Question 1mediummatching
Full question →Match each routing term to its description.
Answer choices are not available in this preview. Open the full question page for the complete review.
mediummatchingObjective-mapped
Match each routing term to its description.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
A common exam trap is confusing administrative distance with metric. Both influence route selection but operate at different levels: administrative distance compares trustworthiness across routing protocols, while metric compares path costs within a single protocol. Misunderstanding this leads to incorrect route preference assumptions. Another trap is assuming a default route is just any route, when it specifically serves as a fallback when no specific route matches the destination. Summarization is often overlooked or confused with default routing, but it actually aggregates multiple routes to reduce routing table size and update traffic.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
Routing in Cisco networks relies on several key concepts to determine how packets reach their destinations efficiently and reliably. Administrative distance is a value assigned to routing protocols to indicate their trustworthiness; lower values mean higher trust. For example, directly connected routes have an administrative distance of 0, making them most preferred. Metrics, on the other hand, are protocol-specific values used internally to select the best path among multiple available routes within the same routing protocol. For instance, OSPF uses cost based on bandwidth, while EIGRP uses a composite metric including bandwidth and delay. The router uses administrative distance first to choose which routing protocol's route to install in the routing table when multiple protocols provide routes to the same destination. If multiple routes come from the same protocol, the metric determines the best path. A default route is a special routing entry used when no other specific route matches the destination IP address; it acts as a catch-all to forward traffic to a next-hop router or interface. Summarization reduces routing table size and update overhead by combining multiple contiguous routes into a single advertisement, improving scalability and efficiency. The biggest source of confusion in Cisco routing questions is mixing administrative distance and metric, as both influence route selection but at different decision points. Administrative distance compares route sources across protocols, while metric compares paths within a protocol. Misinterpreting default routes as general routes or confusing summarization with default routing can also cause errors. Understanding these distinctions is critical for Cisco CCNA exam success and practical network design, where route trust and path efficiency must be balanced carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Administrative distance determines how much a router trusts a routing protocol compared to others, with lower values indicating higher trustworthiness.
- Metric is a routing protocol-specific value used to select the best path among multiple routes within the same protocol based on criteria like bandwidth or delay.
- A default route acts as a fallback path used when no more specific route to a destination exists in the routing table.
- Summarization aggregates multiple specific routes into a broader route advertisement to reduce routing table size and update traffic.
- Routers first compare administrative distance to choose between routes from different protocols before using metric to select the best path within a single protocol.
- Administrative distance values are fixed per protocol in Cisco devices, influencing route preference regardless of metric values.
- Default routes simplify routing decisions by providing a single path for unknown destinations, improving network efficiency.
- Summarization helps optimize routing performance by minimizing the number of routes advertised and stored in routing tables.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Related practice questions
Related 200-301 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
CCNA subnetting practice questions
Practise IPv4 subnetting, CIDR, masks, host ranges and subnet selection.
CCNA OSPF practice questions
Practise OSPF neighbours, router IDs, metrics, areas and routing-table interpretation.
CCNA VLAN practice questions
Practise VLANs, access ports, trunks, allowed VLANs and switching scenarios.
CCNA STP practice questions
Practise spanning tree, root bridge election, port roles and STP troubleshooting.
CCNA EtherChannel practice questions
Practise LACP, PAgP, port-channel behaviour and bundle requirements.
CCNA ACL practice questions
Practise standard and extended ACLs, permit/deny logic and traffic filtering.
CCNA NAT practice questions
Practise static NAT, dynamic NAT, PAT and inside/outside address translation.
CCNA DHCP practice questions
Practise DHCP scopes, relay, leases and troubleshooting.
CCNA show ip route practice questions
Practise routing-table output, longest-prefix match, AD and route selection.
CCNA show interfaces trunk practice questions
Practise trunk verification and VLAN forwarding across switches.
CCNA wireless security practice questions
Practise WLAN security, authentication and wireless architecture concepts.
CCNA IPv6 practice questions
Practise IPv6 addressing, routes, neighbour discovery and common IPv6 exam traps.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A router learns the same prefix from both OSPF and EIGRP. Which route is installed by default?
Question 2
A router shows this output: R1#show ip ospf neighbor Neighbor ID Pri State Dead Time Address Interface 10.1.1.2 1 FULL/DR 00:00:34 192.168.12.2 GigabitEthernet0/0 10.1.1.3 1 2WAY/DROTHER 00:00:39 192.168.12.3 GigabitEthernet0/0 Which statement is correct?
Question 3
What is the OSPF metric called?
Question 4
A non-root switch has two uplinks toward the root bridge. One path has a lower total STP cost than the other. What role will the lower-cost uplink have?
Question 5
A router interface applies this ACL inbound: 10 deny tcp any any eq 80 20 permit ip any any A user reports that web browsing to a server by IP address fails, but ping works. Which statement best explains the behavior?
Question 6
A router learns route 198.51.100.0/24 from OSPF with AD 110 and also has a static route to the same prefix configured with AD 150. Which route is installed?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this 200-301 question test?
Administrative distance determines how much a router trusts a routing protocol compared to others, with lower values indicating higher trustworthiness.
What exam trap should I watch out for?
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword: A common exam trap is confusing administrative distance with metric. Both influence route selection but operate at different levels: administrative distance compares trustworthiness across routing protocols, while metric compares path costs within a single protocol. Misunderstanding this leads to incorrect route preference assumptions. Another trap is assuming a default route is just any route, when it specifically serves as a fallback when no specific route matches the destination. Summarization is often overlooked or confused with default routing, but it actually aggregates multiple routes to reduce routing table size and update traffic.
What should I do if I get this 200-301 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
Discussion
Loading comments…
Sign in to join the discussion.