2V0-41.23 VMware NSX 4.x Professional Question and Answers

Route-based VPN is a VPN type that uses Virtual Tunnel interfaces (VTI) to establish IPSec tunnels between an NSX Edge node and remote sites2. A VTI is a logical interface that is assigned an IP address and is associated with a physical or virtual interface. The VTI acts as an end point of the IPSec tunnel and routes traffic between the NSX Edge node and the remote site2. Route & SSL based VPNs, Policy & Route based VPNs, and SSL-based VPN are not VPN types that use VTI. References: Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A node profile is a configuration template that can be applied to multiple NSX Edge nodes or transport nodes at once. A node profile can include settings such as NTP server, DNS server, syslog server, and so on1. By using a node profile, an administrator can efficiently configure or update the network settings of multiple NSX Edge nodes or transport nodes in a single operation2. The other options are incorrect because they are either not efficient or not supported. Using the CLI on each Edge node would require manual and repetitive commands for each node, which is not efficient. Using a Transport Node Profile would not work, because a Transport Node Profile is used to configure the NSX-T Data Center components on a transport node, such as the transport zone, the N-VDS, and the uplink profiles3. Using a PowerCLI script might work, but it would require writing and testing a custom script, which is not as efficient as using a built-in feature like a node profile.

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX/4.1/administration/GUID-B4AE1432-690E-480E-91C4-903C1E549C23.html?hWord=N4IghgNiBcIHYHsAmBTABABwE4IGYEsIUQBfIA

An overlay segment is a layer 2 broadcast domain that is implemented as a logical construct in the NSX-T Data Center software. Overlay segments do not require any configuration on the physical switches, and they allow for optimal east/west communication between workloads on different ESXi hosts. Overlay segments use the Geneve protocol to encapsulate and decapsulate traffic between the hosts. Overlay segments are created and managed by the NSX Manager.

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX-T-Data-Center/3.2/administration/GUID-316E5027-E588-455C-88AD-A7DA930A4F0B.html

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX-T-Data-Center/3.2/administration/GUID-53D6C480-7AD3-4B23-922D-430C89992B57.html

In VMware NSX 4.x, the Tier-0 gateway serves as a critical component for North-South traffic management, which refers to the traffic entering and exiting the data center. It essentially acts as a bridge between the external networks and the internal NSX-T Data Center environment.

The Tier-0 gateway is designed to handle various functionalities including routing, NAT, and firewalling, making it an effective point for network introspection. Network introspection at the Tier-0 gateway allows administrators to monitor, manage, and secure the traffic as it flows between different networks, including the traffic headed to and from the internet or other external networks.

Here's why other options are less appropriate:

• A. Guest VM vNIC: This refers to the virtual network interface cards attached to virtual machines. While they handle East-West traffic (traffic within the data center), they are not typically used for North-South traffic introspection.
• B. Partner SVM: Service Virtual Machines (SVMs) provided by third-party vendors can integrate with NSX for various services like security, but they are not the direct insertion points for North-South traffic introspection.
• D. Host Physical NIC: These are the network interface cards on the physical hosts. Although they are involved in the underlying transport of North-South traffic, they do not serve as insertion points for introspection in the context of NSX.

By utilizing the Tier-0 gateway for North-South introspection, organizations can achieve a centralized and efficient approach to traffic management and security at the entry/exit points of the network.

References:

• VMware NSX-T Data Center documentation provides detailed explanations of gateway functionalities and their roles in network introspection.
• VMware NSX-T Architecture and Component guides detail the use of Tier-0 and Tier-1 gateways in traffic management and security implementations.

According to the VMware NSX 4.x Professional documents and tutorials, BFD is a failover detection protocol that provides fast and reliable detection of link failures between two routing devices. BFD can be used with ECMP routing to monitor the health of the ECMP paths and trigger a route change in case of a failure12. BFD is supported by both BGP and OSPF routing protocols in NSX-T3. BFD can also be configured with different timers to achieve different detection times3.

 The NSX Application Platform Deployment features are divided into three form factors: Evaluation, Standard, and Advanced. Each form factor determines which NSX features can be activated or installed on the platform1. The Evaluation form factor supports only NSX Intelligence, which provides network visibility and analytics for NSX-T environments2. The Standard form factor supports both NSX Intelligence and NSX Network Detection and Response, which provides network threat detection and response capabilities for NSX-T environments3. The Advanced form factor supports all four features: NSX Intelligence, NSX Network Detection and Response, NSX Malware Prevention, and NSX Metrics1.

