Ace Your HPE6-A86 Aruba Certified Switching Associate (ACSA) V1 Exam

The correct answer is A. Root bridge. In a switched infrastructure using Spanning Tree Protocol, the root bridge is the central reference point for calculating the loop-free Layer 2 topology. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX documentation explains that device roles, such as root bridge or leaf node, should be planned by adjusting spanning tree instance priority. It also notes that the placement of root bridges is important in a Layer 2 network domain because deterministic root and secondary root bridges provide predictability and protection. Switches calculate their best path toward the root bridge based on spanning tree information such as bridge priority, path cost, and port roles. This calculation determines which ports forward and which ports block to prevent loops. Option B is incorrect because a designated bridge or designated port forwards traffic for a segment but does not define the overall topology reference point. Option C is incorrect because “alternative bridge” is not the entity that defines best path selection. Option D is incorrect because “common bridge” is not the correct STP role.

The correct answer is B. To find the destination MAC address for a specific IP address. ARP, or Address Resolution Protocol, is used on IPv4 Ethernet networks to map a Layer 3 IPv4 address to a Layer 2 MAC address. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX documentation states that ARP maps network addresses assigned to devices to physical addresses, and specifically maps IPv4 network addresses to Layer 2 MAC addresses on Ethernet networks. When a host wants to send traffic to another IPv4 device on the same local network, or to its default gateway, it must know the destination MAC address to build the Ethernet frame. If the MAC address is not already in its ARP table, it sends an ARP request asking which device owns the target IP address. Option A is incorrect because ARP is not used to find a source IP address. Option C is incorrect because the device already knows its own source MAC address. Option D describes reverse mapping, which is not the purpose of a normal ARP request.

The correct answer is B. The switch control plane is shared. HPE Aruba Networking documentation explains that Virtual Switching Framework, or VSF, stacks multiple individual switches into a single logical device using standard Ethernet links. Once the VSF stack is formed, the interconnected switches operate as one virtual switch with a single control plane. HPE Aruba documentation also describes VSF as providing a single point of management access with a shared control plane across all stack members. Option A is incorrect because member IDs are part of the VSF configuration and may be assigned or changed during stack setup. Option C is incorrect because VSF is not universally limited to two members; supported stack size depends on the switch family and software support. Option D is incorrect because an independent management plane describes VSX more than VSF. HPE’s VSF-versus-VSX comparison identifies VSF as having a single management plane, while VSX has dual management planes.

The correct answer is D. show system. HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX documentation describes the show system command as displaying general status information about the system. The official command example includes fields such as Vendor, Product Name, and Chassis Serial Nbr. These fields provide the switch make, model/product name, and serial number directly in the CLI session. Option A is not the best answer because show support-information is intended for collecting broader support and diagnostic information, not the most direct command for viewing the switch identity. Option B is not the normal user command for displaying switch make, model, and serial number. Option C is incorrect because configuration output shows switch configuration, not necessarily the hardware identity information requested. Therefore, the direct command to display make, model, and serial number is show system.