SD-WAN-Engineer Exam Dumps : Palo Alto Networks SD-WAN Engineer

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

Prisma SD-WAN calculates the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) to provide a standardized metric (1-5) for voice quality. To ensure the system always knows the "voice readiness" of a path—even before a call starts—it uses Active Probes (synthetic UDP packets).

While latency is measured, the MOS calculation algorithm is most heavily penalized by Packet Loss (D) and Jitter (B).

Packet Loss: Even a small amount of loss (e.g., >1%) dramatically reduces voice clarity, causing dropouts.

Jitter: High variance in packet arrival time (jitter) causes the "robotic" voice effect and buffer underruns.

The system continuously measures these specific metrics on all WAN links using synthetic probes. If the packet loss or jitter exceeds the threshold defined in the "Path Quality Profile" (e.g., Voice Profile), the path is marked as non-compliant, and the MOS score drops, triggering a policy action to move the flow. Throughput (C) is less critical for voice as calls consume very little bandwidth (e.g., 64-100 Kbps), making congestion (loss/jitter) the primary enemy, not raw speed.

In modern enterprise environments, maintaining a consistent security posture across disparate network domains is a major challenge. Prisma SD-WAN addresses this by supporting Secure Group Tag (SGT) propagation. SGTs are a key component of Cisco’s TrustSec architecture, used to classify traffic based on the identity of the source (users, devices, or groups) rather than just IP addresses. By supporting SGT propagation, Prisma SD-WAN allows organizations to integrate with external identity-based security solutions seamlessly.

When traffic enters an ION device from a LAN segment where SGTs are already applied (typically by an access layer switch or an Identity Services Engine), the ION device can be configured to preserve or "propagate" these tags as the traffic traverses the SD-WAN fabric.6 This ensures that the identity context remains intact even after the traffic has crossed the WAN.7 When the traffic reaches its destination—whether that is a data center, another branch, or a security gateway—the receiving device can use the SGT to enforce granular security policies.

This integration is vital for organizations moving toward a Zero Trust architecture. Instead of rewriting complex firewall rules at every hop, the SGT acts as a portable identity badge. Prisma SD-WAN's ability to handle these tags allows it to participate in a larger security ecosystem, ensuring that a "Finance" user is treated with the same security restrictions at a remote branch as they would be at the corporate headquarters. This eliminates the need for manual IP-to-Group mapping across the WAN, reducing administrative overhead and minimizing the risk of security gaps during lateral movement of traffic.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation

Prisma SD-WAN separates real-time visibility from historical summarization.

Reports (C): The Reports section is the dedicated engine for generating historical summaries. Administrators can create custom report templates (e.g., "Monthly Executive Summary") that include specific widgets like "Top Applications by Volume," "Site Availability," or "Circuit Utilization." Crucially, this feature allows for Scheduling, where the system automatically generates the PDF report at a set interval (e.g., first day of the month) and emails it to a distribution list.

Activity Charts (A) / Media Analytics (B): These provide interactive, visual graphs for ad-hoc analysis but are not designed for generating downloadable, scheduled PDF summaries for management.

Flow Browser (D): This is for deep-dive troubleshooting of individual sessions, not for high-level aggregate reporting.