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX-T-Data-Center/3.2/nsx-application-platform/GUID-85CD2728-8081-45CE-9A4A-D72F49779D6A.html

To configure a firewall rule based on the domain name of a specific application, the administrator needs to use the Profile field in a distributed firewall rule. The Profile field allows the administrator to select a context profile that contains one or more attributes for filtering traffic. One of the attributes that can be used is Domain (FQDN) Name, which specifies the fully qualified domain name of the application. For example, if the administrator wants to filter traffic to *.office365.com, they can create a context profile with the Domain (FQDN) Name attribute set to *.office365.com and use it in the Profile field of the firewall rule.

References:

• Filtering Specific Domains (FQDN/URLs)
• FQDN Filtering

According to the VMware NSX Documentation, TEP stands for Tunnel End Point and is a logical interface that must be configured on transport nodes for encapsulation and decapsulation of Geneve protocol. Geneve is a tunneling protocol that encapsulates the original packet with an outer header that contains metadata such as the virtual network identifier (VNI) and the transport node IP address. TEPs are responsible for adding and removing the Geneve header as the packet traverses the overlay network.

The host switch modes determine how the NSX network and security stack is allocated on the underlying host CPU or DPU. There are two supported host switch modes: Enhanced Datapath and Standard Datapath1. Enhanced Datapath mode leverages the DPU to offload the NSX datapath processing from the host CPU, while Standard Datapath mode uses the host CPU for the NSX datapath processing1. DPDK Datapath, Overlay Datapath, and Secure Datapath are not valid host switch modes for NSX 4.x. References: NSX Features

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX-T-Data-Center/3.2/nsx-application-platform/GUID-42EDE0AD-CD65-41AC-9694-AD0CCEC35969.html

According to the Network Bachelor article1, an IDS signature contains data used to identify an attacker’s attempt to exploit a known vulnerability in both the operating system and applications. This implies that statement B is true. According to the VMware NSX Documentation2, IDS/IPS Profiles are used to group signatures, which can then be applied to select applications and traffic. This implies that statement E is true. Statement A is false because users cannot upload their own IDS signature definitions, they have to use the ones provided by VMware or Trustwave3. Statement C is false because an IDS signature does not contain data used to identify the creator of known exploits and vulnerabilities, only the exploits and vulnerabilities themselves. Statement D is false because IDS signatures are classified into one of the following severity categories: Critical, High, Medium, Low, or Informational1.

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX/4.1/administration/GUID-69DF70C2-1769-4858-97E7-B757CAED08F0.html#:~:text=On%20the%20north%2Dsouth%20traffic,Guest%20Introspection%20(GI)%20platform .

The main components on the edge node for north-south malware prevention perform the following functions:

• IDS/IPS engine: Extracts files and relays events and data to the security hub

North-south malware prevention uses the file extraction features of the IDS/IPS engine that runs on NSX Edge for north-south traffic.

• Security hub: Collects file events, obtains verdicts for known files, sends files for local and cloud-based analysis, and sends information to the security analyzer

• RAPID: Provides local analysis of the file

• ASDS Cache: Caches reputation and verdicts of known files

• AS-Path Prepend: This attribute allows you to prepend one or more AS numbers to the AS path of a route, making it appear longer and less preferable to other BGP routers. You can use this attribute to manipulate the inbound traffic from your BGP peers by advertising a longer AS path for some routes and a shorter AS path for others .
• MED: This attribute stands for Multi-Exit Discriminator and allows you to specify a preference value for a route among multiple exit points from an AS. You can use this attribute to manipulate the outbound traffic to your BGP peers by advertising a lower MED value for some routes and a higher MED value for others .

According to the VMware Knowledge Base article 1, the CLI command to set the log level of the NSX Manager to debug mode is set service manager logging-level debug. This command can be used when the NSX UI is inaccessible or when troubleshooting issues with the NSX Manager1. The other commands are incorrect because they either use a wrong syntax or a wrong service name. The NSX Manager service name is manager, not nsx-manager2. The log level parameter is logging-level, not log-level3.

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/55868

According to the VMware NSX Documentation, this VPN type must be configured before enabling a L2VPN. L2VPN stands for Layer 2 VPN and is a feature that allows you to extend your layer 2 network across different sites using an IPSec tunnel. Route-based IPSec VPN is a VPN type that uses logical router ports to establish IPSec tunnels between sites.

