Correct answer: Enter `ip ospf 1 area 0` in the context of each Layer 3 interface (such as `interface vlan 100`) whose address is in the 10.100.0.0/16 range.

AOS-CX has no router-level `network` statement for OSPF. After the OSPF instance (`router ospf 1`) and its area are created, OSPF is enabled per Layer 3 interface with `ip ospf area `; the interface's configured IPv4 network then participates in that area. To run OSPF only on the interfaces in 10.100.0.0/16, enter `ip ospf 1 area 0` only in the contexts of those interfaces (for example `interface vlan 100`). `ip ospf passive` only stops OSPF packets on an interface that is already in OSPF; it does not select interfaces by address range.

Correct answer: Voice VLAN

On AOS-CX the voice VLAN feature is enabled by designating a VLAN as a voice VLAN in the VLAN context (`vlan 20` -> `voice`; `show vlan voice` lists it). The phone port carries the data VLAN untagged (native VLAN) and the voice VLAN tagged. LLDP-MED advertises 'the voice VLAN configured on the interface' to the phone in its Network Policy TLV (sent only when a voice VLAN policy is present), and CDPv2 does the same for legacy Cisco phones; the phone then tags its voice traffic, which can be prioritized. LLDP-MED is the discovery/advertisement protocol, not the VLAN designation itself; port security limits MAC addresses, and native VLAN tagging (`vlan trunk native tag`) would force the PC's untagged frames to be dropped.