easyMultiple Choice
300-410 Practice Question: The default administrative distance for routes…
What is the default administrative distance for routes learned via OSPF in Cisco IOS?
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
✓
110
OSPF has a default administrative distance of 110, as defined in Cisco IOS. This is used for route selection when multiple routing protocols provide the same prefix.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
90
Why it's wrong here
90 is the default administrative distance for EIGRP internal routes, not OSPF. It is tempting because EIGRP and OSPF are both interior gateway protocols competing for the same table entries, but IOS reserves 90 for EIGRP, leaving OSPF at a different value.
- ✗
100
Why it's wrong here
100 is the default administrative distance for IGRP, an obsolete Cisco protocol, not OSPF. The figure is memorable because it sits between OSPF's 110 and EIGRP's 90, but IOS assigns 100 only to IGRP routes, so OSPF-learned prefixes never inherit it.
- ✓
110
Why this is correct
Cisco IOS assigns OSPF a default administrative distance of 110. This value ranks OSPF less trustworthy than connected, static, eBGP and EIGRP routes, but more trustworthy than IS-IS and RIP, governing route selection when sources overlap.
- ✗
120
Why it's wrong here
120 is the default administrative distance for RIP, not OSPF, so routes learned via OSPF would never carry this value in Cisco IOS. It is tempting because 120 sits close to OSPF's real figure, but RIP's hop-count-limited design is the technology this number actually describes.
Visual reference
Quick reference
Routing Protocol Comparison
| Protocol | Metric | Max Hops | Algorithm | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RIP v2 | Hop count | 15 | Bellman-Ford | Distance vector |
| OSPF | Cost (bandwidth) | Unlimited | Dijkstra (SPF) | Link state |
| EIGRP | Composite metric | Unlimited | DUAL | Hybrid |
| IS-IS | Cost | Unlimited | Dijkstra | Link state |
| BGP | Policy / attributes | Unlimited | Path vector | Path vector |
RIP's 15-hop limit makes it unsuitable for large networks. OSPF and EIGRP dominate modern enterprise deployments.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This 300-410 question is part of Courseiva's 1,401-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam 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 300-410 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 300-410 exam.