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX/4.1/administration/GUID-86C8D6BB-F185-46DC-828C-1E1876B854E8.html

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Validated-Design/5.0.1/com.vmware.vvd.sddc-nsxt-domain-deploy.doc/GUID-B7019BCE-4FA1-40BB-8DC2-EE47967A47F1.html

You can replace the certificate for a manager node or the manager cluster virtual IP (VIP) by making an API call: • To replace the certificate of a manager node, use the POST API call: https:// /api/v1/node/services/http?action=apply_certificate&certificate_id= • To replace the certificate of the manager cluster VIP, use the POST API call: https:// /api/v1/cluster/api-certificate?action=set_cluster_certificate&certificate_id=

When deploying an NSX Edge Transport Node, two valid IP address assignment options that should be specified for the TEP IP addresses are Use an IP Pool and Use a Static IP List. These options allow the user to assign TEP IP addresses from a predefined range of IP addresses or a manually entered list of IP addresses, respectively345. The other options are incorrect because they are not supported methods for assigning TEP IP addresses. There is no option to use a DHCP server, RADIUS, or BootP for TEP IP address assignment in NSX-T345. References: NSX-T Edge TEP networking options, Multi-TEP High Availability, Create an IP Pool for Host Tunnel Endpoint IP Addresses

NSX supports two types of authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) systems when integrating with VMware Identity Manager: RSA SecurID and LDAP and OpenLDAP based on Active Directory (AD). RSA SecurID is a two-factor authentication system that uses a token-based approach to verify the identity of users. LDAP and OpenLDAP based on AD are directory services that store and manage user information and credentials. Both systems can be used to provide centralized authentication for users who want to access applications in an NSX environment .

https://blogs.vmware.com/networkvirtualization/2017/11/remote-user-authentication-and-rbac-with-nsx-t.html

The integration of VMware Identity Manager with NSX provides the following benefits related to user authentication:

• Support for extensive authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) systems, including:

— RADIUS

— Smart cards and common access cards

— RSA SecureID

— LDAP and OpenLDAP based on Active Directory (AD)

• Enterprise SSO:

— Common authentication platform across multiple VMware solutions

— Seamless SSO experience

NSX has its own native LDAP and Active Directory integration, but VMware Identity Manager also offers this capability

ECMP (Equal Cost Multi-Path) is a routing protocol that increases the north and south communication bandwidth by adding an uplink to the tier-0 logical router and configure it for each Edge node in an NSX Edge cluster2. The ECMP routing paths are used to load balance traffic and provide fault tolerance for failed paths2. The tier-0 logical router must be in active-active mode for ECMP to be available2. A maximum of eight ECMP paths are supported2. Configuring ECMP on the tier-0 gateway can address low throughput and congestion by distributing the traffic among multiple paths and avoiding bottlenecks.

Deploying Large size Edge node/s can also address low throughput and congestion by providing more resources (memory, CPU, disk) for the Edge node to handle the network traffic. The NSX Edge VM system requirements vary depending on the appliance size, which affects the bandwidth, NAT/firewall, load balancer, and VPN capabilities of the Edge node1. A Large size Edge node has 32 GB memory, 8 vCPU, 200 GB disk space, and can support 2-10 Gbps bandwidth, L2-L4 features, and L7 load balancer1. An Extra Large size Edge node has 64 GB memory, 16 vCPU, 200 GB disk space, and can support more than 10 Gbps bandwidth, L2-L4 features, L7 load balancer, and VPN1. Deploying a larger size Edge node can improve the performance and capacity of the tier-0 gateway. References: 2: Understanding ECMP Routing - VMware Docs(https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX-T-Data-Center/3.2/administration/GUID-443B6B0D-F179-429E-83F3-E136038332E0.html)  1: NSX Edge VM System Requirements - VMware Docs(https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX-T-Data-Center/3.2/installation/GUID-22F87CA8-01A9-4F2E-B7DB-9350CA60EA4E.html)

according to the VMware NSX Documentation, these are the three parameters that must match in order to establish an OSPF neighbor relationship with an upstream router on a tier-0 gateway:

• MTU of the Uplink: The maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the uplink interface must match the MTU of the upstream router interface. Otherwise, OSPF packets may be fragmented or dropped, causing neighbor adjacency issues.
• Subnet mask: The subnet mask of the uplink interface must match the subnet mask of the upstream router interface. Otherwise, OSPF packets may not reach the correct destination or be rejected by the upstream router.
• Area ID: The area ID of the uplink interface must match the area ID of the upstream router interface. Otherwise, OSPF packets may be ignored or discarded by the upstream router.

https://www.computernetworkingnotes.com/ccna-study-guide/ospf-neighborship-condition-and-requirement.html

The four types of role-based access control (RBAC) permissions are Read, None, Full access, and Execute1. Read permission allows the user to view the configuration and status of the system. None permission denies any access to the system. Full access permission grants all permissions including Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD). Execute permission includes Read and Update permissions1. Auditor, Enterprise Admin, and Network Admin are not types of permissions, but types of roles that have different sets of permissions. References: NSX Features

There are four types of permissions. Included in the list are the abbreviations for the permissions that are used in the Roles and Permissions and Roles and Permissions for Manager Mode tables.

