Which Cisco SD-WAN component authenticates WAN Edge devices and facilitates orchestration-plane connectivity?

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

Answer: (D)

In Cisco SD-WAN, the bootstrap and authentication of WAN Edge devices, and the setup of orchestration-plane connectivity, are handled by the vBond component. vBond acts as the initial rendezvous point that authenticates the edge (using certificates or credentials) and then tells it where to reach for control-plane services, enabling secure connections to the vSmart controller and vManage. This establishes the orchestration-plane path the edge needs to join the fabric and receive policies.

The other components have different roles: vSmart manages control-plane policies and routing for the fabric, vManage provides the centralized GUI and config management, and FMC is not part of the SD-WAN control plane.