350-401 · topic practice

OSPF practice questions

Practise 350-401 ENCOR 350-401 OSPF questions covering neighbour states, router IDs, areas, timers, passive interfaces, OSPF cost, route selection, and command-output troubleshooting.

Courseiva uses original exam-style practice questions designed for learning and revision. The goal is to understand the concepts, recognise exam patterns, and improve through explanations — not memorise copied exam dumps.

Reviewed byJohnson Ajibi· MSc IT Security

What the exam tests

What to know about OSPF

OSPF questions usually test neighbour formation, areas, router IDs, route preference, metrics and command-output interpretation.

How OSPF neighbours form and why adjacency can fail.

How router ID, area ID, timers, passive interfaces and authentication affect OSPF.

How OSPF cost influences route selection.

How to read show ip route and show ip ospf neighbor output.

Why learners struggle

Why OSPF questions are commonly missed

OSPF questions are often missed because learners confuse neighbour states, route selection rules, router IDs, areas, timers, and cost calculations. A question may look like it is testing OSPF, but the real decision may depend on administrative distance, route specificity, passive interfaces, DR/BDR behaviour, or command-output interpretation.

  • ·OSPF cost vs administrative distance — they measure different things and compare differently
  • ·2-Way vs FULL neighbour state — 2-Way is not always a failed adjacency
  • ·DR vs BDR vs DROTHER — election depends on network type and interface priority
  • ·Area mismatch vs timer mismatch — both prevent adjacency but for different reasons
  • ·Passive interface vs failed adjacency — passive interfaces intentionally suppress hello packets
  • ·Router ID selection — highest loopback address wins unless manually configured
  • ·show ip route OSPF codes — O, O IA, O E1, O E2 describe different route sources
  • ·OSPF external route types — E1 accumulates cost, E2 preserves the external cost only

Watch out for

Common OSPF exam traps

  • A matching network statement does not guarantee adjacency.
  • OSPF cost and administrative distance solve different problems.
  • Router ID may come from a loopback or manual configuration.
  • A route can exist in OSPF but still not become the installed route.

Practice set

OSPF questions

20 questions · select your answer, then reveal the explanation

Question 1mediummultiple choice
Review the full OSPF breakdown →

A network engineer is troubleshooting OSPF adjacency issues between two routers connected via a Gigabit Ethernet link. The engineer notices that the routers are stuck in the EXSTART state. Both routers have the same MTU of 1500 bytes. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Question 2mediummultiple choice
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An enterprise network uses OSPF as its IGP. The network engineer notices that a particular route learned via OSPF is not being installed in the routing table, even though the neighbor adjacency is up and the route appears in the OSPF database. The route is an external route redistributed from EIGRP. What is the most likely cause?

Question 3mediummultiple choice
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A network engineer is configuring OSPF in a multi-area design. The engineer wants to reduce the amount of LSA flooding and the size of the LSDB in area 0. Which OSPF feature should be implemented on the ABR to achieve this goal?

Question 4easymultiple choice
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A network engineer is troubleshooting an OSPF adjacency issue between two routers connected via a serial link. The adjacency is stuck in the INIT state. The engineer has verified that the IP addresses are in the same subnet and that the link is up. What is the most likely cause?

Question 5easymultiple choice
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A network engineer is designing an OSPF network with multiple areas. The engineer wants to ensure that routers in area 2 can reach networks in area 0, but they should not learn any external routes from other ASs. Which OSPF area type should be configured for area 2?

Question 6hardmultiple choice
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A network engineer is troubleshooting an OSPF issue where a router is not learning a route to a network that is advertised via a type 5 LSA from an ASBR. The engineer checks the OSPF database and sees the type 5 LSA, but the route is not in the routing table. The forwarding address in the LSA is 0.0.0.0. What is the most likely cause?

Question 7mediummultiple choice
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A network engineer is configuring OSPF on a router that connects to two different ISPs. The engineer wants to prefer one ISP for all external routes unless that ISP's link fails, in which case the other ISP should be used. Which OSPF feature should be used to influence the path selection for external routes?

