300-410 Infrastructure Services Practice Question
A company has a Cisco IOS XE router configured with IP SLA and Object Tracking to monitor the reachability of a primary ISP. The router should fail over to a backup ISP when the primary path becomes unreachable. The engineer wants to ensure that the failover occurs quickly and that the primary path is restored when it becomes available again. Which configuration element is required to achieve this behavior?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is thinking that a floating static route alone provides reachability-based failover; it does not without tracking.
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
✓
An IP SLA operation with a track object that is referenced by a static route to the primary ISP
IP SLA with object tracking allows the router to monitor the primary ISP's reachability. The track object is referenced in the static route to the primary ISP, so when the SLA fails, the route is removed and the backup route (which could be a floating static or a default route) takes over. When the SLA recovers, the primary route is reinstated. This provides the required fast failover and automatic restoration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A floating static route with a higher administrative distance to the backup ISP
Why it's wrong here
A floating static route is a static route with a higher administrative distance than the primary route, so it is only used when the primary route is not in the routing table. However, the primary route will only be removed if it is withdrawn by a routing protocol or if it is a tracked static route. Without a tracking mechanism, the floating static route remains inactive until the primary route disappears, which may not happen if the primary interface remains up but the path is unreachable. Thus, this alone does not ensure fast failover based on reachability.
- ✗
A route map that matches the primary ISP's next-hop and sets the local preference
Why it's wrong here
A route map with local preference is used in BGP to influence outbound path selection. It does not provide reachability tracking or automatic failover for static routes. Local preference is a BGP attribute that affects route selection among multiple BGP routes. In this scenario, the requirement is to monitor reachability and fail over to a backup ISP, which is better achieved with IP SLA and object tracking. Therefore, this option is not relevant.
- ✓
An IP SLA operation with a track object that is referenced by a static route to the primary ISP
Why this is correct
IP SLA operations can monitor reachability by sending probes such as ICMP echoes. The track object tracks the state of the SLA operation. When the tracked object goes down, any static route referencing that object is removed from the routing table, allowing the backup route to be used. When the SLA recovers, the primary route is reinstalled. This provides fast failover and automatic restoration, meeting the requirements.
- ✗
A static route with a lower administrative distance pointing to the backup ISP
Why it's wrong here
A static route with a lower administrative distance would always be preferred over the primary, causing the backup to be used even when the primary is up. Administrative distance is used to select the best route when multiple routes exist; it does not provide dynamic failover based on reachability. To achieve failover, you need a tracking mechanism that removes the primary route when it fails, not just a different AD. Therefore, this option is incorrect.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Cisco exam blueprint
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