350-501 Architecture Practice Question
A service provider offers IPTV services using multicast. The network uses Multicast VPN (MVPN) with Rosen GRE encapsulation (Profile 1) in an MPLS L3VPN environment. The Provider Edge (PE) routers participate in both the default MDT and data MDT for high-bandwidth streams. Recently, a new channel was added, and it uses a data MDT. The content server is attached to a PE that is acting as a multicast source. Other PEs are receivers. Upon adding the channel, some receivers report missing packets. The network engineer checks the PEs and notices that the data MDT group address is being advertised via BGP as an MDT SAFI route, but some PEs are not joining the data MDT. The source PE's multicast routing table shows that it believes data MDT is active. Which architecture issue is most likely preventing some PEs from joining the data MDT?
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
✓
The data MDT group is not within the configured data MDT group range on the receiving PEs.
The data MDT group must be within the configured data-MDT group range on each PE; if not, the PE will ignore the BGP MDT SAFI route and not join the data MDT. Source PE IGMP joins are not relevant; default MDT issues are separate; PIM RP reachability might affect default MDT but not data MDT join if using SSM.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The source PE is not sending IGMP joins for the data MDT group.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. The source PE does not send IGMP joins; it originates the multicast stream.
- ✗
The default MDT group is flapping.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Default MDT flapping would affect all channels, not just this specific data MDT.
- ✗
The PIM sparse mode RP is not reachable.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Data MDT often uses SSM, which does not require an RP; if using ASM, RP reachability could affect, but the issue is specific to joining the data MDT group.
- ✓
The data MDT group is not within the configured data MDT group range on the receiving PEs.
Why this is correct
Correct. If the group is outside the configured range, the PE will not participate in that data MDT.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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