In Apstra 5.1, resources are values that must be allocated uniquely and consistently across a fabric so Apstra can render deterministic, conflict-free configurations. These values are managed through resource pools, which provide ranges (or sets) of assignable identifiers that Apstra can automatically allocate to blueprint elements during build and deployment.

Three valid resource pool types in Apstra are ASN pools, VNI pools, and integer pools. ASN pools supply Autonomous System Numbers used in IP fabric underlays (commonly eBGP in three-stage Clos), ensuring each device or role receives the correct AS assignment without manual tracking. VNI pools supply VXLAN Network Identifiers for overlay segmentation in EVPN-VXLAN fabrics. Apstra uses these to create scalable tenant segments where the VNI uniquely identifies the broadcast domain in the overlay, and Junos v24.4 devices (leaf VTEPs) are configured accordingly. Integer pools provide generic numeric values used mainly in Freeform-style designs or in situations where a template needs a consistent allocated integer (for example, a custom ID used by a configlet or another allocation-driven construct).

“Routing zone pools” and “interface pools” are not resource pool types in Apstra. Routing zones (VRFs) are blueprint design objects, and interfaces are physical/logical constructs, but neither is consumed as an allocatable “pool” resource type in the Apstra resource catalog model.

In Apstra, a collapsed fabric (also described as “spineless”) consolidates traditional fabric tiers so that the primary fabric devices perform combined roles. Instead of a dedicated spine tier providing transit between leafs, the fabric is formed by leaf devices connected directly to each other using mesh links. This means a collapsed fabric uses a full-mesh topology at the leaf level, replacing the usual leaf-to-spine connections found in a three-stage Clos. Therefore, the statement that leaf devices are full-mesh connected is correct.

Because the collapsed fabric devices serve the fabric roles, they also provide the EVPN-VXLAN overlay functions (VTEP behavior, EVPN control-plane participation, and VXLAN encapsulation/decapsulation) necessary for tenant segmentation and service delivery. Juniper’s collapsed fabric validated designs further describe the collapsed fabric switches as serving all fabric roles (including border-leaf behaviors when external connectivity is required), reinforcing that overlay functions reside on these fabric leaf devices.

The remaining statements are not generally true for the collapsed fabric definition. Top-of-rack (access) switches—when present in certain collapsed designs—are not defined by default as full-mesh connected, and VXLAN support is not a requirement for those TOR/access switches unless the specific architecture explicitly uses them as VTEPs. The defining characteristics are the consolidated fabric roles and the leaf-level full-mesh.

Verified Juniper sources (URLs):

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/us/en/software/apstra5.0/apstra-user-guide/topics/concept/templates.html

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/us/en/software/apstra4.2/apstra-user-guide/topics/concept/rack-types.html

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/us/en/software/jvd/jvd-collapsed-dc-fabric-with-apstra/jvd-collapsed-dc-fabric-with-apstra.pdf

In Apstra deployments that use on-box device agents, the agent package installs multiple processes inside the switch’s NOS namespace to provide an isolated runtime environment for Apstra control and telemetry collection. Two of those processes are the Telemetry Agent and the Deployment Agent. The Telemetry Agent is responsible for collecting operational information from the device—such as LLDP neighbor details, routing-related state, and interface information—and sending that telemetry upstream to Apstra. This telemetry is a key input for closed-loop assurance in EVPN-VXLAN fabrics, where Apstra correlates underlay health (interfaces, neighbors, sessions) with overlay services.

The Deployment Agent is responsible for receiving configuration content pushed from Apstra and applying it on the device. In a Junos v24.4 fabric, this is the component that enables Apstra to converge device configuration to the blueprint’s intent (for example, BGP underlay, EVPN signaling, and VXLAN constructs) without requiring manual CLI workflows. Both agents are typically idle most of the time, becoming active when Apstra needs to apply configuration changes or when significant state changes trigger telemetry updates.

Other listed options—“routing agent” and “authentication agent”—are not the named Apstra device-agent processes described for the on-box agent package in Juniper documentation.

Verified Juniper sources (URLs):

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/us/en/software/apstra4.2/apstra-server-and-security-guide/topics/concept/apstra-device-agents.html

In Apstra 5.1, the top-level blueprint banner uses tab indicators (colored badges) to summarize blueprint status across areas such as Staged, Uncommitted, Active, and Analytics. The presence of an Uncommitted indicator signifies that there are staged modifications that have not yet been committed and therefore are not part of the active, deployed intent. That directly corresponds to the statement that changes exist which are not active on the fabric.

