Spine-and-Leaf Architecture: Explained | Cisco CCNA Exam

Spine-and-Leaf Architecture

Question

What is a characteristic of spine-and-leaf architecture?

Answers

Explanations

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A. B. C. D.

D.

Spine-and-leaf architecture is a network topology that is commonly used in modern data centers. This architecture is designed to provide high bandwidth and low latency connectivity between devices in the network. In this architecture, switches are arranged in a spine-and-leaf topology, where leaf switches are connected to spine switches in a full mesh configuration.

Now let's look at each answer option in detail:

A. Each link between leaf switches allows for higher bandwidth: This statement is true in a spine-and-leaf architecture. In this topology, each leaf switch is connected to every spine switch, which provides multiple paths for traffic to flow between devices. This design provides higher bandwidth and reduces the risk of congestion.

B. It provides greater predictability on STP blocked ports: This statement is not true in a spine-and-leaf architecture. Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is not typically used in this architecture since there are no redundant links that need to be blocked. Instead, all links are active and traffic is load balanced across all available paths.

C. It provides variable latency: This statement is not true in a spine-and-leaf architecture. This architecture is designed to provide low latency connectivity between devices. Each device is connected to the spine switch, which provides a direct path for traffic to flow. Since the spine-and-leaf topology is a non-blocking architecture, there are no delays caused by blocking or dropped packets.

D. Each device is separated by the same number of hops: This statement is not true in a spine-and-leaf architecture. In this topology, the number of hops between devices can vary depending on the location of the devices in the network. However, since all devices are connected to the spine switch, the latency is minimized and the network provides a predictable performance.