350-501 Networking Practice Question
An engineer is designing an MPLS L3VPN for a customer with multiple sites. The customer requires overlapping IP addresses between sites. Which method allows the provider to support overlapping customer addresses?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that route targets alone solve overlapping address issues, but the trap here is that route targets control route propagation, not address uniqueness—only the route distinguisher (RD) within a VRF provides the necessary prefix uniqueness.
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
✓
Use separate VRF per site with route distinguisher.
B is correct because a separate VRF per site with a unique route distinguisher (RD) allows the provider to maintain isolated routing tables for each customer site. This isolation enables overlapping IP addresses between sites, as each VRF treats its prefixes as unique within the MPLS L3VPN backbone, regardless of address duplication.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Implement VPLS instead of L3VPN.
Why it's wrong here
VPLS is a Layer 2 VPN, not a Layer 3 solution for overlapping addressing.
- ✓
Use separate VRF per site with route distinguisher.
Why this is correct
Each VRF has its own routing table, and the RD makes routes globally unique even with overlapping IPs.
- ✗
Use BGP communities to control route distribution.
Why it's wrong here
Communities influence routing policy but do not prevent address overlap.
- ✗
Use the same VRF for all sites with different route targets.
Why it's wrong here
Same VRF would merge routes, causing address conflicts.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every 350-501 question from scratch — 971 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 350-501 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 350-501 exam.