1.2 Explain the Functionality of Slow Path and Fast Path for Packet Inspection NETWORK-SECURITY-PROFESSIONAL Practice Questions (Page 4)

Questions 16–20

1. 16foundation · easy

   What is a key characteristic of fast path processing in a Palo Alto Networks firewall?

   • AIt performs full signature matching on every packet.
   • BIt requires the packet to be reassembled before forwarding.
   • CIt is used for the first packet of every new session.
   • DIt relies on the session table to forward packets without re-evaluating the full security policy.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
2. 17application · medium

   A firewall administrator is configuring a new security policy for a critical application. The application uses a protocol that sends a large number of small packets. The administrator wants to ensure that the application's traffic is processed with the lowest possible latency. What should the administrator do?

   • AEnsure that the application's sessions are established and then allow the firewall to process the traffic on the fast path.
   • BUse a security policy that only inspects the first packet of each session and skips the rest.
   • CConfigure the security policy to send all of the application's traffic to the slow path for maximum inspection.
   • DDisable the session table for this application to ensure that every packet is inspected.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
4. 18foundation · easy

   How does the fast path in a Palo Alto Networks firewall achieve high throughput?

   • ABy re-evaluating security policies for each packet to ensure compliance.
   • BBy performing deep packet inspection on every packet to ensure security.
   • CBy sending all packets to the control plane for processing.
   • DBy using hardware offloading and leveraging existing session information to forward packets quickly.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
5. 19expert · hard

   A large enterprise is experiencing high latency on a firewall that sits between two core network segments. The traffic is a mix of long-lived database connections and short-lived web requests. The firewall's CPU utilization is consistently high. The administrator suspects that the fast path is not being utilized effectively. Which action would most directly improve fast path utilization for the database connections?

   • AIncrease the session timeout for the database application to prevent sessions from expiring prematurely.
   • BMove the database traffic to a separate virtual wire interface to isolate it from the web traffic.
   • CDisable the security policy for the database traffic to allow it to bypass inspection.
   • DConfigure the firewall to use a different hash algorithm for the session table to speed up lookups.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
6. 20foundation · easy

   How does a Palo Alto Networks firewall determine whether a packet belongs to an existing session?

   • ABy sending the packet to the management plane for analysis.
   • BBy performing a lookup in the session table using the packet's five-tuple information.
   • CBy checking the packet's source and destination IP addresses against the routing table.
   • DBy performing a full signature match on the packet payload.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first