CCNP Architecture Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✓

  Enter global configuration mode, then specify the destination network and subnet mask, then specify the next-hop IP address or exit interface.

  Why this is correct

  This is correct because you must first enter global configuration mode (configure terminal), then define the destination network with its subnet mask, and finally specify the next-hop IP address or exit interface to complete the static route.

• ✗

  Specify the destination network and subnet mask, then enter global configuration mode, then specify the next-hop IP address or exit interface.

  Why it's wrong here

  This sequence is invalid because the first step requires global configuration mode to be active, yet the second step enters it. While in privileged EXEC mode, you cannot issue the 'ip route' command for a destination; the router will reject it as an invalid input or ambiguous command. Therefore, specifying the network before entering global configuration mode is not a legal operation, even though the network, mask, and next-hop order would otherwise be correct.

• ✗

  Specify the next-hop IP address or exit interface, then specify the destination network and subnet mask, then enter global configuration mode.

  Why it's wrong here

  This ordering fails the command syntax of 'ip route', which mandates destination network and mask before the forwarding address. Additionally, putting global configuration mode last means the first two actions would be attempted before the router even accepts 'ip route' commands. The next-hop IP or exit interface can only appear after the prefix is defined, so placing it first is fundamentally wrong.

• ✗

  Enter global configuration mode, then specify the next-hop IP address or exit interface, then specify the destination network and subnet mask.

  Why it's wrong here

  Although entering global configuration mode is the correct first step, the subsequent ordering inverts the 'ip route' command fields. The command must list the destination network and subnet mask immediately after 'ip route', then optionally specify the next-hop IP address or exit interface as the forwarding instruction. Inverting that order will generate a syntax error or cause the router to misinterpret the next-hop as a network address.