What are two characteristics of a controller-based network?

Answer B,C is correct: B. It uses northbound and southbound APIs to communicate between architectural layers; C. It moves the control plane to a central point.. Automation and controller-based networking require separating APIs, management-plane actions, data formats, and centralized control from traditional device-by-device configuration. Cisco CCNA 200-301 v1.1 includes this under Automation and Programmability, where the exam expects engineers to recognize the device behavior that actually produces the required outcome. The question is best solved by reading the operational clue rather than choosing a familiar acronym. The wrong options mix northbound and southbound roles, control and data plane functions, or automation outcomes with unrelated technologies. In a production network, the wrong choice would normally create an outage, leave a management or security gap, or send troubleshooting toward the wrong subsystem. The selected answer is the one that matches the control-plane, data-plane, wireless, security, services, or automation mechanism described in the question. That is why it remains the verified answer for this item.