Pass the Fortinet Certified Solution Specialist FCSS_SDW_AR-7.6 Questions and answers with Dumpstech

The SD-WAN monitor’s table view in FortiManager provides a donut visualization plus a detailed table that shows each SD-WAN member’s status and SLA pass/miss, giving the per-member health view you’re after.

For FortiGate to steer traffic using SD-WAN rules, two foundational elements must be in place: available WAN paths (underlay links) and firewall policies that allow traffic to reach the SD-WAN interface.

Underlay links (Option B) are mandatory because SD-WAN operates by selecting among multiple WAN transports (for example, broadband, MPLS, LTE, or IPsec tunnels). These links are configured as SD-WAN members and form the physical or logical paths over which traffic can be steered. Without underlay links, SD-WAN has no paths to evaluate or select.

Firewall policies (Option E) are also mandatory because FortiGate only processes and forwards traffic that is explicitly permitted by a firewall policy. When SD-WAN is enabled, firewall policies must reference the SD-WAN interface or SD-WAN zone as the outgoing interface. If no such policy exists, traffic will not be forwarded and SD-WAN rules will never be evaluated.

Why the other options are incorrect:

Security profiles (Option A) are optional and relate to inspection, not SD-WAN steering.

Overlay links (Option C) are used in specific designs such as ADVPN or hub-and-spoke overlays, but SD-WAN can steer traffic without overlays (for example, DIA-only designs).

Traffic shaping (Option D) is not required for SD-WAN decision-making; it is an optional optimization feature.

Therefore, the two required features that must be configured before FortiGate can steer traffic according to SD-WAN rules are underlay links and firewall policies, which correspond to B and E.

In Fortinet SD-WAN architecture, underlay and overlay have distinct meanings:

Underlay links are the physical or logical transport networks that provide basic IP connectivity (for example, broadband, MPLS, LTE/5G).

Overlay links are virtual tunnels (such as IPsec VPNs) built on top of the underlay, providing abstraction, routing control, and segmentation.

Option B is correct.

Overlay links (for example, IPsec tunnels used in SD-WAN and ADVPN) decouple routing from the physical transport. This allows dynamic path selection, segmentation, and flexible routing policies independent of the underlay. Providing routing flexibility is a core purpose of overlays in SD-WAN.

Option D is correct.

Wireless connections such as LTE or 5G can be used as underlay transports, and overlay tunnels can be built over them. Fortinet SD-WAN fully supports building IPsec overlays on wireless underlays, making wireless links valid for overlay construction.

Why the other options are incorrect:

Option A is incorrect because a VLAN is a Layer 2 segmentation mechanism, not an SD-WAN overlay link.

Option C is incorrect because FortiLink is used for internal management and switch/AP connectivity, not as a WAN underlay for SD-WAN.

Option E is incorrect because underlay links can be wired or wireless; they are not limited to wired connections.

Therefore, the two correct statements are B and D.

Fortinet outlines key SD-WAN routing principles:

"Policy routes are always evaluated before SD-WAN rules, meaning if a policy route matches, SD-WAN steering is bypassed. If the best route for a destination is not via an SD-WAN member, SD-WAN rules do not apply, and members are ignored if they lack a valid route. This hierarchy ensures traffic always follows the most deterministic and valid path according to configuration."

Understanding these principles is critical for correct SD-WAN and routing integration.

The policy-route output shows the matching SD-WAN service for destination 10.66.0.0/24 is vwl_service=4 (LAN-to-Corp2) with vwl_mbr_seq=1 2 and paths oif=3(port1) and oif=4(port2). Therefore, traffic from 10.0.1.133 to 10.66.0.125 is steered via SD-WAN member ID 1 or 2.

Policy 3 points traffic To = HUB1-VPN1, which is an SD-WAN member interface. In SD-WAN you must reference the SD-WAN zone (the logical interface) in policies, not its member tunnels. Change the policy’s To interface to the zone HUB1, and the install will succeed.

The diagnose output lists SD-WAN members 4(HUB1-VPN1), 5(HUB1-VPN2), 7(HUB2-VPN1), 8(HUB2-VPN2), and 9(HUB2-VPN3). It does not include member 6 (HUB1-VPN3). From the template, HUB1-VPN3 is installed only on branch2_fgt and branch3_fgt - not on branch1_fgt. Therefore, the output must be from branch1_fgt.