350-501 Networking Practice Question
When implementing MPLS TE tunnels in a service provider core, what is the purpose of the 'affinity' attribute?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the confusion between 'affinity' (administrative groups for link inclusion/exclusion) and 'color' (a separate attribute used in Segment Routing or for visual identification), leading candidates to mistakenly choose Option A.
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
✓
To define administrative groups for link inclusion/exclusion
The 'affinity' attribute in MPLS TE is used to define administrative groups (also known as link colors) that allow you to include or exclude specific links from a TE tunnel path based on user-defined properties. This enables traffic engineering policies such as forcing traffic to avoid certain links or preferring links with specific characteristics, without modifying the underlying IGP metric.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
To set the color of the tunnel
Why it's wrong here
Color is a different attribute for identifying tunnels.
- ✗
To adjust the cost of TE tunnels
Why it's wrong here
Cost adjustment is done via link metric or setup priority.
- ✓
To define administrative groups for link inclusion/exclusion
Why this is correct
Affinity allows tunnels to restrict links based on administrative group membership.
- ✗
To bind tunnels to specific interfaces
Why it's wrong here
Binding is done via explicit path objects.
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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.