CCNP Practice Question: Consider the following configuration snippet:…

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

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

• ✗

  It sets the keepalive interval to 10 seconds and the hold time to 30 seconds for all BGP neighbors.

  Why it's wrong here

  BGP timer configuration entered under the neighbor address-family or neighbor context, such as 'neighbor 10.0.0.2 timers 10 30', affects only that specific neighbor. Global BGP timers applied to all neighbors are set with the 'timers bgp keepalive holdtime' command at the router configuration mode. Therefore, issuing a 'neighbor' timers command does not propagate to other BGP sessions; it is a per-peer override of the global values.

• ✓

  It sets the keepalive interval to 10 seconds and the hold time to 30 seconds for neighbor 10.0.0.2 only.

  Why this is correct

  This is the correct interpretation of the 'neighbor 10.0.0.2 timers 10 30' command. The syntax explicitly places the timers within the neighbor address family, meaning the keepalive interval of 10 seconds and hold time of 30 seconds are applied only to that BGP peer. This per-neighbor timer configuration overrides any global 'timers bgp' settings for this neighbor, and it does not affect other neighboring devices.

• ✗

  It sets the BGP keepalive interval to 30 seconds and the hold time to 10 seconds for neighbor 10.0.0.2.

  Why it's wrong here

  This option reverses the order of the timer values. The BGP timer command uses the format 'timers keepalive holdtime', so the first value (10) is always the keepalive interval and the second value (30) is always the hold time. If a configuration pair were written as 30 and 10, it would set a keepalive of 30 seconds and a hold time of 10 seconds, which is the opposite of what the actual command configures. Thus, the retained value order in the command is mandatory and cannot be swapped.

• ✗

  It configures the BGP session to use a keepalive of 10 seconds and a hold time of 30 seconds, but only if the neighbor supports it.

  Why it's wrong here

  This option is misleading because BGP timers are configured locally on the router and are not dependent on whether the neighbor supports or advertises the same values. When a BGP session is established, the hold time is negotiated to the lower of the two configured hold times, and the keepalive interval is derived locally from that negotiated hold time. The 'neighbor timers' command will always be applied to the local BGP process; it does not wait for or require a neighbor capability. The neighbor's own timer settings are irrelevant to the local configuration being accepted.