Why Study with PlanetCert?
The Latest Questions
Practice questions and exam topics aligned with the current exam objectives.
Detailed Explanations
Go beyond the answer. Master the material with comprehensive learning and professional explanations for every concept.
AI-Powered Insights
Personalized preparation guidance that adapts to your performance and identifies weak spots automatically.
Exam Information
Official specifications published by Cisco
Exam Format
Registration
Validity
Skills this practice test covers
- Explain the orchestration, management, control and data planes, and which component runs each one.
- Onboard WAN Edge routers with ZTP or a bootstrap file, and bring up tunnels over each transport.
- Configure OMP and TLOCs, and redistribute routes between OMP and OSPF, BGP or EIGRP.
- Write centralized control and data policies, including application-aware routing with SLA classes.
- Set up Direct Internet Access, service insertion and QoS on WAN Edge routers.
- Troubleshoot control connections and certificates, and manage software images from SD-WAN Manager.
Explore related topics
300-415 exam content
6 domains · 37 topics · 71 of 177 questions sorted by domain
Architecture20%27 questions
This domain explains how Catalyst SD-WAN splits the work across planes. Candidates describe the role of each controller, the WAN Edge platforms, Multi-Region Fabric and the Cloud OnRamp options for SaaS, IaaS, colocation and multicloud.
Skills tested
- Describe the orchestration plane, including the SD-WAN Validator and its part in NAT traversal.
- Explain what OMP carries between the SD-WAN Controller and WAN Edge routers, including TLOC and vRoute information.
- Describe the data plane: IPsec and GRE tunnels, with BFD checking each path.
- Compare Cloud OnRamp for SaaS, IaaS, colocation and multicloud connections.
Questions by topic
- Controller Roles and Responsibilities5
- TLOC (Transport Locator)4
- VPN Segmentation2
- Overlay Management Protocol (OMP)1
- Control Connections and Certificates2
- Hierarchical SD-WAN Design (Regions)6
- Cloud OnRamp for SaaS1
- TLOC Extension3
- Configuring Centralized Policies for Traffic Engineering1
- Data Plane Connectivity2
Controller Deployment15%
Before any router joins, the controllers must run and trust each other. This domain covers cloud and on-premises controller deployment, scaling and redundancy, certificates and device lists, and fixing control plane connections that fail.
Skills tested
- Compare Cisco-hosted cloud controllers with controllers installed on public or private hosting platforms.
- Plan controller scalability and redundancy for an on-premises deployment.
- Install certificates and keep the device list in step with the routers allowed to join.
- Troubleshoot control plane connections that fail because of certificate or device list problems.
Official topics
- Describe controller cloud deployment
- Describe controller on-premises deployment
- Configure certificates and device lists
- Troubleshoot control plane connectivity
Router Deployment20%
This is where the overlay is built. Candidates onboard WAN Edge routers, connect them to each transport, configure OMP and TLOCs, and apply feature templates or configuration groups for VRRP and routing protocols such as OSPF and BGP.
Skills tested
- Onboard routers with ZTP or a bootstrap configuration, including data center and regional hub sites.
- Configure circuit termination, TLOC-extension and dynamic tunnels.
- Set OMP and TLOC properties to steer which paths routers prefer.
- Build CLI and SD-WAN Manager feature templates for VRRP, OSPF, BGP and EIGRP.
- Describe multicast support, configuration and policy groups, and feature profiles.
Official topics
- Describe WAN Edge deployment
- Configure Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN data plane
- Configure OMP
- Configure TLOCs
- Configure CLI and SD-WAN Manager feature configuration templates
- Describe multicast support in Cisco SD-WAN
- Describe configuration and policy groups, feature profiles, and workflows
Policies20%30 questions
Policies decide where routes go and how traffic flows. Candidates configure control policies, data policies that act on packets, end-to-end segmentation with VPNs, application-aware routing and Direct Internet Access.
Skills tested
- Write a control policy that builds a hub-and-spoke or other custom topology.