• Full access (FA) - All permissions including Create, Read, Update, and Delete
• Execute (E) - Includes Read and Update
• Read (R)
• None

NSX-T Data Center has the following built-in roles. Role names in the UI can be different in the API. In NSX-T Data Center, if you have permission, you can clone an existing role, add a new role, edit newly created roles, or delete newly created roles.

Role-Based Access Control (vmware.com)

According to the web search results, error code 1001 is related to a time synchronization issue between the ESXi host and the NSX Manager. This can cause problems when configuring a time-based firewall rule, which requires the ESXi host and the NSX Manager to have the same time zone and NTP server settings . To resolve this error, you need to restart the NTP service on the ESXi host to synchronize the time with the NSX Manager. You can use the following command to restart the NTP service on the ESXi host:

/etc/init.d/ntpd restart

The other options are not valid solutions for this error. Reinstalling the NSX VIBs on the ESXi host will not fix the time synchronization issue. Changing the time zone on the ESXi host may cause more discrepancies with the NSX Manager. Reconfiguring the ESXi host with a local NTP server may not be compatible with the NSX Manager’s NTP server.

The answer is C. Group all by means of tags membership.

Tags are metadata that can be applied to physical servers, virtual machines, logical ports, and logical segments in NSX. Tags can be used for dynamic security group membership, which allows for granular and flexible enforcement of security policies based on various criteria1

In the scenario, the company is deploying NSX micro-segmentation to secure a simple application composed of web, app, and database tiers. The naming convention will be:

• WKS-WEB-SRV-XXX
• WKY-APP-SRR-XXX
• WKI-DB-SRR-XXX

The optimal way to group them to enforce security policies from NSX is to use tags membership. For example, the company can create three tags: Web, App, and DB, and assign them to the corresponding VMs based on their names. Then, the company can create three security groups: Web-SG, App-SG, and DB-SG, and use the tags as the membership criteria. Finally, the company can create and apply security policies to the security groups based on the desired rules and actions2

Using tags membership has several advantages over the other options:

• It is more scalable and dynamic than using Edge as a firewall between tiers. Edge firewall is a centralized solution that can create bottlenecks and performance issues when handling large amounts of traffic3
• It is more simple and efficient than doing a service insertion to accomplish the task. Service insertion is a feature that allows for integrating third-party services with NSX, such as antivirus or intrusion prevention systems. Service insertion is not necessary for basic micro-segmentation and can introduce additional complexity and overhead.
• It is more flexible and granular than creating an Ethernet based security policy. Ethernet based security policy is a type of policy that uses MAC addresses as the source or destination criteria. Ethernet based security policy is limited by the scope of layer 2 domains and does not support logical constructs such as segments or groups.

To learn more about tags membership and how to use it for micro-segmentation in NSX, you can refer to the following resources:

• VMware NSX Documentation: Security Tag 1
• VMware NSX Micro-segmentation Day 1: Chapter 4 - Security Policy Design 2
• VMware NSX 4.x Professional: Security Groups
• VMware NSX 4.x Professional: Security Policies

According to the VMware NSX Documentation, this is the NSX feature that can be leveraged to achieve consistent policy configuration and simplicity across sites:

• NSX Federation: This feature allows you to create and manage a global network infrastructure that spans across multiple sites using a single pane of glass. You can use this feature to synchronize policies, segments, gateways, firewalls, VPNs, load balancers, and other network services across sites.

According to the VMware NSX Documentation, these are two NAT rule types that are supported for a tier-0 gateway configured in active-standby high availability mode. NAT stands for Network Address Translation and is a feature that allows you to modify the source or destination IP address of a packet as it passes through a gateway.

• Destination NAT: This rule type allows you to change the destination IP address of a packet from an external IP address to an internal IP address. You can use this rule type to provide access to your internal servers from external networks using public IP addresses.
• Source NAT: This rule type allows you to change the source IP address of a packet from an internal IP address to an external IP address. You can use this rule type to provide access to external networks from your internal servers using public IP addresses.

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX/4.1/nsx-application-platform/GUID-50FB1A3F-07D8-4125-9252-DB05C28BE7E1.html: Procedure From your browser, log in with Enterprise Admin privileges to an NSX Manager at https:// . Navigate to System > Support Bundle. In the Request Bundle tab, select NSX Application Platform from the Type drop-down menu.