Question 8hardmultiple choice
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A network engineer is troubleshooting an OSPF adjacency issue between two routers connected via a Frame Relay network. The adjacency is stuck in the 2WAY state. The engineer has verified that the routers are in the same area and have matching hello/dead intervals. What is the most likely cause?

Question 9easymultiple choice
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A network engineer is configuring OSPF on a router that has multiple interfaces in the same area. The engineer wants to ensure that the router does not become the designated router (DR) on any of these interfaces. What should the engineer do?

Question 10mediummultiple choice
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A network engineer runs the following command on Router R1:

R1# show ip ospf neighbor

Neighbor ID     Pri   State           Dead Time   Address         Interface
10.0.0.2          1   FULL/DR         00:00:32    192.168.1.2     GigabitEthernet0/0
10.0.0.3          1   2WAY/DROTHER    00:00:35    192.168.1.3     GigabitEthernet0/0

Based on this output, what can be concluded?

Question 11hardmultiple choice
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A network engineer issues the following command on Router R2:

R2# show ip ospf interface GigabitEthernet0/0

GigabitEthernet0/0 is up, line protocol is up Internet Address 192.168.1.2/24, Area 0 Process ID 1, Router ID 2.2.2.2, Network Type BROADCAST, Cost: 10 Transmit Delay is 1 sec, State DR, Priority 1 Designated Router (ID) 2.2.2.2, Interface address 192.168.1.2 Backup Designated router (ID) 1.1.1.1, Interface address 192.168.1.1 Timer intervals configured, Hello 10, Dead 40, Wait 40, Retransmit 5 Hello due in 00:00:03 Index 1/1/1, flood queue length 0 Next 0x0(0)/0x0(0)/0x0(0) Last flood scan length is 1, maximum is 1 Last flood scan time is 0 msec, maximum is 0 msec

Neighbor Count is 2, Adjacent neighbor count is 2

Adjacent with neighbor 1.1.1.1 (Backup Designated Router) Adjacent with neighbor 3.3.3.3

Based on this output, what can be concluded?

Question 12mediummultiple choice
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A network engineer runs the following command on Router R3:

R3# show ip route ospf

Codes: L - local, C - connected, S - static, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2 E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2 i - IS-IS, su - IS-IS summary, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2 ia - IS-IS inter area, * - candidate default, U - per-user static route o - ODR, P - periodic downloaded static route, H - NHRP, l - LISP a - application route + - replicated route, % - next hop override

Gateway of last resort is not set

10.0.0.0/8 is variably subnetted, 5 subnets, 3 masks

O IA 10.1.1.0/24 [110/20] via 192.168.1.1, 00:12:34, GigabitEthernet0/0

O        10.2.2.0/24 [110/10] via 192.168.1.2, 00:15:22, GigabitEthernet0/0

O E2 10.3.3.0/24 [110/20] via 192.168.1.3, 00:08:11, GigabitEthernet0/0

Based on this output, what can be concluded?

Question 13hardmultiple choice
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A network engineer issues the following command on Router R4:

R4# show ip ospf database

OSPF Router with ID (4.4.4.4) (Process ID 1)

Router Link States (Area 0)

Link ID ADV Router Age Seq# Checksum Link count

1.1.1.1         1.1.1.1         123         0x80000002 0x00A1B2 2
2.2.2.2         2.2.2.2         456         0x80000003 0x00B2C3 3
4.4.4.4         4.4.4.4         789         0x80000001 0x00C3D4 1

Net Link States (Area 0)

Link ID ADV Router Age Seq# Checksum

192.168.1.2     2.2.2.2         234         0x80000001 0x00D4E5

Based on this output, what can be concluded?

Question 14mediummultiple choice
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A network engineer runs the following command on Router R5:

R5# show ip ospf border-routers

OSPF Process 1 internal Routing Table

Codes: i - Intra-area route, I - Inter-area route

i 1.1.1.1 [110/10] via 192.168.1.1, GigabitEthernet0/0, ABR, Area 0, SPF 5 i 2.2.2.2 [110/20] via 192.168.1.2, GigabitEthernet0/0, ASBR, Area 0, SPF 5

Based on this output, what can be concluded?

