A great way to start the Palo Alto Networks Certified Software Firewall Engineer (PCSFE) preparation is to begin by properly appreciating the role that syllabus and study guide play in the Palo Alto PCSFE certification exam. This study guide is an instrument to get you on the same page with Palo Alto and understand the nature of the Palo Alto PCSFE exam.
Our team of experts has composed this Palo Alto PCSFE exam preparation guide to provide the overview about Palo Alto Software Firewall Engineer exam, study material, sample questions, practice exam and ways to interpret the exam objectives to help you assess your readiness for the Palo Alto PCSFE exam by identifying prerequisite areas of knowledge. We recommend you to refer the simulation questions and practice test listed in this guide to determine what type of questions will be asked and the level of difficulty that could be tested in the Palo Alto PCSFE certification exam.
Palo Alto PCSFE Exam Overview:
|
Exam Name
|
Software Firewall Engineer |
| Exam Number | PCSFE |
| Exam Price | $175 USD |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Number of Questions | 60 |
| Passing Score | Variable (70-80 / 100 Approx.) |
| Recommended Training |
Firewall Essentials - Configuration and Management (EDU-210) Panorama - Managing Firewalls at Scale (EDU-220) Firewall: Troubleshooting (EDU-330) “Software Firewall” digital learning courses |
| Exam Registration | PEARSON VUE |
| Sample Questions | Palo Alto PCSFE Sample Questions |
| Practice Exam | Palo Alto Networks Certified Software Firewall Engineer Practice Test |
Palo Alto PCSFE Exam Topics:
| Section | Objectives |
|---|---|
Software Firewall Fundamentals - 14% |
|
| Differentiate between software firewalls |
- VM-Series - CN-Series - Cloud next generation firewall (NGFW) (i.e., AWS and Azure) - Cloud-Delivered Security Services (CDSS) subscriptions |
| Describe licensing options for software firewalls |
- Flex licensing - Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) - Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) subscriptions |
Securing Environments with Software Firewalls - 16% |
|
| Describe methodologies for securing data centers |
- Segmentation - Virtualization - Application visibility and control - VPN connectivity controls |
| Explain how traffic flow is secured in public cloud environments |
- Inbound controls - Outbound controls - East-west controls |
| Explain how traffic flow is secured in virtualized branch environments |
- Inbound controls - Outbound controls - East-west controls |
Deployment Architecture - 18% |
|
| Describe common VM-Series deployment models |
- Centralized - Distributed |
| Explain the use of VM-Series firewalls in centralized and distributed environments |
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP) deployments - High availability (HA) - Autoscaling - Azure Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) - Amazon Web Services (AWS) Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) - Azure VNET - VWAN |
| Describe VM-Series private cloud integrations |
- Virtual wire (vwire) - Layer 3 mode |
| Describe CN-Series deployment methods |
- Daemonset - Kubernetes service - Container Network Function (CNF) - Hyperscale deployment mode |
Automation and Orchestration - 16% |
|
| Describe software firewall management tools |
- Panorama for VM-Series and CN-Series - Helm charts and operators for CN-Series - Cloud NGFW interface for AWS - AWS firewall manager |
| Describe software firewall automation tools |
- Ansible - Terraform - AWS CloudFormation template (CFT) |
Technology Integration - 13% |
|
| Explain how Intelligent Traffic Offload (ITO) integrates with VM-Series firewalls | |
| Explain the deployment process for VM-Series software firewalls using third-party marketplaces |
- GCP - Azure - AWS - Alibaba Cloud |
| Explain the deployment process for CN-Series software firewalls using Panorama |
- AWS - Azure |
Troubleshooting - 13% |
|
| Troubleshoot CN-Series software firewalls |
- Deployment - Traffic |
| Troubleshoot VM-Series software firewalls |
- Deployment - Traffic |
| Troubleshoot Cloud NGFW software firewalls |
- Deployment - Traffic |
| Troubleshoot Panorama plugins |
- Kubernetes - Public cloud (i.e., AWS, Azure, and GCP) - VMware vCenter - VMware NSX |
Management Plugins and Log Forwarding - 10% |
|
| Describe Cloud NGFW log forwarding destinations |
- AWS Simple Storage Service (S3) - Kinesis - AWS CloudWatch - Azure Application Insight - Google Stackdriver |
| Describe use of management plugins |
- Public Cloud (i.e., AWS, Azure, and GCP) - Kubernetes - VMware vCenter - VMware NSX |
Palo Alto PCSFE Exam Description:
The Palo Alto Networks Certified Software Firewall Engineer (PCSFE) is a formal certification for Palo Alto Networks DevSecOps administrators, engineers, and architects who work with securing cloud environments and their subsystems. The exam is proctored by a third party. Success on the PCSFE exam indicates the in-depth knowledge, skills, and abilities to deploy, integrate, and maintain Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, CN-Series, and Cloud Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs). The exam is not intended to contain trick questions or test obscure details. However, a nuanced understanding and the ability to make subtle technical distinctions—which are gained through significant experience—will help you make informed answer choice decisions.