- Write a data policy that matches traffic and sets a next hop, a local internet exit or a QoS marking.
- Keep segments apart from end to end with VPN segmentation and membership.
- Configure application-aware routing with SLA classes and AI-driven Predictive Path Recommendation.
- Set up Direct Internet Access for users at a branch.
Questions by topic
- Configuring Centralized Policies for Traffic Engineering6
- Hierarchical SD-WAN Design (Regions)1
- Cloud OnRamp for SaaS1
- Control Policy vs. Data Policy8
- Application-Aware Routing (AAR) SLA8
- Service Chaining / Service Insertion6
Security and Quality of Service15%
This domain protects and prioritizes traffic. Candidates insert services such as firewalls into the path, describe the built-in security features and cloud security integration, configure QoS on WAN Edge routers and describe the AppQoE optimizations.
Skills tested
- Redirect traffic to a firewall or another service with service insertion.
- Describe the enterprise firewall, IPS, URL filtering, AMP, TLS proxy and TrustSec features.
- Connect branches to DNS security and a Secure Internet Gateway (SIG).
- Configure scheduling, queuing, shaping, policing and marking, including per-tunnel and adaptive QoS.
- Explain TCP optimization, DRE, packet duplication and FEC.
Official topics
- Configure service insertion
- Describe Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN security features
- Describe Cloud security integration
- Configure QoS treatment on WAN Edge routers
- Describe Application Quality of Experience (AppQoE)
Management and Operations10%14 questions
This domain covers running the fabric once it is built. Candidates handle authentication, monitoring, reporting and troubleshooting from SD-WAN Manager, monitoring through the REST API, and software image upgrades.
Skills tested
- Set up user authentication and role-based access in SD-WAN Manager.
- Read device health, alarms and reports in SD-WAN Manager.
- Pull monitoring data from the fabric through the REST API.
- Upgrade router and controller software images from SD-WAN Manager.
Questions by topic
- Device Templates and Variables3
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)5
- Verification Commands1
- Cloud OnRamp for SaaS1
- Monitoring and Management4
Requirements
- No formal prerequisites: anyone can book the exam.
- Recommended: CCNA certification or the same level of networking knowledge.
- Recommended: an understanding of WAN technologies and routing protocols, plus experience with Cisco IOS XE.
- Recommended: a basic understanding of security concepts.
About the 300-415 exam
300-415 ENSDWI tests whether a network engineer can deploy and run Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, from the controllers to the WAN Edge router at each site. It covers architecture, controller and router deployment, policies, security and quality of service (QoS), and daily operations. Cisco's topics now use the Catalyst names: SD-WAN Manager, SD-WAN Controller and SD-WAN Validator were called vManage, vSmart and vBond in older material. Passing earns the Cisco Certified Specialist - Enterprise SD-WAN Implementation certification. With the ENCOR core exam, it also earns CCNP Enterprise.
In the PlanetCert practice test, policies draw the most questions, especially how control policies differ from data policies, and how application-aware routing picks a path. The explanations show the reasoning behind each answer, for example that a control policy changes which OMP routes a branch receives, while a data policy changes how its packets are forwarded. Study Mode suits the QoS and AppQoE questions, where several features sound alike. Brainy AI Assistant can explain what makes up a TLOC, or why a WAN Edge router cannot form a control connection.
How to earn the certification
- Earns
- Cisco Certified Specialist - Enterprise SD-WAN ImplementationProfessional
Cisco certifications are valid for three years.
- Before
- 200-301 Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
Recommended, not required. It covers the routing and WAN basics that this exam builds on.
- 200-301 Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
- After
- 350-401 Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR)
The CCNP Enterprise core exam. Passing it as well as 300-415 earns CCNP Enterprise.
- 350-401 Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR)
How to prepare for 300-415
- 1
Learn the planes and their old names
Draw the orchestration, management, control and data planes, and label each component with its current and former name. Many study notes still say vManage, vSmart and vBond.