Question 15hardmultiple choice
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A network engineer issues the following command on Router R6:

R6# debug ip ospf hello

OSPF: Send hello to 224.0.0.5 via GigabitEthernet0/0 (192.168.1.6) OSPF: Rcv hello from 1.1.1.1, GigabitEthernet0/0, area 0.0.0.0

Neighbor state is 2WAY, options 0x2

OSPF: End of hello processing

Based on this output, what can be concluded?

Question 16hardmultiple choice
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A network engineer runs the following command on Router R7:

R7# show ip ospf virtual-links

Virtual Link OSPF_VL0 to router 2.2.2.2 is up Run as demand circuit DoNotAge LSA allowed. Transit area 1, via interface GigabitEthernet0/1, Cost of using 10 Transmit Delay is 1 sec, State POINT_TO_POINT, Timer intervals configured, Hello 10, Dead 40, Wait 40, Retransmit 5 Hello due in 00:00:07 Adjacency State FULL

Based on this output, what can be concluded?

Question 17mediummultiple choice
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A network engineer issues the following command on Router R8:

R8# show ip ospf neighbor detail

 Neighbor 1.1.1.1, interface address 192.168.1.1

In the area 0 via interface GigabitEthernet0/0

Neighbor priority is 1, State is FULL, 6 state changes

DR is 192.168.1.2, BDR is 192.168.1.1 Options is 0x42 (L LSR LSRR L LSR) Dead timer due in 00:00:34

Neighbor is up for 00:12:45

Index 1/1/1, retransmission queue length 0, number of retransmission 0 First 0x0(0)/0x0(0)/0x0(0) Next 0x0(0)/0x0(0)/0x0(0) Last retransmission scan length is 0, last retransmission scan time is 0 msec

Based on this output, what can be concluded?

Question 18mediummultiple choice
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A network engineer runs the following command on Router R9:

R9# show ip ospf interface brief

Interface    PID   Area            IP Address/Mask    Cost  State Nbrs F/C

Gi0/0 1 0 192.168.1.9/24 10 DR 2/2 Gi0/1 1 1 10.0.0.9/24 20 BDR 1/1 Lo0 1 0 9.9.9.9/32 1 LOOP 0/0

Based on this output, what can be concluded?

Question 19mediummultiple choice
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Router R1 has the following OSPF configuration:

interface GigabitEthernet0/0
 ip address 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0
 ip ospf 1 area 0
 ip ospf network point-to-point

!

router ospf 1

router-id 1.1.1.1

network 10.0.0.0 0.255.255.255 area 0

What is the effect of the 'ip ospf network point-to-point' command on this interface?

Question 20mediummultiple choice
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Consider the following OSPF configuration on router R2:

interface GigabitEthernet0/0
 ip address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
 ip ospf 1 area 0
 ip ospf hello-interval 5

!

router ospf 1

router-id 2.2.2.2

network 192.168.1.0 0.0.0.255 area 0

Which statement is true about this configuration?

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Frequently asked questions

What does the 350-401 exam test about OSPF?
OSPF questions usually test neighbour formation, areas, router IDs, route preference, metrics and command-output interpretation.
How should I use these practice questions?
Select your answer before revealing the explanation. Then read why each option is right or wrong — this active recall approach builds retention far faster than re-reading notes.
Can I practise just OSPF questions in a focused session?
Yes — the session launcher on this page draws every question from the OSPF domain. Use a 10-question session first to gauge your baseline, then move to 20 or 30 once the weak spots are clear.
Where can I practise other 350-401 topics?
Use the topic links above to move to related areas, or go back to the 350-401 question bank to see all topics.
Are these real exam questions or dumps?
These are original practice questions written to test the same concepts the 350-401 exam covers. They are not copied from any real exam or dump site.