What is a use case for a two-tier L2 design for a dedicated data center?

Question

Options

• AServer room adjacent to campus core
• BCustomers with medium-to-large data centers with application demanding requirements
• CCustomers with small-to-medium data centers with less demanding requirements
• DData Center that is located in a separate building to the campus network

• B
  7% (2)
• C
  89% (25)
• D
  4% (1)

Explanation

A two-tier L2 (Layer 2) design collapses the distribution and core layers into a single layer, reducing complexity and cost - making it the right fit for small-to-medium data centers with less demanding requirements (C). The simplicity of two tiers is sufficient when traffic volumes, redundancy needs, and application complexity are modest.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (server room adjacent to campus core) describes a physical proximity scenario more relevant to a single-tier or campus-collapsed-core design, not a dedicated data center architecture.
• B (medium-to-large, demanding requirements) is the opposite of what two-tier L2 is designed for - those environments need a full three-tier design (access → distribution → core) to handle scale, redundancy, and performance.
• D (separate building from campus) describes a physical/geographical attribute, not an architectural driver; large remote DCs would still typically use three-tier, not two-tier L2.

Memory tip: Think "Two tiers = two small" - the fewer the tiers, the simpler and smaller the environment it serves. If the data center grows or gets demanding apps, you graduate to three tiers.

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