350-501 Networking Practice Question
A network engineer is troubleshooting a BGP convergence issue in a large service provider network. After a link failure in the core, BGP sessions between route reflectors take a long time to reconverge. The RRs are receiving updates from many clients. Which technology can be implemented to improve convergence time? The network currently uses standard BGP with default timers.
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that BGP route-refresh or next-hop-self speeds up convergence, but the key is that Add-Path directly reduces reconvergence time by providing pre-computed alternate paths, while the other options address security, soft reconfiguration, or next-hop manipulation without affecting convergence speed.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
BGP Add-Path
BGP Add-Path allows a route reflector to advertise multiple paths for the same prefix to its clients, which reduces the need for clients to re-advertise updates after a failure. This speeds up convergence by enabling the route reflector to immediately select and propagate an alternate path without waiting for BGP reconvergence from other clients. In large service provider networks with many clients, this minimizes the delay caused by the route reflector having only a single best path per prefix.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
BGP Add-Path
Why this is correct
Add-Path allows multiple paths per prefix, enabling fast failover.
- ✗
BGP TCP MD5 authentication
Why it's wrong here
Authentication adds security overhead and does not aid convergence.
- ✗
BGP route-refresh
Why it's wrong here
Route-refresh capability allows requesting re-advertisement but does not accelerate convergence after failure.
- ✗
BGP next-hop-self
Why it's wrong here
Next-hop-self changes next-hop but does not improve convergence.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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