350-501 Services Practice Question
Which two of the following are characteristics of MPLS Traffic Engineering that differentiate it from pure MPLS forwarding?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that MPLS-TE requires LDP for LSP creation, but in reality, MPLS-TE uses RSVP-TE for signaling and does not depend on LDP for the TE LSPs themselves.
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
✓
Allows bandwidth reservation
MPLS Traffic Engineering (MPLS-TE) explicitly supports bandwidth reservation, which allows an operator to guarantee a certain amount of bandwidth for a traffic-engineered LSP. This is a key differentiator from pure MPLS forwarding, where LSPs are created without any bandwidth awareness and simply forward packets based on the label-swapping mechanism.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Requires LDP for LSP creation
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. MPLS TE uses RSVP to create its own LSPs, not LDP.
- ✓
Allows bandwidth reservation
Why this is correct
Correct. MPLS TE can reserve bandwidth along a path to guarantee QoS.
- ✓
Supports explicit path selection
Why this is correct
Correct. MPLS TE allows administrators to specify the exact path a tunnel takes.
- ✗
Provides optimal load balancing based on topology
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. MPLS TE does not automatically provide optimal load balancing; it requires explicit configuration.
- ✗
Uses RSVP for label distribution
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. While RSVP is used for TE, LDP also distributes labels; the question focuses on characteristics not shared by pure MPLS.
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