Which Cisco SD-WAN component authenticates WAN Edge devices before they join the overlay fabric?

• A. vSmart
• B. vBond
• C. vManage
• D. IPS

Answer: (B)

WAN Edge device authentication before joining the overlay fabric is handled by the vBond orchestrator. vBond is the first contact point in Cisco SD-WAN and is responsible for verifying the identity of each edge device and authorizing it to participate in the fabric, typically using certificates or credentials. Once an edge is authenticated, vBond provides the necessary information so the edge can establish secure control-plane communication with the vSmart controllers and join the overlay.

vSmart takes over the control-plane role once devices are authenticated, distributing policies and routing information. vManage is the management plane used for provisioning and monitoring, but it doesn’t perform the initial edge authentication. IPS isn’t part of the SD-WAN fabric components.