Which attribute controls prioritization of traffic in SD-WAN service?

• A. QoS policy
• B. SLA targets
• C. Encryption settings
• D. Overlay topology

Answer: (A)

Traffic prioritization in SD-WAN is driven by the QoS policy. A QoS policy defines classes of service and the rules that map different traffic types into those classes. It then specifies how each class should be treated—such as which traffic gets high priority, minimum or maximum bandwidth, and any shaping or queuing behavior. This direct control over per-class handling allows critical applications (like voice and video) to receive preferred treatment on congested links and across multiple paths, ensuring lower latency and jitter where it matters most.

SLA targets describe overall performance goals (uptime, latency, packet loss) and aren’t used to steer individual streams in real time. Encryption settings affect security, not traffic priority. Overlay topology defines how the SD-WAN fabric is connected, not how traffic is prioritized once it’s flowing.