At the same time, the banner shows an Active indicator in an alarm state, which reflects that the running fabric has issues requiring attention—commonly surfaced as anomalies (for example, configuration deviation, interface/link faults, protocol/session issues, or service-impacting conditions). In Apstra’s operational model, these issues appear as anomalies that operators should investigate and remediate to restore compliance and health. Therefore, the statement that there are anomalies that must be addressed is also correct.

The remaining options are not implied by this banner alone. Device profile assignment and resource assignment are build-time tasks, but their absence is not what the Uncommitted/Active alert indicators are specifically communicating here. The banner is highlighting uncommitted intent changes and active anomalies that affect the deployed blueprint state and assurance posture.

Verified Juniper sources (URLs):

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/us/en/software/apstra5.1/apstra-user-guide/topics/concept/uncommitted.html

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/us/en/software/apstra5.0/apstra-user-guide/topics/topic-map/anomalies-service-active.html

https://cloudlabs.apstra.com/labguide/Cloudlabs/6.0.0/test-drive-guide/lab1-junos-5_blueprints_.html

In a VXLAN overlay, each Layer 2 broadcast domain (the logical equivalent of a VLAN/bridge domain) is identified by a 24-bit VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) carried in the VXLAN header. This VNI is what allows the overlay to scale far beyond traditional VLAN space (12-bit VLAN IDs), enabling up to ~16 million distinct segments. In an EVPN-VXLAN data center fabric, Junos v24.4 leaf switches operate as VTEPs and map local bridge domains (often associated with VLANs on server-facing ports) to a VNI. When traffic is sent across the routed underlay, the leaf encapsulates Ethernet frames into VXLAN packets and inserts the VNI so the receiving VTEP can place the frame into the correct broadcast domain on decapsulation.

Apstra 5.1 abstracts this mapping through virtual networks and resource allocation: when you define a VXLAN-based virtual network, Apstra allocates a VNI from the appropriate pool and consistently programs the necessary constructs on all participating leaves. The key point is that VNI is the unique identifier in the VXLAN data plane used to label the broadcast domain across the IP fabric; VLAN IDs may exist locally at the edge for tagging, but the globally significant overlay identifier is the VNI.

Verified Juniper sources (URLs):

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/us/en/software/junos/evpn/topics/topic-map/sdn-vxlan.html

In Apstra 5.1, an IBA probe is a defined analytics pipeline that applies to a scoped set of graph objects (here, interfaces) and evaluates telemetry against logic defined in its processors. The exhibit shows a probe that consumes Interface Counters Average and then applies a Range processor. In the processor configuration, the Anomalous Range is set to “greater than 1,000,000” (bytes per second–equivalent for ~1 Mbps depending on the probe’s metric definition), and Raise Anomaly is set to True. Therefore, when ge-0/0/5 receives an average traffic level above the configured threshold, the probe’s condition evaluates as anomalous and Apstra raises a probe anomaly for that interface. That makes statement A correct.

When probe anomalies are raised, Apstra surfaces them in the blueprint’s Analytics area because they are analytics-derived findings (as opposed to configuration drift or deployment workflow issues). As a result, the blueprint’s Analytics tab indicator changes state (commonly to red with a badge count) to signal active analytics anomalies requiring attention. That makes statement B correct.

This event is not classified as a service anomaly (which is associated with higher-level service intent/assurance objects) unless separately mapped by policy/logic, and it does not primarily drive the Active tab indicator, which is focused on operational state views rather than being the primary alert surface for IBA probe anomalies.

In Apstra 5.1, the Staged > Physical > Links workspace is where you build and validate the cabling (link) intent for the fabric before committing changes. During deployment and day-0/1 build, Apstra can leverage LLDP neighbor discovery from the connected devices to accelerate and validate the cabling map. The indicated toolbar icon in the Links view is used to fetch discovered LLDP data from the devices so Apstra can compare the discovered neighbor relationships with the intended topology and, depending on workflow, help populate or validate link endpoints.

This is particularly important in leaf-spine IP fabrics because correct physical connectivity underpins the entire underlay—interface states, point-to-point addressing, and BGP sessions. In an EVPN-VXLAN design running Junos v24.4, broken or mis-cabled links quickly manifest as missing underlay adjacencies and failed EVPN control-plane signaling. Pulling LLDP discovery into Apstra helps you identify mismatches early (wrong neighbor, wrong port, missing neighbor) and reduces manual cabling errors.

This action is not merely a UI refresh, it does not wipe the cable map, and it does not modify link speeds. Its operational purpose is to import discovered LLDP neighbor information into the blueprint’s physical link view so Apstra can assist with accurate topology validation and deployment readiness.