- 2
Build a small fabric in a lab
Cisco dCloud or Cisco Modeling Labs can host the controllers and a few WAN Edge routers. Bring up a hub and two branches, then remove a device from the device list and repair the control connection.
- 3
Write each policy type by hand
Policies get the most practice questions. Build a hub-and-spoke control policy, a data policy for Direct Internet Access and an application-aware routing policy, and watch how each one changes routes or traffic.
- 4
Tie QoS and AppQoE to real flows
Apply shaping and per-tunnel QoS to a voice flow and a bulk transfer, then compare TCP optimization, DRE and FEC. Note what each feature changes on the link.
- 5
Time a full ENSDWI run
Take the 300-415 practice test in Timed Mode once every domain has been studied. Ask Brainy AI Assistant for a new question on any OMP or TLOC case that went wrong, and repeat that case in the lab.
Start a timed 300-415run
Cisco's course for this exam is Implementing Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Solutions. It is offered as instructor-led training, as e-learning and as a learning path on Cisco U.
Who 300-415 is for
- Enterprise network engineers moving branch WAN links from MPLS to Catalyst SD-WAN.
- CCNP Enterprise candidates who want a concentration exam that matches their WAN work.
- Network operations staff who monitor and upgrade an SD-WAN fabric from SD-WAN Manager.
Typical job titles: Network engineer · SD-WAN engineer · SD-WAN architect · Cloud network engineer · WAN operations engineer
300-415 glossary
18 terms from the exam objectives and the vendor's official material, each defined in a sentence.
- Application-aware routing
- Choosing the tunnel for each application from measured loss, latency and jitter, so traffic moves when a path stops meeting its SLA.
- AppNav
- The AppQoE component that decides which traffic flows go to optimization services such as TCP optimization and DRE.
- BFD
- Bidirectional Forwarding Detection: small probes sent through each tunnel to check that the path is up and to measure loss, latency and jitter.
- Cloud OnRamp
- Features that connect the SD-WAN fabric to SaaS applications, IaaS clouds and colocation sites over the best available path.
- Data Redundancy elimination (DRE)
- An AppQoE feature that avoids sending the same data twice over the WAN by replacing repeated byte patterns with short references.
- Direct Internet Access
- Sending a branch's internet traffic straight out of its local internet link instead of through the data center.
- Forward error correction (FEC)
- Sending extra recovery packets, so the receiving router can rebuild lost packets without waiting for a resend.
- Multi-Region Fabric
- A hierarchical design that groups sites into access regions, which connect to a core region through border routers.
- OMP
- Overlay Management Protocol: the protocol that carries routes, TLOCs and policy information between the SD-WAN Controller and the WAN Edge routers.
- SD-WAN Controller
- The control plane component, formerly vSmart, that shares routes and policies with WAN Edge routers through OMP.
- SD-WAN Manager
- The central management console, formerly vManage, where engineers build templates and policies and monitor the fabric.
- SD-WAN Validator
- The orchestration component, formerly vBond, that authenticates new devices, points them to the controllers and helps with NAT traversal.
- Secure Internet Gateway (SIG)
- A cloud security service that inspects a branch's internet traffic, reached through tunnels from the WAN Edge router.
- Service insertion
- Steering chosen traffic through a service such as a firewall before it continues to its destination.
- TLOC
- Transport locator: one router's attachment to one transport, identified by the router's system IP address, a color and an encapsulation.
- TLOC-extension
- A setup in which a WAN Edge router reaches a transport through a neighbor router at the same site, so both routers can use both circuits.
- WAN Edge
- The router at each site that builds secure tunnels to other sites and forwards user traffic over them.
- ZTP
- Zero-touch provisioning: a new router finds its controllers and downloads its configuration at first boot, with no manual setup on site.
Related practice tests
- 300-535Automating and Programming Cisco Service Provider Solutions (SPAUTO)
- 200-901CCNA Automation (DevNet Associate)
- 200-201CCNA Cybersecurity (CyberOps Associate)
- 200-301Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
- 300-420Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks (ENSLD)